10 latest experiences http://www.hereorthere.com/members/globetrotter en-us I came across Prague’s Old Jewish Cemetery on my first trip to Prague and I’ve gone back several times since. It’s extraordinary: a medieval graveyard full of ornate, weather-beaten tombstones piled on top of one another, sometimes 10 or 12 deep. It’s a beautiful, haunting place and for some reason there always seem to be crows or rooks or ravens cawing and wheeling in the sky above (very Edgar Allen Poe). In the Pinkas Synagogue nearby, the walls are decorated with row after heart-breaking row of the names of local Jews who died in the Holocaust – simple but moving. It certainly puts one’s own, tiny problems into perspective… Praha, Czech Republic globetrotter Tue, 03 Jul 2007 18:37:57 +0100 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/globetrotter/experience/393 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/393 Apparently camels don’t like walking on sand dunes. Well, that’s what my camel driver told me anyway. Fortunately for my camel, Buri, there didn’t seem to be many dunes in the desert around Jaisalmer, just tinder-dry scrubland dotted with stunted bushes and rocks, with the occasional peacock, lizard or tiny mice to break up the view. Personally, I’d have preferred a few more dunes. I enjoyed the riding bit more than anything, especially towards evening when the air cooled nicely and the head driver used to sing. The saddle had two seats, with mattresses for nighttime strapped to the top. It was surprisingly comfortable (okay, not at a gallop). In fact the worst bit was trying to get off, as Buri hated sitting down, so I had to say ‘Joop! Joop!’ to her for hours before she’d grumpily lurch to her knees. At night, we slept under the stars after a basic supper of rice and dhal, and woke to find a network of beetle tracks around our beds. And cup of sweet tea later,... Jaisalmer, India globetrotter Tue, 03 Jul 2007 18:13:26 +0100 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/globetrotter/experience/389 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/389 We arrived in Mainit in the middle of the afternoon, after a bouncy ride in a jeepney and a nervous walk across a swaying rope bridge. It was just a tiny mountain village in the north of Luzon island, the most populated one in the Philippines. Its claim to fame was its hot springs, so we dropped our backpacks in the simple guest house and headed out to find them. There seemed to be hairy black pigs, cows and puppies running about everywhere in the muddy lanes, and drowsy men playing cards in the shade. Soon we found the first lot of thermal pools, so hot we boiled eggs in them, which we ate with our feet dangling in a larger and less scorching pool and an audience of 32 small children. The warm water felt wonderful, so we waited until nightfall and headed back clutching soap and towels. No one was around, so we stripped off and leapt in for our first hot bath in months. It felt fantastic and the steam rising from the water just added to the atmosphere. A few dogs wandered past,... Mainit, Philippines globetrotter Tue, 03 Jul 2007 17:43:44 +0100 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/globetrotter/experience/388 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/388 A flickering campfire, someone playing guitar and our tents set up nearby: all pretty standard, you’d think – except we were doing it on a sandbar in the middle of the Mississippi. With our guide, John Ruskey, we’d spent the afternoon paddling our sturdy large canoe downstream, though you could hardly call it hard work as the river flows at five miles an hour anyway. We’d been shadowed by silent flocks of pelicans heading south for winter, interspersed with skeins of honking geese, and overtaken by barges the size of toppled skyscrapers. Thanks to our radio, we eavesdropped on the captain’s conversations, all Southern drawls and dry humour – a lot of it about the crazy people in the canoe. And in the evening we sat back with drinks while John, who runs Quapaw Canoe Company, rustled up a simple meat-and-salad meal and told us tales of Old Man River. Mississippi, United States globetrotter Fri, 22 Jun 2007 12:02:16 +0100 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/globetrotter/experience/238 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/238 I didn’t think anything would ever top diving on the Great Barrier Reef, where I got my first PADI certificate. But that was before I went off to Sharm el Sheikh to do an advanced course in the Red Sea. The coral reefs are bursting with life and colour, so it was all too easy to get distracted when you were meant to be practising underwater navigation or getting your buoyancy just right. My favourite was the deep dive: a few tests at 36 metres to make sure the pressure wasn’t messing with our heads followed by a slow and steady swim towards the surface along the face of an amazing coral cliff spotting everything from eels to parrotfish. It felt effortless, but we always had a massive appetite for dinner at Tam Tam, the local Egyptian café (though that may have been because the food was pretty good and cheap, too). Go now before rising sea temperatures destroy the reefs... Sharm ash Shaykh, Egypt globetrotter Thu, 21 Jun 2007 09:50:06 +0100 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/globetrotter/experience/221 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/221 If you want a great night out in Vilnius, I recommend hotfooting it to Iki Ausros, a great cocktail bar in a beautiful street in the pretty-as-a-picture Old Town. I was expecting it to be a bit pretentious, as it’s expensive by local standards (around a fiver a drink), but it wasn’t in the least snooty. The décor’s cosy rather than flash, the atmosphere’s happy and the staff are brilliant. I was a bit bamboozled by the huge menu, so the barman asked me (in perfect English) what type of thing I liked and rustled up an impeccable made-to-order drink. I got chatting with another woman who was there on her own who said she loved Iki Ausros because the second time she dropped by, three or four months after her first visit, the barman remembered exactly what they’d talked about the previous time. Vilnius, Lithuania globetrotter Wed, 20 Jun 2007 13:42:57 +0100 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/globetrotter/experience/210 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/210 Normally I hate the cold, but a friend persuaded me to join her on a winter activities trip to Roros in Norway, famous as the coldest place in the country – and I loved it. The small town itself is gorgeous, with streets of quaint old wooden cottages and interesting shops. We went dog sledding, which was brilliant; tried snow-shoeing, which was fun but hard work; and met reindeer herders, which was fascinating. The highlight, though, was a night-time trip in a genuine ‘one-horse open sleigh’, just like Jingle Bells. It was magical gliding through the forest, with flickering torches to light our way. And the only sounds? The crunching of snow and – yes – the jingle of the little bells on the pony’s harness. Røros, Norway globetrotter Wed, 20 Jun 2007 13:13:13 +0100 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/globetrotter/experience/209 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/209 After a few action-packed days in Granada, with lots of sightseeing and tapas-fuelled late nights, I was happy but exhausted! So when the receptionist at my hotel suggested a session at the San Miguel Arab baths, I thought I’d give it a go. What a treat! The place itself was lovely – all brick vaults and painted tiles and quiet music. I spent an hour lolling around in six different hot-water pools or bracing myself for a quick dunk in the cold-water bath. Then I was called for my 15-minute massage with scented oils, which left me so relaxed I fell asleep on the table. After a reviving mint tea, I practically floated out of there. Granada, Spain globetrotter Wed, 20 Jun 2007 11:29:46 +0100 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/globetrotter/experience/208 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/208 The best cups of tea I’ve ever tasted were the ones I drank on deck first thing in the morning during a learn-to-sail week in Croatia. Every day, there was a different sleepy fishing village or lively marina to gaze at while I gradually woke up properly. It was the perfect start to another day of sailing, knot-tying and laughing with my three shipmates – the laidback tutor and fellow singleton novices – not to mention the mooring up at lunchtime for a swim in the warm and impossibly blue sea and a meal of whatever we’d managed to prepare in the tiny galley kitchen. Don’t think I’ve ever felt healthier by the end of a week away! Dalmatian coast, Croatia globetrotter Wed, 20 Jun 2007 11:10:21 +0100 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/globetrotter/experience/207 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/207