chicovilla

Some of my  favourites from Italy.

Some street musicians from my travels. Great people watching and photography opportunity. 

17 hours ago, bickster said:

@chicovillasome absolutely stunning shots there!

Thanks @bickster photography and travel go hand in hand and I love both.

So what camera does everyone use? I use a Canon 600D, although its on its last legs. looking for a decent replacement (body only) budget  around £500-£700.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgdtFgeApbZ/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1gh24srg8er51

Followed instructions from thread, thanks, but only seems to work from phone, could not link from desktop.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BL5sdhlAmK_/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

https://www.instagram.com/p/BM0fChWAc1Z/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=mq7jhyw3yk1s

44 minutes ago, Xela said:

Anyone been to Macau?

@tonyh29 @chicovilla

Thinking of a couple of nights here when we hit Hong Kong

Went there on the fast ferry from Hong Kong for a day trip. Think Las Vegas style casinos! Some huge resort hotels full of Chinese gamblers.

Town Was pleasant enough, nice old town to wander through and sample the free tasters on each food stall. Their specialty is Pork chop buns which are very good and also strips of grilled pork. 

It's an old Portuguese colony so some of the buildings have that feel. Very popular for Hong Kongers and Chinese. Cant comment on the nightlife but a worthy day trip from Hong Kong itself.  Although as you know you cant beat Hong Kong!

On 09/08/2018 at 11:24, chicovilla said:

All booked now, flying to Sofia in Bulgaria from Luton, visiting Sofia, Rila and Plovdiv over 5 days then travelling south to Skopje, to stay there for 2 days and then Lake Ohrid area for further 3 nights. Fly back to Luton from Skopje, Macedonia. Flights cost £65 return and accommodation at some excellent Air BnB's for average £25 a night. Hearing that Bulgaria is one of the cheapest places in Europe and Macedonia even cheaper  

Will probably skip Kosovo on this trip.  

Currently in Ohrid and its absolutely stunning, one of the best places I've ever been. Incredibly cheap and the scenery around the lake is incredible. In an air bnb overlooking the lake and mountains from the old town. Skopje was also brilliant, loved the old town and its bazaar. 

Bulgaria was also great, did the 7 lake trek high up in the Rila mountains and also Plovdiv one of the oldest towns In Europe. 

A fantastic trip

1 hour ago, AVFC_Hitz said:

I haven't checked but if the Villa are on TV I'll join you in the pub to watch it.

Any questions about Sofia will be gladly answered.

Thanks for that! Unfortunately we are out there during International break, so no Villa matches! -

Do you have any idea how easy it is to get bus tickets from Sofia to Skopje? 

9 hours ago, tonyh29 said:

That’s a bit arse about face , you can fly to Luton from Pristina (v cheap )   and save yourself some time instead of doubling back on yourself 

I did Skopje and Kosovo earlier this year , I wouldn’t allow too much time in Kosovo there isn’t a great deal there tourist wise 

All booked now, flying to Sofia in Bulgaria from Luton, visiting Sofia, Rila and Plovdiv over 5 days then travelling south to Skopje, to stay there for 2 days and then Lake Ohrid area for further 3 nights. Fly back to Luton from Skopje, Macedonia. Flights cost £65 return and accommodation at some excellent Air BnB's for average £25 a night. Hearing that Bulgaria is one of the cheapest places in Europe and Macedonia even cheaper  

Will probably skip Kosovo on this trip.  

On 01/02/2018 at 18:32, chicovilla said:

First half of 2018 coming in to place now

Started 2018 off   with a Belgium roadtrip late Dec and Jan. Some lovely places - Ghent, Bruges and Brussels.

Off to India for my 4th trip there end of Feb...Delhi, Varanasi and Marutha over 11 days. 

Roadtrip to Edinburgh over Easter.

4 day trip to Genoa beginning of May to take in Sampdoria v Napoli.

Back to Hong Kong and Thailand end of May. 

No new countries but some of my favourites. 

Hope to go to Albania in September. 

1st half of 2018 went to plan, apart from I managed to squeeze in Albania in early. Flew into Corfu town and the crossed over to Albania by ferry. Hired a scooter for 5 days and toured along the south coast of Albania and inland to Gjirokastër. Some stunning mountain scenery and relatively unspoiled coastline. Nice and cheap, and the locals were friendly.

2nd half of 2018, will be visiting friends in Cork in Aug. 

Planning a trip to Bulgaria.Macedonia and Kosovo in September. Fly into Sofia and out from Skopje.

Back to Hong Kong in November.

Rail trip from Rome to Sicily over Xmas/new year

First half of 2018 coming in to place now

Started 2018 off   with a Belgium roadtrip late Dec and Jan. Some lovely places - Ghent, Bruges and Brussels.

Off to India for my 4th trip there end of Feb...Delhi, Varanasi and Marutha over 11 days. 

Roadtrip to Edinburgh over Easter.

4 day trip to Genoa beginning of May to take in Sampdoria v Napoli.

Back to Hong Kong and Thailand end of May. 

No new countries but some of my favourites. 

Hope to go to Albania in September. 

One of my favourite areas is Montmatre. Up a hill near the white Chuch Sacre couer. Nice view over Paris from there, and a chilled area behind with nice cafes and bars. 

I've been to India 3 times and loved it more each visit. Will defo go back again.

My first trip was 3 weeks in North India in 2012. Staying in Delhi, Varanasi, Agra, Jaipur, Jodhour, Jaisalmer and Shimla. Travelling about by train is a great way to mix with locals, sleeping in Sleeper Class. Varanasi was the highlight, one of the most spiritual places i've ever been to. If you are into photography or People watching it's a dream. 

2nd trip was in 2013, another 3 weeker, staying in Mumbai and travelling down the west coast by train to  Goa and Kerala. Another brilliant trip - highlights staying on a on a Houseboat through the Kerala Backwaters.

3rd trip was last year. I travelled to Amritsar in the Punjab staying there for 4 nights, then took Sleeper class train to Uttarakhand, staying at Haridwar and Rickishesh at the foothills of the Himilayas. All 3 places were stunning and well worth staying.

There's still so many more places I want to visit.

I'm into photography, here are some of my photos from those 3 trips. 

On 11/21/2016 at 11:50, Xela said:

That's some going! 

Interested to hear what Taiwan is like. Always been on the 'to do' list but never made it there. Always ended up back in Hong Kong instead! 

You must have a decent job for all the time off

All plans gone well soon. 

Nepal in Jan was incredible. Definately somewhere I will return to. Visited Kathmandu, Bandipur, Pokhara (for Annapuna trek) and Bhaktapur. Great people, very cheap and the scenery is mind blowing.

Taiwan, Borneo and Hong Kong in March/April. Went to Hong Kong late March, followed by a small 4 day side trip to Borneo. This was a pre wedding trip before my wedding back in Hong Kong. Then we went to Taiwan for 2 weeks. Landing in Kaoshiung in the South, travelling up towards Taipei. Fantastic street food, and hotpot and grills in the restaurants. Definately some of the best food I have tasted. Very vibrant and exciting cities, but very tiring! Scooters rule out there so hired one to join the mad races on the roads, brilliant fun! Alishan in the centre has some beautiful scenery.

Next up, Madrid next weekend, followed by a 5 day trip to Porto at the end of May.

Going to Athens late June to explore the city, and then 2 weeks of Island hopping in the Cyclade group of islands.

Photos of my trips on my Flickr page https://www.flickr.com/photos/chicovilla/

On 23/02/2017 at 18:49, Xela said:

Excellent choices. Been to HK 3 or 4 times (can't remember) and Bangers 5 times. 

Got a hankering to go back as its been 4 years since I was last in both.

 

Kinda biased as im marrying a Hong Konger next month over there! But a billiant place and cant wait to get back there. Honeymooning in Taiwan!

My top 10 cities

1. Hong Kong - amazing with a lot more to it than skyscrapers. Some beautiful beaches, great trekking, incredible food and culture. 

2. Varanassi - Photographers dream. everywhere you look a photo opportunity. 

3. Granada - Great buildings and base to explore surrounding mountains. Great Tapas culture

4.Venice - See #2 Unique city with stunning architecture

5. Bangkok - street food, vibrant atmosphere, temples

6. Sa Pa - Nice little city to base yourself to trek the surrounding hills in North Vietnam

7. Rome - again, some stunning buildings and architecture. Historic, iconic landmarks everywhere. Great food.

8. Kyoto - Food, people and culture.

9. Sarajevo- Vibrant nightlife, compact center which is easy to get around. 

10. Fort Kochi - chilled, laid back city in South India. Great fresh local curries, some beautiful scenery on the backwaters.

12 hours ago, tonyh29 said:

I went to Iran but it wasn't an organised tour ... I did use a travel agency based in Iran for transfers and tours and sorting hotels  as the  difficulty was paying .... credit cards werent accepted back then (2014) so it was easier to get the travel agent to do all that and then wire them money (to their US bank account )

but it was our itinerary and we were free to wander around and do as we pleased ...we travelled by train from esfahan to Tehran on our own and also by coach from Shiraz to Esfahan 

i'd imagine you could book a flight with BA and sort your own hotels no problems ... in fact I just looked on booking.com and it has Iran hotels on it 

visa i got myself from Dublin (U.K. Embassy was shut at the time ) possibly the agency wrote a visa assurance letter though can't Recall now !!

 

easily one of the best countries on the planet , friendly , cultural and loads of historical stuff ... if it wasn't for the lack of beer it might even be the best place I've ever been to

 

 

Thanks @tonyh29 useful information. I've heard many good things about Iran.

On 01/12/2016 at 15:14, Xela said:

So, what are your holiday destinations that are on your to-do list? We all must have one. I've just come back from Reykjavik, which has been on my list for a while and it got me thinking about where else I want to see in the near future. I've not called it a bucket list as I hate that term! 

 

- A train journey across Central/Eastern Europe taking in Warsaw, Prague, Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and perhaps Ljubljana - 2/3nights in each place

 

 

I travelled a few years ago from Warwick all the way to Krakow by train, via London, Paris, Munich, Prague and finally Krakow (Paris-Munich and Prague-Krakow both overnight sleeper trains) Great trip over 10 days and my favourite way to get around. I’ve also travelled extensively around India over a few trips by their brilliant Rail network. Train travel, is a great opportunity to mix with fellow travellers and natives alike, and you pass some amazing scenery en route. It’s always my default mode of transport (abroad) whenever possible.

My to-do list….
-Stay in a Yurt and spend some time with Nomadic groups in Mongolia or one of the Central Asia ‘stans.
-Climb Kilimanjaro
-White water raft on one of the great rivers
-A train trip in the Holy land, starting in Tel Aviv and ending in Amman
- Visit Iran! I think UK nationals are still restricted to going with organised tours, which is the only thing that puts me off!
-continue my India travels, taking in the Eastern side.
-cycle/wild camp the North Coast 500 road in Scotland
Many more can be added to this list!
 

26 minutes ago, tonyh29 said:

other than hiking and mountains  there isn't a lot there tbh ... if you've not been previously then focus on Kazakhstan , fantastic place 

You can always get a car to drive you from Almaty to Bishkek in a few hours , and have a couple of days there 

At the border you walk over a bridge with all your luggage and a bun fight border crosssing and it's about 40 mins into town from there  ... pre-book it all though I wouldn't fancy your chances of finding a taxi at the other side of the bridge

On our way back the bridge was shut , which was lucky as we were actually flying out and our driver had taken us to the wrong place  , the joys of communication  ... we did aeroplanes noises with the wings for him and he got the message in the end

Cheers, will take this advice on board. Looking to spend some time in the mountains and plains living in yurts and hiking/horse trekking, and some of the time exploring the towns and cities. Although now you mention it, the idea of flying into Almaty and home from Bishtek is definately an option.

1 minute ago, Xela said:

That's some going! 

Interested to hear what Taiwan is like. Always been on the 'to do' list but never made it there. Always ended up back in Hong Kong instead! 

You must have a decent job for all the time off

My other half is from Hong Kong, so get a lot of insider information on that neck of the woods! (she is very familiar with most of SE Asia)

Will be flying into the south of Taiwan and travelling up the country for 2 weeks  and flying back to Hong Kong from Taipei in the North. Heard the scenery is great and the street food is immense! Cheaper than Hong Kong, but nothing like Thailand/Vietnamese cheap! Will give you my verdict when I get back

I work a lot away from home, with a lot of driving about in UK, so build up a lot of lieu time on top of my 26 days annual leave. So lucky to get about 10+ weeks off per year.

Managed to travel to 9 countries this year.....Morocco, Italy x 2, Sri Lanka, India, Hong Kong, Qatar, Japan, Spain (Majorca-fly out this week) and finally finishing off the year in Italy. Flying into Rome on December 23rd and travelling to Florence, Bologna, Venice (will be there for NYE) Verona and flying out of milan on January 6th.  Sri Lanka, Qatar and Japan being new countries.

Going to Nepal late Jan/Feb for a couple of weeks travelling.

Going to Hong Kong, Malaysia (Borneo) and Taiwan in late March and April.

Weekend City break to Madrid in May.

These are all booked and paid for :). Later in the year hope to get to Mongolia or Kyrzgstan and a few random city breaks.