chicovilla

Got to say the new Michael Kiwanaku album called Love and Hate is a soulful and mellow delight. Great arrangements and the opening track is a corker with a Pink Floydesque opening 5 minutes. Great music for the Downtempo fan.

Rumours that Bankers JP Morgan and BNP Paribas group are to relocate from London to Paris. Rumour from Chris Ship ITN News editor.

My top 5 songs (at the moment, as it changes quite often) The Doors - LA Woman (Rock) Five Man Army - Massive Attack (Trip Hop) Les Nuits - Nightmares on Wax (Downtempo) Beauty and the East - Bombay Dub Orchestra (World) O Mio Babbino Caro - Puccini (Classical)

Yeah planning on taking in the Wagah border ceremony. Its my 4th trip to India, and I have to say I love the place. I will hang around the Golden temple complex in Amritsar for a couple of days, then catch the night train to Haridwar to see one of the main Hindu pilgrim places on the banks of the Ganges (previously been to Varanasi, and thought it was incredible). Will also re-trace the steps of the Beatles in Rickishesh further up the Ganges. One concern is that July sees the starts of the monsoon!

Got back from my 3 weeks in Sri Lanka. Absolutely stunning country. Started in Colombo and went to Kandy, Haputale, Ella, Tissa, Tangalle, Mirissa and finally back to Colombo. Highlights included a 3 day trek up in the mountains around Haputale, staying with some brilliant folks in the Hill villages ; Hiring and driving a Tuk Tuk for 4 days along the south coast (quite tricky to control at first but you soon get used to it, and great fun) ; the wildlife we saw -Elephants, Apes, Lizzards, Whales. Also incredibly cheap. 3 weeks, including flights, accommodation and spending money came to less than £1000 each. Rest of the years trips Milan (lads weekend in May) India (Amritsar and Haridwar) in July Hong Kong and Taiwan in September Italy over xmas and new year. Also looking to fit in a couple of weekend trips to Copenhagen and Porto in.

Nice is superb....one of my favourite places in the south of france. Great base to explore a few nearby towns like Antibes and Cannes. THe old town of Nice is great to wander around and have great food. If you want to visit Monaco (very expensive and full of pretentious flash people) then catch the coastal train along a beautiful coastline. Villefranche the next town along the coast is definately worth a day trip.

Add Laos to the list...earlier this year went backpacking for 3 weeks in Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, then a few days in Thailand at the end. Laos is seriously good, especially the hill tribes around Luang Prabang. Also highly recommend Sapa in North Vietnam.

Koh Chang is a stunning place!....take the bus from Bangkok for 300 baht...its a 5 hr journey and includes a lunch stop and ferry ticket across to Koh Chang. I stayed in a beach hut near lonely beach. A kind of hippy area with cool bars and restaurants. Great place to hire a scooter..there is a main road that goes most of the way around the island. It takes about an hour to go around to the other side. Options there to hire a kayak, get yourself a takeaway Pad Thai for a picnic and paddle across to deserted islands! Some photos here in my blog http://ataste-of-thailand.blogspot.com

Yeah Air bnb similar principle. your own bathroom, Kitchen and lounge area. Great for comfort and some great bargains. recently had a luxury apartment in Granada overlooking Alhambra for £45 a night = £22.50 each for 2. - Much, much cheaper than hotels, NEVER, NEVER use hotels, until you have checked the apartment/Air bnb option first. Works out good value if there's more than 1 of you, but not so cheap as Hostels if solo. £7 a night in Georgia, and less than £2 a night in Chiang Mai for example.

Haha i like them - and i'm 43! Although it can be a bit tiring after a bit- i've recently gone onto air bnb accomodation, although will still go back to hostels for some trips. Some great hostels I stayed in, in Armenian and Georgia, and brilliant ones in Thailand (except one in Bangkok, where a couple started shagging on the bunk above me- 1 bad experiece in 20+ different hostels) For budget you can't beat it, and if you're solo a good way to mix.

Some of my best trips have been solo. Gives you the freedom to do what you want, when you want. Stay in Hostels and you can easily meet up with other travellers and have fun. If you want a quiet night to chill then you can do that too. I tend to stay in 8-10 bed mixed dorms, usually guaranteed some nice eye candy and a very cheap way of travelling.

Lucky to get around 50 days off per year - a mixture of annual holiday and time off in lieu due to working away from home. My girlfriend is from Hong Kong and we see each other in UK, Hong Kong or when travelling to other places around the world (she is currently in UK for 6 months ) Theres a lot more to Hong Kong than skyscrapers and shopping malls. Some amazing islands with great beaches, vibrant bars and restaurants and some of the best cuisine in the world. Also an ideal gateway to the rest of south east asia.

Good point, Hong Kong and China interchangeable....although a lot of the people in Hong Kong definately dont want to be grouped in with the main landers!...1 country maybe but 2 very different societies. Anyway your earlier list counted Hong Kong

Armenia Austria Bosnia and Herzegovina Cambodia Croatia x 2 Czech Republic England Estonia France x 20 Georgia Germany x 3 Greece x 5 Hong Kong x 2 Hungary Iceland * Next week India x 2 Ireland Italy x 2 Laos Latvia Lithuania Macau Malaysia Malta Monaco Morocco x 3 Netherlands x 2 Poland Portugal x 2 scotland Serbia Spain x 10+ Thailand x 2 Turkey x 4 USA Vatican City Vietnam Wales Have to say i've pretty much loved every country I have been to on my list. Particular favourites are Hong Kong, India, Thailand, Laos, Georgia and Morocco. Hopefully should add 4 or 5 new ones to the list next year.

Plans so far..... 2 weeks backpacking around Morocco over new year, already been there a few times, but want to add Meknes, Rabat and Chefchaoen to the places i've been to. 3 Week trip around central and South/ South West Sri Lanka in March Planning on cycling/wild camping the Scottish coastal road in May for 8 days in May Hong Kong and Philippines in September. Will add to this trip through the year with a few random trips around Europe and maybe Central Asia.

Long time reader of the site, so thought it was about time I signed up properly. Supported Villa for as long as I can remember, way back to the 1970's. Get down there as much as I can, although it has been tough over the last couple of years. Keen interest in Travel and photography too. Cheers Will