Northern Vietnam
I spent 3 weeks in Vietnam in April 2017 traveling from the north (city of Hanoi) to the very south of the country (Ho Chi Minh City), visting many extraordinary places.
In a first episode I will write about the capital city of Hanoi and some other Northern Vietnam destinations as it did strike me in many ways and I absolutely loved pretty much everything about this place…
Nunnington Hall
Nunnington Hall is believed to be haunted by the ghost of Lady Nunnington, whose dress is heard dragging up and down the staircase. When the sound is investigated it tends to stop.
Doors are known to open and slam shut in the dead of night, with no explanation, and the sounds of weeping have been heard throughout the night.
Rievaulx Abbey
Rievaulx Abbey was founded in 1132 by twelve monks from Clairvaux Abbey as a mission for the colonisation of the north of England and Scotland.
Rievaulx was at the hub of a trade network that extended as far as Italy. Fleeces from the abbey’s flocks were highly prized and Reivaulx became very rich.
Cracking Enigma Code
It is estimated that Cracking Enigma code shortened World War II for approximately 2 – 3 years. It certainly changed the history. I don’t want to think what would happen if German cipher wasn’t cracked. Some say that, with some degree of probability, One American plane could be sent to fly over Central Europe, instead of Hiroshima… (?).
Green Laners Reloaded
Green laning is the act of riding unsealed public highways in cars or on motorbikes, i.e. roads without Tarmac, and is as legal as riding along any other public road. A road-legal vehicle is required, and all same laws apply to users. Driving is slower than on tarmacked roads due to the terrain.
London ‘16
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of around 8.8 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a 50-mile estuary down to the North Sea and has been a major settlement for nearly two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Romans as Londinium and retains its medieval boundaries.
Berlin ‘16
Berlin is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city.
Cambridge
Cambridge is a university city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately 55 miles north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge became an important trading centre during the Roman and Viking ages, and there is archaeological evidence of settlement in the area as early as the Bronze Age.
Mpumalanga
Mpumalanga (Zulu name for “the place where the sun rises“) is a province in eastern South Africa, bordering the nations of Swaziland and Mozambique…
Kruger National Park
Kruger National Park, in north-eastern South Africa, is one of Africa’s largest game reserves. Its high density of wild animals includes the Big 5: lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants and buffalos. Hundreds of other mammals make their home here.