Darn Good Digs launched its 2^nd Nominate-a-thon this weekend, and we are giving away either a Rough Guide of your choice or the Rough Guide’s new Earth Bound photography book to two lucky winners.  The entire concept behind our site is that budget-minded travelers nominate their all-time favorite places to stay, and our editors select the best of the best to post on darngoodidgs.com.  Nominate your favorite digs or simply sign up for the quarterly newsletter and you have a chance to win the Rough Guide of your choice.  Which Rough Guide would you choose?

We started Darn Good Digs in the summer of 2008 with the goal of creating a guide for budget-minded travelers to the best small hotels, guest houses, and bed & breakfasts around the world. After over a year online, we have put together an eclectic collection of independently owned hotels across the globe, all with rooms under US$150, even in the high season. Highlights include a family-run eco-safari in South Africa’s Madikwe National Park, an exotic fruit farm in northeastern Australia, and a hip, theme-roomed motel in the Catskill Mountains just a few hours from New York City.  Savvy travelers know about these hard-to-find places, and we tap into this knowledge through our nomination process.

Our first Nominate-a-thon earlier this year was a huge success, and we’re hoping to encourage even more in-the-know travelers to check us out and share their favorite places.  Signing up for the contest is free and does not have to take more than a few seconds.  So be sure to nominate your favorite digs and have a chance to win a Rough Guide of your choice! The current Nominate-a-thon is running until December 17, 2009.

Rough treatment

In 2003 I approached Rough Guides with a proposal. A Rough Guides guide to Namibia. Their counter-proposal was that I write a proposal. Sample chapters, general content, research time frame, number of tourists arrivals  etc.  I did so. Was then informed that my proposal was good. And that I’d managed to make Namibia “rather attractive, actually.” The ‘actually’ got up my nose. Namibia IS attractive! No actually about it!

Years passed, no more was heard from Rough Guides, and then last year I received an email proposing I submit a proposal. This was a tad annoying. In six years I’ve had as many computers explode, crash, and my original proposal was deader than a Kennedy. But, I thought, “Heck, what man has done, man can do!” So I did it again.  Off went my proposal. It was approved. I launched into serious research mode and then after several months of scouring the country for its hidden treasures I was informed that the project was to be postponed until 2012.

This news was about as welcome as a black mamba in a jockstrap.

I won’t be here in 2012! I’ll be in Bangkok!

But I’m buggered if I’m wasting all that time spent researching ‘must sees and dos’ in Namibia.  So I’ll be posting a few snippets from time to time. They’re informative but not particularly funny. My initial proposal was described as “quite funny, actually.”

‘Actually’ again!!! But I was advised that being funny in a guide book wasn’t appropriate.

So don’t expect a rib tickler of a Sundowners Blog. Just the facts.

Decadent Sundowner Spots in Windhoek.

Hotel Heinitzburg, 22 Heinitzburg St. Tel: 061 249597 www.heinitzburg.com 16 rooms all individually designed and decorated. Expect four poster beds, wooden floors, very romantic ambience, a little flask of welcome sherry on your table, that sort of thing.

Singles start at $N 1373, luxury (pool facing) singles N$1,607, doubles are N$2015. An extremely atmospheric 19^th century turreted fort built on a hill at the turn of the 19^th century just under a kilometer from the city centre, the hotel’s pool and terrace bar is a splendid sundowner spot offering views of the city and distant mountains. Seen at night the street lights make Windhoek much larger than it really is. Almost a Los Angeles.

The restaurant is pricey but the food very good (and weight watchers need not worry, the portions arrive on large plates carrying small delicately sculpted servings that would cause a riot if  served to the sort of Namibian who expects his steak to weigh in at two kilos). There is a very well stocked wine cellar. Afternoon tea and cakes are served on the rose terrace. The facilities are open to residents and non residents alike.

OK, Enough of Heinitzburg. On to Pension Thule!

Pension Thule. Tel: 061 371 950. 1 Gorges St.  www.thule-namibia.com

25 rooms. Singles $985 Doubles $1380. Breakfast included. One room with facilities for disabled guests. Another great sundowner spot, Thule sits on top of an imposing precipice in Klein Windhoek two kilometers from the town centre and is approached via an avenue lined with flags and palm trees . On starry nights the balcony makes for impressive al fresco dining. Tea and cakes are served in the afternoon as well as bar snacks by the pool which is by a nice cliff your kids can fall off while you are watching the sun go down.  There is a thatched lapa where BBQs are sometimes prepared and the main restaurant’s menu is best described as ‘sophisticated Namibian.’ The rooms are lovely and come fully equipped with hair driers, mini-bars, safes (Christ alone knows why they installed safes – the place is virtually impregnable!)  and heated bathroom floors. In addition to watching the sun going down, you are also treated to flocks of guinnea fowl flapping in their ungainly way to their mountain roosts.

Budget Tourist Sundowner Travel Advisory.

Grab a six pack of Windhoek lager (it’s the best!) a packet of Nik naks (they’re the best!) and climb a mountain.  Windhoek is surrounded by mountains. And you get a head start. The city is already 1,600 (+/-) meters above sea level. All you need to do is manage a few more meters (20?).  Same sun going down. Brilliant views! No bill!

Das ist mir noch eine knappe Meldung kurz vor dem Wochenende wert. Eine App Ankündigung mal nicht für das iPhone, sondern für den Vodafone 360 App Shop. Rough Guides fehlt bislang im iPhone App Store, bietet aber seit einiger Zeit eine Java-Anwendung an (sieht zumindest danach aus). Nun die Verlautbarung, demnächst 50 Travel Guide Apps auf das Vodafone 360 Samsung H1 Smartphone zu packen.

Nun geht es richtig los. Endgerätehersteller und Netzbetreiber im Wettstreit um die meisten (müssen nicht mal die besten Apps sein) Anwendungen in ihren Softwareläden. Als App Entwickler begrüßen wir diese Nachfrage natürlich herzlichst. Aber Achtung an alle diejenigen, die für 2010 etwas planen. Die Ressourcen sind knapp und damit der Preis hoch. Also bitte das Budget nicht zu niedrig planen, sonst ist die Enttäuschung am Ende groß.

Possible Assignment Submission

Finished a third possible submission for the Rough Guides assignment, its based on another image taken in Amsterdam (I’m really getting my moneys worth out of that trip!). I’m not 100% on this one, but i’m happy for it to be a first substitute, just in case nothing else pops up.

(Image © Gary Danton)

I’m off to Bolton town center tonight to practice some night photography, so I’ll see if any alternative images crop up.

Thanks

Gary

I’m always looking for good deals on my Heavy Metal Music purchases, from albums, CD’s to memorabilia and books. Upon one of my recent stops into a local thrift store, I happened upon quite the Heavy Metal find indeed, for the ripe price of fifty cents. Yes, fifty cents. The find you ask? Well, none other than The Rough Guide To Heavy Metal – and it is quite the book for me. (This book is a 1st printing, printed in 2005 by Rough Guides). While perusing the book aisle at this thrift store, the image of none other than Ozzy Osbourne caught my eye. What is this? I could not believe what I had found! Knowing immediately too, that any book in this thrift store is only fifty cents… I was Metal stoked. As a bonus, this book stared right at me in gem mint condition as well. As I picked it up and browsed through it’s Heavy Metal filled pages, it was obvious to me that the previous owner of this book never bothered to read it. As crisp of a new book you will find. Life is a sweet journey sometimes, especially when you can stumble on a 410 page book, when you least expect it, that is dedicated to your favorite music genre… Heavy Metal.

Alright, enough about how I found The Rough Guide To Heavy Metal and onward with it’s review. This richly factual book is written by Essi Berelian, with a foreward by the legendary front man for Iron Maiden – Bruce Dickinson himself. There are over 300 bands and/or musicians that are covered in this book. (Hey, to make a definitive book of Heavy Metal bands would not only be a task of the ages, the page count would reach a bizarre number as well). Therefore, there are going to be bands that are missing, (I am disappointed that Enslaved did not get aknowledged), plus there is that band here and there where I can’t exactly label as Heavy Metal, (Asia has a write-up in this book). I like Asia, yet I do not see the connection here. I will bend and say Foreigner has a loose connection to the genre of Heavy Metal, they are represented in The Rough Guide To Heavy Metal. Diversity is shown in the representation of bands, The Rough Guide To Heavy Metal even acknowledges Lynyrd Skynyrd and their link to heavy music.

From Ozzy Osbourne and Kiss to King Diamond and Magnum, with the likes of Venom and UFO in between, a fabulous smorgasbord of movers and shakers are touched upon with factual integrity and reverence. I am smitten that Slayer, Motorhead, W.A.S.P., Red Hot Chili Peppers and Kreator are well covered here too. Something that Essi Berelian did here, that impresses me most, is the inclusion of legendary Punk Rock Bands such as the Misfits and Ramones. Still, where are the Sex Pistols? C’mon, if you include Punk Rock into a voluminous book such as this, it is not a bright move to ignore the Sex Pistols! Plus, whenever writers refer to the 1970’s Hard Rock band Sweet as “The Sweet”, it drives me crazy. Anyone familiar with this band knows them as Sweet… period. The only album I am aware of, that has the moniker of “The Sweet” is their very first album, which was titled Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be back in 1971. Give me a Metal break.

Essi Berelian deserves much praise and credit, despite the few flaws mentioned, that in reality, I can overlook. Each band or musician represented in The Rough Guide To Heavy Metal has it’s history and discography touched upon in enough detail that suffices for me. Interesting anecdotes and facts are also provided throughout this entire book, making for a very resourceful guide on the history of Heavy Metal. The genres of Heavy Metal are explained very well too, giving the reader an in depth explanation to it’s respective origin and impact on the world of music. From Christian Metal to Black Metal, the genres of Heavy Metal are given their own spotlight. The Rough Guide To Heavy Metal is also loaded with plenty of black and white photographs, (group and individual shots, album covers and concert photos), giving this book that much more appeal.

At the end of the Metal day, The Rough Guide To Heavy Metal makes for an extensive and detailed read into the bands that started, shaped and expanded the world of Heavy Metal Music. Whether you are a life long fan of this incredible genre of music or a brand new fan, this book is rather difficult to put down. I most highly recommend The Rough Guide To Heavy Metal to all, it really isn’t that rough at all. Hey, for the fifty cents it set me back, this book is worth every penny. I cannot shake the Metal grin on my face each time I pick this book up to read.

Rough Guides Update

The first part of the Rough Guides assignment is completed, I’ve managed to use one of the images from my recent Amsterdam trip to make a “Rough Guide to Amsterdam”.

(Image © Gary Danton)

Thanks

Gary

Whether you’ve decided to throw caution to the wind or have always wanted to travel around the world, there’s no time like the present to just go for it. You need to plan meticulously though and the Rough Guides website is just the place to start:

check out www.roughguides.com

Subscribe to Ask Ashe by Email

Just got back from a great mini-cruise to Holland and a day trip to Amsterdam, while I was there, I was looking for possible images to use as part of the Rough Guide assignment (previous posts are here and here). Here’s something that I took:

(image © Gary Danton)

Obviously it’ll be titled “A Rough Guide to Amsterdam”, but I didnt want to go for the obvious choices (either a bicycle or the red light district). I just need to think about how I’m going to use it.

Thanks

Gary

This is a continuation from my earlier post about my Rough Guides assignment. I was witness to a great sunset last night and managed to take an image that really did it justice.

(image © Gary Danton)

I’m thinking “Rough Guide to Sunsets”.

thanks

Gary

Rough Guides have launched the ‘On a Budget’ Student writing competition in partnership with STA Travel. Open to UK & Irish Students, this is your chance to work and write for Rough Guides on a fully commissioned piece to South or Central America.

To enter the competition, simply tell them, in no more than 500 words, about a place you know well. Your subject could be a little town in Europe you discovered on holiday, your home or University town, or a favourite place you’ve travelled to. The location is up to you, but all entries should have an ‘on a budget’ theme.

For full details see On a Budget Writer.

This competition is only open to UK residents.

Closing date: 31 January 2010

Roughguides.com biedt de bezoekers van haar website wel iets heel leuks en handigs voor op je IPod. Op de website kan je namelijk complete reisgidsen van diverse steden downloaden, inclusief eet- en drinkhotspots. En het leukste van dit alles, het is helemaal gratis!

De Rough Guide Podscrolls zijn eenvoudig in gebruik en kleurrijk. Alle hotspots zijn voorzien van foto’s en informatieve content. De Podscrolls zijn te downloaden voor de steden Amsterdam, Barcelona, Dublin, Londen, Madrid, New York, Parijs, Praag, Rome en San Francisco. Klik hier om meteen te downloaden.

The next assignment is as follows:

Assignment 2 is to create 3 book covers for fictional Rough Guide books. The point is to reflect the “brand values” of Rough Guides in the design.

The guides can be on any subject, ie sport, music, travel etc.

Thats pretty much it, lots of creative scope. The Rough Guides layout template will be provided in class, so I just need to concentrate on the theme, subject and the image itself. Image size needs to be 20cm x 20cm @ 300 dpi, 2 sets of prints are required, one for portfolio and a second for mounting on foamboard in class.

Below are examples of existing Rough Guides.

(All images Copyright Rough Guides)

Initially i assumed that Rough Guides only did travel guides, but a quick peek at the website www.roughguides.com shows a massive range of subjects covered, like travel, sport, culture, music and technology – so i’ve got plenty of choice!

Now I just need to brainstorm and work out exactly what subjects i’m going to pick.

thanks

Gary

If you’re thinking about getting away for a long weekend remember you can use your library card number to log on to Know UK and read travel guides such as:

• The Rough Guide to the Scottish Highlands and Islands
• The Rough Guide to the Lake District
• The Rough Guide to London
• The Good Food Guide

Know UK is an  online reference library containing the contents of over 100 titles, under a range of categories including law, personal finance, health and welfare, and of course, tourism and leisure. And with an Edinburgh City Libraries membership card you can log on to Know UK whenever you want, as often as you want. Bonnes vacances!

In Pulp’s caustic 1995 anthem “Common People,” singer Jarvis Cocker delivers what has to be one of the best lines in any pop song: “Everybody hates a tourist.” Ironically, I bought the album when I was visiting London as a tourist. I’d never heard of (or heard) Pulp at that point, but our tour guide (it was a high school class trip) told me that they were the best Britpop band to date, better than my beloved Boo Radleys, he assured me. He had great taste; the album is fantastic and “Common People” became a dance party classic (this same tour guide took our entire group of high school juniors, seniors, and chaperons (teachers and parents) to a screening of Trainspotting, which had just come out in Great Britain. Many of the students and chaperons got quite upset, but for me it was kinda sorta life-changing (I was 15 or 16). Later, in Heidelburg, Germany, this same tour guide took a small group of six or seven of us out to one of the coolest bars I’ve ever been to, and laughed about the whole Trainspotting incident. He said he told our teachers that it would be an important “cultural enrichment experience” for us, but in reality it was just a great movie that he thought some of us would like to see).

I realize that this is a long, overly-personal lead-in to a book review, but Clean Breaks, from Rough Guides, embodies the spirit of the trip I discussed above. Richard Hammond and Jeremy Smith’s travel guide is not so much about how to avoid looking like a loathsome tourist, but about how to engage in the real culture of the place you are visiting while getting to know the real people who live there. In this sense, the book is not for everyone, but if you want Disney World or Las Vegas, I’m sure you won’t have any trouble figuring out what to do. However, if you’re interested in, say, hearing the desert music of Mali, or volunteering on a ranch in Brazil’s Patanal wetlands, or fishing for prawns in Kerala, then Clean Breaks is a great starting place for you. As the authors put it in their introduction, a “clean break” is essentially “about minimizing your environmental impact–on your journey and at your destination–by choosing carefully how you travel and the nature of the place you choose to stay at.” To that end, the book concentrates not just on eco-friendly hotels and restaurants that specialize in locally grown food, but also on the type of adventure trekking and activities that put you in real contact with the real people of the place you are visiting. There’s an emphasis on bicycling and walking, guest houses and natural parks, and volunteering.

Again, the adventures in Clean Breaks are certainly not going to be every tourist’s cup of tea, but they aren’t all exactly uncomfortable either. I’m lucky enough to have actually experienced a (very) small fraction of the 500 trips suggested, and can attest to their awesomeness. Taking The Ghan train from Adelaide to Alice Springs, for example, was a highlight of my young life, as was visiting a glacier in the Otago province of New Zealand. And did I mention that there are lots of pretty, pretty colorful pictures and maps accompanying the book’s 500 suggested trips (with key info like email addresses and phone numbers, of course). While Clean Breaks’s emphasis on “ecotourism” did seem a bit suspect to me at first–just another marketing ploy, perhaps (I’ve attacked the rhetoric of “going green” in the past”)–the  authors’ intentions and tone seem wholly sincere. They acknowledge, for example, that terms “such as ‘responsible,’ ’sustainable,’ and ‘ethical’ are becoming . . . overused (and abused) by websites and tourism companies looking to ride the green wave,” and their repeated emphasis on localism and action over passive “sight-seeing” is admirable. And even though most people will never have the money and time to complete the 500 trip wish-list that Hammond and Smith present here, the book still makes for a great fantasy. Good stuff.

Clean Breaks is now available from Rough Guides.

New publication “Clean Breaks – 500 New Ways To See The World” from Rough Guides features seven Nature Travels ecotourism Sweden holidays.

“Clean Breaks” is the latest publication from Rough Guides and focuses on planet-friendly holidays across the world. Richard Hammond, eco-journalist for The Green Traveller and The Guardian, travelled with Nature Travels to visit a number of their experiences in Sweden. All of the Swedish activities in the book are part of the Nature Travels portfolio and include timber rafting, natural horse riding, snowshoeing, sea kayaking and eco-accommodation in forest huts and the “House of Nature”.

Quotes from the book include:

• Timber Rafting on Klarälven: “The ultimate DIY travel experience.”
• Snowshoeing in Wolverine Country: “Strap on a pair of snowshoes and go walkabout into the wintry beyond…you may spot the tracks of lynx and wolverine, or hear the distant barking of an Arctic fox high above the tree line in the Syl Massif.”
• The Saga Rides: “If you were inspired by The Horse Whisperer, you can try the real thing on a natural horsemanship tour.”

I blogged in detail here about Episode One of the BBC’s travelogue The Frankincense Trail, where Kate Humble travels across the Middle East. Episode Two was, I thought, much better – an absorbing (and probably unique) hour of prime-time terrestrial TV devoted to showcasing Saudi Arabia as a tourist destination. There was, fortunately, much less fooling around on camels and much more intelligent insight into previously unseen or unknown aspects of Saudi and Arab society. A few mistakes here and there – notably calling anything smoky and/or fragrant ‘frankincense’, even though it was more often oud or bakhoor – but otherwise excellent. It’s about time a city as beautiful and atmospheric as Jeddah got more attention from the mainstream travel media.

Since a lot of people are asking how to follow in Kate’s footsteps, here is some information to help travellers. I’m not connected with Kate or the BBC – just an enthusiastic travel journalist.

Dhofar, Oman

Oman

Kate started her journey in Dhofar, the southernmost region of Oman. Salalah, the Dhofari capital, is roughly 1000km south of Muscat. Several airlines fly there: from the UK, the easiest will be Oman Air from Heathrow via Muscat, or you could get a cheap flight to either Istanbul or Hurghada (Egypt) from where Jazeera Airways flies to Salalah via Kuwait. There’s a great museum of frankincense in Salalah (which also has a fantastic souk where you can buy your own), and you could follow cultural itineraries – designated World Heritage by UNESCO – to the frankincense groves in Wadi Dawkah near Salalah, as well as the ancient trading cities of Sumharam (aka Khor Rori) and Ubar. Read this superb article in Saudi Aramco World by Tim Mackintosh-Smith. The Oman tourist board is here.

Yemen

Yemen is not an easy country to visit as an independent Western traveller. Its politics are unstable, its infrastructure is very poor and safety is sometimes uncertain, especially when travelling outside the centre of the capital, Sanaa. Lots of tourists visit, travel and have a great time without any problems; others run into serious difficulties. Kate went to Shibam, in the hard-to-access Hadhramaut region of eastern Yemen, then detoured to Aden, once a British crown colony (where she was taken to see a statue of Queen Victoria), and on to Sanaa. Travelling overland from Oman is difficult: regulations surrounding the land crossing change frequently. The Yemen tourist board is here, and this is a good article from The Independent by travel journalist Ginny Hill.

Saudi Arabia

The difficulty with visiting Saudi Arabia is getting a visa to enter; once you’re in, travelling around is straightforward for men (women must be accompanied by a man, either a close relative or a licensed guide). Muslims qualify for pilgrimage visas. If you’re not Muslim, but you have business contacts inside Saudi, they could sponsor a visa for you. 3- or 5-day transit visas are sometimes issued, under certain conditions. Otherwise, tourist visas are restricted in number, difficult to get and very expensive.

Kingdom Centre, Riyadh

Two UK tour companies offer Saudi Arabia. The Traveller operates cultural tours which visit key destinations such as Riyadh (where Kate discussed capital punishment with a chief of the religious police), Jeddah (where Kate was moved to tears by the call to prayer) and Madain Saleh, an ancient Nabatean trading city in the northern deserts. Regaldive operates trips to the Farasan Islands in the Red Sea hosted by Eric Mason of DreamDiver.net: Eric led Kate on a wreck dive somewhere in the area around the Farasan (and has featured in travel articles such as this one by James Montague in The Observer). You could also talk directly to Sadd Al-Samallaghi Tours of Jeddah, one of Saudi’s leading ‘inbound’ tour operators: they handle regular tour groups from lots of European countries and were credited as ‘fixers’ for Kate Humble’s trip.

The Saudi capital Riyadh’s commercial area Olaya is dominated by two skyscrapers – the Faisaliah Centre and the Kingdom Centre (also known as the Potato Peeler, or the Vest – see pic – which was where Kate met Prince Alwaleed). Kate also met and flew with ex-fighter pilot Prince Sultan (who happens to be director of the Saudi tourism authority) and Prince Bandar bin Saud, head of the wildlife commission: she was flown in a light aircraft over the desert to the Uruq Bani Maarid nature reserve and on to the ancient frankincense trading centre of Al-Ukhdood near the modern Saudi city of Najran, site of a 6th-century massacre of Christians. She went to Jeddah, exploring the Old City, and the beautiful ancient city of Madain Saleh (built by the Nabateans, who also built Petra, nearby in Jordan) and dived in the Farasan Islands.

Click here and scroll down to post no.36 for a detailed account of how an ordinary traveller secured a transit visa to Saudi in 2006 and spent four days touring independently. Here is a travel article about visiting Saudi by Mark Stratton in CNN Traveller – and here is another, by Cath Urquhart in Wanderlust.

But the best way to get into the frankincense mood is to read Petra and the Lost Kingdom of the Nabataeans by historian Jane Taylor. I’m reliably informed Jane pops up in Episode Four, to guide Kate around Petra in Jordan (along with Marguerite van Geldermalsen, author of the highly recommended Married To A Bedouin). Jane’s book is full of stunning photos and intimate historical detail about the ancient frankincense trade. (Disclosure: Jane is a friend of mine, and has collaborated on my Rough Guide to Jordan.)

Last night I spent my time clicking away on the ‘puters in the hostel getting frustrated at the minute bandwidth on offer (I reckon some wideboy was hogging it with P2P over the Wi-Fi) but my temper (patience isn’t a virtue I possess) was mitigated by the Croat beer and my chuckling away at the Family Guy marathon going on behind me.

I was also laughing when an Aussie girl who was having trouble with her netbook asked her mate “Should I use the big computers instead?”.

After lots of moping around and living life in reverse this morning I finally got my buttocks in gear, had a shower, finished off that pasta (plus the single remaining beer I had left) and got myself out on to the streets of Zagreb.

I didn’t make it very far though as within 2 minutes I was in a bar I’d read about in my excellent Rough Guide (am I allowed to mention them when I’m kind of affiliated to Lonely Planet?) as it’s literally round the corner from the Hobo Bear hostel where I’m crashing.

Anyway the bar is called Sedmica and is well hidden down what I’d call a guinell (as would many other Northern folk) which in itself is off a side street. It’s a cool little place with some decent loose roots and reggae tunes on the go. It’s somewhere I can imagine Johnny Dangerously knocking about, though he might detest reggae for all I know.

Speaking of Lonely Planet, there’s a whole £1.14 of advertising revenue been made by me so far don’t you know. Not that I’m arsed, I’m just happy with the exposure on a good travel (miles better than Rough Guides, ahem) site.

Actually the tunes in this bar are going all over the place now, I’ve not heard a single one before but I like them all, always the hallmark of a good establishment. I think it’s time to leave or my Zagreb experience could be a minimalist one.

Davey, one of the lads I was knocking about with in Bratislava and Vienna uploaded this video earlier as an indication of what the trip was like. Peruse if you so wish.

Just one more in this bar and then I’m offski to the Zagreb City Museum. I could happily sit in here all day if I was in good company, or any company for that matter. I like how they leave the iTunes Cover Flow display on so you know who you’re listening to if you don’t know who you’re listening to. Right now it’s the album ‘Tiny Voices’ by Joe Henry and the best way I can describe it is as like what Jaime Cullum would sound like if he wasn’t crap, a tw*t, had a decent band, some of his own ideas and was mates with Pela and Håkan Hellström. Is twit a swear word?

They’re playing soft blues now. This is a hard place to leave. It’s like a 16:00 lock-in.

Davey has also uploaded another clip of a very different ilk. I like it muchos.

I’d like to tell you what beer I’m drinking but I have no idea, I’ve become like Steve McManaman on this trip, I just point a lot and see what comes of it. He was like a midfield witchfinder General during his City days, at least he had a lovely barnet though.

I did eventually leave the bar and make my way to the museum which was bang in the heart of embassy country. When I trundled my way over there I came across a large procession of flash blacked-out and parked-up cars surrounded by a fair old amount of broad-shouldered, tight white-shirted, dark shaded (?), Madonna miced up (urgh), grim sweded tough looking b@stards knocking about ominously. Bodyguards I reckon. Somet was going down.

I’d have liked to think that a few of them were sweaty palmed and even itchier triggered as they suspected me of being a rogue Western European hitman here to kill the vice-president of Chad with a Pritt Stick. As it was I’m pretty sure they all had me correctly zeroed as a slightly lost, slightly tipsy, mildly deadly English tourist.

The museum was okay and only cost me a little over a quid with the stud. card applied (I never tire of that joke). It was very quiet though and after 3 pints previous and a couple of floors of exhibits I got to feeling quite sleepy. So sleepy in fact that if a 16th century Zagrebian couch (bought then, paid in 1620) had have been an item on display I may well have just had a wee kip there and then. No harm done.

The place is worth a look if you have the time as it’s cheap in, large, well maintained and professionally put together and covers many eras of Zagreb’s (and the precursors to) history. I’d have liked to have seen a lot more on the past 20 years though, but my main historical interest is always 20th century. Me, me, me eh.

For my evening meal I went to a place serving cheap traditional Croatian grub that the hostel had recommended, Mali Medo. My washdown was courtesy of Zlatni Medvjed (lager with golden colour, refreshing taste and a semi-bitter aroma apparently) and my main course was Trganci s pivnickim gulasem (home made pasta with pub goulash apparently).

The lager was indeed bitter (and not the best IMHO) and the scran was hearty seafaring stuff, it was basically thin strips of pasta with chicken gravy and beef chunks (sounds like Italian Winalot), quite stodgy but tasty enough. I demolished it. All for the meagre sum of 38 Kunas (matata), or £4,50. I rounded it up to 50 Kunas or 6 quid as the lady was friendly. Not so hobo style.

So I’ve not seen as much as I should have done of Zagreb but I’ve liked my time here. It seems a very dynamic, busy and cosmopolitan city with ever so slight hints of the Mediterranean about it and lots of traditional charms, this appeals to me.

It is as yet untouched by the budget British airlines but I’m sure this is a matter of time. Dubrovnik has already fallen as has Budapest, the net closes. I shouldn’t complain as I often make use of these facilities. 27 pi$£ed up fellas from Slough can easily dilute the attraction of any city though.

A special mention for Richard Dunne this eve, although I’ve not been his greatest fan over the past few seasons I’ve never doubted his heart and effort. To throw out a mega cliche, he has been a great servant to the club. It is indeed the end of the era and a blue moon does look to be rising finally which is a good thing in my book, but what I will say is that he was certainly one of the major highlights of the last one. Cheerio Two Tonne and the best of luck to you. 4/1 on an own goal within 5 games of his debut at Ladbrokes no doubt?

It’s a bit City heavy (and football in general) this blog lately I concede. I can’t pretend it’s going to change any time soon though. Apologies and TTFN.

If you want something more than the average hotel on your travels, here are five unique lodgings around the world that are sure to make for an unforgettable night’s sleep.

1. Camping in a futuristic igloo; Torres del Paine: Patagonia
2. Try a traditional yurt; The Grasslands: Mongolia
3. Spend the night on a houseboat; Kuttanad: Kerala
4. Live the high life in a treehouse; Phaselis: Turkey
5. Stay in a thatched mud hut; Long Bay: Jamaica

[all info from roughguides.com]

I have actually stayed in a treehouse in Turkey and it was a magical experience, lofty amongst the tree tops, just the sound of leaves in the air and although rickety, they are such fun to stay in!
If you head through Olympus at any stage, stay in the treehouses they have there, when you venture across to the beach you have to make your way over old doric and corinthian columns which are lying on the ground – so amazing!

It’s been a scatty week, with not much chance to think straight, let alone blog straight. I’m now back in Switzerland, on the final research trip to update my Rough Guide to Switzerland, looking out at the Baroque facade of the cathedral in Solothurn – it’s a humid summer evening and there’s an electric storm rolling in off the mountains. Rain is sheeting down, the bells are tolling for Mass, chords crescendo from the cathedral organ as a clap of thunder echoes around the darkening sky… Melodrama? You couldn’t make it up.

I must admit that my mind isn’t fully on the guidebook job in hand: I’m returning to Oman next month, for my first visit to Salalah, in the southern Dhofar region. Ranulph Fiennes’ book Atlantis of the Sands about the discovery of Ubar, a ‘lost city’ in the Dhofari desert, is getting me in the mood. The tales of military derring-do are less than gripping (Fiennes was a mercenary, seconded to Dhofar in 1968-69 to protect the then Sultan of Oman against Marxist insurgents) but Fiennes knows his Arabian history, clearly understands and respects Dhofari culture, and can call on a nice turn of phrase. Six bald words he gives to a remote desert settlement named Fasad, describing it as “a place of wind and spiders”. It’s one of the most exciting, evocative lines of travel writing I think I’ve ever read. I now have to see Fasad.

So that’s my problem. I love Switzerland, honestly I do. And I’m trying to focus on updating my Swiss guidebook. It’s just that, even with an electric storm as a garnish, Baroque Solothurn can’t quite match up to the allure of “a place of wind and spiders”. I’m already half in Dhofar.

Sorry, Switzerland.

Another Middle East megaproject trundles on, this time the $10-billion Marsa Zayed (‘Zayed Harbour’) development in Jordan’s Red Sea resort city of Aqaba.

For years Aqaba’s beaches played second fiddle to its port – which, during the 1990s, was the gateway for goods trucked to and from sanctions-bound Iraq. Since the creation of the low-tax Aqaba Special Economic Zone in 2001, investment (and, specifically, leisure and tourism investment) has skyrocketed.

I’m rather fond of Aqaba. It smells a bit, but (as I write in my ‘Rough Guide to Jordan’) it’s got a long history – and it feels like it doesn’t have anything to prove, which makes a change from the Gulf.

But ever since the municipality cut down almost all the beachfront palm trees in the 1960s, there’s been a slightly cock-eyed idea of progress in Aqaba. Marsa Zayed involves razing a low-income residential district in the city centre and moving its population to the outskirts. I look at the artist’s impressions of the marina, and my heart sinks.

Jordan only has 26km of Red Sea coastline. Are “high-rise residential towers” directly on the waterfront really the best use of it?

From superclubs to sweaty backrooms, hiphop to hardcore, there’s a London club night guaranteed to get you throwing shapes on the dance floor. Institutions like Fabric and Ministry of Sound are pricey, but well worth it to experience world-famous DJs on knee-tremblingly loud soundsystems. Buy tickets in advance to avoid the three-hour queues. For a less commercial, more spontaneous vibe, keep an ear cocked for pounding basslines next time you’re strolling past South Bank’s Festival Pier. When the tide is out, free parties periodically pop up on the grubby strip of sand, attracting a diverse mix of grungy ravers and passing tourists.

North, south, east or west? Partisan local opinion is divided. In a trio of clubs hidden north amongst the industrial wasteland behind Kings Cross, a smart international crowd go mad for any kind of house music, whether funky or Ibiza euphoric. South of the river, the holy meets the hedonistic in the crypt beneath Brixton’s St Matthew’s Church, which hosts regular drum n bass, hard tech house and trance nights. Clubbing out east veers on the theatrical, with trendy Hoxtonites striding out in vintage frocks, flat caps and dramatic make-up, as indie, pop and electro collide in weird and wonderful ways. Meanwhile, small venues and scruffy boho chic are the order of the day out west in Notting Hill, with an eclectic soundtrack of soulful funk, broken beat and world music.

After-parties used to be undercover, word-of-mouth affairs, but thanks to 24-hour licensing there’s now a whole host of excuses to carry on raving way past bedtime. Sunday afternoon sessions are growing in popularity, enjoyed by both early risers who love a daytime dance, and the scarily dedicated party people who’ve been going strong since Friday.

Whatever day of the week, there’s absolutely no excuse for staying in.

Practicalities Get ideas for your night out from www.timeout.com/london, Saturday Guardian Guide and One Week To Live – a free weekly listings magazine available in streetwear stores around the capital.

Published in Britain & Ireland: 25 Ultimate Experiences (Rough Guides) May 2007