Paris Peace Accords 23 Oct. 1991

Monday, April 7, 2014

Travelblather blogger Jeremy Head talks temples at sunset in Cambodia and day-tripping in Mallorca

What has been your most memorable travel moment? The time of day I remember most in all my travels is sunset, when I’ve had the opportunity to just stop, sit and absorb what’s going on around me. I was in Cambodia in 1989 and had just left a boring nine-to-five job to travel for a year. It was hot and I was getting quite tired but the one temple I hadn’t visited was Angkor Wat, which was odd because that has always attracted the most tourists. So I pootled up there on the back of a little moped with a driver. It was utterly spellbinding.

Travelblather blogger Jeremy Head talks temples at sunset in Cambodia and day-tripping in Mallorca


Cambodia: Temple sunset was magical
Angkor Wat, Cambodia (Picture: Alamy)
The Knowledge: Globetrotter turned family man and Travelblather blogger Jeremy Head talks late-night climbing in Cambodia and day-tripping in Mallorca

Where did you go on your last holiday?


We went to Puerto Pollensa in Mallorca last summer. I am no longer a footloose and fancy-free travel writer as I’m now married with a three-year-old son. Children have a huge impact on your lifestyle and how you travel.

Mallorca is a truly lovely island, one that’s misunderstood because of TV shows about people who go there for stag weekends. The scenery is incredible: you can easily get up to the Sierra de Tramuntana mountain range in a car. You can drive from one side of the island to the other in a few hours, so no matter where you base yourself, you can explore.

Palma, the capital, is a really interesting little place. It has a very cool Gothic cathedral, the Cathedral of Santa Maria of Palma, or La Seu as it’s commonly known, that has sculpture by Gaudí, among others.
Travelblather blogger Jeremy Head (Picture: Jeremy Head)
Travelblather blogger Jeremy Head (Picture: Jeremy Head)
The other very cool thing to do is visit a place called Sóller on the west coast. It’s another fairly traditional little town, which has a port and a beach; you can catch a tram that goes from Sóller down to the port. We spent the holiday just hanging out and having a nice family time, which was the intention.

Do you have a pre-flight ritual? 
 
I have a bag of essentials always waiting that includes a first-aid kit, travel plugs, a camera kit, dry bags for cameras and basic toiletries.

I used to throw some clothes in it an hour before leaving for the airport. That’s changed now I have a wife and a child, although my attitude is still very much the same because flying holds neither that much stress nor excitement for me – it’s just something you have to get out of the way in order to get to where you’re going.
An Afghan handles cocoons at a silk factory in Herat west of Kabul (Picture: Getty Images)
An Afghan handles cocoons at a silk factory in Herat west of Kabul (Picture: Getty Images)
What’s on your travel bucket list? I’ve always been interested in the offbeat and unusual, so I’d love to go to North Korea. Places where people have a completely and utterly different outlook to my own, often for political reasons, intrigue me. I’d like to go to Burma, for a similar reason, although it is now on the tourist trail. I’d love to see the amazing fields of Buddhist temples at Bagan.

Mozambique is another such example that I’ve researched but never got to. There have been wars there for long periods, making it unreachable until recently. I’ve also wanted to do the Silk Route for years. The ’stans in particular: Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. They are full of Islamic architecture, especially Samarkand and Bukhara, which are essentially city museums.

What has been your most memorable travel moment? The time of day I remember most in all my travels is sunset, when I’ve had the opportunity to just stop, sit and absorb what’s going on around me. I was in Cambodia in 1989 and had just left a boring nine-to-five job to travel for a year. It was hot and I was getting quite tired but the one temple I hadn’t visited was Angkor Wat, which was odd because that has always attracted the most tourists. So I pootled up there on the back of a little moped with a driver. It was utterly spellbinding.
Mir-i Arab Medrasa in Bukhara, Uzbekistan (Picture: Supplied)
Mir-i Arab Medrasa in Bukhara, Uzbekistan (Picture: Alamy)
I climbed to the top and looked across the courtyard to the smaller temples and the forest, which was coming alive with the noise of birds roosting and the clicking sound of cicadas. I decided to wait until the sun had completely set and eventually it was just me, four monks and the smell of incense.

Soon the monks packed up and left too, leaving me on top of this incredible monument. I had to find my way out in the dark and I remember groping my way down the steps, feeling almost scared because of all the noises and rustling around me. I finally found my driver, who looked at me with an expression that just said: ‘Where on earth have you been?’

Top travel tip? It’s very easy as a tourist to be nervous about making contact with local people because you’re worried you might not understand each other. I would always recommend asking questions – if you stretch out the hand of friendship, you’ll find people will usually stretch back.

It’s also likely you’ll experience and see things you never would have done if you hadn’t enquired.


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