vickygoestravelling

my journey to health and well being via exotic destinations

Category Archives: Travel


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At last! my new cancer website is public…read on

Gorgeous orchids at the Gardens by the Bay

Gorgeous orchids at the Gardens by the Bay

 

It’s here at last! after months of grafting, cooking, testing, tasting and photographing. Thanks to husband Ross for being so patient in all of these tasks and for being a great webmaster.

http://healthylivingwithcancer.co/

Please follow and, more importantly, spread the word amongst any friends and family you think it might help – it’s all about the power of positive thinking to help you recover from cancer. For foodies there are loads of new recipes, all extremely healthy. There’s even some proper scientific back-up for this holistic approach, with periodic blogs by ‘the doc’.

All comments and suggestions welcome – on the site of course! Continue reading →


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Speedo – 5 days in Bangkok & on the Burma Railway

The reclining Buddha

The reclining Buddha

Five days in Bangkok leave me breathless, yet full of energy! We are here to meet up with Dr Fi and her family, and also to catch up with another old uni chum, Patrick Brooks, who has been living a Somerset Maugham-type of existence for the past 30 years or so (actually an ex-dip and now consulting for the EU, trying to teach them diplomacy – the EU that is, rather than the Vietnamese or the Thais, who seem perfectly good at people skills if you ask me). Continue reading →


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And now – it’s diving in Sulawesi!

Enormous greenback turtle, as big as me!

Enormous greenback turtle, as big as me!

Two national parks within a week, four days to be precise! From Mana Pools, Zimbabwe to Bunaken island, North Sulawesi, via Joburg and Singapore! I barely had time to unpack before taking advantage of the long Eid el Fitr weekend and setting off to chart new territories. Continue reading →


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Chilling in Zimbabwe – literally

sunset to die for: the Zambezi form Goliath CAmp

Sunset to die for: the Zambezi from Goliath Camp

It is 3.30 am. I hear a low rumbling. Is it a hippo? Then I hear something shaking its head, ears flapping? Is it an elephant? No, the ears don’t sound big enough. Fully alert, I look out into the moonlight through the gauze in my tent. Silently, to my right, only just missing the floor canvas, slinks the lioness. She freezes and sniffs the air right in front of me then, a few seconds later, moves quietly on. Just another night in Mana Pools. Continue reading →


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Contemplating the next 5 years of living with cancer

Tranquility2

Detail from the Temple of Heaven complex in Beijing

It’s been over a week since the All Clear. After so much anxiety in the build up to the scans, its hard not feel the come down from the high in the following days.  People say ‘You must be so happy that it’s over’ and I feel very curmudgeonly saying, ‘I am thrilled, of course, but it’s now only four and half years until I can say I’m in remission’. Continue reading →


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Of mountains, meditation, yoga, writing…and waiting

Carpets of wild flowers

Carpets of wild flowers

The waiting is the worst. As the time for the scan draws nearer, the complete ‘otherness’ of Champery and the Swiss mountain air is appealing. Ross comes up for the weekend but otherwise I am largely left to my own devices, to meditate, do yoga, work on the book, garden and read. Continue reading →


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Battling with the NHS as I hit a health hurdle

 

The beautiful rose Felcity Kendal gave us in Louise's memory

The beautiful rose Felcity Kendal gave us in Louise’s memory

Went to get an HRT prescription last week, and thought it worth mentioning to the Doc that I was feeling exhausted, and a bit dizzy plus I am losing weight (a kg fell off since I returned from China, now 53 kgs). She took some blood tests to rule out a number of things including under-active thyroid, mycoplasma (a form of pneumonia prevalent in Singapore) and Vitamin B 12 deficiency.

Continue reading →


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Solo sightseeing: the hutongs of Beijing in 42 C

 

The shady market scene in one of the backstreet hutongs

The shady market scene in one of the backstreet hutongs

It’s the anniversary of Dad’s death two years ago,  and I need to do something positive to take my mind of all the losses of recent years.

So I decide to branch out and see some of Beijing on my own: the hutongs beckon. Hutongs are the very core of the city, vibrant and thriving communities, which date back to Mongol times. In the 1950s there were as many of 6000 of these streets crisscrossing the city – all east to west for good feng shui – but the bulldozers moved in and razed many to the ground in the name of progress. Now around 2000 remain, and the government seems to have realised that they are good tourist attractions and can feed their coffers with tax; the destruction seems to be on hold. Continue reading →


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Lame Lady limps round the Forbidden City and other Beijing Imperial sites

Golden roofs of the \Forbidden City

Golden roofs of the Forbidden City

My second tour, to all the classic sites – Tian’anmen Square, The Forbidden City, The Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace – is far less fun than my trip to the Wall. As I said before, it’s all about the company you keep: the two German girls of Turkish origin were perfectly nice, but kept to themselves, and the guide – who proudly showed us photos of him with Daniel Craig, Bill Clinton and other celebs – was, as a result, rather big for his boots and decided that the three of us did not merit any more than a cursory whizz around. He also had a smartass answer for everything, which grated after a while. Continue reading →


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Lame lady limps along the Great Wall

on top of the world

on top of the Wall

 

Here I am in Beijing, and it’s hot! We arrived late Monday afternoon and the first thing I did was to book a tour, The Forbidden City and all the main attractions in Beijing, or so I thought. Imagine my surprise when I discover that I am in fact going to the Great Wall at 7 am! Language is a problem here, even in international hotels… Continue reading →