Things have been a bit quiet on myWanderlust the past couple of weeks. I put it down to patriotic fervour, figuring that myWanderlust regulars, all over the world, were busy readying themselves for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
I was wrong. I just swung by Just Back From and realised that myWanderlusters had dispersed to every corner of the globe to get away from the said Jubilee celebrations.
Scott Bennett, for example, went on a nine-day dive trip in PNG. The only concession to royalty being that it was off New Britain. The diving is unforgettable, he says, but bring a sense of humour. Things will go wrong.
Rhoda1 lost herself in the Lake District, not wandering lonely as a cloud, but rather tripping through carpets of bluebells. She highly recommends Wrynose and Hardnott Passes, taking a sack load of £1 coins for car park fees and avoiding fences impaled with moles. She also popped over to the Farne Islands to watch puffins being puffins. Look out for the Terns, she warns. They will attack without mercy if you stray near their nests. Which isn't hard considering they build them right next to the footpath.
Pete Selman vies with Scott Bennett for being the furthest from live coverage of the Royal Jubilee Flotilla by popping across to Mexico and Guatemala to watch an effigy of Judas having its straw penis set on fire. Other than avoiding being mistaken for Judas, he recommends Tikal at dawn and Latin America's most colourful church at San Andres Xecul. He suggests avoiding Mexico City's underground train system at peak hour.
Others returning with advice from foreign fields include Angela R who went on a road trip through Nevada, Utah, Arizona and Colorado; Meet the Gringo, who went to Riga; and DrG who survived 'stunning' weather in the Eden Valley and Haweswater environs.
Two things caught the imagination of myWanderlusters on the forum this week. Memorable meals and funny place names. Our new intern Olivia wanted to know everybody's most memorable meals, and once it was established that they didn't have to necessarily be the tastiest, was inundated with the kind of dining experiences that are seared rather than etched into one's memory. Similarly, I now have a new list of places to visit in the world after the incredible response to Ellifry's call for strange place names. My only disappointment was that mattyboy876 beat me to a glaringly obvious single-entendre. Well done Matty!
As usual, a lot of myWanderlusters need help. Your help, in particular. Kathryn wants tips on a week in Bratislava. ScottishMike is going to Iceland in February and wants a bit of long-range advice. Sheffa is spending a couple of weeks in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. And scheungy is after a bit of bespoke tailoring in Shanghai or Beijing. Help them all here.
Our call for festival experiences has been heeded and competition for the goody bag is intense. The winner will be announced next week, so rather than pre-empt the result by pointing out any of them in particular, may I simply suggest you pop over to experiences and enjoy each and every one of them.
While you're there you should also check out Nigerian Kiwi's account of a lazy stroll around Malaysia. And Peterj2002's account of the Paduang ladies of Inle Lake.
Peter has also posted a photo set of the ladies over at our photo galleries. As usual, well worth checking out. Spiracle has a fine selection of images from Morocco. Mattyboy876 presents a bunch of photos from Kiev. Rhoda1's set from the Farne Islands includes the much sought after pic of a puffin with a mouth full of fish. And DrG gives us an idea of what 'stunning' weather looks like.
Until next week…
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