Simon Reeve: First holiday memory?

[XidigtaJSL]

Simon Reeve: First holiday memory?


Going to Bude in north Cornwall and watching my younger brother James crawling around scoffing sand. I remember thinking I should probably stop him, but he seemed so happy. He survived to enjoy other delicacies.

Best holiday?

It has to be a trip to northern Borneo a few years back. Much of the south of the island has since been devastated, but the north was a magical place with extraordinary wildlife, beautiful beaches and glorious sunshine. I canoed down the Kinabatangan river, then visited the cathedral-sized Gomantong Caves, home to thousands of swifts and bats.

Favourite place in the British Isles?

Studland Bay in Dorset. My family went there several times a year for more than a decade after my dad found a cheap place to rent in nearby Wareham. We'd go sailing, walking, swimming or just laze.

What have you learnt from your travels?

Preparation is really important. I've had some bad experiences with illnesses abroad, so I make sure I get medical advice before travelling somewhere exotic. I'm now more careful about getting jabs and taking anti-malarials.

Ideal travelling companion?

I'd love to meet Michael Palin and hear his travel stories. Richard Branson seems to have a good approach to life and adventure. Perhaps he could take me to his Caribbean island.

Greatest travel luxury?

I don't travel without a Leatherman (a multi-tool instrument), but my favourite luxury is my iPod. I have wires to connect it to a car stereo when I'm trying to persuade a taxi driver to listen to my music rather than his crackly radio.

Beach bum, culture vulture or adrenalin junkie?

A bit of each. I get to travel through some fairly hairy parts of the world while working, so on holiday I like to relax in the sun, and read and drink too much.

Holiday reading?

Mainly non-fiction and essays I spot on Arts & Letters Daily (www.aldaily.com). I'm also addicted to The Week, a fantastic magazine digest of what's happening in the world.

Where has seduced you?

Bukhara in Uzbekistan and Somaliland in the Horn of Africa. Bukhara is an ancient Silk Road city with a majestic 16th-century madrasah and a minaret built in 1187. It's so beautiful, I was awestruck. Somaliland is the stable, breakaway and unrecognised bit of completely unstable Somalia. Somalilanders are building a country with very little money or help from the outside world - they're inspirational.

Worst travel experience?

While travelling around the Equator I started retching blood at 3am in Gabon. My temperature went up to just under 40C and I felt terrible. I was diagnosed with malaria and it was months before I felt completely better.

Worst holiday?

Last year my girlfriend and I had a few nights away in a B&B in the West Country. Someone crashed into our car, then we had to kill scores of houseflies that infested our room. And both of us were poisoned by the breakfast.

Worst hotel?

I've visited dozens of places untroubled by even medieval hygiene standards, but a dark, dank, mouldy hotel room in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, was particularly memorable. I was standing at a sink, waiting for brown water to turn clear and watching two cockroaches mating or wrestling, when I trod on a sharp rattrap the size of a house-brick. I left.

Best hotel?

The Lalu in Taiwan, which used to be the summer home of Chiang Kai-shek's wife. It's now modern, beautiful and is situated on the banks of Sun Moon lake in the heart of the country.

Favourite walk/swim/ride/drive?

Walking on Hampstead Heath when the sun's shining is one of life's great, free pleasures.

Best meal abroad?

A couple of years ago I had a bizarre but fantastic meal with the President of Moldova, who insisted on plying me with the finest Moldovan cognac. I don't remember much beyond the first course.

Dream trip?

I'd love to take a long journey around India. But I'd also like to try island-hopping by yacht in the South Pacific.

Favourite city?

London has some of the best urban green spaces in the world and is a fantastic city in the spring and summer, but when it's a bit dark and cold I prefer Barcelona.

Where next?

I'm in discussions about another big work trip, and I'm trying to organise a skiing holiday with friends. We're looking at www.seat61.com, trying to work out how we can get to the snow by rail.

Simon Reeve, presenter of BBC2's 'Equator ' and 'Places That Don't Exist', is an ambassador for the Malaria Awareness Campaign and has launched a new series of podcasts, available on www.malariahotspots.co.uk



Copyright © 2007 Independent Newspapers (UK) Limited Source: Financial Times Information Limited

[XidigtaJSL]

Somaliland continues to make headlines for all the right reasons

[Demure]

Did you just scan the word "Somaliland" in the world wide web and picked the first thing that popped out?

And I was wondering what was the purpose behind posting some guy's holiday memories!!

[XidigtaJSL]

Demoure


Envy.com

[Demure]

Lol... Dude I was only wondering about the purpose of this article ...Runti I would like to visit Somaliland one day but apart from that shaqa aan ku leeyahay aa iska yar.

DisplacedParanoi.com

[Samatr]

Demure and Xidigta chill out.



takedemuretoburco.com

[Gatspy]

[quote="Samatr"]Demure and Xidigta chill out.



takedemuretoburco.com[/quote]


loooooooooool Al Xaaji Samatr. They better keep up with u.

[XidigtaJSL]

Demure


Join Samater's harem and you can live in Somaliland for as ever as Al-Xaaji Samater Ilkoole says