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My travel year in review, 2022
All of us who love to travel, and are fortunate enough to be able to do so, will I hope be looking back on a year filled with both familiar and foreign places. For most of us, 2022 was the year in which we began to feel comfortable travelling again. When, despite a few new forms to fill in and masks to be worn, perhaps reluctantly, on planes, the world opened up again and we could scratch that travel itch, relieve that homesickness ‘for the places we have never known’.
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In Kathmandu’s Durbar Square
In the heart of Kathmandu is a cluster of ancient temples, places and open spaces, known as Durbar (meaning royal palace) Square. This UNESCO World Heritage site was badly hit by the earthquake that struck Nepal in April 2015, but no amount of damage could destroy its unique atmosphere. And today much has already been done to restore it to its former glories.
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Udaipur, Rajasthan’s city of lakes
Udaipur’s setting in the Aravalli Mountains, and around a string of man-made lakes, gives it a unique character among Rajasthan’s cities. Arriving here it is immediately obvious why it is so often called the ‘city of lakes’.
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Gallery: the rippling of rivers
There is something magical about the sound of flowing water. Whether tumbling over rocks or moving more sedately, whether young and vigorous or older and more serene, a river has the power either to exhilarate and to calm.
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Gallery: I must go down to the seas again
I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by; John Masefield, Sea-Fever
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Gallery: inspired by spring blossoms
Now every field is clothed with grass, and every tree with leaves; now the woods put forth their blossoms, and the year assumes its gay attire. This quote from Virgil, who lived in the first century BCE, is a reminder that spring has inspired writers throughout the centuries. I wonder if it’s the most written-about season of all?
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Sailing away from the safe harbour: some travel dreams
Sometimes people say to me, you’ve travelled to so many places, there can’t be anywhere left that you want to visit. How wrong they are! The world is full of so many amazing sights and there is always somewhere new to tantalise and intrigue.
