Bristol

I headed off to Bristol next morning feeling a "bit rough" as they say in Liverpool.

I had found a website where I could buy cheap "Fun Fares" on the bus to Bristol so my journey cost me £6 rather than the usuual £34. I like those kind of bargains.

The journey took about 5 hours and I managed to sleep for some of it. The motorways in Britain are good but this day we had a bit of a slow trip because the rain was very heavy most of the way.

England has had the wettest June on record with many areas being severely flooded. I have managed to miss it although I have been quite close to very flooded areas. The media reports reminded me of our "February Floods" a few years ago: Out of season and devastating.

When I arrived I experienced the hottest March and April on record and now the wettest June so I cannot complain about lack of variety in the weather.

I went to Bristol to meet up with Kate and Helen whom I travelled with in Laos last year. It was good to see them in their own home environments and to see that they had settled back after extensive traveling. There is hope for me yet!!

I thought Bristol was the dirtiest city I had visited but there is a lot of work going on so it may clean up after that. However the people were all very friendly which upheld my opinion as I left Asia that the people of Bristol were the nicest of the English I had met. They also have a nice accent and it is realively easy to get around. I did get slightly lost returning to Helen's place one evening having got off the bus at the wrong end of the street.

3 Jul 2007