Thoughts from the Shelf

I recently travelled to Turkey and stayed in Calis near the regional centre of Fethiye. A surprise holiday location for myself really, as it is renowned not so much for the pumping nightlife as it is for its numerous restaurants and bars that sprawl along the beach front.

I choose this destination as I had decided to rent a villa off a family friend, a new build that was purchased as a holiday home within a complex of additional nearby villas. With the exception of the pool which was shared amongst the surrounding villas, it had everything to itself, gardens, balconies, and even a back porch.

In all aspects the villa was pristine, three stories, three balconies spread from front to back, three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a fully fitted kitchen, lounge and dining area and as previously mentioned had full access to a quiet swimming pool. I couldn’t recommend it highly enough!

As for the surrounding area of Calis, it is very much a small market town. Restaurants and bars litter single high street which is not too adept to tourists, so much so that the language barrier if frustrating in places. There are plenty of regional markets to look at and as such we visited the Chalis market on the Sunday and the Fethiye market on the Tuesday, but there are plenty of others available.

We also took part in some slightly more adventurous activities. There were plenty on offer, all of which are fairly priced and include door to door pick up and drop off. We choose paragliding as this area is renowned the world over for its picturesque landscape, and thus is one of the best paragliding spots in the world.

Our paragliding flight started at a little less than 2000ft where we had to run off the side of a mountain and the gradually fly back to earth over the course of a 30 minute flight. Again this is highly recommended if you ever get the chance.

So Exeter city have reached a final at Wembley. For a long time people from in and around Exeter have dreamt of hearing that, and although it is not the illustrious FA cup final, it is the Vauxhall conference playoff final with the prize to the winner being football league status.

The performance that put city through away at oxford last Tuesday seems to have got the city believing that this year is the year that city reinstate themselves. After over turning a 0-1 deficit in the first leg, city drew 2-2 over the two legs and went through on the resulting penalty shootout.

Now we have a situation where after consistent demand, over 30,000 tickets have been sold, with over 100 official coaches making the eight hour round trip to the capital. One thing is for sure, regardless of the result, Exeter have shown that they have the fan base to justify football league status.

The experiences of people who have an accident abroad vary greatly, often encountering different standards of health care that is dependant on the travel destination. It was not until an accident in summer 2004 I came to realise that simply because people are on holiday they are exempt from accidents, and in many cases act in ways that make them more prone to them.

As part of a university sports tour I was part of a large group who travelled by coach to Cella, a small town built for the summer influx of British students, located an hour north of Barcelona. It was here that we spent the week in typical student fashion, partying and sunning ourselves in the little daylight that was actually seen.

The morning after one such night I slipped off a raised platform, and with a lacerated thumb. With a tea towel wrapped around the wound I was instructed by the complex manager to walk a mile to the local hospital to seek attention. Although the language barrier proved a frustrating and time consuming obstacle, my thumb was eventually cleaned and sewn, albeit with stitches that would have looked more at home in a veterinary surgery.

The incident was not concluded there. The complexity was that I had lacerated the nerve running down the thumb and the resulting hospital hadn’t the facilities to operate, and would have meant a transfer to Barcelona. With a flight home only taking an hour, I caught a plane back to England where the operation was carried out on my return.

The experience played a crucial role in ensuring that I now always travel with my own medical insurance, although at the time my E111 and student travel insurance covered the costs, it could have been a lot worse.

On a recent trip this experience was put in stark contrast in an area of the world supposedly less developed than Spain. The country was Thailand, and the incident involved a group member being stabbed in the arm with a broken bottle.

The incident happened late at night, so a walk-in visit to the local hospital the morning after was required. Presented upon arrival was a hospital that rivalled anything I had previously seen. We were seen immediately, and after being taken into an immaculately clean room, the party member was bandaged up and on his way with antibiotics in hand.

Having recently travelled to Thailand I thought it appropriate to write a blog on some of my experiences. Having booked early in a group, the organisation burden that usually lay upon my shoulders was lifted on this excursion, to which I took full advantage and simply set a side spending money and waited for a departure date.

After arriving in the recently completed Bangkok international airport, we proceeded to a somewhat suspect minibus which was due to complete our journey with a further hours drive down the coast. What was to follow could have been interpreted as a sign of things to come, luckily for us it wasn’t after our bartered for minibus suffered a puncture. Such things happen and after suffering a similar fete a few days prior to my leaving I thought a quick tyre change in a quiet lay by would have been a simple resolution.

It was however a different experience and one which rubber stamped how this country has quickly developed without the regulations we take for granted in the west. We came to a halt on what was a poorly constructed two lane carriageway that ran the through the rural countryside with the sole purpose of linking the cities of Bangkok and Pattaya.

After being stranded on the verge of this carriageway in near 100 degree heat for well over an hour, with articulated lorries barley passing as our bus laid saddled into the carriageway, a replacement vehicle arrived to take us on the remainder of out journey.

Once we arrived, one of the first things on my agenda was the beach. After a stroll down Beach Road we spend an afternoon lying under straw umbrellas eating food cooked fresh as we lazed, and drinking refreshments placed in our hands from ice boxes by every person trying to make their next 50 baht.

Pre holiday beer and resulting intoxication it was decided we should try out some local Jet Skiing. Having never Jet Skied before, I was anxious as three brand new Skis pulled up, each with an engine to rival some speed boats. Expecting a crash course on how to control them, or boundaries restrictions on designated Jet Skiing areas, I was shocked when the safety talk was consisted of,

“Watch the swimmers and don’t crash.”

And that was it, as we sped of round a nearby island and went miles round the coast.

More to follow. . .