Welcome Retreat from London

I'm very much glad I made the effort to travel to Bath for 2 nights... seeing outside of London has enhanced my appetite to see more of England's countryside on future trips. Bath was a welcome retreat from the hectic pace of London. In a lot of ways, I'm glad to be leaving London - I really can't stand people walking 100 miles an hour and banging into you... why on earth do they have to do that? (busy cities have this in common... but I've really noticed it in London and Hong Kong). You sure notice the 'rat race' when you come back from a relaxing place like Bath. London's got a lot going for it... just replace it with the gentle, smiling and beautiful people of Thailand/Laos/Cambodia etc.:)

Bath Abbey

My stay at Bath Backpackers was very warm indeed... my fellow backpackers, and the manager of the hostel were very friendly and I enjoyed getting to know them. So far, the Spaniards and French I've met have in hostels been very friendly and I look forward to getting to that part of the world after my trip to Perth. The manager, a young guy from Auckland spoke a thousand words a minute but was nevertheless interesting to talk to. To date, I haven't stayed in many hostels on my trip but this one definitely gave me the appetite to stay in more - as I mentioned to Steve last night, my focus has shifted from 'seeing the sights' to 'meeting the people'... it sure is the people (and the food!) that make the trip. As I've stated in other entries, sights become boring after a while.

Close up of Bath's Architecture

I spent the better part of last night with Steve... glad to have met him for I followed his travelpod (especially South East Asia) religiously as I planned my trip - I think he found it quite flattering that I could recount specific details about his trip - it was good to get the rundown on some other 'issues' that arose during his trip that he didn't mention on his travelpod. I found it refreshing to talk about a whole lot of issues associated with travelling with someone else that has actually done what I'm doing and can fully understand. We instantly hit it off given our adventures. But I must admit that he is definitely more adventurous than I am... he did his entire 1 year RTW trip independently whereas I've succombed to the comforts of organised group tours on some occasions. In talking to him, you could sense the passion and love he has for travel... alongside his aching desire to get away again. Steve, who is currently working in IT in Bath, plans to work for around 8 months to save the money needed to take another year's RTW trip. During one of our pub crawls, I caught up on our Aussie VB beer... I didn't realise it tastes so good until now. Absolute bliss. CAN'T WAIT to catch on our Aussie beer's and wine whilst in WA.

Close up of the grand buildings.

I spent the morning touring the sights... including the Roman Baths, Bath Abbey, Royal Crescents, Botannical Gardens, markets, Puteny Bridge and surrounding streets. Bath is a beautiful town... but funnily, not as beautiful as Yangshuo in China. I'd still highly recommend Bath to visitors to England. So glad I've concentrated on Cambridge, Bath and Brighton on this trip... but still want to see Manchester. Photos are coming.

I'm back in Cheam... Wendy, James and I will be travelling to Wales tomorrow morning... leave at about 5am so I might be away from this for a while.

Distant View of Architecture

Inside Roman Bath Area

Puteny Bridge Bath

Roman Bath 1

Roman Bath with Bath Abbey in Background

Royal Crescent Bath

Steve and I comparing travelling notes over VB.

View of Major Outdoor Bath

£500 for street drinking