offpeakfang

Crossing the Seine by métro, August 2024 Paris is a very extravagant day trip from London, and I'd certainly recommend much more time there for a first-time visitor, but for those who've already been plenty of times then it can be a day trip. About a week before the start of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, I noticed that there were still quite a lot of reasonably-priced tickets still available - including in table tennis, a sport that I do occasionally enjoy and am alright at. So, for €44.50, I bought a ticket to a Table Tennis Team Quarter-Final.  There are plenty of ways of travelling between London and Paris - over the years, I've done all of them. The Eurostar is by far the best, but is expensive at short notice. Flights are usually relatively cheap, but price-inflated at Olympic time and an exceptionally poor environmental choice especially when the overall city-centre to city-centre price is the same as the train and the journey time is in practice slower by air. I'...

Hamayuu of Kampu Ferry, docked in Busan Port next to the passenger terminal   There seem to be plenty of travelogues showing the Busan to Fukuoka fast ferry, but there's very little information on Kampu Ferry's overnight service from Busan to Shimonoseki. I do much prefer overnight journeys like this to save on a night of accommodation and arrive in the morning in a much more time-efficient way. So, here's my attempt to add some detail to what the journey is like. Check-in at Busan Port International Passenger Terminal   The Busan Port International Passenger Terminal is a short walk from Busan railway station along some enormous elevated walkways, just like lots of other ferry terminals. Check-in was from 1730-1850 for the 2100 departure, at the Pukwan Ferry window (seems like Kampu Ferry and Pukwan Ferry are different-language names for the same company). I was handed some forms to fill in, and was then given a boarding pass after I handed those in. This is also where pa...

The New Golden Bridge VII ferry at Weihai, China, before its crossing to Incheon, South Korea.  There is precious little English-language information online about how to get from China to South Korea by ferry: there are several ferry links, some of which have been mentioned on various English-language travel websites, but no information post-pandemic. For that matter, it seems there's only one company (Weidong Ferry) that has useable information even on the Chinese-language internet. So, here's my experience: I believe this will be the only English-language post-pandemic information on this ferry link on the internet as of publication.  First, the schedule: ferries run Qingdao-Incheon or Weihai-Incheon on alternate days: the ferry runs from Qingdao at 1900 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, arriving in Incheon at 1100 the following morning. They also run from Weihai at 2100 on Tuesdays, Thursdays or Sundays, arriving at 1000 the next morning. From Weihai, passenger check...

Hong Kong, as viewed from West Kowloon Cultural district, September 2023.  After three years of zero-Covid policy, quarantines and closed borders, I had some paperwork to do in mainland China that required me to visit for the first time in four years. This was also at a time when I have friends living in nearby Hong Kong and Japan. Hence formed an idea for my usual kind of epic overland adventure, but on the other side of the world: Hong Kong to Japan without flying. How hard could it be?  Overall, this was an outstanding trip, and a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It was very fun to experience so many cultures and traverse several countries over the space of three weeks, covering 5355 km by rail and another ~600 km by ferry. The fact that China to South Korea passenger ferries only restarted a few weeks before I used it, together with how the vast majority of passengers were local traders, means that I strongly suspect I am the first person to have done this journey since at l...

  Rowing-boat ferry from Butley to Gedgrave and Orford, June 2022 My local OS map of Ipswich and southeast Suffolk - Explorer 197 - was what I used to plan my cycling trips around the rivers, heaths, village greens and medieval churches of Suffolk through the various 2020-2021 lockdowns. The Butley River snakes around the eastern edge of the map on its way into the River Ore and onward to the sea next to historic Orford Ness. The other side of the river was beyond the scope of the challenge I'd set myself, but the "Ferry P (limited service)" shown on the map almost sets a challenge to those who enjoy such explorations. So, I decided that on this pleasant summer's day, what better excuse for a bike ride than a rowing-boat ferry.  Dating from the Norman era, the part-thatched church of St John the Baptist at Butley was a pleasant place to rest for a while cycling to the ferry.  Butley village is already quite remote, with its few houses and its medieval church and abbey...