Kent: Hastings and Folkestone

For our second and third day trips of the extra long weekend, we made our way to Kent, the borough next door but still two trains away. 

First stop: Hastings 

First impressions that there were an awful lot of student tour groups wandering around. Because as it transpires, Hastings was home to the epic Battle of 1066, a tidbit I got from revision for my Life in the UK test. I'm not sure Hastings is quite the place you could spend all day in as a student tourist...

 

 The Seaside was beautiful in an understated way including these fishermen's huts:

 

 

 

 

Final stop: Folkestone

Folkestone is a town bent on artistic revival. It's not without its charms and after a brief potter through the Sunday trading hours, we took a long walk down the coast.

 

 The Folkestone mermaid: exactly the same size as the original in Copenhagen and equally impressive (read: not really at all). The only upside is that this lady was not surrounded by a million tourists. Go Folkestone!

 

 It appears that Frank still does not love the water:

 

 Folkestone pod landing?

 Boop!

 

 

 I must admit that I was rather taken with Folkestone. The sun being out makes such a difference. Regardless, our little four-day journey was at its end. The upside though: all of these towns are easily accessible via London. So if you're looking for a day trip to the sea and want to avoid the crowds of Brighton, you can't go wrong. Unless it's raining, that is.

East Sussex: Rye and Camber Sands

Paul and I dub the October half term the UK Holiday. In this way, we do the noble thing and pay through the nose to holiday domestically knowing full well that we could go abroad and, even with the flight, pay significantly less money. Woo Brexit. No.

We make the most of it by booking dog friendly accommodation. Frank loves the beach, loves a snuggle. Since Paul started a new job in May and had less rollover holiday, we opted for a four-day weekend in Sussex and Kent, an hour's train ride away.

The weekend involved a variety of day trips to Rye itself, then Camber Sands, Folkestone and Hastings. Along the way we casually bumped into friends, which was v nice. Not much to say about these places other than that although the Great British Seaside is a thing of the Victorian past, these little towns are doing a lot to make themselves marketable again.

Rye
With a population of less than 5000 people, you don't really go to Rye to be amongst the people. But if you want charming cobbled streets and that old England feel that so many Americans go to London seeking, Rye's a winner.

 

 

 

 The sunset hit the town spectacularly:

 

 

 Rye Castle: 

 

 I love a literary pun:

 

 

 

At this point, Frank just humours me:

Camber Sands 
A bus ride or three point five miles amble away from Rye, Camber Sands is the closest thing to a sandy beach you'll get that also has a proximity to London.

October is for pubs and brisk walks and snuggling.

The San Blas Islands

If you do a search for the top spots to visit in Panama, the San Blas Islands come up in the top ten search, behind the Panama Canal, the Casco Viejo and buying a hat there. Upon our return from Colombia and my brief but brutal battle with digestive unrest, we made arrangements for a day trip to this semi-autonomous region of the country. 

This autonomy affords the indigenous people, the Guna Yala (or Kuna Yala), freedom to govern and lead themselves. They control tourism of the area, keeping numbers low and aiming to preserve the beauty of the white sand and blue seas. The Guna recently made international press for winning a lawsuit against Nike because the corporate giant labelled their shoe the 'Puerto Rico' and used the Guna's Mola pattern, thereby 'pirating a protected traditional design.' 

But the autonomy of the region also leaves the international waters that the 378 islands sit on a bit of a paradise for smugglers and drug traffickers. Stories abound of boats carrying pirated goods that dropped/lost stolen ware in their haste to make a quick exit. Climate change is another real threat to the islands and their inhabitants. Sea level rises will ensure these islands no longer exist within my lifetime. 

With that sobering thought in mind, we took to researching our options. With little time left, an overnight excursion was not an option. I would suggest this one though--two or three days of reclining on beautiful islands in a hammock and spending the days swimming sounds like my perfect trip. Think palm trees and rustic beach perfection and you get the picture. Or I could just show you some pictures.

If you're up for a laugh, go read the reviews on Viator and Tripadvisor. They'll warn you about a vomit-inducing drive up winding roads, rude, uncommunicative drivers, loud music in the car and to not forget your passport. The last point is a notable fact but we found the rest of the 'advice' a bit of urban legend, at least with Viator. This didn't stop me from being grateful I'd popped a dramamine for the ride just in case. 

Our Guna driver picked us up bright and early and proceeded to make a series of stops at other B&Bs to fill the mini-van to capacity. We wound our way through the jungle on a series of freshly paved and potholed roads and arrived at the 'port' two hours later. A group of Guna men checked passports, accepted cash in US dollars for our trip and then organised the tourists into boats.

As day trippers, we made three stops: one for swimming and snorkelling at a barely habitated island; 

another for lunch of fish/chicken and swimming at a second, slightly more inhabited island; 

The second island also happens to be where the local accommodation is. By local and accommodation I mean beach shacks with hammocks and without air conditioning. This is not five star hotel luxury, it's so much better.

and finally, a stop on a sandbar for one last plunge into the clear, starfishy sea.

After several hours on island paradise that went far too quickly, we readied ourselves to do the journey in reverse. Other than some hairy driving through traffic, which seems to be the Panamanian way, the return was uneventful. If you're considering whether or not a trip to the San Blas Islands is worth the hype, we'd both definitely say it was. It's not every day you get to Just Be (capital letters) in a beautiful place with no agenda. And if you get the chance to spend a few days Just Being in the sunshine, jump at the opportunity.

These smiles don't lie.