Blog – Tony Giles, Blind Author and World Traveller

Relaxing in Nazareth

Evening of Thursday 24th November.

Tony is relaxing in Nazareth, north Jerusalem. He’s been there for four nights, staying in Simsin Guesthouse – a friendly small hostel in Nazareth’s Old Town. Tony briefly explored the old city on his first afternoon, feeling the old stone walls with his hands and cane and finding many obstacles on the pavements, including parked cars, large rubbish bins, lampposts and many small bollards. Tony found his way to downtown by following the downwards gradient from the old town and asked local pedestrians as he went for directions to Mary’s Well/Mary’s Square,

Experiences in Japan

My girlfriend, Tatiana, and I recently spent a month travelling around some of Japan – mid April-mid May. A fascinating, but often challenging country with a kind, gentle, mostly helpful people.

Unfortunately, for us, we struggled to understand large parts of Japanese culture and hospitality due to a combination of a language barrier (there is little English spoken on the streets) and the lack of social interaction between disabled and non-disabled Japanese people.

Now in Senegal

Tony is now in Senegal and almost at the end of his two month trip across West Africa. After spending a few days in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, he headed south west spending a couple of relaxing days in Bobo before heading to Banfora where he visited a waterfall, walked in mountain foothills and climbed inside a large baobab tree.

A long bus ride took him to Bouake, the central point of Cote D’Ivoire –

Update from Burkina Faso

After posting my last blog about Ghana I have been rather busy. Sitting on crocodiles and visiting yet another slave camp in Paga on the Ghana-Burkina Faso border and also traditional villages with interesting carved houses. After leaving Ghana I made a simple border crossing into quiet peaceful Burkina Faso, country 119. With help I travelled some 20 km to the small uninteresting town of Po. Two kind people actually gave me a free motorbike ride from the border to the town.

Ghana

I’ve been in Ghana, country 118, for about two weeks now. Sweating the heat, relaxing on the south coast beaches and exploring the history at Elmina, Cape Coast, Princes Town and Beyin. I’ve stayed with some interesting local people via couch surfing. My first host, Charles, from Nigeria, took me to visit the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial and told me a little of the history. He was Ghana’s first president and helped the country gain independence from the British in 1957.