Nath, Author at The Wheelchair Traveller

Day 2 (Lisbon) – Lifts and Tarts

The plan for today was simple; catch the Metros Red and Blue line down to the waterfront (Well…Praça do Comércio) and then meander our way back to the hotel through the historic centre stopping by the Santa Justa Lift and other sights of interest…

Although the streets around the majority of Lisbon are made to look like cobbles with mosaic patterns, the surfaces are, in fact, rather smooth to roll around on (a little like Bratislava). After a short wander, we stumbled upon the majestic Santa Justa Lift…

As you approach said structure, you will note that it is enshrouded by steps. Following advice from another blog, one PA went to inform the relevant individuals, however, as we were waiting beside the lift, the operator spotted us and quickly took us to the accessible entrance. In addition to this, the operator accepted our Metro cards…

Although it is only accessible to the midpoint (and the alternate entrance and exit have steps, it still provides panoramic views of the city…

The remainder of the day consisted of a journey to the hotel without using Google Maps, passing through parks, various monuments, oh and sampling a Portuguese Custard Tart…fun times!

The plan for tomorrow is to hop on the Metro (again!) to explore the Parque das Nações area which was initially built for the 1998 Expo and has since been expanded into a modern space (in contrast to today) consisting of an architectural gem of a train station (which keeps appearing on various TV programmes), an enjoyable cable car and more!

Day 1 (Lisbon) – Oh Bristol, you never learn!

Upon my return from Uzbekistan in October 2019, it never even came into consideration that my next travels would not happen for another 2.5 years! Anyway, yesterday was the day that I finally exited the country and what better place to begin than trusty Bristol airport…

For those who regularly follow my travels, you will have come to the conclusion that I rather dislike said airport as it is clear that the sight of Superbunny (electric wheelchair) sends them into panic mode. As per protocol, we cleared security in plenty of time (it may have been a good idea to check both wheelchairs for spanners beforehand?) and took our customary seat in the ‘Passenger Assistance’ area until our names were called. Now, the flight was scheduled to depart at 13:45pm, 13:40pm approached and we were still stuck in the ‘area’. Luckily, one of the PAs was already on the plane so we had privileged knowledge of what the unfolding situation was like. Essentially, at Bristol airport, if your plane is far away from the terminal, you are required to travel across the airfield in an accessible van for which there is currently a shortage of ‘airfield’ drivers to drive said vehicles. As 14:00pm approached, our fellow passengers were beginning to get rather agitated about the situation despite the captain explaining that the situation was beyond their control. Eventually, we arrived on the concrete apron around 14:15pm to discover the dispatcher (or the equivalent in airports) simply chilling in the sun whilst the captain came down to lend a hand for whatever is needed (the thought of a young captain coming to our savior very much pleased a PA!). After all of this palaver, the flight seemed to go rather fast with complementary food and drink to compensate followed by a debrief from the captain.

Now, the original plan was to arrive and catch the Lisbon Metro to a 5 minute walk of the hotel. This was deviation from when I discovered that we would actually be arriving into T2 where an additional shuttle bus would be required to access the Metro located outside of T1 thus it was easier to catch a taxi. Fortunately, the driver of the van used to remove us from the plane decided to drop us at T1 as we only had hand luggage (presumably…very strange if not!) making the Metro the cheapest option.

I would say around 50% of the Metro system in Lisbon possess lifts which is great compared to 33% of the London Underground. However, the only caveat is that the train isn’t quite flush with the platform making for a small step. There is an option to request a ramp from staff (if you know a little Portuguese) or simply perform a wheelie! All in all, it’s a great way to explore the city…

We are staying in the Evolution Lisboa hotel for the duration, the Portuguese version of accessibility is very similar to the UK. Apart from the mod cons of all the rooms (automatic blinds, Bluetooth connectivity, USB chargers etc). One of the benefits of the accessible rooms is a very spacious wet room with two shower chairs to pick from…

The plan for tomorrow is to catch the Metro down to the waterfront and then meander our way through the city centre stopping by the Santa Justa lift and sampling the famous Portuguese Custard Tarts!

Let’s (hopefully!) go travelling again…

Two years ago this week, governments around the world were scrambling around trying to stop the spread of COVID, in the UK, old Boris finally announced a nationwide lockdown on the 23rd March and then…silence! The world was able to take a breath as we all hid, nature was able to reclaim it’s habitat and cities such as Delhi were clearly visible due to the pollution levels hitting record lows…pity that we haven’t learnt from that period of tranquillity.

Anyway, as the world is very slowly emerging from the depths of the pandemic and learning to live with COVID, it seems the right time for me to travel once more and explore more of what the world has to offer. However, as the war on Ukraine seems to have no sign of stopping any time soon, the plans for this year will be in reverse in the vein hope that peace will be restored by the Winter months (we can live in hope but who knows with the horrific scenes currently playing out).

Bar the Madrid trip, you will note that I have yet to visit the entirety of southern Europe thus I will be doing exactly that this year. To begin with, I have planned a few days in Lisbon (Portugal) between the 14th and 17th June followed in July by a few days in Zagreb (Croatia). However, let’s face it, I can’t visit Europe with some kind of train excursion thus I will be taking the 2.5 hour train whilst in Zagreb to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. According to many sources, Slovenia is the only country in Central Europe that I haven’t visited but that fact seems to be a little controversial with some saying that Romania and Serbia should be included.

Regarding accessibility for Superbunny, it seems that Lisbon is pretty much there (which one would expect from a popular tourist destination) in terms of rolling around the city, just perhaps a little bumpy! Less is known about Zagreb and Ljubljana, however, from a quick scoot around on trusty Google Maps, it doesn’t look too bad but we will see…(and hopefully Superbunny won’t leak this year!)

Oh Corona, Corona

Amidst the chaos that the Coronavirus is bringing to the world i.e. a quarter of the Earths population is now in isolation, there are some positive aspects that are being missed by many. One that is of particular interest to me is how the impact of isolation is affecting our environment. Besides the reduction of emissions in our cities, wildlife is having a rare chance to thrive, for example, the clearer waters of Venice is allowing hundreds of fish to enter, even dolphins can be seen at Italian ports! It’s such a shame that this glimpse of what the world could be will most likely be short lived when daily life returns to normal…

Anyway, travelling this year, yes, well that has completely gone out the window hasn’t it? I had booked a 2 week excursion to the USA at the end of May to Seattle and San Francisco (with day trips to Vancouver and Sacramento) but, let’s face it, that isn’t going to happen! Even if the travel restrictions are lifted by then, I don’t know how I would feel about spending 8+ hours on a plane with the same people spreading their illnesses around (Although, airplane cabins are thought to be the safest containment areas currently…fun fact for you!).

So what is the plan now you may ask? Well, first we have to ‘send this virus packing’ (in the words of good old Boris!) and then wait for the travel restrictions to be lifted which is unknown at the moment. Once lifted and a few months have passed, the plan for this year and next is to remain in Europe (or the crossroads between it and Asia) mainly because you know where you stand with your own continent plus I need time to rebuild Dynamic Play after all of this!

I was in the process of planning Turkmenistan for September before Corona hit the UK. Of course, that plan has now changed and I now plan to explore even more of Europe for the next two years hence it seems fitting to begin by finishing up northern Europe and the remaining Baltic states namely Latvia and Norway before I start on the south and the rest of the east. Now the two countries have completely opposite views on accessibility. As with other Scandinavian countries i.e. Denmark and Sweden, Norway seems to be ‘up there’ with catering for the disabled so doesn’t require much forward planning. Now, you would of thought with Latvia, especially Riga being a tourist hotspot coupled with being a ‘stag’ destination, it would have some kind of accessibility, it appears not! The only publicly known ‘accessible’ taxi company only caters for manual wheelchairs. All is not lost though as the majority of buses (especially to and from the airport) are wheelchair friendly, good news for Superbunny!

The plan for next year is to see how Superbunny fairs with both some of Europes more accessible countries i.e. Portugal and Croatia and perhaps some of the more ‘out there’ countries i.e. Georgia and Azerbaijan!

Nonetheless, let’s focus upon Riga and Oslo for now…

Day 6 – The Inaccessibility of Tashkent

Has it really been more than a week since the 7 and a half hour flight back to London Heathrow, how time flies when you are having fun (or working!).

Anyway, let’s delve back into the sixth day of my Central Asia adventure. As it was our last full day in Uzbekistan, we remained in Tashkent and, after a lazy morning i.e. me catching up on work enquiries, it was time to trek up to the TV tower for a majestic view of the city. Now, as the Tashkent metro is completely inaccessible i.e. down flights of steps, we decided to walk for which trusty Google Maps informed us would take 52 minutes down one straight road, simple! However, as we were in no rush, we agreed to take the scenic route and zigzag our way to the tower through the suburbs (as that is where you see the real city i.e. not the commercial hubbub) and its ‘lifestyle’, needless to say, we ended up a little lost.

If you thought the city centre was a little inaccessible, try walking through the suburbs with massive water gullies dissecting the pavement…(even an able bodied individual would have to watch out for these!):

It must have been a good 2 hours before we reached the majestic tower weaving our way through the streets (and up and down steps) until we discovered the entrance to the structure…

During my travels, I have come to realise that observation decks are generally well equipped for wheelchairs (even if it does mean going through the rear) but this is Uzbekistan we are talking about hence you can guess what the first obstacle was…

It seemed rather strange though as there was a perfectly good ramp up to the entrance. Anyway, the tower presented some great views of the city…

We were all delighted to have discovered the road which we should have walked up afterwards hence it was a straight 52 minute road back to the Hotel Uzbekistan (stopping at ‘Chesters’ restaurant to sample the Uzbeks version of the British cuisine…not a bad attempt) for our final night!

Day 5 – The Madness of Kazakhstan (Shymkent)

It was another 6am start as our driver took us to the Kazakhstan border with the vision of having a day tour in and around Shymkent, the third largest city in the country. I did have some expectations that the border would be tricky to cross due to the nature of the two countries but I think nothing could prepare you for the absolute madness. You see these mad border crossings on TV full of people selling tat with stray dogs hanging around but it’s not until you experience it yourself that you realise the craziness of it all (oh and about 6 passport checks!)…

After 30ish minutes of walking through various passport buildings (with some of my furry friends flying around inside!), we stepped into Kazakhstan where our guide, his English translator (Bob) and driver met us. This is when it starts getting a little confusing, we had been driving through the Kazakhstan countryside/desert for approximately 3 hours when we discovered that the tour company wished to take us to the ‘Ancient City’ which would be another hour (bear in mind that we only had a day!). We were all getting slightly bored so it was at this point that Bob took control and asked if we could scrap that idea and just visit the Arystan Bab Mausoleum before heading back to Shymkent. For the next 30 minutes, we took some ‘country’ roads through the desert passing all kinds of animals including camels strolling along the road…

The Arystan Bab Mausoleum is basically what it says but contains a mosque also. When I travel to countries that have strong religious beliefs, I always seem to create some reaction and this is was exactly what happened. Whilst walking around the mosque area, I was approached by a local asking for a selfie with us all whilst thanking us for visiting. The woman then proceeded to introduce us to her family i.e. her husband, son and daughter which is apparently a Kazakh tradition.

After our encounter with the locals, we took yet another 90 minute drive back to Shymkent (by this time it was 4pm and we had to be over the border by 8pm!) for a traditional feast…

One thing to note in Kazakhstan is that ‘holes’ are present in many areas instead of toilets and even when you have actual loos, they may not be the most accessible! This resulted in a short drive to Shymkent Plaza, a shiny new shopping mall complete with a cinema etc (basically your average mail in the UK) which is a prime example of Kazakhstan’s increasing wealth…

The plan thereafter was to visit Independence Square until was discovered that the border was another 90 minutes from the city (it was 6:15pm) thus this idea was scrapped and we headed straight back and into Tashkent.

Although we spent most of the day stuck in the van on Kazakh motorways, there seems to be a stark difference surrounding accessibility and the general attitude towards disability. Bob explained that, in several cities, there are community projects aiming to get disabled people ‘out and about’ which may explain why the Kazakh society seem to be more comfortable around them. Oh and there are plenty of ramps (well compared to Uzbekistan).

Definitely need to go back!

Situation Outside The Hotel Uzbekistan

As Saturday was our first rest day, there is little to report bar eating and drinking thus I thought it would be appropriate to explain the situation outside the hotel.

Now, the hotel is situated on a circular road system, however, instead of an actual circle, it has rather straight bits, perfect for Uzbek boy racers to whizz around hence in the middle of the night, all you can hear is tyres screeching, what a wonderful sound it is!

Day 3 – The Road (Or Bullet Train) To Samarkand

It was a 5:30am start yesterday as we headed to Tashkent railway station to catch the Uzbeks version of the bullet train two hours down to Samarkand for a city tour. As with most places in Uzbekistan, the station consisted of a flight of stairs up to the concourse with no lift to be seen. As a result, we were escorted around the rear by security and into the business lounge whilst we waited for this majestic train. Slightly concerning was the fact that a song bird was locked up in a cage in the lounge with a microphone sounding the actual bird song into the area, isn’t that animal cruelty?

Soon the magnificent train awaited…

Now, the train was actually built in Spain and therefore has to comply with Spanish access legislation so I was a little confused when the train staff decided to lift the wheelchair themselves onto the train! It turns out that there is a ramp onboard in plain sight but when we questioned the staff whether we could use it, the responses were either ‘maybe’ or ‘not possible’…shows how many wheelchair users use the trains in Uzbekistan!

Anyway, Samarkand, after meeting our tour guide and driver at the station, we were escorted around the city stopping at notable sights such as Ulugh Beg Observatory which was one of the first places where time was observed…

When wandering around this architectural marvel of a city, one thing I noted, especially in Registan Square was the amount of ramps in place (albeit some made out of marble so rather slippy!). It seems that Samarkand are much more (well in Uzbek standards anyway!) geared up for wheelchair users, maybe it gains more tourists than the nations capital…

Another thing that I have noticed since being in Uzbekistan is how cheap everything is i.e. you can easily have a three course meal (with three people) for approximately £30…certainly not breaking the bank on this trip?

Today is a chill day in and around the hotel before we travel over the border (and a time zone) to Shymkent in Kazakhstan 🙂

Day 2 – Tashkent City

When you think of a disabled travelers bucket list, let alone one of an able bodied traveler, it is unlikely that a visit to the capital of Uzbekistan, Tashkent appears on there. However this is me we are talking about and we all know that the more obscure a country is, the better!

Anyway, today we were delighted to be taken on a private tour of the city. Tashkent fools you a little as the city centre is pretty small yet it does sprawl out over a considerable area. The first stop on this tour was the Tillya Sheikh Mosque which possesses magnificent architecture (which I believe we will see more of tomorrow when we head down to Samarkand)…

The second stop on our wonderful tour was the Chorsu Market which I think is the largest fresh food and drink market in Tashkent, think of London’s Market but on a massive scale…

Now, the traffic in Tashkent is OK (you still take your life in ones hands when crossing roads), however, it’s just a freefall surrounding the market area which is slightly hair raising to say the least (I now have Uzbekistans version of a pidgin at the window…odd looking birds)…

Next was Tashkent’s Independence Square (formerly Red Square when under the Soviet regime) surrounded by various governmental buildings, one of the things that has struck me since being here is the cleanliness of the city akin to Belarus and China thanks to the amount of street cleaners scattered all over…

Finally, it was the Museum of Fine Arts which was formerly a Russian officials house and contains over 11, 000 artifacts from various cultures (mainly Persian) and eras…

I should really discuss the citys accessibility…well it is a good job Superbunny didn’t come along as I think that the majority of our time would be spent either looking for drop curbs or on busy roads as the pavements look flat and then a flight of steps confronts you…Also, there aren’t any wheelchair accessible vehicles which is a stumbling block before you even start! Akin to China, there are ramps but it takes a while to actually find them and many are very steep hence there is a chance that you may end up killing yourself!

It’s a 5am start tomorrow as we head to the railway station to catch the Uzbeks version of a ‘bullet’ train (basically a Spanish TGV) 2 hours to Samarkand situated in the south where another city tour will happen 🙂

Days 0/1 – Death Days

Some may say just even getting to Uzbekistan is an achievement, however, visiting the ‘Stans’ has been on the bucket list for quite a while and here I am!

Now, before I start blabbing about the exciting stuff, I must say that Heathrow really needs to sort it’s Terminal 4 car park structure with regards to its entrance and exit. The reason being that, whilst hunting for Purple Parking, we visited various car parking levels, once we reached the bottom level, we were still unable to find it. Now, common sense suggests that you gradually make your way back up searching the levels once again but no, the car park at T4 requires you to exit and re enter said car park at higher levels paying £4.90 each time!

Anyway, back to the Heathrow airport experience, I think that I have discussed this to death in previous posts so I will spare the boredom this time (bar the fact that it went without a hitch!). It has recently occurred to me that traveling this way around the world i.e. moving forward through time zones is much harder than going back in time i.e. London to America, especially when it is a night flight hence today feels very much like a death day!

As I mentioned previously, we are staying at the Hotel Uzbekistan in Tashkent, one of the reasons being that it is one of the only accessible hotels in the city. Bar from looking a little outdated, it offers all the usual features i.e. roll in shower, seat plus a massive room…

As I booked my Uzbekistan trip through Exodus Travels, all the itinerary has been taken care of thus tomorrow we are having a private tour of this magnificent city 🙂

Nath