Böcker av Les Stanley

My favourite part of any cycling trip is when we stop. Never has this been more relevant than in Mostly Fun: Soft Nut Bike Tours of Laos and Thailand. For fans of the truth-telling style of travel writers such as Paul Theroux and Bill Bryson - travel is not always about glamour and goggle-eyed wonder. Sometimes, reality bites; roads are bumpy, restaurants are closed and the music is awful.Another Christmas and New Year finally over, I set off to join friends, old and new, on a voyage of discovery, exploring the backroads and quiet towns of Central Laos and Eastern Thailand. Between the two saddle-bound trips I also enjoyed some rest and relaxation in and around Bangkok.Laos was dusty, Eastern Thailand was hot and Bangkok was, much as I remembered it; sometimes hot, sometimes dusty but always fascinating.The trip was, as the title implies, mostly fun.

Les and Tracy had lived in the south of France from 1997 to 2007 before moving back to Australia via Bangkok.So, when COVID began to release its grip on the world and airlines were flying again, they ventured out of their quiet sanctuary in Brisbane and boarded a plane bound for Nice.Twenty-four hours later, they were basking in the dappled sunlight of the Cote d'Azur.But it wasn't all red wine and Salad Niçoise. There were inefficient bank managers and other bureaucrats to deal with. Not to mention noise-sensitive neighbours.Cannes Encore is the story of two, not so intrepid, travellers and their exploits in the tourist traps of France, along with excursions to other less travelled parts of Europe.Partly together, partly apart, Les and Tracy discover the continent; each in their own unique style.