Bective Abbey is another fantastic heritage site located in the valley of the River Boyne. It was founded in 1147 by the King of Meath, Murchad Ua Máel Sechnaill and given to the Cistercian Order. Bective was the 'daughter house' of Mellifont, the first Cistercian foundation in Ireland. Unlike many other Cistercian foundations which typically sought out wilderness and isolation, Bective was positioned on superb agricultural land, and quickly rose to prominence as an important ecclesiastical centre. Indeed Bective was high status enough, that the powerful Norman Lord of Meath, Hugh de Lacy had his remains interred at Bective for a while before he was eventually finally reburied with his wife at (the now demolished) St. Thomas's Abbey in Dublin. 

By the sixteenth century, the Cistercians of Bective Abey had become wealthy from rents, tithes and donations. At the time that Bective was dissolved during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the middle of the sixteenth century, it was recorded that the estate of Bective contained 1580 acres valued at £83 18s 8p. The Abbey and its possessions were purchased in 1552 by Andrew Wyse, but he seems to have come into financial difficulties soon after and Bective changed hands a number of times, before becoming transformed into a manor in the early seventeenth century. It came into the hands of the Bolton family, and was eventually donated to the State in 1894.

The extensive ruins that you can explore today at Bective tell the story of both the Cistercian monastic site and the private home. The cloisters are superbly well preserved, and you may recognise them featuring in the Mel Gibson film Braveheart.
The site is a great place to visit and is part of a densely packed medieval landscape – close to Trim Castle, The Priory Hospital of St. John the Baptist and The Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul.

It is free to enter all year round and is very easy to find, as it is well signposted from the R161 between Trim and Navan in County Meath. The Office of Public Works have installed a small carpark and path at the site so it is very accessible. The have been a series of excavations conducted at Bective Abbey by Geraldine and Matthew Stout, and you can read all about their fantastic discoveries on their blog http://bective.wordpress.com/ which also gives you a nice insight into the on-site life of an archaeologist in Ireland.

I hope you enjoy this blog, we're trying to cover as many sites as we can across Ireland. If anyone has any suggestions about sites you'd like us to cover please do leave us a comment. If you enjoy information and images of Irish heritage sites then do follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+If you'd like to support us then please consider downloading an audioguide to one of Ireland's wonderful heritage sites. They are packed with original music and sound effects and are a great way of experiencing the story of Ireland. They only cost €1.99 and are fun whether you are at the site, or listening from the comfort of your own home. Our latest guide is to Viking and Medieval Dublin, visit us at www.abartaaudioguides.com for free previews and to download your free audioguide to the Rock of Dunamase. 

All photographs © Neil Jackman / abartaaudioguides.com

That might look a bit odd in the photo above, but I assure you that it was delicious with all of the richness of cheese, bacon, and butter on top. Admittedly it wasn't easy to detect the delicateness of the sea urchin as a result, but the noodles were cooked and seasoned just right. Yum.

And yes, this time I asked them how the heck one pronounces the name of the place, and they confirmed, perhaps not surprisingly, that it is "And Sons." It doesn't exactly roll of the tongue very well, but I'll definitely be back here. Indeed, I should have suggested coming here for team drinks last week!

There's something perverse about a non meat-eater writing a guide to Argentine restaurants. Meat is the biggest deal down there. Everyone I ran into was so proud that Argentine beef is the best in the world-- and with the least cholesterol, no less! But non-meat eaters travel to Buenos Aires too. And, believe me, you can eat as well there as anywhere else. I'm not a vegetarian. I eat fish as well as vegetables. On the other hand, I don't eat sugar or anything made with flour (pasta, bread, cakes). And I love to eat. I'll do a specific paragraph below about the Buenos Aires veggie restaurant scene. But first let me say a few words about top restaurants in town.

As a prelude, I'll just mention that Argentina is a large and rich agricultural country with great quality food and a wide array of products. In the north there was tropical jungles and in the south, freezing near desolation. In between it's temperate and everything grows. Eating is good in Argentina. It might not be as cheap as it is to eat in Bolivia or Peru but for a tourist who could afford to get there, it's damn cheap. And the portions are generally really big. High quality, big portions, good prices. How you going to go wrong?

Generally recognized as THE best restaurant, Tomo 1 is in a hotel of faded glory, the PanAmericano (Crowne Plaza). Fortunately Tomo 1 isn't faded at all and it isn't of the hotel, just shares an address, Carlos Peligrini 521, right near the Obelisque, in what you might call the center of town (an absurd concept in Buenos Aires). Anyway, they serve lunch (weekdays) and dinner Monday through Saturday. It's been something of an Argentine institution since 1971 when the Concaro sisters, Ada and Ebe, opened it in a house in Belgrano. It moved to the Panamerico about 12 years ago. For an Argentine, 90 pesos for a meal is steep, like 90 dollars would be for an American in L.A. or NYC. But 90 pesos for us is around $30. And that's $30 for the best restaurant in town where every dish is mouthwatering and designed to be absolutely perfect. One sister does lunch and the other does dinner and their philosophy places flavors above all other concerns. Everything I ate there was delicious and nothing came to the table that you could get anywhere else.

If another restaurant gives it a run for its money it would be the newer (2004)-- and way hipper and more glitzy-- Casa Cruz in Palermo. The place blew me away to the point of doing something I had never done before in my life. I photographed the menu; take a look. This place is all about unique combinations of ingredients. Frommer or Fodor or something like that claims this is the best restaurant in town. I'm not going to argue with them either. It's not easy to get into though. I was unable to get reservations twice. They serve 'til 3AM or until you're finished eating.

Most concierges who you ask for the best restaurants in town will say there are 3 and add in Sucre. Sucre is excellent, but in my opinion not on the same level as Tomo 1 and Casa Cruz. It's bigger and not quite as smooth as the other two. The food's very good but not as unique or memorable. It's kind of out of the way too.

In fact, I think I'd put Oviedo, a posh Old World seafood restaurant in Barrio Norte, in as my third favorite restaurant, over Sucre. It's clubby and feels fancy but it was actually pretty relaxed and the food was superb, almost like you're eating in a grand restaurant in Spain rather than in Argentina. (And even though it's "officially" a seafood restaurant, people say they have incredible beef and lamb dishes as well.) Everything is done with a lot of flare.

Most of the tourists I talked to missed these incredible world class restaurants and were delighted to have their meals at Buenos Aires' traditional grilled meat restaurants, parrillas. People I met raved about El Obrero in La Boca and La Brigada in San Telmo as the best parrillas in town. After that everyone's second favorite choice are the omnipresent pizzerias and Italian restaurants. They literally are everywhere. Buenos Aires is almost as Italian in culture and character as it is Spanish. Buenos Aires also has Chinese restaurants, Thai restaurants, German restaurants, French restaurants, etc. And plenty of MacDonald's and crap like that too.

It wasn't hard finding good vegetarian food either. Although my favorite veggie (and organic) restaurant was Bio in Palermo, the "veggie scene" is centered around a store/restaurant called La Esquina de las Flores. Since I rented an apartment for my first week in Buenos Aires this was a place I could buy some basic groceries, although not fresh produce. And they have great take-away. The women who run it were mostly humorless, forbidding, harried and unfriendly. Right next door is another veggie place, Lotos, which is kind of Chinese veggie. Florida is the huge pedestrian street in the center where everyone walks and shops. There's a huge veggie cafeteria called Granix (open for lunch only) where you get as much as you can eat for $7. It isn't high consciousness food but it's good and tasty and a great place to go if you're hungry. I heard of 2 or 3 other veggie places that I never got to check out (including a Hare Krishna place I didn't want to check out, sugar being the main staple of the Krishna diet... which explains a lot).

If you're looking for a shot of adrenaline to get you going this morning than check out this video. It features a wingsuit pilot by the name of Scotty Bob who threads the needle of a Utah canyon without missing a beat. The video is only 40 seconds in length but it captures some of the best wing suit footage I've seen in awhile.

Oh man, Lucha Loco changed its menu, and not necessarily for the better. Apparently they didn't change owners nor chefs, but the menu nonetheless was refreshed a couple of months ago, and the huitlacoche is now gone. Arghh!!

I suppose that it shouldn't be that much of a surprise though. Seriously, was there that big of a market here where it made financial sense for them to be hauling huitlacoche all the way across the Pacific?

Fortunately, the new food was still edible, but was also too dressed up and lacking in excitement for me. Sigh. There goes the only Mexican restaurant that I was willing to go to in Singapore. Well, I guess I can still get some post-drinking fish tacos at Señor Taco.

I was just in the mood for someplace new to eat, someplace I hadn't tried before. And I didn't mind driving. My 2007 Zagat for Los Angeles is so worn already that I knew I was unlikely to get any new inspiration there. And then it struck me-- I had seen a story a few months ago in the New York Times about L.A. area Chinese restaurants. I hadn't had Chinese food in 4 years-- ever since my doctor told me they tend to cook the food in extraordinarily cheap and cancer-causing oil and to steer clear. But I was in the mood.

It was easy enough to pull up Mark Bittman's Times story, The East Is West: The Best Chinese Restaurants in Southern California, online. It was all about going out of town, away from the traditional Chinatown and east on the I-10 towards Jacksonville, Florida (just not that far). And not even as far as San Bernardino, although Bittman's point is that the whole 50 mile stretch of the I-10 between L.A. and San Berdoo is "a string of multiethnic communities that all have a large, dynamic Chinese population. There is strong evidence of this in the chains of Chinese supermarkets, the likes of which exist nowhere else in the country. (In these stores, announcements are made first in Mandarin, then in Korean, then Vietnamese; then Spanish, and last English. Really.)"

And one of those towns is Alhambra. Bittman was unequivocal "Follow my advice, drop everything, and rush to eat at Triumphal Palace."

The restaurant follows in the tradition of popular places such as NBC Seafood, Mission 261-- about which, more in a moment-- and the ill-named New Concept. Their menus are large and long-- several pages, at least — and often feature esoteric and very expensive ingredients such as abalone, shark’s fin and bird’s nest.

For my money-- and though it’s upscale by comparison, it doesn’t take much-- Triumphal Palace is the best of the lot, with food that is full-flavored, intricate and subtle, sometimes almost tame. The roast duck, which looks like every other Chinese roast duck you’ve ever had, is so good I suspect it’s not “roast” at all, but fried in clarified butter; it’s that crisp, tender and flavorful. It needs nothing, and certainly not the accompanying marmalade-like substance, which you should not allow to touch the duck. Other dishes are similarly simple, and just about as good: stir-fried Dungeness crab with scallion and ginger; pea greens with mushrooms and the distinctively flavored dried scallops; a pretty dish of chicken slices, huge shiitakes, ham and gai lan (Chinese broccoli), served in layers.

For all of this, Triumphal Palace is perhaps better known for its dim sum (served every day at lunchtime) than for its dinner dishes. Like many of the grand West Coast Chinese restaurants, from Vancouver on south, the dim sum is ordered from a menu-- you’re invariably given a short pencil and a printed sheet, to tick off what you want-- cooked fresh and served hot, rather than being hawked from steam carts. (Still, the problem of everything coming at once can only be solved by staggering your order.)

Six of us-- one of whom now claims she will be married here-- shared 24 dishes (about 18 of which came within 10 minutes), and while all except the predictably sad desserts were good, some were incredible. These were barbecue pork belly, firm cubes of slow-cooked, crunchy-skinned fresh bacon that, I swear, were a dead-on replica of a dish Alain Ducasse used to serve at about five times the price; Chiu Chow-style dumplings, with thick, chewy, slightly crisp rice-flour exteriors filled with (could it be?) jasmine-scented meat; deep-fried carrot cake, in fact a savory-sweet custard-filled dumpling; boiled baby bok choy in fish stock, which, like the duck I’d had at dinner, contained some secret ingredient that was the Bomb; and a wonderful layered creation of pan-fried sticky rice with egg.

On a recent Sunday morning, the place was packed, as usual. The design is faux Deco-slash-modern, not horrible, but with the inevitable stark lighting. Still, the walls are of wood, there are tablecloths, and the chairs are padded and comfortable. At dinner the napkins are cloth, and the plates are changed frequently.

Bittman is clearly insane. But I didn't know that until after I ate in this dive. Although I did know it before I came down with severe MSG poisoning. Before I left for Alhambra I decided to look and see what Zagat reviewers thought. The food rated a very undistinguished "20" (out of 30) and the review touted a "lit-from-behind Lucite bar" and "a spacious aquarium." Well, this New York Times food critic probably is a lot savvier than the John and Jane Does who did the rating for Zagat. Oh, was I wrong.

Let me take Bittman's review apart paragraph by paragraph. The menu was not "large and long;" it was medium-sized. The food was far from "full-flavored, intricate and subtle, sometimes almost tame." It was crap, MSG-flavored garbage and not "sometimes almost tame; always very tame. I took his advice and ordered the closest thing on the menu to what he called "pea greens with mushrooms and the distinctively flavored dried scallops," a soup that claimed those ingredients but which had no trace of scallops-- or flavor. I had asked the waiter if there was MSG in the food before we sat down and he shook his head enthusiastically. I figured he didn't understand. I was wrong.

I also asked him if the soup was enough for me and my friend. He said it was enough for 6 people. He wasn't exaggerating. All the dishes were oversized, which doesn't make up for quality in the slightest. My main course was a shrimp dish that was really bad and my friend had beef chow fun which he said tasted the same as beef chow fun does in any Hollywood dive.

Alain Ducasse should sue Bittman for comparing his creations to this swill. When I was around 16 I hitchhiked across the U.S. and a merchant seaman picked me up in a Cadillac and drove from Ohio to California. He claimed he had eaten in the best Chinese restaurants in Peking, Canton and Shanghai and that he would tale me to one that was better than any of them right down the road in Amarillo. I hadn't been to China yet but I had eaten enough Chinese food in Brooklyn to know that good Chinese food was not going to be served in a restaurant with baskets of rolls and rye bread on the tables. The restaurant was in a roadside mini-mall off Route 66, but it wasn't that much worse than the one off Route 10 in Alhambra. As for Bittman's other suggestions, if the Triumphal Palace is his "New Favorite Restaurant," I'll steer clear of #2, thru 5.

By the way, the next day I had the first headache I've had in many years and I was dizzy for two days. I didn't dare drive my car; something I never experienced in my entire life. I felt like I was going to fall over several times. My neighbor told me L.A. Chinese restaurants stopped using MSG years ago. I don't doubt it. Alhambra is like 30 minutes away though.

When I read about this place in the Sunday Times, I had mixed feelings. On one hand, I was sad that One on the Bund had departed; it was probably one of my favorite places in Singapore. On the other hand, the restaurant that went up in its place served kambing soup, one of my favorite local dishes next to bak kut teh and bak chor mee. I was so excited to see how they would do it here that I knew I had to come here for lunch this week (80 Collyer Quay, 6597-5266).

The interesting - and perhaps disappointing - thing was that the menu was a mix of things like burgers and local food like laksa and chicken rice, seemingly being nothing more than a typical ground floor restaurant of a local hotel by trying to appeal to the widest audience possible. But this was definitely much more upscale than most other hotels, as evidenced by the new airy decor and furniture, which surely didn't come cheap.

And yes, this decor was built into the price, with that kambing soup above coming in at S$15 (US$12), or at least three or four times more than what one would pay at a hawker center. Sure, the food was of high quality, but Brothpot Mutton is good enough for me in that department. I think the only time I'll come back here is for a business meal, particularly if someone has come in from out of town. And at that point, I might try one of their lobster rolls.

The Grianán of Ailech is one of the most iconic sites of North-West Ireland. It is located in County Donegal, roughly about 8 km north-west of the city of Derry. The entire site itself is enormous, with large outer earthworks circling Greenan Mountain. This huge enclosed space is probably the remains of a Late Bronze Age or Iron Age hillfort. It was regarded as a ‘Class 2 Hillfort’ by Barry Raftery in his excellent book Pagan Celtic Ireland.  He described it as having

‘four concentric enclosures, the innermost...being a small, ringfort-like structure...likely to be a late addition which probably had nothing to do with the prehistoric hillfort’. 

It is this inner stone ringfort or cashel that is most commonly thought of today as being the Grianán of Ailech. The site was said to have been the residence of the powerful Kings of Ailech, the Uí Néill dynasty. In the first few centuries AD the Uí Néill controlled vast swathes of territory in the northern half of the island of Ireland. However as their power began to wane they became locked in a bitter dynastic war with the Kings of Munster. The Grianán was recorded in the Annals as being destroyed in AD 676, and then more thoroughly in 1101. The destruction was recorded in detail in the pages of the Annals of the Four Masters. It recounts that the King of Munster, Muircheartach Ua Briain (grandson of the famous Brian Boru), led his army deep into the territory of the Uí Néill’s in Inishowen and burned many churches and forts. He demolished the famous Grianán of Ailech in retaliation for the burning of the Munster capital Ceann-coradh (Kincora in County Clare) which had been burned by the allies of the Uí Néill some time before. The Munster King Muircheartach had each man in his army carry away a stone from the destroyed fort, forever denying it to the Uí Néills.

The interior of the fort

A short video to show the interior of the stone fort

The site was heavily reconstructed in the nineteenth century, so we will never know its original form. Despite this, it is still one of the most rewarding sites to visit in Ireland. 

 
The name Grianán roughly translates to Palace of the Sun, unfortunately the day we visited was heavily overcast with showers, though even the low cloud couldn’t obscure the quite magnificent views over the Inishowen Peninsula, Lough Swilly, and Lough Foyle. The site absolutely dominates the skyline from a great distance. Entering the central cashel you pass through the massively thick drystone walls that tower above you. Stone steps lead to the top of the walls allowing you to look upon the stunning landscape that surrounds you (I have included some landscape pictures at the end of this article). It is a fantastic experience and one that I highly recommend if you are travelling to the North-West of Ireland. Just outside of the fort you can also find a cairn of uncertain date and a small holy well.

The Holy Well just below Grianan Ailech

The site is under the auspices of the Office of Public Works, however apart from a good road and a large carpark there are no other facilities at the site. The Grianán of Ailech is well signposted from the N13 between Derry and Letterkenny, it is located roughly around 8km north-west of Derry.

You’ll find it at Latitude: 55.02379103 Longitude: -7.42761612


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 Some images of the landscape surrounding the Grianán Ailech

The Grianan Ailech dominates the landscape for miles around

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Located on the banks of the River Shannon in County Offaly, Clonmacnoise is one of Ireland’s most iconic historical sites. The monastery was originally founded by Saint Ciarán in the middle of the sixth century. Unlike many of the other early Irish saints who often came from privileged families, Ciarán was the son of a carpenter. Despite his humble origins, Ciarán soon gained a reputation for his intelligence and holiness. After completing his education, Ciarán became the founder of a small monastery on Hare Island in Lough Ree, before choosing the site of Clonmacnoise to establish another monastery. 

His choice of location at Clonmacnoise was incredibly shrewd. Though today it seems like a peaceful and somewhat isolated place, in the early medieval period Clonmacnoise was at the crossroads of the two major routeways of Ireland: the mighty River Shannon and the Slí Mór (meaning The Great Way) the roadway that traversed the country from east – west over the glacial eskers that offered easy passage over the wetlands and bogs of the midlands. Clonmacnoise was also situated on the borders of two of the great kingdoms of early medieval Ireland, Connacht to the west, and Mide (Meath) to the east, and the site prospered from its close relations to both of the ruling dynasties. 

Clonmacnoise from the River Shannon. The Shannon was a major routeway of  early medieval Ireland, and this view from the river would have been one familiar to the majority of pilgrims who visited the site. You can experience a river trip to Clonmacnoise by boat from Athlone. See http://www.vikingtoursireland.ie for more information.

The Cross of the Scriptures (a replica, the real one is in the visitor centre)

The earliest churches at Clonmacnoise would have initially been wooden constructions, known at the time as a dairtheach (Oak House), but as Clonmacnoise grew in power and prestige these were gradually replaced with grander buildings made from stone, often founded by Kings and nobles. In AD 909 King Flann commissioned the construction of the Cathedral and the beautiful high cross known as the Cross of the Scriptures. The cross now on display in the excellent visitor centre, bears an inscription marking the event. Not to be outdone, over the centuries more ruling dynasties like the O’Melaghlins (kings of Meath) commissioned churches at Clonmacnoise. The monastery grew wealthy as rulers and nobles clamoured to be buried within the same hallowed ground as Saint Ciarán, as it was believed that the saint would ensure entry into Heaven.

The Round Tower of Clonmacnoise known as O'Rourke's Tower, named in honour of its founder.

At its height the monastery was surrounded by a large bustling settlement, with markets, craftsmen, labourers and farm-workers. It would have been surrounded by one of early medieval Ireland's largest populations, outside of the Viking cities of Dublin, Waterford, Limerick and Cork. The growing wealth and reputation did not go unnoticed, and Clonmacnoise was raided a number of times through its history, mostly by warriors from rival Irish kingdoms like Munster, and in AD 842 and 845 by the Vikings. 

As the fortunes of the once mighty kingdoms of Meath and Connacht waned following the Norman invasions, Clonmacnoise too gradually declined over the centuries. The Normans left their mark on the site by constructing Clonmacnoise Castle to ensure they controlled the strategically important crossing point of the Shannon. Despite Clonmacnoise having a brief period of resurgence in the early seventeenth century, by the mid-1600s the site had been largely abandoned. Its isolation has left us with a wonderfully atmospheric site that is a fantastic place to explore. 

The round tower of Temple Finghin with the Shannon in the background

One of the cross-slabs on display in the Visitor Centre

Today Clonmacnoise is under the auspices of The Office of Public Works, and a visit to the site should be on everyone’s bucket list. Inside the visitor centre you can see the original high crosses, and a superb collection of graveslabs that give fascinating insights into life and death at Clonmacnoise. There are over 700 examples of cross slabs known to have associations with Clonmacnoise. The purpose of these slabs is thought to mark the burial place of a monk or holy man or person of prestige. The earliest slabs date to the seventh century and generally feature a simple cross design. Over the centuries, their designs develop and become more elaborate. The inscriptions on the slabs generally include the words 'poor', 'servant of', or 'tonsured one' which leads scholars to believe that the cross slabs generally mark the burial place of monks or other church figures. Other slabs feature the names of Kings and on one instance an inscription referred to ‘the most learned doctor’ so we can deduce that the slabs were also used to mark those of rank and prestige within medieval society. This cross-slab pictured here asks for: 

'A Prayer for Tuathal the Craftsman'.

When you have finished exploring the main site, don't forget to follow the Pilgrim's Path for approximately 400m or so to The Nun's Church. The Annals record that the Nun's Church was completed for Derbforgaill in 1167. It is located in a field to the east of the main monastic complex and is one of the finest examples of Hiberno-Romanesque architecture in Ireland. Serpents, plants, and highly stylised animal heads are all represented on the arches of the west portal and chancel arch. 

The beautiful Romanesque architecture of The Nun's Church.

For information about entry fees and opening times to the visitor centre please visit here. 

If enjoy my blog and you'd like to support us, please try our acclaimed series of audioguides to Ireland’s heritage sites, they are packed with original music and sound effects and a really fun and immersive way of exploring Ireland’s past. They are available from abartaheritage.ie and a number are absolutely free to download.

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The beautiful 15th century north doorway into the Cathedral

The first time I went to Sri Lanka it was 1970. It was about the most faraway, exotic place I had planned to go to on my drive across Asia, a place I had always fantasized about. After months in India, anything would be a breeze so I had no trepidation whatsoever when I set out for Rameswaram from Cochin in Kerala. The road wasn't great and I can remember that I never saw a plate or eating utensils on the whole drive south; all food was served on banana leaves. I guess its kind of a truism to say that the food got spicier and spicier the further south you ventured, but even a truism is based on something. I love spicy food and it didn't bother me at all. South Indian cooking is very different from North Indian cooking and I dove in wholeheartedly. The roads were definitely not as good as the food. I remember once there was a big boulder in the middle of the narrow road but I realized immediately it was a trap set by decoits (bandits). Fortunately they were lethargic and lame and we somehow managed to avoid being killed or even interacting with them.

I can't remember who I was with at this point. I used to meet people who liked the convenience of a nice new VW van. They got transportation and paid the gas and other car-related costs. I was thoroughly broke at this point, having run out of whatever money I had in Goa. All I remember about the Cochin to Sri Lanka crew is that everyone got tattoos when we got to Jaffna except me (who thought a- it was probably unsanitary, and b- it would nix any chance I had of being buried in a Jewish cemetery if I ever changed my mind about the religion thing). But I'm jumping ahead of the story.

After outsmarting the decoits and arriving in Rameswaram, I don't recall much about the town. Supposedly it's a big pilgrimage scene but I don't recall anything but it being a small, grimy port town with a ferry that crossed the Palk Strait to Talaimannar at the tip of a small peninsula that jutted out of northwestern Ceylon (which is what Sri Lanka was called then). The problem was that the ferry was too big for the port at Rameswaram and one had to be rowed out to the ship on a small boat. My recollection-- colored by unabated terror even after 3 dozen years-- can't possibly be precise. They put a wooden plank between two small boats and had me drive my van (which was my entire universe at the time-- and not insured) onto it, so they could row it out to the ship which had a crane to lift it aboard. It sounds beyond belief-- even to me! But what I do remember in vivid detail is being on the ferry with my van hanging in mid-air, courtesy of the crane, and a representative of the Indian (or Ceylonese) maritime workers union approaching me for some baksheesh. It was a smart time to ask because I was thoroughly terrified and in no position to dicker, something I had become quite adept at in the preceding year. I think he wanted $6 or 7 and, although that put a serious dent in my budget, I was happy to give it to him and get my van back safely. The Ceylonese side had a pier where the ferry actually docked.

I forgot to mention that I was smuggling. I had found that the Ceylonese wanted cheap saris from India and the Indians wanted large tins of coconut oil from Ceylon. No one ever checked the van for anything ever. I made a lot more money later in the year smuggling alcohol from Pondicherry, the old French (Christian) colony just south of what was then called Madras (now Chennai), to Madras' YMCA where Muslim gentlemen put out by Madras' dry laws were eagerly waiting. Like I said, no one ever checked the van and I scraped up enough to live for a month or two at a time.

There were literally no tourists traveling this way; I mean I never met one driving around southern India the whole time. So we had no real advise about what to do or where to go. I suppose the normal thing would have been to drive south to Colombo. So, of course, I drove north to Jaffna, the Tamil city. I remember it being a big, busy exotic city without a lot of charm, but with delicious food. I remember eating omelets cooked in coconut oil; HEAVEN! The taste stayed with me for decades and eventually brought me back to Ceylon (by then Sri Lanka) for another visit. Everything was cooked in coconut oil. I bet you didn't know that coconut oil is very healthy, did you? We were all brainwashed into thinking it was horribly fattening and disease-causing. But that's completely false.

My more recent memories of Sri Lanka are going to be a lot more vivid and useful and I'll try to get them down this week. I don't remember much about the first trip beyond the tastes and smells... and the beautiful tropical beaches. It was a real chill-out time for me after the hustle and bustle of all-consuming India-- kind of like a vacation. I made a point of circumnavigating the island-- something that is impossible now because of the guerilla war and I can remember a few towns that I really liked standing out, Walauttu, Batticaloa, and Trincomalee on the east coast, Hikkaduwa, Hambantota and Galle on the glorious south coast, Nuwara Eliya, Kandy (home of the sacred Temple of the Tooth; see photo above), and Anuradhapura in the middle. I never stayed at one hotel, just slept in the van or on the beach every single night. I have a recollection of swimming and lounging around the beach during the hot days and then driving into the cooler highlands to sleep at night.

Way back in August I wrote a post about Reza Reza Pakravan and Steven Pawley, two long distance cyclists who were embarking on an epic ride from Nordkapp, Norway to Cape Town, South Africa. Their plan was to cover the 18,000 km (11,184 miles) distance between those two cities in just 100 days. Yesterday they completed that ride and they missed their target goal by just two days.

Reza and Steven faced all kinds of challenges as they rode through 14 different countries on their journey across Europe and Africa. Along the way they faced nasty winds, surprisingly bad weather and unexpected illness. The latter of those challenges was what ultimate prevented them from completing the ride in the expected 100 days. Despite all of the difficulties they had to overcome on their ride, the duo still only missed their scheduled arrival by two days. That is pretty impressive considering the number of miles they had to ride in such a relatively short time.

The video below was shot following their arrival in Cape Town yesterday. Not only did that mark the end of the expedition, Reza and Steven also announced that they had raised £20,000 ($32,375) for Azafady, a nonprofit that is working to build schools in Madagascar.

Congratulations to Reza and Steven on completing their incredible ride. In order to reach Cape Town yesterday, they had to average 176.5 km (110 miles) for 102 days straight. Those are impressive numbers indeed.

Last Friday ExWeb broke the news that a team of French climbers had successfully climbed Annapurna along the very difficult South Face. As we all know, any summit of Annapurna is always an impressive one, but this one was especially so thanks to the heavy snows that have fallen in the Himalaya following Cyclone Phailin making landfall a few weeks back. At the time, we knew very few details of the climb other than that Yannick Graziani and Stephane Benoist were able to top out after spending  a week on the mountain. We were also waiting for news on their successful descent, which still hadn't happened the last time we had an update.

Yesterday, ExWeb reported that Yannick and Stephane actually had to be evacuated from Annapurna after suffering frostbite on the descent. The details still remain scant but it appears that they struggled on the way back down but were able to reach Base Camp. Once there, it was determined that they would need medical attention and the duo were flown back to Kathmandu, where they are reportedly being treated now.

ExWeb speculates that the injuries weren't particularly serious, although it is sometimes difficult to tell with frostbite, particularly early on. Hopefully Yannick and Stephane won't be losing any digits and they'll be back in the mountain soon. Considering how dangerous Annapurna can be, they should feel fortunate they got away with just a little frostbite.

They are due to return to France sometime in the next couple of days.

Monasterboice in County Louth is home to the most spectacular high crosses in Ireland. The name Monasterboice derives from Mainistir Bhuithe (Buithe’s Monastery), as a monastery was thought to have been founded here by St. Buithe in the 6th Century. Over time this monastery flourished and grew in both size and prominence. Archaeologists studying aerial photography of the area, identified three concentric enclosures surrounding the core of the site, with the outer enclosure having a diameter of at least 600m (1968ft) enclosing a massive 24 hectares. Today all that is visible is the very heart of the monastery, with a fine round tower and three high crosses, one of which is arguably the finest high cross in Ireland.

The Round Tower

Monasterboice is still used as a graveyard today, and there are good paths that lead the visitor through the site. As well as the early medieval high crosses and round tower, you can also see the remains of two small stone churches. These probably date to the late medieval period, and probably date to around the fifteenth century. Within one of the churches you can see a small bullaun stone. This stone with a circular hollow may have been used as a rudimentary holy water font during the early days of the monastery, or perhaps used as a large version of a mortar-and-pestle, maybe to grind herbs, ore for metallurgy, or pigments for manuscript illustration. 

The round tower is a fine example, and stands at 28m (approximately 92ft) high. The iconic Irish Round Towers are thought to have been primarily constructed as bell towers as they are known as ‘cloigh teach’ in Irish Gaelic which translates to ‘bell house’. They would have also been visible from miles around, and as such they would have acted like a signpost to weary pilgrims on the route to Monasterboice. The round tower here was said to have housed the monasteries library and other treasures, unfortunately though it is recorded as being burned in 1097.

B&W Image of one of the churches with the tall West Cross on the right

The path through the graveyard to the Round Tower

South Cross (Muiredach’s Cross)

The Eastern Face of the South Cross

The incredible South Cross is arguably the finest example of a high cross in Ireland. It probably dates to the early tenth century, as it is very similar to the West Cross at Clonmacnoise that was dated to c.904–916 AD. Like the Clonmacnoise example, the South Cross at Monasterboice also bears an inscription, asking for ‘a prayer for Muiredach’. It seems likely that this refers to Muiredach who died in 924 AD. He was the abbot of Monasterboice, and the vice-abbot of Armagh. He was also the chief steward of the powerful Southern Uí Néill dynasty, making him an incredibly important and influential figure in both religious and secular Ireland.

Depiction of The Last Judgement

The Western Face of the South Cross

My photographs cannot do the South Cross justice. It simply is one of the most important and visually stunning examples of early medieval sculpture in the world. The centrepiece of the crosshead on the eastern side is an amazing depiction of the Last Judgement. The largest figure in the centre is Christ with a phoenix representing the resurrection or perhaps the Holy Spirit, above him. Directly below you can see souls being weighed. To Jesus's right hand side (the left of the image) you can see the souls that have been saved, and nearest to Jesus you can see David playing his lyre. To the left hand side of Christ (on the right of the image) you can see the damned, the poor souls being driven into hell by a demon baring a trident.

The rest of the  cross is taken up with biblical depictions. For example in this image you can see Moses standing with a staff and drawing water forth from the rock. The crowd of people are the thirsty Israelites. The image is a visual representation of the story in Numbers 20:7–13. 

Moses (standing with staff) draws water from the rock

On the south facing side of the cross you can see this image of a snake eating its own tail while coiling around three human heads. Originally I thought that it could be a reference to the snake in the Garden of Eden, or perhaps some sort of warning of serpents dragging sinners to eternal damnation (to be fair the heads don’t look cheerful, and the poor chap in the middle looks like he was caught with a mouthful of crisps), however I was wrong. Thanks to the author of the excellent blog on Christianity in Early Medieval Ireland http://voxhiberionacum.wordpress.com I now know that the snake eating its own tail represents eternity and eternal life, and the heads are being lifted up towards God rather than plunging down into hell. It’s from John 3:14-15:

“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

It’s a representation that can be found at a number of 9–10th century Irish high crosses, like the West Cross at Clonmacnoise for example. 

Depiction of Adam and Eve on the left (note the serpent coiled around the tree) and Cain murdering Abel on the right

Here's a guide to some of the imagery depicted on the eastern face of the cross:

The West Cross 

The Eastern Face of the West Cross

The Western Face of the West Cross

The West Cross is the tallest High Cross in Ireland, standing at a massive 6.5m tall. Thanks to its size, it also has the largest number of figure sculpture panels of any High Cross. Like the South Cross these are also beautifully carved with depictions representing biblical stories from both the Old and New Testaments. You can see a great guide to the depictions on the National Museum of Ireland’s website here. 

Close up of the Western Face of the West Cross

The North Cross

The North Cross

You can find the North Cross within a small fenced area at the very northern boundary of the site, (as you first enter the site turn right and follow the path keeping the wall on your right hand side). It is much plainer than the South and West Crosses, though it is still worth a look as it has some lovely carvings. Next to it you can see an interesting [and rare] sundial, that would have marked the passing of time for the monks of Monasterboice indicating the canonical hours of 9am, 12pm and 3pm. In this small fenced area you can also see some other architectural fragments from the site. 

The Sundial

We took a trip to Monasterboice on a beautiful crisp morning on the 11th January 2014 and found it to be a wonderfully rewarding place to visit. The site is well signposted off the M1, around 8km north-west of Drogheda in County Louth. After your visit I recommend a short 10min drive to Mellifont Abbey, another beautiful site situated very close by. While you’re in the area if you enjoyed the stunning early medieval high crosses why not take a short spin down to Kells in County Meath, where you can find more fantastic examples of early medieval high crosses. We have a FREE audioguide to Kells full of facts, stories, legends and history. To download your free MP3 please visit Abarta Heritage or to download a free audio-visual app for Apple or Android visit here https://www.guidigo.com/A6QzbS7ImVo

This is our first blogpost of 2014. We have so many more of Ireland’s fantastic heritage sites to share with you that I hope to up our output to one or two blogposts a week if possible. I’m planning on tweaking the blog a little so if you have any suggestions of key information you’d like me to include please do drop me a line to info@abartaaudioguides.com or feel free to leave a comment below. I’d really value your input.

As a new addition here is a table with some key information:

If you’d like to keep up with daily images and information about Ireland’s fantastic heritage sites please consider following Neil’s company Abarta Audioguides on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Google+.

If you’d like to support us please consider downloading an audioguide from abartaheritage.ie: they are packed with great facts, information, stories and legends from Ireland’s iconic sites. They are designed to be fun and informative whether you are visiting the sites or from the comfort of your own home, so if you are looking to escape to the Court of Brian Boru the next time you are doing household chores, download one of our guides and let Abarta whisk you off to ancient Ireland!

All images © Neil Jackman/Abarta Heritage

Some Sources and Recommended Reading:

Edwards, N. 2002. The Archaeology of Early Medieval Ireland. (Routledge, London)

Hamlin, A. and Hughes, K. 1997. The Modern Traveller to the Early Irish Church. (Four Courts Press, Dublin)

Ó Carragáin, T. 2010. Churches in Early Medieval Ireland. (Yale, Singapore).

Ó Cróinín, D. (ed) 2005. A New History of Ireland, Prehistoric and Early Ireland (Oxford University Press, New York).