Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan the legendary warlord who subjugated China from his Mongolian stronghold, built the Xanadu palace complex as a summer retreat from the heat of the Forbidden city in Beijing. The palace is arranged in a pattern of three concentric walled circles. Standing on the outer crumbling wall little remains of the buildings that once stood inside, only the odd column base, and linear foundations are visible amongst the plains of grass. When the Khan lived here many of the buildings were temporary, large tents were erected on arrival and taken down on departure.

Waiting for Mr Wong I looked through the Jinlianchuan hotel gift shop. It had the a delightful array of essential products seen to be required by tourists. No toothpaste or mineral water, but huge quantities of local brands of alcohol, sharing shelf space with stuffed squirrels in tasteful poses.

It's not every day you bump into Nelson Mandela. I had arrived from London via Athens and Nairobi on an epic Olympic Airways flight. I was exhausted, hungover and wondering how to safely get to my hotel in Hillbrow. All of a sudden there was a commotion and a group of six men with AK47 guns surrounding a small figure were moving swiftly out of the airport. It was the recently released Nelson Mandela, who was returning from his first overseas trip to Windhoek in Namibia. Everyone else in the airport seemed to be ignoring them, and there was no rush of journalists or photographers ready to greet them.

"In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
a stately pleasure dome decree,
where alph, the sacred river, ran

Peru will be the subject of one of the forthcoming series of posts in Farflungplaces. Here is an early taste of one of the posts, thanks to our sponsors, Marca Peru.

There has not been enough focus on beer in Farflungplaces, an important part of the travel experience. I will attempt to put this right with this post.

Like most of Vanuatu, Espirutu Santo in the northern chain of islands, was occupied by the Americans during WWII to launch their attacks on the Japanese in the Pacific. On their departure from the island they left behind infrastructure like roads and runways, and even buildings, with army built Quonset huts still standing around Santo. The biggest legacy is Million Dollar Point, both historically fascinating, but environmentally destructive, and a monument to greed and stupidity.

1. On a Wednesday night head down to the Nambawan cafe for their outdoor cinema (you can also go Saturday and Sunday (family film night)). Sitting in comfy chairs, or lying on a blanket, with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and eating one of their tasty pizzas is a great way to spend the evening. As the sun goes down the film begins, with a beautiful backdrop of the harbour. This is a real bonus, if the film is a real shocker you can watch the yachts coming and going, and look up at the stars. If only I could do that at a normal cinema...