Travel

This is Kapadokya or Cappadocia (in Turkey), where for thousands of years, whole cities have been built undergound. All this burrowing needs some explaining.

Like so much that is beautiful, it began with extraordinary violence. At first, the brutality was geological. About seventy million years ago, Mt Erciyes exploded, along with two other volcanoes. They smothered the land first in shortbread (properly known as ‘tuff’) and then a wafer-thin coating of basalt.

Hotels you'll never forget, good or bad. Here are five of my favourites:

1. The Amanjiwo, Borobudur (see photo). I stayed here whilst doing an article on Java for The Daily Telegraph. It was probably the most luxurious billet I've ever been given. This room had its own pool, and all sorts of gizmos. There was ever a set of watercolours in case the mood took you.

Revolution ranch. This is Pirara in the Rupununi (Guyana). When Evelyn Waugh called by, in 1933, here was ‘one of the most imposing and important houses in the district.’ He described a schoolroom, fruit trees and a compendious library with books on every conceivable subject ‘much ravaged by ants’.

A Parliament of Ants. This is the great Dutch hall on Flag Island in the Essequibo River, established in 1744. It has tall, shuttered windows, the bell-tower of a church and the body of a warehouse. Aside from forts, it's probably the oldest building in Guyana. Inside there's a large expanse of flagstones, a cluster of well-laureled tombs, and a colony of bats.