Writer’s Asian eye-opener
MY absolute childhood favourite was North Berwick.
When you’re 12 or 13 and you have somewhere with an outdoor pool, an amusement arcade, beaches, two golf courses and two putting greens it’s heaven on earth.
Honestly, what else could you want?
My dad had a couple of old man’s pubs to go to so he was fine too.
Living in Edinburgh I’ve been back plenty times since and I think it’s probably even better.
The outdoor pool went a few years ago but there are so many new additions like the Seabird Centre where you can take a trip out to Bass Rock.
You can fine-dine on the seafood at the Lobster Shack at the harbour which is a bit of a change from the chips and sauce I remember as a boy.
About eight or nine years ago I went to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam and it was such an eye-opener.
Thailand had amazing beaches and when you added the heat, the different food and the smiley people it just knocked my socks off.
In Cambodia, I went to one of the abandoned places that’s featured in the book.
It’s the great temple of Ang Kor Wat and it’s a sight to behold.
Although it’s one of the largest temples on the planet, it was totally lost in the jungle for hundreds of years.
Then it was rediscovered by the outside world at the end of the 19th Century.
It covers an absolutely massive area and you have all these colonnades and water features that were just swallowed up and hidden away.
I just love the idea of going on holiday and finding something different, so beach holidays really aren’t for me. Coasts are fine but they have to be for exploring.
And I like anywhere that has a literary connection, so I love getting to the likes of Mull as Erraid was featured in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped.