On my second day in Casa I call Meki, the cab driver who picked me up at the train station on my arrival the day before. He spoke good English and said he would give me a tour of the city for a price we agreed in advanced.

I had only just arrived in Casablanca - Casa to locals - and decided to get straight into the heart of it. I wandered through the teeming medina, where you can buy anything from sweet dates to leather goods to MP3s of the latest Maroc hits - then out into the city and into a giant slum area. I have to admit I was a bit nervous. I just kept walking like I knew where I was going and eventually found myself near the sea.

Especially Merry Christmas to people with genuine passion for travelling. It's time to spread joy and bring smiles to faces! Whether people believe in Santa Claus or not, they continue their traditional Christmas celebration. People wait for the arrival of Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. He is the world`s best traveller and the most popular person!

Look at trolls celebrating Christmas in Sandvika near Oslo. They are found in Sandvika Storsenter, which is the largest shopping center in Scandinavia. It covers 190 stores on 8 different floors, 1 km from one end to the other. Here you find a great mix of shops, boutiques and concept stores, but you find also small and big trolls around in the centre. The trolls look scarey, but they spread joy and happinnes in the Christmas time.

It was a beautiful day on Sunday 17 December 2007 when the sun broke through the dark skyes, and lightened up the ice on the fjord in Sandvika at Kadettangen, Kalvøya. In the middle of this day I observed two or more sundogs on opposite sides of the sun simultaneously. There was no snow in Sandvika near Oslo, but anyway the sun rays made the Christmas atmosphere here quite unique.

In the dark mid winter Norwegian do everything to have some fun. On the surface Christmas in Oslo looks quite similar as any other large European city, but you when walk along the main street in Oslo, Karl Johansgate, you will see there are trolls standing outside the shops. They are both guarding the people and spreading joy.

The opening celebrations of the Christmas Season are taking place at the Santa Claus' Village in Rovaniemi Saturday 24th November 2007. In Santa Claus’ Village you can meet Santa Claus and cross the Arctic Circle all year round. The mysterious place Korvatunturi in Finnish Lapland is where Santa Claus lives with his helpers, the elves. For a long time ago he decided to meet people whole the year around.

The show must go on in Rio next year too. It`s time to prepare for the 2008 Samba Parade, Rio Carnival Balls, Scala Balls, Samba Land, Samba School Nights and Samba City. Here you can experience the true culture of Brazil. The carnival is very important to the Brazilians being their very rich cultural manifestation. Rio Carnival 2008 starts on Saturday 2 February and ends on Fat Tuesday 5 February.

A major tourist destination located in the South of Thailand, the island of Phuket is known for its white sandy beaches, friendly locals and exciting nightlife. Yet during the months of June to October the nightlife comes to a screeching halt. Unfortunately the rainy season in Phuket has not been dubbed “the green season” because of the colour of the money that comes in, but rather from the lush green vegetation that is a result of four months of almost constant rain.

Explosions to the left and to the right every 5 seconds, all colours of the rainbow on the dresses of the locals jumping in frenzy to traditional music, millions of people with no sleep for 4 days and giant 15-20 metre caricature effigies grinning at you at every crossroad, many with hard-punching satire and even sexually explicit scenes. This is Disneyland purchased by the Lord of the Underworld, this is Fear and Loathing in Valencia – Las Fallas.

Still, the guns were obviously not to be carried by the rest of the population. I won’t lie and say that I saw a Glock resting on the passenger seat in a taxi. But people did find ways to create more security even without the firearms. I guess there can never be too much security…

This bizarre trip, from Havana to San Salvador, took me through five levels of Central American gun culture.

Yet, curiously, throughout this process a strong Valencian cultural identity emerged in, once again, the City of Contrasts. The locals see themselves as an ethnic kingdom within Spain. What is spectacular, though, is that here the traditional is still very much in fashion, preserved mainly in music, costumes, customs and fiestas. A good third or so of Valencia proudly sports regional costumes (said to be the most colourful in Spain) and music on even the smallest occasion. That includes a lot of youth. Here, it is still cool to be traditional in the 21st century.

Western Europe is such an ultimate travel destination that anything worth seeing has already been triple-packed. It is practically impossible to find a place that has major attractions yet has retained its innocence. And, out of all countries, Spain – the place where annual tourist head count overtakes that of its residents – is a very unlikely candidate for such location.

Once in Antigua I heard the terrible news: Luke failed to get signed up and was only starting. I did want to go to El Salvador with Luke, though, and I was beginning to think that my Spanish could do with some classes too, so with a heavy heart I decided to stay and look for classes in the morning.