World food
World food and the local cuisine, is for us one of the essential elements of travel. It is one of the most important ways of understanding local culture and therefore a huge part of our enjoyment of a new destination. We put real effort into discovering where the locals like to eat, what makes up the local cuisine, and consequently getting away from the tourist areas. It’s fair to say we would try virtually anything. Probably the most unusual food we have eaten is insects. Street food, bar food, upmarket restaurants and dodgy dives all have a part to play in this journey of discovery. As we seek out new experiences we are in search of even more unusual food. You won’t get these experiences from hiding in your hotel!
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From Dalyan To Kas: Along The Turquoise Coast
The turtles, kingfishers and other natural wonders of Dalyan continue to wow and entertain us as we see out our last few days in stunning and peaceful surroundings. Our time here has been very chilled, helped undoubtedly by the lovely apartment: we would strongly recommend to anyone visiting Dalyan to stay right beside the river to get the most out of your stay. Taking breakfast whilst turtles swim around you is a very peaceful way to start your day. Take a look at the video link belowhttps://youtu.be/P_NBoKT5jKE Over our last couple of days we revisit Iztuzu beach to soak up the October sun, take a drive out of town and…
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Merchants, Mosques & Masks: 3 Days In Izmir
Mexico, Thailand and Turkey. Of all the countries we’ve visited so far, those are our top three on the international cuisine league table, and our first night in Izmir posts a huge reminder of why Turkey is up there. But first the day starts with a 2am alarm, a small hours taxi pick up and a red eye flight out of a very quiet Gatwick. Once in Izmir, it’s a train and a metro to Basmane station and a trudge with our backpacks to our next bed in the heart of the old town. We chose Hotel L’Agora for its unique location: a riad style building right in the middle…
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Escaping COVID: Our Next Move
Our regular readers will know that we retired at the end of 2019 to pursue our long held dream of full time travel. Unfortunately the obvious intervened and we were forced to abandon our trip after just 7 weeks of what should have been endless exploration. UK lockdown followed. As the slight easing of restrictions started, we took full advantage of the so called travel corridors and have just returned from 5 weeks touring Croatia, which was more than fabulous. We’re now nearing the end of the 14-day quarantine which was imposed just a few days before our return from that trip. These 14 days have naturally felt pretty dull…
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Croatian Islands: Korčula
It’s only 6.20am in sleepy Stari Grad but there’s drama at the bus station as we await our early morning ride. An irate elderly couple pull up in their car and accost two females waiting for the same bus as us; a row ensues, money changes hands and the couple speed off. We can only conclude that the two females have exited their guest house without settling their debts: how incredibly rude, if we are right. Drama over, it’s breakfast at Hvar Town port and then the early catamaran to our next island destination, Korčula, where we are met by our next host Tonci and taken to our seventh home…
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Hanoi: Back Into City Mode
Island paradise, tribal villages, wonderful scenery, small towns and villages, now in the blink of an eye we are transported to a crazily busy capital city and our whole mentality has to change. This regular shift is a part of travel which we are finding particularly stimulating, there’s not much chance things will go stale. We’ve read a lot on line about difficulties in entering Vietnam with onerous visa checking, so what with that and the Coronavirus threat we arrive expecting delays: in reality there is no such issue and after some health checks we are quickly through. And so we leave Laos where it was around 11,540 kip to…
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Laos – Luang Prabang
As the mighty Mekong swings its way through northern Laos, a tributary, the Nam Khan, no small river itself, sweeps around to join the Mekong at a 45 degree angle. In the resulting triangular peninsula sits Luang Prabang, a UNESCO world heritage site with a reputation of being one of the most beautiful places in South East Asia. Here is the story of our 5 days in Luang Prabang. The Town Expectations were high coming here, based on many blogs and commentaries, and, as we all know, high expectations can often lead to disappointment. Not here though: everything about Luang Prabang is delightful, from its mix of Lao housing and…
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Nongtao Part 3: The People
We leave the elephants behind and head for coffee with Lazyman. Carmel explains to us that some of the villagers are known by Karen nicknames rather than their real name, including “Lazyman” and “Big Sister”. We are destined to meet both. Lazyman has a small fruit and coffee plantation in the village; we are treated to coffee ground from freshly picked beans and taken on a tour of the small garden. The coffee itself is delicious, and so, surprisingly, is the juicy flesh from around the coffee bean. But our visit to Lazyman is more than just to share a coffee. Lazyman is a descendant of senior Karen tribesmen and…
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Koh Lanta: The First 7 Days
Klong Nin village We have now spent a few days on Koh Lanta and the village of Klong Nin has become our paradise. The aquamarine Andaman sea gently laps the long pale soft sand beach. A selection of accommodation in the form of beach huts inconspicuously line the beach, nestled amongst palm trees with attractive tropical gardens and a backdrop of wooded hills. Beach bars/ restaurants are rustic and low key, decked in driftwood and shells, cool seating areas with mats and cushions on the floor, there is a real chilled out vibe here. Music from the bars is kept at an acceptably low level and the overall feel is relaxed…
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Time In Bangkok: Our Review
And so after three full days and four evenings in Bangkok, we are moving on to our next destination. It’s been something of a whirlwind start to our Asian adventure but a more chilled spell is on the near horizon. So here’s a resume of our time in the capital and our recommendations for coping with Bangkok… Bangkok is….. Vibrant, lively, energetic, peaceful, devout. Shiny new, immensely ancient. Respectful and religious; iniquitous, rebellious and debauched. If those words sound contradictory, then they are meant to, because this place has just about everything. Whilst it is a bustling city full of life and full of contradictions, we wouldn’t really describe Bangkok…
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Bangkok: The Adventure Begins
It was the novelist Alex Garland who christened Bangkok “the centre of the backpacking universe”, and, by reputation, several other universes ranging from sex tourism to lady boys to diverse cuisine, are centred here. However, on the City Line train and MRT from the airport to the centre, it seems to us that Bangkok has become the centre of the face mask universe. Most likely the propensity of Asians for wearing protective masks in city atmospheres has been intensified by the Coronavirus scare, but whatever, most of the passengers are sporting one. An overnight flight from the UK means that it is late afternoon as we check in the hotel,…
