Adventures in Spain

Land of the Setting Sun

We spent 18 days in Spain, March 29th to April 15th. Many people were excited when we said we were going to Spain and we were a bit weary… could it really be as good as every says? Well, yes, yes it can. It had everything we want in a travel destination: good food, good walking, and good weather. On top of that there are some really great things to see. We definitely need to go back soon. Spain was our first non-asian country in over five months, so we were a bit concerned about our transition. It was much easier than we anticipated. If we had come straight back to the States, it would have been harder, but since we were still traveling and still didn’t speak the language it was similar enough to our recent destinations. We pushed our itinerary a bit in Spain since it was our last destination. As a result we were pretty worn out by the end. We just wanted to see as much as possible because it was so great.

1. Go

Transportation in Spain was SO easy. We would have been better off if we had booked train tickets many weeks before traveling, but bus tickets were still affordable. The high speed train from Barcelona to Madrid was fantastic and the buses were some of the best we’ve taken anywhere.

Spain – Madrid – Views from the Train

Total traveling distances:

• Plane – 21,275 km
• Bus – 640 km
• Train – 600 km
• Taxi – 20 km
• Metro – 75 km
• Foot – 265,000 steps

2. See

Favorite Cities:

• Barcelona – So many people say that this place is amazing, and boy are they right. It has a great old city, great walking, great architecture (hello Gaudi), and great food.

Spain – Barcelona

Favorite Museums:

• Prado, Madrid – Although it was a bit overwhelming, looking back, it was impressive.
• Museo de El Greco, Toledo – We love small quirky museums, so this was right up our alley.

Spain – Madrid – El Prado

Spain – Toledo – Museo del Greco

Favorite Cathedral:

• Sagrada Familia, Barcelona – Bizarre, chaotic, organic, systematic… this place is beyond description. The morning light pouring in through the windows made the pale stone light up like a rainbow.

Spain – Barcelona – Sagrada Familia

Spain – Barcelona – Sagrada Familia

3. Eat

Eating in Spain is an event that is taken very seriously. People are always out eating at all time of day. There’s delicious pastries and coffee in the morning, chocolate and churros for second breakfast, a ham sandwich for lunch, tapas for a afternoon snack, paella and wine for dinner, and delicious cakes for dessert. Yep, we gained some pounds…

Favorite Foods:

• Iberco Ham – This is not the ham we get at the deli back home. This stuff is soft, super thin, salty, and so good.
• Tapas – Little bites of anything you want. It’s a great way to spend an afternoon.
• Tortilla – Not tortillas like in Mexican food. These are potato and egg baked and served as tapas.
• Merlitones – These eggy muffins were a great surprise in Segovia.

Spain – Madrid – Huevos Rotos

Spain – Segovia – Ponche Segoviano

Spain – Toledo – Menu del Dia

Spain – Barcelona – Squid Ink Paella

4. Drink

Like eating, drinking is also an event in Spain. There’s no drip coffee, only espresso because you should sit and enjoy it. Same goes with wine, and there’s lots of it.

Favorite Drinks:

• Coffee – Having espresso every morning has definitely cured us of our instant coffee habit in Asia.
• Chocolate con Churros – How have we never had this before? Super thick hot chocolate with churros for dipping. Wow.
• Wine – We may have overdone it a little on the wine, but how could you not. It’s Spain!

Spain – Madrid – Chocolate con Churros

Spain – Salamanca – Wine in Plaza Mayor

5. Sleep

We were really impressed with our accommodation in Spain. We decided not to do dorms because the price just wasn’t worth it for us. We did hostals (not hostels) and always have a private bathroom. We were pleased with what we could find in our price range.

Favorite Sleeps:

• Hotel BestPrice, Barcelona – This was the perfect place to get over jet lag. We could close the storm shutters and sleep all day.
• Hostal Granada, Salamanca – Perfect location, just outside the old town area and the nicest staff.
• Hotel Conde de Castilla – We really loved the view from our room.

Spain – Segovia – Room with a view

6. Move

We completely fell off the wagon with any kind of actual exercise, but we won in the strolling department. We walked everywhere. We spent entire days just strolling around cities.

Favorite walking spots:

• Parc Guelle – Great in the sunshine and still pretty magical in the rain.
• Toledo – This hilltop top is mostly closed off from cars making it a walking gem.
• Segovia – Another hilltop town with great places to wander.

Spain – Barcelona – Parc Guell

Spain – Toledo

Spain – Segovia – Morning walk

7. Etcetera

As we’ve mentioned before, our rough budget for this trip is $100 a day (for two people). Our daily average in Spain was $135.25. We felt like we were living it up in Spain and not trying to stay on budget. This average is a lot lower than we expected. Transportation and accommodation weren’t cheap and we really splurged on food and wine. We were really impressed how far we could stretch our dollar without really trying. 

Check out all our photos from Spain on Flickr and our post, Colors of Spain.

Also, check out our weekly posts from Spain:

• Week 44 – Barcelona, Spain
• Week 45 – Madrid, Toledo, and Salamanca, Spain
• Week 46 – Segovia and Madrid, Spain

Adventures in Hong Kong

Family, Fog, and Food

We spent 15 days in Hong Kong, March 14th to March 28th. The best part of our two weeks was that we got to spend ten days sightseeing with Pat’s mom, Judith. We’ve been in Asia for five months, so it was fun to see it through her eyes. Despite the fog and occasional rain, we were surprised and charmed by Hong Kong. There was plenty to see and do… and eat, so much eating. Hong Kong offers a wide array of foods from around the world at all price points and we definitely took advantage of it. Hong Kong was easy to get around using public transportation, but navigating Hong Kong Island was beyond tricky. Thankfully, there are lots of tourist signs in English, so we just followed those and gave up on our maps. Since Judith was with us, we got to partake in a classic tourist activity that we have avoided for our travels: shopping. It was glorious. Judith bartered for the first time in her life and turned out to be pretty good at it! And best of all, we walked away with some great souvenirs at prices we were happy to pay.

1. Go

The wonders of the Octopus card are endless. How do more places not have this? Similar to our Pasmo cards in Japan and our EasyCard in Taiwan, the Octopus card covers pretty much every mode of transportation in the city. You can even use it shopping or at restaurants. It makes riding the extensive metro, bus, and tram system even easier.

Hong Kong – Tram Jam

Hong Kong – The Peak Tram is steep

Hong Kong – View from the Star Ferry

Total traveling distances:

• Plane – 2479 km
• Bus – 152 km
• Metro – 73 km
• Tram – 18 km
• Car – 28 km
• Boat – 1 km
• Foot – 152,000 steps

2. See

Hong Kong has plenty to see and do regardless of ones interests. We had more than enough to see during our two weeks.

Favorite Museums:

• Hong Kong Museum of History – The Story of Hong Kong is a must see for any visitor to understand the city. They claimed 2-4 hours would suffice, but we spent over 5 and only left because it was closing.

Hong Kong – Museum of History – Pat and the kids reading comics

Favorite Sights:

• Big Buddha – This is one of those things that everyone does when they come to Hong Kong. We were skeptical, but ended up really liking our visit.
• Hong Kong at Night – The view from The Peak is spectacular (as long as there is no fog), but its especially beautiful at night.
• Markets – Hong Kong has tons of markets and they are specialized for nearly anything you want. Want a fish, go to the Goldfish Market. Want flowers, go to the Flower Market. Want a bird that you can feed grasshoppers to with chopsticks, go to the Bird Market. Want ladies stuff (?), go to the Ladies Market. Ok, that last one didn’t work out as well.

Hong Kong – Lantau Island – The Big Buddha

Hong Kong – View from The Peak

Hong Kong – Ladies Market selection

Hong Kong – Goldfish Market

Hong Kong – Flower Market

Hong Kong – Bird Garden

Favorite Monastery:

• Ten Thousand Buddhas – This place was odd, to say the least. There were over 10,000 gold Buddha statues covering the grounds. Each was different from the last… some even had live monkeys adorning them.

Hong Kong – Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery – Monkey sitting on the head of a statue

Favorite Outdoors:

• Lantau Island – This island is home to the Big Buddha and Po Lin Monastery which are both huge tourist attractions. It’s easily reached by metro and offers some great walking trails.

Hong Kong – Lantau Island – Tree Walk

Hong Kong – Lantau Island – Wisdom Path

3. Eat

Food in Hong Kong is much more international than we anticipated. In addition to the expected Chinese food, we also ate Japanese, Korean, American, French, and Southeast Asian.

Favorite Foods:

• Dim Sum – Dim Sum is the best. We ate dim sum three times and just loved it. We prefer the traditional carts so that you can see what you are ordering right away.
• Bubble Waffles, aka Egg Waffles – This street food is so fun to eat and perfect for a snack any time of day.
• Korean BBQ – This was a big surprise for us in Hong Kong, but we loved it.
• Claypot Cooked Rice – Ok, so this wasn’t the most exciting thing we ate but it was pretty darn fun. The rice was really tasty and the topping were decent. It was wonderfully cheap and filled with locals.

Hong Kong – Judith eating Dim Sum at Maxim’s Palace in City Hall

Hong Kong – Din Tai Fun

Hong Kong – Judith excited about bubble waffles

Hong Kong – Korean BBQ

Hong Kong – Claypot cooked rice

4. Drink

We didn’t really go out for drinks in Hong Kong, but we drank lots and lots of tea. Judith loves tea, so we did a tea tasting and ended up buying a fair amount to enjoy at the apartment.

Favorite Drinks:

• Tea – We learned tons about how tea is grow, harvested, and served at our tea tasting.

Hong Kong – Mingcha Tea Tasting

Hong Kong – Mingcha Tea Tasting – Our tea choices

Hong Kong – Mingcha Tea Tasting – Learning the proper way to make tea

5. Sleep

We only stayed in one place during our time in Hong Kong. We rented a tiny apartment that sleeps three people.

Favorite Sleeps:

• Rented Apartment – This place had everything we needed during our stay. It was tiny, but it was just enough with a kitchen, couch, bathroom, and the comfiest beds ever. It was also surprisingly quiet despite being on the same street as lots of bars and restaurants.

Hong Kong – Rented Apartment – kitchen, bathroom, bedroom doors

Hong Kong – Rented Apartment – Living/Dining

Hong Kong – Rented Apartment – View

6. Move

Hong Kong has excellent sidewalks, but even more impressive was the ability to get out to nature quickly. Lantau Island is only a short metro ride away.

Favorite walking spots:

• Lantau Island – After visiting the Big Buddha and Po Lin Monastery, we wandering some of the nearby trails and were pleasantly surprised.

Hong Kong – Lantau Island – Wisdom Path

Hong Kong – Lantau Island – Wisdom Path

Hong Kong – Lantau Island – Tree Walk

Hong Kong – Lantau Island – Tree Walk

7. Etcetera

As we’ve mentioned before, our rough budget for this trip is $100 a day (for two people). Our daily average in Hong Kong was $87.26. Although accommodation is expensive, there are deals to be found. Food and transportation were so cheap that spending more on accommodation was totally worth it. There were only a few places to see that cost money, so it ended up being pretty affordable. Having two weeks allowed us to take it slow and walk a bit more. We also cooked in a fair amount, although groceries were nearly as expensive as getting take-out. 

Check out all our photos from Hong Kong on Flickr and our post, Colors of Hong Kong.

Also, check out our weekly posts from Hong Kong:

• Week 42 – Hong Kong
• Week 43 – Hong Kong

Adventures in Japan

The Land of the Rising Sun

We spent 27 days in Japan, February 16th to March 13th and loved it. Japan is so easy to travel through. Transportation is well organized, thought out, clean, and perfectly on-time (a huge change from our last few countries). Actually, it’s not just the transportation that could be described that way, it’s nearly everything – the food, the roads, the sidewalks, the restaurants, the tourist attractions, etc. Everything is done deliberately and with care. As a result everything is pretty easy and when it’s not there are lots of people who are happy to help. We were impressed by the sheer quantity of things to do in Japan, maybe even a little overwhelmed at first. We tried to sample a little bit of everything from big cities to museums to nature.

1. Go

Transportation in Japan is incredibly easy (not a surprise), but not cheap (a bit of a surprise). In order to keep costs down, we chose our locations carefully. We decided to limit our itinerary to Tokyo and Kyoto and their surrounding areas. We also found the best travel-hack of our trip so far, the “Seishun 18” train pass. Normally, train tickets from Tokyo to Kyoto are over $100 each, which wasn’t something we were too excited about. We read about the Seishun 18 pass that is only available three times a year and we just happened to be there for one of those times. The pass costs about $100 and has five day-passes on it. Each day-pass can be used by a different person and provides unlimited travel on local trains for a single day for an average cost of $20. We each used one ticket to get from Tokyo to Kyoto (which took 10 trains and 10 hours) and still had three tickets left. We used one to get to Osaka, and then the final two to get to the airport.

Total traveling distances:

• Plane – 5,200 km
• Bus – 40 km
• Train – 995 km
• Car – 60 km
• Funicular – 1.5 km
• Metro – 260 km
• Boat – 10 km
• Foot – 382,000 steps

2. See

We felt like we didn’t even scratch the surface of what Japan has to offer. Tokyo alone has enough to occupy someone for a year. We chose a few museums, a few nature sights, a few cities, and a few temples/shrines.

Favorite Cities:

• Tokyo – Tokyo is massive and has anything and everything you could ever want. There are peaceful parks and quiet streets, museums and shows, clubs and shopping, you name it! It was a bit overwhelming deciding what to do, but we made it work by spending 10 days.

Japan – Tokyo – City View from Mori Art Museum

Favorite Museums:

• National Museum, Tokyo – Perfect museum to introduce us to the history of Japan. The displays were well thought out and beautifully curated.

Japan – Tokyo – Tokyo National Museum – before the snuggy, there was this

Japan – Tokyo – Tokyo National Museum

• Mori Art Museum, Tokyo – Just wow. We have never seen anything like the Takashi Murakami exhibit and doubt we ever will again. Not only that, but it was on the 52nd floor with amazing views of the city

Japan – Tokyo – Mori Art Museum featuring Takashi Murakami

Japan – Tokyo – Mori Art Museum featuring Takashi Murakami

Favorite Sights:

• Nikko – The row of stone statues with bright red bibs and hats is as beautiful as it is surprising. It was very cold, but the leftover snow in the shade was pretty fun.

Japan – Nikko – Narabijizo

Favorite Shrine:

• Fushimi Inari-taisha – How could you not love this place with it’s thousands of bright orange torii arcing over the hiking path.

Japan – Kyoto – Fushimi Inari-taisha

Favorite Outdoors:

• Hakone – Not only is it beautiful, but part of the fun is taking five modes of transportation to see everything. Unfortunately, we did not get to see Mt Fuji, but it should be just left of center in the photo below.

Japan – Hakone – Lake Ashi

3. Eat

We were so excited about food in Japan. We were looking forward to sushi/sashimi, ramen, udon, and tempera, and we got plenty of that. What we didn’t expect was curry, onigiri, and strange desserts (like banana wrapped in a pancake).

Favorite Foods:

• Sushi/Sashimi – Duh! How could this not be on the list. We had sushi everywhere – fish market, shopping mall, grocery store, rotating restaurant – and it was all delicious.
• Ramen – Again, duh! We could not have enough of these steaming bowls of goodness.
• Curry – Curry rice with fried pork cutlet is just about the best thing to eat on a cold rainy day.
• Onigiri – We will miss these so much! They are the perfect grab and go food.

Japan – Osaka – Rotating sushi with the Yamamoto’s

Japan – Tokyo – Sashimi Breakfast at Tsukiji Fish Market

Japan – Kyoto – Ippudo ramen

Japan – Tokyo – Curry Rice

Japan – Hakone – Onigiri aka “triangles”

4. Drink

We wish Japan was a little more affordable so that we could have drank a bit more. In our previous countries, we got used to buying iced tea, but had to give that up in Japan because of the cost. The only thing we didn’t cut out was sake and Pocari Sweat (a terribly named sports drink).

Favorite Drinks:

• Sake – We had no idea how diverse sake could be until we did our own little tasting. After that, we were hooked. 

Japan – Osaka – Beer, sake, and shochu with Yamamoto-san

5. Sleep

We had some great accommodation in Japan. The hostels were very nice, clean, and quiet. Everything was well thought out for best use in a small space. We also had some great Airbnb experiences and had a homestay.

Favorite Sleeps:

• Hostel K’s House, Hakone – Although we had to sleep in dorm beds, this place had it’s own onsen (Japanese hot spring).
• Airbnb Apartment, Kyoto – We ended up staying here for ten nights and were sad to leave.
• The Yamamoto’s Home – The Yamamoto’s generously opened their home to us and invited us to stay a night. It was a wonderful experience.

Japan – Hakone – Hostel Common room

Japan – Kyoto – Our AirBnB Apartment living and sleeping area

Japan – Osaka – Yamamoto Home

6. Move

We were so relieved to be in a country with sidewalks again! Oh, how we missed walking without the fear of being hit by a moped! Japan offers a plethora of wonderful walks, but even just strolling down the sidewalk in Tokyo in lovely.

Favorite walking/running/biking/kayaking spots:

• Nikko – We spent the entire day hiking through the tall cedar trees visiting shrines and temples.
• Hakone – On our final morning we woke to fresh snow which made for a picturesque but cold walk.
• Arishiyama Bamboo Grove – Peaceful and so very green.
• Fushimi Inari-taisha – ORANGE! Everywhere.
• Yamamoto-san’s Town – Like walking through a Miyazaki film.

Japan – Nikko – Big tress on the way to Takino Shrine

Japan – Hakone – Cedar Road with fresh snow

Japan – Kyoto – Arishiyama Bamboo Grove

Japan – Kyoto – Fushimi Inari-taisha

Japan – Osaka – Morning walk with Yamamoto-san

7. Etcetera

As we’ve mentioned before, our rough budget for this trip is $100 a day (for two people). Our daily average in Japan was $100.12. We can’t believe it! We were very concerned about our budget in Japan and maybe that’s why it was so low. We did lots of research to find cheap but good accommodation and kept our train travel to a minimum. We didn’t eat out as much as we have in previous countries, taking advantage of grocery stores and convenience stores. 

We loved Japan and were sad to leave. Our four weeks was not nearly enough to do this beautiful country justice. We will be back in the future, hopefully with a higher budget! The only drawback for us was that since everything was so orderly, we were constantly worried that we were in the wrong place or doing the wrong thing and would mess everything up. But the Japanese were so friendly and helpful that we always felt comfortable and welcome.

Check out all our photos from Japan on Flickr and our post, Colors of Japan.

Also, check out our weekly posts from Japan:

• Week 38 – Tokyo, Japan
• Week 39 – Nikko, Hakone, and Tokyo, Japan
• Week 40 – Kyoto, Japan
• Week 41 – Kyoto and Osaka, Japan

Adventures in Thailand

Thailand in Two Parts

We spent 29 days in Thailand in two parts. Our first part was November 17th to December 6th and our second was February 8th to February 15th. We were really excited about Thailand since Lindsey had spent 5 weeks there in high school and wanted to see how it had changed. In the end, we liked Thailand but didn’t love it. We loved spending time with Megan, Kelci, and Sam in the south but traveling with five people was more difficult than we anticipated (lots of things are meant for four people – like taxis and rooms). We also loved the beach scene, but felt like we could be anywhere in the world – that is to say that it didn’t feel like Thailand, it just felt like a beach resort. Bangkok had some interesting sights, but was incredibly hot. Our final week was spent in Chiang Mai after doing a loop through Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos. It was a lot cooler than the south, but we didn’t do nearly as much touristing and instead spent most of our time planning for the next leg of our trip. Overall, we loved the food, the Wats, and the beaches but we could have done without the partiers, sex tourists, and the generic resort feel of some locations. 

1. Go

Transportation in Thailand is pretty simple. The tourism industry is huge and they are used to shuttling around all kinds of travelers. Our ferries in the south even put stickers on everyone based on where they were getting off. Not only is the transportation simple, it’s also surprisingly inexpensive. With the big group, we flew from Bangkok to Phuket and then from Krabi back to Bangkok for very low prices. Both in Bangkok and the south of Thailand, we spent a lot of time on boats. Some were idillic while others made you question your decisions.

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Snorkeling trip to the 4 Islands via longtail boat

Thailand – Phuket – Long Boats at low tide

Thailand – Bangkok – Canal Boat

Total traveling distances:

• Plane – 3,983 km
• Bus – 275 km
• Taxi – 171 km
• Boat – 122 km
• Metro – 87 km
• Foot – 287,000 steps

2. See

Thailand has one of the largest tourism industries in the world and it shows. There are tons of things to see and do, from great museums to beautiful beaches to exhilarating activities.

Favorite Museums:

• Grand Palace, Bangkok – A must do for any visit to Bangkok, just be prepared for huge crowds and HOT temperatures.
• Wat Pho – Another must do and for great reason. The massive reclining buddha is worth braving the crowds.

Thailand – Bangkok – The Grand Palace

Thailand – Bangkok – Wat Pho

Favorite Outdoors:

• Islands near Ko Lanta – Ko Lanta had a nice beach, but our excursions to the surrounding islands were outstanding. We did two snorkeling trips and both were incredible.

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Snorkeling trip to the 4 Islands via longtail boat

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Snorkeling trip to the 4 Islands via longtail boat

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Snorkeling trip to the 4 Islands via longtail boat

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Taken by Christophe Rouziou

3. Eat

For the most part, Thai food is exactly what you’d expect – lots of curry, noodles, and spice. But there were definitely some surprises like chicken and cashew stir-fry and pandan jelly noodles in coconut milk. We love the food so much that we took two cooking classes to learn how to make it at home. Our only complaint was that the food wasn’t as spicy as we expected. But we quickly found out this was only a problem at tourist spots. The locals restaurants were VERY spicy (e.g. papaya salad that was almost inedible due to it’s spiciness).

Favorite Foods:

• Curry – We are still loving all the tradition curry that we get at home.
• Pad Thai – Easy and cheap and available everywhere.
• Chicken and Cashew Stir-fry – At first we weren’t sure if this was Thai food, but we were told over and over again that it is very common. We couldn’t get enough.
• Hot Basil Stir-fry – Sometimes this dish was VERY spicy, but it was never boring.
• Papaya Salad – Very similar to the Vietnamese version, but less sweet and more spicy.
• Fruit – There is fresh fruit everywhere. We were spoiled with fresh mango and papaya every day.
• Desserts – Everything in coconut milk – sticky rice and mango, rubies, jellies, etc.

Thailand – Phuket – Cooking Class – Graduated with Certificates! (with our instructor)

Thailand – Chiang Mai – Mama Noi Cooking Class – Pat and his papaya salad

Thailand – Chiang Mai – Mama Noi Cooking Class – Lindsey making massaman curry

Thailand – Chiang Mai – Dessert of pandan jelly noodles, black bean jelly, and rubies in coconut milk

Thailand – Chiang Mai – dinner!

4. Drink

Thailand was a great place to celebrate. And so we did… a lot. First we toasted to everyones safe arrival in Bangkok, then to our successful flight to Phuket, then to Thanksgiving, then to Lindsey’s birthday, then to Megan’s last night, then to Sam’s last night, then to Kelci’s last night, and finally to our last night.

Favorite Drinks:

• Cocktails – These were in no way specific to Thailand, but they are the only place that we had them. We were celebrating Thanksgiving and Lindsey’s birthday.

Thailand – Bangkok – The Atlanta – Bangkok’s Bastion of Wholesome Tourism

Thailand – Phuket

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Thanksgiving Feast

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Traditional Thanksgiving drinks?

Thailand – Bangkok – Drinks at the Moon Bar

5. Sleep

Finding a place for five people to sleep is a little different than finding room for two, but we managed. There are lost of cheap places to lay your head. Overall, we were very pleases with our rooms in Thailand.

Favorite Sleeps:

• Atlanta Hotel, Bangkok – Stuck in the 1950’s in a charming and quirky way.

Thailand – Bangkok – The Atlanta Hotel

6. Move

Thailand was tough in the MOVE category. Pat was still pretty ill at the beginning and the excessive heat didn’t help the situation. We didn’t get in much running or walking for the first bit. Once we got down to the islands, we had a chance to snorkel several times and Pat even fit in an afternoon of stand up paddle boarding.

Favorite walking/running spots:

• Lumpini Park, Bangkok – This massive park was about a mile from our hotel. Pat went on a few runs and we went on a few walks. One with the whole group where we stumbled upon lots of people doing aerobics at night. We also took advantage of the swan boats, which was great until we saw giant swimming iguanas.
• Buak Haad City Park, Chiang Mai – This park is tiny – too tiny for running, but great for a stroll.

Thailand – Bangkok – Lumpini Park

Thailand – Chiang Mai – Buak Haad City Park

Favorite swimming spots:

• Islands around Ko Lanta – Snorkeling was our main focus for two days. It was delightful.

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Snorkeling trip to the 4 Islands via longtail boat

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Taken by Christophe Rouziou

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Taken by Christophe Rouziou

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Taken by Christophe Rouziou

7. Etcetera

As we’ve mentioned before, our rough budget for this trip is $100 a day (for two people). Our daily average in Thailand was $79.30, which makes it one of the more affordable countries on our list. Our two parts have very different averages. Traveling with the group came in at a daily average of $90.77 while the time spent on our own was only $69.98. To be fair, the time spent in Bangkok without the group and the week in Chiang Mai were primarily spent planning with very little sightseeing or transportation costs. But it does seem that in Thailand, you can get a lot of bang for your buck. Thailand turned out to be a great place to hang out with friends and family, learn to cook, and get haircuts.

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Thanksgiving Feast

Thailand – Bangkok – Crumbs in Bangkok!

Thailand – Chiang Mai – Mama Noi Cooking Class – Our wonderful instructor, Aim

Thailand – Phuket – Cooking Class – Graduated with Certificates! (with our instructor)

Thailand – Chiang Mai – cut and STYLE!

Thailand – Bangkok – Pat after haircut!

Check out all our photos from Thailand on Flickr and our post, Colors of Thailand.

Also, check out our weekly posts from Thailand:

• Week 25 – Bangkok and Phuket, Thailand
• Week 26 – Ko Lanta, Thailand
• Week 27 – Bangkok, Thailand
• Week 37 – Chiang Mai, Thailand

Week 36 – Adventures in Laos

A Lazy Week in Laos

We had a really lazy, enjoyable week in Laos. We started in Vientiane, the sleepy capitol city with less than 300,000 people. We saw a few sights and spent lots of time reading and planning. Midweek we took an eleven hour bus ride to Luang Prabang, which sounds horrible but was actually pretty nice. Despite broken seats and dusty air, we enjoyed the winding ride through the mountains. Luang Prabang is THE tourist spot in Laos, which meant there was lots of action in the tiny french colonial style town but not much authenticity. From Luang Prabang, we took a two day slow boat up the Mekong river to the border with Thailand.

1. Go

• Plane – 495 km. We decided to take the short flight from Hanoi to Vientiane instead of traveling by bus for 24 hours. It’s more expensive, but we saved on sanity.
• Bus – 345 km. Beautiful scenery through winding mountains sitting on broken seats and breathing lots of dusty air… sounds terrible, but it was actually pretty great.
• Taxi – 5 km. Transfer from airport to hotel in Vientiane
• Boat – 330 km. We spent two days traveling up the Mekong on a slow boat.
• Foot – 96,000 steps in 7 days (approx. 48 miles)

2. See

There is not much to see and do in Vientiane, but that was fine with us! We did a little sightseeing each morning, then retreated back to our room for the heat of the day. Wandering around town was easy since the sidewalks were large and the streets weren’t busy. We started with tradition by visiting Wat Sisaket and Paouxai. Wat Sisaket was reminiscent of wats in Thailand and Cambodia, but had it’s own personality. Paouxai is a monument modeled after the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and it sits on Lane Xang Avenue which is modeled after the Champs Elysees. It definitely felt like Paris mixed with Southeast Asia. On a more sombre note, we visited the COPE Visitor Center which is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping victims of UXO’s (unexploded ordinances) left over from American bombs during the Vietnam War. They provide prosthetic limbs and rehabilitation. It was heartbreaking to hear stories of injuries left untreated due to lack of hospital resources, often resulting in amputation or death.

Laos – Vientiane – That Dum Stupa

Laos – Vientiane – Wat Sisaket

Laos – Vientiane – Wat Sisaket

Laos – Vientiane – COPE

Laos – Vientiane – Patouxai

Laos – Vientiane – Patouxai

Laos – Vientiane – Patouxai

Laos – Vientiane – “…sell a wing, a donkey that intimately…”

The old city of Luang Prabang is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site and is firmly on the tourist map. The old town has more tourist than locals. There are fancy hotels and restaurants lining the streets along with museums, wats, and souvenir shops. It’s a cute town, but it feels a bit staged – like a Disney version of Southeast Asia. We loved the wide sidewalks that made strolling easy and also enjoyed the cool temperatures, but felt torn about town itself. Do we love it or hate it? Maybe a little of both?  On the upside, there are some great things to see and do. Our favorites were Wat Xieng Thong, The Royal Palace Museum, and Phousi (Sacred Hill).

Laos – Luang Prabang – Wat Xieng Thong

Laos – Luang Prabang – Wat Xieng Thong

Laos – Luang Prabang – Wat Xieng Thong

Laos – Luang Prabang – Wat Xieng Thong

Laos – Luang Prabang – Wat Xieng Thong

Laos – Luang Prabang – Museum

Laos – Luang Prabang – Museum

Laos – Luang Prabang – Phousi

Laos – Luang Prabang – Phousi

Laos – Luang Prabang – Phousi

If there’s one thing that every backpacker does in Laos, it’s the slow boat on the Mekong between the border of Thailand and Luang Prabang. There are a few options for the journey: speed boat, public slow boat, or luxury cruise. The speed boat option only takes one day, but looks like it would take years off your life. So, that left us with either the public slow boat or the luxury cruise, both take two full days. The public slow boat is cheap… really cheap… the kind of cheap that makes you wonder about the safety and comfort. It’s just transportation. There are bathrooms aboard (not the nicest) and some snacks/water for sale, but there are no stops. We heard that they fill the boats as full as possible, meaning sometimes not everyone has a seat. The luxury option was way over our budget, but included meals, tea/coffee/water all day, excursions during the trip, and an English speaking guide. Maybe our time with the Chadwick’s spoiled us, but we went with the luxury option called Shompoo Cruise (not a typo, shampoo with an “o” instead of an “a”). It was a great choice. We were happy and comfortable the whole way. We had a booth table to spread out on, but often moved to the lounge chairs to read and watch the world go by. We had an excursion each day, which were only ok but it was nice to walk around and get our blood moving.

Laos – Mekong River Cruise – Sunrise leaving Luang Prabang

Laos – Mekong River Cruise – Map of our route

Laos – Mekong River Cruise – Pat keeping warm with Hello Kitty

Laos – Mekong River Cruise – Bamboo dock

Laos – Mekong River Cruise – Buddha Cave

Laos – Mekong River Cruise – Typical view from the bow

Laos – Mekong River Cruise – View from our boat

Laos – Mekong River Cruise – Sunset from Pakbeng at the halfway point

Laos – Mekong River Cruise – Our usual spot

Laos – Mekong River Cruise – Pat with the boat

Laos – Mekong River Cruise – Village visit

Laos – Mekong River Cruise – Village visit

Laos – Mekong River Cruise – Village visit

3. Eat

Parts of Laos felt really staged to us. We felt this way in Thailand and Cambodia at times as well. In Laos (like Cambodia), restaurants are predominantly for tourists. Locals don’t really go out to eat, and if they do, it’s not where the tourists go. There is also a large expat community in Laos, so the restaurants serve all kinds of international food. Since we were only in Laos for a week, we wanted to eat Lao food as much as possible. We loved having sticky rice with our meals, but couldn’t really get use to eating with our hands and reverted to chopsticks. We did have non-Lao food as well, mostly in the form of pastries and other baked goods from the plethora of bakeries lining the streets. Our favorite Lao meals were anything wrapped in banana leaves (usually fish and/or pork) and bbq.

Laos – Luang Prabang – Sausage, sticky rice, and fish in banana leaf

Laos – Luang Prabang – Laos BBQ

4. Drink

Like other countries in Southeast Asia, Laos has it’s own beer. This one is creatively called “Beer Lao.” It comes in regular, Gold, and dark. We did a taste testing night and were pretty impressed with the Gold and the dark. They weren’t too sweet and were different than the standard lager that we get everywhere else in SEA.

5. Sleep

We stayed in slightly nicer places than necessary this week. There were very few places with good reviews, so we had to compromise and raise our spending a little. In Vientiane, we stayed at a large hotel on a back alley a short walk from town. This turned out to be a great choice since the downtown area was very noisy. In Luang Prabang we followed the same rule and were generally pleased. The hotel had a nice breakfast, but some items went missing in the laundry. We noticed that one of Lindsey’s socks was missing, a bra, a pair of Pat’s socks, and shorts. Jeez! Luckily, we got it all back. Our final night was spent in Pakbeng, the halfway point on the Mekong cruise. It was clean and quiet and close to the docks.

6. Move

The mornings and evenings are nice and cool in Laos, which has meant that we can get out for more activity. Pat was able to get out for two early morning runs in Luang Prabang. We’ve been getting in a lot more walking. We basically walk all morning, then relax for the afternoon, then go out again for an evening stroll.

Check out Pat’s CADENCE Week 36 post (coming soon) for details about this week.

7. Etcetera

As we’ve mentioned before, our rough budget for this trip is $100 a day (for two people). Our daily average in Laos was $101.45. Laos turned out to be quite expensive for us! There are a few factors that contributed to this. First, we traveled more quickly than we usually do. Second, we could find beds for $5 but the types of travelers we would be surrounded by are the partying, drug taking, spoiled, inconsiderate type who would rather drink redbull and vodka until 2am than wake up at 7am for a hike… aka, not our crowd. We are happy to pay more to guarantee a quiet place to sleep and to be surrounded by other travelers who care more about traveling than partying. And third, our big budget buster was our choice to go with an luxury outfitter for the slow boat up the Mekong. It can be done for a third the price we paid. In the end, we are happy with our decisions to upgrade in Laos.

Check out our Flickr album to see all our photos from this week.