Ha Long Bay is advertised (at least by our selected cruise company, Ocean Tours) as one of the “New 7 Wonders of the World.” I was not familiar with that category of world wonders but it certainly is stunningly beautiful. Over 1,000 towering limestone islands surround one bigger island (Cat Ba), rising above the turquoise water. It’s a magical sight to see. Our 3 day/2 night cocktail cruise began with a 2 hour bus ride from Hanoi to the coast….
After having a great experience trekking in Myanmar we booked a 2 day/1 night trek in Sapa, a small town in northern Vietnam, through Ethnic Travel. We had very little information on the details of the trek prior to leaving Hanoi and were unsure of what the mileage would be, what size the group would be, etc. All we knew was that we had to arrive at the company’s office in Hanoi at 7:30pm for our night train to the north….
Our first stop in Vietnam was Hanoi, the capital city located in the northern part of the country. We had one night here before heading north to Bac Ha for trekking, and then we returned for 3 more nights post-trek. Our friend Jen, who I grew up with, joined us for two weeks beginning with our second stop in Hanoi. Hanoi is the craziest place we have been, earning this distinction mostly because of it’s insane traffic. Stop lights and traffic lights are…
Our trip to Inle Lake was a great way to wrap up our two weeks in Myanmar. The lake is located in the middle of the country, about a 12 hour bus ride northeast of Yangon. We spent our time here relaxing after our trek, enjoying time on the water, and soaking in the areas around the lake (including a beautiful winery)! Here are our favorite activities from our time at Inle: Taking a Boat Ride Around Inle Lake Hiring a boat to…
Planning The Trek The trek (aka hike) from Kalaw to Inle Lake is about 40 miles and is one of the more popular tourist activities in Myanmar. This is the only region in Myanmar where overnight trekking without prior permits and approval from the government is needed, so it’s easy for your average traveler to do it without too much planning. We learned there are over 80 tour companies operating the trek out of Kalaw, a small mountain town of about 20,000…
Bagan is, hands down, our favorite stop on the trip so far. Located about 8 hours by bus northwest of Yangon, it’s a region with over 2,000 temples concentrated in a small area. The highlight of any trip to Bagan is exploring as many temples as possible, especially the ones with second and third stories that offer panoramic views of the thousands of temples dotting the skyline. We arrived in Bagan just in time for dinner on December 31st and…
The first afternoon after arriving in Yangon, Myanmar, we sped over to Shwedagon Pagoda, arguably the city’s most important and well-known sight, to check out the hype. The pagoda is beautiful and serves as both a religious monument and as a community center of sorts, with lots of locals hanging out, praying, and spending time with one another. As we were walking around, we were stopped by a smiling monk who asked us where we were from. We chatted for a few…
Our trip to Koh Tao started with a 5:00am taxi ride to the Lomprayah bus stop near Khao San Road where we took a 6 hour bus to Chumpon and a nearly two hour catamaran ferry to Koh Tao island. It was a long travel day and recent bad weather made the ferry ride particularly rough. Ferry staff started passing out plastic bags as soon as we sat down and many passengers around us put them to good use. Thankfully…
We spent three nights in Ao Nang, one of Thailand’s west coast beach towns in the Krabi area. It was beautiful. We spent most of our time living the beach bum life, relaxing on the beach and then reading by the hotel pool. One highlight was chartering a long tail boat to visit Tup and Poda Islands which are about 30 minutes from the mainland. It’s hard to put into words how beautiful it was, so we’ll just share some…
Chai Lai Orchid is about an hour’s drive from Chang Mai in northern Thailand and is situated right along the Mae Wang river. It’s run by a woman from New York and staffed by locals who are in most cases refugees or at-risk women learning hospitality skills they can use to tap into the area’s booming tourist industry. Chai Lai’s mission has expanded from supporting local communities to providing ethical elephant experiences and saving elephants from some of the harmful…