The weather is slowly getting colder and colder this week. Today we headed out of town to the "magic slope" where you can seemingly sit on a bike and move "uphill" without peddling. It took about an hour to get here. Once we arrived we parked at the entrance as they wouldn't let us enter because of all the black ice covering the steep road up to the 'spot'. Our driver exited our vehicle and walked over to purchase tickets at the booth. As he … [Read more...]
Antiquing & Wine Tasting in Shenyang
Today was another fun filled day in Shenyang. The group that is hosting us owns a number of incredible antique stores - featuring some of China's finest wood furniture from the Ming and Qing dynasties. A couple of pieces certainly stand out: the largest ancient sandalwood closet in all of China, an amazing large piece of amber with a million year old scorpion preserved perfectly inside, and a huge quartz crystal rock with a number of partially … [Read more...]
Shenyang Cold Weather
Shenyang, where we are currently, is considered just a small to medium sized city in China; it has a population of around 9 million people. Ummm, this would be the second largest city if it was located in the USA, behind NYC and ahead of LA! This is a very wealthy city; we counted 5 different Louis Vuitton shops, a Maserati, Ferrari and Bentley dealerships. Several streets have major name brand after name brand lined up. Cold is the name of … [Read more...]
Hanging out in North Eastern China
I am currently in North Eastern China for some wine and tourism related fun. I'm with Sandi and John, the owners of Arns Winery and Bob and Nancy of Montagana Estate (both premium Napa wineries). We spent the day shopping around Beijing and trying to stay indoors out of the frigid cold. Headed up to Shenyang in the evening - where the temperatures are even colder than Beijing! Today we walked around Shenyang's version of Beijing's Forbidden City … [Read more...]
Possible Himalayan Trek to Sikkim
I've been to India several times already; earlier this year I secured a 10 year multiple entry visa, for more exploring within this amazing country. We visited Chennai in July for my sister's wedding - as expected, the weather was hot and humid - frequent dips in the pool made the weather more bearable. It was nice to visit Southern India for the first time - although we were missing the mountains. A few years ago we got to experience the … [Read more...]
Managaha Island Saipan
Managaha Island is merely minutes off shore - and the quickest way to get here is by walking on the beach in front of the Fiesta Hotel until a boatman flags you down. When we visited much of Saipan was covered by dark clouds - but minutes offshore, Managaha Island was bathed in bright blue sunshine surrounded by billowing white clouds. This small island has a number of beaches overlooking the corral - but most people head for the well trodden … [Read more...]
Exploring Saipan – Mount Tapochau & the Grotto
We spent all day touring the northern part of the island. Initially we were reluctant to warm to Saipan but after spending some time exploring the variety of outdoor options the island offers we are now sold on its natural beauty. I love how small the island is and how easy it is to get around - we've seen many tourists with tour groups, but we've rented a car and are exploring on our own. The Grotto is well worth visiting. It is a semi … [Read more...]
Hanging out at Aqua Resort, Saipan
Today we breezed through Garapan (the main city on the island) and headed north. Looking for a nice place to stay we visited one resort. Its heyday had passed a long time ago. We then stumbled into Aqua Resort - a beautiful boutique resort located right on the beach overlooking the corral reef which extends well offshore. I walked out about half a mile on the shallow sandy reef until I met spiky corral in shallow waters and could go no further. … [Read more...]
Dropping onto Saipan
Dropped into Saipan in the dead of night - starry skies, the blackness of the sea greeted us - disturbed only by the lights emanating from this small island. I had only done cursory research before our visit here and after speaking for nearly 2 hours to my seatmate who lives here now - I wasn't really sure what to expect. He spoke of sweat shops (now extinct), high alcoholism, a hub for smuggling drugs in from China, unemployment, gambling … [Read more...]
Jetting from Chennai to Bangkok
We jumped on our Air Asia flight last night from MAA-BKK. The route opened up earlier this year and we immediately seized the opportunity to buy severely discounted tickets during Air Asia's promotional period. We paid £89 per person for the round trip ticket - about 3.5 hours each way! Course with Air Asia you get a basic flight - no food or drink, seats that are agonizingly tight for tall people and most of the time a middle or window seat … [Read more...]
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