Today I toured the mountainous countryside about 2-3 hours outside of Bucharest. Two highlights of the day: Pele's castle is one of the most amazing castles in the country. It is the former home of the Romanian Royal Family (all originally from Germany). The small town of Bran is the home of the "Dracula's Castle" the castle that played a role in the inspiration for Bram Stoker's book Dracula. "Dracula" has very little to do with Romanian … [Read more...]
Exploring Bucharest
After a quick glimpse and walk around old town at 7am in the morning - this part of Bucharest seems to be old world meets construction zone. Apparently this part of Bucharest is seeing a revitalization of sorts - not sure where the money is coming from for this but there are a number of major projects in this part of town including businesses remodeling their own buildings in the middle of the old city. As someone I met last night mentioned, … [Read more...]
No Rest & Relaxation on these travels!
The screaming followed me across the pond and then did not let up as I hopped across the old world from the United Kingdom to Romania. The first screamer shed no tears for the 10 hour flight - rather he hit every note in the key of F sharp and was a persistent little bugger. Lesser children would have killed it a few hours into the flight. After 10 hours this young chap was going strong wailing like a banshee. Unfortunately he was seated right … [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...]
Guest Post: Social travel – What is a social traveler?
This infographic gives a good picture of the differences between traditional and social travelers. Do you remember the time when the only communication means you had when traveling far away were a phone and postcards? When the Lonely planet used to be the only way to find the best food and hotels? This era seems so distant today: most of us can barely survive without a smartphone and the Internet, and not planning a travel ahead seems impossible … [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...]
Touring Chennai
We didn't find much in the way of inspiration during our short stay in Chennai (other than the people were quite friendly) - but we enjoyed touring some of the city's unique historical sites including the San Thome Basilica. This is one of only three churches in the world that are supposedly built on top an apostle's tomb. This one houses the remains of Thomas the Apostle - the other two are the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain and … [Read more...]
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