While Halong Bay is world-famous for its multitude of craggy emerald-green limestone karsts emerging from the waters off the coast of Vietnam, you’d be forgiven for not knowing that just around the corner are the decidedly less tourist clogged Cat Ba Island and Lan Ha Bay. We quickly decided that Lan Ha Bay would...
Vang Vieng Travel Guide – From Lawlessness to Eco-Tourism
In the past our Vang Vieng Travel Guide might have read simply “Don’t go!”. During the 1990s, the small riverside town of Vang Vieng in Laos was a mecca for tourists hell-bent on partying and excess. What started with a few travellers letting off steam by ‘tubing’ down the Nam Song River (floating downstream...
Cruising the Mekong River in Laos
From its source in the Tibetan Plateau, the mighty Mekong River meanders 4,350km through Tibet, China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia to its mouth at the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. As such it is something that all the nations of South East Asia have in common, and for many it is the lifeblood of...
Top things to do in Langkawi for three days
To be honest, we’d never even heard of Langkawi before we got to Asia, but it is certainly a major destination, receiving daily domestic and international flights to its airport. Due to its accessibility we knew that it would be quiet touristy, and, ostensibly we visited because we wanted to border hop from our...
The Slovakian High Tatras – Why you should visit!
It’s a shame that many foreigners only visit Slovakia to see the capital city of Bratislava (on a city-break or (messy) stag do!) and, until recently, we were also guilty of this. As we discovered, and much to our surprise, there is really quite a lot more to this country. Although a popular destination...
Special Guest Q&A – Ten questions with Brittany Thiessen
We’ve had the pleasure of asking ten questions to Brittany Thiessen. Her blog is a wonderful resource for anyone interested in visiting the natural marvels of Canada, she is an authority on all things Manitoba and writes inspiring articles for solo female travellers and for those interested in travelling off the beaten path. She...
Islas Ballestras. An island of poo, an oasis in the desert and pisco!
Just a few hours south of Peru’s capital Lima, along the pan-American highway, is the Ica province. It has to be said that at first glance this area looks a bit dusty and barren, especially as you drive along a ragged coast dotted with chicken farms and sandy hills covered with small shacks marking...
Exploring Western Cuba – Trinidad and beyond
Newsflash – Havana is not the only part of Cuba! Chances are that if you have made it to Havana, and didn’t go straight to a faceless beach resort (i.e. Varadero), then you are actually interested in all that Cuba has to offer- and there is plenty of it! Cuba is actually a deceptively...
Exploring the Riviera Maya in Mexico
The Riviera Maya refers to the coastal area of the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico, which is heavily developed for tourism, especially cruise ship tourism. We knew that Mexico would be busy with visitors due to it being August, and that prices would certainly be higher compared to our other travels in Central America. That...
Calakmul, Mexico – Entering the Kingdom of the Snake
Having said goodbye to Central America with a little tear in our eyes, we entered the Riviera Maya in Mexico to resume the usual business of finding dusty, remote and bug infested archaeological sites. So we rented a car in Chetumal and off we went in search of our next destination, the ancient city...