The Penida Islands are clustered southeast of Bali about 30 km (20 miles) offshore and are comprised of Nusa Lembongan, Nusa Ceningan and Nusa Penida, which is the largest. The islands were very sleepy and undeveloped until Instagram made Kelingking Beach, which is located on the southwest side of Nusa Penida, famous. Since then tourists…
Month: February 2019
Ballooning Over Bagan, Myanmar
I suppose everyone needs to fly in a hot air balloon once in their life. It might as well be over Bagan. It was expensive – let’s just get that out of the way. And it’s not a long flight – around 45 minutes. I had buyers remorse for a day or two. However, those…
Bagan, Myanmar
Bagan is a magical place. We have not been to the valley of the pyramids, or Machu Pichu, or Angkor Wat (we skipped it to go to Bagan). But Bagan has to rank among the ancient marvels still remaining on this planet. It’s incredibly photogenic – we have more content from Bagan than some countries…
Mandalay, Myanmar
After the overcrowded streets of Hoi An where tourists far outnumbered locals, Mandalay was a refreshing change of pace. We came to Mandalay from Vietnam to get off the well worn tourist track and it took just a few hours in this country to validate that we had. Mandalay feels relatively untouched by western influence….
Hoi An, Vietnam
Hoi An is (was?) a quaint fishing village located at the mouth of the Thu Bon river. In historic times (around 1000 years ago) it was an important port for the Cham people who controlled the spice trade in the region. It later became a local center for the production of rice and silk. It’s…
Bai Tu Long Bay, Vietnam
When visiting Hanoi or northern Vietnam, Ha Long Bay is on everyone’s bucket list. It’s lesser known cousin is Bai Tu Long Bay, which is the group of islands just to the east. They share the same stunning limestone massifs that rise from the blue green water, but they seem to be a little quieter…
Hanoi, Vietnam
We traveled 10 hours via van, airplane and taxi from remote northern Laos to the choreographed chaos of Hanoi, Vietnam. We love this city. Old Town Hanoi is a tectonic collision between old world and new. It still retains it’s gritty charm where every family is fighting to use their petite shop, scrap of sidewalk,…
Volunteering in Oudomxay, Laos
If you are asking: where is Oudomxay? Then you are asking the same question we had for several months. The answer is: it’s where very few tourists go. Oudomxay is a province in northern Laos centered approximately around the city of Muang Xai, which is 55 miles northwest of Luang Prabang near the border of…