Kyoto is the best place to visit if you’re looking for a little slice of Japanese history, away from the skyscrapers and craziness of Tokyo and Osaka. I’d say you need at least 4 days in Kyoto to see the highlights. Our trip was seriously busy but we managed to cram in loads – from temples and tea ceremonies to beautiful gardens and some great restaurants. Prepare yourself now, this post is a long one, you might want to get a cup of tea and get comfy – luckily I’ve included about a million pictures so if you like you can just look at those to get you through to the end 🙂
I wasn’t going to write this post as so many bloggers have written amazing things about travelling on this side of the world. As it stands though, our 10 week South America Itinerary and our 1 Month Australia Itinerary are some of our most popular posts. It’s also an opportunity to look back on our adventures as I can hardly believe that a whole 6 months has passed since we arrived to start our 10 weeks in Australia and New Zealand, with a bonus stop off in Fiji. Time flies when you’re having fun!
I struggled to find examples of itineraries I liked when preparing for three weeks in Vietnam. There are lots out there for two weeks, and even more for four weeks due to most people opting for either the free 15 day visa or the entry level 30 day visa. Whilst some examples of three week recommendations were available, none entirely ticked our boxes so we decided we’d share ours.
Finally blogging again, yay! My excuse is that the internet has been TERRIBLE, but really we’ve just been mega busy and also pretty lazy. I’m writing this from a hotel room in Potosi, Bolivia – the highest city in the world where it has randomly started snowing, but more on that later.
While Instagram had handily prepared us for many of the stunning landscapes we saw on our mini Namibian road trip, we weren’t expecting to be so taken by the tiny town of Solitaire. Well. They claim it’s a town, but much like the “village” we drove through that consisted of a windmill, sheep farm and minuscule police HQ, it’s more like a strategically located gas station with some unexpected quirks.
When people say they are going to be visiting Auschwitz from Krakow, it’s hard to know how to respond. You can’t really say “have fun” or “enjoy your trip”. In the end I tend to go with “have a great time in beautiful Krakow and I’m pleased you’ve chosen to experience Auschwitz”. Even that sounds a little awkward.
Believe it or not, since we got back from our world travel adventures, we have been asked for more tips and suggestions for visiting Berlin than anywhere else we went. I reckon I’ve sent my travel notes to at least ten people in the last couple of months, so I figured that I’d post a quick Berlin travel guide based on our time spent exploring the city.
Iceland is definitely not one of those countries that springs to mind when thinking about affordable travel destinations. When you’re talking $10 for a beer, costs can soon mount up and before you know it you’ve spent your annual holiday budget on a single trip! However, there are plenty of ways you can travel Iceland on a budget and still have an awesome time.
On our way to the Okavango our guide confessed that his dream would be to end up reincarnated as an elephant in the delta. About 2 minutes after we arrived all 19 of us on our tour were feeling the same way. This place is beautiful! I mean, seriously stunning. If you visit anywhere in Botswana, this has got to be it. Chobe National Park is fantastic and the Kalahari Desert is breathtaking, but visiting the Okavango Delta was on another level entirely.
It’s kind of awkward returning to a blog after 5 months of radio silence, so bear with me as I try to catch up on the hundreds of half drafted posts and collections of not quite edited photos from the last year or so! In the meantime, I thought I’d write a little update post on what we’ve been up to since we last got around to writing on a regular basis and fill you in on our travel plans for the year.
Whilst Victoria Falls is well known as a destination for more adventurous types, people who blow their travel budget on everything from bungee jumping to white water rafting, we chose to explore on a shoe string. Since we got back from our year long backpacking trip around the globe we don’t necessarily need to stick to a tight budget in the same way that we used to, but hey, old habits die hard and we’re not exactly what you’d call thrill seekers!
When you only have 25 days of annual leave for adventures, deciding on where to head for your next trip when you have ambitions of exploring as many countries as possible can be a challenge. Even harder in our experience when you’ve had a full year off to travel as you please and need to get used to using as few week days as possible to travel as much as you can!
If you’re looking for a romantic, relaxing winter city break I can pretty much guarantee that Bruges is the place for you. It’s known as the ‘Venice of the North’ for a reason and this time of year is the perfect time to visit… to quote a certain rather well known film it really is a fairytale town…
So, I said I’d never be one of those travel bloggers. You know – the ones who return from an extended trip all full of promises to keep the blog up to date, only to let it sink away into obscurity…
Before our trip to Iceland I was frantically looking at the forecast praying for some sunshine. You see, I’d secretly booked a whale watching and a northern lights tour (aurora borealis) for the first night we were in Reykjavik. The forecast said rain and cloud for the entire week. Great.
Well hello everyone, I’ve been a bit absent this week so thought I’d write a little catch up post to let you all know what’s new. It’s actually great to be at home and we’ve had a great couple of weeks catching up with friends and getting settled back into normal life again.
Who would have thought that Brno would be a thriving hub of hipster coffee shops? Certainly not us, that’s for sure. When we arrived in this sleepy city we had no idea that there would be so many cute (and quirky places) to enjoy a cuppa.
Nestled along the Danube, just an hour from Vienna, is Bratislava. One of the smallest and, in our opinion, most perfectly formed capital cities in Europe.
I confess, I have recently read and loved Shantaram after it popped up on a google search for “books about India”. It wasn’t until I’d researched it a little more that I realised it was basically the most cliched book a backpacker can walk around India with.
Frankfurt is well known as the financial heart not just of Germany but of the EU, and as such isn’t always seen as a tourist hot spot. Most travellers to Germany tend to gravitate towards cities like Munich, Berlin and Cologne or nature hot spots like Kromlauer National Park or the Alps.
I can’t say that our experience in India was all bad by any means.
We met some nice people, saw some of the most beautiful buildings we’ve ever seen and ate some delicious curries. We took an incredible tiger safari, explored ancient forts and visited some fantastic museums. It’s probably one of the most photogenic countries we’ve visited
When my Mum mentioned that she was headed to London to get her Russian visa application processed I jumped at the chance to tag along. We’ve only been back a little over a week, but I have to be honest and admit that the post travel blues I was trying so hard to avoid have started to rear their head. The idea of an afternoon in London sounded like the perfect remedy.