So, we are declared #MebasGroupies, and it was just a matter of time for us to find an excuse to visit them at their newest postcode: Sao Paulo! 

What better excuse to plan a two weeks holiday in Brazil during Carnival, than the arrival of #AlexiaRocks and the Meba’s  “Celebrate our milestone Birthdays away” tradition (see the Crete bog!) … and as a bonus, escape from the European February weather misery? Add link to Crete

We arrived in Sao Paulo on time for the Birthday celebration with friends and family. In true Meba’s style, they even organized a Bloquinho downstairs to start the Carnival vibe! A little taste of the things to come in Rio.

We were part if a fantastic get together where the guest star was…not the Birthday guy (Abraham) but…see picture below. Which by the way, was also a also a sign of things to come in the Brazilian Foodie adventures!

We then started our Brazilian tour: Bahia (Praia do Forte + Salvador), Rio de Janeiro for Carnival & Paraty.

Bahia: Salvador and Praia do Forte

Our first destination after leaving Sao Paulo was Salvador or more precisely, the custom made beach resort of Praia do Forte. We picked up our car and drove an hour north on the Estrada do Coco and checked into our hotel Pousada Casa do Forte. Pousadas are small to medium sized B&Bs typically privately run. Pousada Casa do Forte has 31 rooms, a restaurant and a small pool with jacuzzi. On Tripadvisor, most reviews rave about the breakfast and that is no exaggeration. Brazilians seem to love their breakfasts and we probably never ate so much tapioca, mango and cake for breakfast in our lives. We had dinner at Pousada Casa do Forte one evening to try the restaurant which we enjoyed. We ended up in the pool every evening as we mostly had it to ourselves. There is one larger all inclusive resort in Praia do Forte called Tivoli which looked amazing however we decided to chose a typical Pousada to give our visit a more authentic Brazilian feel.

We spent one of the days in Praia do Forte on the beach doing absolutely nothing. Praia do Forte has high and low tides and on low tide days one attraction are the ‘pools’ created by the water left behind by the low tide. There are sun umbrellas and chairs available for rent on the beach and we paid 30 Reals for two chairs and one umbrella. The beach here is great for walking as it is very long and wide and there are plenty of restaurants in the main street just behind the beaches.

One thing we highly recommend to do in Praia do Forte is to visit the turtle farm called Projeto Tamar. If you are lucky you will catch a day on which small turtles are hatching and being released into te sea. On our second day we had such an opportunity and spent large part of the afternoon at the turtle farm joined the tour, watched the grown up turtles and sharks being fed and then attended the main event at around 5:30pm. Around 30 small turtle babies were taken out of their shelters in the sand and placed on the beach to run as fast as they can towards the sea. Quite an emotional event as we could see a few of the people watching starting to cry after those small turtle babies were shown to us up close. Apparently most the small turtles won’t survive very long but those who do will remember every little detail of their short run to the sea and come back in 30 years to lay their eggs at the same place.

We spent a day at neighbouring resort Imbassai which has amazing beaches and a lagoon right behind and a few small restaurants in barracks on the beach. Most of the accommodation in the area seems to be for holiday makers looking for an away from it all type of vacation with basic simple beach huts being the preferred choice for people visiting the place although there are a few all inclusive resorts near by such as two Iberostars and a Grand Palladium.

If you stay in Praia do Forte definitely make a day trip to Salvador. It is easy to organise by renting a taxi driver for a day (through the tourist info center) for which we paid only 350 Reals. The Bahia region is home to most of the African Brazilian population of the country with its own culture and customs. We visited on the first day of carnival and did a tour around the Pelourinho, the historical part of the city, with its old colonial buildings and cobbled streets. We were warned though to leave the city by 5pm for security reasons. As opposed to the Rio carnival the Salvador carnival is not a ticketed event with everyone allowed to join hence the advice from our travel agent to be careful and leave early. The Pelouinho area of Salvador was also made famous through the video for the Michael Jackson song They Don’t Care About Us so expect to see several Michael Jackson images in that part of the town.

Overall we felt Praia do Forte was a resort mainly for Brazilian holiday makers and you might struggle a little with communicating in English as it is not widely spoken over there. The main road has several restaurants typical for a tourist resort such a pizza restaurants, sushi or Acai snack places. Overall it was very quiet during weekdays but more lively on weekends. 7pizzas on the main square seemed to be the most busy place for dinner in the evening although we preferred the pizza place just across the street.

Let’s Celebrate Abraham’s 40th with pink tutus & unicorn horns: Carnival in Rio

Our next stop was Carnival in Rio – Abraham’s milestone birthday destination!  If you make a list of Top 10 events to attend in your life, then the Carnival in Rio is probably featured on that list. Carnival in Rio basically means two things: The main event in the Sambodromo on Sunday and Monday for which you need to buy a ticket and the various parties around Ipanema and Copacabana beach on Carnival weekend which are free to attend for everyone, and we mean EVERYONE!

Forget what you have seen on TV, nothing comes close to experiencing Carnival in Rio as a live event in the Samboromo with 80,000 other people. There are 12 samba schools taking part in the parade, six each on Sunday and Monday, all accompanied by a marching band playing original samba songs, live! Those samba beats are blasted with a super sound system around the Sambodromo and you simply can’t sit still as the beats go strait into your bones. Each samba school has a few thousand people taking part in custom made costumes. Not to mention the incredible super sized floats featuring celebs and acrobats who are obviously not afraid of heights. Samba and carnival is serious business in Brazil with a whole year of preparation needed for each samba school, live broadcasts on Globo TV and judges keeping a close eye on what is happening during the parade. The parade goes on all night long! Our tickets included transfers from/to the hotel, we arrived at the Sambodromo ~7pm and our pick up time was expected to be around 6.30 AM! We took a taxi back to the hotel at 3.30 AM!! Exhausted!

Not content with just watching the parade we decided to actually take part in it together with 3,500 others and our group was the first to enter the Sambodromo with the Imperio Serrano samba school as the opening act. Nothing can prepare you though for the “sensation” of wearing a heavy fantasy costume in 28 degree heat and 90 percent humidity for three hours!  You can see our parade here: link to youtube

When in Rio don’t forget to visit Corcovado and Pao de Azucar as well as the Santa Teresa area. The first two should be visited in the morning if possible to avoid the crowds. Also avoid the blochinos especially around Ipanema beach during carnival as you might become a target for street crime which is a huge problem in Rio.

We had a blast in Rio! So much fun, the Sambodromo experience was a  once-in-a-lifetime. But, generally we felt that Rio during carnival is extremely busy and packed with all sorts (we mean ALL SORTS) of people, the Sambodromo event is not to be missed but the parties at Ipanema and around the city are not always that enjoyable and sometimes even dangerous. The city is not at its  best and you pay a premium for accommodation in Rio during carnival so, our recommendation is to better consider going there other times of the year. best (I –Leticia– was there for a weekend in October 2016 and I loved it!)

Paraty

Next up was the old colonial city of Paraty located pretty much in the middle between Rio and Sao Paulo on the Costa Verde. According to Wikipedia “The village of Paraty was founded in 1597. It was established formally as a town by Portuguese colonizers in 1667, in a region populated by the Guaianás Indians. The Guaianás people who lived where the city now stands called the entire area “Paraty”. In the Tupi language “Paraty” means “river of fish”.

If you like cobbled streets then Paraty is your place. We drove through the city on our way to our accommodation in a small bus and the gaps between the stones are so big that arriving at our destination we were shaken more than a James Bond martini. The city probably has not changed much over the past few hundred years and they left the buildings as they were to keep the old colonial charm. 

For our accommodation we were undecided for a while between celebrity hotspot Pousada d’Ouro (apparently comes with Mick Jagger photos on the walls at the reception from when he stayed at the place) and Pousada Morro do Forte. Eventually we decided to book a room in the latter. Not only did we save a fortune but we were treated to what is probably the best view over the city and the bay of Paraty. Pousada Morro do Forte has ten rooms most of them overlooking the bay and we stayed in room #4. We were treated to a typical Brazilian breakfast every morning plus enjoying the amazing views for free. Pousada Morro do Forte turned out to be an excellent choice to stay just a 5 minute walk away from the historic center. The owners of the Pousada speak Portuguese and German and get by with English.

When you visit Paraty make sure you book a day cruise on one of the small boats. We booked our little cruise with Paraty Tours, the same company that took us from Rio to Paraty and from Paraty to Sao Paulo (5 hours each way). The cruise takes about 5 hours and takes you to two beaches which are protected and only accessible via boat and two snorkelling locations, at one of them the boat stops for the lunch break. When you are on the boat you get an idea about how green and lush the Costa Verde is and why they call it Costa Verde in e first place. Other options for a day excursion are jeep safaries or day trips to the beaches of Trindade.

Nightlife in Paraty is low key with small restaurants, bars and ice cream places tucked away in the old colonial buildings. We had dinner one evening at a Thai restaurant called Thai Brazil which was a little hard to find but was packed and had a great vibe. Meals are pricy though and cater for the tourist crowd. Also check out Sarau bar which had live samba music every night we were there. You just need a guy with a guitar and two others with bongos to get the party started and as soon as they started playing the whole place started to dance, including waiters.

Sadly after two nights it was time for us to leave but we would not have minded to stay a third night as Paraty is a lovely place to visit albeit very touristy and if you don’t mind spending 5 hours on the bus from either Rio or Sao Paulo. However the journey to and from Paraty was amazing in terms of the scenery and landscape on display and the 5 hours passed quickly.

We will definitely go back to Brazil…maybe very soon! 

As much as we loved to go back to Paraty and Praia do Forte, we feel that Brazil has so much more to offer that we must continue exploring! It is a beautiful country and we didn’t even talk about all the delicious food and the ice-cold beer (chop) we loved so much!  

Its a very popular dish, normally a broth that can be made from pork, chicken, fish… together with noodles.  These vary in thickness and texture dependent on the type of ramen and the shop where you get it.  From what I have read, it is a dish that has existed in Japan for about 100 years.  It came from China, but without a doubt, the Japanese have made it theirs.

The variety in flavour is incredible, and I can not think of many better comfort foods.  On a hot day, you can have a cold variety, on a hot day a nice and warm one.  Do you want spicy? Check.  Less spicy? Check!  With pesto sauce mixed in?  CHECK!  There is something for every occasion and every taste.

As you can see, I am certainly a Ramen enthusiast.  If you want to learn a bit more about it, I would highly recommend the book Rice Noodles Fish by Matt Goulding. It is a fantastic culinary journey though Japan, and its Ramen Matrix is amazing!  You can also find some of the most incredible restaurants in the Roads and Kingdoms Website – the book is also a work of the R&K team. They have a fantastic online guide to Japanese food.

Anyways, back to Ramen.  I will focus on my 2 favourite types… Tonkotsu and Tsukemen.

Tonkotsu is consistently my #1 type of ramen.  It is made with pork broth and has generally thinner, straight noodles.  The types that I like the most are the Hakata type, and some shops serve it relatively spicy, which is good for me!  In Fukuoka we went to an amazing tiny shop that served Tonkotsu with garlic and basil, so basically pesto ramen – Ramen Unari.  It is delicious.  My other favourite Hakata Ramen shop is Ichiran.  This is quite a popular shop, as they now have tens of shops across the country.  Nevertheless, to my taste and liking, this is an amazing experience I have not lived in other restaurants in Japan yet.  You can see a video about the Kobe branch below.

I highly recommend going to the nearest Ichiran or other ramen shop in your vicinity, you will not be dissapointed.

Tsukemen ramen is very very different.  It is a much thicker noodle that is normally covered in a little fat, and the soup comes in a separate plate.  This broth is much thicker and stronger, so you dip the noodles in the broth and slurp them up.  This is also amazing!  If you want to try a different type of ramen, this is one of the ones that should top your list.  There is an amazing shop called Rokurinsha in Tokyo station that serves the best one i have had so far.

Anyways, I will continue my ramen journey and add more info as I taste new ones!  Do not miss having a delicious bowl of ramen when you go to Japan!!

We booked a long weekend – which is enough for a first visit – and promptly researched what options there were.

The City

The city has many things to do, it is really fun!  We moved around mostly walking and on taxis, and as in other cities in Vietnam, the streets are super crazy. On the night we arrived, we were quite surprised that it was much colder than we expected, so immediately we had to buy some jackets there.  It was a very big contrast in temperature to our previous Vietnam experience, so definitely research what the temperature is if you go!  The best area to stay around is near the old quarter, where you have lots of charming places and access to fantastic food.  We stayed at one of the Rising Dragon Hotels, which honestly was just average.

The food

The food here is very good!  Its quite easy to get some typical vietnamese food, and the variety is amazing.

Food Tour:  We took a food tour organised by Hanoi Street Food Tour.  This was a great experience, as we got a bit of food in about 5 or 6 restaurants, ranging from local fish and chicken in a proper sit down place, to pancakes in a street cart and Bo bia from a lady on a bicycle(Mariana looooved this).  The tour ended with some delicious egg coffee and a beer in the very famous international beer corner (in a Bia Hoi shop).  If you have a sweet tooth, the egg coffee must be tasted!!!  This experience was lots of fun, and let us taste many things that we would not have tasted otherwise.  We we also in the same tour as a Brazilian couple, and it was fun to meet them and chat.

Other food: We were quite looking forward to having some other vietnamese food, and a definitely highlight is the Banh Mi. This Vietnamese Sandwich is filled with different types of meat. After some research, we found a place called Banh Mi 25 which was amazing!  You sit on the street on small benches, mostly surrounded by locals, and it is a really fun and local experience.  The lady cooking as well as the folks bringing out the food were very nice and accommodating even though the place was quite full! The 3 of us really enjoyed this!

Attractions: There are quite a few nice places to visit in Hanoi, but just walking around is fun! The whole area around Hoan Kiem Lake is very nice, with many attractions around. We watched a typical puppet theatre performance which was entertaining.  Going a bit further, the temple of literature/National University is also a great place!  We were lucky as there were graduation ceremonies happening, so we got a chance to see it all live!  One more place we enjoyed was the area around the Hanoi Cathedral, lots of locals having beers and even being chased by the police occasionally!

Shopping:  Vietnam is an amazing destination to get some custom clothes really cheap!  Mariana found a shop which managed to make a couple of dresses for her in 1 day, and they were very well priced and high quality!  The suits are supposed to be very good as well, but definitely need to do some research before buying!  We used Bambou Silk and definitely recommend them.  The lady there was very helpful!

Halong Bay

One incredible attraction in the region (but it is a few hours away) is Halong bay.  We had heard this was amazing, but words do not do it justice.  We booked a single day trip, which was definitely very stressed due to the very long journey.  Unfortunately my mom was not feeling great for this day trip, so she stayed around the hotel area and had a relaxing day.  Meanwhile a few hours away, we actually had a pretty large boat all for ourselves, which was quite entertaining.  Again, the weather was still quite cold and foggy, but the place is really unbelievable.  This is a must for people in the region!!!

It was really fun to have my mom here and to travel with her, showing her how we live and what we like when we travel.  I think she was quite surprised that I now eat pretty much everything, while in Mexico I definitely had strong negative opinions about some food – what Asia does to you. Without a doubt the Asian experience has broadened by gastronomic horizon (either that, or being in my 30s)!

We really enjoyed showing her many of the fun places in Singapore, as well as travelling to Vietnam, I think it was a trip that showed 2 very different sides of the region!

In this post, we will tell you a bit about the place and what it took to get there, with a subsequent post on the places themselves.

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Bhutan… we had been eyeing this remote Himalayan Kingdom for over a year, and actually planning the trip for over 8 months… This is one remote place!  We met in Bhutan with Mari’s uncles and cousins (Gilberto, Mirela, Victoria & Julia), and had a wonderful time!!!  They really travelled a very long way to get there!  We planned or trip for 7 days, and focused in the area of the west and the capital.  This is really the minimum you should do.

It is worth reading a little bit about this mountain kingdom, as it really has an intriguing history, with Guru Rinpoche coming to establish Bhuddism and meditate in the mountains, a divine madman revered as prophet, a King that was elected by the people (quite unusual, right?), and many many other interesting historical facts (and fictions).  There is lots to read, but a few interesting things we found are:

• As mentioned above, a Bhuddist monarchy was established in Bhutan in 1907, with key representatives of all states electing the first king (Ugyen Wangchuk) and naming his lineage royal.  To be fair, there had been a previous man in the family that had been a quite popular Lama. The fourth king (current one is the fifth) was the first to declare he would step down from the throne and pass it on to his son in life, and he also laid the groundwork to change the country into a constitutional monarchy, so now they also have a National Assembly of elected representatives.
• Depending on the region (and the type of work the people did – herders in the mountains vs workers in the cities) people can have more than one spouse… so for example, a single woman could be married to 3 herder brothers, as one would stay at home while another was in the mountain with the herd, and a third one in the city selling their wares.  The brothers would alternate responsibilities and only one would be at home at a time.  In the city, men can be married to more than one woman, up to 3 (but the previous king had 4… the benefits of monarchy!).
• Bhutan is a Bhuddist country since more than 1000 years ago… which led us to think its history was all about peace an understanding… the reality is quite different than this, as up to a couple of hundred years ago there were quite a few battles and wars, not only between countries, but also between different schools of bhuddism.  This is not the case any more, but there are quite a few articles online that document many cases in the last century of discrimination against other religions (we did not feel discriminated against for a second ).  In 1990, one fifth of the population was expelled from the country as they were a variant of Hinduism that was starting to become a vocal majority.  All of this to us was quite surprising, expecting bhuddism in general to be all about peace and love.  I guess even the most enlightened are affected by power struggles and other human afflictions.
• Bhutan is the country that is demonstrating the concept of Gross National Happines – mean to be a more holistic indicator of the quality of life than GDP.  There are plenty of articles online about it if you are interested.  Suffice to say we found people to seem fairly happy, with apparently low levels of homelessness and extreme poverty.  We do not think that it seems like the happiest country in the world (we are looking at you Myanmar!)…  It is definitely great to see a country that takes into account more than income as an indicator of happiness and wellness, and hopefully this will spread far and wide (the first step to fixing a problem is seeing it and measuring it!).

Anyway… enough of information you can find in other places, on to how to get there!

Planning a journey to Bhutan is not a very difficult job. This is because all travel there is regulated by the government, so everything has to be done through a registered travel agency. All of them have a set of standard routes, which are quite spectacular, but you can feel free to move it around as needed. We found the Bhutanese to be quite helpful and accommodating. In the past, there used to be visa quotas to get into the country, but that was changed a few years ago as the country wants to develop tourism more. They still control access quite highly, and manage the volume of tourists by making the trips relatively expensive.

There is a set price of somewhere between 220 USD and 250 USD per day per person, depending on the time of year, and this includes everything except tips and additional drinks. You get a 3-4 star hotel, meals, a tour guide, driver entrance fees to wherever you go, permits, etc.  All in all, it is an expensive proposition, but not as bad as it sounds once you factor everything in.  The money needs to be payed up front, and is payed to the government, which apparently only releases it to the travel agency once the trip is completed… as you can see, quite controlled.  Nevertheless, the country seems quite interested in bringing more people over, and have a favourable view of the coup try outside of it.

The travel agencies advertise quite heavily all of the festivals (there is basically one per month, each in a different city) as a way to experience the Bhutanese culture.  We went to a smaller one of these, and found it to be interesting, but not the highlight of the trip. The best part of it is without a doubt the amazing and breathtaking scenery.  You really can not believe the views…  as you travel across valleys (and probably get a bit dizzy with all of the winding roads), it is just one magnificent view after another.  The country has a law where they can not have less than 60% of the national territory as forest (and my understanding is that currently it is close to 75-80%), so no matter where you go, all you see is spectacular mountains covered in green.  From our limited experience, it seems like the locals are doing a good job about keeping their country in a green state (they say that they are the most carbon negative country in the world).

There are quite a few cities and monasteries that can’t be missed, but Bhutan is also well know for the different treks that can be done, including the infamous snowman trek, a 27 day affair that is considered one of the worlds toughest.  We stayed mostly in the cities and towns but did do a one day trek up to see the famous Tigers Nest monastery (this is probably the one thing in any trip to Bhutan that CAN NOT be missed). We will tell you more about all of those places in the next couple of posts.

Wrapping up this very long post, we found Bhutan to be an incredible place, with amazing nature and scenery, and kind, helpful people.  This is definitely a highlight of the Himalayan region, and we recommend to go there without reservation.

Here is a snapshot of our route, to read about Paro and Haa, click here. To read the final part, Thimpu and Punahka, click here.

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We have just come back from spending a long weekend in Bangkok, and we really enjoyed it! It was an easy and short trip from Singapore, so we set off early in Saturday morning. We got into BKK airport by 10, and decided to take the train into town. Since we were travelling light, we decided to go for a walk around the train station, in a place called Pratunam and its English neighbour, platinum plaza. Pratunam is a neighbourhood where there are tons of little local shops and restaurants.

We did not know the food didn’t open til later, so we had a bit of an aimless walk without finding the stalls! After a little while, Mariana asked a local seller and she explained where the food shops would pop up in the afternoon. In platinum plaza we had a bit of a look around, and this is certainly the place to buy clothes… They have some pretty good deals, and all kinds of local brands! Most of the stuff they sell seems relatively on the small side, but the selection is huge!

By this time, we were starving (having only had breakfast at the coffee bean in changi airport) so we went to a noodle shop that was quite recommended. When we got there, there was a pretty long queue, but in total we only waited about 15 mins. The guy cooking the noodles outside was really on a roll! The speed at which he churned plates out was amazing. They also had some pretty nice pork stew, so we enjoyed the meal. It would have been nice to get bigger portions, but it was good. In the street we also found some nice pandan cakes (looked like pandan Madeleins) as well as some coconut pancakes… Got them hot off the grill!

After lunch, we started walking towards the hotel, going through a few different areas of town. At the end of the day, we had walked about 12k! Not bad at all for a holiday…

The hotel we stayed at was the Lebua at State Tower. Yes, yes, it IS the one from the Hangover 2. As you walk near the hotel, in a nice area of town called Silom, you can see that it looks a bit run down… This worry was quickly eliminated when we walked into the lobby, as everything looked very new and upscale. We were informed that we were being upgraded (if we accepted a city view instead of a river view) and we promptly accepted, as the new floor was on floor 54 instead of 23. The room was huge and modern, and had a pretty nice view of the city. We had booked dinner for 7, but we quickly changed and asked the concierge for a massage recommendation near the hotel as we did not have too much time. They recommended the Silom Bodyworks one block away as a cheap and clean option. The place was pretty decent and really cheap, and we got a foot massage and a Thai massage, it was nice! After relaxing, off to the hotel for dinner!

The hotel has an area called The Dome, which is a group of restaurants and bars spread across the top floors of the hotel (52 and 67). We went for a drink at the sky bar on level 67, were you get an awesome view of the city at night. They claim this is the highest alfresco bar in the world – but I have heard this claim before from 1Altitude in Singapore, one of our favourite bars – not sure who is right, but will do some research! Anyway, I digress… The view is amazing! After a quick drink we went down to level 52, where we had an absolutely delicious dinner at Breeze. The service was amazing, the food was delicious, it was just a lovely experience!

On our second day in Bangkok we got up early and had a spectacular breakfast at the hotel (on the Mizu floor – apparently the 13th, but they changed the name…), and got ready to set off for a day of boat riding, temple visiting, massage, and more!!

On the way to the dock, we ran into a retired police man that gave us some pointers on getting a cheap boat (it might have, actually probably was, a set up to go to a different boat station, but the price was right, the boat was ok, and everything seemed fine, so we went for it). Then, we were off on our first tuktuk ride of the trip! Once arrived at the boat station, we found we had a few hours of boating ahead of us, which included visiting temples and markets. Getting around by boat was actually quite good, as it avoided lots of traffic on the streets… This is definitely a way to move around!

The boat first took us to a very beautiful temple called Wat Arun. It is across the river from the grand palace, and has a pretty nice view from the top. Definitely recommended! We had about 20 minutes there, and then had to catch the boat to go on to Taling Chan, which is an area further out of town that has a floating market. To get there, we had to get through a lock on the river, which was an interesting experience… Think small scale Panama Canal.

The market only had a handful of boats, but it was still a nice experience! Lots of colours and smells, and some very nice food.

On the way back we were dropped off at Wat Pho, which is a huge Reclining Buddha statue… It was very impressive.

Finally, we were running short on time, so we headed for another quick TukTuk ride to Wat Saket, a small temple on top of a hill which was nice, but not the nicest one that day.

By is time we had to get back to the hotel area as we had booked a massage at a place called Divana Spa, Which was just unbelievable. The place was beautiful and the massage was amazing, definitely recommended.

To end the day, after being completely relaxed, we headed for a very nice dinner at Issaya Siamese Club. This was an incredible local dinner. The food and drinks were delicious, and the place is set in an old house that is full of character. Really very recommended. The chef is recognised as one of Thailands best. A reservation is highly recommended. After dinner, time to go to sleep!

On our last few hours in Bangkok, we went to visit the Grand Palace. This is without a doubt the highlight of the trip, and can not be missed on a visit to the city. The different buildings, both religious and political are incredible, and you truly get to see a very wide range of architecture, culture, and history. They also have a periodic changing of the guard which was quite nice to see. The photos do a much better job about showing this amazing place.

After the palace, we had to go back to the hotel to get our bag and set off to the airport. On the way back we also decided to take the train, which was a completely painless experience. This is definitely a cheap and cheerful way to get to and from the city.

Bangkok is definitely a place to go back to. It has so many things to eat, see and do, and we felt that while we got a good taste, we would like more!

We travelled to Kyoto from Kobe, after our work was finished, and as a preamble to travelling around to all the other places we have talked about.  While there, we had 3 days, and we also managed to catch up with Annmarie and Trev once more.  Since it was going to be my birthday, Mariana worked with Trev to plan an awesome dinner, more about that below!

We arrived into Kyoto by train.  From there we headed to our hotel, the Citadines Karasuma-Gojo Kyoto.  This is basically like a slightly upscale IBIS.  It was nice, would recommend it as a cheap and easy place to stay at.

Our first stop in Kyoto was to do a walk we saw in one of the lonely planet guides, which seemed very interesting!  A map of the route is below, and it is definitely one that is work doing in about 6-8 hours.  Just take a bus to the first point and walk the rest of the way!

Kyomizudera temple

This is the temple on top of the mountain, where you can see the city.  It is very beautiful!  While we were there we got a free 15 minute tour from a gentleman who was learning english.  He was super friendly!  We also managed to see a couple of Geishas walking around the temple. When you reach the first gate turn to your left and you will be able to go into a completely dark cave to see a light rock. I can’t remember what it was but it was an interesting experience.

Sannen Zaka and Ninnen Zaka

Two small streets that come off form the main one form Kyomizudera.  These are very small and really give you a feeling for the city!  Lots of small staircases and shops, and if you pay attention you might get a chance to see geishas walking around.  We are sure we saw a few real ones (not tourists dressed as them).

Ishibei Koji

On the left hand side after a bit of a walk, is the Ishibei Koji Alleyway.  this is probably the most representative of all Kyoto streets we saw.  Its just a small lane that goes around with beautiful houses.  It is such a peaceful and quiet place!

Maruyama Koen

This is a large park surrounded by shrines.  While we were there in the middle of winter, everything was quite dry, but in the spring and autumn, all the trees are suppose to be beautiful, and in the middle of the park is a huge cherry blossom.

Shoren In

Past the part there is a huge gate and temple.  This was under restoration while there, but it was still quite impressive!

At this point, we turned back as we had made a reservation to see a Japanese tea ceremony.  The route continues as on the map, and is probably 30-4 0 minutes more!  The tea ceremony is a very beautiful typical activity in Japan.  It was traditionally done to show respect to guests and to be connected spiritually.  We went to a place called Tea ceremony En, which we would recommend.

After this very action filled day, we decided we still had a bit of energy, so headed over to Gion, which is the old Geisha district.  This has quite a different feel to the town, but it is also very nice.  While there, we went to the famous Gion Corner Show, where they showcase 8-9 different disciplines and arts from the region.  It was an average experience, as it was very clearly catered to tourists, and it just does not feel very personal…  we would not go again.

To finish off the day we headed over to Pontocho, which is another very small street that goes on for a few blocks.  this is probably one of the most narrow streets we have been in, and it is just restaurant after restaurant… we wandered around and just stopped in one that looked nice.

Arashiyama

Our next day in Kyoto we decided to focus on the North West of the city.  This started with a trip to Arashiyama by train (just a few stations up to Saga Arashiyama).  This place is most famous for its large beautiful bamboo forests, but there are so many temples and shrines as well!  As we exited the train station we started waling to the main area and found a small bike rental shop.  We decided to go for it, and it was a great decision. It was super nice to move around by bike!  There were so many temples, and the total distance was quite a few kilometres.  It was a really enjoyable experience. We followed a route we found in a small handout map they give in the station, be sure to get one!

As we cycled around, there were a few temples and places that can not be missed.  Some of them are:

• Tenryu-ji temple:  the most famous one.  Has a very beautiful garden and pond.  A very peaceful place!
• Small temples between Tenryu Ji and the main road:  there are probably 10-20 temples next to each other here.  We really enjoyed rambling around and going into these randomly.
• Bamboo grove:  This is the main reason why we came.  It did not disappoint!
• Jojakko Ji Temple:  this is a smaller temple on the top of a hill.  When we were there, there were only one or two more people, which gave us the nicest sense of peace and tranquility.  On top of that, there was a group of people singing buddhist chants in the cemetery next door.  It was very serene.
• Gio Ji temple:  this is a very small temple, but has some beautiful moss gardens around it.

After this adventure filled morning we stopped at the local ramen house right outside of the train station, and took a taxi to Kinkaku-Ji, the golden pavilion.

Kinkaku Ji

Kinkaku Ji is probably the most popular picture of all of Kyoto.  It is a beautiful golden building in the middle of a pond and with very beautiful surroundings.  This is another must go… but be warned that it will be very full!  Never the less it is worth it.

Nijo Castle

Once we finished at the golden pavilion, we headed over to Nijo Castle.  This, together with Arashiyama, is probably my favourite spot in all of Kyoto…  It is an old castle in the middle of the city that used to belong to the local shogun.  It is very well conserved and has pretty good explanations of things…  My favourite fact i learned there:  All of the floors are made squeaky on purpose so that any invaders/attackers (ninja’s!) would make noise and be caught.  This castle is another one that can not be missed.

To finish off the day, we decided to have typical Kyoto sushi, which is very different than what you are used to.  Since Kyoto is quite a ways from the sea, in the ancient days they would pickle and cook the seafood so it would last longer.  They then use this to make the sushi.  It was quite nice and interesting!  The name of the place is いづ重 (something like Kyoto Wel), and it is know to be one of the best places!  After this, it was time to sleep!

Fushimi Inari

On our final day in Kyoto we went to Nishiki Market and caught up with Annmarie and Trev later.  To start the day off, we headed over to Fushimi Inari Taisha.  This is another temple that is very famous, as it has many thousands of orange Torii Gates.  These gates go up the mountain and around, with a shrine every few hundred meters.  We headed about a third of the way up, as going the full way around probably takes a few hours!  This was another very pretty place.

After this, we decided to go for a little rest in preparation for my birthday dinner!

As a surprise, Mariana worked with Trev to arrange a Kaiseki meal.  This is a typical japanese multi-course meal.  In ours, we were served around 18 dishes!  These included all types of fish in many different presentations.  Most were really good, and a few not so much (some really were pushing the envelope for our taste buds – I’m looking at you herring roe – kasunoko!).  The dishes included  soup, sushi, squid, urchin and many others… it really was a very interesting experience, all served dish by dish and prepared in front of us.  We had no choice in the meal, it is based on what the chef has available, and it really was a very enjoyable and experimental time!  The chef had a very large collection of places, and he serves every dish on a specific plate that will showcase it best.  If you are up for it, the name of the place is Chihana, and it s a 3 Michelin star restaurant.  We recommend you get a japanese person to book it (and you definitely need a booking).  this was a very artful meal!
Here is the picture of the most impressive dish – The End of the Winter. It represents the first flowers coming out under a very thin layer of snow.

Once we were finished with our awesome meal, we decided to head over to one of the shrines as it was the Setsubun festival (fire festival).  Here we walked around and there were hundreds of stalls serving all kinds of japanese food and toys.  It was nice to walk around and see all of the locals taking it all in.  It was also very nice to be able to go into the shrines at night.

Once we finished our festival walk, we headed back to the hotel, as we had a long trip waiting for us the next day (all the way to Takayama).

Other posts about Japan:

Our time in Japan

Koya San: beautiful mountain town

The One and Only: Fuji San

Takayama & Shirakawa-go – Mountain Wonderland

On day 2 we started off by heading to Asakusa.  This is a temple in the north east area of Tokyo.  it was nice to see, but it was very full of tourists.  Its worth it though!

Here it really was quite interesting to see all the people walking around and the random group of drummer playing something similar to a Brazilian batucada, all dressed as bullfighters… only in Japan! Since we were in the area, we headed over towards the Akihabara area (the electronics and comics area).  Here we made a quick stop for Trev to buys some fireworks, for which he got an awesome deal!  Then, walking into Akihabara we ran into a small noodle shop in the street, and it was amazing!  It was great that the 6 people in our group occupied the entire restaurant, so we had a very nice private meal!

After this, we divided our efforts and went to a local “Maid Cafe”.  This is a really strange experience… Basically, its a restaurant/dessert shop where all of the waitresses are dressed as prototypical maids complete with miniskirt and squeaky voices.  Once there they “take you on a magical journey” where your imagination is the limit.  It was all very weird, and even a little bit uncomfortable, specially when looking at the business men in suits looking at the young girls dressed as maids.  It was really a strange experience!

After this, we closed the day with an amazing dinner in the Roppongi area (the bar/party area) in a teppanyaki called OMAE XEX, very highly recommended!  Definitely need a reservation here though.

On the final day that weekend we decided to go to the west of the city and visit the Meiji Shrine.  This is a beautiful temple in the middle of a park that was built by emperor Meiji in the late 19th century.  Everything about this place is amazing.  Its a truly beautiful shrine that you can not miss.  We even got to witness a typical japanese wedding at the shrine!

Once you exit Meiji, you come out at Harajuku train station.  This is a place where if you get the right time (weekend in the later morning) you get to see the Harajuku girls, all dressed up.  As you keep walking down this main street, you go into Omotesando, a nice shopping areas with lots of little streets and restaurants to visit.  If you are in the mood to walk, you can even get on foot to Shibuya, which is the most famous crossing, where there are millions of people on the streets (if you have seen a movie where Tokyo appears, you have seen this).

After this, we went back to Kobe, but came back to Tokyo at the end of our trip, where we went to a few more places.  In our return, we found we were running into one of the largest snow storms Tokyo had seen in over 30 years!  It was beautiful though.

We got a chance to walk around the imperial palace and some shrines in the snow, and it was really nice as everything was very quiet and peaceful.  it was also quite difficult to walk around! In this stop over in Tokyo, Mariana found an amazing Gyoza restaurant in Hrajuku that was delicious.  Don’t miss going to Harajuku Gyoza Lou…  don’t worry about the queue, it’ll probably go quickly and it’s worth it!

When we were caught in the snow, we were looking for a restaurant and ran into this small place behind our hotel.  The food was terrific (different types of skewers chosen by the chef), and while we had no clue what we would get, everything was a pleasant surprise.  The waiter even braved the snow storm to get us a coke, as they didn’t have any… he ran to the nearest Family Mart! True Japanese hospitality. The snow storm resulted in us not being able to get to the airport, which meant an extra night in Tokyo….  but it included 5-6 hours in the train trying to get to the airport, then 12 hours of waiting there, an emergency hotel booking while running to the train, and begging and pleading to get a flight back home!  It was absolute chaos!

The airport during a snowstorm – crowded!

It was all a magical and wonderful experience.  People were so nice, and we really enjoyed our time here!

Other posts about Japan:

Our time in Japan

Koya San: beautiful mountain town

The One and Only: Fuji San

Takayama & Shirakawa-go – Mountain Wonderland

I had to work in Shanghai and Beijing so I took advantage to do a little sightseeing during those days but at the end of the work trip I was able to tag along my dear friends’ holiday. Ju, thanks for the amazing trip! I am putting here Ju’s full itinerary for future visits to Beijing as I was unable to join everything. Also, I am going to add a few of the things I was able to visit while visiting Beijing again Jun’14 with Emma! Only good company.

Day1: Beijing Arrival
Activity:Arrive in Beijing in the early morning. Pick up you in the airport.you will
visit Olympic Game Center Bird Nest, Water Cubic and 798 Art Distric. Yonghe Lamasery (Lama Temple)Watch Peking Opera in the evening.
The opera was interesting with different acts showcasing Chinese history. Don’t go expecting long black dresses and tuxedo as it is a tourist attraction.

Day2: Beijing 
Activity:Visit the World’s largest urban square the Tian’anmen Square, and then
ancient Chinese imperial palace the Forbidden City. Then visit the Temple of
Heaven in the afternoon. The Square and the Palace are extremely impressive but there is this oppressive energy to it that made me feel very sad at times. I didn’t get to go into the Palace at that time but the adjacent gardens are beautiful. Mao Tse-Tung used to spend a long time in these gardens during his time of home arrest and imagine battles using rocks as inspiration. I did get to do these 2 sites almost a yea later and enjoyed seeing the magnitude of the Forbidden City. Temple of Heaven is a nice place to spend a few hours just wondering around the gardens.

Just north of the Palace you can fist a Houhai Hutong for a feel of what old Beijing used to be like. It is a very interesting neighbourhood where council houses in tiny alleys (hutong) meet nice restaurants and bars. The hutong houses are typically shared by a number of families with a shared courtyard and bathrooms. Some of the rickshaw tours that you take on the street take you in a typical house. Is it worth the touristic ride. Emma and I went to a ‘fake’ hutong close to Tianmen Sq this last time too but it wasn’t as special as Houhai despite the adventure on the bus.

Day3: Beijing
Activity:In the morning, drive to visit the Mutianyu Great Walls first, and then go
to the Ming Tombs , the once lavish burial chambers of 13 emperors of the Ming
Dynasty, for a short visit. Peckin Duck at Dadong! Absolutely the highlight of the trip to Beijing. This is a beautiful restaurant with the most amazing roast duck you will ever eat. Worth the reservation http://dadongdadong.com I liked it so much that I had to go again with Emma.

Day4: Bejing -Datong
Activity: Pick you up at the hotel in Beijing, then drive about 4 hours to Datong.
Then visit Xuankong Temple. What an amazing place! It is incredible to think how on earth these monks built this temple. The results is spectacular. 

Day5: Datong – Xi’an
Activity:Visit Yungang Grottoes Caves and Huayan Temple. The caves are very interesting but the temple is incredible. It is not the oldest temple you will ever see but the grounds have such an amazing peace to it. Monks raking the garden and a very low chanting on the background only complete the experience.

Day6: Xi’an
Activity:Visit Qin Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses and Emperor Qin Shi Huang
Mausoleum.   I didn’t think much about the warriors before going on this trip so I didn’t know what to expect. I was blown away…by the hundreds and hundreds of warrior figures lining as an army but also by the thought that all of that had been built by an emperor to celebrate his own life and give a kingdom for his body after death. Can you imagine that? Once I overcame the egocentric motives for the construction I could appreciate the amazing craftsmanship of the men that created this figures that are different from one another. Also, the restoration work is out o this world given only 1 warrior was found intact and all others had to be re-built putting pieces together. 
On the way to see the warriors we stopped by a lacker factory. I know it sounds like a tourist trap but I have never seen more beautiful Chinese furniture. Such an amazing display of art really.

Day7: Xi’an
Free day to cycle on the city walls. What a special moment! We rented a tandem bike and cycled around the city remembering the great days we had together in China.

Shanghai is one of those modern big cities with lots of lights. I didn’t have a chance to see a lot of it apart from the Bund and eat 2 types of amazing dumplings that they have there. One is pan friend and the other one is made with short pastry and sold on the streets. Truly made the stop over worth it.

Hope you enjoyed this post.

Mariana

Of all the wonderful and amazing things we did in Myanmar, the absolute highlight, by far, are the people. Despite years of repression and militar government, everyone we have meet has been immediately willing to give us a smile. People are friendly, curious, and they seem happy… Every single person you smile at, smiles back. They are also very curious about the world outside, and often ask foreigners for pictures, as we are still a somewhat strange sight!

Regardless of where you go people live in a very simple way but I wouldn’t call them ‘poor’. Poor means: lacking sufficient money to live at a standard considered comfortable or normal in a society. Their standard is totally comfortable and normal in their society. At least this was how we felt in the countryside. Yangon is a big city and supposedly the third most expensive to live in in Asia so with that surely poverty rises but we didn’t spend enough time to notice.

Yangon: the capital city

Our expectations was a very busy and chaotic city, full of motorbikes and traffic, and what we found is something quite different. While it is definitely, more chaotic than Singapore (and which city isn’t), it’s quite an orderly place. We also found it to be quite clean and nice! By all means, there is still an “Asia Feel” to it but don’t go expecting floating markets in the city and millions of people on the street.

The highlight of the city is Shwedagon pagoda which we had the privilege to visit on New Year’s Day. This is the day when everyone goes to a pagoda or temple to pray so the place was very full. There were people from all over the country there on that day but even though it was very full it didn’t feel claustrophobic or annoying in any way. I get more annoyed in the metro in Singapore then there to be honest. They were all dressed up to the occasion very nicely with women on their sets of long tight skirt and matching tops. The pagoda itself is very impressive. There is nothing to see inside but it is beautiful in combination with its accompanyingareas with buddha images and space for people to sit, pray, hang out, eat etc.

The first place we went to was Chauk That Kyi to see a 70 meter long reclining Buddha. It is very mmm modern looking with huge eye lashes and lipstick. Quite interesting.

We also visited the City Centre to see the colonial buildings and Scotts Market. Nothing spectacular in our opinion but it was nice to get more of the feeling of the city. The market is a big warehouse with lots of little shops selling everything from fruits to diamonds. The famous things to buy there are rubis and sapphires.

Our hotel was by Kandawgyi Lake where we could see Karaweik Hall float – replica of a the royal float. The hotel was good – Kandawgyi Palace Hotel.    

Bagan : ancient capital

Bagan is such a unique place to visit. It is basically a big arid field with more than 3000 pagodas made of bricks. Most of them were built in the 1100s by different families that wanted to have a place of worship. The result of this prolific religious frenzy is an amazing landscape of pagodas everywhere you look. We visited several of them and each and every one of them have something special. Some have preserved paintings on the walls, some have beautiful images, some just have interesting architecture. There is one that even have the Mona Lisa of the buddhas having a different smile deepening where you stand.

We enjoyed going around the pagodas with our guide to be able to see the key sites and know the best places for sunset. But what we enjoyed the most was renting little electrical bikes and spending the day exploring the area by ourselves. During that day we found some very beautiful pagodas, a local village Min-Nan-Thu and amazing views from Nan Myint Tower. The village is still very authentic but one of the locals speak english so she takes you around to see their homes, how they make cotton fabrics and peanut oil while the men are in the fields and the women are in the market. It was a very interesting view to what a very different way of living is. Nan Myint Tower was newly built as part of a super beautiful hotel (Aureum Palace Bagan) and the view from up there are breathtaking.

Nyanung is the area where the airport is. We went to the best restaurant in town according to Trip Advisor –Weather spoons. Not a pub but a very local little restaurant on ‘Restaurant Row’ which is supposed to be the area to go for dinner and drinks. Our hopes were not too high but really is just a tiny clay road with a few restaurants here and there. Don’t go expecting Playa del Carmen or Bali standards. This is roots!

Also part of Bagan is Old Bagan and New Bagan. Our hotel was closer to Old Bagan on the bank of the river – Thiripyitsaya Resort. Very simple rooms but a very nice hotel but Old Bagan is disappointing because of how dirty the poor town is. There is nothing to see there anyway.

Inle lake

This was the most different place in my opinion. I had never seen anything like it. From the fishermen skills, floating plantations of vegetables to villages on stilts. Majority of men are fishermen and they have developed this amazing skill of setting the net at the same time as they paddle with their feet – quite impressive.

Life depends on the lake and the affluent rivers. Canoes and little motor boats are the means of transport of all ‘lake people’ who live very simply from selling fish and vegetables. ‘Mountain people’ live in very remote areas and speak a different language. They come down to the lake to sell wood in the market and to pray.

We visited one village on the water and one on land (Indein). Both of them were very special. The one on the water depicted the bamboo houses on stilts with their canoes ‘parked’ underneath. In Indein we were able to see rice fields, catch a tractor ride to the local market where women from the lake and mountain get together to sell their produce and see hundreds of pagodas.

It was always nice to ride the boat back to our lovely hotel by the lake – Inle Resort. The rooms are on stilts and quite picturesque.

Logistics:

This trip, as any other, started with the planning. But because it is a country recently opened to tourism, it still has some very particular ways of booking a holiday. It is impossible for a foreigner to get a visa without an invitation letter from a tour company or to get internal flights so we decided to bite the bullet and hire an agency. They took care of everything apart from flights to and from Yangon and visas. We built the itinerary together to fit our wishes and the tour was totally private to our lovely party of 4. It was the best we could have done for a stress free trip. We totally recommend the agency we used: Myanmar Shalom. Another thing to note is the weather – it is extremely hot between April and October and because of that the sky is not as clear as you would hope. Best time to travel to Myanmar is between November and March which is also the season when balloon rides are available in Bagan.

Curiosities:

Now to the funny things about Myanmar.

– people are still curious and amazed by foreigners and they don’t hold back to ask for a picture. Always very kindly but they didn’t hesitate going for a little hug or a squeeze. And I am not talking about 1 or 2 pictures. We were asked to take about 20 pictures. Very sweet.

– airports: imagine bus stations, that’s what they are. Very funny that the flights are called by a dude screaming the flight number but in fairness, the service was better than a lot of high standard airports. Flights were on time and very safe. They were so efficient that they managed to board a whole plane and leave in 10mins – Fernando was rather impressed by it

– e-bikes: as I mentioned on the Bagan section, this is the way to move around but bear in mind they are for Asian sizes. We looked rather odd and uncomfortable on them but it was part of the fun.

Now, I would argue that visiting mountains in the winter is that bit more special because of its beautiful snow tops and magical silence.

In this post I am going to tell you about our visit to Takayama/ Shirakawa-go.

Takayama

This is a traditional Japanese town where you can still find old wooden houses in the middle of a concrete road and taste ramen with no guilt of being in a touristic place.

When we arrived to at the train station, we felt we were in an abandoned ghost town. Not a lot of people around and very few tourists walking on the street. The ‘new’ part of the city is completely standard with quite a sad feel to it to be honest. We continue walking up to reach the ‘old town’ where 3 parallel streets take you back to a different era. All the houses are what you imagine as the old traditional japanese houses made of wood, with little fabric curtains on the doors and paper windows. Many of them today are shops or restaurants but the stars of the show are the sake breweries. Most of them open their doors to the public during the winter months so we were able to get a glimpse of how sake is made. A lovely lady that barely spoke any english went frenetically through a notebook with english explanation to read to us how the production goes – very sweet.

Takayama is known for its Floats Festival that happen twice a year. In Spring and Autumn, these massive beautifully decorated structures are carried through the streets to the sound of music. This is a tradition since the 17th century but these days the floats that are carried are not any longer the original ones made of steel and gold. That’s because they need men with exact same height to carry this massive cars but they can’t find enough men to fit the bill any longer. Don’t be too disappointed because the original floats can still be seen in a museum in the north of the city. You even get a walkman to listen to a cassette in english – this is not a joke.

Other than that, Takayama is the home for hundreds of temples. We didn’t have a lot of expectations but yet decided to go for a stroll through the Higashiyama Walking Course. This is a very well sign posted route to visit a few temples and then continue to the woods. Needless to say that it way too cold to go into the woods but we were pleasantly surprised by the variety and quantity of temples one next to the other.

We stayed at Hotel Spa Alpina which is a more business type of hotel. Simple but clean and with onset (hot spring communal bath) on the top floor.

Shirakawa-go

From Takayama we did an overnight side trip to Unesco’s World Heritage site Shirakawa-go. It only takes 90 minutes on the bus but during the journey we could already see that we were crossing the line between modern times to rural wonderland. We got to Shirakawa-go almost at sunset so we could only catch a glimpse of the famous gassho-zukuri farmhouses that make up the whole village under a thick layer of snow.

Gassho-zukuri means “constructed like hands in prayer”, as the farmhouses’ steep thatched roofs resemble the hands of buddhist monks pressed together in prayer. They are all built facing the same direction so the roof is parallel to the wind stream and not against it to avoid too much draft and cold inside the houses. Traditionally they were used as family homes and as silk farms but today they are mostly converted into ryokan’s.

Besides the incredible landscape, Shirakawa-go has lots of onsens. We stay in a western room in one of the ryokans that had onsens it was called Shirakawa-go-no-Yu. The baths are in the common bathrooms and you can enjoy either the indoors or the

outdoors one looking out to the snowy mountain. The food was included and it was delicious if you like traditional japanese food. Lovely ladies that don’t speak a word of english set the table per room and serve this amazing feast that you practically cook yourself on the table. Yummy!

From there, we took the train back to Nagoya and changed trains to head to Hakone. The first train went literally backwards for a while but not to worry because all seats can be rotated at any time or by a central switch. Only in Japan.

Other posts about Japan:

Our time in Japan

Koya San: beautiful mountain town

The One and Only: Fuji San

Tokyo – Awesome/Crazy city