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

Enough of the romance, let’s get into all the things we packed into one weekend: – A O Show at the Saigon Opera House: this was an amazing find. Acrobatics on bamboo sticks and wicker basket. Pure talent from the dancers showing a little bit of vietnamese life in the countryside and city. Super cool. After that we had an incredible meal at Hoa Tuc which by the end offer cooking classes too – next time – Cu Chi Tunnels: we were not 100% bought into going but we ended up getting a tour with the hotel agency and went there on a private tour. It was actually quite nice to see the tunnels. We didn’t do the shooting. There is something slightly weird about shooting on a site where thousands of men, women and children died. In fact, that is the sound effect throughout the tour… a bit scary.

– War Remmenants Museum: a little gory but interesting to see Vietnam’s side of the war story. – Reunification Palace: we didn’t even know that the Palace was open for visitation but it was a pleasant walk around.

Now, on the less tourists path, we took a friend’s recommendation and took a Saigon after Dark Vespa tour.  It was an amazing experience! The tour is super well organized and it has all the transport, food and drinks included. It basically took to parts of the city we couldn’t even imagine from District 1 to District 4 where very few tourists go. You get driven by a motorbike/ vespa driver through the crazy streets of Saigon praying for your life. Eventually we started to enjoy the view and the incredible moment of being on the deep end of what this city is all about. We ate amazing seafood but the highlight of the night was banh xeo in a corner shop. We went to a secret cafe to listen to live music in, what I would describe as someone’s living room in a little alley somewhere and then went to a rock bar. Quite bizarre combination but it worked nicely. We had a great time!

On our last day we took our first Triip tour. This is basically a broker website for local guides. Tam was our lovely guide to take us through the main markets in the city like true locals. She took by public bus to Binh Tay Market in District 5 to see a true local market where they sell food and everything else. The market is located in China town so we stopped by a couple of pagodas as well. It was interesting to see these religious buildings with incredibly intrinsic carving next to bit old horrible looking buildings. After that we did a quick stop at famous Ben Thanh Market to then reach the best moment of the day: eat a proper banh mi! Tam took us to the ‘joint’ where she has very snack in the afternoon during work days. PS: that is after she took a siesta on a mattress that she leaves in the office. Anyway, banh mi is a super sandwich with pork or chicken meat and a salad. It sounds much duller than what it is. It was fantastic!!!

Only one weekend but enough for us to fall in love with Vietnam. We will definitely be going back!

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

Our journey started in Hakone where you get off the JR and step into a different area where 7 means of transportation run in harmony to allow you to see the best sights. Hakone itself is where most tourists stay but we didn’t see much of it because we were going to stay at Gora which is already half way up the mountain by cable car.

Gora is a tiny town with a couple of parks and museums to see. We didn’t visit any to be honest – we were on a mission! We stayed in a very commercial ryokan called Hakone Setsugetsuka. I don’t mean in a bad way but it was certainly an interesting experience to be in a very traditional japanese room that is actually quite new and surrounded by other 200 rooms. The hotel was actually quite impressive with beautifully designed rooms with their own onsen on the balcony with views of the mountains.

The highlight of the hotel are the hot springs with different medicinal and entertainment purposes. This was the only hotel we went to with private onsens. They were set outdoors in little huts that you can just go in and lock the door. Really really nice to have company – that are not random old people – in the hot spring for once.

One thing about this hotel and any other ryokan is that they provide your with a yukata to wear in the premises. So cute, they are to die for. Makes you really feel part of the surroundings. Not so much for Abraham because he could barely fit into the wooden clogs.

Anyway, enough of rambling about secondary things. The day after we woke up and took another piece of the cable car that led us to the ropeway. Inside the little pods, were leisurely looking at the mountains and being impressed by the sulphur blasts and wondering if we would be able to see Mt. Fuji. That was when we heard one of our fellow passengers squeak and there he was. Magnificently huge and beautiful. All the other mountains seem like little hills next to him. I would like to be able to describe the emotion of seeing Mt. Fuji right there in front of us but I fear this is not possible and one needs to witness such a moment. I can only say this was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.

Once you reach the top of the ropeway, you can go down and enjoy the different angles of Mt. Fuji. On the way down, the final stop is by Lake Ashinoko where we took a pirate boat (go figure) to continue enjoying the amazing landscape. At the end of the boat ride we took a bus that took us back to Hakone with this last sneak peak at this wonderful volcano.

Mount Fuji can not be mis sed in a trip to Japan. It’s beautiful!

Other posts about Japan:

Our time in Japan

Koya San: beautiful mountain town

Takayama & Shirakawa-go – Mountain Wonderland

Tokyo – Awesome/Crazy city

————

Chiang Mai is one of the main destinations in northern Thailand. To be honest, we decided to go there because two friends suggested, but we were not sure what we were going to find.

Now, I am glad we decided to go. The city is not particularly pretty, but it is packed with very beautiful temples, nice hotels and restaurants and incredible side trips.

– Hotel

We stayed in Ping Nakara hotel and we really enjoyed it. The hotel is beautiful, the staff is incredibly nice, the rooms are nice and spacious and the food is good.

Although it is not within the city walls, it is very well located, as one can easily walk or take a tuk-tuk anywhere.

The hotel has a very good spa. We had some of our favorite massages of the trip there. (Obs.: There are small massage places everywhere in Chiang Mai. We went to Deep Relax and it was nice).

Also, the hotel owns a nearby restaurant/bistro (Nakara Jardin), which is absolutely beautiful and serves lunch, snacks and high tea. We only had dessert and smoothies and they were great (I wish we had gone for high tea).

Just never forget the mosquito repellent, as the hotel and the restaurant are by the river.

– Restaurants

We really liked our lunch at Ginger & Kafe. The restaurant is in the northeast end within the city walls. It has a very nice modern asian style and it serves both Asian and western food. We had the Thai appetizer platter (that was amazing) and a very good set menu. They also make good cocktails and a delicious mango sticky rice for dessert.

There are two nice shops around the restaurant, selling clothes, accessories (nice bijoux at great prices) and decor pieces. The decor store is great!

We also had a very nice dinner at The Whole Earth. The restaurant has Thai and Indian food and everything we ate was very good (fried rice in pineapple and a chicken curry).

For tea and snacks, we loved Kalapella, a little tea shop in Rachadamnoen Street (the city's main street). They have a wide variety of teas, good snacks and a very friendly staff. Good spot for a break from visiting the temples. Also, in this block of Rachadamnoen Street there are some nice shops (loved Eranyara necklace shop – not cheap, but amazing one of a kind pieces).

– Temples

There is literally one temple every 3 blocks in Chiang Mai. Some of them are not even in the tourist maps. It is worth visiting at least one of these small temples, as these are the ones really used by the locals for prayers.

The most important ones in the city are Wat Phra Sing and Wat Chedi Luang.

When visiting the temples, do not forget to walk around the temples in their grounds. There are very interesting things besides the temples themselves. Another tip: you cannot use shoes in the temples, but you may wear socks…

Outside the city, in the mountains, is Doi Suthep temple. It is beautiful and worth the visit. We heard that the sunrise there is beautiful, but we decided to go there as a part of the side trip to Elephant Camp (Maesa) and Tiger Kingdom.

– Side Trips

We booked a private tour with Lanna Boutique Travel to go to Maesa Elephant Camp, Tiger Kingdom, Hill Tribes Village and Doi Suthep. We totally recommend the agency and the tour!

This was a full day visit and it was amazing! It was worth having a guide to organize everything and to tell us about the places.

If you like animals, this is must do trip. You get to touch and hug the elephants and tigers! Do not forget to have change to buy bananas for the elephants and to give small tips (be careful, the elephants are experienced banana thieves!)

In theory, the best time to visit both Maesa and Tiger Kingdom is in the morning, but it was impossible for us. So, we visited Maesa first and then we had lunch in the Tiger Kingdom, which was a pretty good Asian food buffet. It worked fine!

The hill tribes visit was fine, as it is very close to Maesa, but it is not worth a visit just for that.

– Markets

There are famous markets in Chaing Mai. We visited the Sunday market (which is a street market) and it was ok. There are all kinds of products and food, but too crowded for us…

– Trip length

We found that 2 days is enough time to get to see most of the sights in Chiang Mai. We would recommend he city for a visit when in the region, it was a great experience.

Where to go:

We arrived in Heraklion and rented a car. Here is the itinerary: Heraklion, Matala Beach, Chania and then back to Heraklion. We stayed one night in Heraklion and all the others in Chania. Wouldn't have done differently apart from going to Matala. Too far and not worth it in my opinion. You will see. Abraham says it is important to mention that we (he) rented the car with Argus Car hire. It is a bit dodgy but it is way cheaper and works just as well as the main stream ones.

Heraklion: it is a port town with the venetian pier and pedestrian roads. Quite nice but not the place to spend too long. We stayed at Lato Boutique Hotel which was really good. They have a restaurant on the roof top called The Herbs Garden that is open to non-residents and really good! Nice view and amazing food. (sorry for being repetitive about the great food in this post. There is no way around: Greek cusine is fabulous). We took a regular bus just off our hotel to go to the most famous ruins of Crete: Knossos. Very big but not particularly impressive. Can't put a finger on it but read on and you will find the really worthwhile going. By all means, go to Knossos. It is very close to the town and famous.

Gordies: I literally cannot remember the name of these ruins on the way to Matala. We kept on calling the Gordies and it is stuck. There is a small part of ruins that is conserved and another “wild” part that you need to endure the wild grass to get to. On the conserved part you will see a auditorium and a tree which you take a leaf of and it tells you the number of children you will have. So if you are falling short of a fortune teller in the middle of Crete, here is your place.

Faustos: this is the real name of these ruins also on the way to Matala – kind od south of Heraklion. Beautiful. The cooler ones we saw in Crete in my opinion. I can't put my finger on the reason but it is just very nice and impressive. Great panoramic view from entrance.

Matala: The drive to Matala from Heraklion is quite curvaceous but nothing compared to the way from Matala to Chania. The place is a hippie sanctuary. Literally. The hippies of all generations went there and lived in the caves on the walls. The caves are amazing looking and the water is crystal clear besides being extremely cold. Other than that it is an average beach I would say.

Chania: and finally we get to Chania where we would stay for the rest of our stay (6 nights). We stayed in a family ran serviced apartment called Lefka Apartments. It is quite cheap and very convenient because apartments have a full kitchen and living room to really spread out. There is no luxury at all and the toilet is quite bad but then if you have been to Greece before you will know that well designed bathroom are not their forte. Who would have thought eh? Fathers of engineering. Anyway, if you don't care about showing holding the shower and wetting the whole bathroom then you will be fine. The staff of the place absolutely make up for it. They are incredibly nice, friendly and helpful. After one day we were feeling at home.

Chania itself is a lovely little port town. Also with a venetian port and lots of tiny little streets that you get lost in. Restaurants and shops take over the scenery. I would highly recommend 2 restaurants there: Ella and Portes. In Ella you will eat inside an old soap factory with no roof. Make sure you order the Ella special casserole type of thing. Incredible. Portes is ran by a greek/portugues couple and here you can sit on the street under the trees. Lovely set up and gorgeous simple food.

With the camp in Chania, we did day trips here and there.

Balos: this beach is right at the very top of the most eastern peninsula of Crete. It is quite a drive through clay roads to get there and another hour going down the hill. As you start the way down to the beach you are surprised by an unbelievable view. This beach is divided by the open sea part and a natural swimming pool if you like. There is structure down there to rent sun beds and umbrellas but take your drinks and food. Be aware that around 1pm there is boat full of tourist arriving so it is worth arriving before them to get a good spot. As I write this I feel a bit daft because there is no bad spot really. You can spend all day long enjoying the view and snorkelling if you have the gear. Try not to think about the hike up the hill you came down because it is quite tough. If you have knee, back, foot problems go somewhere else.

Elafonisi: we didn't go to this beach because the road is extremely curvaceous and after the drive from Matala, I just wanted some peace. Fernando likes Elafonisi the best of all. It is a total natural swimming pool. Next time I will go there and not to Matala.

Samaria Gorge: not my ideal of holidays. It requires waking up at 5.30 in the morning to get a bus that takes you through more curvaceous roads. It is supposed to be beautiful to do the 15km walk that takes you to the beach where a huge slow boat awaits to take you back to the bus. We went to Afrata instead.

Afrata: this is a tiny little beach frequented by the local ladies that come for a morning swim in the crystal waters. It is a 20m beach with one cafe that serves cheese & ham toast. Fabulous. Not in most guides but worth the search for a relaxing day followed by a nice greek salad overlooking the sea in one of the little restaurants on the way.

Returnability: absolutely certainly. Amazing places, super friendly people and of course fantastic food.

Recommendability: Any day.

What to see:

We started from the hotel which was very close to St. Isaac's Cathedral and did a loop going south first through Nevinski Prospect. to see the Kazaan's cathedral. Went east to see the Cathedral of the Saviour and then started making our way north through the Winter garden and finally crossing the river to see the Fourt. From there we started making our way back by walking at the bank of the river and finally getting to the Hermitage museum. Perfect circle that took about 6 hours with a ground full of snow. Ah, that another important detail, I was there at the beginning of December when the temperature was as low as -6C and as “mild” as +4C. Not ideal but if you have the right clothing the city looks amazing under snow. Just be aware that it is only day light from 10.30 until 17.00 at this time of the year. Anyway, let's get to the details…

St Isaac's Cathedral: huge opponent construction with spectacular interior full of gold and chandeliers. You can climb up to the roof top and have a panoramic view of the city. Super recommend it!

Nevinski Prospect: on tour guides you will see it described as the Champs Elisee of St. Petersburg. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. It is just a large avenue with shops and restaurants.

Kazaan's cathedral: again very impressive inside. I visited on a sunday so there was a lot of locals there praying.

Cathedral of the Saviour: this is what you would expect from a Russian cathedral – colourful onion tops. Gorgeous with all the intrinsic details and colours. It is set next to a garden that makes it all that more magical. Inside it is all covered with mosaic but not particularly impressive in my opinion. Outside is the highlight.

Summer Garden: funny enough the garden is called Summer Garden and I wrote at the summary it was called Winter Garden. Well, it could well be called Winter garden when it is full of white fluffy snow that buffer any noise. Lovely. Worth the walk around. Close to the garden is the Russian Museum but I didn't have a chance to go in or more truthfully, didn't want to miss day light going in to a museum.

Fourt: Very large with lots of things to do. There are lots in reconstruction so I didn't get the full effect of it. Nevertheless it is very impressive for its history. You have a chance to go into the prison where real convicts were until not too long ago. Creepy.

The walk from the Fourt by the bridges to get to the Winter Palace/ Hermitage Museum gives you the chance to enjoy the view of the river. In my case, the vision of the end of the world…See the picture. Crazy way to freeze.

Hermitage Museum: this is the place also called Winter Palace. It was built by Peter the Great, who's statue is right outside looking to the river. It is his master piece that he never got to live in. All the combinations of different artists make the rooms so different and so special. All very grand of course. The collection inside are tremendously diverse. Nothing particularly amazing in my opinion but the rooms…ah the rooms. You can just see the parties and banquets held there as well as political conversations that changes the wold we live in. Absolutely a treat. It can takes days to go through everything. Be aware the the theatre is closed for visitors.

Not to worry about the theatre, go to Mariinski theatre to enjoy a ballet. What an experience. We saw Raimond with the Kirov group and it was incredibly special.

Food:

Borsch is delicious. Who would have thought that a soup made of beetroot would be that good. I certainly didn't. I had the best one in a restaurant called something like the No Russian Vodka.

Cafe Singer: set inside a book store in Nevinski Prospect you can enjoy a nice pastry, dessert or even some ice dumplings with the view of the Kazaan's cathedral. Very nice. Dumplings are small little dough bags filled with something and then steamed. Portions are not too big so don't expect to have a feast on them.

Terrassa: supposed to be very cool but it is not. Has a nice view if you can sit on the balcony but being inside is just a snobbish place with no heart. It serves anything from Strogonoff to Pizza and sushi. Really?? Service is terrible.

Accomodation: the centre is the place to be to be close to the attractions. I stayed at the Renaissance which was very good and not very expensive.

Returnability: very likely. One day I will go back in the summer to see the city with day light for 20 hours.

Recommendability: 100%. Everyone should go one day.