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!

We haven’t done a guest post for a while so this will be a special one. We traveled to Manado in North Sulawesi- Indonesia with a couple of friends (Leti & Peter) and their lovely daughter (Sofia). Leti is a great blogger and she wrote a lovely post about our long weekend away. So, here I give you… Leticia Aranda as Una Paraguaya in China.  If you want to see this post in English, please click here to see the automagical Google translation.

Agosto, 2015 – Para mi sorpresa, Peter resultó ser un aficionado del scuba. Era como una pasión latente que brotó y se volvió muy evidente al mudarnos al sudeste asiático. Y así fue que yo también decidí acompañarlo (dentro de mis limites) a todas sus aventuras y “Diving Trips”.

En Redang (Malasia) conocimos a Mariana y Abraham. Ella Brasilera, Él Mexicano. Ambos aventureros y cómplices en todo. Una pareja con mucha química y buenas vibras. Durante un sábado de brunch, trajeron el ipad y nos mostraron cual seria el próximo destino para ir de scuba: Manado, Indonesia.

Catalogado como uno de los sitios mas cotizados para practicar scuba, Manado es un pueblito (islita) en el norte de Sulawesi. Virgen y poco desarrollado, solo para corazones aventureros y fanáticos del scuba.

Yo, hoy en día opte por ser co-piloto, Peter va decidiendo cuál es el próximo destino y yo sin ya hacer mucha investigación previa, me encargo de hacer las valijas, llevar los juguetes de Sofía y partir. Debo decir que si bien algunos de los lugares fueron mas rústicos de lo que cualquier corazón de madre aguantaría, siempre nos fue bien y volvemos con una experiencia surreal. Manado fue igual.

Nos quedamos en un pequeñísimo hotel llamado Janji Laut, con apenas 5 cabañas y capacidad para recibir a no más de 12-15 huéspedes. El restaurant sirve comida casera y especialidades de la casa: Comimos muchísimos mariscos, pescados y frutos de mar. El dueño es francés y le pone bastante empeño en la comida y los detalles.

Sofía y yo pasamos muchísimo tiempo en la piscina para niños y jugando en la arena. Peter, Abraham y Mariana le sacaron el jugo al scuba. El primer día, yo me acople al scuba de la tarde. Fuimos al “House Reef”. Si no hubiese sido por un encuentro cercano con millares de aguas vivas, para mi hubiese sido perfecto. Al bajar, la vida acuática y la claridad del agua hicieron que me olvide de todo el ardor y la incomodidad.

El segundo día, los divers fueron a Bunaken y volvieron extasiados. Peter prácticamente me obligó a ir al día siguiente; y tenia razón. Solo puedo decir que me encantaría tener una memoria de elefante para poder guardar las imágenes y la experiencia de aquel buceo.

Literalmente, una inmensa pared de coral que uno no alcanza ver el fondo. Bajamos 30 metros como si fuese que nada estaba pasando y uno simplemente se deja llevar por la belleza y la magnificencia de la naturaleza. Tortugas marinas reposando en los huecos, peces en todos los colores y formas y mucha, muchísima vida.

Como dice Mariana: “Las fotos no hacen justicia para tanta belleza” pero por lo menos dan para compartirlas y dejar un saborcito de lo maravilloso de este lugar.

Below you can see more photos to complement Leticia’s post!

Our base was mainly Luang Prabang but we also spent a few days in the ‘countryside’ going all the way up to Nong Khiaw. During 9 days we did everything from traditional temples and museums to cycling, kayaking, hiking, riding elephants and even sleeping in a Khmu village. Here I will explain the highlights of our trip.

Luang Prabang

Laos is a very laid back destination with amazingly beautiful landscapes. Luang Prabang receives many tourists from all around the world but yet it is still has a small town kind of feel. It is a lovely town to go around by bike and the perfect place to relax having a coffee watching people pass by. Around the dozens of temples spread around the city are little cafes, bistros, massage places and guests houses that don’t disturb the laid back atmosphere of this lovely town. 

Hmong new year celebration: we were lucky enough to be in town during the Hmong New Year so we had a chance to take a look at the celebration. Different villagers put their village typical attire and get together for a celebration that is centered by the courting ceremony between boys and girls. They toss a little ball from side to side to get to know each other and if they like each other they get married very shortly after – like 3 days after!!!

Alms giving: even though it has become a touristic attraction, there is still something magical about giving food to the monks during dusk. Hundred of monks walk by the streets of Luang Prabang collecting what will make up their full food intake of the day. Tip: there is no need to arrive at 530/600am like the guides recommend. The monks only come past around at 630. In order to get a good you must buy rice from the ladies that are holding seats on the Main Street but I would recommend you to bring fruits with you too because it feels a little weird that all the monks collect ends up being sticky rice and bags of crisps. You can buy them or other items at the market a bit before the ceremony.

Temples: there are so many temples in this very small town (around 34). They are all very nice, but we really enjoyed Wat Xieng Thong, the main temple in town. It is an incredible complex. Wat Mai monastery is also very nice. Haw Pha Bang houses the Prabang Buddha, which is very beautiful. And the views from Mount Phousi, on top of the hill in the middle of town is unbeatable.

Rice farm: At The Living Land Farm we learned the full cycle of rice cultivation and literally got our hands dirty. The thing that makes this experience so nice is the staff/owners. They are a community of local people that work this farm for their own consumption and decided to show tourists how they do it. The money they make goes into giving scholarships to local kids, who then help the farm. Really lovely. 

Restaurants and cafes: 

Tamarind: for sure the best option to get to know Lao food. Their tasting menus are delicious. 

Joma cafe: lovely coffee and cakes.

Rooftop cafe at Indigo House Hotel: super laid back with a great view of the city.

Manda de Laos: this place was recently opened (2015) and is a beautiful hotel and restaurant with very nice food.

Around Luang Prabang

Kayaking down the Nam Khan river: this was a very nice experience to enjoy the views and have a picnic over a banana leaf on the side of the river. 

Sleeping at a Khmu village: this was one of the most awaited moments of the trip. We had extremely high expectations of the interaction with the villagers and a glimpse of their lives. In reality the experience was much more crude than what we expected. The villagers were not much interested in interacting with us and our accommodation was not only basic but it was a little too dirty and run down for our taste. Yet, we had a fun candle lit dinner and an experience to remember. 

Elephant Camp + Tad Sae Waterfalls: elephant experiences always Rock! Riding, bathing and feeding. It was a treat to see little Maxim unexpectedly bathing. The boys even did zip lining at the waterfalls. The waterfalls were quite beautiful for its blue colour and different levels. 

North 

Sunset over the bridge at Nong Khiaw: there isn’t much to do or see up there and it is a little too far from Luang Prabang (4hrs drive). Yet, it enjoys an amazing geographical location that allowed us to see a beautiful sunset by the bridge over the Nam Ou river. 

100 waterfalls: this was a unexpected adventure. I never thought you could hike up a waterfall but apparently you can – with trainers, havaianas or even bare foot. 

Pak Ou caves: it is nice to see all these Buddha statues inside a rock but a little too overrated. 

Logistics tips and comments

Tours: We booked with Tiger trail. They did a good job.

Hotel in Luang Prabang: MyDream resort. It was on the other side of the river and this was actually great. Nearby but mouth more quiet and calm.

Hotel in Nong Khiaw: The Mandala Ou. Incredible views and a beautiful place.

Flights: flew on Lao airlines with a stopover in Ventiane. It was very good with no issues.

The concept: Pangkil is a private island available for private parties. It’s all or nothing. You book the full island with 6 family rooms, one tree house, one pool hut and all services all included – 4 meals a day in different locations of the island, fully stocked bar 24/7, water sports equipment and extremely friendly staff. We were 12 adults and 4 kids but we could have easily fit another 6 people.

The planning: you need to know you want to go to Pangkil quite some time in advance as their calendar is fully booked with months in advance. Lucky for us we had our ‘lovely super planning woman’ Sorcha in control. She did all the booking, arranged the transfer and made sure all the food requirements and fuzziness were met.

The journey: for most people, paradise is this far away land that takes you many hours or days to get to. With that perspective in mind, Pangkhil is only 4 hours away from Singapore. It is off the north part of Bintan – Indonesia. We took an early ferry from Singapore’s Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal to Penang ferry terminal (2hrs). The island staff greeted us at the ferry terminal, did our immigration process and took us by bus the island’s private jetty (45mins). From there, it was a quick 15mins speed boat ride to get to the island and enjoy one of the most amazing weekend we had.

The island: the set up is very rustic with accommodations made of reclaimed wood and bathrooms on open air – there are only 2 big houses with en-suite. There is no air conditioning but it is quite breezy. There is a nice pool and the sea is beautifully clean and blue. You can hear the sound of the sea from every room.

What to do there: many people asked me what we did during the weekend. The answer is: we relaxed. Breakfast is served from 7am until 11am at the main house. Then we had a massage by the sea, laid down under the sun and swam at the sea. Lunch was at 12 o’clock by the pool where we stayed for most of the afternoon until nap time. We had the tree house which was an amazing little hut set on stilts on top of the sand that only fit one double bed. Napping with the sound of sea with a nice breeze was incredible. At 4pm there was afternoon tea and then we played beach volleyball or just relaxed reading a book waiting for dinner. Dinner was at 8pm after which drinks, music, bonfire and fireworks followed. Did we feel bored: not for one minute!

Recommendability: 10
Returnabiliy: 8 – we would definitely go back but it is quite a hefty price

Thimpu – Punakha

From Haa, we took the road straight to Thimpu to be surprised of how big the city was. There are no traffic lights in Bhutan, but Thimpu has one famous crossing with the guard making hand signals – they installed a light years ago, but the people disliked it.

The highlight in Thimpu is really the Tashichhoe Dzong (Fortress) where the King still actually works from and lives. We saw the bringing down of the flag to symbolize the end of the working day and visited the Dzong’s grounds.

We stayed in a standard city hotel (Kang Residence) and went around the town by foot to see the old Post Office and handcraft street market. Other than that we also visited:

• Memorial Stupa: in the middle of the street this temple is where the locals spend hours walking around the main stupa and praying.
• Buddha Point: supposedly the biggest Buddha statue in world. It is being finished but already an impressive sight.
• Traditional Medicine Clinic: we were curious about it and health care is free for everyone including foreigners. We saw a doctor that asked us a few questions and measured our pulse with his fingers to determine our diagnosis. Quite a gift.
• Nunnery: small place with ongoing chanting by the nuns.
• Takin Zoo: this is a small zoo dedicated to the national animal. Quite an weird/interesting animal. The locals say it’s a mix of the head of a moose and the body of a cow.
• National Library: you can see the world’s biggest book in there but that’s all

We finished all the main sight in Thimpu so we had one day left which we used to go see the biggest Dzong in Bhutan – Punaka Dzong. Again, it was a painful car journey with not so safe roads but the prize at the end made it worth it.

Punakha Dzong is indeed massive. This is where the latest royal wedding took place and many other important celebrations like the Punakha Festival. The most impressive part of this Dzong are the courtyards but the temple itself is also impressive being all gold with huge Buddha statue.

On the way, we also stopped by the Fertility temple (Chhimi Lhakhang) where people go to ask for blessing to have babies. The procedure to be ‘granted’ the blessing is quite interesting: you have to hold a giant wooden penis statue, do 3 rounds of the temple with it, receive the blessing from the monk and pick a name for the baby out of a box. We didn’t do because Abraham was afraid of having a first child with a Bhutanese name J

After Punakha, we slept our last night in Thimpu before going to Paro airport. It was certainly a magical experience that we were lucky to share with our family. Bhutan left a nice feeling on our hearts and a hope that openness doesn’t change or destroy this beautiful country and culture. One day we would hope to go back and do more hiking.

That is Mount Everest!

Paro – Chele Le Pass – Haa

After having been greeted at Paro Airport by our tour guide and driver, we started our tour straight away by visiting Paro. First impression: WOW, what a magical place! The grandiosity of the lush green mountains that our plane hovered so closely with beautifully manicured homes & temples sparse by the river in the valley make a breathtaking sight.

The view of Paro Valley from Paro Dzong

Paro is the second biggest city in Bhutan but it follows Thimpu (capital) by a long mile. The town is comprised by a big gorgeous Dzong(fortress) and a main road where all the shops, restaurants and guests houses are. Other than that, little pockets of houses and small hotels disappear through the valley. All the constructions follow the same traditional Bhutanese style making every street an interesting sight. Our hotel- a former royal residence – was slightly higher than the river level so we had a great view of the town and Dzong.

Paro Highlights:

Tiger’s Nest Monastery: by far one of the most amazing sights we’ve ever visited. This temple & monastery is set in the middle of a mountain and to this date still houses tens of monks learning Buddha’s teaching. It is quite a hike up there but it is totally worth it. The guide said that the fittest can go up and down in 3hrs but we took almost 7hrs with a couple of stops for tea & lunch.

Rinpung Dzong (fortress): it was the first Dzong we had seen and for sure it made an impression. The architectural details, courtyards and paintings on the wall were impressive.

The hotel – Gadgety Palace: such a beautiful building with traditional bedrooms and great view. They also have a hot stone bath which was an interesting experience that I shared with my cousins. It is literally a wooden bath that they fill with water and herbs. The heat comes from the stones that are heated on the fire outside and then put into the bath. It was fun!

Other sites we visited in Paro:

• Ta Dzong (Museum): in this small museum you can see the different masks used in the festivals and understand more about the culture, flora and fauna of this spectacular country.
• Kyichu Lhakhang Monastery: one of the oldest monasteries in the country
• Farm house dinner: a slightly weird set up but certainly eye opening – we got to have dinner in someone’s house and eat like locals. We didn’t particularly like the food but it was interesting to see the simple standards that people live in. The particular one we went was also a guest house so watch out if you plan to stay in one of them – you will end up sleeping on a mattress on the floor.

On day 3 of our tour, we departed Paro through The most sinuous road I have ever seen in the direction of Haa Valley. The road took us up a mountain that finished at Chele La Pass and then down the other side to reach Haa. In retrospect, we should probably not have bothered with the painful drive for what we saw on the other side but we made the most of it.

Chele Le Pass is quite a magical spot with white and coloured flags all over the place. These flags are placed by the people as wishing (coloured) or in respect for the dead (white).

Haa Valley Highlights:

Haa Summer Festival: even though it was much smaller than what we expected and it poured rain for a good couple of hours, we really enjoyed been in a less touristic village to see the traditional dance, music and food stalls.

Our Hotel (Soednam Zingkha Guest House) and the valley itself: this was a refurbished traditional Bhutanese home that was set in a beautiful spot at the Haa Valley. The place was very nice and the location was perfect. I wish we had more time to do some hiking around.

Archery Tournament: On the way to Thimpu we managed to stop by a local Archery tournament. They were amazing! The archers were shooting at a target about the size of two pieces of paper from 200 meters away. Every time they hit it they did a nice dance.

Other sites we visited in Haa:

• Haa Dzong: in a slight strange location because it is set right next to the Indian army camp. It is an okay dzong
• Lhakhang Nagpo (black temple): small temple. Not much to see, but we managed to sit for 10-15 minutes hearing beautiful chanting (click below to listen).

Haa Dzong

To read about Thimpu and Punankha (part 3), click here.

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.

Our cultural trip started by the place we stayed in – East Indies. It is an amazingly renovated peranakan house divided into extremely spacious rooms. They made the place to feel as if it was your house with a lovely courtyard for relaxing and a shared kitchen. We rented a 2 bedroom apartment which had a big living room which was very convenient.

Very close to our hotel was the Peranakan House Museum which was very cool to see. They have free guided tours where they explain about the nyonias and babas and other customs. The jewelry, clothes and furniture are amazing to see. Very nice place.

We walked around all over George Town so we saw different temples, little shop house streets and mosques all over the place. The nicest area to find little cafes and restaurants and street art is around Armenian Street where the famous wall paintings are. They are quite nice to see but you need to keep your eyes open to see the more secluded of them.

The most impressive temple of all was Khoo Kongsi because of its size and details. It was very interesting to see the European and Chinese influence merging with Malay culture in the constructions.

Food wise, you can literally find anything you like here. The highlights for us were:

– Kapitan: indian with great tandoori and naans
– Tek Sen: glazed por belly is to die for!

– China House: very nice set up with 3 types of restaurants, boutique and art gallery in a shop house. The desert table is incredible!

In sum, Penang is an easy, full of life, nice place to go for a weekend with friends. Our friends definitely made the different in our weekend