Tag: A to Z Challenge

My A to Z Travel Challenge – V is for Vientiane, Laos – 🇱🇦

Vientiane is the capital of Laos and the largest city, it is located on the banks of the Mekong River very close to the border with Thailand.

We visited here a few years ago for three nights before heading off to Luang Prabang. There is still a French influence around, especially the architecture. The Laotian cuisine is very delicate using herbs such as lemongrass, coriander and basil. Some of the dishes you might eat are sticky rice (Khao Niaw) sticky rice is a staple throughout the country. Minced Meat Salad (Larb) Green Papaya Salad (Tam Mak Hoong) Steamed Fish (Mok Pa) Baguette Paté (Khao Jii Paté) Wet Noodles (Khao Piak Sen) Lao Sausages (Sai Uah, Sai Gok) Noodle Soup (Phor).

The hotel we stayed at was called Green Park Hotel, a small boutique hotel set in beautiful gardens. After we had checked in we arranged with the concierge to hire a driver and car for the next two days. The next day after breakfast overlooking the gardens, our driver met us to start our first day. We were lucky with our driver, a happy chappy called Mr Vong and delighted to be our tour guide.

Green Park Hotel

  • Green Park Hotel, Vientiane, Laos
    The Lobby
  • Green Park Hotel, Vientiane, Laos
  • Green Park Hotel Vientiane, Laos
    Our bedroom
  • Green Park Hotel, Vientiane, Laos
    View from breakfast
Green Park Hotel Vientiane, Laos
The tranquil pool to relax in after a hard day’s tour

Nam Ngum River

Our first stop today was the Nam Ngum River where we would be taking a river boat cruise including lunch. We had a couple of mini breaks on the way to take in the scenery.

Vientiane, Laos
Typical street scene
Vientiane, Laos
Will be a heavy burden once filled!
  • Vientiane, Laos
  • Vientiane, Laos
    Trying some local delicacies
  • Vientiane, Laos
A beer stop before lunch, across the Mekong River is Thailand
  • Nam Ngum River Vientiane, Laos
  • Vientiane, Laos
  • Nam Ngum River, Vientiane, Laos
  • Vientiane, Laos
    Deep fried chicken feet

We stopped off at a small concrete pontoon in the middle of the lake, and up some stairs there was a lady selling all types of woven goods, local dried fish and gooseberries. The baskets and pots were made by the inmates of a nearby prison. We couldn’t leave without purchasing something. I hoped somebody remembered to pick her up at the end of the day!

  • Vientiane, Laos
  • Vientiane, Laos
  • Vientiane, Laos

A relaxing few hours was spent aboard our boat, eating lunch and drinking beer just watching the world go by. Not too sure about the chicken’s feet, but a favourite of my hubby, there’s no accounting for taste.

Soon we were back in the car off to our next stop which was the COPE museum.

COPE Museum
Cooperative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise

COPE museum Vientiane, Laos

During the Vietnam War American bombers dropped over two million tons of cluster bombs on Laos, even though this was a neutral country. To read more about this terrible event in history click on history.com.

I must say I was shocked to read about the horrific suffering that the Laotians had suffered, visiting this museum was a real eye opener.

  • COPE museum Vientiane, Laos
  • COPE Museum Vientiane, Laos
  • COPE Museum Vientiane, Laos
How the designs have evolved over the years

Feeling very sombre, we drove into the centre to have a quick stop at the Nam Phou Fountain.

  • Vientiane, Laos
  • Vientiane, Laos
Nam Phou Fountain in front of the Patuxai Victory Monument.

Day two was a drive to the Buddha Park, home to weird and wacky sculptures depicting different humans, animals, gods and demons.

There is one sculpture shaped like a pumpkin with the tree of life on the top. It has three stories representing hell, heaven and earth. Entrance is through an opening which is a mouth of a 3-metre-tall demon head and climb staircases to the top.  Each story contains sculptures depicting the level.

Buddha Park, Vientiane, Laos
  • Buddha Park, Vientiane, Laos
  • Buddha Park, Vientiane, Laos
Buddha Park Vientiane, Laos
Going up through the middle
Buddha Park, Vientiane, Laos
At the top and starting to get panicky

It was quite claustrophobic climbing up a very narrow staircase from the inside. Coming down was even worse, with no handrail and a panic attack on the way, I froze to the spot. Mr Vong had to hold my arm and hubby my ankle I manoeuvred inch by inch towards the edge!  There were six Japanese men in suits no less, waiting patiently under the midday sun to come down after me.  I wondered at one point if I would have to be rescued by a helicopter – a drama queen to the last!

  • Buddha Park, Vientiane, Laos
  • Buddha Park, Vientiane, Laos

A very interesting morning!

Completely exhausted after this, we drove back to the hotel for a relaxing afternoon at the pool. All in all a very successful two days in Vientiane.

Extra info: To enter Laos from other countries you have to fly into Vientiane, Wattay International Airport so it’s worth a stop for a few nights. Visas can be obtained on arrival, a copy of your passport photo is okay to use. It takes around 20 minutes to drive into the city. We flew from Singapore to Vientiane using Lao Airlines and were very happy with the service and flight. The currency is the Kip but US dollars are widely accepted, so it’s useful to have both currencies.

Have a wonderful time if you ever do visit.
Thanks again for stopping by and reading!

Next of course is W

The next stop after Vientiane

Laid back Luang Prabang, Laos – October 2016

The second part of our trip to Laos was to the incredibly beautiful Luang Prabang.  This tiny town is encircled by mountains and sits on the banks of the Mekong and Nam Khan River.  We flew Lao Airlines from Vientiane and had arranged for a driver to take us to our hotel.  We stayed at…

My A to Z Travel Challenge – R is for Ribadesella, Spain 🇪🇸

Ribadesella is located on the North Coast of Spain and looks out over the Cantabrian Sea and the River Sella runs through there. I chose Ribadesella to break our journey from San Sebastian to Santiago de Compestella.
We stayed for two nights in the Hotel Gran Sella with a beautiful room overlooking the Playa de Santa Marina. This hotel was a former 19th century palace belonging to the Marquis of Argüelles.

Source: Booking.com

The Esplanade in front of the hotel goes on for ages and we had a wonderful walk along the seafront. It is home to many old houses at one time owned by prosperous returning merchants from overseas, places like Chile and Mexico where they had made their fortunes.  Apparently they date back to 16th and 17th century but surely must have been renovated many times since!

  • One of the houses formerly owned by a returning merchant

After a cocktail on the verandah in the hotel we drove over the bridge into the small harbour where there are many seafood restaurants. We just chose one at random and were not disappointed. We ordered a seafood platter for two, but was large enough for four.

Underneath this huge plate of fish there was a layer of potatoes

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Day Two in Ribadesella

Anthony had read about the  Tito Bustillo Cave (Cueva de Tito Bustillo), known for prehistoric wall paintings of animals and figures, probably dating from the Magdalenian age, 29,000 years ago, and wanted to visit. We walked from our hotel but when we arrived found that we had to book to enter, that day all the times had been sold out. There was only the museum to wander around. It’s a good excuse to visit again.

The Picos de Europa in the background
A painting from inside the cave

In the afternoon we drove up into the mountain village of Mierres and found somewhere for lunch.

I took this photo because I was intrigued by the photo behind it!

We hope to go back one day to Northern Spain and explore more of the seaside and mountain villages. The food is wonderful and the scenery outstanding.

Some other places we have also travelled

My A to Z Travel Challenge – G is for Geysir and Gulfoss, Iceland

Both Geysir and Gulfoss are located within the Golden Circle in Iceland.  These were places we visited a few years ago on an Icelandic Air tour.  We first had one night in Reykjavik and the next morning boarded our coach to the next hotel which was Hotel Grimsborgir. Geysir This was our first destination outside…

by Alison

My A to Z Travel Challenge – E is for Ephesus, Turkey

Ephesus, Turkey We visited Ephesus on our Mediterranean cruise many years ago.  We took my parents who were then in their early eighties.  This was one of our ports of call along the way.  Docking in Kusadasi, we took a bus tour organised by the travel desk on the cruise ship to Ephesus.  Even though…

by Alison

My A to Z Travel Challenge – K is for Kelowna, Canada 🇨🇦

Kelowna was on our itinerary for the road trip we did in the USA and Canada a few years ago. We spent five days here visiting my very good friend Lynn. It had been a few years since we had all seen each other.

Kelowna is a city in British Columbia and is situated in the Okanagan Valley which is known for its pine forests, vineyards and orchards.

We travelled from Vancouver in a hire car, which foolishly we had left until the last minute thinking that we could do it the day before! Also we wanted the car to drive onto the Rockies after and to drop it off in Calgary. We found out that this wasn’t something every car hire place did. So we spent a fair bit of time trying to find somewhere that did this, paying quite a bit for the one way route.

The journey takes around seven hours plus stopping time, we arrived in time for dinner!

Some of the photos I took along the way

Over the next few days we explored all around Kelowna. One thing that surprised me here were the amount of homeless people around. At first I thought they were backpackers but then wondered why they would take a dog with them! I found out that they collected more money if they had a dog with them. We would always keep loose change in our pockets to add to their caps and tins. Anthony would always have a word or two with them to find out their story, most of them were homeless involuntarily but we came across the odd few who chose this way of life.

From our walk up Knox Mountain, I didn’t manage it to the top but Anthony did. Views over Okanagan Lake and the town of Kelowna.


  • Half way
  • I think this is where I stopped
  • Magnificent views over Lake Okanagan
  • Kelowna Town
  • Making it to the top
  • A blurry wild deer!

O’Keefe Ranch

We spent a fun day at O’Keefe Ranch with Lynn’s parents one day, a drive not too far from Kelowna. The ranch was founded in 1867 by Cornelius O’Keefe. Everything here has been very well preserved and there is a lovely restaurant for lunch.

Outside and inside the farmhouse

There are some beautiful walks around Kelowna and one day Lynn and I went for a mini hike very near to where she lived

We found many fossilised rocks on our walk plus a crashed car at the bottom of a ravine! Wonder how that got there
  • Our last dinner

All too soon our trip to Kelowna was over but not the road trip! After this we drove onto The Rockies.

  • Driving towards The Rockies

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My A to Z Travel Challenge: H is for Hanoi and Ha Long Bay, Vietnam🇻🇳

Hanoi

Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, where we spent four days a few years ago.  Hanoi was not a place that interested me as I had heard it was quite industrialised due to the influence of communism.  However it was somewhere where Anthony wanted to visit, and I can’t always have my own way!  After checking into our hotel and going for a wander, I realised how wrong I had been.  The architecture was amazing and the restaurants were some of the best we had eaten in.  It is easy to see the French influence in the buildings and especially the food.  There’s nothing tastier than French food with a Vietnamese twist.

The view from our room at the Hotel Nikko

Over the next two days we walked around the city going to the Old Quarter and also the Citadel.  We were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of some schoolgirls graduating.

St Josephs Cathedral

A heavy load for this small bike!
St. Joseph’s Cathedral in the Old Quarter.  Built in 1866 and resembling Notre Dame de Paris. 

Hubby trying out a buyer’s load

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Graduation inside the Imperial Citadel

The Imperial Citadel was built in the 11th Century and many of the old structures are still standing.  The Imperial Japanese Army used it to imprison 4,000 French colonial soldiers in 1945.  

Expertly manicured bonsai trees are found all around the Citadel. 

Restaurants

I thought I would mention some of the restaurants we ate in as they were all so good.

La Place: A small cafe opposite St. Joseph’s Cathedral.  If you sit upstairs you can see the Cathedral from the window.  Cute cafe serving Vietnamese food.
Pots and Pans: Sadly this is no longer in operation.  Such a great find as they trained staff on the premises and the service and food were excellent.
La Verticale: Fine French dining in the old French Quarter.
La Badiane: Another French restaurant with excellent service.  Try and book downstairs, where there is more atmosphere.

Just a couple of the dishes we enjoyed!

Ha Long Bay Cruise

After three nights in Hanoi, the next day we were setting off for Ha Long Bay for a 1 night/2 day cruise.  I think most people break up their stay in Hanoi by doing this.  We actually cancelled this trip due to a typhoon forecast to hit Hanoi the day before.  Luckily we were able to reinstate this trip as it was and has been one of the best trips we’ve ever done.  It’s the perfect break after the hustle and bustle of Hanoi. We had booked with Aphrodite Cruises.

Our Itinerary – Day One

7.30 am: We were picked up from our hotel by the tour’s small bus and then went onto pick up other passengers around Hanoi.  During the four hour journey we slowly got to know some of them who would be joining us on our mini cruise.  The journey seemed endless especially as we had a 30 minute obligatory stop at a restaurant/souvenir type of warehouse.

11.30 am: Arrived at Ha Long Bay.

12 pm:  Everyone boarded the ship and we were taken to our cabins and told to meet on deck to have lunch and also meet the fabulous crew.

This ship features just 17 luxury cabins and is served by a five star crew.

On the top deck where cocktails would be served

1 – 2 pm: Lunchtime.  A gourmet delight and so well presented.

3 – 5 pm After lunch we sailed onto Thien Cung Cave. A sprawling natural grotto with intricate stalactite & stalagmite formations & colourful lighting.

From outside and inside the cave
The bottom left looks like a giant pair of hanging legs with boots on!

5 pm onwards:  The time from here was filled with a cookery lesson, how to drink saki and enjoy a cocktail or two on the top deck.  Then dinner was served on the dining deck.   It was amazing how many other cruise ships were out in the bay with us.  I think the whole area is in great danger of being overpopulated with cruise ships.

 

Day Two

I woke up to the sound of running water and when I got out of bed found it was coming from our bathroom!  The bidet hose had come loose and was gushing upwards like a fountain.  I opened the cabin door and shouted for help and as two or three crew members came running in the room, I had no choice but to jump back into bed with hubby while they tried to fix the problem.  They managed to stop the leak but emerged from the bathroom soaking wet!  We were offered a change of cabin but as we were packing up that day it seemed pointless to move.  Luckily not too much damage was done.  From then on it was all go, go, go!

First a quick snack before breakfast and then onto a smaller boat to be taken to a beach for swimming or a walk.  The beach was on Ti Top Island.  We were only allowed one hour there as so many other cruise ships were waiting for their turn.  The sea is so crowded that it’s impossible to actually swim.  Anthony decided to walk to to the top of the island, but even that was a struggle as many people were coming down as others were going up.   Back to the ship for another fabulous meal.  Then it was time to pack up, sail away and say goodbye to our fantastic crew.

At the beach!

Relaxing on the way home

If you ever go to Hanoi I highly recommend taking a cruise to Ha Long Bay.  It was one of the highlights to our trip.

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As always thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed this post! 

 

 

My A to Z Travel Challenge – G is for Geysir and Gulfoss, Iceland

Both Geysir and Gulfoss are located within the Golden Circle in Iceland.  These were places we visited a few years ago on an Icelandic Air tour.  We first had one night in Reykjavik and the next morning boarded our coach to the next hotel which was Hotel Grimsborgir.

Geysir

This was our first destination outside Reykjavik and we stopped here for around an hour to take a few photos and to see the lively Strokkur which spouts water 100ft into the air every few minutes.  You have to be really quick to take a photo as it spurts so rapidly making everyone jump, also there are always so many people standing around waiting. The name Geysir is derived from the Icelandic verb geysa (“to gush”)  from Old Norse.  (Source:  Wikipedia). 

 

It was also quite difficult to get close enough to the exploding spout of water due to the crowds of people there!

After an hour or so here we hopped back onto the coach and headed onto Gulfoss.

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Gulfoss

Gulfoss is one of Iceland’s most famous waterfalls, beautiful and spectacular to see.  By the time we arrived the weather was not looking very good.  A fine cold drizzle was setting in plus the spray from the waterfall itself.  The walk from the carpark took a good 20 minutes for most on the coach, but for some much longer as they were just walking to it when we were on our return!  Much to the guide’s frustration as it was eating into his schedule!

From these photos you can see the long thin trail to the waterfalls.  Very slippery in parts so it was quite slow going for some.

 

There didn’t seem to be much safety concern about the wet rocks and not much of a barrier either – at your own peril!

Gulfoss is the biggest waterfall I’ve ever seen and was truly mesmerising.

Once everyone was safely back on the coach we drove to our final destination for that day, the Hotel Grimsborgir, which is described as a luxury hotel.  Nestled in the heart of the Golden Circle and sitting on the banks of the River Sogid.  Everyone on the tour was commenting how nice it was and what a treat.

That night we had a sumptuous buffet dinner in a very grand restaurant.  The only thing that we balked at was the price of drinks.  Iceland is well known for how expensive it is but being out in the countryside was even more exorbitant.  Anyway what is dinner without a glass of wine so we bit the bullet and bought a bottle of wine.

Hubby looking happy with the room and then very glum at the price of the drinks 😆
The beautifully decorated dining room where we had dinner and breakfast the next day.

Views from outside of our room.

A view of the rooms : Source – Hotel Grimsborgir

 

And G has gone!

 

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed this post – all comments very welcome 😍

 

My A to Z Travel Challenge – F is for Fukuoka

Fukuoka, Japan

Fukuoka is the first place we stopped at during our road trip through the Kyushu Islands.  It is a city of canals, waterways and bridges.  It said to be the oldest city in Japan.  We were staying at the Hotel Okura which is located overlooking the Hakata River.  As we were only here for two nights we didn’t have much time to see this city so had to decide where we wanted to see most.

Walking over one of the canals on our first night. 

In the lobby of the Hotel Okura 

Fukuoka Castle Ruins

I really wanted to see one of the castles here but was a bit disappointed that it was only ruins!  But we had a good walk around and there were some great views over the city from the top.  Built at the beginning of the 17th Century and torn down in the 19th Century, because it was viewed as an unwanted symbol of the feudal past.

Fukuoka at dusk 

One of the shopping centres we walked through

Fukuoka is also home to the famous Canal City which is called a city within a city, and has a canal running through it.  Unfortunately we didn’t have time for a wander around as we chose to go to Nokonoshima Island instead.

For our last night we stopped at a British Pub called Morris Hippo! strange name and enjoyed a few drinks here before dinner at Cafe Otto overlooking the canal.

Our handsome drivers! 

Other places to visit in Fukuoka:

Fukuoka Tower
Ohori Park
Tochoji Temple
Kushida Temple

Hopefully we’ll visit again as I enjoyed Fukuoka very much

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F is finished and next up is G!