After saying goodbye to Tbilisi (for a little) we were excited to explore Georgia’s countryside and our journey brought us to Kakheti. Not a lot of people know that wine was invented in Georgia but after visiting Kakheti, there will be no doubt that Georgian’s not only love wine but also know how to make it. Make no mistake – you will drink wine in Georgia. A lot of it and the Georgians love to share their wines along with their delicious food so bring your stretchy Thanksgiving pants and make sure you have a designated driver because you’re in for a treat.
Kakheti is Georgia’s wine country and its rolling green hills reminded us a lot of Sonoma…..but way, way, waaaay less touristy. Here you can find wineries that make wine in the traditional Georgian style that have been around for 800+ years. The unique way Georgian’s make wine is by letting it ferment in subterranean clay pots instead of barrels as traditional western wine making does. This difference aside, there is an astounding array of red and white varietals to choose from- none of which I had heard of before. The whites were dry and minerally- just like we like them. The reds were full bodied and delicious without being to jammy.
Tim earning his wine by helping make it!
Just like Sonoma or Napa, Kakheti is a pretty big area and we decided to stay in a few places. Our first stop was the village of Sighnaghi. Built on a hill overlooking a vast green valley, it’s hard to not fall in love with the cobblestone streets of Sighnaghi. Sighnaghi was once a keep who’s responsibility it was to protect the surrounding countryside, now the castle walls serve to welcome you to an incredible array of delicious food and wine. We arrived in the middle of blustery snow storm which only helped stoke our appetites when we braved the weather to find something to eat.
One of the most famous restaurants in Sighnaghi is a winery/restaurant called Pheasants Tears. Everyone who had been here recommended it and unsurprisingly, Anthony Bourdain was here years ago too. Even with that we were able to walk right in and get a table. The food was incredibly delicious with juicy roast chicken, tasty bread and hearty soups- everything we needed to thaw out from the chilly outdoors.
Crispy potatoes of yum
The roasted chicken that Pheasants Tears serves is hands down one of the best we’ve ever had
Tiff: BEST CAULIFLOWER IN DA WORLD!!!!
Visiting wineries is a much different affair than in Napa- most of Kakheti’s wineries are very small and don’t have much in the way of tasting rooms- which makes them feel that much more authentic. Since we didn’t know much about Georgian wines, we got expert help and hired an awesome local wine guide name David. David picked us up at our hotel and whisked us away across bumpy country roads to taste what Kakheti had to offer.
We started in a small traditional winery that had been in operation for 800 years- surviving invasions by many foreign invaders and the tests of time. Several of the wine urns they used dated back hundreds of years too and the owners were more than happy to show us how they make wine at every step. Tiffany even got to help out with stirring the pots of red wine. The finished product was delicious. In addition to this the quirky building also had an incredible collection of old antique furniture. Most of all the thing that we would see in several places throughout Georgia is one of their traditional “wine horns”. It’s basically exactly what it sounds like- its a horn and you drink wine out of it. Because its a horn, you can’t put it down and that’s exactly the point- you have to drink all of it. Think of it like a classier version of the drinking game “Edward 40 hands” 😛
With an awesome sense of humor and a clear love of Kakheti, David’s tour continued as we visited more modern wineries (which were still small compared to some of the places you find in Napa and Sonoma). The wines they produced were incredible and you can find some links here. Complimenting the tastings we had delicious roasted pork and local cheeses- it seemed like there was no end to the amount of tastyness our friendly hosts threw our way.
Tiffany turning the wine
A wine cellar filled with subteranean clay wine urns
David showing me how to properly use a wine horn!
The final winery was none other than David’s house. Georgians are really proud of their wines and so many people have mini wineries in their homes. David was no exception and we spent the rest of the afternoon shooting the breeze on his porch drinking his delicious wines. If you’re looking for a fantastic guide, designated driver and comedian in Kakheti, look no further than David!
After spending a few nights in Sighnaghi (and after several visits to Pheasants Tears) we made our way slowly back to Tbilisi.
Approaching the Trinity Church by jeep
One of the biggest attractions in Georgia is visiting it’s Trinity Church. Its an absolutely stunning Orthodox Church built high in the mountains in Northern Georgia. Getting there can be a real challenge as the military highway that connects Tblisi with it frequently gets snowed in in the Fall to Spring months. We actually had to wait 3 weeks for it to open and once it did, we were able to get David’s help in getting there. The drive was absolutely stunning as the military road snaked through the snow decked mountains. On the way to Trinity church we stopped at several places like the . This amazingly preserved medieval castle stood at the end of a long river valley and from its high towers you could almost feel what it would have been like to live there.
Another somewhat ominous stop we made was the “Russian/Georgian shared peace monument”. This was a monument built by the Russians as a sign of “friendship” with the Georgian people which is highly ironic as technically, Georgia and Russia are still at war with a large chunk of Georgia being “disputed”. Problematic relations aside, the views from the monument were pretty astounding.
A roadside cross looking up towards the church
Finally we made it to the base of the mountain Trinity Church sits on top of. In order to get there we had to leave behind our car and commission a jeep driver to take us to the top which was no joke. The “road’ was super steep and totally snowed in for parts of it. The rocky journey was totally worth it when we got to the summit and saw the church, perched above the snow cloaked peaks and valleys below. Its astounding the monks who built this church did so- its so remote and hard to get to. Our pictures don’t do this place justice and its truly an awe-inspiring place.
After exploring the grounds, it was time to come back to Tbilisi and off to our next adventure – Southern Georgia!
A view from atop the Anunuri Castle Comple
Another view from atop the tower of Anunuri Castle
….and Georgia has certainly been on our minds since we visited! In this post Tiffany and I share how we went from “I know nothing about this country but it sounds cool” to “we’ve totally fallen in love with the place and when can we go back”! Before we begin, let’s just clarify- this is NOT the Georgia of the south but the Georgia of Eurasia!
Georgia is a place that not many people know of, let alone have traveled to. Me and Tiff had read some great things about it and our buddy Jimmy insisted we HAD to check out his homeland. Technically Georgia is between Asia and Europe so we thought “Why not check it out?”. We went in with no expectations thinking we might be there for a week or two. Instead we fell in love with the country and left almost a month later and are here to tell you- there is a TON to love! Making it even easier to love is the fact that one of Georgia’s national sayings is “Guests are a gift from God”- and every Georgian we met from Tbilisi to the remote village of Ushguli truly embodied this saying. Georgians everywhere asked us where we were from and offered us wine, food, lodging, life advice and gifts at every turn- they’re quite possibly the most friendly people we’ve ever met. The first thing to know though is Georgians don’t call Georgia…well, Georgia, it’s called Sakartwello and they will give you a ton of extra points for using the Sakartwello name instead of Georgia. With the goal of easy understanding though for this post, we’ll use the country name “Georgia”.
Throughout our month in Georgia, Niko took us to so many places and introduced us to so many people. Here we tried our first Georgian soup dumplings- Kinkhali!
Tiffany: One of the things I enjoyed about traveling is meeting the locals and getting to know them and their culture. Georgians are the kindest, sweetest, and friendliest humans that I have ever met in my life. I really enjoyed getting to know them and loved listening to their stories about life and their deep passion and pride for their country. They inspired me by their kind hearts, open minds, and beautiful spirit. “Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have” –Rabbi Hyman Schachtel. The people of Georgia are living embodiment of this quote and overall wonderful magical humans.
Tim: They really are that nice! Even when we met people who didn’t understand English, they went above and beyond to communicate any way they could. It was really impressive!
Stirring the wine in the traditional Georgian fashion. The wine is fermented in huge ceramic vats that are buried to keep them cool.
We flew into the capital of Georgia which is called Tblisi. Like many European capitals, it has a big river (the Kura) running through it and the city is complete with castles, gorgeous hills and easily walkable streets. It seems around every corner there’s some restaurant, wine bar, art gallery or historical building. This is great because one of the greatest cultural heritages of Georgia is its wine (which was invented here) and its food. Georgian wine is made today a lot like it was thousands of years ago- in huge subterranean terracotta containers where they ferment the grapes. Its ridiculously delicious and we were blown away at the quality of the wines from their Kahketi region (more on that later).
One of the true stars of Georgia for us was the Georgian food which we had never had – or heard of- before. Since we were in Asia for several months, we REALLY were craving cheese and bread and Georgia did not disappoint in those categories! Katchapuri- Georgia’s take on pizza- has many forms all of which include soft, pillowy bread encasing delicious molten cheese, sometimes soft cooked eggs and spiced meats. Each region of Georgia has their own version of it and we loved every one of them.
Georgian Soup Dumplings
A slow cooked potted bean dish you find all over
Spicy lamb meatballs
Khachapuri stuffed with spiced meat
Lemon Chicken Soup
Tim holding up kinkhali
Chicken shkmeruli
Yet another type of katchapuri!
Kinkhali are Georgia’s version of soup dumplings. They’re about the size of your fist and filled with savory soup broth and a big meatball. There’s even a special way you’re supposed to eat them! You let them cool, you bite off a corner then suck out the soup, then eat the meat! It’s so freaking tasty I’m getting hungry just writing this. Another national treasure is their dish Chicken Shkmeruli which is a roast chicken in a savory milk sauce. Georgians also know their way around beans and they have two dishes which really stood out to us. One they slow cook beans in a clay pot which tastes a lot like a really delicious version of slow cooked pinto beans. They also have several versions of lentil soup which we loved. Pork belly which can be easy to screw up- was transformed into several amazing meals where it was typically braised in crispy, delicious fashion. Finally, we’ve never had mushrooms that were tastier than the ones they had in Georgia- and we had a lot. The mushrooms were typically slow cooked and hard a delicious meaty feel to them and when bitten, release amazing flavor explosions with each bite. We could just go on and on but in terms of food, we can easily say Georgia is one of the greatest food countries in the world. No joke!
We were so blown away by the food in Georgia that we HAD to learn how to make it. Fortunately for us, we found Culinary Studio Carmel and we got the chance to not only learn how to make some of our Georgian Favorites, but also doing it in one family’s kitchen! Asya was a super funny, ebullient guide to making Georgian food. Over the course of a few hours, we learned how to make Katchapuri (the pizza like cheese bread), Kinkhali (the soup dumplings) and chicken Shkmeruli. It was surprisingly easy to make all of these dishes and we can’t wait to get home to make them!
Tiff making kinkhali dough
Sifting the flour for Khachapuri
Making the sausage. Literally
Lots of cheese mixing had to be done
Chicken schkmereruli cooking
Tiffany showing off her home made chicken shkmeruli
Ready to eat what we cooked!
Asya and Tiffany
Tiffany: I had never had one bad dish in Georgia over the course of a month which is crazy. I’m very grateful that we took a cooking lesson from Asya in Tbilisi.She teaches home style cooking with passion and humor. I love learning about traditional Georgian dishes and the history of Georgia from her. She definitely made cooking fun and interesting. It was like cooking with a friend in her home while sharing funny stories over wine. She also made these local favorite dishes easy to make so we can definitely make it when we get home to San Francisco. I can’t wait to make these delicious tasty dishes for friends and family back home.
Looking over Tblisi at night with our friend Nikoloz and crew
Tim: But back to Tbilisi! One of the things that made it so special was our friend Jimi connected us with his buddy Nikoloz in Tbilisi. Nikoloz is a filmmaker who’s passionate about showing the world what Georgia has to offer. Over the course of our stay, Niko was our unofficial tour guide and took us all over to see some of the many sites the city has to offer. Tblisi is a city filled with tree-lined hills and winding rivers and one of the best places to see it is from the incredible view from the front steps of Narikala Fortress. Its the Tblisi version of going up to SF’s Twin Peaks to check out the view of the whole city.
The Bridge of Peace at night
Spanning the Kura River, the Bridge of Peace stands out with its modern architecture and awesome LED light show. At night, street performers take over and the bridge is filled with everything from cover bands to more traditional Georgian Polyphonic singing. Speaking (or singing) of which, Niko took us to see this fascinating traditional singing take place at Phaeton restaurant. Here, three guys all singing at different octaves and pitches create incredibly moving music using just the sound of their voices. As we traveled through Georgia, we heard this music sang in bars, restaurants and event the homes of people we visited. If you do travel to Georgia, it’s truly worth looking for.
Traditional Georgian polyphonic singing
Tbilisi is going through something of a hipster renaissance and several parts of the old town are being rebuilt with new, cool spaces being created. One such place is Fabrika which is an old communist era sewing factor that’s been transformed into a complex with a hipster bar/lounge, a ramen shop (!), stores and one of the coolest looking hostels I’ve ever seen. Fabrika’s sister location is the ROOMS hotel whose modern take on a classical library just oozes sexiness. Their breakfast buffet is hands down one of the most impressive breakfasts we’ve had. Traveling as much as we have lately, we’ve experienced a lot of “breakfast included” places and nothing strikes fear into my heart as hearing the words “breakfast buffet”. In the ROOMS hotel, they flip the script. The kitchen is in the dining room and a massive old French stove dominates the room. Chefs are at every station making every conceivable breakfast food, pastry and treat you can imagine. I wish I could bring it back to SF!
While on the topic of food, the restaurants in Tbilisi are incredible. Next door to the apartment we rented is Ezo– a restaurant built mainly in a cute courtyard that created some of our favorite Georgian dishes with a twist. Their roast chicken and katchapuri was some of the best we had during our trip and Tiff went there almost every day we were in Tbilisi. Another awesome restaurant was Zala with the most tasty mushrooms and roasted pork belly. For breakfast, we ended up going to Entree which is a French-style patisserie that has all sorts of Georgian twists on sandwiches and pastries.
Tiffany enjoying Ezo
Avocado salad at Zala
Tim’s a little TOO excited to eat here
The aforementioned amazing mushrooms at Zala
Looking fancy at ROOMS
In terms of sights, there’s definitely a few “must see” things in the city. The first is probably the “Mother of Georgia” statue that epitomizes Georgians’ stance on hospitality. She offers a chalice of wine to those who come in peace and a sword in the other hand for those who would come to do harm. It’s a pretty striking monument and it’s definitely hard to miss.
A woodland spirit you’ll find in the amusement park
The TV tower that looms over Tblisi
Another fun thing to check out In the city is taking the funicular up Mt Mtatsminda. It’s got an amazing view as you go up and on top there’s this big, very Georgian theme park. You’ve got all the usual rides plus up close views of the stark looking Tbilisi TV Broadcasting Tower which looks more out of a science fiction movie than real life. They even light it up nightclub style at night!
Myshketa at night
One other quick day trip you should definitely check out is the city of Mtskheta. Mtskheta is one of the oldest towns in Georgia and houses the incredibly beautiful Svetitskhoveli Cathedral. We’ve been to a lot of churches on this trip and Svetitskhoveli Cathedral is one of the most ethereal, especially if you visit it at night when its lit only by candlelight and you can hear the monks chanting hymns. It’s a truly moving experience.
Phew! That’s a lot and we could easily write so much more. Tbilisi was a magical place that we came back to several times during our month in Georgia and we will DEFINITELY return. The people, the food and the city truly stole our hearts but the wine region of Kakheti beckoned us and off we went on our next adventure.
Trading the mountains of Thailand for its verdant islands, we strapped our packs on and headed out to Koh Lanta with a stop along the way in Krabi. Before coming to this decision we were faced with a choice- which Thai set of islands did we want to visit? There are two major choices- the western islands (Koh Lanta, Koh Samui) or the Eastern Islands (Koh Pagnan, Koh Tao etc). We had two weeks but after doing the math, jumping between the eastern and western islands would take way too much effort and time- so we decided on going to the western isles.
In order to get to the western islands you’ll likely need to fly into Krabi and spend at least a night there (the way the ferry transfers work you’ll miss them all unless you fly in at the crack of dawn). Krabi is a dusty coastal town that is decidedly a stopping off point. There isn’t much to see here except for one place- Railay Beach. Railay is beach protected by two large impassable ridges (you can only get there by water taxi) with a gorgeous beach that stretches between the two ridges. We decided to check it out and it was a gorgeous break from the bustle of Krabi and it did not disappoint.
The longtails you’ll ride to get around the many islands and beaches
The white sands beaches were a dream to chill on- especially with a frosty beverage from the many stands that line the beach. There’s also other activities to do here including full on rock climbing (several outfits also line the beach). After a day of chillaxin though, you’ll have seen probably all you can and its time to head back to Krabi. Again, there’s not a lot see here but we did have a nice steak and seafood meal at Divers Inn and got some drinks at one of the MANY reggae themed bars here.
In the morning we were on our way to Koh Lanta on our ferry. Now the word “ferry” probably brings to mind a big boat, maybe with cars on it…that is decidedly not the case with these islands. Ours was pretty much a big speedboat and the crew just piled every piece of luggage onto the front. For these intra-islands ferrys, we HIGHLY recommend you consolidating any roller bags down into carryon friendly sizes or better yet, backpacks/duffel bags. We watched many a tourist struggling heaving their luggage on and off the boats- it’s better to save yourself the trouble. We left our bigger bags in left luggage at our hotel and this strategy we’ve used in pretty much all of the countries we’ve visited since.
One of the stunning sunsets you’ll see on Koh Lanta
Koh Lanta is long island that is made up of resorts, hotels, hostels and little strings of restaurants and huts along the beaches serving drinks. The beautiful beaches stretch most of the length of the island and offer incredible swimming, snorkeling and sunset watching opportunities. In terms of activities, there’s not a lot to do besides chilling- which is awesome because they’ve got chilling down. Hungry? Walk up to a shack on the beach and get some awesome seafood or a spicy Thai curry. Thirsty? Go to a shack on the beach and get some tiki drink! It’s pretty straightforward. We went in late February and it was already hot so expect the days to be spent under the shade somewhere, in the ocean or in a pool somewhere.
A majestic manta gliding past us (video by my dive buddy Juliette Alemany )
Speaking of being in the ocean, the scuba diving is AMAZING in Koh Lanta. Koh Ha is a tiny island that’s a protected national park with incredible dive opportunities. Here you can find a mind-blowing array of colorful fish, corals, sea turtles and even manta rays (if you’re lucky!). I dove here twice and the variety between the days was stunning. I’ll never forget swimming through an underwater chimney surrounded by a swirling school of yellow fish. For more advanced dive, you can head to which is two volcanic towers that are covered in coral- one fire red, the other purple. Here you can find another wide variety of fish but what’s truly spectacular is you can also find manta rays. is a cleaning station for mantas and they come here every week or so from their usual depths to be cleaned by fish who…literally clean the mantas. We got stupendously lucky and halfway through my dive I found I was swimming next to a huge manta who gave me a sideways look and then glided out into the dark depths. It was absolutely stunning. You can book these dives with various operators but I dived with Anti Gravity Divers.
Some amazing pics of our dive by Juliette Alemany
Back on Koh Lanta, we ended up getting a great deal at the resort Lanta Casa Blanca and it was an incredible place. Rather new, its got a great pool and super friendly staff. If you’re looking for adults-only time, this might not be the place as there are a number of families who stay here but outside of some dubious lawn chair hogging, everyone was great. While we were staying there our friend Chris even swung by to grab happy hour drinks with us which was totally rad. Which bring us to our next point-the location of your stay on Koh Lanta is kind of important as its very long and not easy to get around from place to place without renting a scooter or being at the mercy of the dreaded “tuk tuk” mafia. If you’ve seen tuk tuks before in place like Bangkok or India…..these are NOT them. These Koh Lanta ‘tuks are hilariously improvised carriages welded to rinky dinky scooters. That in no way reduces the cost to you though as the drivers will make up whatever price they want. Bargain hard before taking one of them.
After a week, we totally fell in love with the chill vibe in Koh Lanta and ended up staying another week at which point….we had reached our maximum limit for island living. We bid adieu to our super friendly Koh Lantan hosts and headed off to our next adventure- the wild city of Bangkok!
One of our favorite pics of this trip- pampering rescued elephants
After a few months of hectic travel through Asia, we were ready to slow down the pace of our adventures a bit and call a place “home” for a bit more than just a few nights. Enter Chiang Mai! One of the two largest cities in Thailand, Chiang Mai is situated in the North and has a very distinct vibe from Bangkok or the Thai Islands. Balancing traditional Thai culture with a modern touch- as evidenced by the many coworking spaces and startup sticker festooned laptops you see at cafes here. This mix of old and a new combined with a more laid back attitude seemed like the perfect place to put down some (temporary) roots. Sweetening the deal there seemed like limitless things to do here ranging from cooking classes to volunteering on an elephant preserve to…well…just taking it all in. Strap in because this post is longer than most BUT you’ll get some epic food stories, hear about one of the most over the top cabarets we’ve ever experienced, learn how you to can pamper adorable elephants and discuss the meaning of life with Buddhist Monks- ITS ALL HERE IN CHIANG MAI!
The stunning Wat Phra That Doi Suthep
Let’s get to the basics first- Chiang Mai really has two main parts- the historic “Old Town” that’s bordered by stone walls and a moat, and then there’s the rest of Chiang Mai. Inside old town you’ll find many historical sights like Buddhist temples, monasteries, restaurants and street markets. It’s all very walkable but there are throngs of Tuk Tuks (little motorized scooter taxis) that are there to zip you around quickly- just make sure to bargain their prices down 😉
Being used to “Californian” Thai food we really wanted to get out there and try all the kinds of street food we’ve never tasted before- and let me tell you, there’s a TON to enjoy in Chiang Mai! Just the options of where to get your food are bewildering. For example there are a whole spectrum of night markets that offer food you can choose from ranging from the locals only one in Malin Plaza to the high end, food and booze truck night markets that cater to tourists. There’s something for every palate and the beauty is that you have so much to choose from- you can literally just graze your way through (like we did!).
Tasty, tasty kow soi!
One of my favorite North Thai dishes was a delicious curry noodle dish called kow soi. It had everything- a delicious curry broth, roasted chicken and perfectly cooked al dente noodles. Just make sure you don’t wear a white shirt- those curry drops get everywhere!
Another of our favorite places was right next to the Cowboy Lady and they made the best stir fry I might have ever had. Pork, veggies and XO sauce get fired up for an insane-o tasty combination. It was so good I ate two of them! Another dish you should check out is are Thai Sausages which are pork based and look just like sausages you’d get in the west- just with a distinctly spicy, Thai Kaffir Leaf taste. Also, if you like chicken wings- have we got the place for you- it puts everything else in SF to shame.
The AMAZING green curry Tiff learned to make
Bennie and some of our awesome cooking classmates
Making curry paste from scratch
Tom yum!
Always stay hydrated 😛
Benny even went the extra distance
Benny showing us how to make real Thai food!
Some of our tasty goodness that we created!
Chiang Mai is also known for its cooking classes. There’s a bewildering amount of them to choose from and it was a challenge just deciding on one. After all the research we finally went with Benny’s Cooking School. Benny picked us up along with some awesome new friends and we went to the market to shop for the ingredients we needed to cook with. Benny was a natural character and she cracked jokes throughout our sojourn through the countless food and vegetable stalls in the main market. Then it was time to cook! Benny whisked us to her home where she had an expert cooking classroom set up with everything we needed. After a few hours of straightforward, joke filled hours of cooking we got to enjoy the fruit of our labors green curry, chicken satay, kow soi and a delicious mango sticky rice for desert. Tiffany made hands down the best green curry i’ve ever had. If you swing by our place in SF, we’d be happy to make this for you too!
The amazing dancers of 6ixcret
Seriously, we could talk about the food forever, but we’ve got to move on to…something a bit more sexy- cabaret! I want to preface this by saying that we live in San Francisco and love going out to cabarets and burlesque performances and all the other fun artsy stuff that SF offers- and we’ve seen a lot. But that didn’t prepare us for how far over the top the cabaret acts are here in Chiang Mai. Enter- 6ixcret Show. This is a “gender-illusionist” Cabaret (to steal Asia SF’s term) and the performers really go all out. Playing everything from Beyonce to Lady Gaga and of course, Cher- the dancers would choreograph an amazing routine together with incredible costumes. The singing, the perfectly choreographed dancing, lighting the stage on fire and of course, the sparkles were amazing. The entire show runs about 2 1/2 hours with no cover (just a 2 drink minimum!). We were so amazed we brought some friends back a few days later and the entire show was different- which from a choreography perspective just blows my mind. Definitely something you have to see to believe.
The sign outside the monk chat if you’re interested in giving it a go!
But Chiang Mai wasn’t all just eating and cabaret-ing. I took advantage of one its more unique experiences- having a monk chat. Monk chats are offered by several temples and monasteries around town and they offer you the ability to sit down with a monk and chat about pretty much anything. It’s a way for them to practice their English and it’s an incredible way for you and the monk to learn more about each other’s culture. I came in with a bunch of topics I was interested in covering along with some suggested by friends on Facebook and I got to sit down with a monk for about 2 hours. We covered everything from how he found his calling as a monk (most Thai boys are monks for a year or two in adolescence) to the nature of consciousness. Our conversations went back and forth and I was left with some new perspectives on life and travel- one in particular was a lesson that helped me in my adventures in Nepal. I asked the monk what Buddhism might offer someone like me who enjoys eating, dancing and a lot of the more sensual things in life. The monk paused, thought about my question for a while and shared that us Westerners often approach life with set expectations. When life falls short of those expectations, it brings disappointment and suffering. He felt Buddhism could help with this. Little did I know that several weeks later in Nepal my own expectations and the fallout from them would impact me in a huge way. See my Nepal Travelogue for more on that. In short- if you want a unique travel experience that will stick with, definitely check out the monk chats.
One must do adventure in Chiang Mai is make it to Wat Sri Suphan- an incredible temple on the mountain overlooking the city. Housing several incredible Buddhas, the complex lives up to its UNESCO World Heritage status- its main spire shining in multi-tiered levels of gold. From here you can not only appreciate the beauty of Thai Temple Architecture but you can get sweeping views of the city. Probably the easiest and cheapest ways to visit is to take one of the red pickup trucks that leave from the old town. These hilarious makeshift buses pack people in till they’re full up then zoom up the mountain- their definitely worth the price of admission.
These guys can eat!
One of our favorite pics of the trip!
Our final adventure in Chiang Mai was one of the most heartwarming of our trip. We volunteered for a day with the Elephant Nature Preserve and helped pamper several elephants rescued from forced labor. Here in Thailand, Elephants are used from everything from the lumber industry to street entertainment. In order to train them to do these tasks, humans torture in all sorts of terrible ways- evidenced by the elephants who are missing eyes, ears and carry the scars of their labor. That being said, whenever we visited elephants in zoos, it always conjured this image of massive creatures with mighty trunks who did not mess around. While this is true, throughout the day we got to see a playful and fun side of these massive creatures that I wasn’t aware of. From happily scarfing down some rice and banana snacks we made for them to galloping around like massive puppies to taking a mud bath, we were charmed by them through and through. The day went by to fast and after all the elephant pampering was done, we climbed back in our bus home and waved goodbye to our elephant friends.
These guys can eat even more than I can!
Phew! That was a long post! It just goes to show you HOW MUCH there is to do in Chiang Mai! We hope you fall in love with this city as much as we did!
Get our Google Map of our favorite places in Chiang Mai
For me and many others, hiking Nepal’s Annapurna Circuit is the dream trek of a lifetime. Winding through the Himalayas and connecting several remote villages, the Annapurna Circuit has some of the most stunning mountain views imaginable. Along with that, it’s far from an easy hike. It requires planning, permits and the ability to handle some pretty high elevations – the Thurong Pass that the Annapurna circuit crosses is at 17,770 feet of elevation. Of course you need a bit more than just that as no matter how hard you plan, things can still go sideways.
While this was the trip of a lifetime for me, it definitely had challenges that were totally out of my control like my hiking boots being stolen and the weather being unseasonably crazy. While this wasn’t the “perfect” trip, I feel it was even more valuable to me personally as a learning experience. The issues and challenges made me face my tricky relationship with expectations and the limits of my ability to control outcomes. Instead of having the “perfect” trip, I was able to take with me something more valuable with me- a better ability to let go of expectations which can really hamper me from truly appreciating the moments that count.
For this section I decided to publish my daily journal from each leg of the Annapurna circuit. You’ll notice that at day 4, things take a pretty big turn – we had to abandon our Annapurna Circuit plans due to unseasonably torrential snows and landslides and instead we “remixed” our plans completely. While this was a bit of a letdown I still feel it was the trip of a lifetime and I hope my journals help show what a magical place this is. I’ll create a separate post to talk about how you prepare for a trip like this. As in my previous post, I highly recommend getting a guide like mine – Tenzi Sherpa- who was invaluable when things went sideways hard. Any way you trek the Annapurna, I can guarantee you your in for a trek of a lifetime.
Day 1 of the Annapurna Circuit- Nadi to Jagat
Starting off with an epic vista
The villages we passed clinging to the mountainside
Me and Tenzi!
Another epic bridge crossing
We started our trip in the hamlet of Nadi and wound through some amazing terrain on the way to our next stop in Jagat. It was drizzly most of the day but it didn’t detract from the some of the stunning vistas, waterfalls and frequent traffic jams of goats and donkeys clogging up the road. There’s something otherworldly about coming around a corner and seeing a massive mountain staring you in the face – only to be brought back to earth by the bleating of a herd of goats.
The food has been damn tasty- I think I can eat this dal baht every meal no problem. The challenge in front of us though is that the weather is not looking so great and the pass in front of us is closed because of snow. Apparently this is the first time that’s happened this time of year in several decades – just my luck! 🤣 but regardless if we have to flip the script and make alternate plans, it’s been a gorgeous hike so far! Send good warm thoughts our way team!
Day 2 of the Annapurna Circuit- Jagat to Dharapani.
Tenzi showing me the flora
Crossing the ridge
So many waterfalls along the way
Dharapani in sight
One of the many vistas
The day started crisp and cold and we grabbed all of our gear and strapped on our boots. We wound our way up a gorge dotted with palm trees (who would have thought they’d be all the way up here?!!) and countless waterfalls cascading down into a surging river. Tenzi has some seriously eagle eyes and was able to point out a family of monkeys hiding in the cliffs along with some ginormous bee hives. Apparently locals rappel down the cliff face at night with a torch in hand to harvest them… which if you think about it (sheer cliff face + 1000 meter drop + just a rope to hold you + a lit torch In hand + millions of stinging bees)- sounds just about the craziest thing to do for a living- but who am I to judge!
We crossed several suspension bridges and traveled through countless little hamlets with their own bleating goat herds and donkey traffic jams. We were able to just avoid a snowstorm by ducking into a teahouse for some dhal baht for lunch. The sun finally broke through and we had a glorious end to the day hiking further up the gorge. We made it safely to our Tea House and Dharapani and met up with our merry band of traveling Germans for even more dhal baht. All in all a pretty epic day of hiking!
Day 3 of the Annapurna circuit – Dharapani to Chame
On the way to Chame
Finally seeing some sun!
A room with a view 😛
The sun finally came out for an entire day which was quite an exciting change from the rain and snow. We strapped our packs on and tromped through the frozen muddy trail towards Chame. We got about 2-3 km and had to come to a pretty tough realization. We knew that it had snowed a bunch over the past two days and the Thurong Pass was likely still to be closed but after meeting some guides who came back from Chame, we knew the pass wasn’t going to open for at least two weeks. Making matters worse, the day of sun was melting the snow and landslides began happening all over the place. Tenzi said that even if we went up to Chame and came back down, the descent would be far more challenging and treacherous due to slides and the worsening of trail conditions. We would find out later that 2 of the 5 hotels that support Annapurna Base camp were destroyed the same day by rock slides.
So, we made the decision to head back down the mountain. We got lucky and were able to flag down a dump truck which was easily the rockiest (pun intended) ride I’ve ever taken. One of the guys in the dump truck had a Jeep and was willing to take us to Bessisar for a fee- we jumped on it. We picked up another couple on the way who – while taking a picture of a waterfall – almost got hit by a landslide.
The Jeep ride was hands down the craziest trip I’ve ever taken. The “road” was pretty much a mud track with huge rocks strewn around for good measure. On the way down you could see places where landslides dumped mud and rocks all over the road. To make things more fun, most of the road had a sheer wall of rock on one side and a several hundred foot drop into a surging river on the other.
Hands down the craziest ride i’ve ever taken
So there I was with Tenzi, crammed into the cab of a Jeep with 5 other people. I was riding in the middle spot in the front seat with the gearshift right between my legs and which left me trying to anticipate every shift this guy was making so he didn’t hit me in the nuts. A quarter of the way down the gearbox started making a crazy sound from the guys double clutching and you could just smell the clutch burning. So here we are, careening down a muddy road praying the driver doesn’t miss a turn or lose traction enough for us to slide off the side- all the while as the transmission is smoking. We stopped for lunch and the driver said he could fix the issue by dumping a bucket of water on what I assume the clutch?
In any case, he tapped out of driving responsibilities and the new driver was way better and cut the turns like he was playing Mario Kart for keeps. Somehow this didn’t make me feel better but at least the transmission was no longer on fire.
5 hours later we made it safe and sound to Bessisar and then got a ride to Pokhara. Quite the wild day of not trekking, but it was one hell of a memorable experience! We’re regrouping in Pokhara and will figure out how to best salvage the rest of the trek. Wish me luck!
Annapurna Remixed Trek: Day 4 Pokhara to Pothana
The verdant countryside outside of Pokhara
Getting in the swing of things
Ruling the roost
Getting sideeye from these geese
Mimoso n’ me
Mimoso is quite happy to have made it to the ridgeline
Like many houses we past, this one had corn drying from the rafters
Annapurna take 2! We started our day in drizzly Pokhara to make our way to Paurdkot by one of those hilarious local busses I mentioned earlier. Our plan is to eventually make it to Ghorepani and Poon Hill- basically hitting the last 1/3 of the Annapurna circuit (minus Annapurna base camp which is closed right now due to avalanches 😣).
After jumping out of the bus we strapped on our packs and went at it again. Since switchback technology hasn’t made it to Nepal yet, we hiked basically 3 miles of straight up staircases. We were able to catch views of Pokhara below us and also these massive Rhododendron trees in full bloom. Since I downsized my pack in Pokhara due to our change in trek, it was definitely easier to make the ascent. It also made it easier to grab Mimoso for photo opportunities. Mimoso (Spanish for cuddly) is a little hedgehog friend Tiffany bought for me so I wouldn’t feel lonely as I trekked – and it’s actually working! He’s also pretty cute too.
We made it Pothana in super good time so now I’ve got the time to catch up on the rest of my reading. Here’s hoping the weather clears up tomorrow!
Day 5 of the Remixed Annapurna Trek- Pothana to Landruk
Coming around the bed
We had a friendly pup be our trekking companion for the day
Another traffic jam…
A scene from Shivaratri
Annapurna in the background
We woke up today to see the gleaming peak of Annapurna South in the morning sunlight. This was super awesome as it’s been rainy and drizzly most mornings and the peaks have been hiding from us. We strapped on our packs and made our way to Landruk.
The way was a lot of straight up, straight down, straight up and little flat land thrown in for some diversity. The views were stunning today as we walked through countless rice terraces and navigated our way through wayward herds of goats, ox and water buffalo. The water buffalo definitely are hilarious as they make this kind of freeze pose and then stare at you which I think they feel makes them invisible. I’m not so sure about it but it’s funny to watch!
It’s an interesting experience walking through all of these villages that depend on eking out as much as they can from the soil and mountains as possible to make a living. Tenzi has been doing an awesome job introducing me to the many tribes that make up all of the villages throughout the trek. I’m definitely getting a deeper perspective of how life is here.
We made it to Landruk in good time with the sun still shining. The weather here is a bit bananas where just a few kilometers can mean the difference between warm sun and freezing snow. There seems to be an immovable wall of rain that’s just sitting outside of Landruk which is of course where we’re heading tomorrow. Please send sunny thoughts my way!
Day 6 of the Annapurna Remixed Trek- Landruk to Ghandruk
The awesome owner of our teahouse who convinced me to get into a Shivaratri dance-off
At 7 am, I feel just like this dog
Yes, this shirt is too tight but its the largest size they had in Kathmandu
The Annapurna range in the distance
We walked through gorgeous fields of rice throughout the day
Me and Tenzi at (almost) the top of the hill
I woke up to more sunshine this morning as I shook off the remnants of my Nepalese moonshine fueled Shivaratri danceathon. Our destination for today was the village of Ghandruk which we could see right across the gorge from our teahouse. Tenzi said it would take about 3-4 hours which seemed a bit much for something that looked so close. Well, I found out why shortly after I strapped on my pack and headed out of Landruk.
The Shivaratri celebratory fire in Landruk
In order to get to Ghandruk we had to to go straight down, then straight up this deep gorge. When I mean straight down, the stairs pretty much went straight down with no switchbacks! The terrain was gorgeous as we saw Peach trees and rhododendrons in full bloom along with all sorts of birds and bees (seriously! Just look at the pic below where you can see the villagers actually build bee hives into their homes!). The stairs were made out of slate and chiseled rock – all fit together like some big puzzle or quilt.
Where things got real fun was when we go to the bottom and crossed the river and started our way straight up. Straight. Up. The. Mountain. It was unlike Ive ever hiked- basically one massively long staircase straight up. Even though it’s frigid outside, I still was able to drown in sweat lugging my pack up the daunting stairs. On the positive side, I got a new nickname today – “local” because I keep pace with the sherpas – and that made me feel pretty darn good😅.
As we continued our trek upwards we weaved through countless terraces of millet fields and dodged oxen meandering about. We even crossed paths with a roving family of monkeys that were moving through the trees with all the grace of a drunk leaving a Union Street bar at 2:03am. With storm clouds forming above, we quickened our pace.
We finally made it to Ghandruk and i looked at how far we came and was blown away. It was easily one of the most physically taxing ascents I’ve done in a while – clocking in at 197 flights of stairs according to Apple Health. Ghandruk was a little bit larger of a village than Landruk and had a quaint little museum focused on rural life and a Buddhist monastery. All of Ghandruk exists clinging to the steep hillsides which makes navigating its narrow streets similar to some of the hills and alleys of North Beach or Russian Hill- only with infinitely more donkeys. And with that we checked into our Teahouse and sat down for some well deserved dhal baht. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow holds!
Day 7 of the Remixed Annapurna Trek- Ghandruk to Tadapani
Clear skeis today!
The donkeys here are decorated with all the finery
This is how lumber is transported from village to village – impressive on every level
Today started off far earlier than I would have liked – there was an entire class of Nepali high schoolers that started blasting Bhangra at 5am (who does that?!?!) and I almost went into full “old man Van Loan” mode and told em to git off my lawn! But it was too damn cold outside of my cozy sleeping bag to be bothered. The upside was I was wake up a little earlier and see the best views of the Annapurnas we’ve seen yet!
So we strapped on our packs and off we went! The path today was a welcome change from the straight up steps of yesterday, instead winding its way through rhododendron forests and gurgling brooks. We got to see how the Nepali’s do forestry management which was a lot more conservation focused than I was fearing. After they selectively cut a tree,they saw it into long, thick beams totally by hand. Then they get some Maniacs to balance the damn things on their heads and lug it down the mountain. It was an impressive and insane thing to watch happen.
Now that we’re climbing higher, we’re finally getting back into the snow and that foreshadows tomorrows snowy and icy trek to Ghorepani.
At our Teahouse I finally tried the Nepali tradition of eating dhal baht with your hands and it was a pretty fun if not messy thing. I felt like I was bussing around grains of rice around my plate a good amount of the time but Tenzi says I just need three more tries to master it. We also ran into an awesome group and got into a heated set of card games. These teahouses are incredible little micro communities where you can make friends easily and swap stories – all around a toasty little stove. They’re hands down one of my favorite parts of this trek.
Well, it’s time for me to leave the warm protective radius of this little stove and get ready for tomorrow’s icy trek. Please send warm thoughts my way!
Day 8 of the Remixed Annapurna trail- Tadapani to Ghorepani
Up and at em early
A village cat
We got into a fierce game of cards the night before with another trekking group
The sunrises here are unreal
No crampons needed- it was a slog up this icy hill
We did make it though!
Mimoso celebrating our making it to the ridgeline
The gate to Ghorepani- our destination for the night
A green canyon flush with snowmelt
Today was the big day. I knew it was going to be a slog but i was ready for it! I got up earlier hoping to catch the sunrise and I got rewarded by the jaw dropping spectacle of the Annapurna mountain range bathed in morning light. I ate the usual teahouse breakfast of eggs, home fries and toast (with a milk tea of course) and I was ready to roll.
Well, not quite actually. I was running low on clean clothes so I tried to take advantage of yesterdays sunny skies. On the good side, everything pretty much dried out. On the bad side? My underwear froze- like in a “U” shape as you can see in the attached pic. Unfortunately for me I was out of clean pairs so…..I got to put on frozen underwear for them first time. Let me tell you, NOTHING wakes you up faster than wearing frozen underwear, as a side effect I’m not sure I can ever have kids but I guess that’s for another post 🤣
Where the Landruk to Ghandruk trek was tough being straight down and then straight up, the trek to Ghorepani said “hold my beer” and then added iced over snow and luge like ascents and descents. To make matters more “fun”, we didn’t have crampons for our boots so today became a full body workout.
To get up the slippery ice trails we had to slam our poles into the icy ground and haul ourselves upwards and hope our boots didn’t slip. When It came to the downhill, we had to do a cross between skating down the hills and making sure we planted our feet in new snow on the edges of the trails. Most of the time it worked, sometimes ……. not so much and we would sink into waist deep snow.
It was a brutal slog but it had its moments.
The sunlight filtering through the Rhododendron forest have the woods a magical glow. All kinds of wildflowers were in bloom and we even spotted a few monkeys, content to sun themselves out on high up tree limbs. There was also a Small herd of horses we ran into mid trek.
After some amazing views, we finally wound our way down to Ghorepani and I couldn’t be happier. It was certainly the most physically taxing and technically challenging day we’ve had. Fortunately it was also the best tea house we’ve been at yet with a huge stove heater and awesome food. Along with some new friends we joined all the guides in a big dance circle before calling it a night. Tomorrow we reach Poon Hill and hopefully an amazing view!
Day 9 of the remixed Annapurna Trail- Ghorepani to Poon Hill
Trying to stay positive…at a 4am wakeup time
The sun just about to peak over the Himalays
The observation post at the top of Poon Hill
Team no-crampon celebrating at the top of Poon hill
The view was worth every step necessary to get there
Well, this was it! The goal we’d been trudging up and down endless stairs and across icy passes for. Poon Hill is a place where you can see one of the most amazing panoramas I’ve ever seen- all of the Annapurna range plus a bunch of other mountains close by in almost a 360 degree setup. It is alpine mountain porn at its finest.
In order to get the most of out of it we got up at 4:30 AM to hike to the top to see Sunrise. Using our “no-crampon” pro skills we were able to make it to the top in 36 minutes flat and were one of the first to be able to stake out our real estate for the “show”. It did not disappoint. From the first rays of light illuminating the Annapurnas to the eventual morning sunshine glinting off the snow capped peaks, it’s was a sight I’ll never forget. Where the weather had foiled our plans to trek over the Thorong Pass and visit Annapurna Basecamp, it totally cooperated this morning and gave us clear skies.
The scene at the top became a little packed as hikers from countries across the globe arrrived and everyone jostled for a view -but it all worked out. We stayed for a few hours and I took literally hundreds of pictures but in an attempt to not be totally annoying, here are a few of the best.
With Poon Hill conquered, we went back to Ghorepani which was actually pretty damn fun. The icy trail that was a bit technical to climb turned into the best sledding run on the way down when you’re wearing snow pants. After happily sledding down on our butts, it was time to collect the rest of our gear in Ghorepani and make the trek down.
Day 10 of the remixed Annapurna Trek- The Journey Home(ish)
A donkey train delivering food and gas to Ghorepani
With Poon Hill behind us, it was all downhill for us now-literally. Ghorepani is at a pretty high elevation and reachable only by trail so we had to walk all the way down through steep cliff sides, cross massive chasms and across gurgling brooks to make it to our final tea house where we would be whisked away by Jeep to Pokhara and some semblance of the modern world again.
All those steps I took to get to Ghorepani were deposits in a bank account that all seemed to get withdrawn in one day. According to my phone we hiked 11 1/2 miles and I’m guessing we descended ~4000-5000 ft with almost all of it straight down on stone stairs. Seriously, Nepal does not F around with its ups and downs and with no switchbacks it meant we were in for one hell of a leg workout. Just writing this down makes my ass just hurt 🤣
We were able to see amazing vistas throughout the day as we wound our way through forests of Rhododendron trees and terraces of rice, potatoes, millet, corn and garlic. Because of the strange weather everything was in bloom early and we were treated to plants in full bloom. Tenzi kept up his eagle eyed sightings of all sorts of things from flowers, monkeys and some massive bee hives. The bees here are HUGE! And they just hover a lot making them easy to spot but also a bit menacing considering their size and how many of their friends they have flying around 😅
We came across many donkey trains taking food and supplies to Ghorepani. Since there is no road there, everything has to be delivered by either donkey or porter. Apparently the elevation is so high in Ghorepani, the donkeys can’t stay for long. Beyond that elevation, yaks have to be used!
After many, many miles we finally made it to our Teahouse just in time. 5 minutes later the sky opened and dumped rain for hours which of course meant tons of new snow at higher elevations- we came down just in time!
Together with some of our new friends we made in Ghorepani we turned the tea houses common room into a 7 person dance club to celebrate the end of an amazing journey complete with headlamps set to blink mode for strobes and my speaker for sound. Over Nepali rum we danced, laughed and shared stories of our adventures. With all the changes and challenges, It wasn’t the trek I wanted but it definitely was the trek I needed. I’m grateful to have experienced it and hope to come back again sometime in the future.
I can say without hesitation that this was a trek of a lifetime ❤️
Peaceful. Tranquil. Serene. Laid back. Reverent. Up and coming. Laos is all of these things and above all else, unexpected. We traveled to Laos without knowing a whole ton about it other than it was beautiful and chill – it certainly delivered. After doing a bunch of research we decided to focus our time in Laos in the city of Luang Prabang and the area around it. While getting there from Vietnam was pretty easy, we had some serious bumps in the road.
Sunset over the fields of Luang Prabang
While traveling can be incredible- filled with amazing experiences and memories you’ll cherish for a lifetime- it also comes with some pretty big lows too (which help put things a bit in perspective). On our way to Laos, we had several of these happen to us all at once. To make sure you dear readers get the full story, we’ll share with you the unvarnished misadventures. First I lost one of my favorite travel accessories on the way to the airport and then in a completely freak accident on the plane, I had the toenail almost completely torn off (if you want to know the full, painfully gross backstory, buy me a drink when you see me next). I had to get patched up in mid-flight and spent the next few days doing my best Keyser Sose impression as I limped around Laos.
Not to be outdone, Tiffany came down with the WORST food poisoning she’s ever experienced and she was sick for 3 days straight.
One of the many wats you’ll find in Luang Prabang
Tiffany: Ya…..about that food poisoning. Since we are doing slow traveling we have been extremely selective on which hotels to splurge on and we decided to choose a 4 star resort in Laos. It was the biggest travel mistake that I made so far on this trip. Avoid Santi Resort & Spa at all cost. I got the worst case of food poisoning at the hotel restaurant. This was a 3 star hotel pretending to be a 4 star resort; do not waste your money here.
Tim: Ya. Fun times. Not so much. And So began our Laos trip- with Tiffany confined to our hotel room like a modern day Rapunzel and me with my messed up toe limping everywhere. I know, the perfect picture of travel bliss! But this is what travel is like sometimes and we wanted to ensure you dear reader get the whole picture of how this extended travel thing really is.
A wat gleaming in the night
When we did finally get to explore the city of Luang Prabang, we found a wonderful little town with lots of charm. When people talked about this Unesco Heritage town, they did not joke about the amount of gorgeous temples (Wats). Each one has their own magical Buddhas and bejeweled depictions of important scenes. Each Wat isn’t very big but the amount of detail packed into every inch is amazing. The town of Luang Prabang has one main street – Sisavangvong Road- that is dotted with all sorts of colorful French colonial buildings, each with their own little charm. On this main drag you’ll find one of the longest night markets ever where local artisans hawk everything from beautiful hand carved wood figures to ornate journals to the ever-in-southeast-Asia elephant print harem pants (y’know, part of the standard tourist Tiluminati uniform). One part of the market we really loved is affectionately called “buffet street” where you can find any kind of grilled product imaginable. Sausages, chicken, beef, fish, tofu- all in skewered form. You literally point at what you want and they grill it up for you.
Luang Prabang’s night market has everything from local handicrafts to….buffets?!
One of the biggest draws for Luang Prabang beyond the many Wat’s is the Kuang Si falls. These are roughly 45 mins by tuk tuk or scooter outside of the city and are absolutely worth the visit as they’re not just your everyday “water going over a ledge” situation. The falls are split into upper and lower portions -both stunning in their own ways. The lower falls are terraced where the turquoise water cascades in all directions. Not only that but you can actually swim and bathe in the falls! There were countless amounts of selfies and instagrams being made of this while we were there. Unfortunately for me I wasn’t able to swim because of my toe but it looked pretty awesome from my view! The upper falls are closed off to swimming but make up for it in the incredible cascades of water you see falling from hundreds of feet above. Its worth the hike up here to check everything out. As you walk out of the park you can also see a preserve where rescued moon bears live. Moon bears are native to Laos and look like…well..bears with longer snouts. They’re unfortunately sought after for their bile which apparently is used in Chinese medicine and the whole backstory of these playful creatures is kind of heartbreaking, but it is great to see places like this taking care of them.
Tiffany: This was truly a magical waterfall. One of the most beautiful waterfalls I have ever seen in my life. I was immediately captured by its natural beauty. I was inspired to meditate right next to the waterfall and it was one of the most unique and special meditations sessions of this trip. It was truly grounding and wonderful. I will never forget how beautiful it is and how wonderful I felt in this moment.
One of our favorite aspects of Laos was some of the characters we met. For example we met Keo who runs an incredible cultural center called Heun Chan Heritage House in the heart of Luang Prabang. We spent an afternoon with her as she showed us a traditional house, taught us how to make Laotian Dream Catchers and then gave us the most heartfelt cooking class we’ve ever taken. We’ve taken a TON of cooking classes all over the world and this one felt to us to be the most intimate and personal we’ve seen. It was clear Keo loves her culture and food and truly wanted to share it with us. We made several dishes by hand that we’ve never seen before including tasty savory grilled rice cakes, a delicious eggplant dip, a spicy chicken salad, soup and ground pork brochettes. We even made this gorgeous purple sweet and sticky rice desert. It was hands down the best food we ate in Laos- and we helped make it ourselves!
Tiffany: I’m so grateful to Thanh for connecting us with Keo. She told me it was one of the most memorable cooking classes she’s ever taken and she was right. Keo was a true gem and overall a really kind passionate person. I had to reschedule our class due to my serve case of food poisoning but Keo was super flexible and understanding and even offer to bring me soup and medication to my hotel. When we arrived at her cooking school she was excited to inform me that she customize the menu for to accommodate my needs. Learning to cook with Keo and her team was a true joy and definitely an unforgettable experience. We had the best meal in Laos here learning how to cook with Keo. She was so passionate about her food and you can truly feel the care and love into her cooking.
Tim: A place we found ourselves coming back to again and again was Elizabeth’s Icon Klub– hands down the best drinks we had in Laos. Elizabeth left her native Hungary and and loved Luang Prabang so much, she felt it silly to live anywhere else and here she made her very quirky, very awesome bar. Festooned with all sorts of Dada-esque art and an incredibly friendly clientele it’s easy to strike up a conversation and make new friends from all over the world.
I spent the final day renting a bike and visiting the countryside and its picturesque wats. Coming from Vietnam, its really striking to see how laid back Laos is. As the sun crept down the horizon, we clambered up the hill called Mount Phousi that sits in the middle of Luang Prabang to get a chance to watch the sunset. It was glorious but apparently we weren’t the only ones as throngs of tourists all clambered to get that one perfect instagram worthy sunset pic to prove they were there. It was admittedly a pretty funny scene and one we were totally complicit in 😉
Sunset from Mount Phousie
And just like that, our time in Laos was done and off we were to Thailand and the wonders of Chiang Mai!
The term “Cloud City” might evoke the epic of The Empire Strikes Back, Lando Calrissian’s epic cape game or even a wee bit of carbonite. Well, Sapa lacks all of those things but makes up for it with…well…lots and lots of clouds!
Sapa is situated in the Hoang Lien Son mountains of Vietnam that border China. Here you’ll find the highest point in Vietnam – Mount Fansipan (I swear it’s not a made up name) and a gorgeous alpine town. We were drawn to Sapa with our friends’ stories of verdant rice terraces clinging to steep hillsides a quiet escape from the buzz and bustle of Hanoi. We found that and more. More being mostly fog but also some incredible adventures.
Notice the other side of the lake? We couldn’t either 😉
Let’s get to Sapa logistics. Sapa doesn’t have a central “downtown” but instead has one main drag where most of the action happens called Cầu Mây. There is a lake and market to check out and there roughly 5-15 minutes walk away (respectively). The lake is apparently really beautiful in the spring and summer but everything in the city was covered in dense fog. We visited in mid January and it was RIDICULOUSLY foggy. How foggy you ask? Well, we live in the Sunset District of San Francisco and it made our “fogust” look like tahiti (see attached photo). That being said, we were able to experience some incredible moments of beauty we haven’t seen in many other places. A lot of this came down to straight up dumb luck as the weather changed every 15 minutes with varying levels of fog, clarity, then back to fog again.
Salmon hot pot!
BBQ yummyness
One of the most intriguing aspects of Sapa is its very Vietnamese take on an alpine town. Everyone is bundled up in “North Face” outfits (read: knockoffs), in the buildings you see exposed wooden beams and big fireplaces-it seems familiar. With a closer look though its very Vietnamese with Salmon Hot Pot, Pho and BBQ places a plenty.
Hmong sisters who invited us to their village
One of the most enticing draws to the city is to see several of the minority tribes in Vietnam come together to sell their wares, attend cultural events and even run love markets. The Hmong, the Tay and red-clad Dao. All of these tribes make the journey from remote villages scattered throughout the mountains to Sapa. This journey can sometimes take days to make. The love market is a fascinating event which we sadly missed. It harkens back to a time seemingly long ago when people met the love of their life in-person (!!!!!). Apparently when you live in a small village, the dating pool is pretty small so eligible singles from the villages surrounding Sapa make the long trek to the Love Market on Saturday to drink, dance and hopefully meet that special someone.
Taking cherry trees to market via scooter (!)
You can immediately identify them by their colorful clothes and distinctive personalities. Everyone we met from the tribes was incredibly friendly, welcoming us to visit their villages, learn about their culture and of course, buy their wares. These minority groups live below Vietnam’s poverty line so earning from tourists can be a necessity. At the main market you can find them selling everything from their colorful clothes to bringing entire cherry tree saplings on their back (for lunar new year). Kinda like a Christmas tree, but different.
Vietnamese Elote!
After getting settled we decided to check out Cat Cat village since it was just 25 minutes walk from town. While the previous night was pouring rain, that morning it was clear as can be and we were treated to some amazing views of the Muong Ha valley. Cat Cat Village is pretty touristy- instead of exiting through the gift shop, it pretty much is the gift shop with people selling clothes, souvenirs and all sorts of Sapa themed brik a brak alongside “authentic representations” of village life. One interesting thing we noticed was the Vietnamese who visited often bought full Hmong or Dao villager outfits and immediately wore them- essentially cosplaying the minority groups in the village and posing for all the selfies. It was an interesting experience. The “village” is mostly built on a hill and at the bottom of the valley, I noticed a bunch of Hmong ladies walking down a long path and got the idea to follow them.
The jaw-droppingly gorgeous Muong Ha Valley
What we accidentally found was a gorgeous path that wound its way through the Muong Ha valley. Along every hillside, terraces growing everything from rice to holy basil abounded. It was jaw-droppingly beautiful- especially shrouded in fog. Our pictures really can’t do it justice. We met with a few of Hmong along the path who invited us to their homestays in their village just a few kilometers away. Unfortunately we were short on time. If you go, we HIGHLY recommend checking out the opportunity to do this. Please do it through one of the local companies like Sapa Sisters to ensure money actually makes it to these local tribes.
The view from up top
The actual peak!
Gondolas cutting through the fog
An ocean of fog
Pure serenity
Our next adventure was scaling Mount Fansipan- Vietnam’s tallest mountain. When we say “scaling” we mean….taking the brand new, Guinness Record-Holding cable cars right to the top. We’ll stop to mention that this cable project was/is super controversial as there was a lot of debate about the environmental and aesthetic impact of having a cable car go right to the top of such a picturesque mountain. It would be kind of like having Yosemite National Park put in a cable car to the top of half dome. Considering our time constraints, we chose the cable car route. The trip started out hilari-bad because the aforementioned finicky Sapa weather gifted us with fog so think, we couldn’t see across our tiny street. We were running out of Sapa time so we said “screw it” and paid the entry fee fully expecting to see absolutely nothing but fog. After thousands of feet of elevation gain and a few cable car exchanges, you get to the “top” of Fansipan where they’ve build several Buddhist temples and several huge Buddhas. To get to the actual top requires climbing 600 additional steps spanning the very large summit of Fansipan. This isn’t as easy as it might sound because the air is much thinner, its WAAAAY colder than the already cold Sapa and the weather changes every 15 seconds. Every. 15. Seconds. See the time lapse if you doubt us 🙂 After clambering to the top, we got insanely lucky and were treated to some of the most jaw-dropping views i’ve ever seen. Fansipan’s peak and the mountain tops around it poked through a sea of fog that stretched as far as the eye could see. The Buddhas standing tall and stoic as clouds coursed over them. It was a magical view. We got so enamored that we almost missed the last cable car home and that would have really sucked!
The next day we packed up our bags and headed back to Hanoi for our next adventure- a 3 day cruise on Halong Bay!
The electric buzz of tens of thousands of scooters zipping through the streets, LED encrusted skyscrapers each doing their own light shows and street vendors winding through the streets, loudspeakers advertising their wares. You can be only in one place, and that place is Saigon Vietnam- where the region’s history of farming collides with its fast passed future. Saigon is a city on the move and we were excited to jump right into all it had to offer!
Saigon’s skyline from one of its many rooftop bars
Saigon is split into districts- basically just like neighborhoods, boroughs or wards back in the states. Each has its own vibe but most of the action (tourist and otherwise) happens in District 1. We decided to keep things a little bit more chill and stayed across the Son Sai Gon river in District 4 that was a bit more residential but still a quick cab into the heart of District 1.
A typical crosswalk in Saigon
The first thing that will astound you when you get to Saigon is the sheer energy of everything happening around you. This is most apparently in the streets, roadways and sometimes, even sidewalks where there are literally thousands of scooters all vying for space. According to Saigon’s Transit bureau, 7.43 million are legally registered in the city- which is kind of impressive when you consider there’s only 8 million people in the city. That means that scootering around is a no-holds-barred thrill ride. Traffic lights, right of way, and traffic laws in general seem to be very loose suggestions at best. For instance, if you want to cross the street in the states, all you do is push the “walk” button, wait for the walk sign to come on and then you walk.You’ve got the right of way! In Vietnam, that is NOT the case. To cross the street, pedistrians have no right of way so instead you reenact the scene from “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” where Indy has to take a literal leap of faith. The Saigon version has you basically shuffling at exactly the same pace without stopping or speeding up and praying no one hits you. This works surprisingly well AND it’s a huge adrenaline rush too! Just watch out for busses- they stop for NO ONE!
Tiffany riding in a Saigon Cyclo Taxi
Vietnam was a French colony at one point and you can see it all around Saigon in their buildings and street layout. Getting around is pretty easy with the Grab app (kind of like Gojek in Indonesia or Uber combined with Grubhub in the states). Cabs are cheap but with the traffic, make sure to tack on a few extra minutes to each trip. The quickest way is to get a scooter driver to give you a lift. You’ll be certain to have an awesome ride!
Tiffany: We met up with our new friends Ngoc and Quan who showed us their Saigon. We really enjoyed hearing stories from Ngoc and Quan about what they loved most about living in Saigon. Quan taught us how to say cheers in Vietnamese; it sounds like “Yo” in English. It was so special to connect with them and experience the love and passion they have for Saigon. It’s amazing to me how much we as humans can share and connect with delicious meals and tasty drinks. I’m super grateful for our new friendship and look forward to hosting them when they come to visit San Francisco in a couple of years.
Happy hour at Chill Sky Bar
The food scene in Saigon is pretty impressive with everything from street food to Michelin rated restaurants to local delicacies to taquerias (!). It’s all here. One thing people really love here is their “sky bars” (basically a super nice rooftop bar). It seems like every building has one and some of them are really, really nice. What is super cool about them is they have actual happy hours where food and drinks are 50% off! Pretty epic compared to San Francisco’s “mildly amusing hour” where they maaaaaay take 1 buck off a drink. What’s great about the sky bars’ happy hour is that they perfectly coincide with sunset! We highly recommend checking them out. Helping us out in this department were Mo and Eric- two friends we made thanks to the awesomeness of how small a world it is and the willingness of friends to help us meet folks around the world.
Mo and Eric showing us all the kitschy fun of Saigon by night
Exploring another happy hour with Le Ha and Jenny
Tiff: Our friends Le Ha and Jenny showed us their favorite bars in the city. I really enjoyed laughing and joking with them in Saigon. They told us amazing stories about their recent adventures in Phu Quoc Island. It’s Vietnam’s version of a music festival like “Lightning in a Bottle” (aka burning man light). You get all the awesome Djs and parties without any of the prep work. I think we committed to going next year. Not sure after many drinks later. Either way, I’m confident we will have a good time with Le Ha and Jenny no matter where we are in the world.
As we try to do in many cities, we took a cooking class to try our hand at making delicacies like imperial rolls, Pho Ga and Vietnamese pancakes. The whole experience was hilarious with us lumped in with a bunch of New Zealanders. Throughout the day we learned new knife skills like smashing the shit of garlic and turning tomatoes into rad looking Swan food decorations. I’m definitely going to use that on Tiff on date night someday 😛 While I don’t think our Pho rivaled PPQ’s back at home, it was fun to try out!
Cookin’ up a storm in Saigon
Tiff: Checking out local designers is another fun activity to do while traveling. Saigon women are super stylish and proud of their unique sense of fashion. My friend Jenny Kim is an amazing local designer. You can check out her boutique “Cashew” in the heart of district 1.
Another top things to see is the War Remnants Museum. The museum shows the Vietnam War (or the American War as the call it here) from the other side. It’s a sobering a truly heart wrenching experience where you see the full damage that war has not just on the combatants, but innocent civilians, children and generations to come in the case of the Vietnamese, Laotians and Cambodians (unexploded ordinance is still a huge problem). I was moved to tears seeing all the tragedy that war creates and as naive as it seems, I hope we evolve past it someday…
One awesome side trip I did was go to the Mekong Delta. The delta is a few hours outside of Saigon and could be its own trip destination in its own right. By the time the Mekong river makes it to the delta, its the width of the Mississippi River and has been through several countries. On my tour I got to see how the Mekong locals harvest coconuts and use every part for some interesting product. The water for coconut water (duh), the meat for candy or selling wholesale, the husk for making everything from charcoal to welcome mats and the leaves for thatching roofs and making cabin walls. Its really cool. We also got to navigate the mangrove bayous by canoe.
Dancing the night away with the Saigon Swing Cats
Final note- Saigon is home to some AMAZING dancers! There’s a vibrant swing dance and salsa dance scene here and the dancers are some of the most energetic, creative and welcoming folks I’ve danced with. For an epic night out, I’d highly recommend checking out the dance scene!
PHEW! That was a long one! And just like that, our week in Saigon was done. On to Hanoi- one of the greatest street food capitals in the world!
Bali is a fabulous island of mystery and magic. While you’ll need to plan for the standard tropical island adventure, here are some specific tips we can share from our experience that will make your Bali trip that much more epic. We’ve also included links to some of our favorite restaurants, hotels, homestays and other things we liked.
Horse carts sure don’t take Amex! Cash is king.
Mosquito repellent (Autan or even better, something with deet!) Bali has mosquitoes- mosquitoes who especially love “sweet blood” folks like Tiffany. To help prevent this from happening, we HIGHLY recommend you bring some insect repellent with deet from home. Its hard to find deet based insect repellent in Bali so pack accordingly.
Use Gojek for getting around Seminyak and getting food Gojek is kinda like Uber combined with Grubhub. It makes getting around Seminyak a breeze and they’ll deliver tasty food to you too. It’s also CRAZY cheap with most car rides costing 1-4 US dollars. Unfortunately this app doesn’t work well in Ubud because the local Taxi drivers have beaten up and threatened all Gojek drivers to stay out of their turf. Not a very enlightened and spiritual approach if you ask us but….
Prepare for some Bali Belly (travelers diarrhea 🙁 ) Ya, I think it happened to all of us here. Have your doc prescribe some medication to make it go away quick
Get money from ATMs before visiting small islands The Gilis are beautiful but run totally on cash. If you’re visiting, bring as much cash as possible because if you don’t, you could seriously get stuck. We almost did but managed to BARELY scrape enough together to buy our ferry ride tickets back
Dry your ears out AFTER diving I didn’t and got some mean ear infections 🙁
Be ready to haggle for taxis and horse rides In Ubud, Taxi drivers will happily try to gouge you with inflated prices. Always stick to half of what they say and walk away if they won’t budge. They’ll change their tune fast when you do that.
Traffic is CRAZY- don’t trust google maps (add extra time) Traffic all over the islands is insane. Add at least 2 to 3x the time google maps comes up with.
Ahhh Ubud. This magical little town is what draws countless people from all corners of the globe is what most people think of when the word “Bali” is uttered. Ubud is the cultural, spiritual and musical heart of Bali where you can hear the sounds of Gamelan wafting through the air, competing with the buzz of scooters darting through its narrow streets. Here you can find picturesque rice fields, temples, curious monkeys, waterfalls and yes- even attempt to find your own version of “eat pray love”. Ubud can also be one big contradiction with one foot squarely in Balinese culture and the other in an expat spiritual dreamland
An altar at one of the many retreat facilities in Bali
That air of mystical spirituality is clearly a big draw for tourists from all over. Ubud has what appears to be the largest expat community we’ve seen in Southeast Asia – all drawn here to explore some new aspect of themselves from consciousness to yoga to reiki healing. One way to think about it is Ubud is it’s the spiritual equivalent of the Bellagio Buffet- it seems like all the worlds spiritual practices can be found in classes and retreats that highlight and integrate belief systems from all over the world. Hinduism, Buddhism, shamanism, tantra- even Navajo dream catchers- they’re all here in every combination you can imagine. For our trip, we focused more on exploring the countryside with its many temples along with taking a few yoga classes and of course- the much recommended ecstatic dance at the Yoga Barn.
We were super lucky to have several friends in town. Our friend Kate gave us a lay of the land and introduced us to her Ubud. Kate introduced us to smiling drivers, laughing yoga masters and the ins and outs of making sure we can try to jam as much fun and chill time in as possible.
A mother monkey nursing her baby
I was able to check out the Sacred Monkey Forest which was a total trip. The forest is in the middle of Ubud and houses countless Macaque monkeys which are pretty cute little guys and gals, but you gotta watch out because they’re pretty fast and super smart. When I was there they were non stop cute- eating fruits, grooming each other and having mommas take care of their little baby monkeys. This being said, i’ve also heard they love stealing people water bottles and other shiny things. There’s a number of temples in the forest along with a cool waterfall that you can explore- allowing you to indulge your errant Indiana Jones Impulses. I think it’s totally worth checking out.
If you’re in Ubud, you also HAVE to check out the rice paddies. In particular, check out the Tegallang Rice Terraces. They look to be something straight out of a fantasy movie with stone terraces clinging to the steep hillsides. While you’ll definitely do your share of climbing muddy stairs, it’s totally worth it to take in the views and even to get a chance to thresh and beat some rice yourself. You can easily book a driver to take you here as well as the many, many temples that dot the hills around Ubud.
The rice paddies that surround Ubud
Our temple exploration crew at the Elephant Water Temple
Hard at work 😛
One of the things we love doing wherever we travel is taking a cooking class. By experiencing how people cook their favorite local foods, it gives you a unique perspective into their lives. Tiff and I took this great class where they whisked us away to this little house surrounded by rice paddies. As the rain poured down outside and the Egrets stalked their way through the flooded rice paddies searching for their next meal, we learned how to make several Balinese classic Dishes. Fish cooked in banana leaves, marinated pork satay, sauteed chicken soup, fish meatballs and a sweet crepe for desert. The chef walked us through every step ranging from making the hilariously named “basic sauce” (which made up the base of three of the dishes) to the tamale-like banana wrapped fish. It was truly a fun experience and we got to meet a few new friends along the way!
The finished meal
Tiffany showing off her basic sauce
Tim working on grinding spices
Shifting gears, we also took in a number of Yoga classes and events around town. Of the many studios and and retreat spaces, we liked the Yoga Barn most for the quality of the teachers and the facilities. The place is very much a community center with a cafe, inn and many cool class areas. One of the coolest events they had was their Friday Night Ecstatic Dance. A bunch of our friends told us to get there early because it sold out (!) Having a “sold out” weekly dance party in a place as chill as Ubud seemed kinda crazy but we quickly found out why that was the case- it seemed like the _entire_ expat community comes every week! In order to get a place into the party you have to first line up to get a number at 4:30 pm. The line hit capacity i’m guessing around 4:50. If you’re lucky enough to get a number, you can come back at 7:30 to go to the party. The actual dance party takes place in this big upstairs veranda that lit up only by lamps inside this big, leaf chandelier (super Burning Man style). The dance begins with a meditative chill instrumentalists playing anything from a sitar to a Tibetan crystal bowl. This transitions into a DJ who drops some serious beats. The end result is something that looks a lot like the scene from the Matrix 2 where everyone is dancing their faces off. What super interesting is that its totally sober so when people are letting loose, they’re doing it completely from within and DAMN CAN THEY DANCE! After the dance ends, the DJ and instrumentalists bring everything down to a chill meditative level and everyone lies down for a quiet, guided meditation. The whole thing is totally rad and if you’re going to Ubud, you should check it out.
And with that, our week and a half in Ubud was over! Off we went to Saigon Vietnam! Expect that blog post soon!
