twotravelingdumplings – Two Traveling Dumplings

December 2, 2019December 2, 2019

Mexico City- a tapestry of delights

Seeing Mexico City for the first time can be quite daunting- a metropolis that stretches as far as the eye can see. In fact, CDMX (the cool four letter acronym for Mexico City) is the largest city in the world and we can only wonder if the Aztecs who founded it would ever imagine it would become what it is today. CDMX is an incredibly vibrant cosmopolitan tapestry that weaves its rich history together with the art and energy of today’s cutting edge culture. After visiting it twice in three years, we can confidently say Mexico City is one of our favorite cities in the world and that’s why we’ll be returning there for a third time soon!

Now before we go into all the delicious things and adventures you can get into in CDMX – we want to answer the question that several folks have asked us. Is the city safe? In short- yes. As safe or safer than any typical major city we’ve been in during our travels. Of the two times we’ve visited we’ve never felt unsafe or at risk (except from some of the traffic jams which give LA a run for its money). This includes all hours of the day- walking around the cities bustling plazas and mercados during the day or going to a bar or club at night. Of course keep your head about you and use the typical set of street smarts any major city requires but the people of CDMX are wonderful, welcoming and incredibly generous. We know you’ll love them as much as we do.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, we can get into some of the wonders that this city offers. Let’s start with one of our favorites things- food! Now Mexican food is something near and dear to Californians like ourselves but we only get one small piece of the vibrant tapestry. There is SO MUCH MORE TO MEXICAN FOOD THAN BURRITOS (which actually are an American invention). Mexico City impressively collects some of the best foods from across Mexico in one place. You’ve got Sonoran Tacos, Oaxacan Mole’s, the seafood of Baja and the delicious slow cooked pibils of the Yucatan- all in one place. Let’s start with tacos- yes, you have TONS of options to check out but one of our favorites that we came back to again and again was Taqueria La Califa in Condesa. I know talking about your favorite taqueria is about as controversial as the most hot button of political topics but for the sake of this blog’s integrity, we have to name ours. One of the signs you’re in good taco making hands is when you walk in the door of a taqueria and an absolutely massive pastor parilla is slowly roasting the largest piece of seasoned meat you’ve ever seen. La Califa offers a dizzying array of taco options from nopales (cactus) to rib eye to “gringa” (which they basically put meat and melty cheese in a flour tortilla. One thing they had that we’ve never seen before is a “chicharon de queso” which looks a lot like an Indian dosa, but made of cheese- perfect for scooping up guacamole! Upping the ante, their salsas are amazing and THEY’RE OPEN TILL 4AM!!!

The spread at one of our favorite taquerias

Another must visit culinary experience is the La Merced Mercado. This market is dizzying large- taking up the size of most small cities and it is actually one of the largest food markets in the world. When we went to La Merced, we went with Eat Mexico Tours and we felt it was worth the cost. Generally, we’ve found most food tours around the world to be letdowns- usually they’re typically a guide taking you to a few famous or gringo targeted street food spots that you could just as easily find yourself with a quick Google search. The Eat Mexico tour was different because our tour guide spent 5 hours with us and throughout that time we got to meet and really get to know a number of the vendors in La Merced- giving the place a much greater depth to us. If a tour is not your speed, no worries! Just show up to La Merced and follow your nose. If you want to taste anything, just ask the friendly vendors! These vendors have every imaginable ingredient, spice, and protein you can imagine. Moles? They’ve got it. Fruits you’ve never seen before? They’ve got tons. And proteins- if you like insects, you’re in luck! Insects have been part of Mexican cuisine for thousands of years and they can be super tasty.

Speaking of insects, one of our favorite restaurants in CDMX is Azul Condesa and they put toasted, seasoned, chopped crickets on their guacamole and it gives it amazing umami flavor bursts. Here at the market you can try countless variations along with the ant larva that are also considered a delicacy. The sheer amount of food options can be dizzying so come hungry and be sure to ask as many questions as you have to the vendors and tour operators.

Posole Rojo and the remains of some taquitos (our hunger won out over picture taking 😛 )

Another Mexican dish we love dearly is posole- a rich stew of pork or chicken with vegetables and corn. This dish just feels like a warm, yummy blanket of comfort in a bowl which is why we keep coming back to Casa de Toño for their amazing posoles. Mexico also has a great tradition of ridiculously tasty breakfasts. For most Californians, that means chilaquiles (tortilla chips cooked in red or green sauce). It can be served many way but for the best in CDMX, we recommend braving the line at Fonda Margarita where meals are served at long family style tables. The seating arrangements can be cramped but its also guaranteed that you’ll make a few new friends from your seatmates and you’ll get to see what other dishes you can order. Beyond the chilaquiles, the refried bean omelet is a real star and unique to this fantastic restaurant.

Switching gears, there are TONS of adventurers to get in within the city. One of the things we did for date night is going to see a lucha libre match live! Lucha Libre is Mexico’s answer to the WWE and has an incredibly rich history of characters and plot lines. The wrestling does not disappoint and the whole crowd gets worked up seeing luchadores pummel each other with the refs doing little to get in the way of their over the top antics. You can also get some incredible beer cocktails ranging from a Michelada (beer+tomata juice+ lime juice+ clam juice) to a cubano….which I still don’t know what it is. Just go see it-you’ll have a blast guaranteed!

Another fascinating scene unfolds nightly at Plaza Garibaldi which the beating heart of mariachis in the city. Gangs of instrument toting mariachis roam all over the square playing requests and serenading amorous couples with their song. Its not like anything we’ve seen before and worth going to check out.

Two guys commissioned a huge mariachi band to serenade their girlfriends in an over the top way

Now CDMX also has its share of ancient history and it offers an incredible set of options to explore it in. One of the must-visit sites is the Museo Nacional de Antropología which has an incredible array of ancient Aztec and Mexican archaeology. You can easily get lost in here for half a day or more seeing all the exhibits – the Aztec Sun stone is an incredible draw.

Speaking of archaeology, another must-visit site is Teotihuacan and the pyramids of the sun and moon. These incredible edifices were the heart of not just the Aztec religion but of the Olmecs and many other civilizations before them. It takes just 45 minutes or so to get there and you can climb both pyramids and see of miles in every direction.

Tiffany helpfully pointing out the Pyramid of the Sun

Not all the museum in CDMX offer ancient antiquities- there’s also the Frida Kahlo Museum which is in the house that she and Diego River lived in. Its filled with her art and a fantastic collection of their possessions which narrate her fascinating and challenging life. Another fantastic museum (if you’re not completely museum out) is the Soumaya Museum. Here the billionaire Carlos Slim shows off his impressive collection of impressionist works, Mexican artists and of the largest collections of Degas in the world- and it’s all totally free to visit!

CDMX is made up of all sorts of dynamic neighborhoods. We found ourselves staying in Condesa with its chill, tree lined streets. Zona Rosa is the livelier hood with bars, clubs and fun stores to bring something interesting back with you with.

Phew! We could go on forever about Mexico City but we can wholeheartedly endorse its awesomeness! If you go, please have a taco and a strong margarita for us!

If you’re looking for one big map of our favorite places in CDMX (there’s a lot), you can find them here on Two Traveling Dumpling’s CDMX Google Map

September 20, 2019September 20, 2019

Kakheti and the Trinity Church

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.

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
The “Russian/Georgian Friendship” monument
Trinity Church from below
Posin’
Surprise!
The panoramic view from Trinity Church

July 29, 2019July 29, 2019

Georgia (Sakartwello) on our minds….

….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.

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!

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.

Some of the interesting architecture you’ll find

June 26, 2019July 8, 2019

Kickin’ it in Koh Lanta (and Krabi)

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!

June 9, 2019June 9, 2019

Nestling down in Chiang Mai

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!

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!).

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!

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

Which you can find easily here!

April 30, 2019

Trekking to Kathmandu

Boudhanath Stupa– one of the amazing temples you’ll find in Kathmandu

To the curious mind, the country of Nepal can evoke so much- Mount Everest, the snowy peaks of the Himalays, Sherpa’s guiding trekkers on the journeys and to foodies, multi-week silent meditation retreats or maybe the tasty tasty flavor explosions of deliciousness- momos. While all these ideas exist in the abstract, nothing quite prepares you for watching them come together in a place like Nepal where fantasy, adventurous stories and harsh realities together form an unforgettable place. Nepal was all of these things to me and more . Reflecting on my time there I appreciate some of the challenges I had to face almost as much as the exciting moments I celebrated when summiting peaks and exploring some of Nepal’s hidden gems. While my time in Nepal wasn’t without its issues, I feel it had a lasting impact on me that few other places have done so. See later in this post for that story because…I digress!d this is a post about Kathmandu after all!

Kathmandu is the gateway to Nepal and the most likely place you’ll first experience in Nepal. It’s a frenetic, bustling, dusty city with so much going on its hard to wrap your head around it all. Your first stop of course will be to purchase your tourist visa – or as I’m starting to refer to these mandatory expenses “enter through the gift shop” 😛 Depending on the length of time you stay you’ll pay a sliding scale for the visa. One other key travel tip to be aware of is that in Nepal, cash is KING. Very few places will take your credit card and if they do, they’ll likely charge a hefty fee. If you have big ticket expenses like paying a guide or sherpa, you’ll want to ensure you either take enough US dollars with you to pay them or you plan accordingly as most ATM’s will only let you take out 35,000 rupees a day. If you have your lodging figured out, I’d recommend working with them to get your transportation from Kathmandu airport to your lodging as there are no ridesharing services here, taxis don’t run on a meter and most drivers do not speak english. Fortunately for me my amazing guide Tenzi Sherpa was there to pick me up. As a quick aside, if you’re doing a trek and need a guide, I couldn’t recommend Tenzi more highly. He’s easily one of the friendliest, most earnest and hands down the most experienced guide I met during my 3+ weeks in Nepal.

Tenzi posing before we “summit” the monkey temple

If you came to Nepal to trek like me you’ll spend your first few days getting everything you need for the weeks ahead prepared and packed, thus you’ll call the Thamel district of Kathmandu home. Preparing of course includes not just your equipment but the permits you’ll need including your TIMS registration (I love the name 😉 ). There are TONS of trekking equipment stores throughout Thamel which sell both real and knockoff gear from brands like North Face. Seriously, I think 2/3 of the country is wearing either North Face or North Fayce (knockoff) gear at any given time. That aside, if there’s a specific brand you feel you really need, I’d bring it with you from home. I didn’t have that luxury since we’re planning on traveling a year or so and I just needed trekking gear for Nepal. All the gear I bought in the Thamel district worked great and didn’t fail me so you should be good to go.

Prayer wheels in action in Boudhanath Stupa

Kathmandu of course is far more than just trek preparation. The stunning Buddhist temples you find throughout the city are truly incredible. One of the largest is the Boudhanath Stupa. This massive domed structure festooned in prayer flags and gold is truly awe inspiring. Surrounding the dome are countless prayer wheels which people spin while walking around the stupa clockwise while reciting mantras. My guide Tenzi is also a painter who- together with his brother- is responsible for several of the mandala paintings and prayer wheels at the site and he explained in detail the meanings behind each aspect of the site.

One of the massive prayer wheels Tenzi and his brother painted

A second temple that you’ve got to check out in Kathmandu is Swayambhunath Stupa or more commonly know as the Monkey Temple. Like several of the Buddhist temples we’ve visited on our trip, its on the top of a steep hill with a ton of stairs to get up to it- the hike is worth it though as you’re rewarded with jaw dropping views of the city. Making things a bit more exciting is the entire site seems to be run by monkeys-literally! They’re everywhere- jumping, climbing, preening each other and causing mischief all over the place. The Temple itself has some incredible statues of several buddhas and the history behind it is fascinating. When looking over Kathmandu, its hard to imagine this temple standing alone before the city grew around it.

Scenes from the monkey temple

Kathmandu also has some of the best food in the country bringing countless cultures together in one place. If you’re looking for incredible local dishes like momos or dhal baht, look no further than going to Gilingche. For those who aren’t familiar with momos, they’re little dumplings filled with everything from spiced potatoes to ground buffalo to pork. All of them here are amazing. If you’re trekking, you’ll become familiar with Dhal Baht which is kinda like a Nepali combo-plate. It always has a pureed lentil soup called dhal along with rice, some form of spiced potatoes and then other assorted veggie options. This dish will single handedly power you as you trek through the Himalayas and each place has their own different take on it. If you’re hankering for a taste of home, I highly recommend the pizza at Fire and Ice or for vegetarians, try Or2k. Their falafels and hummus are to die for.

Between preparing for my Annapurna trek preparation and checking out the sites of Kathmandu, I had one of the more…..memorable experiences on the trip. My hiking boots got stolen. Two days before my multi week trek was about to begin. To say that I was unhappy is about the biggest understatement I could possibly make. I had PLANNED for this trek for months! I had prepped everything I could beforehand! And here some jerk had thrown a big wrench into my plans. Any new boots I’d buy wouldn’t be broken in and I’d certainly get blisters or worse! I might have to cut my trek short! Every possible nightmare scenario gripped my thoughts as I tried to figure out what do. My boots got stolen from a restaurant which required you to take your shoes off before sitting down (a somewhat common practice in Asia) and apparently, some Aussie backpackers stole my boots, leaving me their crappy boots. How do I know this? Well let me tell you…

Since I have travel insurance, I knew I needed to make an official police report to get compensated. This seemingly simple task kicked off a series of hilarious misadventures which I’ll never forget. Since I had finished most of my trek preparation, I had the morning to go and make my police report so I trudged on down to Kathmandu Police Headquarters to make my report. When I got there I found a bunch of officers outside the building and I asked them if I could make a report. Unfortunately, none of them knew any English so I would have been screwed except an idea came to mind. I could use google translate to help! Now if you’ve ever used google translate on your phone, you know you can type a word of English into it and translate that phrase into almost any language. You tilt your phone on its side and the translated language pops up in big letters which is probably the equivalent to talking….really….slow…to people who you think don’t understand you 😉 So I typed into google translate “I need to make a police report” and turned my phone on the side. The police people nodded and gestured to say “what kind of report do you want to make?” Into google translate I typed in “My boots were stolen” and I turned the phone on its side. As the police read the Google translated text their faces went from bored to extremely concerned. They started talking rapid fire Nepali amongst themselves and looked very worried. They ran into grab another policeman who knew English and brought him out. When they explained the situation to him he looked very concerned and gravely look at me and asked “Your father has been stolen. Who has stolen your father? Where did this happen?” It immediately dawned on me that Google translate has mistranslated the phrase “my boots were stolen” to “my father was stolen”. After 5 minutes of trying to calm the police down and reassure them that my father was not kidnapped (that I knew of at least) and I just needed a report for my stolen boots. They looked equal parts received and annoyed and directed me to the tourist police who cold help.

Me, Tenzi and the two Nepali police detectives march to crack the case of the stolen boots!

The Nepali tourist police are- as their name implies- here to help tourists with unfortunate situations like this. Having had 3 of my bikes stolen in San Francisco and the police doing little to help, I fully expected the Nepali police to look at me, say “that’s tough” and then hand me a form. That is not what happened at all. The police chief I spoke with felt it was a truly serious situation and this “was not the experience” she wanted me to have in Nepal so she assigned not one but TWO detectives to crack the case of the stolen boots! I met Tenzi up at the Thamel police station and together, me Tenzi and the two detectives went to the scene of the crime- the restaurant. As we walked there I couldn’t help but laugh as here I am getting an over the top amount of police support for something as little as stolen boots. When we got to the restaurant, the manager was hand and the detectives asked him to roll the security tape and we saw the table next to me – filled with Aussie backpackers- stole my boots. The case solved the detectives gave me an updated report and said they’d work to find those responsible and right the wrong. I thanked them and chuckled about the whole experience. What a hilarious story I wouldn’t have had if my boots weren’t stolen? This really showed me that no matter how much you prepare for an adventure like Nepal, life can ALWAYS throw a wrench into your best laid plans. Rolling with it is a skill I needed to work on and this little adventure certainly helped me along that path.

And with that, I was able to find some authentic new North Face boots and I was ready for my Annapurna Trek! For that adventure, stay tuned for my next blog post- Tim and the Annapurna Trek!

Place I loved in Kathmandu

I’ve organized some of my favorite restaurants, cafes and sights into this handy Google Maps list for you.

April 17, 2019April 17, 2019

A float down the River Pai

While our trip to Chiang Mai was restful and awesome, my boots got a bit wanderlusty and I wanted to check out this little town I had heard so much about- Pai Thailand. Tiffany was loving everything about Chiang Mai and wanted to stay in town so we decided to go our separate ways for a few days. I strapped my pack on my back and jumped in a bus and I was Pai bound!

The town of Pai is situated a bit northwest of Chiang Mai nestled in a beautiful verdant valley. Getting there requires overcoming the small hurdle of the 3 hour drive over an incredibly windy road. How windy you ask? Well, it has 762 turns (people actually have counted) and all the rest stops sell motion sickness pills – so be prepared. It’s a small price to pay for what awaits you in this quaint little town

Look a this beautiful river- PERFECT for tubing!

Pai is unlike any other Thai city I’ve visited. It’s laid back and has tons of stuff to do ranging from trekking to biking to yoga to floating in an inner tube down its lazy river. A river cuts the city in two with little guesthouses, hostels and restaurants dotting each bank.

When I got to Pai the one thing I had my heart set on was….tubing! Ever since I was a little kid in Oregon I’ve LOVED floating down a river in an inner tube and Pai did not disappoint. My friend Sonya was in town and we paid one of the many outfits to drive us up the river and dump us into massive truck tire inner tubes. Even though it was February it was still stupid hot and I was able to grab one big bottle of beer Chang before we left which made the rest of the float down the river all the more awesome. Slowly floating down the river we passed all sorts of scenes from peaceful nature to little kids blasting each other with water guns to yoginis working on their practice on a sundeck overlooking the river. After 2 1/2 hours of this chilaxitude, we were ushered ashore by the sharp eyed inner tube wrangler and our voyage came to a close.

One of the many food vendors plying their tasty wares on walking street

At night all the “action” in Pai happens on the main “walking” street. There countless food and merchant vendors vie for space with the throngs of tourists venturing here from every part of the globe. What blew my mind is that you can find everything from tacos to pizza to falafels being sold by some street vendor- and they’re all damn tasty too! At night the energy kicks up a few notches with most of the bars playing live music. Since Pai is a major backpacker magnet, you’ll see tons of elephant printed, harem pant wearing backpackers from all over the world sharing “bucket drinks” which are…basically buckets filled with Thai Whiskey and some ridiculously sweet mixer. With the sheer amount of friendly attitudes here, it’s easy to strike up a conversation with complete strangers and by the end of the chat, leaving as friends. Another interesting thing I wasn’t expecting from such a small town is the existence of an after hours scene. There are a whopping two nightclubs that go till the early morning selling tropical drinks to blacklight painted backpacking revelers- it’s a fun scene for sure but not one that’s anything remotely Thai.

One of the many gullies that snake through Pai Canyon

The next day I wanted to investigate the rest of the valley which has its own “Grand Canyon” along with some incredible vistas and a pure-white Buddha watching over the town. Sonya and I rented mountain bikes from the shop downtown and made the ride over rolling hills to the famous “World War 2 Bridge” which was built by the Japanese during their occupation of Thailand. It’s a major tourist draw but not that spectacular to look at (beyond its storied past). Pai Canyon was pretty cool to look at with its badlands-like hills that you can explore on foot-but be careful, some of the cliffs are pretty sheer and the drop is ridiculous.

Wat Phra THat Mae Yen and a fraction of the many steps you’ll climb to get here

Finally I made the mad bike ride up the winding road to the Wat Phra That Mae Yen– Pai’s massive white Buddha. To get there you’ve got to go up a steep road outside of town and then climb a ton of stairs out in the open. The view – and the Buddha- is worth it, but I would only do it on a cool day or in the morning or sunset- its just too hot otherwise.

And just like that, my time in Pai came to a close. I would love to come back someday – there feels like there’s more to see and experience here. While I can heartily recommend checking out Pai- I do so with one caveat. As awesome as Pai is, it’s the least “Thai” place we visited during our month in Thailand. While the guest houses and restaurants are fantastic and quaint, they’re all mostly owned by expats and there customers are- unsurprisingly- other non Thai tourists. In a nutshell, visit Pai for the serene scene but just don’t expect to get an authentically Thai experience.

Some of our favorite place in Pai

You can get an easy to follow Google Maps list of my favorite Pai locations here.