After the physically and intellectually demanding start to our time in Albania, our last two stops were all about relaxing. From Tirana we hopped on a bus to Berat. I think I’ve mentioned a few times now that public transportation got a lot more…interesting once we left the EU. As we traveled south through the Balkans we said goodbye to bullet trains, online schedules and ticket machines and hello to rickety buses and hand written tickets. Tirana, despite being the…
Dan and I only had a week in Scotland on our own before we were due to meet my family in St. Andrews for my cousin’s college graduation. With only seven days and no car we knew we wouldn’t be able to squeeze in all of Scotland’s must-see destinations. We definitely wanted to hit the two major cities: Edinburgh and Glasgow. We also felt like we couldn’t go to Scotland and not enjoy some of the beautiful countryside. Unfortunately we…
The Algarve, Portugal’s southernmost region, is renowned for its charming towns, beautiful beaches and delicious seafood. It is a favorite vacation destination of the Portuguese and the rest of Europe so we were eager to see what all the fuss was about. Even though the weather was still cool and damp when we arrived, the Algarve did not disappoint. We had time to spend a few days each in three Algarve towns: Lagos, Tavira and Faro. Lagos Our first stop…
I’m going to be honest: Dan and I didn’t really like Bali. Partly this was our own fault. When we were planning the last part of our Asia itinerary it seemed like a great idea to finish with some relaxing beach time. In our minds Bali conjured images of sublime natural beauty and calm tropical beaches with bathtub-warm water. Unfortunately, we didn’t bother to do enough research to confirm whether that image was accurate. So imagine our disappointment when we…
From Penang our plan was to continue moving south, stopping in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Jakarta. That seemed like a lot of big cities in a row so before we embarked on that urban adventure we hopped over to the peaceful island of Langkawi for a few days of beach time. Langkawi doesn’t warrant its own blog post because for four days we did nothing but lie on the beach, read, swim and eat cheap Indian food. It was a…
I’ve already outlined our somewhat stressful adventure trying to get to Monkey Maya from Kampot, but once we arrived at this secluded beachside hostel on the edge of the jungle and they handed us our welcome beers life was all good. Monkey Maya is located on the southern coast of Cambodia in Ream National Park about 45 minutes from Sihanoukville proper. It is isolated, with no other resorts, restaurants or shops within walking distance. They are not on the power…