The first time I booked my trip to Ecuador was back in 2020 before the covid pandemic. At that time, I hadn't even heard of Mashpi. I actually found out about the reserve and hotel when I was searching through BBC iplayer looking for videos on Ecuador. I had just finished watching the David Attenborough… Continue reading Magical Mashpi
From Tulum we drove in land to Vallodolid where we were staying for just one night to allow us to get up early to visit Chichen Itza. On the way we stopped at Coba, another Mayan archaeological site, famous for it's huge pyramid, Ixmoja in the Nohoch Mul complex, one of the highest Maya pyramids… Continue reading Exploring Coba and Chichen Itza
Pete and I had flights to Mexico booked almost the minute we landed from our 3-week adventure to Thailand, New Zealand and Bali. After a ridiculous 60+ hours in the air on this holiday, one of Pete's stipulations about our next holiday was that he wanted just 1 flight, that's it... Fortunately, you can get… Continue reading Chilling in Tulum
Since booking the flights for this trip and telling people what we are doing, most think we are crazy to do so much in so little time and ask why we booked it. The simple answer is that the flights were on a super special sale with Emirates and we managed to bag all the… Continue reading Big Easter Adventure to Thailand, New Zealand and Bali… Are we crazy?
You see a lot of people talking about how travelling and backpacking for a prolonged period of time changes them. I'd like to talk about how I think travelling did the exact opposite. I didn't change. In fact, travelling prevented me from changing... Just think about it. When we are younger, generally speaking, we have a… Continue reading How travelling ‘didn’t’ change me…
After riding a train, hiring a moped, getting a tuk tuk and a taxi, we decided the time for a bus was here and boarded a bus to Trincomalee from Polonnaruwa. The buses here are, in a single word, crazy. They are usually by far the fastest things on the road, constantly beeping, overtaking everything… Continue reading Shark spotting in Nilaveli
From Sigiriya we took a tuk tuk across to Polonnaruwa, one of Sri Lanka's ancient capitals. It was first declared the capital in 1070 by King Vijayabahu. There are many ancient buildings and temples there that were built between 1500 and 800 years ago, most notably, the ones by King Parakramabahu who placed irrigation systems throughout the region… Continue reading Hiring a bicycle in Polonnaruwa
The train to Sigiriya was long and bumpy, but interesting and fun. We rushed to get there and to get a ticket in time, so didn't have a chance for breakfast, that meant our only option was to sample the on-board snacks. Sellers would get on at one stop and off at the next, walking… Continue reading Steps in Sigiriya
Since my time travelling South East Asia previously, I had the dream to visit Sri Lanka. The Pearl in the Indian Ocean, with lush jungles, stunning beaches, a variety of wildlife and especially delicious food, it seems like a Paradise island! I semi-planned a trip here last year but I waited too long to book… Continue reading Business class planes to third class trains…
From Gili T we took a fast boat to Bangsal on Lombok's main island. We wanted to climb the volcano of Mountain Rinjani as the view from the top is said to be stunning, as well as viewing inside the volcano where there appears to be 'a volcano in a volcano' surrounded by a sulphurous… Continue reading Snapping my ACL climbing Mount Rinjani
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