If you have a few days in Chiang Mai and you want to get out of the city and do something a little bit different and a little bit adventurous, the Flight of the Gibbon Zip-lining experience might be just what you’re looking for. After almost a week and a half enjoying Chiang Mai, we thought we should head out and see some of the surrounding countryside. The Flight of...
The city of Ayutthaya was the second capital of Siam (the former name for Thailand) after Sukhothai. It was lucky enough to have an ideal location close to China, India and the Malay Archipelago. Ayutthaya became the trading capital of Asia and the largest city in the world. From 1351 to 1767, the Ayutthaya Kingdom was thriving. International traders visited...
I will always remember the first time I set foot in Bangkok. It was fifteen years ago and it was my first time in Thailand; in fact, it was also my first time in Asia. At the time I wasn’t well travelled and I was so looking forward to visiting a new country with a culture different from my own. But I can’t say it was love at first sight when we arrived in Bangkok...
On our way to our hotel from the Mumbai airport, our driver pointed out a huge skyscraper to our left. This is the home of India’s richest person, he said. It’s 27 storeys high, it has three helipads, swimming pools, underground parking for 160 cars and hundreds of staff members work in the building. All that for a family of five, he added. This building stood high...
Agra is a very popular destination for tourists visiting India. Although the city itself is not particularly notable, it does have one key landmark that people flock to see – the Taj Mahal. Looking out from our hotel room in the afternoon, it seemed as if the Taj Mahal, that we had just visited that morning had suddenly disappeared. That’s because, like many...
Pushkar is a small town in Rajasthan, about two and a half hours from Jaipur. It’s built around a holy lake called Lake Pushkar. The story behind this lake is that it appeared when Brahma dropped a lotus flower, which is why it’s called Pushkar. Pushkar means “holy flower” in Hindi. Pushkar is a very popular pilgrimage destination for Hindus and Sikhs who love...
Udaipur, Rajasthan’s city of lakes (also known as the Venice of the East), was a real surprise for us. We weren’t expecting to find something just quite so beautiful after a seven-hour drive through a desert-like landscape. Not many places in India are easy to love at first sight but Udaipur will blow you away instantly. This small city is home to ornate palaces and...
Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan is a popular stop on any tour around Rajasthan. It was our second stop after Delhi and it took us just over four hours drive to get there. With just over three million inhabitants, Jaipur is nowhere near as large as Delhi, but the traffic in town seemed just as loud and chaotic. Constant honking aside, Jaipur is a beautiful city. It’s...
India is a country that I’ve been longing to visit for many years. Seeing the Taj Mahal and taking a safari in search of Bengal tigers were the two top items on the Indian bucket list. So we knew we had to go there someday. But after hearing so many different opinions about India, I almost felt scared to go there. India is one of those countries that people either...
Simon and I have been talking about long-term travel for quite a while. We’ve been travelling on and off for years but never for an extended period of time. But two weeks here, three days there is no longer cutting it for us; there are just too many amazing places in the world to visit. Heading off to travel for a year or two is not a decision to take lightly. It...