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…Karst limestone mountains, waterfalls, rivers, caves, water buffalo… Laos felt much more relaxed and less touristy than other places we have travelled in SE Asia. As a result, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves even though it didn’t feature any “big ticket” items (e.g. Angkor Wat, white sand beaches, crystal clear waters). We found the people to be genuine, and to our pleasant surprise they mostly ignored tourists. There was no aggressive hawking or bargaining, which made shopping in the markets lovely. There was also beautiful scenery (karst limestone mountains, waterfalls everywhere). Curfew is set by the Government at 10:30pm (I think it’s now midnight) so no crazy bar/club scene and most people go to bed early and wake up early. This was one of our most relaxing holidays with our time spent exploring, reading, and enjoying the local cuisine, including the BeerLao (delicious!) and French food and wine at fantastic prices.
Here are highlights (DINK Trip Tips) from our trip...for more details or to help plan your own visit, contact us! Vientiane
Luang Prabang
Nong Khiaw (north of Luang Prabang)
Tha Khaek (south of Vientiene)
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…Majestic waterfalls, luxurious riverside lodges, impressive big game… Victoria Falls is a bucket list destination that doesn’t disappoint. Luxurious lodges on the Zambezi River provide a wonderful spot to relax/indulge while visiting the awe-inspiring falls and partaking in adventure activities nearby.
Originally described by the Kololo tribe living in the area as “Mosi-oaTunya” (“The Smoke that Thunders”), Victoria Falls is now known as the greatest curtain of falling water in the world. At the height of the rainy season more than 500 million cubic meters of water per minute fall over the edge over a width of almost 2km into a gorge over 100m below. Facing the falls is another sheer wall of basalt of the same height with a mist-soaked rain forest on top. A path along the edge of the forest provides amazing views of the falls. Another fabulous way to view the falls is by helicopter. Here are highlights (DINK Trip Tips) from our trip...for more details or to help plan your own visit, contact us! Highlights:
…Sunrise and sunset safari drives, awe-inspiring big game, amazing sunsets and night skies, luxurious lodges… African safari is definitely a bucket list item. And Botswana is one of the top places to see big game. Historically, Botswana has opted for higher price, lower volume tourism as part of its conservation strategy and to distinguish itself from other safari destinations. So most of the reserves are private properties with small, luxury lodges. And if you decide to visit more than one reserve, your transportation will likely be small bush planes (some with as few as 4 passengers!) and dirt runways with the occasional ostrich that needs to be shooed away.
Here are highlights (DINK TRIP Tips) from our various trips so far...for more details or to help plan your own visit, contact us! Highlights:
…World-renowned wineries, spectacular hiking, adventure activities, beautiful coastline... In 2012 some good friends of ours organised a destination wedding in Franschhoek wine country. This became the perfect excuse for a holiday in South Africa, followed by a safari in Botswana and Victoria Falls, which are summarised in separate blogs.
Not surprisingly, South Africa is located at the southern tip of Africa. It is an immense country with a long coastline stretching over 2500km. The interior is vast ranging from mountainous regions to plateaus. We only had the time to visit three areas during our visit, all near the southwest coast, and so a return visit is definitely in our future. Here are highlights (DINK Trip Tips) from our trip...for more details or to help plan your own visit, contact us! Highlights:
…Majestic mountains, moss-covered forests, deep Buddhist traditions, spectacular dance festivals, ubiquitious chillies, unique Gross National Happines philosophy... Bhutan is one of the most untouched countries we’ve explored and it’s where we had the privelege of celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary.
In addition to its striking landscapes, it was also a unique destination for us to visit due to the government’s approach to tourism. As a foreign visitor, you are charged a minimum tariff (US$250/day per person in Nov 2018) that includes accommodation, food, car transport, and an official guide that is organised by a registered Bhutanese tour agency. This was quite different to our normal approach of developing a budget based on itemised prices for hotels, transport, food, etc. The daily fee limits the numbr of foreign visitors providing travellers with a more peaceful, less crowded, and higher quality experience than in other similar locations. Located on the eastern edge of the Himalayas between China and India, Bhutan’s mountainous landscape and approach to environmental protection has resulted in 70% of the country remaining forested for future generations. In turn, this has created a peaceful, non-congested feel to the country. Here are highlights (DINK TRIP Tips) from our trip...for more details or to help plan your own visit, contact us! Paro
Thimpu
Bumthang
…Beautiful beaches, lush rainforests, adventure activities, abundant wildlife... Costa Rica will always hold a special place in our hearts as it is where we had our wedding and honeymoon!
Costa Rica is a relatively small country in Central America bordered by Nicragua to the north and Panama to the southeast. It has the Pacific Ocean in the southwest and the Caribbean Sea to the northeast. Since it is located 8-12 degrees north of the equator, it enjoys a tropical climate year round. It’s seasons can be split into two: dry (Dec-Apr) and wet (May-Nov). In addition to beautiful beaches, rainforests, and volcanoes, it also has a rich variety of plants and animals. Here are highlights (DINK TRIP Tips) from our trip...for more details or to help plan your own visit, contact us! Manuel Antonio
Montezuma
Monteverde
Puerto Viejo
…Fairytale villages, medieval castles, riverside cities, fabulous beaches, delectable seafood, powerful fortified wines… Portugal has everything you need for a satisfying holiday...UNESCO World Heritage Sites, idyllic scenery, friendly people, beautiful & delicious food, and fantastic wines (white, red, and fortified).
We had a lovely week long visit to Portugal. We flew into Lisbon and then leiusurely drove up to Porto with stops in several fairytale-like villages (Sintra, Obidos) and the University city of Coimbra. It was awesome to experience both of the two main cities as well as some of the smaller villages and student life. We plan to come back to check out more of the beaches, countryside, and wine regions! Here are highlights (DINK Trip Tips) from our trip...for more details or to help plan your own visit, contact us! Lisbon
Sintra (30 min west of Lisbon)
Obidos
Coimbra
Porto
…Plentiful UNESCO World Heritage sites, thought-provoking architecture, diverse and beautiful scenery, fabulous wines, delicious cuisine… We’ve only visited Spain once so far and so have only seen a small portion of this large and diverse country. Spain is home to the world’s third largest number of UNESCO World Heritage sites. So, we will definitely be back to see some more of these sites as well as to experience more of the spectacular scenery, amazing wine regions, and delicious cuisine.
Our trip focused on Barcelona, Rioja, and San Sebastian and was mostly about food and wine. Each day we'd carefully plan out our (limited) number of meals and wish we had bigger stomachs! Food in Spain is amazing, possibly some of the best in the world (second only to Japan in our opinion). Spainards focus on high quality and fresh ingredients, take great pride in their food, and love to eat and drink wine. In fact, we ended up with ended up with more "food" pictures (85) than "sights" pictures (65)! Here are highlights (DINK Trip Tips) from our trip...for more details or to help plan your own visit, contact us! Barcelona
Rioja
San Sebastian
…Numerous world heritage cultural sites, amazing culinary scene, wealth of wine regions, spectacular natural beauty… Italy home to the largest number of UNESCO World Heritage cultural sites in the world. This alone would be reason enough to visit, but it also has an amazing culinary scene, a plethora of wine regions, and a diversity of natural beauty (7600km of spectacular coastline, crystal clear lakes, lush green mountains).
We’ve been fortunate to have visited twice so far. Our first visit explored both the big cities of Rome and Florence with their multitude of famous cultural sights and the countryside of Tuscany with its amazing wineries and quaint medieval hilltop villages. Our second visit took us further north to the high fashion city of Milan and to several of the surrounding lake districts and wineries. We’ll definitely be back to check out another area of the country and some more wineries! Here are highlights (DINK Trip Tips) from our trips so far...for more details or to help plan your own visit, contact us! Rome
Florence
Tuscany
Milan
Mantova (small village ~1.5 hour drive east of Milan)
Valpolicella (viticultural zone of the province of Verona, east of Lake Garda)
Lake Iseo
Lake Como
Lake Lugano
…Rooftop bars/restaurants, stark desert moonscapes, ancient ruins, beaches, mezze… One of our favorite holidays was visiting Turkey. We met up with some friends in Istanbul and then continued on to explore Cappadocia, Ephesus, Pumakkale, Faralya, and Kas. It was a great combination of historical sites, beautiful nature, and cosmopolitan nightlife.
Here are highlights (DINK Trip Tips) from our trip...for more details or to help plan your own visit, contact us! Istanbul
Cappadocia
Ephesus
Pumukkale
Faralya
Kas
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