Archives for April 2012

Fishing in Ninh Binh Vietnam

April 30, 2012 By Jillian

We’re nature lovers at heart, and so despite also loving the action of a city, after a few days in Hanoi, we needed to get out. We headed straight to Ninh Bihn, a couple hours south, we where we went to visit the Tam-Coc caves. The caves aren’t really anything spectacular – rather the spectacle is the rowing itself. The locals row the boats with their feet, which if you think about it, makes a whole lot more sense than rowing with your hands- your legs are a much larger and stronger muscle group.

The ride was tranquil, but as we turned the bend we saw this man fishing. The perfect portrait of rural life along the river, we couldn’t help but snap his photo as he threw out his long wooden fishing rod. Every few minutes he lifted the rod out of the water only to toss it back. Catfish our row boat captain told us.

The man didn’t catch anything while we were insight of him, but then again fishing is rarely about the actual fish- it’s more about the act of fishing.

IF YOU GO: From Hanoi, it’s easy to take a 2-3 hour bus ride to Ninh-Bihn from the southern bus station. They leave regularly, but check the price from your hotel before you go as overcharging is common. You can also rent a car and driver for the day if you’re looking to do a round trip, which may make it easier to fit everything in. We spent in the night in Ninh-Bihn and rented bikes to go to the boats and caves for the day. Get there early – and bring a hat, there’s no shade on the boat. Check out our other posts about traveling in Vietnam.

Photo Credit: Photo from flickr user dtobias via creative commons licensing.

From Atop Monmartre

April 27, 2012 By Jillian

It was sitting in the park below Sacre Coeur Basilica late in the afternoon that I realized I could actually speak French. After six years of language study, I went to France in high school as part of a school trip. There in the park, I watched a little girl trying to play with the other children. In tears when they wouldn’t let her into their game, she ran to her father crying out in French that they would not play with her. My heart went out to her and I gasped. Without a laborious translation in my head, I had understood what she had said- I could speak French!

From that moment on, the neighborhood of Monmartre and the Basilica of Sacre Coeur would always have a soft place in my heart. I loved wandering the neighborhood, although built along a steep hill, and stopping in to see the various 19th century cabarets, artist’s homes and experience its bohemian past.

IF YOU GO: Monmartre and the neighborhood at the bottom of the hill, Pigalle are popular with tourists. The city views from the plaza outside Sacre Coeur are incredible, but be careful walking down the stairs! If you’re looking for a longer-term stay in Paris, check out apartments in Paris available to rent here.

Photo Credit: Thanks to flickr user alexbaranov for this photo, licensed through creative commons.

A Camel Kiss

April 25, 2012 By Danny

I came across this photo the other day and instantly thought it was something worth sharing here. The photographer came across a stable of camels while walking and his wife put out her hand for the camel to say hello. They had just come from Marrakech where her hand had been painted.

The amazing thing about this photo to me is that the photographer had the presence of mind to snap the photo of the hand like that. Had it been me, I think I would have tried to capture the entire person and camel….or at least the face of the camel. This photo captures the magic of the Berber village and is the sort of photo that instantly carries you to a place you’ve never been and makes me want to book a flight to Morocco right now!

IF YOU GO: Morocco is a wonderful and magical place. It is ethnically unique and yet still very accessible from the US and Europe. I had the good fortune to travel their via ferry from Spain but to get to the Berbers it’s probably best to fly straight to Marrakesh or even Casablanca. Once there you may find French to be your best tool to communicate, the dialect of Arabic spoke there is different so if it’s not your first language you’ll likely find things difficult.

Photo Credit: Flickr user DavidDennisPhotos.com via creative commons licensing.

National Park Week!

April 24, 2012 By Jillian

If you’re anything like us, you dream about whitewater in the Grand Canyon, hiking through the Olympic rainforest and exploring Yellowstone. We have a soft spot for U.S. National Parks- our first trips together were out to the Grand Canyon and Olympic National Park for some epic backcountry adventures and we regularly ran at Valley Forge National Park and the National Mall when we lived in the Northeast. National Parks have featured so prominently in our lives- we were even engaged in the forest surrounding Shenandoah National Park!

The National Park service estimates that over 280 million people visit their parks every year. Needless to say, most of those people visit between May and September, making it the busiest time of year. It is sufficient to say the most popular national parks are packed during the summer, in fact some parks have waiting lists to get campsites. Seriously – a waiting list to camp!

Fortunately the same travel tips that apply to world travel apply to National Park travel – go off season (like right now) and avoid the busiest sites. For example, instead of going to the popular South Rim of the Grand Canyon, go to the North Rim, enjoy the same view just with less people. This week is National Park Week (April 21-29th), meaning every park, all 397 of them, are FREE this week. I hope we have the opportunity to check some of these parks out this weekend. This may just be the time to visit Dry Tortugas!

Lonely Planet authors put together their top parks for April. I can’t say I’ve been to most of these, how about you?

Las Ramblas in Barcelona

April 23, 2012 By Jillian

Las Ramblas might be Barcelona’s most touristy street, packed with restaurants, shops, vendors, kiosks and street performers. The tree lined avenue runs from Plaza Catalyuna to the Christopher Columbus statue along the water.

When I arrived in Barcelona on a late night flight from Italy, I was surprised to see so many people in the streets at such a late (or early depending on your thinking) hour. The street cafe’s along Las Ramblas were packed with groups of friends enjoying the cool breeze and good company. We dove right in to a large order of tapas and spent a good few hours enjoying life along the pedestrian walk.

Of course the best part of a pedestrian only walk is the people watching. Although late night Barcelona is famous, you don’t have to stay out until 5am for good people watching. With such a large crowd and so many varied stores, it doesn’t take long to find someone or something of interest. Street performers juggle, act as statues and do stand up comedy along the walk as others busy themselves by doing their weekly market shopping. Throughout the world we loved going to these centers of commerce – outdoor market streets, indoor markets, tourist markets, anywhere that locals would congregate to meet, shop, and visit old friends we found ourselves at our happiest.

IF YOU GO: Barcelona is easily accessed from all over Europe and has become a favorite long weekend destination for those in Northern Europe looking for a bit of sun and fun. If you’re interested in enjoying the late night tapas bars and watering holes of Barcelona, which famously don’t get busy until an hour that most Northern European bars and restaurants are closing, some people like to book through Oh-Barcelona, so they don’t have to explain to the front door man of a hotel where they’re going at midnight!

Photo Credit: Flickr user Travelling_Artist via creative commons licensing.

Fishing in Ninh Binh Vietnam

From Atop Monmartre

A Camel Kiss

National Park Week!

Las Ramblas in Barcelona

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