Island of Hvar

We are waiting for our catamaran from an island called Hvar back to Split. Hvar was a nice island that seems to be a hotspot for European tourists. The journey to get here was a long one though: 4.5 hour bus ride from Dubrovnik to Split then a catamaran ride. It's been ~35 degrees here everyday! Really hot! The bad thing about the heat is that it's only bearable to explore in the morning and after 6 pm. The port area here is very lively with lots of restaurants and bars thats attracts a lot of hoiti-toity yachts owners. One of the yachts had a fitness centre staffed with a waiver, cook, etc. Apparently Beyonce and a bunch of other celebrities have come here also but stay on their yachts. It looks like groups of friends come here from close by to spend the weekend. Be fun to come here with a bunch of people but all Adam and I did was go to the beach and eat! It has some of the Dubrovnik feel with the stone buildings and city wall but more of a party scene. We stayed at a B&B/guesthouse called Villa Fio that was very cleans and nice although we would have a sea view if we stayed on the other side of the house - thats what we get for booking an international trip 3 weeks before! The beach was right down the street from where we are staying and the second day we took a "water taxi" to an island that has a sandy beach called Palmazino. Although it was decent, it was way too crowded which is sort of how it's been everywhere in Croatia. June or September are likely much better times to visit as I said that about going back to Italy in those months as well. I won't miss all the smokers here though! I don't know how they don't have raging incidence of Lung cancer here. I feel like we got years worth of second hand smoke just being here. Food report: need to make resos for restaurants here because theybsre all busy in high season! Had a yummy truffled steak at Dalmitino - was recommended by Ali and Zahra and #1 on tripadvisor which is a worthy rating! Ate there twice! Also ate at an authentic Croatian restaurant called Konoba Menego and tried a bunch of local dishes which were tasty. Highly recommend Dalmitino though!

30th birthday in Dubrovnik

Couldn't have asked for a nicer 30th birthday! Thank you everyone for the birthday messages! We spent the day relaxing in the sun at our hotel with frequent dips in the sea to cool off. The water is so clear and the ocean was essentially our pool! I then had a massage and sea salt exfoliation treatment at the Royal Rixos Spa as our hotel which was really relaxing and had a great facility. Adam had made reservations for dinner at Villa Ruza, a seaside restaurant on an island called Kolocep, a short boat/ferry ride from Dubrovnik. It had great surroundings, fresh seafood and really good service! The Shrimp tempura was divine! Saw a beautiful subset on the water as we travelled back to to say goodbye to Dubrovnik Old city which I was very sad about. Old town is such a lively place. I would have loved to stay longer to dine at more restaurants and explore more alleyways of the Old town. We finally found our way to Buza bar/cafe - a random patio overlooking the sea that is built off the city wall with amazing views. The only thing I won't miss is how a soft drink is ~$5 almost everywhere you go - robbery lol. We are off to Hvar today, which is a popular island a boat ride from Split, which is frequented by many celebrities apparently.

Old city charm and sea side beauty

Currently writing this post from our new hotel called the Rixos in dubronvik! Aleena is probably laughing because all along she told me to stay here but we didn't book it because it was over our budget. However our original hotel, although okay (Argosy Hotel) was decent but not for the price we were paying, so we upgraded and moved hotels for 1 night (because it wasnt available before) and seriously trying to see if we can stay one more night and cut one night out of our next city/island, Hvar. Loving our new hotel and have a spa treatment booked later today! We definitely wish we had left more days for Croatia - at least 10 days instead of 7 but hindsight is always 20/20! Dubrovnik does live up to its hype! When you arrive at the old city of Dubrovnik, you get the feeling you do you see Machu Piccu in Peru for the first time or other comparable sights, for those of you who have been. Walking along the old city walls was definitely a highlight to see it from above! There are still people living in the Old city and there are tonneau of shops and restaurants. As Dubrovnik is along the Adriatic Sea and is right at the Bosnian border, its city walls were damaged during a war with former Yugoslavia but you barely even notice. UNESCO has named it a world heritage sight and rightfully so. Dubrovnik is a port city for cruise ships also and is just crawling with tourists like us! It's also super hot so we have spent the daytime at the beach and/or pool and then go to old town in the evening when it cools down a bit. Adam and I can handle heat very well and even we are sweating walking the stairs in old town to get around. All the alley ways of the old town have "patio" restaurants like the alleyways in some areas of Instanbul. Since we couldnt squeeze in a day trip to Bosnia or to Montenegro, we wanted to try Bosnian food and it was also highly rated on our travel bible, Tripadvisor! The restaurant was called Taj Mahal, which you would think is an Indian restaurant. It was good to try, similar to Turkish food, but tiffin ribs/east african is still the best food in the world lol! We also went to Dubruvka on the first night which is just outside the old town, recommended by Ali and Zahra, who just came back from Croatia 2 weeks ago. Really nice view and good food too! For anyone who goes to Croatia in the near future, I'd recommend purchasing the 1 day dubrovnik pass or longer if you have time to see the other sights because it pays for itself for stuff you will definitely be doing anyway.

Wondering through the canals of Amsterdam

This is my third time to Amsterdam but for the first time, Amsterdam had great weather and only rained the morning we were leaving for Dubrovnik! We were there for a short time but enjoyed roaming the canals and exploring all the different areas of the city! Alizia, Shaila's cousin, whose Canadian but now lives in Amsterdam, took us around one afternoon and gave us the insider scoop on the country and Netherlands culture. People here are extremely friendly! Our 9 hr flight from Calgary literally flew by because we were chatting for 3 hours with a Dutch guy sitting next to us on the plane. Apparently half of Canada's population which is the entire population of the Netherlands lives in the distance between Calgary and Edmonton! No visit is complete without a walk through the Infamous Red light district. We also visited Anne Franks House for a history reminder of WW2 days and hope to have time to visit the Heineken Museum which is apparently interesting even for non drinkers. We know we will be back another time as its such a great hub to Europe from Calgary. Air transat from yyc to ams was better than we were expecting and cheaper than KLM. Food report: Went to Koh I Noor for Indian, as we always seek out an Indian restaurant on vacation lol, Greenwood cafe/restaurant which we wanted to go to for breakfast but it isn't open early enough. Went to Burger Bar for lunch which was goos but appalled that you have to pay nearly 1 Euro for ketchup for your fries. Also went to Indonesian restaurant called Kantjil & de Tijger which was tasty. Since Indonesian was a former Dutch colony, there were a lot of Indonesian restaurants. And Amsterdam wouldn't be complete without some crepes/pancakes or as there called here, Pannenkoekens! We stayed at the Crowne Plaza City centre which was nice and a very convenient location walking distance from Central Station.

Bangkok Madness

Our last day of our trip was spent in Bangkok! We stayed at the Intercontinental this time, which had great proximity to the shopping within walking distance! Although we had planned to do some sight seeing and some relaxation, we realized that the stores we had been scoping 3 weeks before now had awesome sales! The day of sight seeing quickly turned into a day of shopping instead although I snuck in a massage early in the day. We found the most luck at Siam Paragon Mall and Central World. I think you could spend an entire day at each of those malls! My favorite store this time was called Jaspal - I think 90% of the stuff I bought was from Jaspal and Mango in Malaysia!

We got our fix of Thai KFC - they have awesome spicy wings that we were craving from the last time we were in Thailand - still finger licking food! We were really looking forward to eating at a restaurant called Gaggon - progressive Indian food, they call it, after we read the reviews online but it was an extremely slow dining experience - took almost 3 hours, and we had to rush through dessert because we had to catch our international flight home! Although the food was very good, we were extremely annoyed with the service so I'm on the fence on whether I'd recommend it or not. Overall, our trip to Asia was amazing! Adam and I are both extremely sad that our vacation has come to an end. We seriously debated changing our flight to stay one day longer but we really needed to get back and tackle real life. Check back again for the addition of more "real photos" - not ones I've stolen from the internet!

Rainforest and Beaches in Coexistence

Langkawi is one of the popular Malaysian islands which is a short flight from KL. It probably wasn't the best order to follow the Maldives with Langkawi because although Langkawi is a great beach destination, it couldn't stand up to the Maldives. The day we got there we stayed in the north part of the island at the Andaman Resort at Datai bay, which was a really beautiful property with a great beach and pool but a bit isolating from the town which means you had to eat all of your means at the resort or take a taxi 20 min away from the resrt. It was a great resort for families though and more like a typical Mexican resort, although not all inclusive. The resort was basically in a rainforest! We always had to keep our windows and balcony door closed as there have been instances of Monkeys coming into your hotel room in the search of food! We moved to Pantai Cenang for the 2nd and 3rd nights to a place called Langkawi Chantique which was more of a basic hotel but closer to restaurants and a different beach. It was extremely hot in Langkawi and poor Adam had to stay more clothed than normal because he unfortunately burned through his clothes on the last day in the Maldives. Poor guy! Cenang beach has tonnes of watersports and is fairly busy. We took a cable car ride up to what felt like the highest I've ever gone on a cable car in my life! It was actually a bit scary but there were amazing views from the top. They have a Sky bridge that you can walk across the rainforest canopy but it was closed when we went for maintenance. I probably would have chickened out anyway! We also checked out the neighboring shops at the Oriental Village and went on a 5D ride (3D plus a moving seat that sprayed you with water as you went through "wet" parts!)

We also took a Mangrove tour where we saw random types of fish, eagles, and my fav - the swimming monkeys! The sunset cruises and island hopping tours are also highly recommended here but we didn't have enough days to do everything. Most people opt to rent a car or a shooter to explore the island. We rented a car for the 2nd day to explore as it was far too hot for a scooter although that would have been a fun way to explore! Food report: We went to a restaurant called Privilege that had a modern take on Malaysian food! Really yummy with the best creme brulee I've ever had! It was located at Perdana Quay, which is where some of the boats depart from. I'd likely recommend it! We also went to a seafood Restaurant in Cenang called Orkid Rea Restaurant - the tiger prawns looked as big as lobsters! Of course, we got in a few more meals with Roti canai although at restaurants that weren't overly memorable. When we leave Asia, I'm going to be in virgin Passionfruit mojito withdrawal! The fresh fruits and yummy food will definitely be missed!

Maldivian Beauty

Our trip to Maldives felt too short! Although we had 4 full days and 3 nights, we probably could have stayed there a few days longer :( If we could do it all over again, I probably would have booked a water villa for 2-3 nights and then a beach villa for 2-3 nights to be stay longer and keep costs under control. Adam and I really need a diet when we get back! The food was really good with a lot of variety - far better than any other all inclusive type of place we've ever stayed at including our safari last year. Snorkeling right off the beach or off our water villa was very cool! Since the water was so clear, you could even see some fish on our boardwalk to our villa or from our balcony. The best part was that the area around the island is fairly shallow so you can just stand when you need a break from swimming but still a lot of fishes amongst the reef. There would be highly unlikely encounters with sharks and other scarier sea creatures at that depth which I'm okay with! Diving is supposed to be good here too but I'm a bit freaked out after my first intro dive in Australia and I'm not certified. I was on a wind surfing mission but both days I booked a lesson, there wasn't enough wind so it got cancelled. I guess I'll have to try that on another trip. We had some time to kill after our sea plane and our flight back to KL so we went to Male. Again, in the daylight, nothing remarkable - very populated and apparently very expensive to live with lots of narrow roads and alleyways that are poorly constructed - so different from the resorts! Although Male is the capital of the Maldives, there are also some other inhabited islands that aren't resorts. Apparently, there are a total of 1200 islands organized into 19 atolls or rings of islands. Our resort was only 55 km from the airport but some are over 300 km away. With so many islands, you would think another nearby country would take claim to some of then since they are so beautiful and so many of them! We obviously didn't stay here but check out this photo of one of the hotels! Wow!

Less than a week left of our trip. We just arrived in Langkawi! Will post again in a few days!