tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76321165932671752132024-03-13T18:07:01.332+01:00Let's Be AdventurersRachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01258830341091422460noreply@blogger.comBlogger200125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7632116593267175213.post-86624404590756668662014-07-11T18:00:00.001+02:002014-07-11T18:00:19.059+02:00Alaska<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alaska was beyond beautiful from a boat...but it only sparked my interest for a great Alaskan roadtrip! What do ya think <a href="http://www.voyages-of-discovery.net/">Denis and Emma</a>?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Check out our last minute trip to southern Alaska. Tracy Arm Fjord, Skagway, Juneau and Victoria, Canada :)</span></div>
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<br />Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01258830341091422460noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7632116593267175213.post-49727525347814287032014-06-15T05:31:00.000+02:002014-06-15T05:31:08.483+02:00Sweet Home California<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello there! It seems like just yesterday that we stepped off the plane from <a href="http://www.lets-be-adventurers.com/search/label/amsterdam">Amsterdam</a> to California...but it wasn't, it's been over a month since we officially made the move to California. During our long trip across the pond we couldn't believe that our <a href="http://www.lets-be-adventurers.com/search/label/rtw%20trip">6 month adventure</a> was officially over. But we had to concentrate on</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> a whole other chapter of our lives that is starting: </span><i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">life in California</i><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>So what have we been up to for the past month?</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Winding down from our trip...</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Spending lots of time with family and friends...</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Trips to the beach...</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>A trip to Alaska!!!! (more on that later)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Going back and forth to San Francisco...</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Job-hunting...job-hunting...job-hunting...lots of job-hunting</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>...and guess what, after a few weeks of interviews, Christian landed an awesome job right in the heart of San Francisco :). #proudwiferighthere :)!!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the next couple of weeks we will pack up yet again, rent some Airbnbs for the summer, I will continue my job hunt and eventually we will apartment hunt too. We are looking forward to some mini trips around California, a few more So Cal beach trips, ofcourse watching the Dutch team dominate in the World Cup and tons of new adventures waiting for us up in San Francisco.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> For now take a look at our first few days back in the good ol' USA, in Northern California.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And stay tuned...I'm working on a big recap post of our 6 month trip!! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">{Cruising Shasta Lake}</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">{Burney Falls}</span></div>
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Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01258830341091422460noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7632116593267175213.post-90056587605983781322014-05-23T22:48:00.000+02:002014-05-23T22:48:00.139+02:00Absolutely amazing...Petra, Jordan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The ancient city of Petra was everything we expected it to be--pure magic. In fact, we cannot wait to get back to the Middle East one day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was so magical that my emotions went wild. Once we finally set our eyes on the Treasury peeking out at the end of the Sikh, tears gushed down my face.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes it was crowded so if you can peel yourself our of bed at 5AM to beat the crowds and daytrippers it is well worth it. However, sleeping in a bit and exploring Petra in the late afternoon also means cooler temperatures and less tourists.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Travel Tips</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Take the strenuous hike up to the viewpoint over the Treasury. The tricky part is that the map on the grounds doesn't point this out!! (Best to ask a local). We met a Bedouin guy who had a small camp overlooking a cliff towards the Treasury. It was so cool to have this exclusive view! It's a tough uphill climb but definitely worth it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*We stayed at <a href="http://www.sabaahotel.com/">Saba'a Hotel</a> and it was great! For 25 JOD per night we got our own room, a roof terrace, free breakfast and for a few JOD's they will pack a big lunch for you to take into Petra.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Entrance fees are pretty expensive and Petra is HUGE. We did the full on 3 day pass and it's worth your while because 1 Day = 50 JOD, 2 Days = 55 JOD and 3 Days = 60 JOD.</span></div>
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<br />Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01258830341091422460noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7632116593267175213.post-72542223297587756092014-05-20T06:21:00.000+02:002014-05-20T06:21:00.170+02:00Jordan!! The Dead Sea & Petra By Night<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After our fun, wet days in Bangkok for Songkran, soon we were off to the airport to catch our flight to JORDAN! We had plans to visit Jordan 2 years ago but had to cancel 4 days before our trip due to a family emergency. Ever since then we knew that we had to re-plan our trip and Jordan was almost automatically tacked on to the end of our SE Asian backpacking trip.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And before we knew it, we had landed in the Middle East and were way too excited to see a place we had always always wanted to see: PETRA. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because we were strapped for time in Jordan, we arranged a taxi to pick us up from the airport at 6AM and deliver us to Wadi Musa, the main town near the ancient city of Petra. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But first...floating in the Dead Sea :) with a view of Israel just across the water.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a little dip (and floating in the Dead Sea was the most bizarre feeling ever!) we made it to Wadi Musa in time to rest, walk around the town and get our first glimpse of Petra by candlelight at Petra By Night.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was a perfect first day in Jordan and the days that followed were even more incredible. Will be back with more info on Petra soon...but here's a little confession: Jordan became one of our favorite countries we've ever visited.</span></div>
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<br />Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01258830341091422460noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7632116593267175213.post-63561840919048524562014-05-17T10:48:00.000+02:002014-05-18T06:22:17.389+02:00Airbnb Tokyo, Japan #1: stylin' in our Japanese studio<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ugh...hotels were expensive, hostels were even more expensive it seemed but yet again, Airbnb to the rescue!! Luckily we had our friends Ross and Cheryl with us so finding our own private apartment near Shingawa, only a few metro stops from the famous Shibuya crosswalk, was easy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For only $120 (including fees) a night, we found Keita's <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2321082">apartment</a>. His cozy place is conveniently located near Gotanda station and a plethora of eateries, stores, a few karaoke bars, etc. And by "cozy" I mean cozyyyy! It was a studio with a bed, futon, small dining table, tiny kitchen and bathroom, and a washing machine. I mean this was Tokyo after all, so we weren't shocked by the size.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The best thing about <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2321082">the apartment </a>was Keita himself! Keita was sweet and beyond friendly, brought us a bag of Japanese snacks and sweets and introduced us to his sweet (sleepy) baby boy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The apartment may have been small but we fried up noodles and beef each night in the kitchen. And the price was cheaper than any hostel dorm rooms we could find anywhere in Tokyo. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can't beat it! Listing is <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2321082">here</a>. Thanks Keita :).</span></div>
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<br />Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01258830341091422460noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7632116593267175213.post-90017417814544892532014-05-12T10:21:00.000+02:002014-05-12T10:21:00.133+02:00Songkran in Bangkok<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There were a few items on our <a href="http://www.lets-be-adventurers.com/search/label/rtw%20trip">6-month Asian backpacking itinerary</a> that were just unnegotiable. One of them was spending <a href="http://www.lets-be-adventurers.com/2014/01/a-koh-lanta-christmas.html">Christmas</a> and <a href="http://www.lets-be-adventurers.com/search/label/koh%20lipe">New Year's</a> in <a href="http://www.lets-be-adventurers.com/search/label/thailand">Thailand</a>. The other was visiting <a href="http://www.lets-be-adventurers.com/search/label/south%20korea">South Korea</a>. We never even considered beginning our trip anywhere else other than <a href="http://www.lets-be-adventurers.com/search/label/nepal">Nepal</a>--we wanted to dive right into this magical country headfirst, and we loved it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Possibly the most unnegotiable item on our list was spending Songkran (Thai New Year) in Thailand.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Songkran is a 3-day party extravaganza of water fights and cheap beer...AND SO MUCH FUN.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ever since we threw tomatoes at <a href="http://www.lets-be-adventurers.com/2012/08/swimming-in-tomatoes-at-la-tomatina.html">Tomatina</a> in Spain a few years back, we vowed to also make it to Songkran one year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a lengthy flight from Tokyo, we were back in Bangkok ::siiiigh:: it felt great to be in a familiar place. We were reunited with our favorite street cafe, our favorite pad thai stand and our favorite fruit stand again. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Only this time, the walk to these places was like a total warzone! The first morning I ventured out to get coffee. I was worried I would get soaked already but Christian 'assured' me that it was too early for the festivities to begin...and then I walked back 30 min later soaking wet (but with coffee!). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh <i>IT IS ON</i>. Slurp, finish our coffee, change into bathing suit and "get wet" clothes, find some water guns and we were right smack dab in the middle of Thai New Year craziness on Khao San Road.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was amazing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I felt like a kid!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I giggled like a kid!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was too much fun.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And just like that, Songkran became some of our most favorite days of our <a href="http://www.lets-be-adventurers.com/search/label/rtw%20trip">ENTIRE</a> trip.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Planning on going next year? Songkran is every year from April 13th-15th for complete water fighting madness...get that waterproof camera ready ;)</span></div>
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<br />Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01258830341091422460noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7632116593267175213.post-5518329996566907832014-05-07T10:07:00.000+02:002014-05-07T10:07:00.017+02:00Street scenes around Tokyo<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No trip to <a href="http://www.lets-be-adventurers.com/search/label/japan">Japan</a> can be complete without a trip to Tokyo! It's amazing how such a bustling city can have the most polite people...I mean even the taxi drivers are polite! Standing near Shibuya crossing and you'd think you would hear the usual city sounds like taxi horns and such...nope! Practically not a sound....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tokyo was alive and colorful at night, which is when I enjoyed Tokyo most.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some of the places we were able to tick off our list during our few days in Tokyo: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Shibuya crosswalk - it really is amazing to see!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Harajuku - I couldn't leave without doing a little bit of shopping Japanese-style ;)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*More and more arcade halls for our little-boys-at-heart Christian and Ross - ok we played too</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Yebisu - Japanese beer brewery</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Lots of spicy Ramen</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Akihibara "Electric" City - really cool neighborhood, especially for the technie nerds ;)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Aaaaand karaoke...because what else should we do at 2AM after a night out near Shibuya?</span></div>
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<br />Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01258830341091422460noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7632116593267175213.post-70701436544471409952014-05-04T22:52:00.000+02:002014-05-04T22:52:00.557+02:00Nikko, Japan<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At about 2ish hours away from Tokyo, Nikko is the perfect day or overnight trip. Up in the forest, the air was a bit crisp and the snowy mountains were in view. Nikko has tons of shrines and quite possibly one of the coolest hostel owners ever (and I mean EVER!).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">His name was Hiro. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hiro single-handedly manages <a href="http://nikkorisou.com/english.html">Nikkorisou Backpackers</a> and is probably the coolest guy we met in all of Japan, and possibly in all of Asia. He gave us a ride to the store, to the train station, to the ATM and prepared a tabletop hotplate for us so we could cook our delicious Japanese beef and noodles in the common room at the hostel--<i>teppanyaki-style!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even though the hostel clearly states the common room closes at 11PM, Hiro (and quite a few other backpackers who had just returned back from the hot springs--which yes ofcourse Hiro gave them a free ride to) joined us to play Catchphrase for the entire night. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then, halfway through the game, Hiro offered to take my friend Ross to the liquor store <i>in the next town</i> to get more <i>sake</i> and Asahi.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We really enjoyed Nikko...but we loved Hiro and his hostel!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes people make the best experiences, don't you think?</span></div>
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<br />Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01258830341091422460noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7632116593267175213.post-44270323305459885612014-05-01T01:00:00.000+02:002014-05-01T01:00:00.887+02:00Food of Southeast Asia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As our trip is slowly coming to an end, and we are back in The Netherlands for a quick visit before moving across the pond, friends and family have asked if we are just plain sick of Asian food.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the answer is a very strong: NO WAY! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Actually we both lost some pounds (probably also due to carting around backpacks every few days!)...yet we <i>ate like pigs.</i> It's not even that we shed some weight (Christian can't fit into his old pants anymore lol), we just felt healthier. Even with all of the rice, the noodles and salty sauces...we felt better eating Asian food than we did eating Western food back home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A friend of mine living in Bangkok explained why this could be so: cooks visit the food markets every morning for their daily ingredients because they usually don't have the means to store food in refrigerators, etc. At the same time, fruits and vegetables are locally bought and free of preservatives, sugars, etc. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Food is so fresh and simply made in Asia, it makes me completely rethink how I'll prepare food in the future.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The dishes aren't only delicious but very colorful and pretty to look at :)...even if it comes straight from a food cart on the side of the road.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We had so many favorite dishes. Nepalese momos, potatoes aloo, noodle soups basically everywhere. But during almost every meal in Thailand we ordered Chicken or Pork with Holy Basil and Chilis or Pad Thai. Christian's all-time favorite while on the road was Singapore's Wonton Mee.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are some of our favorite dishes we had in Asia!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>From left to right:</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Top row: Nasi Campur (Indonesia), Bowl of chilis and garlic (Thailand), Momos (Nepal)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Last Row: Wonton Mee (Singapore), Grilled Prawns with Garlic Rice (Philippines), Chicken Laap (Laos)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We must make some honorable mentions outside of SE Asia to our feast of falafel, fuul, hummus and pita at Hashem Restaurant in Amman, Jordan. And Korean BBQ everywhere in <a href="http://www.lets-be-adventurers.com/search/label/seoul">Seoul</a>. Just delicious!!</span></div>
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<br />Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01258830341091422460noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7632116593267175213.post-31523460319237148662014-04-28T11:09:00.000+02:002014-04-28T11:09:00.703+02:00Mount Koyasan, Japan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We planned Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Takayama (but we nixed Takayama after a heavy night of too much hanami) and Nikko. All pretty touristy we thought. After a bit of searching we found Mount Koyasan, a magical little place in the mountains which is the center of Shingon Buddhism, and a bit off the tourist trail. This mountain town is covered with temples, some 50+ temples cover the area around Mount Koya! Spread out between the temples is one of the oldest cemeteries in Japan.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We had 2 days to kill before we met friends in Osaka and Koyasan was the perfect 1-2 day getaway. Koyasan is located in Wakayama Prefecture and is about 2.5 hours from Osaka Namba station. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you do find yourself in the Koyasan area, check out <a href="http://koyasanguesthouse.com/">Kokuu Guesthouse</a> for a great stay. It feels more like a boutique hostel. It's a wee bit pricier than any other hostel you'll stay in but the Japanese owners make a delicious breakfast and Indian food from scratch (they backpacked around India so it's the real deal!).</span></div>
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<br />Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01258830341091422460noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7632116593267175213.post-50050589234072191612014-04-26T10:57:00.000+02:002014-04-26T10:57:00.286+02:00Hanami Parties in Kyoto<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By far one of the best decisions we made during our 6 month backpacking trip was to visit <a href="http://www.lets-be-adventurers.com/2014/04/japan.html">Japan</a> during cherry blossom season. During the few weeks in which 'sakura' paint <a href="http://www.lets-be-adventurers.com/2014/04/japan.html">Japan</a> in colors of pink and white, the Japanese practice that art of 'hanami' which basically means enjoying the cherry blossoms. The Japanese get some food, some sake and find a nice spot under the many cherry blossom trees. There are <i>tons</i> of places around Japan with cherry blossoms--even from the train the countryside is covered in cherry blossom beautifulness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We got our 'hanami' on in Kyoto...twice! And both times were more than a success. The first one we found by mistake (and was our favorite). Down the street from the Golden Pavilion, we found ourselves walking through a park completely covered with cherry blossom trees. There was sake, there was sushi, there was gyoza and potato salad, and there were lots and lots of laughs. The fact that our friends Ross and Cheryl flew from California to meet us in Japan for 2 weeks made the experience even better.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The hanami parties were some of our favorite memories in all of Asia. And then we ordered more sake ;).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>HANAMI TIPS</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Head to the nearest grocery store and BYO food and wine</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*It seems that the city sets out mats on the grass for anyone to use freely, find a spot and mingle ;)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*We arrived late in the afternoon and didn't leave until after dark. The cherry blossoms are beautiful during the day, at sunset and at night when the lanterns are lit up at night</span></div>
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<br />Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01258830341091422460noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7632116593267175213.post-69916722105721415102014-04-23T10:48:00.000+02:002014-04-23T10:59:08.340+02:00JAPAN!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our two weeks in Japan were...<i>expensive</i>...but full of arcades, Sega, samurai swords, yummy food (but we only had sushi once! I had no idea what other delish Japanese food we were in for), karaoke, cherry blossoms and a couple hours spent in Japanese photo booths ;).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's Japan! More detailed posts to come soon ;).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">{Kyoto's Fushimi Inari Shrine}</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">{Kyoto's Golden Pavilion...beautiful but too many tourists for our liking}</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">{Sushi and Segaworld in Osaka}</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">{SUPER MARIO KART!!!}</span></div>
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<br />Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01258830341091422460noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7632116593267175213.post-88496681628226064272014-04-21T06:06:00.000+02:002014-04-21T06:06:00.173+02:00Airbnb Bali, Indonesia: our very luxurious villa<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We may have had our <a href="http://www.lets-be-adventurers.com/2014/04/airbnb-hong-kong-our-tiniest-one-to-date.html">tiniest Airbnb ever</a> a few weeks ago in Hong Kong, but during our 6-month backpacking trip we also had our <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/398820">most beautiful</a> Airbnb to-date in Bali, Indonesia.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Way back in early December we decided to stray a bit from our backpacker budget and splurge on a 6 day honeymoon escape. We wanted a place we could lounge around all day, swim, layout, and repeat.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, the hardest part of the entire experience was choosing our Balinese Airbnb. There were <i>tons</i> to choose from. And finally we found it: <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/398820">Villa Ruku Ruku</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/398820">Villa Ruku Ruku</a> was beyond beautiful and the perfect honeymoon retreat. The villa had two master bedrooms and bathrooms, a private pool, open kitchen, a maid that visited the house each morning and a view over the rice fields.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Benjamin met us at the villa, mixed up some fresh watermelon juice and gave us the keys to our place. At the same time I was able to arrange a masseuse to visit the house later in the week for an onsite massage ;). And we arranged a private van driver to give us a 10-hour tour of <a href="http://www.lets-be-adventurers.com/2013/12/lush-and-green-ubud-bali.html">Ubud</a> in central Bali. The fact that it rained a couple days during our time in Bali was fine by us too...tropical rain meant it was still hot enough to swim. It also didn't hurt that everywhere in Seminyak delivers so we had dinner at the villa each night.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are SO MANY beautiful Airbnb's in Bali and <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/398820">Villa Ruku Ruku</a> did not disappoint...happy hunting :).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*In case you missed it: <a href="http://www.lets-be-adventurers.com/2014/04/airbnb-hong-kong-our-tiniest-one-to-date.html">Airbnb in Hong Kong</a>*</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">{Warm rain!}</span></div>
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<br />Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01258830341091422460noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7632116593267175213.post-70541308626206815932014-04-17T05:48:00.000+02:002014-04-17T05:48:00.475+02:00Suwon and Bukchon<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For our last few days in <a href="http://www.lets-be-adventurers.com/2014/04/seoul.html">Seoul</a>, we hopped on the train for about 30 minutes to Suwon, a fortress city and perfect place to daytrip. Christian was stoked because the trains had arcade games and karaoke rooms...hahaha. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also spent our last night in a <i>hanok</i> (traditional Korean house) in Bukchon hanok village. It's amazing how a place as high-tech as Seoul has this ancient Korean village nestled in between the buildings. Bukchon was perfect for a 1 or 2 night stay. Walk around later in the evening when *most* of the crowds have disappeared!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">{Cute Bukchon village}</span></div>
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<br />Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01258830341091422460noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7632116593267175213.post-81046039557976789502014-04-15T05:44:00.002+02:002014-04-15T05:44:18.816+02:00Hyehwa area in Seoul<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a few days staying in Hongdae, we thought we'd explore another part of town. A few readers said we must check out Hyehwa in Jongno-gu district so we decided to book our next right next to Hyehwa station.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hyehwa (like the rest of Seoul) is riddled with universities except this neighborhood caters to all of the artsy/theater students. It's no surprise that Hyehwa matches the crowd. Live music, tons of theaters, murals on the wall, creative statues and benches...Hyehwa is just plain cool. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was also only one metro stop from Gwangjung Market where word on the street was that this was the</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> place to go for Korean pancakes (</span><i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">pajeon</i><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">) and rice wine (</span><i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">makgeolli</i><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">). It was delicious but we were still back at one of those Korean BBQ places in Hyehwa the very nice night (because we're obsessed!).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You really can't go wrong with staying in Hyehwa or Hongdae!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>TRAVEL TIPS</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Where to stay</u>: <a href="http://www.agoda.com/24-guesthouse-daehakro"><span style="color: black;">24 Guesthouse</span></a> was great!! And they have locations all over Seoul</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>What to eat</u>: Korean pancakes...and BBQ ofcourse</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>What to do</u>: Korea has<i> bangs</i> for just about everything (private rooms for karaoke, gaming, movies, etc). We found a DVD <i>bang</i> in the neighborhood, rented a movie and chilled out in our own private viewing room watching '127 Hours.'</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Bring extra shopping money too...the streets around Hyehwa are lined with lots of cute clothing and accessory stores*</span></div>
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<br />Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01258830341091422460noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7632116593267175213.post-5520049166845543972014-04-11T05:34:00.000+02:002014-04-11T05:34:01.371+02:00The touristy side of Seoul<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ok maybe we spent a good part of our time in Seoul drinking with Korean students in Hongdae, eating Korean BBQ and visiting all the tech stuff Christian desired, but we visited a few temples too thanks to my friend <a href="http://smallsight.wordpress.com/">Carly</a> and her handy travel guide since she had spent a year living in Seoul teaching English. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For 10,000 KRW, we got access to 5 of the major temples around Seoul, which was quite a bargain. Seoul was on the verge of Spring so the air was crisp and the cherry blossoms were<i> juuust </i>starting to bloom.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the highlights of our time in Seoul was meeting up with an old friend from highschool: Sam. He treated us to dinner in Gangnam (mmm hmm yes the same as 'Gangnam-style!') and we met up with another Korean-American friend of his and ordered endless bottles of soju (the local liqour). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The atmosphere of Seoul, of Gangnam, the <i>coolness</i> in every person walking by us was on a completely different level. And we thought it was kinda neat that we basically saw ZERO tourists during our 9 days in Seoul.</span></div>
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Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01258830341091422460noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7632116593267175213.post-64370444160938234612014-04-07T15:30:00.000+02:002014-04-07T15:30:01.152+02:00Seoul!<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Christian, that geeky husband of mine, is a tech guy at heart. Basically 'gadget' is his middle name. So early on in the planning of our 6 month backpacking trip South Korea became a part of our trip. After a Norwegian couple told us that Seoul was 'the best city on the planet' we decided to do a good 9-10 days here. And oh how happy we were during those 9 days.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Koreans know how to party...I mean Hongdae was ALIVE every single night.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then there were those cheap shops selling the world's cutest sweaters for like...$10!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then we went to a cat cafe which ofcourse goes to show we are crazy cat people...lol.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then the Korean BBQ...mmm. Cooking quality meat while your table is covered with 'banchan' (Korean side dishes) and kimchee and the rice wine and soju wash it all down. Korean BBQ is one of the best culinary experiences we've had in Asia.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seoul is so alive, so delicious and so so so so advanced. We were constantly connected to free wifi around the city. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Basically, Christian wants to move there...and those Norwegians were right, Seoul was the best city we've experienced in Asia :)...and possibly ever...well besides Amsterdam ofcourse ;)...</span></div>
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<br />Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01258830341091422460noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7632116593267175213.post-21882666052225407572014-04-04T16:34:00.000+02:002014-04-04T16:34:00.555+02:00Airbnb Hong Kong - our tiniest one to date<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.lets-be-adventurers.com/2014/04/hong-kong.html">Hong Kong</a> is expensive...especially in comparison to our 6 month backpacker budget. Gone were the days of $18 beach bungalows in <a href="http://www.lets-be-adventurers.com/search/label/thailand">Thailand</a> and we were looking at paying a good $25 (EACH!) for a dorm room with 10 beds....ugh.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well...Airbnb to the rescue!! I was stoked to find this <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1115652">private room</a> in an apartment in Mong Kok, a local area of Kowloon, right off of Ladies' Market. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At only $40 per night, it was a steal! The location was perfect--we could get anywhere we wanted in Hong Kong super easily especially since the metro was literally 30 seconds away.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We found a dumpling restaurant down the street where we happily visited each day for breakfast/lunch each day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The hilarious part was that this <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1115652">private room</a> was tiny...I mean really <i>tiny</i>. But what should we expect? Some neighborhoods in Hong Kong are the most densely populated IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The other hilarious part was that the granny of the family slept in the hallway. So each night we arrived back home, granny was sleeping nearby ;).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1115652">This</a> was a great place to stay for a few days. Would we stay for longer than that? Probably not. But hey we only paid $40 per night for a place to sleep and that's all we were after.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps on our next trip to Hong Kong, we will up the budget to have our own private apartment overlooking the harbor...kinda like <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/190376?s=HUIC">this one</a> ;).</span></div>
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<br />Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01258830341091422460noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7632116593267175213.post-10560716988295192742014-04-02T09:35:00.000+02:002014-04-02T09:35:00.184+02:00Hong Kong<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once we set foot on the plane to leave <a href="http://www.lets-be-adventurers.com/search/label/philippines">The Philippines</a> we realized we were stepping from the Southeast Asian world to the Far East Asian metropolis portion of the trip at the very same time. Yep...our trip was about to take a very different road leading to Hong Kong, Korea and Japan!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We <i>loved</i> Southeast Asia, the tropical beaches, jungles, motorbikes and delicious food...but we were quite looking forward to what was next. And first was...Hong Kong.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To me, Hong Kong felt like a giant, very clean and organized Chinatown. It was dumpling stands-meet-swanky bars, city skylines-meet-harborfronts, street markets-meet-fancy malls and everything in between.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We scored a sweet (and tiny) Airbnb room in Mong Kok. Mong Kok felt much more 'local' and our Airbnb room was right on the same street at Ladies' Market. Each morning we ventured around the corner for pork and kimchee dumplings for a late breakfast and then hit the town. Oooo the dumplings were so good!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll be honest, we pigged out in Hong Kong and most definitely passed the 200 dumpling market with our daily dumpling helpings, wonton noodles, fried wontons, dim sum and pork soup dumplings at Din Tai Fung (so good!!) and even more pork dumplings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On our last night we were up for a really special treat, two friends from Amsterdam (one Canadian, one Australian) treated us to a very delicious Szechuan meal near Wan Chai. A big pot of boiling spicy soup is brought out to the table and you simmer away plates of beef, dumplings (yes...again), veggies, and noodles.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Go for dim sum at Din Tai Fung on Canton Road (there is more than one location in Hong Kong and a few other locations around the world!). This place has killer pork-soup-dumplings and brisket soup!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eat dumplings in Mong Kok...actually just eat dumplings everywhere ;).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Go to Chi Lin Nunnery for a bit of Chinese culture.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And ofcourse head to the Avenue of the Stars for a view of the harbor from below and go to Victoria Peak for a view of the harbor from above.</span></div>
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<br />Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01258830341091422460noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7632116593267175213.post-44719755095636822142014-03-31T11:07:00.000+02:002014-03-31T11:07:00.047+02:00Introducing: The Airbnb Around the World series<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was nearly 3 long years ago that I took the plunge...my first <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/">Airbnb</a> experience.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We were headed to <a href="http://www.lets-be-adventurers.com/search/label/new%20york%20city">New York City</a>. Bed bugs were running rampant in the hotels. Hostels were so expensive...even the 10 bed dorm rooms. It was summer in the city and we wanted a neat place. What to do, what to do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We had heard of this great San Francisco based startup company before. A website where you can rent out your apartment to fellow travelers. Or maybe a spare bedroom. Or even a couch.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Would it be...weird to stay in someone's place? I mean what if they are sleeping there at the same time? Looking back at our travel experiences, our favorite moments were always when locals were involved: showed us around, chatted with us, dined with us, hung out with us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then we got to thinking about how cool it would be to stay in an apartment during our trip to NYC. We put it together and voila! Soon I had signed up for <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/">Airbnb</a>, created my profile and bid on our first <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/">Airbnb</a>: a room in a <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/6021">German guy's apartment</a> a stone's throw from Central Park. At only $60 per night, it was a steal. And as fate would have it <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/6021">he accepted us</a>!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right around the corner from the subway, a short stroll to the Museum of Natural History and a couple blocks away from the world's best garlic bagels with garlic cream cheese (Absolute Bagel, I love you). Our <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/">Airbnb</a> host was <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/6021">Claudio</a>. His spotless apartment had stripes on the wall, a/c, our own set of keys so we could come and go when we please and a random picture of Audrey Hepburn here and there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We were hooked then and there. Ever since <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/6021">our first ever Airbnb experience</a>, we have vowed to always use <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/">Airbnb</a> whenever possible. Since <a href="http://www.lets-be-adventurers.com/search/label/new%20york%20city">that wonderful trip</a>, we have put quite a few <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/">Airbnb</a> experiences under our belts: a small studio in a <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1658386">canalhouse</a> in Amsterdam, <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/65878">a cute apartment</a> in Lisbon's old quarter, two apartments in <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/256536?s=i-p3">Iceland</a> and most recently a <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/398820">honeymoon villa in Bali</a> and <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1115652">a teeny, tiny room in Hong Kong</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I absolutely love the <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/">Airbnb</a> <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/help/getting-started/how-to-travel">concept</a>. And it's not just the concept I love...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. The apartments/houses can be cool...some are <i>really, really</i> cool. A SF apartment with a skeeball and arcade game inside? Treehouses in the Pacific Northwest? Castles in Ireland? Houseboats in Amsterdam? Beach cottages in Venice Beach? Villas in Bali, Italy or France? Airbnb even throws together their very own themed wish lists! Like 'glamping' (luxury camping), surfer retreats, the best ski chalets, and the list goes on and on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Airbnb is often cheaper than hotels (and hostels!). We saved atleast $100 per night (in a nice place) by staying in a New Yorker's Airbnb.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Local perspective and some great hospitality! One of our Airbnb hosts in Iceland provided breakfast for us. Another host left us a bottle of wine if we could change the sheets for the next <i>Airbnb-er</i>. Some leave maps and restaurant suggestions. Airbnb even offers <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/locations">Neighborhood Guides</a> for the World's biggest and well-known cities.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. While you can rent a private room or a shared room, you can also rent the entire house/apartment. Staying somewhere long-term? Enjoy the convenience of your own kitchen and a nice little home away from home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I could go on and on and I cannot recommend <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/">Airbnb</a> high enough. Not to mention, after you've used <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/">Airbnb</a> a few times, they will send you Airbnb coupons to discount your next stay (I got one for $25!).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've decided to share our Airbnb experiences we love so much and start a small series on the blog: </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-weight: bold;">Airbnb Around the World</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll kick off my first post soon but here's a small ode to our previous trips with Airbnb!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Thanks Claudio! Love your <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/6021">Central Park apartment</a> and stripes on the walls...thanks for being our first <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/">Airbnb</a>!*</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Our <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/65878">Lisbon, Portugal, apartment</a> was the perfect location for those late night wanderings around the old town and summer Portuguese street parties.*</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Our stays in <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/256536?s=i-p3">Akureyri</a> and Reykjavik were the perfect-sized apartments for our <a href="http://www.lets-be-adventurers.com/search/label/iceland">Icelandic roadtrippin'</a> foursome.*</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can only hope that these experiences will encourage any fellow travelers out there to give Airbnb a try, you won't regret it! Here's how to <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/help/getting-started/how-to-travel">get started</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Any fellow Airbnb-ers out there? Where'd you stay? How did you like your experience?</span></div>
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Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01258830341091422460noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7632116593267175213.post-89353689123050728952014-03-28T05:39:00.000+01:002014-03-28T05:39:00.272+01:00Must See Beaches Around El Nido: Las Cabanas Beach, Nacpan Beach and Dagmay Beach<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few beachy spots you won't want to miss around El Nido!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>LAS CABANAS BEACH</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Las Cabanas beach is only a 120-150 PHP tricycle ride from El Nido but well worth it. You walk on a path from the street, past a field of palm trees and right up to a palm-tree lined cove. There is one beachbar and one hotel here. We came back to Las Cabanas three times because it was so close to us. And the burgers are the beach bar are pretty tasty!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>NACPAN BEACH</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alot of tricycyle drivers in El Nido will advertise this beach, so you won't be the only ones here. However, we ended up at this beach during one of our motorbike adventures. The sand is white and soft, the water glistens, and for wave enthusiasts like Christian, you can have some serious fun frolicking around in the water. There are also a few beach bars here serving up grilled seafood and pineapple mixed with rum. It's the perfect day trip away from El Nido.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>DAGMAY BEACH</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was my favorite beach in Palawan. While it was a good 1+ hour motorbike ride north of El Nido (about 30-40 min past Nacpan), we had the beach all to ourselves. The water was clear and warm and the palm trees and fishing boats made the perfect backdrop. And the motorbike ride back into town wasn't bad either ;).</span></div>
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<br />Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01258830341091422460noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7632116593267175213.post-81203349428910243702014-03-25T05:29:00.000+01:002014-03-25T05:29:00.867+01:00Moving from El Nido town to Corong Corong Beach<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No island getaway is complete without a beachfront bungalow right? Well that was my argument so we could stay in just one more bungalow on our last beachy destination on our trip! I found Talindak Beach Cottages on Corong Corong Beach on Trip Advisor and at $30 a night for a beach bungalow, we couldn't pass it up. We had two lounge chairs in front of our cottage and had the most incredible beach at our doorstep. El Nido town (only a $1 tricycle ride away) was better for food and civilization but Corong Corong Beach was incredible. The sunsets were the best we'd seen on our trip, locals were tending to their fishing nets each morning, little Filipino kids were starfish-hunting or playing on the volleyball net strewn up in the water. It was glorious.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We were glad we got to stay in El Nido for a few nights to enjoy the town but we were glad we moved over to Corong Corong...and we didn't look back to El Nido town ;).</span></div>
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<br />Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01258830341091422460noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7632116593267175213.post-24872080851675360822014-03-23T05:22:00.000+01:002014-03-23T05:22:00.298+01:00Around El Nido town<div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01258830341091422460noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7632116593267175213.post-66706901072280790572014-03-20T05:20:00.000+01:002014-03-20T05:20:00.030+01:00Snorkeling Trip: Tour C in El Nido<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was really surprised about the lack of tourists in El Nido. Ofcourse it's not really on the typical backpack trail AND it requires a flight from Manila then a 6-7 hour bus from Puerto Princesa to El Nido. I am stoked that this little paradise is a bit cut-off from tourists.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just about the only touristy things you see around town are ads for boats to Coron and snorkeling tours A-D. We decided to hop on board Tour C and were more than happy with our decision! For about $32 (includes a national park fee) we visited 5 spots such as snorkeling on Helicopter Island and visiting Secret Beach and Hidden Beach, the most beautiful sneaky beaches which are hidden behind those magnificent limestone cliffs! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Around mid-day, the boat found a private beach and the captain and co-captain whipped up a lunch of fresh grilled tuna, steam crab, salad, fruit and BBQ pork. And it was beyond delicious.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At $32 for a full day of island-hopping, snorkelling and lunch on a private beach, it was worth every penny!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">{See the seasnake?}</span></div>
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<br />Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01258830341091422460noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7632116593267175213.post-17809195739015342312014-03-19T17:54:00.000+01:002014-03-20T03:50:26.940+01:00Another country, another motorbike! Well...dirtbike...<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Christian just about had motorbiking down to a fine art. Then the motorbike shop in El Nido said they only had a semi-automatic dirtbike to rent out to us. Small obstacle...small obstacle, Christian thought. Can't be TOO much more difficult than what we've been on before.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hopped on the back as per usual...and just as we left town the first sight we see is a tourist who had just fallen off his...semi-automatic dirtbike. Sweet.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fortunately I've got the best motorbiking, dirtbiking, scoot-scootin' husband in town! We bounced all over the roads between El Nido and Nacpan Beach and made it there (and back!) in one piece. We also ended up on the local road...more like a local footpath. Before we knew it, we had missed the turn but a local told us to follow him, then after a few kilometers, he pointed to a trail in the jungle, yelled 'Nacpan!' and disappeared. So that was our trail. A 1 meter wide pathway/tunnel of trees apparently leading to a beach that we couldn't even see.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And we made it :). Christian rolled the dirtbike onto the sand, we hopped in for a dip and rode down to the main part of the beach...where all of the non-lost people end up. Fortunately we were pleased to see that they had plates of grilled shrimp for $5...and an actual road back to town.</span></div>
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<br />Rachaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01258830341091422460noreply@blogger.com0