Absolutely amazing...Petra, Jordan

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.

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.

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.

Travel Tips

*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.

*We stayed at Saba'a Hotel 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.

*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.

Food of Southeast Asia

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.

And the answer is a very strong: NO WAY! 

Actually we both lost some pounds (probably also due to carting around backpacks every few days!)...yet we ate like pigs. 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.

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. 

Food is so fresh and simply made in Asia, it makes me completely rethink how I'll prepare food in the future.

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.

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.

Here are some of our favorite dishes we had in Asia!

From left to right:

Top row: Nasi Campur (Indonesia), Bowl of chilis and garlic (Thailand), Momos (Nepal)

Second row: Noodle Soup (Laos), Pad Thai (Thailand), Shrimp with basil and chilis (Thailand)

Third row: Curry chicken noodles (Malaysia), Green Curry (Thailand), Ramen with Pork (Japan)

Last Row: Wonton Mee (Singapore), Grilled Prawns with Garlic Rice (Philippines), Chicken Laap (Laos)

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 Seoul. Just delicious!!

Suwon and Bukchon

For our last few days in Seoul, 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. 

We also spent our last night in a hanok (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!

{Cute Bukchon village}

Hyehwa area in Seoul

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.

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. 

It was also only one metro stop from Gwangjung Market where word on the street was that this was the place to go for Korean pancakes (pajeon) and rice wine (makgeolli). 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!).

You really can't go wrong with staying in Hyehwa or Hongdae!

TRAVEL TIPS

Where to stay: 24 Guesthouse was great!! And they have locations all over Seoul

What to eat: Korean pancakes...and BBQ ofcourse

What to do: Korea has bangs for just about everything (private rooms for karaoke, gaming, movies, etc). We found a DVD bang in the neighborhood, rented a movie and chilled out in our own private viewing room watching '127 Hours.'

*Bring extra shopping money too...the streets around Hyehwa are lined with lots of cute clothing and accessory stores*

The touristy side of Seoul

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 Carly and her handy travel guide since she had spent a year living in Seoul teaching English. 

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 juuust starting to bloom.

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). 

The atmosphere of Seoul, of Gangnam, the coolness 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.