Two hours by local bus ($.50/ticket) east from Kathmandu brought us to the small village of Dhulikel. We sought two things here...fresher air, and views of the eastern Himalayas. Both, it turned out were only marginally attainable at our new address. The locals here (and guidebooks) claim that on clear days you can see the entire Himalayan range, including almighty…
There are so many things about North Lakeside in Pokhara (Poke-ah-ra, not Poke-ahr-a) that just make you want to drop your trekking poles, and hang out for awhile. We’re not usually into touristy places, but the clean air, abundant ethnic and vegetarian food options, juice bars, yoga classes, lakeside strolls, movie garden, Thai massages and the rock-bottom prices on everything…
Mandy remembers spinning her new globe at age seven and being awed by all the “bumpy” bits on the round sphere indicating mountains. Among those bumps was one country that fascinated her more than any other...little Nepal because it was seemingly ALL bumps. At that age, she vowed to go...to Nepal...on the basis that it was cool and bumpy. Regardless,…
Journeying overland from Lucknow in India to Nepal took some initiative and significantly more determination than we’d expected, made all the more difficult because of the week long Diwali festival celebrations, which we had unfortunately mistimed to coincide with our travel days. The magic transit formula for success ended up being one Uber, one Indian train, two(!) sardine-tinned shared “taxis”,…
After spending weeks in the Bulgarian countryside, arriving to Istanbul was an assault on all our senses...in the best way possible. The smells, the tastes, the sounds, the sights, even the lingering heat of the air and the sea breeze, the unbelievably inexpensive prices...all simply divine. We hadn’t been to a city of this size (14.5 million, biggest in Europe)…
We had three more days in the land of Türkiye, as the Turks prefer their country name pronounced, just enough time to squeeze in a couple more jaw-dropping wonders. Türkiye was about to add to its already significant wow factor for us at Pamukkale & Ephesus. Paumukkale, aka the Cotton Castle, is not made of salt, nor freshly fallen snow.…
Antalya...was love at first sight. We were enamored by the southern Turquoise Coast that glimmered before our eyes. It’s easy to see how this area explodes with Russian and European tourists during the summer months, but for us, being here in March, it was blissfully slow paced, and sweetly idyllic as it woke up from its winter, sleepily welcoming the…
We can safely say the Lycian Way is epic… or is it magical… or…merely indescribable!?! it has blissfully undeveloped wild mountain terrain matched only by aqua seas and white limestone beaches that mesmerize and majestic old black pine and cyprus tree forests grow alongside ancient olive groves clinging to life on terraced cliffs. The serene mountain hamlets and hidden under-any-radar…
