Please note, we are now doing part 3 out of 5 on our trip to Albania in February. Comme d’hab, better late than never innit. <3 Albania is a land of fascinating history. What did I know in advance? Once upon a time there was a dodgy Communist dictator. That’s about it. So, after day […]
new friends
Dajti Ekspres, yet another cable car
Excerpt from my Albanian travel journal notebook: Mon 20/2 klo 13.25 Cold so won’t write for long, but just to share magical moments w/ you. Sat alone @ top of Mount Something, maybe begins with a Q (pronounced “ch”), maybe not. I LOVE THIS. Views are PHENOMENAL. Just had a nutritious lunch of yesterday’s peanut […]
Albania, land of…
I went to Albania roughly due to the same reasons I went to Kazakhstan – why not? Voldemort chose it as his random country to hide in, what more random place to choose? What I knew about Albania before going: So, I spent seven nights in Albania. I went alone, which I think is arguably […]
Curral das Freiras – second to nun
One thing that seemed both intriguing and feasible without a car was a trip to the famous Curral das Freiras, Nun’s Valley. What was it? A village in a valley, basically, where once upon time a group of nuns fled to escape pirates (in 1566 to be precise). Today, it is nunless but nonetheless meant […]
Oulu day 3: Tiger palaces and Greek lighthouses
The next day was meant to be our Hailuoto day, but alas it wasn’t. We were leaving our home around 1pm, famished and ready for a new round of iced coffees from Tähtikahvila, when L, our host, came to talk to us. He asked us if we were in a hurry, which we weren’t, so […]
The sun which set beyond the Kok-Tobe cable cars
What to do when first arriving in a new town? Go see the highest view you can find. This can be via a tower, via a tram up a mountain or, traditionally in the Story of My Life, via a cable car. One of the attractions of Almaty in the first place was the cable car […]
Lake Kaindy, the mystic sunken forest
110 years ago Lake Kaindy was a forest like any other. Then the 1911 Kebin earthquake happened, which created a landslide which created a dam, eventually causing rainwater to drown the forest. The trees have taken Ariel as a role model and still appear to be living underwater as mertrees, covered in sea plants and […]
Charyn Canyon, the little sibling of the Grand
What should you go see in Kazakhstan? Yeah, I had no idea a few weeks ago either. But I’ll tell you. As mentioned in my previous entry, there were certain places I wanted to visit: the Charyn Canyon and surreal Lake Kaindy topping the list. Visiting both of these would require a private and expensive […]
Seoul-discovering
Make sure you are undaunted and secure with your relationship status when you travel to South Korea, especially if you happen to visit on the 14th. Koreans are well-known for their love of anything adorably cute, beautifully romantic or sickeningly soppy (depending on your way of thinking), and have unofficially christened the 14th as variedly […]
10 Kyoto Must-Try Culinary Delights
Though I spent most of my Asia trip eating epic food, I feel my culinary experiences in Kyoto deserve their own entry. From horse meat sushi to red bean mush-filled raw dough-esque pastries, here we go, in no particular order… The Best of Kyoto Cuisine 1. Conveyor belt sushi Sushi does not get much more traditional than […]