Category Archives: Travel

Vanuatu here we come

Posted on December 23, 2011 | 10 comments

One of the main reasons I love Christmas time is that we get time off from work. Normally I take my annul leave and go for a long holiday some where. For the last 6 years, I made sure that I was not in Sydney, if not in Australia at this time of the year. 

This year both me and AS have ten days off so we decided it was time to have one more stamp on our passports. After looking for reasonable deals for months, finally we found a deal within our budget so we will be going to Vanuatu during our year end break. 

Vanuatu is an island country in the Pacific which is three and a half hours flight from Sydney. It has 83 islands so we expect to have a great tropical holiday. They seem to have lots of activates like Abseiling, Parasailing, Semi Submarine, Cruises and much more. It also has the world’s most active and accessible volcano, Mt Yasur, and the world’s largest shore wreck dive the President Coolidge located just off the shore of Espirito Santo. 

So flights and hotels have been booked. Visa has been arranged and bags are packed. I got our snorkelling gears, swimmers, towels, summer dress and the all important sun screen lotion. I am really excited as I have wanted to go there for years. Finally, we are going. Hopefully the weather will be sunny and nice and not too hot. 

I have been looking at Trip Advisors for activities. There seems so many good things so I can’t wait to dive in the water and start having fun. One of the things I want to do is the Ocean Walker, if things work out according to plan. I have already done something similar in the Great Barrier Reef in Cairns and it is one of the easiest ways to be up close and personal with marine life. Ohoo! thinking about all the fun we are going to have is making me giddy already. Can’t wait to get on that plane  🙂

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!!

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Road trip to Canberra

Posted on December 2, 2011 | 2 comments

I love road trips. Just pack your bag and jump into the car and drive to destination unknown. I wanted to do one for a while but there was so much happening in our life that we couldn’t.  Luckily on last Friday, we decided to go on a road trip to Canberra. It is not far at all, around 3.5hrs drive from Sydney. 

I have a friend, PA, in Canberra. She is working for Australian Defence Force. Every time she comes down to Sydney, she asks us to visit her so this time we decided it was time to visit her too. 

On Friday, the weather was really bad here, wet and windy the whole day. I left work early and went to pick up AS and my friend SS. The traffic was really bad leaving Sydney but as soon as we hit Hume highway, it was cool. The weather was not on our side until we reached Canberra but it was fun to drive with the tourists (AS and SS). I have been to Canberra a few times before so I knew what to expect but AS and SS have never been there so it was fun to hear them talk about empty roads, their excitement in seeing horses and cows gazing on the fields, etc. 

Canberra

In some places, the rain was so bad that I couldn’t really see more than a few meters in front of us but finally we were in front of PA’s house. PA was on the way home from work so we waited for a while and there she came. As it was still raining we took our stuff and ran into the house. 

She shares a 4 bedroom house with a lady so me and AS got our own rooms and SS got her own room too. It was really nice to have a cuppa with a variety of bread from Bread Top after a long tiring drive. We just chatted for a while. It was still raining outside but we decided to go out and have dinner. 

We went to a Korean restaurant called Kimchi in the city centre. They served some nice food. We had kimchi pork, Squid and some dumplings. PA is pure vegetarian so she had vegetable fried rice. AS and SS also tried special Korean rice wine which looked like home-made ‘Tho’ in Nepal. 

The last time we met PA was a few weeks ago during AG’s hen’s night (post here) so we just ate, drank and talked until everyone was a bit tired. Then we headed home to our warm beds as it was till raining outside and quite chilly. 

On Saturday, we were lucky to have a bright sunny day. Once we had breakfast we decided to visit a few tourist places. 

First stop was Cockington Green. I have been there before and  I just love it. It has miniature towns as well as famous international landmarks. These displays are scaled versions of the real things around the world. I am sure it is really hard work to maintain the place as the gardener told us that all the trees and plants are real and maintained in their miniature size. 

Cockington Green

Next we stopped for lunch in the city centre food court. I thinking living in Sydney we are spoiled for choice but in Canberra I found it hard with just a few outlets. Anyway, we had a plate of Turkish food and were off again to the next stop, the Parliament House. 

Parliament House is situated in the middle of the city and it is free to tour. I really lovethe architecture of the place. On my previous tours with a guide I came to know that all the marbles used there were imported from Italy. This time we took our own tour. We went to The House of Representatives and the Senate. It was nice to visit the place where important decisions that affect our lives is made. I love the rooftop of the Parliament the best as it has a great view of the city and it also has green lawns to just sit on and relax. Best of all it has a big Australian flag flying over it. 

Top of Parliament House

Inside, one of the halls was decorated for a wedding reception. It was really beautiful. Can’t imagine how much they pay for the wedding in the Parliament House.

After taking a few photos we went to the Australian War Memorial. Each room in there tells a story of Australian men and women who fought for their country. There were really interesting displays of war-time with miniature soldiers and their surroundings. There were a number of military aircrafts and airplanes in display as well. 

Australian War Memorial wall

On the top floor, on both sides, there are names of all our fallen heroes and lots and lots of poppy flowers decorating them. I think it is a really emotional place for people whose ancestors have fought in the wars. 

After the Memorial we went to see Kangaroos. According to PA, if you are in Canberra you must see Kangaroos in the wild, and we saw so many of them. I have seen them before in the zoo and national parks but seeing them in the wild was a different experience. There were a lot of mothers with their Joeys (Baby kangaroos) in their tummy pouch. And they were not at all afraid of humans. 

As it was getting dark we decided to go home and rest for a while before going out for dinner. As soon as we reached the house, it started raining very heavily so we ended up cooking dinner at home. It was a typical Nepali dinner with rice, dal, kwati, chicken, pappad and tomato achar. 

All of us were in the dinning room till 2 am, talking, when we finally decided to go to bed. It was a really good fruitful day. 

On Sunday, we decided to have a big breakfast. We were all up and cooking bacon, mushrooms, eggs, toast and tea. After breakfast we went to the National Dinosaur Museum where we saw displays of dinosaurs, prehistoric fossils and lots of information about dinosaurs. It was a quick stop before we went to Lake Burley Griffin. The lake is surrounded by well maintained walking and biking paths and lots of greenery to just relax or have a picnic. It feels good to see so many well maintained parks in the centre of the city in Canberra. 

Telstra Tower

Then we drove around the Australian National University to go to the Telstra tower on top of a hill. The tower is not as tall as other towers I have been to but was a great place to see the whole Canberra city. There were open and closed observation decks on different floors. The main one has a café as well. With the glass surrounding, we were able to go around the tower and view and identify different landmarks. The view was amazing. The top observation desk was open and it was very windy, it felt like the wind was strong enough to blow us off the tower. Thank god none of us girls were wearing skirts!. We just went around once very quickly and came back inside. 

Enjoying lunch

After that we returned to the city and had our lunch is an Italian café. I had chicken risotto, PA had spinach penne pasta, SS had chilly penne and AS had Calzone. After lunch we just enjoyed the weather and relaxed for a while.

We were in the middle of the city and the there was no traffic except an occasional bus and some few cars. It was really nice to be away from busy Sydney life style for a change. Finally it was time for us to return to Sydney. We bid adieu to PA and the three of us were back on the road home.  

Please click here for more photos. 

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Our Trip to Thailand Part II

Posted on November 27, 2011 | 6 comments

This post is a continuation of my previous post Our Trip to Thailand Part I.

Krabi

Beautiful Krabi

We decided that we also need to do a trip to Krabi since AS’s cousin highly recommended it. As it was more remote that Phi Phi, she said it had even better view.

So we booked our trip through the hotel again. This trip cost us around AUD$80 p/p which also included island visit, snorkelling, lunch, afternoon tea and pick up/ drop off to our hotel.

 As on our previous tours, a van came to pick us up and then picked up a few other people on the way to the port. We were given a sticker and we introduced ourselves. This group was smaller than the one we went to Phi Phi with.

Karbi and Us

It took us more than an hour in the speed boat to reach Krabi but it was all worth it when I saw the magnificent view once we reached there. It was really quiet; only one other tour boat was there with us so I felt like we were in some remote part of the world, far away from civilization.

 We had time to relax and see the place while the lunch was getting ready. We went for a long walk .It was really nice to be with AS after being apart for so long. I got carried away and made a big heart in the sand and wrote A+ M. We had lunch and were off for snorkelling. It was great fun to swim so close to so many beautiful coloured fish.

After that it was a long ride back to the port and then to the hotel. Once we had shower and rested for a while we went for our pampering session. We had massage and I also had manicure and pedicure.  It was great to be able to relax at the end of the day.

 Bangkok

After our splendid stay in Pukhet we took a plane back to Bangkok. In Bangkok we were booked at Chateau de Bangkok. Once we were in the hotel, we were informed that they had upgraded us so we had 1 Bedroom Apartment which had a king-size bed and bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub. It was really a great start on our

Our room service

Bangkok trip. That evening we were very tired so decided to order in and rest for our big trips ahead.

We ordered Thai style fried rice and Prawn dish. I loved the way they had our fried rice in pineapple then we enjoyed some movies.

The next morning we had booked a Bangkok City and Temple tour. It is a must if you are in Bangkok as it covers lots of sightseeing and is worth it. Luckily enough , we were alone on this trip so we had the guide to ourselves all the time.

Wat Traimit

First stop was visit to Wat Traimit, the temple with world’s largest solid gold Buddha, 5 1/2 tons of solid gold 3 meters  high Buddha . They charge entry fee but ours was paid by the tour guide. He explained the history behind the temple and took some photos for us. The Golden Buddha was cast sometime in the 13th century. On the way to the next stop we went around Chinatown.

Next stop was Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha). This Buddha was 46 meters long and 15 meters high and it was almost impossible to take a shot of the whole statue in one shot. This Buddha holds the dual honour of having both Thailand’s largest reclining Buddha image and the most number of Buddha images in Thailand. It also had giant feet with mother-of-pearl soles.

Wat Pho

The guide explained to us there if we want to donate the money, we can buy the coins and put in the bowl around the Buddha. It will bring good luck to us so we did.

While we were leaving for our next stop, on the way we saw many colourful taxis. You can’t believe the colours like pink, purple, yellow, red, etc. The guide explained to us that the colour is company coordinated so people know which cab they are in.

Bangkok

The next stop was Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) which is regarded as the most sacred Buddhist temple in Thailand. It had lots of holy buildings, statues, and pagodas. The Buddha itself was green in colour made out of a single piece of jade.

Then we went to Grand Palace which was built by King Rama VI. It has impressive interiors and big halls with lots of antique furniture.

While we were coming out from the palace, there was a guy with live snake around his neck offering photo opportunity with snake for small amount. AS and both were excited so we had our photo taken with the snake around our neck.

Bangkok Standing Buddha

Our next stop was Wat Benchamabophit (marble temple). It was really nice temple made out of Italian marbles. Our guide told us that the main statue of Lord Buddha sitting in the main hall was the copy of the famous “Phra Buddha Chinarat” in Pitsanulok province, north of Thailand.

Our last stop for the day was Wat Intharawihan (temple of Standing Buddha). The temple has tall standing buddha which is 32 metres tall. This temple also has a statue of Hindu god Brahma.

It was really long and informative day. We again ordered room service and enjoyed some movie.

Floating Market, River Koi and Kanchanaburi

Floating market

Next morning we had a trip book to Floating Market, River Koi and Kanchanaburi. We waited for our van to pick us up to go there early in the morning.

The van took us out of the city and we were in Damnoen Saduak District, Ratchaburi Province, about 105 kms from Bangkok. As soon as we were in the canal area, I saw lots of floating boats some with tourists and some selling colourful souvenirs, fruits and other items. It is a traditional way of selling and buying in Thailand and really nice.

Loving the snake

We were asked to hop on to one of the boats and we had a guide who took us around the 32 km canal. We had some time to look around by our selves once we finished our boat journey. I ended up buying lots of souvenirs like floating boat, a tuk tuk, a hat and a beaded earring.

Then we were back in the van to our next stop River Koi. We headed to Kanchanaburi province. Once there we went to the war museum and there were lots of information about World War II.  Then we went to the bridge over the River Kwai which was built-in World War II.

There we had lunch and visited a few shops. I ended buying a few beautiful brooches.

Up close with the tiger

The last stop was Tiger Temple and it was the highlight of our trip. It is a Buddhist temple where there were many monks, lots of tigers and few other creatures.

For around a few hundred dollars, we were allowed to be up-close and personal with the tigers. It was really unique experience and I was a bit scared but then it was all good as there was a guide with us all the time. I patted the tiger and he didn’t eat me 🙂

Bangkok Taxi

We also saw a cub on the way back and we were allowed to take pictures and pat it. It was a really nice experience.

After coming back from holiday, I did some research about the place and I found lots of negative things . I am still confused on what to believe.

Also if you are going there make sure you wear a covered dress as they will not allow you in otherwise.

By the time we got back to Bangkok both of us were tired and ready for bed.

The next day we went shopping. There were so many shopping malls in Bangkok that you will be overwhelmed with choices. I end up buying a few shoes and so many dresses. AS also bought a few shorts, t-shirts and some other items. We also bought gifts for our family and friends.

I really wanted to shop more but we were meeting AS’s cousin that evening so we went to the hotel to pack up and check out from our hotel.

We met his cousin and his Thai wife. They were really nice and we spent the  last few days with them exploring the local markets and eating traditional Thai food. We also had opportunity to go to AIT (Asian Institute of Technology).

For more photos on Thailand please click here.

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Our Trip to Thailand Part I

Posted on November 26, 2011 | 3 comments

I had meant to write about my travel experience for a while so I am starting with the first one now. One of our first holidays together after our engagement was to Thailand. That time AS was working in India and I was in Sydney.We hadn’t seen each other for over 2 months so it was one of the best holidays we had.

Both of us flew to Suvarnabhumi Airport Bangkok and it was so good to see him after what seemed like forever. When I saw him at the airport, I screamed and ran toward him, I am sure onlookers thought I was a crazy chick.

There was a long queue for our flight to Pukhet . It looked like everyone was going there but I didn’t care less. I was just happy to be in AS’s arms again.

Pukhet

Yummy food

It was quite humid when we landed in Phuket. The cab driver told us, it had been raining for the last few weeks but had stopped that morning. I prayed there would be no rain during our stay there. We reached our hotel, The Sea Patong. I did a lot of research online for the hotel and found this with good reviews. It was a few minutes’ walk to the beach and perfect for the evening as there is no noise when you are trying to sleep.

When we reached the hotel, we were welcomed with complementary drinks and fruit platter.

Phuket was amazing. I had heard so much about this places that I felt I kind of knew it well even when it was my first visit there. My good friend SL is from Thailand so she had given us lots of tips on what to do and where to go while we were there.

We just walked along the beach and had lots of amazing food. Imagine you pay only $5 to have a lobster. Food was really cheap and they tasted great.

Sunset in Phuket

We went shopping and I was really surprised to find a Nepali speaking person almost in every shop. They were Burmese whose ancestors had gone there from Nepal and they wanted to be known as Gorkhali. That was one fact about Thailand that no one had told me about before. We were communicating in Nepali in many shops. We met lots of these Burmese Gorkhali and got discount as they said “Because you are Nepali I will give you at this price”. It was funny to hear that in Patong. We bought gifts for friends and family and many bags for me and some T-shirt for AS.

It seems like people awaken when the sun sets in Pukhet and the most happening place for nightlife is Bangla road in Patong. It is a long strip of road with nightclubs on both side of road. I am sure everyone who goes to Phuket goes there. We saw lots of tourists in the bars and nightclubs.

Patong

It is famous for its raunchy nightlife. I had heard lots of horror stories of people who picked girls in these clubs to realise they were transvestite or as Thai called them, Lady Boys. I think everyone will be confused because they are so beautiful and dressed in sexy outfits (Ooops).

Another good thing I discovered is Patong was the massages. For around AUD$25 you can choose from different types of massages like Thai massage or aromatherapy massage. We had it almost every night while we were there. It was great to lie down for these massages after a long day out.

Phi Phi

Our hotel organise a day trip for us to go to PhiPhi Island. The trip started at 7.45 am and included an island visit, snorkelling, lunch, afternoon tea and pick up/ drop off to the hotel.

We slept late the previous night so I was struggling to wake up in the morning. AS was already awake and had his shower. I quickly ran to the shower and got ready. Then we rushed to the rooftop of the hotel for our breakfast. We waited for the van to pick us up to go to the port where the boat was waiting for us to take us to Phi Phi.

Phi Phi

The van picked up a few more people on the way to Karon beach where we were briefed us on our day. We all were given a sticker so the guide knows that we belong to his group. Everyone introduced themselves and told from which country they were. There were three friends from Poland, a couple of from Perth, a couple from India on their honeymoon and a few other people.

We took a speedboat and were on our way. I sat next to AS and held his hand and looked one of the best views I’ve ever seen. At one point, my hat was almost blown away by the wind. After almost an hour’s ride the boat stopped for our first stop in Maya Bay Island.

Phi phi island

The view was really breath-taking and the water was crystal clear. The guide told us we had an hour there so we took a few photos and snorkeled for a while. It was just beautiful. The beach was full of tourists but the environment was very happy. Everyone was relaxed and taking photos or swimming or lying on the beach getting tanned.

It was time for us to get on the boat again and this time it was a short trip to Koh Phi Phi. This is the island where the famous movie The Beach was filmed.

As soon as I got to the beach, I saw lots of monkeys around. I am really scared of monkeys so I didn’t dare to go close but AS was running behind the monkeys taking their photos.

The place was just divine and the day was perfect. The guide informed us that we will have our lunch there and then we can go out and explore the place.

Loving the beach

We went to this small restaurant where the table was set for our lunch. It was Thai lunch with chicken curry, seafood, vegetable and rice. We love Thai food so I and AS were happy with the food. Some of the other people were complaining about the food. The last serve was a platter of tropical fruits. There were some girls selling ice-cream so I ordered vanilla ice-cream with mango topping and AS ordered chocolate ice-cream with chocolate topping.

I feel when you travel you need to have an open mind and enjoy the local cuisine. That is how you learn more about the food, the place and the people. I have always found Thai people to be friend and very helpful. The whole time we were there we never had any problem with people or food.

After the lunch we walked around and took some more photos. As we were informed earlier, they would take us to the middle of the ocean to snorkel again, we decided to just walk on the beach and play with the water. I could live there forever. It was just natural beauty will clear water; I couldn’t get enough.

snorkel

Then it was time for us to go back to our boat.. We had another short trip in the boat to the next stop where the boat stopped in the middle of the ocean. Both of us thought it was wise to wear life jackets before going into the water. The water was perfect and the guide threw some food on the water and we could see so many colourful fish swimming towards us. We were near the reef so the floor of the ocean was just below us. We loved what we could see there. Just the wonder of nature in the sea.

By the time we were ready to go back we were very tired. They gave us some juice and fruits and we were on our way back to the shore. It felt like a very long time to reach the shore but we just cuddled and enjoyed the view.

The van was waiting for us to drop us off at our hotel and hot shower there was felt beautiful on my skin after a wonderful trip.

 The post seems like it is going too long so I will make this Part I and leave rest for Part II

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Our Honeymoon trip to Vietnam which almost didn’t happen

Posted on October 15, 2011 | 7 comments

When we were planning our honeymoon, me and AS had different ideas on where we want to go. I always wanted to go to Greek Islands(Santorini) but AS wanted to go to Hawaii. But as AS couldn’t take more than a month off from work and our wedding took so many days, we couldn’t go to either of the places.

AS assured me, that we will do our Greek Islands honeymoon next year but for me it didn’t make sense. I wanted something right after the wedding so it is our honeymoon rather than just a holiday.

Anyway after a few discussions we decided on Vietnam as it would be on our way back from Nepal.

After the wedding, we had a few days to spend with the family. Then we were off to Vietnam via Bangkok and then to Sydney.

Our family in Kathmandu Airport

When we depart from Nepal that was the first time I didn’t have tears in my eyes. Every time when I return to Australia, my family would come to drop me to the airport. When it was time for me to depart, my mum would be teary and that always made me sad. I was always teary when I board the plane.

This time both mine and AS’s family were there to see us off.  I was surprised my mum didn’t cry when we entered the departure gate. She was talking to my MIL and waving us good-bye. And I was not crying either. I think as AS was with me, I felt better. I guess that is one of the perks of being married.

We were to go to Bangkok and then take an Air Asia flight to Ho Chin Minh. We were excited but as soon as we reached Bangkok our excitement turned into disappointment.

We found out only after we reached Bangkok that Air Asia flights depart from the domestic terminal.  When we bought our tickets, there was no mention of this so we never had the idea that we needed visa for Thailand to board our flights. The problem was, with Nepali passport they didn’t give visa on the spot so they didn’t allow AS to go out of the international terminal to go to the domestic airport. We were inside Bangkok international airport and our flight was departing from a few kilometres away. We tried to explain the situation to immigration officer, they just ignored us. Half the time, they didn’t speak good English and other half they didn’t care. I was really pissed with them but I couldn’t do anything.

What was supposed to be our great day was turning out to be a nightmare.

We talk to a few other people but they couldn’t help either. Finally a guy in the Thai airways counter was able to understand our situation (Thank God). He said as we can’t go out, it is best if we take another flight that departs from the international airport to Ho chin Min. So we did. We paid for Thai airways ticket to go to Vietnam(there went my shopping money) but did not fly untill the next morning. So we spent 12 hours in the airport. And the ticket was very expensive as we were buying them at the last-minute. But I was thankful that at least there was a solution, even if it was an expensive one.

Next morning we boarded our flight and we were off to Vietnam. Both Me and AS wanted the whole Air Asia thing behind us and enjoy our stay there. While we were in Nepal, lots of people told us their bad experience in Vietnam so I was really worried. I was even thinking all those problems were an Omen telling us not to go to Vietnam.

When we got off in Ho Chin Min airport it was very hot and humid. We took a taxi and went to our hotel. Thankfully there were no problems and we went to our room.

The room was nicely decorated and we had a buffet breakfast every day. They had lots of things to choose from like toast and cheese or rice, Pho, noodles, variety of eggs, salads, yogurt and all kinds of pastries.

Mingling with locals

We booked trips that took us around city and we went to churches, Presidential palace, museums. We also took a trip to the Mekong Delta, Cu Chi tunnel, Cai Dao temple. The trips were fantastic. Once we were out of the city, there was more greenery and less traffic. There were acres of rice fields with lots of people with Vietnamese hats. I really loved it.

The shopping was great as well. We bought lots of souvenirs and I bought some dresses too. We couldn’t buy much as we already had lots of stuff from Nepal. I loved the food too.

But the best part of the trip was the massage. It was very affordable and it was so good. We went for a massage every day. It cost us aroundAUD$15 for a whole body massage with aromatic oil and hot stones for over an hour. Ohoo, one of the best massages I ever had.

Vietnamese 100,000 dong

The next best thing was that we felt like millionaires anywhere we went. We booked a private tour so we had the diver and the guide to ourselves all the time. The car they got for us had leather interior with air con. AUD $200 is equivalent to a million Vietnamese Dong so you are always paying in hundred thousands or millions.

I found the people friendly and the staff of the hotel very helpful. Like most of the Asian countries I have visited, they always had a smile on their face.

On one of the lunch trip, we even ran into one of the famous Vietnamese actors (our guide told us that but I don’t know his name.) There were people queuing up to get a photo with him.

We spent all the time in South Vietnam so I will have to go back again to go to North Vietnam.

One item crossed from my bucket list for now.

More photos here.

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