Green – theplaceswe

March 13, 2017March 13, 2017

Tans, Tacos & Tarzan

We spent a whole day travelling from Chile to Mexico City so when we arrived we were dead tired and starving. First thing was first though, we needed to wash our clothes so after checking into our hotel we grabbed all of our dirty washing and headed straight for the closest laundry service. After dropping our clothes off we realised we needed more money so off we went to find an ATM. The rest of our day continued like this, in our tired state we would remember we needed to do something and then set out to do it until we decided enough was enough and went back to our hotel to pass out. We fell in love with Mexico City and were a bit disappointed we only had two days there. We explored a couple of free Art exhibitions and admired the architecture all over the city. We also made sure to eat our share of tacos each day because who can say no to 0.75 cent tacos?!

We left the amazing Mexico City for Cancun and when we arrived were immediately shocked at the difference in temperature. We thought it had been hot in Mexico City but we were wrong. The humidity in Cancun was over powering. We got a ride to Akumal which is about an hour and a half away and checked into our apartment. We dropped all of our things off and sat down to just relax but just like when we were in Mexico City we had things to do so we got a collective taxi down to the supermarket to buy our week’s worth of groceries. We were quickly filling up our trolley when Mark headed off to pick out the alcohol. We were nearly finished shopping when an attendant told us in Spanish that we couldn’t buy any alcohol because it was after 5pm. We were quite confused and put it all back on the shelves but when he was out of site we put it all back in and thought there was obviously just a misunderstanding. As soon as we got to the check out the guy serving us told us the same thing. It was so odd but we just went with it and bought the rest of our groceries. On the way out we stopped to buy a slice of pizza each because we were starving and the owner of the shop was Canadian so we asked him what was going on. His reply was “I don’t know why but after 5pm on a Sunday you can’t buy alcohol”. It then made sense when he told us it was Sunday so we left with all of our food and made a note to go back the next day for the alcohol. We spent our 5 days in Akumal being woken up by the sun shining into our room, eating amazing smoothie bowls for breakfast and then spending the rest of the day reading by the pool. Each day I made us lunch and dinner and felt like we had somewhere we could call home. On our second last day there we ventured out to the national park area so we could spend some time by the beach. Spending some time at the beach made us excited to head further south to Tulum where we stayed during our previous visit to Mexico.

We arrived in Tulum early in the afternoon and organised bikes for our week there. Once they got dropped off at our apartment we rode straight down to the beach. As much as we loved our time in Akumal we definitely loved out time in Tulum more. We spent days at the beach and other days out exploring the cenotes nearby. Casa cenote is a huge water system with the most blue-green water we had seen in a very long time. It was so quiet there that we were able to swim around for half an hour without bumping into anyone. And then to top off a great time we walked across the road to a beach from bar where we looked out onto a tranquil beach with only a handful of people in site.

Casa Cenote was quite compared to Grand Cenote but we could tell straight away why the Grand Cenote was more popular. Apart from the main cave area there are smaller areas where you can go and spend time in the water with hardly anyone around you. One area in particular was quite enough that Mark was able to climb up the handrail and into a tree where he undeniably looked a little bit like Tarzan.

Unlike in Akumal we ate out most nights while in Tulum and admittedly ate out at the same place each night. We didn’t know the name of the taqueria but we simply called it “The coca-cola taco shop” because it has coca-cola chairs and it sold tacos. Our order each night only varied on the amount of tacos we ordered but usually we ordered as soon as we sat down, not needing to look at the menu. I actually think one of the waiters knew our order after the second night because he looked like he stopped listening to us after that but he always got everything right.

We were so sad to be leaving Mexico. We’ve decided Mexico is our Vietnam of Latin America. If we were to pick a country in Latin America to live in it would unquestionably be Mexico, just like if we had to pick a country to live in in Asia it would be Vietnam. So as sad as we were to be leaving Mexico we know that we will most definitely be back but for now it’s time for some snow in Canada!

November 10, 2016November 10, 2016

Ummm it’s cold here.

We woke up early in Rome to say goodbye to my family and then walked around Rome and ate breakfast at the Colosseum while the sun rose. It was the perfect end to our time in ‘mainland’ Europe. When we got back to our hotel we packed our bags, checked out and walked to Roma Termini station to head to the airport. Once at the airport it was anarchy. An airport staff member yelled at us to move our bags, we weren’t able to find the start of the priority check in line, and once we got to a check in counter our booking didn’t show up on their system so we were pushed aside while someone tried to sort it out for us. The plus side to all of that was that the lady who checked us in was the most hilarious ‘check-in lady’ we’ve ever had. She was not shy to express her frustration and utter disappointment at how her day was turning out. We eventually got through all formalities and were on our flight to Berlin. I will say that neither of us were happy to be at Berlin airport. It is probably one of the worst airports we have been to, and we’ve been there multiple times. And so after walking around for a while, sitting in the lounge for a while, and sitting on the plane for a while, we finally took off and flew to Reykjavik.

We arrived at Keflavik airport and we so amazed at the airport that we knew it was going to be a good 10 days. I don’t care what people say – first impressions do matter. We walked out, got on the bus and 45 minutes later were standing outside a hotel that wasn’t ours, looking for the apartment that was ours. We found it pretty easily, or so we thought. We walked into the apartment block just as some people were walking out and then were stuck inside trying to find our apartment for half an hour. At this stage it’s 3.00am and I’m wondering about the people who left the building and what they were doing leaving so late and wondering if Mark had managed to find our actual apartment while searching outside. Mark eventually showed up again and we left to go to our apartment. Once we got inside we were both so tired but also so hungry. It was while we were organising our phone chargers that Mark asked me where his Kindle was. I froze and my heart skipped a bit. “Fuck!” I thought. I knew exactly where it was, it was in the seat pocket of seat F23 on our plane. I put it there where Mark was falling asleep but in my daze I forgot to get it out or tell him where I put it. I was so annoyed at myself, 1. for forgetting and 2. because it was going to cost us money to replace it, and these days that money just adds more days to our trip. Let’s just say I had a very fitful 3 hour sleep before my alarm went off and we were up, dressed and out the door. Reykjavik at dawn is a beautiful city but my god it was cold. After walking the city we went back to our apartment to have breakfast and so I could sit on the phone and hope that Mark’s Kindle was turned in by flight attendants, assuming that found it. I felt such relief when the rather grumpy lady on the phone told me that she had his Kindle. Yep, it was going to be a good day. We picked up our car that afternoon and had an early night so we could try to catch up on sleep we had missed.

The next few days we were up early each morning to make it out to different sites before the sun rose and before the crowds moved in. At some points along our drive we would drive out onto a gravel road and within 5 minutes were completely isolated, it was something truly amazing and after 2 days it was odd if we encountered other people. We stopped to visit so many waterfalls along our journey and the raw power of some were breathtaking. My favourite however was the Seljanfoss waterfall. We were there early in the morning by ourselves and were able to walk around behind the waterfall to watch the water cascading down in front of us. Even though the water spraying on my face was so cold it went numb I loved it there. It was simply beautiful.

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After a few days we began to slow down and relax a little bit, after all, there are only so many waterfalls you can see before they all begin to blur. Toning down our chase for waterfalls worked well because we began our chase of the northern lights. On our first night we stopped in an open area and were looking for any hint of them in the sky. At the beginning we could see a silver glow in the sky but weren’t sure if we were in a good spot. While we waited Mark got out of the car and started taking photos to practise and get the camera settings right. After a couple of shots and getting the settings where he wanted we looked at the last photo and part of the sky was green. Turns out we were in a great spot to see the lights except clouds had moved in so without the camera we were only able to see a glow. We were happy with our find and the next night were out again, only this time to an even better spot and within a few minutes of arriving we could see them. It was so strange to see them with our own eyes and not through pictures. Ever since I watched Balto as a kid I always wanted to see the lights so I’m so glad I was able to see them in my life and with Mark beside me.

Have you ever seen anything so ‘out of this world’?

Our last few days were spent further out in eastern Iceland where we were able to see huge glaciers just off the side of the road. From the road they look huge but once you drive down the gravel roads and walk to the edges of the glaciers you appreciate the enormity of them. It’s not just the size that gets you though, it’s the look. The whiteness of the glaciers with the bright blue glow against the black mountainous backdrop is stunning.

We left eastern Iceland and drove 4 and a half hours back to Reykjavik and checked into a beautiful hotel. The first thing we did after checking in was venture up to the bar for the free tastings. Free chocolate and drinks? Yes please. The next day we took it easy before heading out to the Blue Lagoon in the afternoon where we could relax in the thermal pools which was the perfect end to our Iceland experience. To top it all off though Mark bought last minute tickets to see Björk at the Harpa in Reykjavik and afterwards we ate hot dogs for dinner – So Icelandic of us!

We both loved our time in Iceland but are looking forward to heading to New York especially now that they have voted for a new President. Let’s see what’s changed in 24 hours.

Love, an intrigued B x

March 29, 2016

Green hair be gone!

Those of us who know me and Mark well know how much we love Vietnam. We find when traveling though we meet people who don’t love it as much as we do and we just don’t get it. How could you not love Vietnam? The food, the people, the landscape, the cities, everything is just as it should be. After spending some time in Koh Chang speaking to other travellers we think we realised why people love other Asian counties more than Vietnam and it’s because most people we meet are from Europe escaping the winter there so they want amazing beaches. We love going to the beach when on holidays but they don’t need to be amazing beaches – we have amazing beaches back home.

Phu Quoc is an island south of Vietnam that is becoming increasingly popular year after year. It’s still at that stage where is quiet enough that we could ride a motorbike (something we never think of doing in other Vietnamese cities) but built up enough that we could go get a decent burger when we were over Asian food.

One thing Phu Quoc didn’t have was a lot of grocery stores so when I was searching for bi-carb soda (after a lovely message from someone back home) to tackle my green hair I quickly gave up and started searching for tomato sauce as I had read that the red and acid from the tomatoes removes the green from hair. I figured there would be tomato sauce at the store as I had seen it at pretty much every restaurant we ate at. Turns out I was wrong. Hardly any stores had it and then one store that I was certain would have it had sold it so heading back to our hotel one night I was certain I was going to have green hair for weeks to come which made me deeply distraught. What if I left it too long and it just stayed for months? Once we got back to our hotel Mark walked to the reception desk and asked for some tomato sauce for my hair. The girl who spoke relatively good English was really confused. By the time I walked in Mark was sitting at the reception desk on google translate explaining what the tomato sauce was for. Her response was “oh I thought that was what you said but I didn’t understand” she then wanted more information about why it happens so there we were at 10pm explaining why blonde hair goes green in chlorine and why she doesn’t need to worry because she has dark hair.

I read that I should wash my hair before putting the tomato sauce in so that’s what I did and half an hour later my dirty hair was washed and then subsequently covered in tomato sauce. I didn’t take a photo of my experience- I was slightly disgusted the whole time as I don’t eat tomato sauce let alone cover my hair in it on a regular basis… I must say though that despite the smell it actually worked! Pretty much all of the green was removed in one go.

Besides tackling my green hair we spent a couple of days on a motorbike riding to different parts of the island checking out the beaches and heading to the market at night to eat. It was there that we found ice-cream rolls. We have these back home at a place called Scrolls so we were stoked to find them on an island in Vietnam for 30,000 Vietnamese Dong (approx. $2). We ate them nearly every night for desert 🙂

We spent Easter Sunday face timing back home and spending the morning booking flights and hotels for the next part of our trip. We have 2 more weeks in Vietnam but are yet to book anything in so will just see how we go once we leave Phu Quoc on Tuesday.

We are really looking forward to coming back to Phu Quoc in years to come to see how much the island has changed. Mark is looking forward to coming back to try out all of the golf courses. Every time we pass one he always notes the name and when we get back to our hotel he is on google looking it up. I’m pretty sure he has a list going in his phone for places we will go back to just so he can play golf. #caddylife

March 25, 2016

How relaxed can you be?

We are in Bangkok at the moment. Arrived here from Koh Chang – an island in the Gulf of Thailand – this afternoon.

We’ve spent the last 5 days so relaxed it was brilliant. We stayed in a hostel dorm room which we try to not do on a regular basis but the hostel we stayed at was really good. The beds were huge for dorm standards and the facilities were pretty good too. We slept in everyday, generally missed breakfast and chilled by the pool for the morning until we decided to go out and actually do something. For a couple of days we hired a motorbike and rode around the island. Generally in places like Koh Chang you can circumnavigate the island by following the same road. You can’t do that in Koh Chang, you can only go so far one way before the road stops and you can’t go any further so like what we did, you stop, have a look at your surroundings and drive back the other way until you reach the other end. We stopped occasionally to look at the views and one time even stopped to go check out a waterfall. The waterfall was more like a pool of water than actual running waterfalls. The climb up there was via a barely visible track covered in leaves which I was adamant would contain snakes, spiders and other things I’m scared of. Safe to say I did not enjoy the walk up to the waterfall while wearing my havaianas, especially because Mark has a tendency to walk off ahead and I was helped down a steep slippery section of the path by some locals.

So apart from riding around the island and checking a few things out we sat by the pool at the hostel because it was so hot and humid. Now normally I don’t actually go into public pools because they kind of gross me out but when it’s too hot outside I had no option but to go in constantly. When I was younger and did go into pools throughout summer my hair would always get a slight green tinge to it. I remembered this and mentioned it to Mark but didn’t actually think it would happen after only a couple of days. I was wrong. My hair is now green at the ends and I have to find a way to fix it while in Vietnam over the next couple of weeks.

See! I’m not lying, my hair is actually green.

Koh Chang is different to other islands we have been to in Thailand. Phuket & Koh Samui can be relaxing but they also have a huge nightlight area which just isn’t present in Koh Chang. As well as the nightlight Koh Chang isn’t as built up and although there are a lot of travellers there, they all seem to be there for the same reason – just to chill out – and we did meet a couple of people who had been to Koh Chang weeks or even months earlier but were back there to take it easy before their next stops.

We are looking forward to having no plans the next couple of weeks and just travelling through one of our favourite places – Vietnam!

Until then, B 🙂