Blog Travel

When we booked our Viking Mekong trip with Viking River Cruises, the dilemma we had was whether or not to book an extension.  Two extensions are offered with the Viking Mekong itinerary through Vietnam and Cambodia.  One is for  a couple days in Bangkok , but we’d already been, and the other is a side-trip from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay.  The Ha Long Bay extension effectively adds two days on to the trip, 24 hours of which is spent on a trip to Ha Long Bay and the rest of which provides additional time in Hanoi.   I read mixed reviews about Ha Long Bay.  On one hand, Ha Long Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature.  On the other hand, I’ve heard some complain that it is overrated and touristy and not as spectacular as advertised if it is overcast.  However, we are never ones to discard a place because it’s touristy, especially since places are usually touristy for a reason and we are suckers f...

When we decided to travel to Georgia (the country), we hadn’t necessarily planned on traveling there in the winter.  However, when I searched Google Flights for a good time to visit with low airfares, amongst a sea of airfares over $1,100 there were some in the $800 range, roundtrip from LAX, in early March.  A $600 savings for the two of us seemed like a pretty good reason to travel to Georgia in the winter, but it turns out that isn’t the only reason why Georgia is a good winter destination.  Here are some other reasons to travel to Georgia in the winter.   Trek to Gergeti Trinity Church Our favorite winter activity was hiking to Gergeti Trinity Church, a church and monastery high up on a mountaintop near Mount Kazbegi.  While this is an epic activity at any time of the year, it just felt a little more so since we had to trudge up the mountain through snow, and the snow-covered Caucasus provided an impressive snowy backdrop. No...

I am not a morning person.  In fact, I can probably count on one hand the number of sunrises I have witnessed.  I’m actually struggling to think of more than two, and one of them, sunrise in Monument Valley, Utah , was only because I was able to photograph it from our hotel room balcony in my pajamas.  However, seeing the sun rise over Angkor Wat is supposed to be one of those bucket list not-to-be-missed experiences so, with the helpful enthusiasm of Romeo, without which I would have stayed in bed, we woke up before the crack of dawn to photograph Angkor Wat at sunrise.  Here are our Angkor Wat sunrise tips. The Best Arrival Time to Watch and Photograph the Angkor Wat Sunrise Angkor Wat around 5:35 a.m. from the south reflecting pool (but not the best spot for watching the sunrise). The key to successfully photographing the sunrise at Angkor Wat is to find the best spot.  The only way to find the best spot for photographing the Angkor Wat sunr...