Holi, the festival of colors that takes place in India and Nepal, is less than one month away. If you have ever seen pictures from this event, you may wonder about the true, stain-lifting power of OxiClean. The festival with the staining power of red wine, is a celebration of the start of spring (slash when…
You may hear a lot of people say that Myanmar is an up and coming tourist destination and to get there before it changes. In Yangon and Mandalay I saw very few tourists, while Bagan was nearly exclusively tourists, though I expected more. However, if you want to find westerners, hit the trails between the…
It’s time to face the music and realize I am not some youthful, gap year backpacker. While there is nothing wrong with this fact, it does present a couple of physical limitations. For example, my inability to cope with a hangover and the general staying power of a beer belly. Consequently, the month I spent…
Solo travel was an alien topic to me not so long ago. Previously, I would go on vacation with my family or friends and I would coordinate to get the same week off for a trip. But what can you do when a week of vacation rapidly is thrown in your face? At this point,…
Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park in Vietnam is famous for its cave and grotto systems, composed of nearly 300 caves. In fact, it is home to the world’s largest cave, Son Doong. For the very unaffordable price of $3000, you can explore this cave for 5 days and 4 nights. If you are interested in big caves,…
You are going to visit temples in Myanmar. And let’s face it, at some point during your time in Myanmar you will become “templed out” (this is a formal diagnosis). I began my trip to Myanmar in the former capital city of Yangon. Regardless of when you visit Yangon, I recommend focusing your tourist efforts…
Have you been to Thailand? Did you get a massage? Not the most logical follow-up question, but seriously, you’ll understand why people care once you’ve experienced a Thai massage. While I am not going to claim to be an expert or anything, I did have four Thai massages in my first five days in the country.…
To briefly summarize the end of my Bhutan trip: I spent three nights in Paro. Paro is home to Taktsang (Tiger’s Nest monastery), aka the reason Bhutan intrigued me in the first place. The monastery is tucked away on the side of a cliff and requires a three hour hike to reach it (or 1…
It has always been a secret dream of mine to get invited to a wedding while traveling, but it always seemed like such an impossible feat. Who in their right mind would want to invite a stranger to a wedding? If you share this wedding goal with me, then I wholly recommend visiting Uzbekistan. I…
Dogs Let me start by saying there are dogs everywhere! In Punakha, in Thimphu, in the country as a whole. It is illegal to euthanize dogs in Bhutan so there are just thousands of them running free and barking all night long (bring earplugs!). It really seems like it is also illegal to spay and neuter…
