Meandering the ancient lanes and stone-paved squares of Bhaktapur, a medieval city-state in the Kathmandu Valley, is a must-do on a trip to Nepal. The incredibly preserved buildings and temples in this car-free city centre transport you to a world gone by. Temples and shrines occupy almost every corner, bustling stalls sell colourful arts and crafts and the traditional culture and heritage is still evident at every turn.
After six days of trekking through the incredible mountains of the Himalaya we arrived in Ghandruk – a traditional Garung Village with some of the best mountain backdrops we’ve ever seen!
We’d just completed the Mardi Himal Trek, our legs were definitely feeling the pain and Ghandruk was the final pit-stop along our route. A perfect place to finish-up our trek, where we could relax and and enjoy the cultural offerings of a more traditional setting, and with breathtaking views of the mountains we’d just climbed.
Tukad Cepung Waterfall is one of our favorite spots to photograph in Bali. It’s a pretty painless skirmish from Ubud and you won’t need to leave at the crack of dawn to beat the crowds.
We arrived at the official entrance to Sekumpul Waterfall after passing various checkpoints trying to coax us into using a guide for a very steep, and unreasonable fee. Don’t get me wrong we love to put money back into the local community, we shop at local markets and use local guides wherever we can! We can’t however bring ourselves to be bullied into paying an absurd amount of money into an operation that fleeces tourists.
If you’ve ever wanted to visit a spectacular winter wonderland, look no further than Harbin’s Ice and Snow Festival in Northern China. Replicas of iconic buildings and glimmering giant castles light up the night sky and larger than life sculptures of people, animals and characters are carved out of masses of snow.
Watch this space…….Seoul, a rapidly changing and popular upcoming travel destination. So much so it quickly became one our favorite Asian cities, second only to Tokyo, and from the moment we stepped off the plane Seoul continued to surprise us at every turn!
Over 2,500 years ago, Shakayamuni Buddha realised the origin of the sufferings of this world and revealed the path to go beyond them.
There is much confusion, especially from western society that likens a geisha to a prostitute – this simply isn’t true!
A geisha is a woman who is trained in the traditional Japanese arts of music, dance and entertainment. They spend many years learning their craft in order to become the perfect hostess. It’s a strict profession governed by a strict set of rules.
With a fresh coffee in hand we set about exploring the cobbled streets of Bandipur. There was a familiar smell of incense in the air, coupled with the fragrance of flowers, which decorated the not so familiar European-esque style buildings.
We’d spent two weeks dodging crowds in Kyoto, before all the bustle of the Takayama Festival, and were definitely in need of a much slower pace….. Enter Kanazawa, somewhere we hadn’t really researched all that much, somewhere that surprised us!
