What's a resort's character and who are we to judge it? Neither is entirely clear to us but we'll take a crack at the first part of that question. Earlier this year we were in Abu Dhabi and then in the Maldives. When planning our trip we were thrilled to discover that between us we had enough Starwood points to stay at the St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort for … [Read more...]
The Bhutanese people and animals
Just as you can tell a lot about a person in terms of how they treat people they may view as being "inferior" to them, whether a waitress, a member of the U.S. Congress or the grocery check-out clerk, you can also tell a great deal about people by how they treat animals. In Bhutan people do not kill animals (unless they have to for sustenance, but that … [Read more...]
Layover in Frankfurt? Do a Rhine River Cruise.
Blonde was making the long journey from Bhutan home to Florida and decided to break up the travel instead of enduring an unnecessary marathon of misery. Part of the plan was to spend 2 nights in Frankfurt in order to have one full day to go into the city and explore. But Blonde didn't follow her own requirement of always looking at holiday calendars before … [Read more...]
Bhutan phallus decor…… who knew?
On Blonde's recent trip to Bhutan she noticed many interesting aspects of their Buddhist culture. Fantastical legends abound, are well depicted in paintings and statues and have been passed down through many centuries. That was all interesting but not surprising given Blonde's exposure to other countries with large Buddhist populations. But then one thing, well, er, stuck out, … [Read more...]
The Pros and Cons of Visiting Bhutan
Blonde visited Bhutan because the idea of it fascinated her; what did “Gross National Happiness” really mean in practice. How was life different in a profoundly Buddhist country? What would it be like to experience a culture still relatively untouched by Western modernization? And how cool would she look in a picture showing that she’d made it the whole way to the Tiger’s … [Read more...]
The Second King of Bhutan and his Dzong
One day, on a group tour of Bhutan, Blonde was the victim of a gastrointestinal system rebellion and was told that she couldn't go with the group that day. She added this to the list of reasons why she may never again go on a group tour. (And as a friend of hers correctly pointed out they let the cows poop in the road so why was Blonde being put in a lower class than a … [Read more...]
UNESCO World Heritage Sites – Robben Island, South Africa
Before leaving for South Africa Blonde read Nelson Mandela's fascinating autobiography Long Walk to Freedom. and found it to be brutally honest (about himself) and very inspirational. We had already planned to go to Robben Island when we went to Cape Town but now it seemed almost urgent to go there. As always Brunette did the research and found out that you need … [Read more...]
UNESCO World Heritage Sites – Galapagos Islands
There are several reasons the majority of our travels involve visiting UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The reasons are: Brunette not only does the trip research but she’s a small walking, talking human version of Wikipedia and her content knowledge of UNESCO World Heritage sites is astounding and more than a little odd. UNESCO World Heritage sites, particularly the ones in … [Read more...]
Weekly Photo Challenge: Street Life
We haven't participated in a weekly photo challenge in a while but this topic was intriguing. We don't do a lot of street scenes because we aren't very good at getting them (we're looking for our cameras and the whole thing is already over) and we're more likely to be in settings such as beaches, deserts, glaciers and gardens that don't have street life. But in thinking about … [Read more...]
Africa has “The Big Five” and Arabian Bedouin culture has “The Big Four.”
If you've ever gone on a safari in Africa your guide has probably gone to great lengths to make sure you see "The Big Five". They are a lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and Cape buffalo. Somehow that phrase took off years ago and has caused many a giraffe, zebra and hippo to suffer from self-esteem issues. Some say The Big Five refers to the animals people used to … [Read more...]