Cambodian Temples 101 (sort of) Cambodian Temples were built from the late 6th century through the 12th century at a feverish rate of expansion that would have been the envy of Starbucks. The largest surviving concentrations of temples were built in the Angkor region where Siem Reap is located. Cambodian temples were built for the usual reasons; conquerors showing … [Read more...]
Would you enjoy Viking River Cruises’ Magnificent Mekong itinerary?
The Viking River Magnificent Mekong We love Viking's European offerings and last year pushed the definition of Europe to include a river cruise in Russia. But deciding to go to Southeast Asia somehow felt like a whole different kind of decision - it's a lot farther away and more foreign in its culture than Europe. But we'd heard great things from other Viking travelers we'd … [Read more...]
How to plan for a Viking River Cruise
How to plan for a Viking River Cruise (Hint: It's very easy) After you have selected and booked your itinerary you may wonder how to best plan for a Viking River Cruise. Fear not! Although we hear that ocean cruise lines have ways for you to book shore excursions ahead of your cruise as far as we know only Viking River Cruises has this feature available for river cruises. … [Read more...]
Florida Manatees and the Plantation on Crystal River
Florida manatees and the Plantation on Crystal River For several years we have nursed a fervid desire to swim with Florida manatees and stay at the Plantation on Crystal River. But we didn't do a thing about it. Then Blonde decided she might move away from Florida and Brunette was preparing to put on her snow bird wings and fly off to Pennsylvania for the … [Read more...]
How to maintain your fitness while on a European River Cruise
The popularity of European River Cruises European River Cruises have enjoyed a consistent upward demand curve for quite a few years now and many of the dominant players have high numbers of repeat travelers. Blonde and Brunette are enthusiastic river cruise advocates. We have done 4 in a little over a year and have already booked 2 for 2016. Why are European River Cruises … [Read more...]
Swoop Patagonia finds us the perfect Patagonian cruise
If you had been scheduled to go on a cruise to Antarctica which was cancelled at the last minute, due to the ship hitting an iceberg, what would you choose as a replacement activity? A. another cruise in similar waters B. anything except another cruise in similar waters. C. calling a personal injury attorney (U.S. responders only) Precisely! As we suspected you … [Read more...]
How to have a good experience swimming with Whale Sharks
What to do to have a successful whale shark outing We have had two good but different experiences snorkeling with whale sharks so now we are experts on the subject. Luckily for you we are going to share that expertise and for once we may even be worth listening to. Know when the whale sharks will be swimming where you are going. Yes, this should fall under the "duh" … [Read more...]
The Berlengas Islands – a fun day trip from Lisbon
The Berlengas Islands of Portugal If UNESCO’s server is ever hacked and they lose the records of all of their designated Biosphere Reserves they can call Brunette and she won’t be very far into the alphabet before she says “Berlengas”. If we were going to a desert Brunette would be trying to find a UNESCO oasis where we could snorkel. So when we began planning our trip to … [Read more...]
How aging, reckless blondes learn to scuba dive
The thought process behind learning to scuba dive When Blonde and Brunette excitedly planned our visit to the Jean Michel Cousteau Resort in Fiji it was not because we were planning to learn to scuba dive. Although Jacques Cousteau was (more or less) the inventor of scuba we were going there to snorkel. We had 30+ years of wonderful snorkeling experiences and this would be a … [Read more...]
Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort, Fiji
When we were young(er) we watched the documentary TV show The Underseas World of Jacques Cousteau and saw Jacques happily bubbling underwater with his sons and his scuba gear. One of those sons was Jean-Michel who, many years later, founded the Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort Fiji where we were recently thrilled to spend 3 days. We really just went there to have fun and because … [Read more...]