Breakfast at the Sheraton was a reminder of the state of tourism here. We booked a “club level” room, essentially as a value proposition: it includes Internet, breakfast, cocktails and amenities for a nominal amount extra. At the moment, it would appear we are the ONLY guests on this level. There is a concierge responsible […]
We headed to the Cairo airport today bright and early and arrived in Luxor around lunchtime. Domestic service on Egypt Air was convenient and uneventful. Luxor definitely is a change of pace from Cairo, with a much more small town feel to the place. It’s clear that the economy of Luxor relies far more heavily […]
There’s definitely some risk of critical itinerary items getting jettisoned when you don’t allow for some periods in a trip as down time. However, on a timeline as short as ours here, we don’t really have that luxury. Thankfully, (or, since we’re in Egypt: Al-ḥamdu lillāh) everything is on schedule so far.
When we started planning the multistop trip we took back in 2011, Egypt was on the tentative itinerary. Until, that is, the democratic process started getting rowdy enough for advisories against all nonessential travel to the country were issued by nearly all western governments. In the years since, Egypt has managed to stay pretty far […]
This quick trip to visit with family really got us ready to start booking some new travel. Stay tuned!
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Sometimes, at the end of an extended trip, after many long train rides, days of backpacking, multiple early-to-rise and late-to-bed days, there’s a bit of a sense of relief when the time to return home arrives. This, for us, unfortunately, is not one of those times.
We’ve been at Lily Beach for a full day now, and it’s just been absolutely perfect. I thought I may have had some high expectations, but this place exceeds them in all kinds of ways. After our water taxi back to the airport before sunrise yesterday, we were greeted by Lily Beach staff and personally […]
I really like the reorientation that comes as a necessity upon arrival to another country. It can be particularly acute when you’re either unprepared, or hopping through a few different countries, or both. There are those inevitable questions, like: What the heck is this scribbly manuscript everywhere that vaguely approximates written communication? Oh, what language […]
*Full Sri Lanka photo gallery below* We’re back in the Galle Face Hotel, overlooking the Indian Ocean in Colombo. We got in yesterday afternoon, and our flight to Male, Maldives is tonight at 2030. We’ll make sure to get there plenty early to avoid any late check-in excitement like in Dubai!
The last few days have been kind of a whirlwind tour of the “cultural triangle” in Sri Lanka. At this point, having seen many of the highlights of ancient ruins in Sri Lanka, we are both officially “templed out.”
“Flashpacking” is a loosely defined, upmarket variant of backpacking. We are more than happy to take on that moniker for a lot of our approach to travel. With flashpacking, you can have really extreme variation in the budget for different aspects of your travel. The driving considerations are just fun, comfort, and safety. One area […]
“Mike, you do realize this is the most ‘white devil’ stop we’ve ever had on vacation, right?” Watching a throng of British tourists being waited on by servile Sri Lankans in traditional attire…. Yes, the thought had occurred to me. To be clear, we’re sort of co-opting the “white devil” term to refer to remnants […]
Overland transport can be one of the more interesting parts of international travel. We particularly enjoy traveling by train, and the lengthy trip from Colombo through Kandy and on to Badulla is certainly one of the more scenic train rides in the world.
Anyone who has taken more than a few flights may know the feeling of nearly missing a flight. Or, even worse, missing a connection. Or, even much worse, missing an international connection. But those feelings pale in comparison to missing an international connection in the middle of a multistop trip, potentially subverting prebooked lodging, ground […]