Hiroshima was a great first stop in Japan; accessible and not too touristy. We stayed very conveniently next to the railway station and were off on the Shinkansen bound for Himeji in the morning. Himeji is mostly known for being on the tourist trail for its prominent castle. Easily accessible...
For some reason I wanted to avoid one of Japan’s megacities as an entry point. I guess I thought it could be overwhelming. So instead we flew into Hiroshima. Our itinerary had us connect in Beijing/China onto an Air China flight to Hiroshima. What I only realized after booking was...
When going through our travel bucket list, we settled on Japan for a two week trip. It has been on our mind for quite some time and so far my Japan experience had been limited to two eight hour layovers (don’t ask) and a weekend in Kyoto. Late March seemed...
A long overdue write up of a long weekend along Montenegro’s coast, visiting Budva and Kotor while staying at the fabulous Sveti Stefan Hotel. If you’ve been following this blog, you fortunately are not going to ask “why Montenegro” after reading my accounts of visiting places like Kuwait or Tajikistan....
We had already spent a great week around Jordan and were looking forward to spending a couple of relaxing days at the Red Sea in Aqaba. Nested in between Saudi Arabia (not sure how much fun a beach vacation would be there) and a narrow stretch of Israel, Aqaba is...
After soaking in lots of history in Petra, we drove south along the Desert Highway towards Wadi Rum. Wadi is Arabic for valley or ravine. This particular Wadi is know for its Mars-like landscape, which is why for example the move The Martian was filmed here. After showing your ticket...
From Ma’in Hot Springs, we drove south towards Kerak Castle. One of the longer and more scenic drives we had on our trip (known as the King’s Highway). Built in the 12th century, Kerak Castle is one of the largest castles in the Levant by the crusaders. Kerak is also...
We did not feel the need to spend much more time in As-Salt and left fairly early for the short drive to The Baptismal Site of Jesus Christ. This is the site where John the Baptist is said to have baptized Jesus. Archaeologists are fairly certain that the site they have...
With a rental car (we used Monte Carlo and can recommend them), we started driving north towards Jerash. Throughout the country the roads were in very good condition and self-driving is not an issue at all. Apart from the far too frequent (and often not very visible) speed bumps, we...
Most international visitors to Jordan are likely to fly into Amman (there is a small international airport by the Red Sea in Aqaba and another option across the border in Israel). We arrived at the lovely hour of 2am. While not ideal to start your vacation, the upside was that...