Karin & Eise

Three free days and a conference

karin — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 00:53:00 GMT

I had a conference for work in Singapore and spent three extra days exploring this city. I expected the city to be similar to Tokyo, from a Westerner's perspective, and in some respects it was. It was clean, crowded, had lots of shops and food was great. On the other hand it was hot, humid, it rained a lot, people pushed themselves into the subway (before letting others out) and everybody spoke English.

Most of my time was spent at Singapore Polytechnic for the conference, but fortnatly I also had time to wander through the city. A true shopping paradise for some, but I soon got fed up with the shops (especially since almost every shop turned out te be a complete mall hosting 60 shops). I loved exploring Chinatown, Little India and other more traditional parts of the city. Together with some fellow conference visitors I went to the Night Safari (which slightly disappointed me after reading lots of enthusiastic stories in LP and on some websites), Sentosa Island (swimming with pink dolphins is great and a very good deal compared to other 'swimming with dolphin' packages), and the bar on the 71st floor of Swissotel (great view).

I guess what I most enjoyed was the food, which was unvariably good and in most places cheap and heaven for vegetarians! Had some great meals in Little India, lots of sushi (which is a treat for Europeans since it is less than half of the price compared to restaurants in Europe) and loved to see and try similar sweet bread roll shops as we've seen in Japan.

Plans...

karin — Wed, 8 Aug 2007 22:30:00 GMT

In 2005 we have made a trip through Japan and we came back seriously enthusiastic about this country. Back then, we have mainly covered central and western Honshu, norhtern Kyushu, Shikoku and the Japanese Alps (Tokyo - Kyoto - Himeji - Tottori - Matsue - Beppu - Mt. Aso - Matsuyama - Kochi - Takamatsu - Kyoto - Nagoya - Takayama - Tokyo). We did most of this trip with a rental car (the Kyoto - Kyoto part) and we mostly stayed in Ryokans, both of which we enjoyed very much.

Now we would like to explore northern Honshu and Hokkaido. Also, we want to hike a lot. For now, the plan is to make a four to five weeks trip. I've found a website of a New Zealander who organizes guided hiking treks in Hokkaido. We do not have a lot of experience with hiking treks, so this seems a good start! The two most interesting hikes, are both in August and last about two weeks. Unfortunately, August is not the best period for visiting other areas in Japan (hot, humid, crowded during Obon), but we'll probably have to adapt to that. When we decide to do the first hike, we will go the last two weeks of July and the first two weeks of August. When we decide to join the second hike, we will go the second half of August and the first half of September.

The current plan leaves us with about two weeks to visit northern Honshu. Destinations that are high on our list at the moment are Nikko, Bansai National Park (climb Bansai-san), Dewa Sanzan (pilgrimage hike to three sacred peaks), Morioka, Kakunadate, Towada Hachimantai National Park (hiking again) and Aomori. The idea is to rent a car in Nikko and to drop it off in Aomori (or the other way around, depending on the hiking trek we'll decide to do).

That's all for now... Suggestions for the itinerary, accomodation, etc as well as experiences with destinations we plan to include are more than welcome!

Karin

Itinerary

karin — Sun, 1 Oct 2006 20:56:00 GMT

In 2006 we stayed in a charming little cottage (highly reccomend renting an appartment or house in Tuscany/Umbria in the Chianti area in Tuscany. We visited Florence, Siena, San Giminiano, Certaldo, Volterra and Pisa. This is a beautiful region, many tourists though.

Itinerary

karin — Wed, 10 May 2006 21:10:00 GMT

We flew to Miami from Atlanta (where I had a conference). Stayed in Miami Beach for a couple of nights (at the Clay Ho(s)tel, recommended: . Next, we rented a car and drove to the Everglades . We continued our trip to Key West, stopped for a snorkel trip (John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park), the Dolphin Research center and a great Lobster meal in Marathon and stayed overnight in Key West.

Itinerary

karin — Tue, 31 May 2005 21:24:00 GMT

Flew to Tokyo, stayed there for five days during the May holiday (not recommended!). Took a train to Kyoto, stayed for three days. Rented a car and made the following tour: Himeji castle, Tottori sand dunes, Matsue castle + modern art museum, Beppu, Mt. Aso, Dogo Onsen, Kochi (saw no whales during the whale watching boat ride), returned the car in Kyoto. Took the train to Nagoya (for conference and Expo). Took the train to Takayama, stayed there for a couple of days and rented a car to explore the Japanese Alps.

Itinerary

karin — Tue, 31 Aug 2004 20:38:00 GMT

This was a two-week car-camping trip (a luxurious one, since we had a car we packed it with a big tent, comfortable (read: thick) mats, chairs, a table, large stove, etc.) Our route was: Karlovy Vary - Lake Lipno (Czesky Krumlov, Sumava), Brno, Adrspach Teplice National Park, Prague.

Itinerary

karin — Tue, 30 Sep 2003 21:04:00 GMT

Two-week car-camping tour: Colmar, Notre Dame de Haut Ronchamps (Le Corbusier Chapel), Lac Leman, Gorge du Verdon, St. Tropez, Arles, Avignon, St. Remy de Provence, Camargue.