I write this retrospectively in July 2020, as the world faces its first pandemic in a century, in a time where travel is off the table and we find ourselves exploring the wonders and hidden gems of the places closer to home.
When we moved to Hong Kong in 2019, we didn’t initially intend to travel as much as we did that first year, but in hindsight we are grateful for the choices we made and circumstances that allowed us to explore more of this part of the world (South-East Asia has always been our favourite travel destination anyway). You can read about Guilin, Seoul, Hoi An and Cambodia here…
We had planned a mini post-Christmas break to Taipei (Taiwan) for January 2020, and Bali in February. Usually, we like to space our travels out but our friends’ were going to be there during that time and so we booked the flights, and had our vacation before Covid took over the world.
All that to say, I have no desire to travel during a pandemic. And I am very happy to stay put in Hong Kong until a vaccine is found. But I thought it was about time to put together this post, so here are a few memories from both of these 2020 travels…
Taipei, Taiwan
Taipei is a beautiful place – from the people to the culture, and the food! We can’t wait to explore more of this island when things calm down one day.
The food and colours of the night markets were a feast for the senses…
Taipei zoo was a lot of fun, huge and a bargain at around 20HKD entry (around $3USD)…
The hotspring experience was so relaxing…
And Ben felt right at home…
Thank you Taipei, looking forward to seeing you again!
Bali
When your friends and family are scattered over the world, it can sometimes be a while before you catch up in person, so when some good friends of ours were planning on being in Bali during February, and already being in the same continent, we just had to take them up on the offer of meeting there.
We’d visited Bali before back in 2016, but only for a couple of days but felt that we hadn’t really ‘seen’ or explored it in any depth.
The beaches were pristine…
We had some fantastic instagram-able moments…
Although we had to watch out for the wildlife…
…in fact the Monkey park in Ubud was a highlight!
The trip also coincided with our 7th wedding anniversary…
And we were grateful for this time spent with friends!
Our final trip of 2019 took us to Cambodia. It was actually the holiday that we were supposed to take in August but because of travel disruption, we had to reschedule it to October.
We had booked a guide and driver for 4 of our days there so we could really get out and about as easily as possible and it was definitely worth it.
Most people head to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat, which was incredible, but my favourite temple had to be Beng Mealea – situated some 60km outside of Siem Reap. It is a temple that hasn’t been restored at all. Instead, nature has taken over and the result is a Jumanji-like setting of overgrown ruins…
I can’t remember exactly how many temples we encountered, each one unique and captivating…
Of course, Ta Prohm (aka the Tomb Raider temple – where some of the movie was shot) was fun to see but much more crowded than most of the others…
and Angkor Wat at sunrise was breathtaking…
along with the incredible scenery…
Yes… Cambodia, you were special. Hope to see you again!
Having continuously told myself I want blog more, here I am, on New Year’s Eve 2019, catching up on on our summer travels…
Back in August, we had planned a vacation to Cambodia and we were holiday ready…
Out-of-office was on, suitcases were packed, and we were getting ready to leave for the airport when we got the notification that our flight had been cancelled. ???? You see, the day on which we were due to fly out, was the day following the airport disruptions due to the Hong Kong protests.
But all was not lost… determined that we were going to enjoy our week of annual leave, plans B, C and D went into straight into operation (in true Enneagram 6 style).
From Hong Kong, we took the ferry over to Macau (which is less than an hour away) and booked into a hotel. We’d only previously been to Macau on a flying trip when we first arrived so that we could re-enter Hong Kong with our working visas in our passports so this was a great opportunity to explore this Portuguese-influenced region.
We spent 3 nights exploring Macau, before flying from there to Hoi An in Vietnam…
Hoi An is a wonder to behold. At just over an hour by plane, this lantern-filled riverside town has definitely entered into my list of places to re-visit. We tried our hand at a cooking class…
lantern-making…
visited a silk village…
had clothes made, wandered around night markets and enjoyed several massages, as well as sampling some of the most delicious food…
I’m so glad we sent my parents there when they visited in December! Such a fun, friendly and affordable place to visit! Already looking forward to returning!
For Ben’s birthday this year, we took a trip to the South-Korean capital of Seoul. We loved it…
the culture, the food, staying down the road from the Line Friends store in a boutique hotel… what’s not to love?!
Here are just a few quick snaps from our trip to this fabulous and fascinating place:
Since moving here I have said to myself that I will blog more often, to keep a track of the adventure that is living in Asia, but before I knew it, it’s the middle of June, and we’ve been here for 5 months!
Just after Easter, we took a short trip to Guilin in China. It only takes 3.5 hours to get there by high speed train, and immigration into China is here in Hong Kong, making it a very doable trip.
Ben and I plan to do a longer China trip in September, a bit more off the beaten track and so we really wanted to try and navigate the local transport on our own. People were so friendly and helpful, and even though we have next to no Mandarin, we were able to navigate our way to the old town of Daxu – which we felt was quite an accomplishment!
We continue to use Mondays (our day off) to explore Hong Kong and the surrounding islands. Here are a few pics from our visit to Tian Tan Giant Buddha…
and the old fishing village of Tai O…
and our most recent trip to the small island of Cheung Chau…
Next month we’re travelling to Seoul in Korea for Ben’s birthday and looking forward to learning more about that beautiful country!
