If you find yourself in the United Arab Emirates, I highly recommend a visit to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. Even if you’re staying in Dubai, the capital Abu Dhabi can easily be visited as a day trip since it’s only an hour and a half away from the skyscraper-filled city.
This stunning view that greets you after going through security. Your eyes try to take in the purity of the white marble while at the same time noticing all the architectural details.
We tried so hard to narrow down our top travel experiences of 2015 to a Top 10 list, but it was just too hard! So many wonderfully exciting things happened! We eventually narrowed it down to our Top 15, our #Top15of2015, and we’ve been sharing them on Instagram for the past few days. These are, of course, in no particular order – how could we decide?!
Meagan couldn’t believe her luck when she visited the most picturesque lavender fields in Provence. Every stop along the drive was like a photo from a book! All of the flowers were blooming brightly!
In January, Stephanie traveled with her husband to Thailand to show him where she studied abroad.
Our second photo for our top 15 experiences in 2015 comes from my trip to Thailand in January. It was my first time back since studying abroad there & I had so much fun watching my husband take in a country that will always hold a special place in my heart. One quintessential Bangkok experience we had was riding in a tuktuk, weaving in & out of traffic. What a rush!
A photo posted by A Friend Afar Blog (@afriendafar) on
Meagan had the most amazing experiences in France, and cycling through Burgundy with Beaune as a home base blew her away! She wants to go back again right now! It probably isn’t on your travel list yet, but is should be! Continue reading
Tokyo was one of my first true loves. I could cross a crowded crosswalk with hundreds of strangers in glowing, flashing, technology-infused chaos, or I could turn down a side street and pass traditional wooden architecture and painted signs as I dipped into a restaurant serving steaming bowls of ramen. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen before, and yet, instead of feeling isolated by language and cultural barriers, I was drawn to the unfamiliar. Instead of feeling claustrophobic or hopelessly lost in a city many times larger and more crowded than my own, I sought out the quiet gardens and temples, and I zeroed in on the details. Ok, I definitely felt claustrophobic on the subway, but who wouldn’t?
I studied Japanese in college, and after spending the majority of a summer study abroad in the hot springs town of Beppu in the south, my classmates and I headed to Tokyo. It was my second time in the city, and I loved every bit of it. (OK, Akihabara isn’t really my cup of matcha.) My mom, one of my favorite travel companions, joined me for a week after my semester was over, and I was ready for the opportunity to escape the city again by then. Most people go to Kyoto, which is a longer and more expensive trip, but we stuck close to our home base of Ginza for a few day trips. Here are my favorite spots that you can visit outside of Tokyo. Thank goodness for the shinkansen (bullet) trains!
It was a fast and affordable ride to Hakone on the shinkansen, and since we love train travel, it was an hour of pure excitement! Once we arrived in Gora, we took the funicular railroad up to Souzan and the Hakone Ropeway cable car to a lookout station and restaurant. Now seems like a good time to mention that even though we planned this trip entirely on the weather forecast, the rain came sooner than expected, and Fuji-san was completely covered in clouds. Yes, this was the view of Mt. Fuji from our “scenic view” cable car. Figures.
It’s out there somewhere!
You can’t bring us down, though! After eating lunch at the restaurant with the panoramic views of Mt. Fuji and laughing at our bad luck, we did what we do best. We hit the nearest onsen for a day at the spa!
Onsen are the hot spring baths in Japan. They are very, very affordable, even the fanciest ones with beautifully landscaped ponds and saunas. Since we don’t have these in the states, I considered them to be a wonderfully inexpensive spa – minus the massages.
Onsen Photo courtesy of Hotel Green Plaza Hakone. I couldn’t take pictures inside the onsen, of course!
Have you been to an onsen before? If not, your first visit will come as quite the surprise. Since onsen are traditional public bath houses, you won’t be wearing a bathing suit. That tends to make tourists very uncomfortable at first, but after a little bit of relaxing in the soothing hot springs, you won’t want to leave! We visited one of the more elaborate onsen in the area, and spent our afternoon hopping between saunas, hot springs, bubbling jacuzzis, and pools. Some of the pools were outside, lined with plants and filled by waterfalls, and others were inside and surrounded by beautiful rock walls and tiles. After a morning in the rain and fog, this was the perfect way to warm up and relax. What a treat!
Don’t feel too bad about our missed Mt. Fuji sighting. If you’re in Tokyo on a clear day, you can see the iconic beauty from the top floors of the Metropolitan Government Buildings in Shinjuku, Tokyo. We’re stubborn, so we sat up there all afternoon on our last day until its silhouette appeared through the clouds. It wasn’t picture perfect, but it still took our breath away.
You know which day trip wasn’t a total bust? Kamakura! Once again, we boarded the train and headed out of town. We set out to visit The Great Buddha, or Daibutsu, and since we had learned about multiple very old temples along a path nearby, we had a full day planned.
The Great Buddha is a massive bronze statue dating back to 1252. The temple housing the statue was washed away by a tsunami in 1498, and since then, the Buddha has stood in the open air courtyard.
Not only did the weather hold out for us on that day, so did the crowds. It didn’t take long for the only tour bus at The Great Buddha to head out, and after capturing this shot of siblings peeking through a lantern, we were able to take pictures of this important piece of Japanese history with no other visitors in the frame. Even so, these two children are still my favorite.
After visiting the Great Buddha at the Kotoku-In temple, we headed to Kenchoji. We had read that it is the oldest Zen training monastery in Japan, so we were prepared for a different sort of temple from those that we visited in Tokyo.
I loved the beautiful wooden buildings that were ornately carved but lacked the vivid red paint that covered all of the temples we had visited before. You could really see the temple’s age. The temple was founded in 1246 and completed in 1253. The gardens were beautiful as well, and we had the opportunity to take off our shoes and tour some of the tatami-floored rooms.
Tokyo is a fascinating city with so much to see and do, but getting out of town and heading for the countryside and Mt. Fuji are amazing experiences. If you’re headed to Tokyo, be sure to schedule in a day or two for Mt. Fuji and Kamakura. You won’t be sorry!
Have you been to Japan? Tell us about your favorite places in and around Tokyo in the comments! We love hearing from you!
If you find yourself in Bangkok on a weekend, Chatuchak Market (or Jatujak or JJ) is a must! It’s Thai shopping at its finest, which means it can be crazy, overwhelming, and exhilarating. Crazy because it’s only open Saturdays and Sundays, and it’s popular with both locals and tourists so it’s always packed. Overwhelming because it’s one of the largest markets in the world and the largest in Asia, and you truly can buy anything here. And it’s exhilarating because you can find some absolutely stellar finds for a bargain! Some of my favorite “sections” of the market include antiques, home decor, and handicrafts, but there are also books, clothes and pets.
Here are a few tips to help you have an amazing experience!
Depending on the season and your schedule, go early to beat the crowds and the heat. The market opens at 9am and closes at 6pm, but sometimes vendors pack up early, so keep that in mind as well.
If you want to be more strategic with your shopping, plan ahead of time using Nancy Chandler’s map of Bangkok, which includes a color coded map and guide of the market. The map can be purchased on the Nancy Chandler website, but it’s also available in bookstores and news agents in Thailand. It’s also extremely valuable when exploring other parts of Bangkok. As a bonus, the beautifully illustrated map can be framed and used as home décor. Even with a map, make sure you let yourself get wonderfully lost since you never know what treasure you might stumble upon. (Note: This is not a sponsored post. We’ve owned a few copies of the map between the two of us, and we think it’s so very helpful.)
Take a break from shopping to enjoy a treat, such as mango ice cream
There’s a ton of delicious food and sweet treats to devour, so grab something and find a place to rest your weary feet. Also, make sure you stay hydrated especially if it’s a hot day.
If you see something you want, buy it! Don’t make the mistake of assuming you’ll see the item and regret not getting it. The last time I shopped at JJ, I wanted to get sticky rice baskets and saw some but passed them by. And of course I didn’t see them again and kicked myself for not buying them in the first place.
Learn some basic Thai shopping phrases to use to bargain but also to be polite. Many people do speak English, but you can get a better price sometimes by speaking Thai. Also, though credit cards are accepted by some vendors, cash is preferred and will usually guarantee a better deal.
Here’s a little inspiration for you as you contemplate whether make Chatuchak part of your Bangkok experience:
