We made the drive from Finnish Lapland into Swedish Lapland on the morning of day six. There’s no immigration nor customs as you cross the border, so no passport stamp either, just a sign with the European Union symbol on it, easily missed if your guide hadn’t pointed out that it was coming-up on theContinue reading “Swedish Lapland – Days Six and Seven”
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Finnish Lapland – Days Four and Five
We had about a 2 1/2 hour drive on the morning of day four from our hotel in Levi, Finland, down to the town of Rovaniemi, the capital of Finnish Lapland which sits just below the Arctic Circle (which apparently moves a little continuously). We stopped along the way for coffee and donuts, but theContinue reading “Finnish Lapland – Days Four and Five”
Finnish Lapland – Days Two and Three
On the morning of day two we flew from the airport in Helsinki to the town of Kittila in Finnish Lapland, the town with a population of about 7,000. The temperature was “feels like 19” when we landed. At the airport, we were met by a crew from “Lapland Safaris,” who took us into aContinue reading “Finnish Lapland – Days Two and Three”
Finnish and Swedish Lapland, and Norway – March 2025 – Intro & Day One in Helsinki
I’ll have to admit that these countries weren’t even really on my radar as places to visit. But whenever you travel you meet folks who also have traveled and you swap travel stories as well as the obligatory “what’s one of your favorite destinations?” In the answer to this question, not one but two ofContinue reading “Finnish and Swedish Lapland, and Norway – March 2025 – Intro & Day One in Helsinki”
Portugal – Sept 2024
My wife and I wanted to pick a spot that neither of has had been to, with a relatively short plane ride to get there, and of course great food and drink mixed with some super spots to see. And we wanted to go with some friends. So – our choice was Portugal. Traditionally, it’sContinue reading “Portugal – Sept 2024”
Days 10 & 11 – Luang Prabang, Laos
Our guide here learned English in a buddhist school, which he attended for four years. His parents are illiterate, as they grew-up during the French colonial period, when only the elite were allowed to go to school. During the Vietnam War, Laos became the most bombed country in the history of warfare. The US droppedContinue reading “Days 10 & 11 – Luang Prabang, Laos”
Days 7, 8, and 9 – Cambodian Temples
Cambodia. We arrived here on April 10th, and we spent that afternoon, all of the following day, and the morning of the third day exploring the temples in and around Siam Reap. It’s a country of about 17m people; before Pol Pot’s “cultural revolution” and the killing fields (I re-watched the film on the flightContinue reading “Days 7, 8, and 9 – Cambodian Temples”
Day Six – Vietnam War-era Tunnels and an Exhilarating Saigon Experience
Not a tale of two cities, but a tale of two completely different experiences in Saigon. Our morning was spent visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels, about 1 3/4 hours outside the city. This is a sequence of over 75 miles of tunnels that date to the French War and that were used extensively by theContinue reading “Day Six – Vietnam War-era Tunnels and an Exhilarating Saigon Experience”
Day Five – Immersion in Saigon
It was a relatively early morning in Saigon when we took our rickshaw ride to see how the city wakes up; the population seems to be somewhere between 10m and 15m (it was about 3m in 1975 when the Vietnam War ended), making it the largest city in the country, with something like 6m scooters/motorbikes. Continue reading “Day Five – Immersion in Saigon”
Days 3 & 4 on Ha Long Bay
We started out around 8:30 a.m. on a two-hour drive east of Hanoi to Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that sits in the northern part of the Gulf of Tonkin. The Bay is made up of over 1,900 islands, jungle-covered limestone formations – named karsts – that, in some cases, appear toContinue reading “Days 3 & 4 on Ha Long Bay”
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