No visit to Sri Lanka is complete without a visit to the Sigiriya Rock Fortress. Sigiriya Rock is one of Sri Lanka’s wonders, and it’s a must-see attraction on any visitor’s itinerary. Sigiriya, meaning Lion Rock in Singalese, is an ancient city in the central Matale district of Sri Lanka. It’s easy to spot this two hundred meters high rock as you drive through the...
Sri Lanka is one of the best places in South Asia to see wildlife. In fact, that was a key reason we wanted to go there. Being animal lovers, we’ve always wanted take a safari to see wild animals in their natural environment. We haven’t yet made it to Africa, so Udawalawe seemed like a great alternative. We were keen to see elephants, but we wanted to avoid the...
Osaka was the last stop of our two week trip to Japan, and we had originally planned to spend two full days there. However, we made a last minute decision to stop off in Himeji along the way, to check out the newly restored castle. We ended up spending a good part of the day in Himeji, arriving in Osaka late afternoon. That only gave us a single day to explore the...
After our visit to Hiroshima, our Japanese trip was sadly coming to an end. We had to make our way to Osaka for our final two days, before flying home from Kansai Airport. But there was one final place to tick off the bucket list, Himeji Castle. After five years of intensive restoration work, Himeji Castle had finally re-opened its doors to the public. The castle is...
Miyajima is a picture-perfect island off the coast of Hiroshima. It is the best day trip to take if you want to escape that bustling city. Miyajima is really easy to get to and has so much to offer in terms of culture and local traditions. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996, Miyajima is one of the most popular tourist’s destinations in Japan...
After our stay in Kyoto we hopped back on a bullet train, this time headed towards Hiroshima. Our ride on the Shinkansen was under two hours long, direct and as always very pleasant. Because we left Kyoto bright and early, we arrived in Hiroshima just before 10 am. That let us spend a few hours in Hiroshima itself, before catching a ferry to Miyajima Island in the...
On a night out when we’d all had a few too many glasses of champagne, my best friend Charlotte decided that for her 40th birthday we’d all go to the Maldives. What a great idea I thought! A week together on a beautiful island in the middle of the Indian Ocean sounded like a blast. What started as a drunken idea quickly became a reality when a few months later...
There are so many great places to visit in Japan that it’s hard to see them all in one go. But if you’re visiting either Kyoto or Osaka, a great side trip is to the city of Nara. Nara is less than an hour away by train from either of those places and is a beautiful place to visit. You may have heard of Nara before; two things make it very popular, the wild...
Kyoto is another great city to visit while in Japan. Japan’s former imperial capital has a population just shy of one and a half million people, making it much smaller and quieter than Tokyo. The main reason to visit Kyoto is to soak up its fascinating culture and history. Kyoto is also the best place in Japan to go temple hopping. Why? Because it has over sixteen...
If you want to escape the crowds of Tokyo, another popular outing is a day trip to Kamakura. Kamakura has so many temples that it is also known as the Kyoto of East Japan. From Tokyo, it takes between one to one and a half hours by train to reach Kamakura, depending on which train line you use and your point of departure. We were staying in Shinjuku and simply hopped...