August 2016 – Wanderwiles

Two-and-a-half months in Asia!

So we leave tomorrow on the trip that inspired me to start this blog: a 77-night ramble through Asia. This trip runs the gamut of lodging, transportation methods, and weather. It’s been a challenge to plan (and a challenge to pack for). We’re excited!

In a (large) nutshell, this trip includes:

Our first trans-Pacific cruise [the Aleutians, northern Japan, Yokohama/Tokyo]
2 weeks in Japan [Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Miyajima island (where we’ll stay in a ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn), Fukuoka]
a ferry to South Korea [Busan, a Buddhist temple stay, Seoul, the DMZ]
a cruise from Shanghai to Singapore [Okinawa, Hong Kong, Chan May/Hoi An and Phu My/Ho Chin Mihn City, Vietnam]
Singapore and Kuala Lumpur
Siem Reap, Cambodia, to see Angkor Wat
Luang Prabang, Laos
a 2-day open-boat trip up the Mekong with a stop at some to-be-determined-when-we-get-there guesthouse in tiny Pakbeng, Laos
2.5 weeks in Thailand: Chiang Khong, Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai (a day with elephants and a Thai cooking school), Krabi (scuba diving the Phi Phi islands), the Bridge on the River Kwai at Kanchanaburi, Bangkok
a 1st class mega-flight on Korean Air from Bangkok to Seoul to Dallas (courtesy of airline miles and credit card points, a favorite game of ours)

I’ve tried to anticipate the trickier bits and done an incredible amount of research, but I know there will be things I overlooked or had no way of knowing. There are liable to be things that don’t pan out as we’d hoped (or maybe don’t even pan out at all). It’s the nature of travel, and also part of what makes it exciting and interesting. And besides, I don’t want to plan every moment anyway. I intend to focus on experiencing the trip rather than documenting it, but I’ll blog about it when I can. Hopefully, there will be fun as well as useful info to share…and, no doubt, our portion of clueless-fools-in-a-strange-land moments. Wish us luck! read more

Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia. Wish granted!

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I spent nearly two weeks in Croatia with my sons years ago and the place I’d always regretted missing was Plitvice National Park. As far as I was concerned, Plitvice was #1 on my list for this Croatian vacation with David and now, as our trip neared an end, we were finally going to be there…and it was storming. Not just light rain, but a downpour. Aaargh!

The weather in Zadar had been overcast with occasional drizzle, but cleared to sunny the morning we set out on the drive to Plitvice. It’s an easy 2-hour drive from Zadar to Plitvice and the scenery is beautiful as you head into the mountains and cross over impressive bridges spanning wide inlets of water. read more

AirBnB: Zadar, Croatia; “Fifi Apartment”

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The listing for our AirBnB apartment in Zadar billed the place as “Fifi apartment.” The name conjured images of a French poodle or maybe even a can-can dancer; definitely female, in any event. When I emailed and WhatsApp’ed with contact Andrej, however, he let me know, in passing, that Fifi was male. Oh. Andrej said “Fifi” spoke little English, hence Andrej’s role as spokesman, but that Fifi himself would meet us. The apartment included secure on-site parking, a big plus for an apartment inside the old town. Andrej told me that Fifi would be waiting for us by the city gate and lead us to the parking since. Despite the advance info, we were a still a little surprised the first time we saw “Fifi:” a big man of late middle age in a black leather jacket. As promised, he was waiting for us, on foot. When we offered to drive him with us, he declined and proceeded to walk ahead of our car, leading us into the old city, past the open-air market and to the electronic gate to our apartment. read more

Roman amphitheater at Solin, Croatia

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On our way back from Krka to Split, we made a short detour to visit the ruins of a Roman amphitheater in Solin, a small town on the outskirts of Split. With no address to go by, I guessed at street names hinting at an amphitheater or forum…which resulted in quite a few wrong turns on narrow streets. For anyone preferring a more direct route (which should be everyone), the amphitheater is at the intersection of Put Salone and Paraci ulica (“ulica” being simply Croation for street). The path is neither well-marked nor straightforward due to the way streets are set up, dead ends and the like. The ruins do show up on Google Maps now, so go with that if you have access. read more

Krka Park, Croatia–walking on water

The waterfalls, lakes, rivers and pathways of Krka Park lure visitors from Croatia and beyond. We got up early to start our daytrip to Krka, hoping to avoid the crowds we’d heard could be a problem. The park lies an easy hour’s drive from Split. We drove the vast majority of the way on the excellent A1/E65 highway, then followed signs (and Google Maps) along the equally well-maintained E33 to the park’s main entrance at Lozovac. The enormous parking lot was mostly empty, but cars and tour buses were already beginning to arrive. We bought entrance tickets at the booth in the parking lot then realized we’d just missed the free shuttle bus that takes visitors into the park. [The free shuttle service runs from April to October.] Unwilling to wait for the bus to return, we opted to hike instead downhill through thick forests. The walk is pretty and not overly-difficult for the fit, but views of the lake below are blocked and we actually saw more of that particular vista by riding the bus back to the parking lot at the end of our visit. Our hike deposited us just up the road from the bus drop-off. read more

Villa Spiza Restaurant, featured on “Bizarre Foods”

My foodie husband, David, read great things about a restaurant called Villa Spiza in Split, so we headed there our first night in town. We found a tiny little hole-in-the-wall, with no tables available, but two stools at a bar that faced a cooking range-top. I had to squeeze into the cornermost stool, my back practically against the side of the woman behind me. Learning they only accept cash, David headed out again leaving me to nurse a white wine while he searched for an ATM machine. The place was bustling, with only two cooks/servers, a man and a woman behind the L-shaped bar. People waited outside for larger tables to free up. read more

AirBnB: Split, Croatia; “Apartment Fonte Split”

Our apartment wish list in Split presented some challenges: We needed parking, but we wanted to be near the pedestrian old town. As always, I wanted value for our money (plus wi-fi, a washing machine, charm, a quiet place to sleep, a good host…). We really lucked out on all fronts in Split and ended up with one of our favorite AirBnB apartments to date…with a tiny caveat I’ll get to below.

Our host Vlatko was very responsive from the moment we booked. As promised, he was waiting in the street for us with his little boy when we arrived from Dubrovnik to “hold a parking place for us.” This was the first inkling that the billed guaranteed parking might not be so guaranteed; that caveat I mentioned. The parking turns out to be sort of a first-come–first-served affair at the end of the dead-end street on which the apartment sits. David did his usual awesome job of maneuvering our bigger-than-expected rent car into the snug parking. Vlatko explained that there was “usually” parking and, if we happened to come back and there wasn’t any parking, we could just park in the paid lot next door and then look down from the apartment window until a free space opened up and move the car. Hmm. Not how I wanted to spend my time in Split. Despite this potential hitch, we actually didn’t have a problem getting free parking on our return from our one daytrip to Krka, Trogir and Solin. read more

Split, Croatia: Old Town, Diocletian’s palace & Marjan Park

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Split had been a favorite of my boys and mine on that first visit to Croatia 13 years ago, and I was excited to return with David. It’s a fascinating place: a medieval city built into and incorporating the ruins of Roman emperor Diocletian’s palace. Happily, Split proved to be one of those places that’s just as good the second time around.

20160416_160256 — Narodni Trg (National Square) in Split

As with Dubrovnik, tourism has boomed in Split in recent years and cruise ships periodically dump large crowds on the city, but Split managed to retain the charm I remembered in spite of it all. It’s popular with Croatians from surrounding areas as well and the cafés were filled on sunny weekend days. We ran into our young guide from the Winery Miloš with a girlfriend one evening and caught up with the status of the wine competition in the US. There’s always a kick to actually recognizing a familiar face in a foreign city. read more

Making wine the old-fashioned way: Winery Miloš in Ston, Croatia

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At the recommendation of our server at D’Vino in Dubrovnik, we stopped at Winery Miloš in Ston on our way to Split. Ston is on the Pelješac peninsula only a short detour (on the 414) off the main highway about an hour into the 3 hour drive between Dubrovnik and Split.

We dropped in without a reservation, and were greeted by the son of owner, Frano Miloš. The very knowledgeable young man conducted us on a short private tour of the small winery followed by a tasting of several of their wines. Miloš uses only Plavic mali grapes aged in traditional 2000 liter Slavonian oak barrels and the results are excellent, garnering international awards. They were awaiting word from the U.S. regarding a current entry at the time we were there, having won in their class the year before. read more

Dubrovnik beer bar: Glam Café

20160413_174047 — A sign on Stradun points the way to Glam Café

Glam Café is an interesting place. We went for the beer–twice, but it’s also a coffee shop. I hear the coffee is good, but I wouldn’t know; like I said, we went for the beer. Glam Café is a great place in Dubrovnik for craft beers from all over Croatia. The bar staff is super friendly and knowledgeable. The place is small, but stylish and immaculate and there’s outdoor seating as well along the narrow alley. If anyone in your party prefers wine, Glam Café is fine with you buying wine across the way and D’Vino (see my earlier post) and bringing it back to a Glam table. read more