This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to book a stay or purchase an item I may earn a commission at no cost to you.
Lake Titicaca is a giant lake that straddles two South American nations: Peru and Bolivia. Apart from its funny name, Lake Titicaca is also famous for its people that live on reed islands (literal man-made islands from reeds). How radical is that!?!
Top Tip for Lake Titicaca:
Take some time to explore at a slow pace. I was in such a rush on my trip moving between too countries overland without really enough time to do so but in the short time I spent on Lake Titicaca I realised its one of those places where the details are what’s important! Everything you see is pretty cool until you really look closely and see how many different and incredible ways reeds are used for everything.
Where to stay:
I didn’t stay overnight on Lake Titicaca (except on the shores of the Lake in Copacabana, Boliva) but if I was able to go back a Homestay on one of the islands is a popular choice and would be a really good option. Alternatively, You can book on booking.com.
Getting there and away:
Lake Titicaca is one of the stops on Peru and Bolivia Hop – a perfect combo of a tour group, a hop on hop off bus and an intercity bus! You can visit Lake Titicaca on both the Peruvian and Bolivian sides with this company and they even help you cross the border. See my post here raving about Peru Hop as to why this is a winning combo.
Getting around:
Most locals travel on reed boats but there are also ferries to various islands. On the Peruvian side you will find lots of small reed islands and on the Bolivian side you can take a ferry to the very large Isla del Sol. If you head down to the water I assure you you will find somebody willing to take you onto the lake for a fee.
What to bring:
Wear a warm jacket! Lake Titicaca is pretty high altitude and you cannot rely on it being warm. The day we went was grey, rainy and freezing. I’m not sure why you would but don’t wear heels – I can’t imagine them going down well on the reed islands and on Isla del Sol you will need to do lots of walking. Bring your passport – on the reed islands there is a little passport office where you can get a tourist stamp on your passport.
What to expect:
Expect to have an authentic, local experience and not DO anything. On the Reed islands you will be invited into a local house to ask questions and buy souvenirs (if you want) and get an opportunity to hop on one of the reed boats. On Isla del Sol the best activity is to lap up the sun and take in the beautiful views from all over the island.
This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to book a stay or purchase an item I may earn a commission at no cost to you.
I have put together this simple guide to help you plan your trip to Vinh Hy Bay as I could not find a lot of info online for planning before we went! Because Vinh Hy Bay is a little off the beaten track there isn’t a whole lot of information available about what to see and do either. Therefore, I have provided some useful details in my post Itinerary: 3 days in Vinh Hy Bay here. Please take a look to help you plan your visit. Or see my Vinh Hy Bay Photo Essay if you need some more convincing!
I hope this helps you to venture to this part of Vietnam as we were so happy we did!
Getting there and away:
Vinh Hy Bay is a bit out of the way and therefore a little tricker to get to than most spots in Vietnam.
The bay is approximately 1 hour drive from Camh Ranh Airport (you can also take a boat from near the airport to the bay! From the airport get transport to My Thanh Bridge – speedboats are available to transfer passengers to Vinh Hy bay from here.) We left Vinh Hy via Camh Ranh airport to travel back to Hanoi and it was an incredibly lovely drive along some of the most stunning coastline in Vietnam.
You can also get to Vinh Hy Bay via train but the closest train station is also some distance from the Bay at Thap Cham Station. We took an overnight sleeper train from Da Nang which took about 12 hours. Trains from Vinh Hy Bay to Hanoi leave from Thap Cham at 02:40; 03:54, 12:11; 16:36 and 22:05 while trains from Thap Cham to Saigon leave at 00:46, 11:12; 20:40; 21:19; 22:32 and 23:45.
The official Vietnam Railways website is https://dsvn.vn/#/ but you can also book through Baolau.
Accommodation:
You can see all 11 hotels available in Vinh Hy Bay on booking.com. The options are pretty limited! We stayed at Chanh Ranh House which was clean and comfortable and looked over the bay.
Food:
Restaurants
There are 2 restaurants in the bay with English menus (one of which is owned by Chanh Ranh House) both have good basic local fare. We preferred the other one – called Madame Hoang.
Vinh Hy is also known for its seafood restaurants (Vinh Hy Bay’s primary source of income is as a fishing village). Many of them are only open in the weekends on off season and all of them have a wider range of seafood in the weekends. We went to Quán Hải Sản Phước Thủy which is really just an open air kitchen with some plastic outdoor tables set up. But it was really nice.
The absolute BEST place to eat in the area is Doai Vegetarian Restaurant. Its a bit of a trek from the village in a rural area next to Nui Chua National Park. We went with our guide as part of our tour and had a set meal all of which was delicious. The setting is also spectacular as the restaurant is hidden in the forest and the outdoor seating sits on a wooden platform built around a rocky outcrop with stunning view of the bay.
Cafes and Bars
Ginger beer is a specialty in the village so make sure to stop at one of the cafes and give this a try! We liked the Ginger Beer at La Mer because there were also lots of weird and wonderful things preserved in jars.
Fresh Juices are always a good option in Vietnam and there is a great juice stall set up at the local playground in the evenings for your juice fix.
Also worth a stop is Yêu Biển bar which is a converted campervan parked up outside Chanh Ranh House. The drinks are very overpriced though so I suggest sticking only to Happy Hour!
Getting around:
Vinh Hy is pretty tricky to get around as a foreigner that doesn’t speak Vietnamese. The majority of international tourists that come through are travelling on motorbikes. You can also hire a driver but we found it was best to hire a guide which then means you don’t have to worry about your transport either and you can take advantage of all the forms of transport available (see my top tip below).
Vinh Hy Bay is very small so you can easily walk around the town itself. Boat and electric golf carts are other popular ways to travel considering the area you are in.
Top Tip:
If budget allows and you want to learn about the local culture, fruit, indigenous people and nature then I suggest hiring a private guide. I don’t always think this is the best way to travel (in fact I rarely hire a guide or go on a tour) but in locations such as this it was really helpful to have someone show us around, adapt itineraries and information based on our interests and give us insider tips.
In Vinh Hy Bay we found a wonderful tour company and guide: Vinh Hy Blue Skies where we received a fascinating private tour, had pre-arranged transport and yet had plenty of time to explore on our own, relax and find our own way.
I hope this guide has been helpful and gives you the information you need to take the road less travelled on occasion!
This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to book a stay or purchase an item I may earn a commission at no cost to you.
The Amazon is somewhere that I have always wanted to visit but it definitely pushed me outside of my comfort zone. I am terrified of spiders, hesitant with most bugs and I am definitely prefer a comfortable experience so you can see why the Amazon is probably not my ideal location to be in. As I did not want to miss out on the experience of a lifetime, I compromised with myself and booked a relatively luxury Amazon experience at Treehouse Lodge in Peru. It was a great balance of adventure and luxury.
GENERAL INFO
Getting there and away:
The problem with the Amazon is its very much in the middle of nowhere so its pretty complicated to get to. Treehouse Lodge will pick you up from Iquitos and take you there as part of the package but its still a pretty big journey after getting to Iquitos which is a bit of an adventure in itself.
We were travelling directly from the Galapagos Islands so it was a couple of long days of travel for us. If you are coming from anywhere overseas you will need to spend a night in Lima first as there are not many flights out to Iquitos and limited times that you can be picked up by the Lodge.
If you need to stay the night by the airport in Lima I recommend TUPAC Lima Airport Hostel as it has a nice roof terrace and is very secure. Also you can save some money staying here before you spend such a huge amount in the Amazon!
Our flight to Iquitos took 2 hours and landed at 12:10pm – then once we were collected by the lodge staff you spend another 3 hours almost travelling by a mix of car and boat. However, the boat trip is your first excursion on the Amazon river so its very exciting and doesn’t feel too long at all!
Again, leaving is a long trip so for our 1pm flight back to Lima we had to leave around 8am from the lodge. This is just worth keeping in mind when you think about how long you will be staying as a 3 days/2 nights trip is really only 1 full day. We stayed 3 nights and this was only JUST enough time – 4 would have been better.
Accommodation:
Accomodation here is a real drawcard – you will be staying in an actual treehouse built above ground and connected to the other treehouses and restaurant etc. by a series of rope bridges.
Our room was very comfortable and spacious and it was lovely to wake up in the treetops in the Amazon! However, I would say the place was pretty rundown for the price you are paying to stay here – there were gaps in the mosquito netting and we found a large spider in our room at one point.
Hopefully they have made some renovations and updated the condition of these rooms recently! Im sure the Amazon is an unforgivable place but that just means that frequent upkeep is necessary.
Food:
Treehouse Lodge is all-inclusive (apart from alcohol) and the food was plentiful and excellent! Galavanting around the Amazon makes you very hungry and the chefs here sure do deliver. As an extra special touch the chef cooked up the Piranhas that we caught when Piranha fishing so we could taste them!
Getting around:
Part of the all-inclusive fee here includes having a private tour guide and boat driver to take you on any of the activities that you would like to do. Both were fantastic and we felt very lucky to have such great guides with us – they could spot wildlife from a mile off! My only complaint was that they seemed pretty reluctant to head out in heavy rain and considering we were there in rainy season that limited our time to explore a little bit! They also had a more limited range of activities than we thought before we went (Although we did do a couple of off-book things) – many of the activities were combined into one trip although we could have happily done many of these things twice!
Top Tips:
Make sure to keep the mosquito net around your bed always closed to make sure you have a sleep thats free of creepy crawlies.
Don’t miss visiting the semi-domesticated sloths! A local family rescued a sloth and it has since mated and a whole family of sloths now lives in their house. One or two are so tame that you can hug them and you can watch others chill in the rafters and eat leaves.
ACTIVITIES DURING OUR STAY
The activities that we did didn’t quite match up exactly with the advertised activities. The guide tailors the activities for you somewhat but also in reality you just journey around the Amazon seeing what you can see and fitting in what you can as wildlife doesn’t appear to a schedule and the guides have their own ideas about what may be interesting.
Here are the things we got to do:
Insect Jungle Walk – terrifying!
Birdwatching – so many cool birds but a bit tricky unless you have super binoculars.
Sloth Cuddles – as mentioned above there were Sloth cuddles – they were the best!
Wildlife Spotting in the Canopy – Lots of monkeys in particular!
Searching for the Amazon River Dolphins – these guys are a bit shy so this wasn’t super successful and we spent a LOT of time waiting for them to pop their heads up.
Visit to a local community – they had a large python in a shed out the back of somebody’s house. What a crazy place. I couldn’t lift it it was too heavy!
Weird and Wacky Plants – There were lots of weird and wonderful plants to look at – namely the giant lily pads of Oxbow Lagoon!
Nighttime Cayman Spotting
Fishing for Piranha
Releasing Baby Turtles into the wild – This was only an option due to the specific time of year – the lodge raises baby turtles until they are old enough to possibly survive in the wild and then they are released into the river.
There are so many different cruises available in the Galapagos islands that It can be really difficult to choose just one: See my post here on How to: Plan your Itinerary to the Galapagos to narrow down what you would like to do.
Here is our itinerary for our cruise so you can see what the places we went were like – Bear in mind that the underwater visibility, wildlife and weather will vary from day to day so areas that may have been perfect on my trip may be a little less so on another. Everywhere we went was AMAZING and out of this world though so I’m sure you cant go too wrong!
We took the Golondrina which is one of very few very budget backpacker boats in the Galapagos but is the one with the best itinerary (in our opinion).
DAY 1
On the first day, we met the cruise at Baltra Airport to embark on the yacht and got settled. After having lunch on the boat we headed to Mosquera Island. This Island has a long stretch of soft white sand and many rock and tide pools. It has a flat look rather than the cone shape of the volcanically formed islands of the Galapagos.
Mosquera Island is a great place to stroll on the beach, snorkelling and enjoy the animal life. You are most likely to see sea lions and many shorebirds here. It is a quieter island with less tourists than some of the nearby locations.
DAY 2
On the morning of the second day, we visited Vicente Roca Point on Isabela Island via a small motorized boat. You are not permitted to land on the coast here. Vincente Roca Point is a large bay consisting of two seperate coves with amazing sea life. You may spot seahorses, sea turtles, rays, puffer fish, sunfish, sea lions, sharks, penguins, blue-footed boobies and nazca boobies.
Note: Although Isabela Island is technically inhabited (it has a very small rural settlement) the island itself is HUGE and there are many very isolated locations with lots of wildlife on the other side of the island that are inaccessible by land and too far for a day trip by boat as they are reached from the other side of the island (such as Vicente Roca Point) so this is a good location for a cruise to visit.
In the afternoon, the cruise visits Espinoza Point on Fernandina Island where you have a short hike along the coast to see lava flows and lava cactus, marine iguanas (during nesting time January to June), penguins, pelicans, and cormorants. After hiking there will be time to do some snorkelling from the beach.
DAY 3
On Day 3 your cruise will disembark at Urbina Bay on Isabela Island (again an area inaccessible by land). This bay lies at the foot of the Alcedo volcano. At Urbina Bay you will take a 2 hour walk passing shells and coral visible above the water along with a lot of wildlife: land iguanas, darwin’s finches, giant tortoises and flightless cormorants. After the hike you will snorkel surrounded by penguins and flightless cormorants.
In the afternoon, the cruise visits Tagus Cove on Isabela Island. We again take a walk here that begins from the shore and takes you high up a hill to provide incredible views over Darwin’s Lake (a round salt water crater) through a small forest. After the walk, you will take a boat around the cliffs and then snorkel in the cove. Around the water you are likely to see wildlife such as penguins, flightless cormorants, boobies, pelicans and Sally Lightfoot Crabs.
DAY 4
On the 4th day the cruise will visit Puerto Egas on Santiago Island. We will take a motorboat to land on the beach here. The beach here has gorgeous black rock formations and lots of wildlife. You are likely to see the Darwin finches, Galapagos hawks, marine iguanas, Sally Lightfoot crabs, fur seals and sea lions. You will be able to swim and snorkel from the beach here.
After lunch you will visit Sombrero Chino which for me was the highlight of this cruise. This is an island that looks like a wide brimmed hat and is very picturesque. The beach area is flat and rocky with lava tunnels and lava cactus all over the place. You will do a short walk then swim and snorkel here and the snorkelling is absolutely excellent.
DAY 5
Lastly, before departure your cruise will take you to the Charles Darwin Reasearch Station on Santa Cruz Island. Although this Galapagos tortoise breeding centre is in the main town of Puerto Ayora and easily accessed on an independent journey it was a useful last stop for us as we could leave straight for the town from here and didn’t need to return to the airport with the others on the cruise. Had the cruise finished elsewhere, we would have been dropped at the airport afterwards.
Let me know if you have been to any of these locations or if you have any suggestions for the best itinerary stops on our next cruise!
This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to book a stay or purchase an item I may earn a commission at no cost to you.
Ninh Binh is known as the Halong Bay on Land and when you arrive you can see why! Particularly around June (when we were here) Ninh Binh and its surrounds are lush, green, hot and beautiful with touches of bright yellow and dramatic limestone cliffs adding to the endless gorgeous rice fields and rivers. It reminded me a lot of rural Bali (but better!). It’s a great place for endless outdoor adventures.
GENERAL INFO
Getting there and away:
Ninh Binh is an easy hop skip and a jump from Hanoi. The best way to get here is via train and it only takes 2-3 hours from Hanoi Old Town to Ninh Binh. All the good stuff in Ninh Binh is somewhat rural so you will then need to get a taxi to Tam Coc or the nearby area that you are staying in but your accomodation will be able to arrange pickup for you for approximately 200,000 VND.
From Ninh Binh we visited Halong Bay. There are no trains in this direction but you can catch a bus or organise private transport. If you are on your own or in a couple your cruise may offer the best price for a car (bear in mind you will likely be sharing with others) but for a group you should book through your accomodation or through Ninh Binh Tourist Center.
Accommodation:
We decided to stay right in Tam Coc as then we could walk to get food, cash, beers etc. easily. There are plenty of places to stay here but we stayed at Tam Coc Marina Villa which is very centrally located; newly built; has some nice places to relax and recover and has very attentive helpful staff.
Food:
Tam Coc town has plenty of cheap local options for food – all local food in Vietnam is pretty great but most of these don’t stand out in any way. We did really enjoy a meal at Father Cooking – on the corner of the main road just across from the Tam Coc Wharf.
Getting around:
The attractions around Ninh Binh are quite spread out and therefore its best to hire a car and driver to get to most of them. Ninh Binh Tourist Center can arrange this for you in advance for a reasonable price.
For the closer locations, you can also hire bicycles. Tam Coc town itself is easily walkable.
Top Tip:
Allow for some downtime here in Ninh Binh. All the activities are exhausting – either physically demanding or out in the sunshine for long hours. I would limit to 2 locations/activities a day so that you don’t wear yourself out!
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES
Trang An Landscape Complex
Trang An Landscape Complex is a scenic boat trip that goes through limestone caves and past temples (you can get out of the boat and explore). The trip takes 2-3 hours and costs 250,000 VND per person (children under 1 metre free). There are 3 different routes – I suggest taking Route 3 as this goes through the longest cave and also past the very beautiful temple on the water. Be aware if you are claustrophobic that the cave height can get very low and you need to lie almost flat to avoid hitting your head in some points.
Before you head out on the boats there is a snack shop if you need food, cold drinks or coffee. Tam Coc Wharf also has boat tours but Trang An is much better.
Hang Mua (Lying Dragon Mountain)
Hang Mua is a steep mountain with a beautiful view of the surrounding area including the scenic river system and the ancient capital. The hike is challenging (especially in the heat of the day) so it is best attempted in the early morning. Also you should wear proper walking shoes and take plenty of water with you but be aware there is no toilet located at the top (there is a small shop part way up that sells ice-creams and drinks). Taking the left fork on your way up leads to a stone dragon statue. The other path has great views too so do both if you can.
You should also allow time for a bit of a wander around before or after: the complex has lots of photo opportunities and cute things to look at. There is also a cave at the bottom of the mountain that you can explore inside. Hang Mua costs 100,000 VND to enter and parking is free.
Tam Coc Town
Tam Coc town has touristy small town vibes but is nice to have a little wander around , particularly if there is a celebration going on. You can go shopping (make sure to bargain) or watch the colourful boats leave from Tam Coc Wharf. At night see if you can spot the Gaudy party buses – they are hilarious!
Bai Dinh Pagoda
Bai Dinh Pagoda is the largest pagoda complex in Vietnam. It combines an ancient and new complex and it takes about 30 minutes to walk from one end of the complex to the other (after taking an electric car to the entrance). Its free to visit Bai Dinh Pagoda but the electric car costs 30,000 VND per person. There is some incorrect information online about there being a vegetarian restaurant inside the complex. There are a couple of places where you can get cold drinks but no Restaurant. Don’t get stuck wandering around in the middle of the day heat starving with a toddler and unable to find food.
Thang Nham Bird Park
This is a slightly more off the beaten track destination and was definitely not busy when we went there. It’s best to come here in the late afternoon. Nothing is signposted so it can be quite confusing to find the boat to the birds – allow yourself time). After purchasing tickets you walk along a long flat bridge and then on your left is a short boat trip through a cave. After getting of the boat you can continue to the right of the bridge onto a little island which has lots of gorgeous photo spots. The main attraction is another boat journey to see all the birds return to their nests at dusk. Entry costs 120,000 VND per person (includes both boat tours and the entrance fee). We loved it here – it was relaxed and beautiful.
Next time I am here I would like to visit Van Long Nature Reserve. This is a much quieter place for boat rides (and is a bit of a journey from Tam Coc). The boat rides here are really cheap; only last about 1 hour and you have an opportunity to see the endangered langur monkey that is found in this area. Let me know what you thought of this place if you have been and any other must sees for Ninh Binh.
Varanasi is everything that people love about India combined with everything that people hate. It’s a must see destination in my humble opinion. Varanasi combines winding alleyways with life on the river; rural with city; smog with cleansing properties; beggars with tourists and life with death.
GENERAL INFO
Getting there: An Auto-rickshaw is approx. 250INR from the airport while a taxi is approx. 700INR. I suggest a taxi as its a long way and quite cold at night. We booked through our hostel at a higher rate of 900INR as we were arriving at night and as you get close to the Ghats the streets are narrow and maze-like – your taxi can’t enter. Our prepaid ride meant someone from our hostel met us where the taxi stopped and led the way to the hostel.
Accommodation: Our hostel in Varanasi was Bhadra Kali Guest House: it was really close to the ghats which was a huge bonus and the staff were very helpful. They booked a boat ride for us at 5am the next morning at a fair rate and helped us out when we couldn’t figure out the hot water (having hot water isn’t really a sure thing either!). If staying near the Ghats one thing to be aware of is the houses are all really close together so its very noisy. Next door to our hostel there was a family screaming and crying all night as somebody in the family had just died.
Food: There were some great food places in Varanasi – the trouble is discerning which ones are good and which are the fake copies of the good restaurants. Also, if your hoping to get a beer you are out of luck. No alcohol is permitted near the holy river Ganges. Some highlights in Varanasi were:
Keshari Restaurant is a great option for lunch or dinner. They do great Thali and other cheap indian dishes and it’s a popular spot with locals so a great place for people watching. Find it 20m down a side street off Dashawamedh road. There is a bad copy with Keshari in the name around the corner from here.
Brown Bread Bakery is a tourist hotspot on the first alleyway back from the ghats. It does organic food and has a great rooftop terrace.
Open Hand Cafe is a long way from most of the action but a great rest stop after a long walk from one end of the Ghats to the other. They have ACTUAL coffee (a rarity here in India) and its really good.
Enjoying coffee at Open Hand Cafe, Varanasi
Top Tip: Go on the dawn boat tour – even though its at 5am! Tours run at dawn or dusk but activity is much more frantic at dawn. You feel more of the energy of Varanasi. If you have time then do both but I do suggest being on land for the 7pm river worship ceremony at least once (you can’t see it very well from the boat and part of your tour is spent stopped here).
DAY 1
You will need to wake up at 5 am on both your mornings here – its absolutely necessary and you can always have a nap later in the afternoon or go to bed at 8pm (like we did!). There is no beer to drink anyway!
On the first day I suggest taking a boat tour along the Ganges (your accommodation can arrange this for you or you can haggle with the boats down the river – anything less than 1000 INR is a good price for a few hours).
We got ripped off while on this trip (the only time in India!) because some boat floated up beside us and gave us offerings – they kept handing them over until we said no thank you and then tried to charge us a huge price for them. We made 3 blessings with the offerings and they were beautiful but i wish we had haggled the price first! We forgot to be suspicious because we were in the middle of the river.
The rest of your day can be spent eating and wandering the alleyways around the Ghats – there are surprises around each corner. At 7pm there is a River worship ceremony at Dashwamedh Ghat – find a great spot to watch the beautiful show.
DAY 2
Spend your second morning (you can sleep in a little later!) walking the Ghats from one end to the other. Make sure you get to the following ghats:
Munshi and Darbhanga Ghats – these are the most photogenic
Dashwamedh Ghat – lively and colourful
Manikarnika Ghat – the main burning ghat (please be careful not to take photographs here. Photos are fine from the boat but if you try to take pictures from land you will get scammed).
Scindhia Ghat – peaceful: there is a partially submerged temple here.
You will likely end at Assi Ghat which is very close to Open Hand Cafe – time for a well deserved coffee.
I would spend the afternoon shopping. Varanasi has some great shops hidden among its alleyways and an entire main street of sari stores – I purchased my sari in Varanasi and it was a crazy experience!
If you need a break from the shops a good stop is Vishwanath temple – foreigners need to enter at Gate 2. Be aware this temple can be very busy – when we were there the alleyways surrounding it were full of people it was difficult even to figure out where to go.
THE ONLY ERIKA IN THE VILLAGE 