For us,  eating your way in different places is equally interesting as knowing their history and actually seeing the sights. Anywhere we go, we usually research where to eat good food and in Krakow these are the places we stumbled upon, some are recommended by locals. This is just a summary of the good food that we ate while in Poland. Feast with your eyes, and perhaps go here when you visit Krakow. 

Oh good mercy pierogi! This is the staple food of Poland aka the Kingdom of Pierogi. We ate at Zapieciek and its conveniently located in the Old Town. You can sample different kinds of pierogi - different types of meat and vegetables. Depends on what type of dumpling you are craving - savory and sweet, they have it all. Yes, even strawberries and cream. The pieorgi we had was really really good. The dough is perfectly cooked, silky and sautéed with onions. Our friend Anna from Poland showed us this place. This restaurant has a feeling of a good old mom-and-pop restaurant with no frills but only good food. They are prepared by hand with old recipes. 

Anywhere in Europe, sausages is a must eat. Brock is a big fan of sausages and boy, he indulges on eating so much when we are in Europe. The traditional type of kielbasa is usually made with pork and best eaten grilled. We found this one in a local market. Make sure to stop by and see one and eat it to-go. This is an easy meal to grab if you are feeling hungry from a long walk. You can buy kielbasa anywhere in the world but having it in Poland makes it more special. 

If you are growing tired of the traditional Polish food, this restaurant is a good excuse to not eat Polish food in Poland. We ate our early dinner meal here at Zazie Bistro. It is located in the Kazimierz area, a lot of people are eating here and seats was hard to get. We had delectable meals from start to finish. Getting good French food outside of France is quite surprising but finding one in Poland that exhibits genuine French cuisine is the best surprise yet.

When in Rome, do what Romans do. When in Poland, drink vodka. We had the pleasure of going to Pijalnia Wodki i Piwa. This place was decorated with Communist-era nostalgia and was pretty neat. It is definitely a fun place to go to, especially if you are looking for night life here in Poland. The best part is - its very cheap! Everything in the bar costs 1 euro except for the food which is about 2-3 euros each. They have different flavoured vodka such as lemon, honey, and etc. Its a good place to "sample" different types of vodka aka just get drunk. 

If you are looking to buy a gift for someone, stop by Krakowski Kredens and get their cookies! The shop is filled with Polish-made goodies. We particularly like bringing food as a souvenir gift to family and friends.

We had the pleasure of indulging our foodie side in Poland and we ate in other places that we failed to mention, probably because we were too tired to even take pictures of what we ate. Overall, our bellies are happy and satisfied and left Poland with few more pounds, as excess baggage. Another vacation memory that will surely last us (keep the weight off) for a long time. 

Categories: Europe, Poland, Food Adventures

Upon arrival at the welcome lounge, the clouds are covering the bay, and I uttered to Brock, "I hope this won't ruin Halong Bay for us." It’s a special experience having the opportunity to tour around Ha Long Bay. From exploring an island with sandy beach, the cave, the floating villages to paddling around the bay on a kayak. Definitely worthy to be added in everyones bucket list. The limestone formations seems to go on like forever and the landscape will definitely wow you. Who wouldn't want to see this place with sun shining bright with blue skies, right? 

A boat took us to our main ship and as it slowly approaches, the cloudy haze was slowly going away and yes, it wasn't ruined for me like I initially thought. Instead, the sky created a dramatic entrance, as if this place is waiting to surprise us even more. Certainly, the dramatic haze didn't ruin anything for us. It enveloped the bay, with ghostly shadows like a scene from a haunted pirate ship movie.

This was our junk ship - Signature Cruise.

The smaller boat that brought us to our junk ship and on different tours. 

The staff on board the ship gave us an excellent customer service and catered to whatever we need. They were friendly and attentive, at the same time not intrusive. Sadly, our last night was cancelled because of an impending storm and the government commanded all of the cruise ships to go back to the port and dock. Signature Cruises handled the situation very well and they refunded our money that wasn't incurred on our last night.  When they cancelled our tour, they immediately ask us on what we want to do and arranged it for us. They where there for the customers every step of the way. 

Our Junior Suite

The cabin rooms exhibited French colonial style. The rooms are perfect for the whole Indochina experience since the windows offer the view of the bay from dusk to dawn. The rooms are comfortable and clean and has all the amenities that you need. 

Vung Vieng Floating and Fishing Village

They have pets too! 

The school at the Floating Village.

The pearl farm.

How to harvest pearl and make pearl jewelries.

Overall, this cruise gave us the experience that we are looking for. It is a great experience from start to finish. We highly recommend this to anyone. Truth be told, there are a lot of companies that will provide you with the same activities but sometimes the adventure is on how you travel. This was a great experience that will stay with you forever and worth indulging for. We researched the prices of other ships that provides the same service, and we felt at that time, they gave us the highest value for our money. For a company that is new in this business, they have given us the total travel experience that is Halong Bay. 

P.S. If Halong Bay has been part of your travel must-do's, visit it now. We are quite disappointed how the Vietnamese government is taking care of this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Some parts of the bay where we kayaked around are full of trash. We sincerely hope that it won't get spoiled for future generations to come and they will do a better job preserving this magnificent natural wonder.

Categories: Asia, Vietnam, Travel Reviews, Travel Tips

I want to summarize it into two: 
             1. The Hard Way - if you love the mountains, to trek, walk and climb the outdoors, this is the way for you - its called the Inca Trail. You can do different kinds of trekking that takes 4 days (Classic Inca Trail) or the "easier" trek for 1 or 2 days (Short Inca Trail) or if you want to take your time and do it longer, you can do it for 5 days. It usually starts from Cuzco to Aguas Calientes. For more information, visit this website. People say that you see more archaeological sites this way. When we visited Cuzco, there are a lot of tour operators that advertises Inca Trail, so you can pick and choose which type do you want - online or when you get there.
             2. The Easy Way - if you don't have enough time, and wants to see Machu Picchu at a leisurely pace, you are welcome to do this. We chose this easy route. So how did we do it? First, we booked Vistadome train tickets thru Peru Rail online from our starting point which was Urubamba. Make sure to book in advance because trains gets full during high season. There are three types of trains: Vistadome, Expedition, or Belmond Hiram Bingham train if you are feeling luxurious. There are trains from Cuzco, Urubamba and Ollantaytambo. The train takes 4 hours from Cuzco, almost 3 hours from Urubamba and almost 2 hours from Ollantaytambo to go to Aguas Calientes (the town that sits at the foot of Machu Picchu). The train's last stop is Aguas Calientes and from there, you can buy your shuttle bus ticket to go up and down Machu Picchu. There is only one road that they use to shuttle people up the top and the journey usually takes around 30 minutes.  Shuttle bus ticketing booth are only available at Cuzco and Aguas Calientes, for more information where the ticketing booth are - click here. From the train station, it just a 5-10 minute walking distance to where you can buy the shuttle bus ticket. The bus will take you to the entrance where you can buy your entrance tickets. The bus departs when they are full and usually the interval is every 15 minutes during the peak hours of the morning. You can also walk/climb up and down and it takes 1 hour to walk up. 

Aguas Calientes has a cool stream running through the center. The town in general feels like a base camp bustling with tourists getting ready for the “big trek.”  It seemed like everyone was outfitted with the latest wick fabric, hiking poles, camelbacks, etc.  The funny thing is, you see will most of these people waiting in line for the bus that drops you right off at the main entrance. We booked a hotel here for an overnight stay, so we can catch the sunrise over Machu Picchu.

As you walk and climb your way up the park, your view of the complex is obstructed until you walk in a winding trail, and there you will see the first structures.  Then it hits you literally in the face, and there it was, it's breathtaking. As we saw the whole of it, our smiles can't leave our faces, we still can't believe we were there and we finally did it, see this sublime sight. Even if we describe to you how the experience was n every single detail, it really doesn't paint the real picture of what we saw, you have to see to believe it. We suggest go early and stay late.  There are plenty of quite areas to catch a nap.  Mid day was a little over crowded with tourists.