I’ve been blown away by the incredibly beautiful and diverse landscapes in Vietnam. My next two locations (as I continued north on my way through the country) transported me to two of my “happy places” hanging out in caves and hiking. The area around Dong Hoi is known for caving and Sa Pa (bumping up on the border with China) for its rice fields and trekking through...
One of the amazing things about my volunteering experience was that I had the opportunity to interact daily with elephants during that 2 week period!! Chai Lai Orchid is known for its humane treatment of their rescued elephants. There are 15 elephants on site and the eco-lodge guests have the opportunity to feed them breakfast, care for them and engage with them. So...
So I’m going to strongly disagree with TLC – you SHOULD go chasing waterfalls. DO NOT stick to the rivers and the lakes that you’re used to…otherwise you would never discover these beauties. While I was in Chanthaburi, I went to Namtok Phlio National Park for the afternoon, which was only 10km outside of town, nestled in the mountains that I could see from my...
Over the weekend I had the opportunity to go on a tour to a local orchid farm, zip along the back canals in a long tail boat and visit a floating market. All parts of the tour were amazing…but the orchids, they were the highlight of the day! I was shocked to find out that orchids take 3-4 years to grow to full maturity, and to be able to be sold at the markets. So my...