Today was our full day for exploring and while I wanted to see 'all the things', I knew our energy levels would accommodate only one palace, so Changdeokgung was my choice. Entry to the grounds was...
Blog posts from temples
Japan: Kyoto, Day 3 – Fushimi Inari Taisha, Higashiyama, Yakitori, Hot Springs
Even though our feet were pretty worn out at this point of the trip we couldn't skip the 3.5 km hike through thousands of painted orange gates at Fushimi Inari Taisha. Many people suggest going...
Japan: Kyoto, Day 2 – Daigoji Temple, Konchi-in Temple, Tonkatsu, Bar Cordon Noir
A visitor is spoiled for choice in Kyoto when it comes to temples, so after eliminating a few options that seemed expensive or were partially under construction, we landed on Daigoji. It's located...
Japan: Kyoto, Day 1 – Imperial Palace, Higashiyama Jisho-ji, SferaBar Satonaka
After our short trip from Hamamatsu we arrived at the Kyoto station, where we sought out the two-day travel passes. With those in hand we took the subway up two stops to shave off some walking time...
Japan: Tokyo, Day 3 – Senso-ji, Ueno Park, Ramen Street
Today we started north, starting with a subway ride to Senso-ji temple. From the station, the walk to the temple is lined with shops and restaurants, and can get very busy. The temple grounds were...
Japan: Tokyo, Day 2 – Harajuku, Meiji Shrine, Robot Restaurant
Eric had scoped out a pancake place in Harajuku for breakfast, but unfortunately Rainbow Pancake was closed (first Wednesday of the month - seriously?) so we ended up at Deus ex Machina for pizza...
Malaysia: Chinese New Year
We knew that going to Malaysia during Chinese New Year could be disruptive in terms of restaurant closings and such, but we were hoping that a brightly lit Kek Lok Si Temple, thousands of Chinese...
Beijing 2015: Lama Temple
After my morning at the Temple of Heaven and Leandra's morning in her cooking class we met back at the hotel to warm up and plan the rest of our day. Lama temple had been recommended to us, and...
Beijing 2015: Temple of Heaven
Temple of Heaven contains quite a few centuries-old religious buildings where the emperor would make sacrifices for the harvest, fortune, etc, and is now a large urban park. Just a few miles from...
Candidasa: Tirta Gangga, Ujung Water Palace and White Sandy Beach
The east side of Bali has several temples and sights of interest, so we search Tripadvisor and a few other websites for a driver and found Gejor. Before our trip we corresponded via email and...
Bali: Ubud to Candidasa
The day before we had scheduled a ride from our original driver, Swi, to Candidasa on the southeastern part of the island. Just after breakfast, I received a text from him saying that he was waiting...
Bali: Denpasar to Menjangan
The drive from the airport to The Menjangan resort in the very northwest corner of Bali was estimated at 4-5 hours (150km), so we made plans in advance to stop at a few places on the way. Our quick...
Asian adventure 2011: Chiang Mai temples and markets
Chiang Mai is the northern economic and tourist hub and second largest city in Thailand. The terrain is rather hilly leading to slightly cooler weather than points south. While not vertical like...
Our Itinerary
2024 Trips
San Diego, CA (Jan)
Sarasota, FL (Feb)
Madrid, Spain (Mar)
Valencia, Spain (Mar+Apr)
Palma, Mallorca (Apr)
Croatia (May)
Long Island, NY (July)
Faroe Islands (Aug)
London, UK (Sept)
Puglia, Italy (Sept)
Matera, Italy (Oct)
Rome, Italy (Oct)
Mosel Valley, Germany (Oct)
Frankfurt, Germany (Oct)
London, UK (Dec)
Manchester, UK (Dec)
2023 Trips
San Diego (Jan)
Orlando (Feb)
Richmond, VA (Apr)
Northern Italy (Apr)
NC Mountains (May)
Long Island (Jul)
Wisconsin (Aug)
Chicago (Aug)
Oak Island, NC (Sept)
Brooklyn, NY (Sept)
Bordeaux + Rugby World Cup (Sep)
Castilla y León (Sep)
Seychelles (Nov)
Willamette Valley (Dec)
2022 Trips
Florida (Feb)
NC Mountains (Apr)
Washington DC (Apr)
Valencia, Spain (May)
Hilton Head, SC (May)
Pacific NW (Jun)
Long Island (Jul)
Florida (Sept)
Chicago (Sept)
Poland (Sept)
NC Mountains (Nov)
Euro Xmas Markets (Dec)