• Andrea and Luke French
  • Luke French
  • Andrea and Luke French
  • Luke French

Adventure is out there

Our travels, to see where the world takes us Leia mais
  • Komodo Island, Komodo National Park

    8 de abril de 2024, Indonésia ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    The main event! The big attraction! Finally, the komodo dragons...

    These huge lizards are only on a handful of the islands still, and most of them are on Komodo Island. Our tour group was escorted by three guides to see a medium sized 15 year old male which was lounging by the beach, after passing another one that was also relaxing close by. After a photo session with the dragon (which was a weird enough experience anyway) we were taken to see a nest, and then told the tour was over! It wasn't quite the dragon experience we had been hoping for.

    Luke voiced our disappointment and we were able to do a trek with one of the guides through the jungle to a watering hole. We were expressly told that we may not see any dragons, but after the easiest trek I've ever been on we got to the watering hole and saw a GIANT dragon just lounging there. He did not seem happy we had disturbed him, but after a burp (that sent us flying back) he relaxed again. Our guide guessed he was around 30 years old and 3 metres long.

    The additional trek was only around 20 mins, and we were so surprised that no one else in our group wanted to join but apparently local tourists just like getting the photos!
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  • Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

    11–18 de abr. 2024, Indonésia ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    We were dubious to stay in Ubud originally, not sure if the Eat, Pray, Love vibe would be too much for us - when in fact we loved our time here.

    It was nice to be in civilisation again after the Komodo Islands, and have access to some fantastic restaurants and interesting shops. The Ubud area was beautifully built, most of the entrances to restaurants and shops looked like intricate temples, and lit up atmospherically at night. Usually as you wandered around at night you could hear drumming from actual temples in the air, seeing tourists stop to watch the locals ceremony. There was also small offerings along most walkways, each morning being replaced with new ones, so you had to keep your eye on where you were stepping!

    We were lucky enough to be visiting when there was a royal cremation happening, as this can only be done on specific days of the year. We saw a procession of two bull statues, and a large totem pole - we believe the three statues were burnt in the cremation but unfortunately didn't see the ceremony.
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  • Gunung Kawi, Bali, Indonesia

    12 de abril de 2024, Indonésia ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    This was a great temple to start the day with! Although after many, many stairs down we were sweaty messes but loved seeing the temples carved into the rock as well as the river running by. There was two different temples to see, one was quite expansive with different areas seemingly built at various times. The other a longer walk down a meandering path leading to stone cut shrines. I didn't make it to the second one unfortunately, instead taking time to rest in the shade.

    There was very few other tourists around while we were there so we really appreciated seeing this by ourselves, although we didn't appreciate the many, many stairs back up to the top...
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  • Tirta Empul, Bali, Indonesia

    12 de abril de 2024, Indonésia ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Possibly the most iconic balinese temples, this features a large water purifying pond which both tourists and locals can use. This was the busiest temple of the day, although we were able to find moments of quiet sitting by the other ponds or wandering further away from the main section.

    Really interesting to see, but it seemed so touristic, especially after the peace of the first temple.
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  • Goa Gajah, Bali, Indonesia

    12 de abril de 2024, Indonésia ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    Our third and final temple of the day was another staircase down unfortunately, but again worth the effort.

    The most unusual part of the temple was a small cave temple, which was so humid inside that you can see the mist on the photos! After the cave temple we stopped by quickly to see the purifying pool, then to the smaller shrines to the side.

    The temple actually has a Hindu temple and a Buddhist one, so we headed down more steps to see the buddhist temple too. The area was lovely to wander around, with paths to different areas - including a large rock garden which Luke explored (lots of spiders) and a lotus pond.
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  • Campuhan Ridge Walk, Ubud,Bali,Indonesia

    13 de abril de 2024, Indonésia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    One of the local walks we found on Google maps this one was highly recommended but unfortunately not my favourite.

    It was quite a steep climb initially, thankfully levelling out but views weren't spectacular. The village at the end was really nice however, and you could see rice fields and lovely houses dotted along the road.

    As it wasn't a circular walk we also had to turn around and go back, but at least downhill this time!
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  • Sweet Orange Trail, Ubud, Bali,Indonesia

    15 de abril de 2024, Indonésia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    This was another walk we found on Google maps which was much better than the previous one! A bit of a weird start to the walk through some thin alleyways but then it opens out to rice fields within minutes.

    We did the walk twice, once in the morning and then at dusk. It was much quieter in the morning, and you could see birds and lizards enjoying the area. The walk was circular and the direction we choose meant it ended a small temple, a silversmiths and then a street of local restaurants and shops.

    At dusk the light was beautiful against the bright green of the crops, and other people had the idea to watch the sun going down in the area too. We found a cute warung for a drink and enjoyed the surroundings, and when it got dark we walked the remainder of the trail getting to spot fire flies across the fields - magical 😍
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  • Penglipuran Village, Bali, Indonesia

    17 de abril de 2024, Indonésia ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    A mock traditional village with small shops and restaurants based in houses along the house. This was cute to visit, far more popular with the locals than western tourists, so it was fun to see what the locals enjoy!

    We had lunch here in a small family run restaurant, fried indomie noodles with green onions and a fried egg on top - yummy! Luke also bought some local liquer Arak to try, and some spicy peanuts.

    As we were walking to leave we also saw the biggest spider's we've seen! Thankfully they were very high up though. When we exclaimed they were the biggest we've seen our driver responded with 'really?' !!
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  • Zuoying Lotus Pond, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

    18 de abril de 2024, Taiwan ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Our first day in Taiwan and the weather was much more tolerable thankfully. We wandering around half of this lotus pond, enjoying the pagodas and pavilions along the way, spotting dogs out with their owners, and TV crews filming some type of travel content with multiple couples!

    A lovely area of the city, and a leisurely walk which was most appreciated ♥️
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  • Dragon and Tiger Pagodas, Kaohsiung

    18 de abril de 2024, Taiwan ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    These should have been the star of the show for the lotus pond but unfortunately under repair currently.

    In front of the two large pagodas there are usually a dragon and tiger statue on each side, you enter through the dragon's jaws, walk each Pagoda and exit through the tiger's mouth. Would have been great to see in its full glory, but at least we got to see it and the rest of the lotus pond made up for it.Leia mais

  • Spring and Autumn Pavilions, Kaohsiung

    18 de abril de 2024, Taiwan ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Favourite area of the lotus pond, this was such fun to explore! There was a turtle pond near the entrance, then you entered through the dragons mouth and walked a windy path up and down! Once you come out of the tail you can see the pavilion far in the lake with a straight walkway towards it. On your way back you cut through smaller pavilions till you reach the shore again. Very brightly coloured but fun.Leia mais

  • Kaohsiung, Taiwan

    18–19 de abr. 2024, Taiwan ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    What an introduction to Taiwan! This was a great place for us to get used to the transport systems, using both MRT and buses, and get to visit a night market again. In the day the city looked pretty normal, but lit up at night it was a neon explosion!

    Great night market, weird signs, and cute temples scattered around made us hopeful and excited about what else Taiwan had in store.
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  • Tainan, Taiwan

    19–21 de abr. 2024, Taiwan ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Tainan was previously the capital of Taiwan so we decided to stay here for 2 nights to get to explore some historical Taiwanese attractions.

    We were able to see the Anping region, walking around the outside of the Fort and having lunch in its shade (driven away by fireworks reverberating around the area from a temple we believe), as well as the west central district with Chikan Tower.

    A really fun city to visit we were also able to go to two night markets, which were huge!, and enjoy dumplings, stinky tofu, and fried mushrooms.
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  • Former Tait & Co Merchant House, Tainan

    20 de abril de 2024, Taiwan ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    An old merchants house turned musuem, we mostly visited this as the treehouse was ajoined to it, but was very pleasantly surprised.

    Although we went around the wrong way, we enjoyed looking at the exhibits especially the old maps to see the weird and wonderful shapes of the countries we had just visited!

    Around the musuem there was still hints of colorful, modern taiwan poking through...
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  • Anping Treehouse, Tainan, Taiwan

    20 de abril de 2024, Taiwan ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    A literal treehouse, as the roots of the Banyan trees have taken over this old warehouse building, making walls and weaving themselves through the roof. A steel shell has been put up as support, and gives you the chance to wander around the whole building on different levels.

    Very popular with photographers, we enjoyed the view of the city in the distance as well as the surrounding nature with birds and a fish pond.
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  • Painted Animation Lane, Taichung, Taiwan

    22 de abril de 2024, Taiwan ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    A fun little lane with so many photos opportunities! We went along spotting characters, which we didn't know that many, finishing with the My Neighbour Totoro bus stop that I loved 😍

  • National Taiwan Museum of Comics

    22 de abril de 2024, Taiwan ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    Continuing the theme of today we moved onto the Museum of Comics, although we weren't quite sure what it was from the reviews but looked interesting. I still can't tell you what it was, but can confirm it was interesting!

    There was art work, comics, beautiful Japanese style houses, and building destroying banyan trees! So much fun to wander around, albeit confused, for free on a Monday morning.
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  • Taichung, Taiwan

    22–25 de abr. 2024, Taiwan ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    We thoroughly enjoyed spending a few days in Taichung, even without managing to do everything we wanted here. One day we had a stroll back through the city from a restaurant quite far away so we got to see more than expected - stopping by the National Taichung Theatre, the river front, as well as a couple of parks with art installations.

    The buildings were an odd style, as I'd describe them being Gotham-esque but in the best kinda way.

    The weather was a good temperature, but we had one day with heavy rainfall so we couldn't go out and explore more 🙁
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