Sean Plamondon

Sean Plamondon

traveled in 86 countries Read more🇨🇦Ottawa

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Southeast Asia Sean Plamondon
Tam Coc - Day 2
July 12, 2019 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C
As per the hotel managers recommendation i took a taxi to trang an and got into a small boat with two spaniards from madrid (Nacho and Jose) for a 3 hour tour of the towering rock formations jetting straight out of the water. We meandered slowly around the monolithes, and through 9 caves that went right through the giant rocks. Also stopped at a few buddhist temples built right into the sides of the rock.

Easily the most beautiful thing ive ever seen and experienced. When you look at the pics, picture them surrounding you and much higher as the camera seems to flatten them out. Surprisingly the rower for each boat was female. Who needs a gym membership when you get paid to row people all day! These girls were in amazing shape.

I caught a taxi with nacho and jose back to Tam Coc where we caught another boat to take us up another river with similar formations for 1.5 hours and 3 more caves. Equally beautiful and amazing. Our rower here was male and he only used his feet! Hard to picture eh? At the far end of the river, was a small floating market where we bought some beer, fruit and nuts for the ride back as this boat ride backtracks instead of a big loop like the first one. So i made myself more comfortable lying down, feet over the edge, sipping my beer as i floated slowly through paradise.

Jose spotted a can floating in the river so i scooped it out as we went by. Then i noticed something else in the river and pointed to it for our rower to steer that way with his talented feet :) It was a rice paddy hat, so i fished it out and wore it the rest of the day. I love it, even the pink chin strap haha.

After that the guys wanted to find some big pagoda, but i was starving and they opted to come follow my nose to a nearby restaurant where we had a huge feast and many a beer as well (shocking, i know). Shame they were heading south while i headed north as they were good fun to spend time with. So we parted ways with each others contact info.

Back to the hotel to chill in the pool and sift through my 500 pics taken on the boat rides today. Might have had a beer too.. perhaps :) Later around 9, the hotel manager "Ha" took me on a tour of Tam Coc's sleepy nightlife scene and most notably she showed me a bus bar where the roof of a working bus was turned into a lounge. Pretty cool. Fantastic finish to a picture perfect day.

I can only post 6 pics but google Tam Coc and Trang An to see more.Read more
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Southeast Asia Sean Plamondon
Tam Coc - Day 1
July 10, 2019 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C
The plan today was to get to ninh binh. But an Israeli guy i had beers with last night informed me i should be going to tam coc instead. Ninh Binh is the city, and tam coc is the nearby attraction.

Its a 12 hour train ride from hue to ninh binh. Ugh. So i decided to fly past ninh binh to hanoi ($75), then bus two hours back to ninh binh instead. Brilliant :) Then caught a taxi to Tam Coc. Which brought my arrival time to 4pm.

My hotel is gorgeous. I can't believe i only paid 20 for it. And the staff are ridiculously funny and nice.

After working with them on some logistics for my next destination i set off to get some quick photos before the sun comes down and also before the dark rain clouds nearby became a reality.

Hiked about 20 mins down a dirt road and the scenery is stunning. Huge rocks coming out of the ground straight up. And there's rice fields and small rivers all around them. Amazing. Tip of the iceberg for what i know is here. And then the rain came and wow did it ever come down. I ran back but i could have swam back and been equally as wet.

The heavy rain didn't stop for several hours, so i grabbed a few beers and hung out in the lobby chatting with a parsian couple who sold everything and are wandering asia looking for a pretty place to settle and start up a business. Two of the staff joined us too.

I was asking the staff about a good restaurant nearby and they invited me into their lunch room to eat with them the food they had thrown together. Some rice, chicken wings, egg and some leafy green stuff. Simple but good. And free :) Very sweet of them. Then stayed up chatting with them for hours to close out my night.

Very anxious for tomorrow and praying i dont get a monsoon again.Read more
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Southeast Asia Sean Plamondon
1
Hue
July 9, 2019 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 38 °C
Today i took my first public transportation that wasn't an airplane. Weird eh? Slow 3 hour 80km train that followed the coast but way up high in the mountainous jungle. Really striking views the whole ride. There was a multi generation family on all sides of me that i interacted with a bit but they didn't speak any english. But you could tell they enjoyed the efforts and were very happy with my attemps to play with their daughter who would hang around me and run away as soon as i looked at her. Too cute. I didnt realize my stop was pulling up and they were all over it trying to explain i need to get my backpack down and get off. Very sweet.

Got to town later than i wanted but it worked out amazing. My hotel was central so i walked across the perfume river to the citadel in 20 mins from there. Sweet. Inside the citadel is the imperial palaces and inside the imperial palaces is the purple forbidden city (!!) What an awesome name. Absolutely forboden to everyone (!!!) .. who is not willing to spare $6. Otherwise not so forbidden Haha.

Apparantly it took heavy damage from the american war. They dont call it the Vietnam war of course. But there are still a ton of amazing structures standing and/or being repaired. I'm dedicating all 6 pics to it this time. Would love to post 20.

Also this area was the demilitarized zone which was home to the worst battles of the war (hamburger hill) and there's tons of military relics lying around. Some cool bars here like one (called DMZ) with an upsidedown helicopter for a ceiling fan. And another with artillary all over it as decor. There's also a big tunnel network you can tour where the civilians burrowed during the war. Wish i had time to see it. I talked to some travellers who did the Saigon ones and said it was something else. But back on the road tomorrow...Read more
Traveler Stunningly beautiful
7/9/19Reply
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Southeast Asia Sean Plamondon
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Hoi An
July 8, 2019 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 37 °C
I decided to do a day trip to hoi an, since its to the south of da nang and i would be heading north the next day. I debated renting a scooter for the day but also figured i might have some beer. A Grab ride would have been 15 each way, which is pretty good, but with the help of my hotel i hired a driver and guide for the day for 50 dollars. I didnt expect my ride to be a scooter though! Lol

Hoi an is a bit of a fairy tale city. Like right out of a disney movie. Cute narrow streets lined with old temples, shops and restaurants, and really pretty riverfront with old wooden boats moored, a huge market along the banks and chinese lanterns everywhere.

After walking around taking in the sights, and having fun haggling with market vendors, i found a micro brewery right on the river bank so escaped the heat for a few hours in there.

After that, i signed up for a vietnamese cooking class. No seriously, i did lol. Its one of the common things to do here apparently. It was myself, and two couples. One american and 3 aussies. We made our own bread, dumplings, spring rolls, some crazy rice paper rolls, pancake with meat on it, geez i foget the rest. It was a lot in two hours and we ate everything we made. After the first hour i was done. Super full, but also overheating in the kitchen of this restaurant. I stuck it out but i was really struggling. But really fun experience. Would definitely do again.

And when the class was over, it was dark and all the chinese lanterns were lit everywhere. Amazing. My pictures dont pick up the colours properly... but it was gorgeous. I expected everyone on the streets to break out into song and dance at any moment. Took a 10 min boat ride on the river too and placed a paper lantern in the water that is supposed to grant a wish or prayer. Hokie, i know haha. Whole day today reminded me so much of the movie Tangled with all the lanterns and walking around the old city.

Then back on the road with a 45 min scooter ride back to da nang and straight to bed. Best sleep I've had all trip.Read more
TravelerWhat a wonderful adventure
7/8/19Reply
Traveler ❤️
7/8/19Reply
TravelerSuch a beautiful place !!!
7/8/19Reply
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Southeast Asia Sean Plamondon
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Da Nang - Day 2
July 7, 2019 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 37 °C
For some reason all the atm's near my hotel will only dispense the max equivalent of $17 per transaction. Thats not a typo. Ridiculous. My transaction fees will be about the same as that. So i went in search of a real bank. Also cibc has once again frozen my credit card. With the time difference, i will have to wait until tonight to call them. Apparently i can call them via skype. So today is all about fixing some stuff before it becomes problematic.

Anyways ended up relatively close to the famous dragon bridge so wandered a bit further to get some shots of it. Apparently fire comes out its mouth sat and sun nights. And what do you know, there's a brewery right across the street from it. The only one in da nang. What can i say, i have a tslent :) Ordered the worst food I've ever had anywhere. Intentionally dried out squid. Was like chewing on bark. Blech.

Got back from there and headed to beach. Beautiful and no one on it for miles. Crazy hot sunday afternoon and town is full and no one is there. Weird! Water was also warmest I've ever felt. Must have been 95F, no joke. Wasn't even refreshing lol. But pretty wonderful to walk into. I was giggling to myself haha.

Scribbled on bar in front of me: "don't wait for perfect moment, make the moment become perfect". Speaking of which, that place was the perfect bar with a perfect beer and perfect playlist. Perfect.

Some fun facts... domestic beer at a bar is a bit more than a dollar. Craft beer, around 4 dollars. Oh i also noticed today that this country has no stop signs. Everything is implied yield from what i can tell.Read more
Traveler Love it
7/7/19Reply
Have fun dude. Shawn McCorkell!
7/8/19Reply
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Southeast Asia Sean Plamondon
Da Nang - Day 1
July 6, 2019 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 35 °C
For some reason we all had to get up at 5am. My back was aching from second night on hard floor, so why not. There was some sort of buddhist ceremony in the shrineroom and then everyone headed to the groom's house again. More food and beer to no end.

Poor Catherine. This morning she had to explain to a few people that she is not in my entourage as a hired translator and that she is good friends with the bride. Haha

People were getting more comfortable with me and wherever i walked in the room of banquet tables, everyone would smile and wave or shake my hand. I'm going to miss this, i think haha. Lots would now walk up to me and put an arm around my neck or back or hug me. And as lunch progressed, the beer challenges increased. But it was all in the most genuine, warm, flattering way of course. Still, thats a lot of beer.

As i suspected, the requests for me to sing kicked up again but this time i was ready! I declined a few times until i had just the right amount of beer in me and shocked them by agreeing to sing a song. I got up on stage and did my best version of Patience by Guns N Roses haha. Its really hard to carry a song properly without background music plus nervousness. Anyways, the groom profusely thanked me. And i exchanged numbers with tons of people who want to keep in touch. One guy lives in Hanoi, so i will be looking him up when i get there for sure.

Then back to the bride's house where they all told me again i have to return some day. The young boys asked me in the morning if they could take me up a nearby mountain after the wedding to show me the views but i had to decline with my flight schedule. My ride eventually appeared and i was off to airport to fly to Da Nang, a beach town.

Da Nang is really touristy. Lots of Russians everywhere and the pub next to my beach hotel was full of rowdy Aussies. It was hard to remember i was still in Vietnam. Too spoiled by that Dak Lak experience! For a little while i enjoyed being quiet and invisible in da nang but not long after that, i missed all my new friends and family from dak lak.Read more
TravelerAm going to miss yr stories about this family et al. They really like you but then what's there not to like !!!
7/6/19Reply
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Southeast Asia Sean Plamondon
Dak Lak Wedding - Day 2
July 5, 2019 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
I have a better handle on how this wedding celebration works now. Its 4 consecutive parties. Two at bride's house, an informal one in the evening and a formal one in the morning, followed by an informal evening one at groom's house and another formal one the following morning. After that the bride moves into the groom's house to live with family.

The morning party had everyone dressed up and the bride in her wedding dress. Today the guest list was 500 people! People were very interested in me still but much more sedated this time around. Probably because everyone was sober. Which was great as i wasn't exactly feeling tip top. The food being served was overwhelming. Not everything to my tastes but overall very good. Funny to see how creatively they could tear apart a chicken breast with only chopsticks. No one tried to get me chug any beers thank god haha.

The evening affair was at the grooms house, also 500 people and this time there was only rice wine on the tables. Tasted like pure alcohol which probably explains why we all had tiny shot glasses. My celebrity status was back. Everyone wanted to come by and meet me and usually have a shot too. A few made me sit at their table and would pour me shots over and over so i really had to have a continual escape plan.

But things got weirdest when i kept being asked to get up on stage to sing a song. Even the groom took me aside and requested it. I repeatedly declined politely. They also wanted me to do some bizarre solo dance on stage to their music.. which resembles nothing like what we have back home.

At one point, three guys physically carried me onto the stage where i stood sheepishly for a moment laughing, raised my hand to acknowledge my fans and apologized and found my seat again haha. I wish i had all this on video.

Following that, went back to the brides house where i was staying. The father of the bride showed me how he makes his own rice wine which had a lot more machinery than i expected. He also told me he wants me to come back and stay with them the next time i am back. And he wants to come visit me in canada as well. I am part of the family now.Read more
TravelerChuckling out loud - love yr story - they must think you truly are a celebrity 😄
7/5/19Reply
TravelerHow did you get invited to a random wedding ?
7/7/19Reply
Sean PlamondonIts how i roll lol
7/8/19Reply
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Southeast Asia Sean Plamondon
Dak Lak Wedding - Day 1
July 4, 2019 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
Today i taxied (grab ®️ ed) a ride to the airport and caught a flight ($50) to buon ma thuot... which I'm sure needs no intro haha. Followed by a driver taking us 30 mins into the mountains of dak lak. Really pretty area where mountains meet rice patties.

We were dropped off at the end of a lane way to a country farm house and as we approached i realized very quickly i was not the average bear here and perhaps i would not be able to fit in.
Everyone stopped what they were doing like the music abruptly stopped and stared directly at me. Yie, what had i decided on? It was this or a cool beach town that looked like cabarete. Everyone who knows me at all knows what a hard decision i had made.

People approached me with bewilderment in their eyes and warm smiles on their faces. I was like a rainbow unicorn haha. Kids giggled near me and wherever i walked, all eyes were on me.

Dinner time finally came and we were seated at a 10 person table, full of platters of food, a hotpot, and a case of beer at my feet under the table. I think there were maybe 150+ people? I was asked several times how much beer i could handle lol.. unaware of exactly where that was heading... BTW, this is at the bride's family house.

My newly acquired chopstick skills failed me badly. They weren't ready for this kind of public scrutiny. The woman next to me very quickly recognized my struggles and charitably transferred some food from table food platters to my bowl. Yie what a relief. Every eye was watching me struggle to tap my chopstick ends together while catherine whispered words of encourage to me like a teacher to her student. Embarrassing!

Then the parade of people showing up at the table, cheering me, started. Different males walked up, smiled at me, beaming with their bravado and tapped glasses with only me. They wanted me to drink beer with them but i didn't quite understand what was incomplete in their eyes each time. They wanted the whole glass drank in one go.

At first the groom expressed a lot of concern for where it was heading with me but then he sat me at his table with his best friends and egged me on to chug beers too. And by the end of the night he adamantly expressed how much it would mean to him if i could stay for the entire 3 day celebration of this union until sunday. Very touching.

Every male came by before leaving to shake my hand and every female waved with a warm smile.. i swear i am (much!) more popular than the wedding couple. Then i was given a place to sleep on the floor under a mosquito net in front of a buddhist shrine to finish my night. I was the only person in the shrine room.. no idea if that was by design. But was a nice way to end a really crazy night here.Read more
TravelerLove the pics and stories buddy! Sounds like you're having a blast.
7/5/19Reply
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Southeast Asia Sean Plamondon
Ho Chi Minh City - Day 2
July 3, 2019 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
This is a very hard city to sleep in. Super noisy with everyone honking constantly. It never stops. I gave up trying and wandered over to a nearby starbucks at the foot of a traffic circle and let myself be hypnotized by the perpetual string of near collisions. You really have to see it to believe it.

Which makes my next decision really weird. I hired a rickshaw chariot guy to cycle me to the big market, and he had us right in the middle of the street aka chaos. I thought we'd be riding by the curb. Nope!

Surviving that, i wandered the biggest collection of knockoff you-name-its, bought some souvenirs and replaced my backpack. I was feeling pretty happy about my haggling victories until i got outside and had to contend with a torrential downpour. Normally I'd just call a Grab (uber) but i had no wifi, no cell plan here and no restaurants in sight to leech their information super highway.

Impatiently i opted to run a few blocks (5?) until i found a vegetarian place (eww) and ran in soaking wet. They sat me at a table that seats 4 (odd choice i thought), and 10 minutes later they sat two more locals (Vu and Than) with me haha. This is new! Very fortunately they were incredibly nice and spoke great english. They even insisted on me sampling food from their plates. I love this country, everyone is ridiculously kind.

Later, grabbed a Grab ®️ and went to another brew pub. Another backpacker sat near me and paid for a beer for me as we chatted away. Another joined us and turns out he's going to be in the north when i am so we traded info to maybe travel together later. A local girl joined us too and suggested a great restaurant for Pho.

The other guys took off but i went with her and she taught me how to use chopsticks which i gotta say, i got pretty decent at. We chatted away and turns out her good friend is getting married in two days and i have now been invited to attend lol. This would throw off my loose itinerary, but would be also be quite the experience. Stay tuned tomorrow for what Sean chose ....Read more
You are smiling in all your pics 🤗🤗
7/3/19Reply
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Southeast Asia Sean Plamondon
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Ho Chi Minh City - Day 1
July 2, 2019 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C
Finally arrived in HCMC. What a zoo!

I've been a lot of places but I've never seen traffic like this. Its really challenging to be a pedestrian... scooters are everywhere, even on sidewalks whizzing by you. Crosswalks are purely decorative! What a waste of paint haha. Crossing streets is like playing frogger or crossy road. You have to walk right into traffic and trust the vehicles to go around you.. not intuitive at all !

After settling in, I went for a walk and stumbled across a tiny microbrew place. Tried a few mango and chilli beers then went off to find food. People here are incredibly friendly, plus i really stick out i guess in a sea of asians everywhere. People talk to me everywhere i go.

One person i chatted with for a while took me to a traditional viet restaurant and ordered a ton of food for us. It was amazing. Altho i was a bit embarrassed at my inadequacies with chop sticks. I paid the bill and it was 10 dollars including our drinks. Ridiculous! Will post a pic of our feast.

Finally the jetlag caught up and i had to crash hard. Slept a few hours and then went back to the same microbrew to close out the night .Read more
Traveler Did you get on a scooter?
7/3/19Reply
Sean Plamondon Scooter taxis are super popular but I've been taking cars
7/3/19Reply
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Southeast Asia Sean Plamondon
Bangkok Crosswalk
July 2, 2019 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
Hanging out in bangkok airport waiting for last flight to vietnam. 30 hours down, 5 to go. Shockingly i feel great.

Thai airways was great. All the stewardesses are decked out in traditional clothing and bow down with hands in prayer formation to greet every single person. Mad at myself for not getting a shot of it. Whole airplane smelled like a thai restaurant... and food was really good. I will be sure to have my camera ready for my last flight today with vietnam airways.

My old ratty orange backpack is done. I noticed mid flight the bottom had a big hole in it and my stuff was falling out the bottom. Good thing it happened there and not while walking around! If only i was in a country that manufactured textiles and goods for cheapie cheapie prices...Read more
Can u get a new backpack at airport?
7/1/19Reply
TravelerHave a great trip
7/2/19Reply
6 likes
Southeast Asia Sean Plamondon
Reunited in Paris
July 1, 2019 in France ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Got off the flight and first thing i saw was the air Canada lounge. Fate! So had some free food and found a comfy lounging chair to stretch out and nap a bit.

Vicky and alexa were connecting to greece at same time, same airport as i was connecting to bangkok, so we met up for a bit and i got to see alexa one last time before my 12 hour flight into east asia.

Not feeling great today. Bit of a fever and chills earlier and during flight to paris. But I've improved since then. Hopefully its mostly behind me now.

Happy Canada Day! 🇨🇦 🎆Read more
Hope u r better
7/1/19Reply
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Southeast Asia Sean Plamondon
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Montreal Calling
June 30, 2019 in Canada ⋅ 🌧 23 °C
35 hours of transit between leaving Ottawa and arriving in vietnam starts now. Woowoo. I expect the excitement to dwindle precisely at hour 6. But i suspect thats why they have free alcohol on long haul flights. I wonder how many tiny bottles of wine i can consume across 11 timezones?

My father was kind enough to drive me to the montreal airport today, and a trip to montreal wouldn't be complete without a beer at a pub dans la belle province. His best friend and bf's gf joined us. Let the beers fall where they may.

Summer of Sean has begun...

Next stop, Paris... salut!Read more
Traveler Lookin’ good, Seany!
6/30/19Reply
Traveler Haha
6/30/19Reply
Traveler Great to meet you Sean. Thanks for your hospitality
7/1/19Reply
5 likes
Southeast Asia Sean Plamondon
Countdown to chopsticks
June 5, 2019 in Canada ⋅ 🌧 14 °C
Planning to backpack through Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. 3.5 weeks to go!
So exciting - the countdown is on!
6/6/19Reply
4 likes
Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
Dulles - Worry Wart in Washington
August 21, 2018 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 24 °C
This was almost Colombia all over again...except I pulled a Bulgarian, the Canadian way ;)

My heart began to race as soon as I walked off the plane and into a room full of hundreds of people who were all waiting to go through customs. With only two hours until boarding (the exact same scenario we were in when we flew here from Panama City in April) I knew I was going to miss my flight to Ottawa. What could I do? I overheard the woman in front of me talk about some sort of mobile passport app that would allow you to bypass the herd, so I immediately befriended her and asked her for more details. We became fast ‘friends’ and exchanged numbers on WhatsApp as she assured me she would hold my place in line just in case this ‘short line’ didn’t actually exist, but if it did then I would send her a message so she and her daughter could take advantage of it as well. As I wearily made my way to the “mobile passport line” I asked every employee I could for reassurance that this was legitimate. There were only 9 people ahead of me!! I could hardly believe my eyes!! As I waited in line, I then started chatting with an employee who seemed to be directing traffic. I guess I must have killed her with kindness, as she let me enter a “Global Entry” kiosk line that is apparently a paid service, and I just heard her decline a fellow traveler who was worried about missing his flight to Denver, so a line of 9 quickly turned into 0, as they were serving me next!

How was I slithering my way through so smoothly? Next obstacle - the customs agent repeatedly took my photo, but it wasn’t recognizing me for whatever reason, so I cracked a joke about being so short as the reason it wasn’t working, so he told me not to worry about it, wished me a great day and let me through...seriously what is happening? I raced to the baggage claim area and had the biggest smile on my face when I spotted my backpack. As I dropped it off, the gentleman working the check-in counter chatted with me for several minutes and told me not to forget my “baby,” aka my backpack when I landed in Ottawa or else he’d be upset - seriously why are people being so friendly?!?

I found my gate, confirmed my departure time, and just like toucan Sam I followed my nose to...the closest bar. Currently at a place called “American Tap Room,” and boy let me tell you beer has never tasted so good, as sheer minutes ago I was sure that I’d be resting my head in Washington for the night. Although it’s not a Maple Leaf Lounge, I sure feel like a VIP today. For anyone who has travelled through Dulles before you’ll understand, so one huge piece of advice, download the Mobile Passport app in advance and save yourself the stress! KKRead more
TravelerYou guys are excellent writers and bloggers. Very enjoyable reading! Thanks for a fun ride.
8/27/18Reply
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Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
London calling
August 21, 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
Fourth airport and three flights and one more to go. What a ridiculous route home. I really should fire my travel agent. Oh wait, that's me.

Found the maple leaf lounge and got in for free with my gold card. Now, this is where it's at. Free drinks and food with couches and even a few beds. Sipping a Chardonnay lol as I type this.

It's my first time in one of these. I feel like such an imposter here and that I've crashed some elite party lol.. and that any moment someone will boot me out. -SPRead more
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Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
Copenhagen
August 21, 2018 in Denmark ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Zagreb airport was kinda freaky. Attaching a pic of it. Copenhagen is weird. The entire airport has hardwood flooring. And my gate has about 10 seats.. am I flying in a Cessna to London?

First flight this morning was at 6:30am, so arrived at Sarajevo airport around 4:20am only to be told airport doesn't open until 5am. Had to wait on side of road for 40 minutes before guard would let us enter airport property. -SPRead more
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Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
Vienna International Airport
August 21, 2018 in Austria ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
Landed in Vienna. Washington then Ottawa for me. Sean made his first flight to Zagreb, and should be on his way to Copenhagen now. KK
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Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
Signing off in Sarajevo
August 20, 2018 in Bosnia and Herzegovina ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
We've travelled the Balkans for over two weeks and while I knew it's history, nothing has made me really take notice of it's ugly history until we entered Bosnia. I overheard a local woman recently muse "its funny, we fought so hard for so many years to all be separate, and in a few years we'll all be joined together as EU members. What was the point of all that bloodshed?". She's got a point.

Took an amazing city walking tour this morning that went into graphic details about what Bosnia was like under Tito as president of communist Yugoslavia to the chaos of the Serbian attacks from Milosevic and where they are now. Bosnia has 40% unemployment with no immediate signs of improvement. It is the only country in the world with 3 simultaneous presidents who all have equal power and veto rights. The three presidents represent the bosniaks (Muslim), croats (Catholic) and serbs (orthodox). Elections are this year and there are 192 different political parties. Imagine what their ballot card looks like. As the tour guide said, "welcome to the craziest developed country on Earth". Indeed.

Lots of rain on our final day, so in-between rain storms we sought out a few local breweries. Found a great tiny microbrew that had a dozen different taps and even had sours. They were kind enough to let us enter the back room to see their equipment. I was shocked they were doing everything with small kettles. They really were 'micro'.

And that's pretty much how we wrapped up our balkan adventure. Grabbed a late night meal at our favorite restaurant Barhana on the way home and then off to bed for a very early morning coming up. -SPRead more
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Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
Sarajevo:Hijabs & beer, together at last
August 19, 2018 in Bosnia and Herzegovina ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Sarajevo is in many ways the perfect place to wrap up our trip. There's no iconic landmark here to photograph and show you. It's a city that has survived two world wars (including the event that started WWI), and the longest city siege in world history from 1992-1995. They've rebuilt everything but if you pay close attention to your surroundings, there are bullet holes in buildings everywhere. It doesn't embrace the remnants of war quite like Mostar did, mostly because it's the capital and needs to re-establish itself as a key European center as Bosnia tries to join the EU. But don't get me wrong, no one here forgets or doesn't care.

The downtown/old town has an energy not seen anywhere else we've been. For centuries, Muslims, Jews, orthodox and Catholics lived harmoniously and you can see evidence as mosques reside metres away from synagogues and cathedrals. Every street and side alley has lively cafes with pillows and cushions to relax at, like you were in Istanbul. Sarajevo was under Ottoman rule for over 400 years but it was a peaceful existence for every culture, and not just for Muslims.

We spent our first day relaxing at different cafes, sampling the local cuisine and beverages, and drifting in and out of the numerous Turkish markets that sprawl everywhere downtown. Unlike many other balkan destinations that had a large Muslim presence with mosques or Turkish styled old towns, this city was far more vibrant with hijabs and niqabs on every block, actively shopping or sipping coffees, or taking the family for food somewhere.

Later that evening, met up with my coworker's brother (Chris Manor) and his gf (Jane) again for some craft beers at a cool spot called Vucko with 100 beers on the menu. By the way, those two are backpacking the world for twelve months! Amazing. My mom would probably have a cardiac arrest if I ever did that, but I'll admit it's a very appealing concept. Logistics of many sorts will make it impossible... Dare to dream and all that.

Finding craft beer has not been easy at all this trip, but has made for some fun find-and-seek, where's Waldo type excursions which has almost always been a rewarding endeavor - sometimes the destination, sometimes the journey, and usually both. Sarajevo easily has far more options than anywhere else and we've enjoyed our final hours unravelling that reality. -SPRead more
TravelerThankful for the logistics !!
8/20/18Reply
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Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
Mostar day 2 - The sequel
August 18, 2018 in Bosnia and Herzegovina ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
For our second day in Mostar we signed up for a day tour of some local sights outside the city. First stop was at Blagaj, a Muslim spiritual sufi-house that is several centuries old where people would come for deeper learnings on life and philosophies (and religion). The scenery was striking as the tiny village butted up against a massive cliff that hung out over the closer buildings. But much more eye-catching was the river that started right at the cliff face, which is a really bizarre sight for a river to start at a rock wall , which comes from an underground river below the towering cliff. Oh ya, the best part... Kristin had to wear some Muslim garb to enter haha.. she's not aware I'm posting her pic in it :)

Second stop was at a Muslim medeival mountain side town (Pocitelj) mostly in ruins but still inhabited somehow. The people there survive selling figs and natural juices to passerbyers. Tour guide dropped us off at the top to find our way to the bottom. Wandered through the cobblestone paths and climbed to the top of a very structurally suspect tower and then had to escape the heat and find our way to the bottom.

One more stop at a historically significant orthodox monastary and then on to gorgeous kravice falls which is not one large waterfall, but numerous veins that spread across an arching ushape area splashing down into pools below. It was especially fun because you can splash around in the pools and also climb up the rock cliffs to get near or under many of the cascading falls. It felt almost tropical like we were in Colombia and not what one might envision as a Bosnia locale. Bosnia by the way is impressibly scenic. Extremely mountainous and many rivers that all have a striking green-bluish color and clear waters. I'm not sure what I expected, but this wasn't it.

Finished our day sharing a beer with our tour guide, and chilling out at famous black dog pub on the river and calling an early night so we're good for sarjevo tomorrow. Also had another yummy sharing platter with grilled meats and vegetables plus dolmas, stuffed peppers and onions. My God I wish we had stuff like this back home. So good and so affordable. Why are all our platters back home deep fried crap? Forget french cuisine and carb heavy italian, Balkans has it nailed! -SPRead more
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Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
The Starriest Place in Bosnia: Mostar
August 17, 2018 in Bosnia and Herzegovina ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
Immediately, you might ask yourself what makes Mostar the “starriest” place in Bosnia, the answer: Stari Most bridge. After an extremely windy bus ride that lasted roughly three hours (it was so windy that a fellow passenger vomited multiple times throughout the course of the trip), laying our eyes on this magnificently rebuilt stone arc made it all worthwhile. As the aquamarine water of the Neretva river sparkled below, our hearts were filled with incredible joy as we both knew this was the most photogenic scenery we had seen yet. Our timing was just right, as we also got to witness a diver leap into the freezing cold water.

If you happened to notice that I mentioned the version of the bridge that we saw was a 21st century rebuild, that’s because the original was destroyed during the Civil War in the 1990’s. Graffiti artists have tagged building walls with the words “do not forget.” So although the historic centre has been restored, remnants of bombed out buildings and bullet holes plaster the architecture here.

It’s hard to imagine such juxtaposition, but here’s an example: our super luxurious two-bedroom accommodations were just built in May of this year (this was easily the nicest place we booked throughout the entire course of the trip, we even jokingly said we would rent out the second bedroom on Airbnb), meanwhile across the street laid the crumbled remains of a high school, just one of the scars left lingering behind after the heartbreaking Civil War.

With that in mind, we haven’t taken one step for granted, as we have so fortunately had the opportunity to enjoy the treasures this old town has to offer. While drinking and dining by the riverside, we shared a mixed meat plate for dinner, sipped some great craft beers at Old Bridge Brewery and enjoyed the live music at the Black Dog Pub. Rather coincidentally, as we were sitting outside of Marshall Cafe, Sean was spotted by one of his coworker’s brothers, all thanks to a “root of all evil” Whiprsnpr t-shirt he was wearing, what a small world!

Tomorrow we booked a day trip with iHouse tours, so we’re looking forward to seeing Kravice waterfalls. This is only the second place we’ve stayed in for more than one night, so it will be nice to very temporarily lay our roots and not have to rush off and catch some form of transportation in the morning. KK

Adding some extra context to meeting my coworkers brother. We didn't know each other. He spotted my ottawa brewery tshirt as he was walking by and decided to approach me. After chatting for a little bit, I invited him and his gf to join us for a beer and thats when we talked more about back home/work and realized he's the brother of the guy who sits next to me at work. So weird! -SPRead more
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Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
Grapes and goulash in Trebinje
August 16, 2018 in Bosnia and Herzegovina ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
Started the day with a morning ferry from Korcula back to Dubrovnik and then caught a bus to Trebinje, Bosnia. Btw there's a very odd policy in Montenegro, Croatia and Bosnia to pay the bus driver one euro for every bag stowed in the luggage area of bus. Lame. Pretty sure this goes directly into the driver's pocket.

Prices in Croatia were killing us, so we were anxious to get back to the balkan costs of living away from the Mediterranean coastline. Trebinje, bosnia definitely filled that criteria. Normal sized beer ranged from $1cad to $2.50cad. Had a large goulash meal for $5cad. And our apartment rental was $30cad, and can honestly say it was overpriced heh. Won't make that mistake again.

The old town was cute but considerably smaller and less maintained than the places we had just visited. But still a nice place to wander around before heading north to Mostar and Sarajevo. Passed lots of vineyards on the way here and learned it's Bosnia's main wine region. So that's where we started our day...

Saw a major winery was within walking distance of our apartment and headed off. I swear it's not my fault, but there are crosswalks all over without traffic signals and you have to step into traffic and everyone stops for you... Which they did for us, but a trailing car crashed into the car that stopped for us and a huge argument ensued between drivers finishing with the guilty party hopping back in his car and taking off. And lol followed by other drivers getting out of their cars to argue about something with the victim. I was gonna record the altercations but then thought better of it and moved on. Bosnians are a feisty lot.

Passed by a bunch of war-bombed-out buildings immediately before reaching the state of the art winery building. So much contrast everywhere. After some great wine there, we walked back and found a beer festival setting up, but unfortunately a huge storm was coming and couldn't stay for long. Got caught in a huge rainstorm earlier in the day too so left and finished the night in the old town. Pretty chill day, but have had lots of early mornings and no A/C lately, and it's starting to wear on us a bit. But with Mostar up next, getting rested is ideal. -SPRead more
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Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
Lazy day in sleepy Korcula
August 15, 2018 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Although we went to Korcula today, that wasn’t the initial plan. With a very early start to the day, we woke up at 5:00am in order to catch a local bus at 6:05am that was to take us to the port, in order to catch a ferry to Hvar. As one of our taxi drivers so kindly pointed out, us vacationers must have left our “brains at home,” because the morning ferry was sold out. We were assured by our Airbnb hostess that we did not have to purchase tickets in advance, so we mistakenly took this advice without investigating for ourselves.

What to do next you might ask, why hop on a bus to a place called Orebich of course! Finally, after a two hour long bus ride, and a quick hop onto a ferry, we found ourselves in Korcula, a place that Sean’s friend Calvin recommended we go to.

What an incredible change of pace from the hustle and bustle of tourists in Dubrovnik. With tiny pebbled beaches and a much smaller old town area to explore, we must have seen the entire island at least 5 times if not more. A vast majority of cafes and restaurants were named Marco Polo, as Korcula claims to be the alleged childhood home of the Italian explorer.

We enjoyed a pizza dinner by the water, and then we found the ticket office to purchase our ferry tickets back to Dubrovnik tomorrow morning - see, you can’t fool us twice ;) While sipping on local wines and craft beers amidst tiny cobblestoned alleyways we tied our rummy 500 score, 5:5. For some strange reason, the (male) waiter at the wine bar across the way insisted that I was bending the rules to work in my favour...2 against 1 not fair! As most places closed at 11pm, we wrapped up the evening at a place called Lole, a wine and tapas bar that has a perfect score on TripAdvisor.

Stay tuned as we escape the expensive price tags of Croatia and discover what Bosnia has to offer, as we make our way to the last country of the trip! KKRead more
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Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
Dubrovnic sticker shock
August 14, 2018 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
Our bus ride to Dubrovnik from Kotor was about 100km. But we're in the Balkans. Everything leaves on schedule and arrives like my tenant's rent cheques. Took 5+ hours instead of the scheduled two hours.. aye yie. Getting through customs was about 90 mins alone. Fueling up ate another 30+ minutes.

But forget that, we were finally in the grandest of citadels. The fortified walls were 20-30 feet high. Everything is marble flagstone and pedestrian only, but main through fares are wide enough for three lanes of traffic. Off the main strip, narrow corridors rise up sharp inclines, littered with restaurants and shops everywhere you turn. Some led to castle wall openings and cafes on the sea and views of nearby mountains and blue waters. It is all incredibly impressive and grand. Except...

We weren't the only ones here. Unfortunately, the hoards of people drowned out the beauty of it all. And that's quite the feat. I don't recommend visiting in August. Also the prices of everything were inflated and far beyond what we had been paying everywhere else. Instead of paying $2-$3 for a beer, now it was $9-$11. Same for food and accommodations. If we had arrived here from Canada, it wouldn't have seemed as bad. But backpacking through Macedonia, Kosovo, and Albania and even Montenegro lowered our cost expectations considerably. Plus there was much more of an 'off the beaten path' feel to many of those places. Prior to Montenegro, we had hardly seen any backpackers or heard any English. In Dubrovnik, British and Americans dominated the masses.

Still, had a great meal in a cute narrow corridor cafe, and drinks on the water, trying hard not to think about those pesky price tags on everything. We missed climbing and traversing the high fortifications as we didn't know it closed at 7pm... So we found a really pretty spot in the middle of a plaza to sip on cold beverages and marvel at the pure volume of people trying to slip past each other. There was something very satisfying in being a spectator and not one of the herd. -SPRead more
TravelerReminds me of Split, Croatia - quite similar!
8/16/18Reply
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Balkans - Bulgaria to Bosnia
Krazier for Kotor - Day 2
August 13, 2018 in Montenegro ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
In addition to the fortified old town, Kotor also has fortifications that travel to the top of the mountain that sits behind the old town and 1350 steps to reach the uppermost fort. We spent our morning ascending the wall and enjoying the spectacular views. And also trying to stay in the shade as it was over 40C. Easily the best hike and views of the trip so far.

After that, spent our afternoon wandering the maze of cobblestone streets and taking a cue from all the lazy Kotor cats - lounging around sipping on cold drinks in the shade and watching the mass groups of tourists getting shuffled by us. First time of the trip where we had no travel agenda and while it's fun to visit a new place everyday, was great to not be rushing off somewhere too.

We did have plans though. Our new Turkish friend Hakan insisted on taking us out for supper at a local seaside Turkish restaurant at 8pm. We were treated to red wine, raki (like ouzo), and a number of food platters with grilled meats and vegetables and delicious desserts. The owners sat down with us too and we never came close to eating everything provided. Even though we insisted on paying the bill, Hakan was having none of it. We feasted like kings all at his expense.

Got back to old Town around midnight and finished our night watching a small band performing in one of the narrow alleyways outside a pub. Pretty sweet day. -SPRead more
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