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Sabbatical 2025
  • Antoine et Vanessa SB

Sabbatical 2025

Et 182-dags eventyr af Antoine et Vanessa Læs mere
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  • Start på rejsen
    31. januar 2025
  • Antoine et Vanessa SBSabbatical 2025Rejsende

    Negombo

    1.–3. feb., Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    We spend the first days in Negombo. We caught up on sleep, got out Sim cards and found a new friend - Rodrigo the dog :)

    So many people are super nice, they smile and greet you while passing. Many just want to have a little chat or take a selfie.

    We had a nice dinner on top of a roof, cooked by super nice woman. The place was already closed but she welcomed us anyway and opened her kitchen just for us.

    Next stop: South of Sri Lanka - Unawatuna    Læs mere

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  • Antoine et Vanessa SBSabbatical 2025Rejsende

    Unawatuna

    3.–7. feb., Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    Today is the day we get our own Tuktuk for the next 23 days! Little excitement and stress from our side as we both never drove a Tuktuk before…
    The driving lesson went well though and after 20 minutes of practice off we went (2 Danish guys comforted us, as they did the exact same route and were super happy!).

    So, the journey of 160km (which took us more than 6 hours) to Unawatuna began. We drove through Colombo (the capital city), there are a lot of people, scooters, Tuktuk, cars and buses, it’s pure chaos but we like it! Everyone is honking and somehow it works totally fine!

    We arrived just before sunset in our hotel in Unawatuna for the next 4 nights: Milkyway resort- a hotel in the middle of nature with monkeys, varans, birds, fireflies at night… and unfortunately a lot of garbage.

    In Unawatuna, we snorkeled with turtles, ate at Hotels (local Sri Lankan restaurants), and enjoyed the different beaches close by.

    We did a day trip to Galle- a fortified old city and watched a part of a cricket game (Sri Lanka - Australia) which was a lot of fun… and sun 😅    Læs mere

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  • Antoine et Vanessa SBSabbatical 2025Rejsende
    11

    Mirissa

    7.–11. feb., Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Our next stop is Mirissa, still located on the south coast of Sri Lanka. We were staying there for 4 nights.

    Our main highlights were:

    • Chilling on different beaches 😎 (Ahangama, Secret beach, Turtle beach)

    • Seeing the famous stilt fishermen

    • Surfing in Weligama, Vanessa is quite good, I still need to practice… 😂 but it was a lot of fun!

    • Turtle beach where we did not see any turtles and where the current was too strong to see clearly under the water 😅 but there were a few monkeys 🐒

    • Coconut tree hill, very famous on instagram but not really worth it according to us. We saw many other beautiful coconut tree hills 😊

    • We had our first egg hopper, a very thin dough with an egg inside, very simple and tasty!

    • Whale watching excursion with one of the best company respecting the sea animals. We unfortunately did not see any whales (chances are about 20%), but saw a lot of spinner dolphins and bottlenose dolphins 🐬 it was magical!

    • We also found a very nice “all you can eat” buffet where we could try different curries and dishes, it was delicious 🤤    Læs mere

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  • Antoine et Vanessa SBSabbatical 2025Rejsende
    11

    Tangalle

    11.–14. feb., Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Our last stop on the southern coast was Tangalle. A cute, little beach town and by far our favorite one. It had a very chill vibe, it was surrounded by lush nature and the beaches stretched over kilometers, sometimes with just a handful of people. 🏝️

    After arriving at our guest house Anila Beach Inn (and getting a welcome juice), we went for a 2,5 hours walk on Tangalle beach. It's one of the longest beaches we have seen: you can walk for approx. 20km. ☀️

    The next day, we visited Mulkirigala Rock Monastery. It was a beautiful temple, with six giant buddhas and a lot of ancient paintings on the walls. Many Buddhists brought flowers for good karma. The scenery and surroundings were gorgeous. 🛕

    Later on, we relaxed on Silent beach and at night we had delicious fish by the beach.

    Tangalle beach is famous for turtles laying their eggs there at night. We did see one turtle digging a hole in the sand to lay her eggs. Unfortunately, once again wildlife is used by locals to make money (which we can understand); the worst are the tourists though. All of them did not keep their distance, flashing their lights on the turtle, while she was laying her eggs, in order to take the best possible photo. Even on her way back into the ocean, the crowd followed until she went off. It was horrendous and heartbreaking. 🐢

    The next morning, surfing distracted us from thinking about the poor turtle mamas. Our instructor Lula was super nice but the surfing wasn't quite as fun and successful as the session in Weligama due to smaller waves.
    The beach - Kudawella - is gorgeous. The water was crystal clear and there were again only a handful of people on the beach. 🏄‍♂️💦

    One of our highlights was running into a school concert/show later that day. We were invited to watch the last part, they even offered us seats in the second row. It was a lot of fun to see the kids perform. In the end, all the students and teachers danced together to finish the event. The spontaneous things are the best. 🏫👯‍♂️

    When we checked out to go to Udawalawe, our host gave us homemade rotti for the journey. People here are just so friendly and nice 🧡    Læs mere

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  • Antoine et Vanessa SBSabbatical 2025Rejsende

    Udawalawe

    14.–15. feb., Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    We decided to stay one night in Udawalawe to spend few hours on a Safari in Udawalawe national park, famous for the elephants 🐘 It was established in 1972 after the water reservoir was built. The national park has since been a safe home for animals - it’s 30,821 ha big and home to about 400 elephants.

    After a short night we got on a jeep at 5:30AM with 4 Austrian guys on our way to the national park. It was pretty cold compared to day time and windy so we were eagerly waiting for the sun to rise up ☀️

    We spent 4,5 hours in the park, saw lots of elephants, few crocodiles, monkeys, peacocks, beautiful birds, buffalos and ferrets.
    Overall, we had a very nice time, only cons was that the driver could not share any information with us due to the jeep layout and the journey did not last a single minute more than planned, at 10:00AM we were back at the hostel to have breakfast.

    Since the location was not so nice, we drove directly to our next destination: Ella with its wonderful landscape and tea plantations. It took us about 3,5 hours 🛺

    The currency here is the Sri Lankan Rupee, 1€ ~ LKR 310.

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    Wir entschieden uns eine Nacht in Udawalawe zu übernachten, um den Nationalpark zu sehen, welcher berühmt für Elefanten ist 🐘 Der Park wurde im Jahr 1972 errichtet, nachdem das Wasserreservoir gebaut wurde, um Tieren ein sicheres Zuhause zu geben. Mit 30,821 ha beherbergt dieser um die 400 Elefanten.

    Nach einer kurzen Nacht starten wir um 5:30 Uhr mit vier anderen aus Österreich unsere Tour durch den Nationalpark. Morgens ist es relativ kalt und im Jeep war es windig, dass wir uns sehr nach der Sonne gesehnt haben ☀️

    Die Safari dauerte 4,5h und wir haben viele Elefanten, einige Krokodile, Affen, Pfaue, bunte Vögel und Frettchen gesehen. Um 10 Uhr waren wir zurück im Hotel zum Frühstück.

    Da die Stadt und das Hotel nicht so schön waren, machten wir uns auf den Weg zum nächsten Stopp: Ella mit den vielen Teeplantagen und der wunderschönen Landschaft. Die Fahrt dauerte ca. 3,5h 🛺

    Die Währung hier ist Sri Lankan Rupee, 1€ ~ LKR 310.    Læs mere

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  • Antoine et Vanessa SBSabbatical 2025Rejsende
    11

    Ella

    15.–20. feb., Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    We stayed in Ella for 5 nights. The homestay here was our favorite. The family was so nice and attentive. When we left early in the morning on 20th at 5:30 to catch our train to Kandy, they woke up to give us coffee and take-away breakfast. And of course we had to take one last photo. The people here in Sri Lanka are extremely nice (even the once trying to scam you on the streets to earn money 😆)

    Ella is a small town (elevation about 1000m above sea level) surrounded by forest, tea plantations, farm land and more green.
    We did a lot of hiking: we climbed Little Adam's Peak, did part of the Pekoe Trail (a 300km long distance walking trail through the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka) and walked Lipton's tea plantations near Haputale 🏞️

    We also did a tour at an organic tea garden. The farm and plantation is run in the third generation by a small family. They not only grow tea, but also pepper, fruit and they even have three coffee trees.
    We learnt that black, green and white tea all come from one and the same tea leaf 🌿 They only differ in the procedure and oxidation process.
    In order to have 1kg of tea powder, 5kg of fresh tea leaves need to be picked.
    Mainly women work on tea plantations. They earn about 1000 Rupees for 15kg tea leaves (which takes about 6 hours). That's 3,30€.

    We also visited a famous Instagram spot: the Nine Arches Bridge. The first time, we went there was around noon on a Sunday. It was so crowded, that we decided to go on another day in the morning. That was much better, but again, we realized what kind of influence (social) media has got on places, ideas and your own expectations. The pictures online look so great, and the bridge really is nice, but it's also a bit overrated 😂📸

    Since we had 5 nights in Ella, we had more time to relax, do laundry and just enjoy our stay there. Ella's main road was already very touristic, but the landscape and nature there really was unique ☀️

    We left Ella by train to head towards Kandy. It was a 7-hours train ride along beautiful scenery 🚉 A driver from the Tuktuk company drove our Tuktuk from Ella to Kandy - a service that you can book through the company 👍

    ------------------------------------------------------

    In Ella waren wir 5 Nächte. Unsere Unterkunft dort war bisher unsere liebste. Die Familie war so nett und aufmerksam. Als wir am 20.02. den Zug Richtung Ella nahmen und um 5:30 Uhr los mussten, sind sie aufgestanden um uns Kaffee zu geben und unser Frühstück zum Mitnehmen. Natürlich machten wir auch ein letztes Foto zusammen. Die Menschen hier in Sri Lanka sind so nett (sogar diejenigen, die dich auf der Straße bequatschen um bisschen Geld zu verdienen 😆)

    Ella ist eine kleine Stadt, umgeben von Wald, Teeplantagen und noch mehr grün. Wir sind hier viel gewandert: wir sind den Adam's Peak hoch gewandert, haben einen Teil des Peakoe Trail gemacht (ein 300km langer Wanderweg durch die Gebirgslandschaft Sri Lankas) und haben die Teeplantagen Liptons in der Nähe von Haputale erkundet 🏞️

    Wir haben auch einen Bio-Teegarten besucht, welcher in Dritter Generation von einer kleinen Familie geführt wird. Neben Tee bauen sie auch Früchte und Pfeffer an. Außerdem haben sie drei Kaffeebäume, die sie zweimal im Jahr ernten.
    Wir haben gelernt, dass schwarzer, grüner und weißer Tee alle von ein und demselben Teeblatt kommen 🌿 Sie unterscheiden sich lediglich vom Zubereitungs - und Oxidationsprozess. Um 1kg Tee zu erhalten, braucht man 5kg Teeblätter. Oftmals arbeiten Frauen auf den Teeplantagen. Sie bekommen etwa 3000 Rupien für 15kg Tee (das Pflücken dauert meist 6 Stunden). Das sind umgerechnet 3,30€.

    Wir besuchten außerdem die berühmten Instagram Ort: die Nine Arches Bridge. Das erste Mal waren wir dort am Sonntagmittag und es war so überfüllt. Wir entschieden uns an einem anderen Tag morgens hinzugehen, was viel besser war. Dennoch ist uns wieder bewusst geworden, wie sehr (soziale) Medien unsere Erwartungen, Orte und Vorstellungen beeinflussen. Die Brücke ist wunderschön, aber auch etwas überbewertet 😂📸

    Da wir 5 Nächte in Ella hatten konnten wir neben Aktivitäten auch viel entspannen, Wäsche machen und genießen. Die Hauptstraße der Stadt war schon sehr touristisch, aber die Umgebung und Landschaft war wirklich einzigartig ☀️

    Von Ella sind wir dann mit dem Zug 7 Stunden Richtung Kandy gefahren. Auch hier war die Landschaft wieder wunderschöne 🚉
    Unser Tuktuk wurde von einem Fahrer von Ella Richtung Kandy gefahren: ein Service, den man buchen kann 👍    Læs mere

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  • Antoine et Vanessa SBSabbatical 2025Rejsende
    1

    Kandy

    20.–23. feb., Sri Lanka ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Kandy, one of the former capitals of Sri Lanka and the 2nd largest city was our next stop. We did not really know what to expect from this city as we heard good and bad opinions, but decided to stay for 3 nights.
    As we checked-in to our room we understood why our hostel is called “Mountain view Homestay”… the view was stunning 😍

    Kandy has an artificial lake right in the city center surrounded by lots of nature and one of the most famous temple in Sri Lanka: the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic.

    Approximately 70% of the Sri Lankan population is Buddhist, there are plenty of temples everywhere, but this one is particular as Buddha’s tooth relic is located there. It is a must visit for every Buddhist, at least once in a lifetime. For those who are wondering, the tooth itself is not visible. It is supposed to be under a big golden casket that is permanently guarded by monks.
    We visited the temple and could attend one of the morning ceremony, it was very beautiful and interesting, but also very crowded. There is also a museum next to the temple so we could learn more about the Buddhism religion.

    Kandy is nationally famous for the Esala Perahera festival, usually happening in July/August and lasting 10 days, and during which lots of traditional dances are being performed in the streets. The festival is held to worship Buddha’s holy tooth.
    Different cultural centers offer shows all around the year for tourists who are not coming during summer. We attended a one hour show where we could see traditional dances with colorful costumes and listen to local music. It was a lot of fun!

    Besides the temple, we went to central market to see all the fruits and vegetables, meat, fish, and spices sold locally.

    One evening, we found a great food court where only women are working (an initiative supported by the government). The food was delicious, it was possible to try a lot of different specialities and we could sit together with locals for some time and exchange a bit with them.

    After a short Tuktuk drive to one of the view points around the city on another day, we had a stop at the big Buddha temple, located on a small hill and could enjoy a beautiful sunset 🌅

    We really liked our stay in Kandy, the mix of tradition and culture, the nice atmosphere around the lake and the numerous local restaurants made our stay memorable 😊    Læs mere

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  • Antoine et Vanessa SBSabbatical 2025Rejsende
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    Dambulla & Sigiriya

    23.–25. feb., Sri Lanka ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    Our last stop was Dambulla, a small town that is 2,5 hours north of Kandy and 4,5 hours north-east of Negombo by TukTuk.

    We mainly went up here to see the famous cave temple and to visit one of Sri Lanka's most famous sights: Sigiriya ⛰️

    After arriving, we went to Dambulla's cave temple for the afternoon. When we arrived, we were first mainly focused on watching all the monkeys that were hanging out there. They are so cheeky and always trying to find food 🍌

    The temple consists of five caves. There are about 150 Buddha statues and some of the former Sri Lankan kings. The paintings in the cave were beautiful and the ground was just really nice. The caves date back to the 1st century BCE and are now part of the UNESCO - World heritage site 🪷

    The next day we got up quite early to visit Sigiriya. Well, actually to climb Pidurangala in order to have a nice view of Sigiriya 😊

    Sigiriya is an ancient rock fortress known for its massive column of rock that reaches nearly 200 meters high. The site dates back to the reign of King Kasyapa (477-495 AD), who chose this site as his new capital. The history is again a royal family affair - two half-brothers fighting over being king 👑

    It was a beautiful hike and the views were stunning.

    The next day, it was time to go back to Negombo to return our Tuktuk. After dropping our little vehicle, we took a last stroll along Negombo beach, watched the sunset and had dinner at a tiny family restaurant ⛱️

    Sri Lanka was beautiful and we already miss the chill vibes and the people's smiles 💛💚    Læs mere

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  • Antoine et Vanessa SBSabbatical 2025Rejsende
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    Omadhoo

    26. feb.–3. mar., Maldiverne ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    After landing in Malé, we were able to take the public ferry to get to our first local island: Omadhoo. Everything went super smoothly and after 4,5 hours, we arrived on the island - ready for some beach and snorkel time 🤿🏖️

    Omadhoo is a local island in the Alif Dhaal Atoll, southwest of Malé. We chose this island not only because there's a chance of seeing whale sharks around this area, but also that it's supposed to be a small island with only a handful of guesthouses and restaurants. It turned out to be true: the island had a few shops, about six restaurants/ cafés and a quite small bikini beach (the only area where tourists are allowed to wear swimsuits) 🏝️

    Unfortunately, we were super unlucky with the weather. Our time in Omadhoo was basically a lot of rain, flooded roads, thunderstorms and more storms 🌧️⚡ We tried to make the best of it, although it hurt a little, when the locals told us it has never rained like that in February 🥹We still went snorkeling, when there was only a bit of rain and squeezed in beach time when it stopped raining and the sun was out for an hour 😆

    Due to the weather we weren't able to do a boat tour so we did not make it to see whale sharks. Still, Omadhoo's house reef is amazing. We saw nurse and reef sharks, sting rays, so many schools of fish and nice corals 🪸🦈

    Omadhoo is a super cute and nice island. We liked it a lot and enjoyed discovering some of the underwater world 🥰    Læs mere

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  • Antoine et Vanessa SBSabbatical 2025Rejsende
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    Fulidhoo

    3.–8. mar., Maldiverne ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    The second island we visited and that we this time reached by speedboat 🚤 is called Fulidhoo and is part of another Maldivian Atoll: the Vaavu Atoll, located south from the capital Malé.
    In theory, Fulidhoo is supposed to be smaller than Omadhoo and have less local inhabitants.
    It is however more known by tourists, so the reality is a totally different one 😅

    There are two bikini beaches on each side of the island (west and east) that we enjoyed a lot, trying not to burn since we (finally!) got sun during the 4 days of our stay ☀️

    We took part in two boat excursions. The first one brought us to three different sports to see nurse sharks, turtles and a (rather intact) coral reef 🦈🐢🐠🪸 This tour was a great one! We had a nice time snorkeling around four of these big animals. We expected the spot to be more crowded than it actually was, so we were also positively surprised. At the second stop, we could enjoy seeing two turtles and being almost alone for some time. This was beautiful! The last stop at the coral reef was also nice, there were plenty of fish.

    The second tour was a whole day excursion to look for whale sharks. We knew this would mean a lot of boat driving with unknown chances of seeing the largest fish species in the world but somehow wanted to give it a try since we could not do it in Omadhoo due to the bad weather. This tour was unfortunately a waste of time and we were very disappointed. The crew did not seem motivated to work properly, so we ended up snorkeling for 15min during a 6 hours journey… We did not see any whale sharks but a manta ray. Luckily, after talking to the person in charge and describing how everything went, we did not have to pay for the tour. We did not expect that at all🤞

    Besides lots of sand and water during the day, we enjoyed beautiful sunsets every evening 🌅

    99% of the population of the Republic of Maldives follow the Islam religion. With the ongoing Ramadan, opening hours of the stores were constantly changing and some restaurants were simply closed,
    which made it sometimes a little difficult to get our milkshakes 😂 Most of the ones that were open surprisingly did not serve fish, even though it was part of their menu. Kind of ironic on an island but nobody explained to us the reason so we figured it is also linked to the Ramadan.

    In general, we were happy about coming and seeing a tiny part of the Maldives. Still we are not sure if we will come back again.

    Next stop: Cambodia 🇰🇭    Læs mere

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  • Antoine et Vanessa SBSabbatical 2025Rejsende
    1

    Siem Reap

    9.–18. mar., Cambodja ⋅ ⛅ 35 °C

    After a 36 hours long journey, we finally arrived at Poeuy’s school in a small village located 30min away from Siem Reap, where we initially planned to volunteer for 10 days by teaching English to some local children 🏫
    The level of Education at public schools in Cambodia is unfortunately pretty low since the Khmer Rouge period (end of the 70’s) as most of the educated people were killed, and children whose parents cannot afford private schools would come to that NGO school to attend English classes for free. The school is mainly run by volunteers, staying between a week and few months. We were a little surprised that so many volunteers were there as we arrived (12 including us), so we had to support the other volunteers the first two days and could have our own class only after. After one day of teaching, Vanessa unfortunately got sick badly so we had to leave the school suddenly to get some rest in a hotel in Siem Reap. We decided not to come back and left the school with mixed feelings. On the one hand, all students were sooo nice and most of them really keen to learn, on the other hand we were not totally inline with the way the school was running, especially considering how things were described online.

    Few days later, and Vanessa being almost 100% fit again, we visited the Apopo Center with its famous rats saving lives 🐀 Regional and internal conflicts from the 1960s to late 1998 left Cambodia as one of the most landmine affected countries in the world. Trained rats appeared to be extremely good at detecting the smell of explosives. They are much quicker than human beings, so they are used to help cleaning dangerous areas and make them safe again for the population. We learned how they are trained and what the detecting and cleaning processes consist of. These rats are also very cute! ☺️

    On another day, we went to Angkor Wat - the top destination in Cambodia. Built in the 12th century and rediscovered for the world in 1860, Angkor Wat may be the largest religious structure on Earth. It is only one of many temples in the Angkor Archeological Complex.
    The forgotten medieval metropolis used to be home to more than 1,000,000 people, and it’s considered to be the largest preindustrial city before the Khmers abandoned it.
    We woke up early to see the sunrise, which gets a 6/10 as it wasn’t as magical as we expected 😅
    That day we saw the main temples, enjoyed ancient temples, beautiful carvings and A LOT of stones. We booked a private tour guide to learn more about the history. The guy was nice but the minute we met him, he didn’t stop talking (for 10 hours) and we just could not understand him (due to his pace, or accent, or maybe both 😂) What a pity! It might have been nicer to read about the history ourselves and quietly enjoy the temple’s atmosphere 🛕

    Besides these two excursions, we enjoyed walking down the river, spending some time at the local markets, trying different street food, having a look at the famous Pub Street, and chilling by the swimming pool in our hostel 😎    Læs mere

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  • Antoine et Vanessa SBSabbatical 2025Rejsende

    Battambang

    18.–22. mar., Cambodja ⋅ ☁️ 33 °C

    Our next stop was Battambang, a smaller city in the western part of Cambodia. The first day we decided to walk around the city to explore the French colonial architecture and the street art by various Cambodian artists depicting Cambodian culture. We finished the day with cocktails at Miss Wong 🍹

    The next day we did a cycling tour with soksabike to explore Cambodia's countryside around Battambang. Our guide Sawith was a 20-year-young guy and he did a really good job showing us around. He works during the week and attends school on weekends.
    We stopped at various houses where Cambodians showed us how they produced their food - we learnt how to make rice paper, dried bananas, palm sugar drinks, rice wine and sticky rice (a popular dessert). It was a fun day cycling around and spending the day learning more about Cambodia 🚴‍♂️

    Our last day in Battambang started off with a cooking class. Before spending time in the outdoor kitchen, we bought all the ingredients at a local market. The dishes included famous local ones: yellow mango salad, fish amok (a fish curry steamed in banana leaves) and beef Lok Lak (beef with vegetables).
    Our chef spoke really good English and while eating, we learnt a lot about his past (he was a refugee in Thailand during the Khmer Rouge regime for 11 years) and about Cambodia's current political situation. It was definitely a fun and interesting cooking class 👩‍🍳

    In the evening we visited the Phare Ponleu Selpak circus (which translates to "The brightness of arts") 🎭🎨
    Today, Phare is a non-profit arts and circus school located in Battambang that empowers children, youth, and communities through artistic, educational and social support programs.
    The school started out as a project introduced by the French humanitarian aid worker Véronique Decrop in the 1980's. She went to the Thai refugee camps, where Cambodian children lived after fleeing the Khmer Rouge regime. Many were traumatized after experiencing the crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge or losing their families. Decrop's idea was to heal the kids through art. She offered drawing and painting classes in the refugee camps to help overcome their trauma. After the camps closed, Decrop and some of her students continued the therapeutic art work in Battambang, where they decided to open a drawing school. The project grew bigger and nowadays over 1000 students are empowered every year through the school's programmes such as performing, visual and applied arts as well as vocational training. We were amazed by how one person/ a small group of people can create something so meaningful and important ♥️ The show was great and we had a lot of fun watching the students perform 🎪🤹‍♀️

    After a lot of great experiences, our stay in Battambang unfortunately ended with food poisoning (probably from a street food sandwich). Hence, we had to extend our stay there and shorten our time in Phnom Penh 😷    Læs mere

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  • Antoine et Vanessa SBSabbatical 2025Rejsende

    Kampot

    22.–27. mar., Cambodja ⋅ ☁️ 34 °C

    Kampot is a charming riverside city in southern Cambodia, known for its French colonial architecture, laid-back atmosphere, beautiful surrounding nature, durian fruit and pepper plantations.

    We spent the first day exploring the city on our own, drinking a durian coffee (was not really our taste… 😅), doing some workout 😂 and enjoying the swimming pool at our hostel 😎

    The day after, we rented bicycles from our hostel and went up north to do a canoe tour on a portion of the Tuek Chhu River 🛶 It took us about 1,5 hours to complete the Green loop. The river is surrounded by lots of palm trees and few charming guesthouses are located along the way. The scenery is really nice, but the water is unfortunately extremely polluted with a lot of trash in some area so we did not want to extend our tour.
    In the evening, we went for a free walking tour, run by a Canadian guy living in Kampot for about 8 years now. He showed us a few remaining French architectural houses, explained how the city drastically changed over the past 20 years as there were no roads few years back, and shared interesting anecdotes and stories, among others the meaning of the spirit houses.

    Spirit houses are small shrines placed outside almost all homes and businesses to appease and honor spirits. They are often constructed as miniature roofed structures with figurines. These houses are believed to provide a home for spirits, ensuring their well-being and preventing them from causing harm. People often leave offerings of food, flowers, and incense at spirit houses to show respect and ensure the spirits' well-being 😃 The idea behind the offerings is to have friendly spirits gather to enjoy the food and drinks while helping to keep the more malicious spirits away. Some spirit houses are really cute 🥰

    After the tour, we had dinner at the food market in the city center. We had a Khmer curry and some Indian food and it was one of our best meals in Cambodia 😍

    Kampot is also worldwide famous for its high-quality pepper. The “champagne of peppers” can only grow on a specific area in Cambodia and following certain standards. The region's rich soil, together with the tropical climate and proximity to the sea, create optimal conditions for pepper cultivation.
    On our last day, we rented a scooter 🛵 and visited the farm “La Plantation”, owned by a French/Belgian couple. We learned how the pepper grows and the different ways to get either green, white, black or red peppercorns. Similar to the tea, the different pepper sorts/colors come from the same tree but are being harvested at different stages or are following different drying processes.
    After having a delicious lunch consisting of eggplant Lok Lak with green Kampot pepper (of course! 😅), we drove further south to the city Kep, famous this time for its crab 🦀
    We spent few hours on the beach and headed then towards the crab market to eat fried crabs and shrimps. First time we ate a whole crab, including the legs, the pincers and the head. It was a bit crispy 😂 but very good though!

    Side info: Cambodia’s national currency is the Cambodian Riel, however the US Dollar is also officially accepted and can be used everywhere, it is even possible to withdraw $ directly from ATMs. $1 = 4000 Riels.    Læs mere

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  • Antoine et Vanessa SBSabbatical 2025Rejsende
    11

    Koh Rong

    27.–31. mar., Cambodja ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    For the last period of our Cambodian trip, we wanted to visit two islands. The first one was Koh Rong!
    After going from Kampot to Sihanoukville by bus, we took two ferries to reach our destination.

    Our accomodation was on Sok San Beach on the western side of the island - a wooden bungalow with hammocks and sea view 😎 The town was pretty small with a few hotels on the beach front, a handful of shops and some restaurants (one was the famous pizza place called Toto's). We went there twice because it was right next to us, it provided us with Wifi (we had neither service on that part of the island nor wifi in our hotel) and we were really craving pizza 🍕😆 Also, we made a new friend 😺

    The first day we just went snorkeling, relaxed on the beach and did the jungle walk. After some time, there was a house in the middle of the jungle with three kids listening to Cambodian music and dancing. Of course we joined and had a short dance battle with the oldest kid 🕺

    The next day we decided to join a boat tour that included snorkeling, local fishing and a plankton experience. That trip was a lot of fun and we enjoyed it a lot. The reef for snorkeling was quite nice, our fishing was pretty unsuccessful but at our beach stop we enjoyed some beers with locals and enjoyed the sunset at a funky but luxurious resort 🍻🌅
    On our way back, it was already dark and our last stop was jumping into the dark water with our snorkeling masks. Moving quickly in the water, we were able to experience the bioluminescent plankton glowing in the water 💙

    In order to see more of Koh Rong, we rented a scooter to go up north the next day. We wanted to visit Olivier's and Julie's Firefly Guesthouse, where they stayed while visiting Koh Rong on their Cambodian trip back then 🥰 After visiting the guesthouse, we enjoyed a breakfast in the little local village of Preaek Svay. Afterwards we went to the cute Lily's Guesthouse to rent a kayak. We explored the mangroves and another beach close by where only a few local kids where playing 🛶🤸‍♀️
    We ended our day trip at Lonely beach before heading back to our village to enjoy our last evening on Koh Rong Island 🏝️

    At last, how many pets can you spot around the drawer? 😆    Læs mere

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  • Antoine et Vanessa SBSabbatical 2025Rejsende
    1

    Koh Rong Sanloem

    31. mar.–4. apr., Cambodja ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    The second Island was Koh Rong Sanloem, located 4km south from Koh Rong 🏝️

    This island is (so far) much less touristic than its big brother Koh Rong and has beautiful white beaches, clear turquoise ocean waters, and a tropical jungle wilderness.
    We stayed on the most isolated part of the island located on the west side: Sunset Beach.
    We had a 40min walk/hike to reach our bungalow for the next 4 nights. The trail- partially in an open space, partially through the tropical forest, is well marked but at times also pretty rough.
    It was definitely worth the effort and the many liters of sweat 😅 as we landed on a little piece of paradise 😍

    Since there are only five options for accommodations on Sunset Beach, this area is extremely chilled and perfect for those who are looking for a slower pace of life. There is also no cellular reception or WIFI available, so we could do a small internet detox for a couple of days. Our hotel was right at the beach - it was mostly made out of bamboo and our little hut even had a tree in the bathroom. It was surrounded by nature, which was beautiful but also meant a lot of visitors 🕷️🐛

    We went diving on the second day, first time for Vanessa who really liked it and I did a refresher course 🐠 We had a great time with the dive instructor and some other divers from Norway.

    On our third day we were a bit unlucky with the weather as it was raining the whole afternoon, so we spent time reading and playing games.

    For the rest of our stay we enjoyed our days swimming, sunbathing, eating and drinking cocktails 🍹🤗 We also joined a free meditation and yoga class which our hotel Sunboo was offering 🧘

    Just before leaving, we had a nice chat with one of the hotel’s managers and unfortunately learnt that the beach was lately sold to a group of investors. This little paradise has another 3 years and then will have to move. This part of the island will change drastically 😕

    Our time here was beautiful and so relaxing - we could have easily stayed a few more nights ☀️⛱️    Læs mere

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  • Antoine et Vanessa SBSabbatical 2025Rejsende
    11

    Phnom Penh

    4.–5. apr., Cambodja ⋅ ☁️ 33 °C

    Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, was the place where we spent the least of our time.

    Phnom Penh was a stopover between Battambang and Kampot (when we had to reduce our days there due to sickness) and as a last stop on our way to Vietnam.

    With limited time in the end, we still tried to make the most out of it.

    During our first stop in Phnom Penh, we visited Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is a memorial to the events of interrogation and detention at S-21 during the Khmer Rouge era. Before the Khmer Rouge regime took over, the place used to be a school. During the years of 1975 to 1979, it served as the central hub of a vast prison system throughout the country and was used throughout the period as a secret facility for the detention, interrogation, torture and extermination of those deemed “political enemies” of the regime. Hardly anyone survived the imprisonment, except for 12 people when the prison was liberated. Four of the survivors were children, who hid under a pile of clothes.
    The visit was very hard and devastating. It's hard to grasp how cruel humans can be. And how unbelievably lucky we can consider ourselves to live in a peaceful and safe place and that it'll hopefully stay that way 🤍

    Our last stop in Phnom Penh was about 2 weeks later on our way to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. We only had an afternoon, so after checking in we went to watch Kun Khmer - traditional kick boxing in Cambodia. It consists of four types of strikes: punches, kicks, elbows, and knee strikes.
    Our way to the stadium was unfortunately longer than our time at the tournament. We completely underestimated Phnom Penh's traffic and it took us over an hour to drive the 6 km distance. We were still able to experience 4 fights and it was interesting to watch the locals making bets on who will win 😆🥊

    The next day, it was time to say goodbye to Cambodia. We were excited for our next destination: Vietnam 🤩 We took the bus to Ho Chi Minh City, with the ride lasting for about 8 hours 🚍    Læs mere

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  • Antoine et Vanessa SBSabbatical 2025Rejsende
    Salty and egg coffeePost OfficeHaircut?All those fruit stallsWaffle timeDurian fruitBest Pho ever 😍Banh Mi time 🤤Best seat in the whole bus 😄

    Ho Chi Minh City

    5.–9. apr., Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    Ho Chi Minh City, also known as Saigon, is Vietnam's largest city with over 10 million people. Located in the south of the country, it is a mix of French colonial architecture, modern skyscrapers, and historic landmarks.

    Historically, Ho Chi Minh City served as the capital of South Vietnam from 1955 to 1975. It played a central role during the Vietnam War, culminating in the Fall of Saigon when North Vietnamese forces captured the city on April 30, 1975. Following reunification, the city was renamed after revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh. Around and in the city you can still find many historical (wartime) landmarks like the Chu Chi tunnel or the bunker cafe.

    On our first day, we joined a free walking tour. Our guide, Rosie, gave lots of explanation about the history of the city, and mentioned many interesting facts about the Vietnam war and everyday life. She also expressed criticism against the country which was a little surprising for us but gave a good insight into today’s Vietnamese society.
    The day after we enjoyed the city, crossing the streets between thousands of scooters, and visited some of the numerous apartment cafes (old buildings transformed into cafes, shops, bars or boutiques). These are super nice to discover. We had our first egg coffee and salty coffee, some specialities of Vietnam. It was delicious 😍 We went to the War Remnants Museum, retracing the Vietnam war with a very subjective opinion… 😅 but also gained some interesting information.

    We went on a day trip to the Mekong delta on our third day. We cruised past stilt houses, rice factories, local markets, stopped at local workshops to see traditional crafts and tried durian fruit. The trip also included a sampan ride through narrow canals, a visit to a village for lunch and a scooter ride. This tour was very interesting, however our guide was a little overwhelming 🙈 so we were happy to be back in the evening!

    Vietnam is home to lots of delicious food, so we could taste plenty of dishes at the restaurant, food stands and markets 🤤
    One of Vanessa’s favorite dish is the Pho (noodle soup) and Antoine is a huge fan of Banh Mi (sandwich) 😃    Læs mere

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  • Antoine et Vanessa SBSabbatical 2025Rejsende
    Avocado/Coconut ice cream
    Fresh spring roll to goCutest roundaboutFlowers everywhereSafety first ☀️📱1Cutest Happy BuddhaVietnamese (rice paper) pizzaBar with a viewThe pug model from next doorSome of the cute street art in Da Lat 💮Crazy HouseCrazy house...and cute ice cream ☺️

    Da Lat

    10.–12. apr., Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    On our way to the north we stopped in Da Lat for two nights and we absolutely loved it here. Da Lat is a bit of an exception to the rest of Vietnam: the weather is spring-like instead of tropical hot, the town is dotted with French-colonial villas rather than socialist architecture (Da Lat was the place for the French to flee the heat) and the surrounding farms cultivate strawberries, coffee and flowers instead of rice 🌸
    It is also a popular destination for locals and weekend getaway for people from Ho Chi Minh City.

    Everything in this town was cute. We explored little cafés and the street art of the town. Also, there were so many delicious things to try like rice paper pizza, rice cakes, avocado ice cream and of course strawberries. On our last day, we found the cutest ice cream place 🍦

    Da Lat is also famous for its outdoor adventures like hiking, canyoning or chasing waterfalls. So one day we took a scooter to explore the countryside. We saw many flower and strawberry fields on our way to Pongour waterfall 💦
    After spending some time at this beautiful place we headed to the Linh Am Pagoda, where we found the biggest and happiest Buddha so far 🪷

    In Da Lat you can also find the Crazy House which was designed by Architect Dr. Dang Viet Nga. The architect was inspired by nature. Her main message is that everyone should always cherish and protect nature so that people and nature can always live in harmony with each other. Each segment of her work depicts some kind of place in nature: trees and its roots, wildlife, marine life and the ocean or gardens 🌳🛖

    Da Lat is a beautiful town and so chill compared to other hectic places in Vietnam 🥰    Læs mere

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  • Antoine et Vanessa SBSabbatical 2025Rejsende
    Hoi An
    Always posing 📸Typical historic house 🏠👕📏Café with a view ☕A pig...in the middle of the streetCocktail time 🍸Japanese bridge🚴‍♀️Shake time1Hoi An by night

    Hoi An

    13.–18. apr., Vietnam ⋅ 🌧 24 °C

    The famous port town of Hoi An with its historic old town and lanterns was the next stop on our way to the north. After a 12 hour-long night bus ride, we arrived at this famous little town, which was influenced by Chinese, Japanese and European merchants.

    The first day, we explored the old city centre, tried some cafés and wandered around stores. In the evening, we found a nice roof top bar with a happy hour to enjoy the sunset and view over town 🍸

    Besides its well-preserved buildings and architecture, Hoi An is also famous for getting tailor-made clothes. There are shops everywhere! and at some point we decided to get some clothes tailored as well.
    Before picking them up, we needed two more fitting appointments to get them adjusted. In the end, we were super happy with the results 🥰 (We also bought way more things than originally planned 😂)

    The next days, we took our hotel's free bikes to explore Hoi An's country side. We cycled around rice fields, visited the nearby beach and had the best Pho in the middle of nowhere 🍜 The couple who owned the place was so nice and they kept giving us free stuff like guava leaf tea or fresh fruit 🍉🍍

    One night, we also joined a cooking class. That one was a bit weird as we were the only ones in that class and the instructor seemed to be super tired. While she did most of the cooking, we were more like assistants 🫡 In the end, we enjoyed a delicious meal which included fried spring rolls, Vietnamese pancake and Pho. We weren't able to finish our meal though, at some point the lady came by, handed us some to-go bags and just waited for us to leave. She really was tired 😂

    Our stay in Hoi An was a lot of fun, filled with delicious food, visiting old buildings and watching the lantern-lit boats at night 🏮🛶    Læs mere

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  • Antoine et Vanessa SBSabbatical 2025Rejsende
    Working hard 😎
    Beautiful light ☀️New smoking art 🤣City of GhostsWater park 🐉

    Hue

    18.–19. apr., Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    Our next stop was Hue, located in central Vietnam. It was the former capital of the Nguyen Dynasty (from 1802 to 1945) and is home to the Imperial City (Citadel), royal tombs, and ancient pagodas.

    The day we arrived, we headed towards the Citadel with a stop mid way to try one of the typical local food: banh khoai crispy pancake (a rice flour batter with pork, shrimp, sprout, salad, egg and a peanut dipping sauce), yummy! 🤤 We then spent a few hours walking around the beautiful, quiet and serene old Imperial city. Despite damage from wars, many parts have been restored, and it's now a Unesco World Heritage site. The atmosphere and surroundings/views just before sunset were magical 🌅

    In the evening, Vanessa had her first (well deserved) massage and we tried the traditional bún bò Hue (noodle soup) with a coconut snack from a street vendor as dessert 😊

    The day after, we rented a scooter and drove 40km east towards “An Bang Village” to see its unique cemetery, also called the City of Ghosts .
    The cemetery spans over 250 hectares and tombs there look like palaces or temples. They are covered with beautiful ceramic mosaics, and different kinds of motifs like dragons, phoenixes or lotus.
    Some tombs cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Those were mainly funded by Vietnamese who emigrated and send back money to their families in Vietnam to honor ancestors which is very important in Vietnamese culture.
    This was really impressive! It is hard to see through the pictures how beautiful and surreal this place is.

    On our way back, we had one more stop around Thuy Tien Lake, an abandoned water park that stopped operating 20 years ago. There was not much to see besides one massive dragon statue that dominates the park and appeared to be the main restaurant in the past 🐉

    We had a very nice time in Hue and could have definitely stayed a bit longer 😊    Læs mere

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  • Antoine et Vanessa SBSabbatical 2025Rejsende
    Welcome to Vietnam 🤩
    1Hoan Kiem LakeMum being happy about all the fruitCoffee time ☕Street art 🎨Sugar cane juiceOur tour with Hans 😊Temple of Literature1Egg coffee creations 😄🚂1Roof top bar 🤩1The water puppet show 💦

    Hanoi

    19.–24. apr., Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Hanoi was the next bigger city that we visited in Vietnam. It is Vietnam's capital and famous for the Old Quarter, the Hoam Kien Lake and its many cafes and restaurants. It's supposed to be smaller and more charming than Ho Chi Minh and it turned out to be true.

    Here, my mum and brother also decided to join us for 2 weeks to explore northern Vietnam 😊

    The first two days we spent a lot of time in the Old Quarter wandering the streets, looking at stores and we also visited the famous Hoam Kien Lake. We tried many different coffees and fruit shakes during the day and decided to join a free walking tour the next day to see more nice spots 😎
    Our tour guide "Hans" showed us many famous spots, we went to Dong Xuan market, we visited Hanoi's oldest house and learnt about some of Vietnamese culture. That day we decided to keep it cultural, so we finished the day visiting the temple of literature. It was built in 1070 in dedication of Confucius. It became Vietnam's first national university 🎓

    Vietnam, especially Hanoi, is famous for its coffee variations: egg coffee, coconut coffee, salt coffee or Vietnamese coffee. One morning my brother, Antoine and I decided to join a coffee course which turned out to be a lot of fun. Be ready to get some nice coffee served when you visit us 🤩☕

    In the evening, we enjoyed the famous water puppet show which depicts traditional Vietnamese life in the country. It was very nicely done and we enjoyed the play a lot 🎎💦

    The days in Hanoi went by quickly as we spent our time shopping, trying new restaurants, visiting the famous train street or exploring the French quarter 🛍️🚂    Læs mere

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  • Antoine et Vanessa SBSabbatical 2025Rejsende
    Our motorbikes 🏍️
    Let's go 😎Selfie time ✌️The views 😍Easyrider GangThe gang 😊💨1Boat ride 🛶Chasing waterfalls 💦Prepared for the rain ☔Game time 😊Exploring the village 🏔️

    Ha Giang Loop 🏍️

    24.–27. apr., Vietnam ⋅ 🌧 28 °C

    After the most comfortable 6 hours bus journey, our next adventure was the famous Ha Giang Loop. The Ha Giang Loop is a motorbike journey through northern Vietnam's rugged highlands. It provides an immersive experience into the region's natural beauty and cultural richness 🏍️
    We chose a 3 days / 2 nights tour, covering approximately 340 kilometers, which began and ended in Ha Giang City, and was traversing several villages and districts like Quan Ba, Yen Minh, Dong Van, and Meo Vac.

    We took the option “easy riders”, meaning having drivers driving us the whole time so we could enjoy the wonderful landscapes. All drivers and our tour guide (Kiss) were locals coming from the surrounding villages. Kiss had very good English, always a smile on and nice words or explanations 🤗

    The tour was a great mix of seeing breathtaking mountains, valleys, rivers and rice terraces, and visiting local families and villages to have an insight of the daily life in these rural areas ⛰️ It was very interesting to see how diverse northern Vietnam is, with various ethnic groups such as Dao, Tay, Hmong, and Kinh living very close to eachother.

    We were a group of 8 people, the 4 of us with 2 couples from Israel and we had a great time together during the day and in the evening while having dinner and some happy water (local schnaps) 🍽️

    The tour was wonderful and very special, but we were all happy to be back after 3 days of sitting on a motorbike as our buts were hurting a lot!! 🙈😂    Læs mere

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  • Antoine et Vanessa SBSabbatical 2025Rejsende
    Lan Ha Bay 💚🩵
    JUMP! 💦😎🚣🏼‍♂️"Goldkopflangure" - my mistakeFishing village 🐟🧡SunsetPart of the huge constructionHiking 🥾...and sweating!Reaching the peak 💪🥵Ice cream & banh mi time 😋Our cute hotel and the beautiful gardenSanté 🍻Hot pot

    Cat Ba & Lan Ha Bay

    28. apr.–2. maj, Vietnam ⋅ 🌧 26 °C

    Cat Ba Island was our next destination and we stayed there for 4 nights. The island is a gateway to the famous Ha Long Bay and its so-called little sister Lan Ha Bay with its beautiful karst islands and limestone outcrops 🏝️

    Our plan was to relax and enjoy some quiet time after the exciting Ha Giang Loop. We had a hotel with a beautiful garden close to Cat Ba National Park. In the evening you could sometimes spot goats climbing around 🐐

    Thanks to Instagram we learnt beforehand that there were huge constructions going on in Cat Ba Town (apparently they want to establish a sustainable, eco-tourism destination). When we arrived at Cat Ba Town we saw the immense construction side but luckily they stopped working for a week due to the 50th independence festivities. Lucky us 🤞🍀

    The first day was a pool day and we explored Cat Ba Town by night. We rested, enjoyed delicious food and my mum enjoyed the best massage (well deserved after riding on the scooter for three days 😄).

    The next day we decided to join a day tour to Lan Ha Bay. We chose this area instead of Ha Long Bay as it is supposed to be less busy but equally beautiful.
    The trip was amazing: we were a small group of people, there were hardly any boats with us and the landscape is just beautiful. We enjoyed the sun, swam in the Gulf of Tonkin, explored a beach and jumped off our boat ⛵💦 We also spend some time kayaking around the limestone karsts and even spotted the endangered golden-headed langur 🐒

    Since Cat Ba National Park was right around the corner, we decided to hike to the famous view point. It turned out to be a much harder hike than expected so when we reached the top, we were all sweaty and exhausted. After descending, we enjoyed a fresh coconut ⛰️🥥 and our pool for the rest of the day 😎

    After reading about the construction we were a bit worried about going to Cat Ba. It turned out to be super nice and we really enjoyed our time on the island. Besides the beautiful scenery, we also enjoyed our first seafood hot pot and delicious coconut ice cream 🍲🍧    Læs mere

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