Off the beaten track in Thailand: Khao Sok National Park

If there’s one MUST SEE place in Thailand, that’s Khao Sok National Park. It’s the place to be if you wanna get away from the hordes of tourists and enjoy some breathtaking scenery.

Located in southern Thailand in Surat Thani province, this massive national park is 739 square kilometers, including the stunning Cheow Lan Lake, which sprawls in the middle of the park. Huge karst mountains rise from the water, some reaching over 900m.

In order to enjoy a full experience, we’ve booked a 2 days trip with an overnight stay at the floating bungalows on the lake.

Being over 160 million years old, the evergreen rainforest here is one of the oldest in the world, some saying that the biodiversity here exceeds that of the Amazon. I can tell you for sure that I felt like in a David Attenborough episode of Planet Earth while going with the boat around the jungle, to observe birds or playful gibbons jumping from the high branches making long, Tarzan-like swings through the trees. What a show!

It’s here that I saw one of the most stunning sunsets and sunrises in my life.

Another experience to remember was the Nam Taloo cave. In order to reach the cave, we did a 2h trekking inside the jungle. Amazing experience! Since you get to hear all kind of noises of birds and animals. But the real adventure begun once we’ve reached the cave. Apart the unique stalactites and stalagmites there, we had to watch out where we were stepping cause it was full of spiders and bats. Also, what makes this cave adventurous is the fact that from time to time, there are very narrow passages or parts where you need to swim in order to move forward.

Yes, Thailand is not just luxuriant islands: it is also home to one of the most amazing ecosystem on Earth. Do put Khao Sok Park on your bucket list!

Mesmerizing Bangkok

Bangkok is the kind of city that makes your head spin. From street food at literary every corner of the street to luxurious restaurants, from the tuk tuks honking to the quietness of Lumpini Park, from huge street markets to impressive shopping malls, from the ugliness of the street wires to the jaw-dropping architecture of the temples, Bangkok has it all.

For a foodie like me, walking on the streets of Bangkok was a mesmerizing experience for my senses. The aroma of frying meat and the smell of the countless spices used in the Thai kitchen are switching on your appetite right away. The colors of the various dishes are also very attractive and make you hesitate on what to try first.

Apart street food, a unique experience in Bangkok was the dinner at “Cabbages and Condoms” an unconventional restaurant where all the decoration is made out of condoms and all kind of posters trying to raise the awareness about the importance of protected sex. The initiator of this restaurant named it like this because he wanted condoms to be as easy to find as cabbage is. Therefore he created this unique space where sex-related topics are not a taboo anymore. After having dinner here and paying your bill, you get condoms for free.

Also, a must-do experience in Bangkok is trying one of the countless roof-top bars that can be found in the skyscrapers around the city. We’ve been to The Marble Bar. The infinity pool and the view from the 28th floor of the hotel was simply breathtaking.

Apart being a foodie city, Bangkok is also a holy city. Temples can be found all around the city. But the most impressive ones are along the banks of the Chao Phraya river. From the Grand Palace to Wat Pho or Wat Arun, you can admire the countless shapes of Buddhas, the most impressive one being the Reclining Buddha, a 46m long and 15m high statue, all covered in gold.

For me, the most impressive of the temples was Wat Suthat, one of the oldest temples in Bangkok. We visited it at night, during a procession and I was impressed by a white net hanging over the courtyard of the temple, with knots hanging from it. After doing my reading I got to understand that in Buddhism, the endless knot symbolizes the endless cycle of birth and death, of wisdom and compassion

What makes the temples even more beautiful are the colorful flowers brought as an offering to Buddha. The most peculiar flower is the lotus flower which is the symbol of fortune in Buddhism. If you want to awake your senses even more, visit one of the flower market to admire floral arrangements, from simple to very elaborate ones.

And because Bangkok is a city that never sleeps, you should definitely end your day by trying the vibrant night life. A light, touristic option is Khao San Road the so called back-packers street, full of bars and nightclubs.

If you want to dive into the more dark part of Bangkok, stroll around the Red Light districts of Soy Cowboy, Patpong or Nana Plazza. It’s here that you will get to understand why Thailand is known to be an attractive sex tourism destination. Here, you can enter in one of the go-go bars where striptease shows are performed, as well as impressive lady-boys shows.

It’s chaotic, it’s busy, it has it all: it’s Bangkok!

Mi Habana

Havana is a captivating city with a twist, as the history of Cuba is. Every street has a story to tell. There’s on one side the grandeur of the colonial houses or mansions of the rich people living here in the 50’s, and on the other, the decadence of a city in crumbles.

Habana Vieja, the colonial citadel, a UNESCO heritage site, has been recently restaured and it gives you a glimpse of the colonial past of the city. Stroll around the streets and admire the numerous squares such as Plaza Vieja or Plaza de la Catedral.

A great viewpoint is the 35m tower in Plaza Vieja which hosts the Camera Obscura, an optical device invented by Leonardo da Vinci, which gives you a 360° view of the surroundings.

While walking the streets of Havana you will for sure notice the Art Deco Bacardi building which is a whitness of Cuba’s history related to sugar cane plantations and rum production.

El Callejon de Hamel is quiete an insolite street of Havana where you can admire colorful murals and sculptures made of everyday life objects. It’s a mix of surrealism, cubism and abstract art around themes related to Santerria, an Afro-Cuban religion quite spread in Cuba. The main artist putting in place this project is Salvador who is really appreciated around since he managed to transform a rather obscure part of Havana in an attraction for tourists.

The street is also the gathering place of rumba dancers, every Sunday afternoon.

After you finished strolling the streets in Havana Vieja you should not miss a walk on Malecón at sunset. This waterfront esplanade 8km long is an emblematic place of city. Although the road is quite busy with traffic going up and down the street, Malecon is the place where many Cubans enjoy coming. At sunset you can see lovers embracing, fisherman or people just gazing at the see.

Along Malecon you can also see some well-known buildings such as Hotel National, a famous gathering place of gangsters from the 50’s, when Havana was named the Las Vegas of the Carraibeans, the Sin City of Americans flewing the prohibition.

A trip to Cuba would not be complete without seeing Plaza de la Revolution, an iconic place in Havana, one of the largest squares in the world (when the pope Jean Paul II visited Cuba, a million Cubans gathered there). It’s where you can admire the giant mural of Cuba’s revolutionary hero Che Guevara. Below, you can see his most famous utterance “Hasta La Victoria Siempre.”. Later on, in 2009, a portrait of Camillo Cienfuegos, was added in the nearby building. On the opposite side, a memorial of Jose Marti, the revolutionary liberating the Cubans from the Spanish colonizers, another national symbol.

Fabrica de Arte Cubano is the place to be in Havana. A buzzy creative hub in Vedado that is really worth visiting since you can see in one place exibitions, concerts, dance performances, theather etc. We went there 2 nights because we found the place fascinating.

If you are a fan of Gaudi then one place you should not miss in Havana is Fusterlandia: half an hour away by bus, Jaimanitas neighbourhood has been completely transformed by the Cuban artist Jose Fuster into a very colorful one where you can admire “naïve” mosaics on various themes.

Cementerio de Cristóbal Colón is the Père-Lachaise of Havana. Designed by a Galitian architect it is a huge grid streets. Impressive mausoleums and chapels from Renaissance to Art Deco style can be admired there. This is the burial site of many remarkable artists, but the main reason why I went there was to see the tomb of Ibrahim Ferrer from Buena Vista Social Club.

Cuba, Viñales – the tobacco paradise

Less than 3h away from Havana lies the Viñales Valley, a very spectacular landscape where as far as you can see there are green tobacco plantations on red ground and, from place to place, pop-up rounded, tower-like, steep-sided limestone hills called mogote.

The tour in Viñales started directly with a visit to a tobacco plantation.

The tobacco used for the cigars goes through quite an elaborated and fastidious process before becoming the famous Cuban cigars.

The tiny little seeds of tobacco are pre-planted in a special place, until they germinate. Then, each little plant is put into the ground one by one.

Once the tobacco is ready to be picked-up, the leaves are picked separately, according to the layers they belong to: the first layer, the most exposed to the sun is the strongest. Then follows the middle layer and then the down one, the weakest.

After being picked-up, the leaves are hanged into a special place, with very good ventilation, to dry. Once the leaves are dried, they are put to macerate so that they can be manually folded afterwards. After maceration, the central root of the leaves is taken away because it’s the part of the leave where nicotine is concentrated.

Each cigar contains 5 leaves of tobacco and are manually folded and rolled. The most famous cigars were named after classical novels (Romeo and Juliet, Monte Cristo) because in the cigar factories, there is a person who reads with a loud voice novels, to keep the mind of the people who are rolling 8h/day cigars, occupied.

The producer of tobacco are obliged to sell 80% of their production to the state, for a derisory price compared to the work needed to cultivate and harvest the tobacco. The rest of 20%, they make themselves cigars and they sell them to tourists who visit their farm at a price under the price of original cigars, but way better than what the state pays them. Of course, we couldn’t leave the plantation without buying some cigars: after some negotiation, I payed 25CUC for 10 cigars.

The landscape around us was so unique and beautiful, that we started to explore it right after settling down in our casa. The first trekking tour we did was from the village, up to the Los Jasmines Hotel where there are various miradores (belvedere points). This is where we enjoyed a Pina Colada and admired the sunset, everything on the rhythms of an amazing salsa group which was heating up the atmosphere.

The second day in Viñales we decided to walk around the valley by our own. Even if everybody tries to sell you a tour around, no need for a guide. We had Maps.me and it was really easy to find our way by our own. We made a tour including Cueva de la Vaca, Muro de la Prehistoria and Los Aquaticos.

At the entrance of Cueva de la Vaca there was a climbing wall where some people were climbing the mogote. In Cueva de La Vaca, you can literally pass through the cave and get on the other side where the path continues through the valley.

Next stop in our hike was El Muro de la Prehistoria which, in my opinion is an ugly painting covering a huge climbing wall.

After this, we headed to Los Aquaticos, a family living quite isolated, on one of the mogotes. They are called Los Aquaticos because they never take pills. Instead, they heal all the illnesses they have with water from the river passing behind their house. When we reached their house, only the mother of the family was at home, unpeelling some coconuts in order to prepare a cake. We have drunk a mango juice, chatted a bit with the lady and enjoyed the amazing view over the valley.

Although horse-riding is very popular in Viñales, the 3rd day, we decided to rent some bikes and go around cycling.

The highlights of the day was El Vale del Silencio, with beautiful views, Cueva del Indio and Cueva del Palmarito.

Viñales was, by far, my favourite place in Cuba. The green of the tobacco fields, the red of the ground and the amazing mogotes, together with the relaxing atmosphere of the village, made it a perfect stay.

People of Cuba

The main reason why I travel is to meet people from all the corners of the world. Through the interactions with them, I get to understand different aspects of their country, culture and way of life.

“When we have a problem, we turn on the music and we dance. No need for therapy.” This is what Carlos, a guy I met in Calejon de Hamel in Havana, told me. I think this is something emblematic for Cubans: music is their life. There’s music at every corner of the street. If I were to associate Cuba with a sound, that would be the sound of maracas, the instrument present in every group of Cuban music.

And together with music, of course, comes the dance. The way they move on the Afro-Cuban rhythms is crazy. And you cannot stay aside. There will always be a Cubano who will invite you dance and, even if you have no idea how to do it, they will make you dance.

Most of the life in Cuba takes place on the street. It’s as if the street is part of the Cubans house. You will always see them on the steps of the entrance, talking with their neighbors, greeting passers-by or hitting on the girls. “Hola chica! Que tal?” it’s what you’ll constantly hear while walking on the street.

“Sepollia!Pan!Dulce” it’s also part of the sounds you very often hear from the people selling things on their 2 wheels shops.

Queuing is also one very peculiar thing is Cuba. If you see an empty shop and many people queuing it means that in a while, a truck with rice, bread or beans will come and people will be able to buy their ratio of food. Every Cuban has a “green book” that they can use to buy those basic products representing their monthly ratio of food.

One thing that strucks you as a traveler coming from the Western world is that there are very few shops and that most of them are empty. I was wondering where do they buy their clothes until I came across a market where people who have relatives leaving abroad are selling clothes at very big prices. This “illegal” commerce has been legalized by the government because they realize it’s a good source of money.

Tourism is the main industry in the nowadays Cuba and many jobs related to it have been liberalized. Any Cuban can open a casa particular (a kind of Airbnb), a palabar (local restaurant) or make a taxi business. Those services are not cheap, which means that people are earning quite some money out of it. The problem is that even if they have the means to buy things, they have nowhere where they can do it, except the black market.

Even though in the bookshops you can only find books about Fidel and Che, Cuban people are very educated ones, Cuba being no 1 in terms of alphabetization (99,7%), thanks to the measures taken by Fidel right after the revolution (free education and health to all the citizens). Educated people is one of the goods Cuba is exporting, a well-known example being the exchange between Cuba and Venezuela: doctors in exchange of petrol.

The access to the Internet is still a luxury. You pay 1CUC/hour and you need to go in search of the few spots in the towns where there’s wi-fi. Despite this, Cubans are updated with the latest news in terms of music and movies because weekly, they buy a USB key which contains the latest episodes of their favorite series or the latest album of their favorite singer. The complete package of such precious information costs 10CUC, while the salary of a Cuban is around 20-30CUC.

Despite the fact that religion was forbidden during the Fidel era, Cubanos are strong believers. Apart the Catholicism imposed by the Spanish colonists, a very popular religion in Cuba is Santeria or Yoruba, a religion from Nigeria, with gods having equivalents in the saints of Catholicism.

Another aspect which stroke me right from the moment I landed in Cuba was the way the girls dress. In the airport, the police girls were wearing super short skirts and very stretched t-shirts. “Our only freedom in Cuba is out own body” it’s what a girl I spoke with told me. And you can definitely see this freedom manifested in the way they dance and dress.

While walking on the streets of Havana and Ciengfuegos, I saw many young girls wearing fancy dresses and participating in photo-shooting. I was told that this is a present received by all the girls turning 15 years old: fiesta de quince.

Los Cubanos are fascinating people, with charming smiles and very joyful. Go get to know them! We, Westerners, definitely have some lessons to learn from them.

Milos, Greece

Milos, together with Mykonos and Santorini, are the most famous among the Cycladic islands. You would, definitely, not want to go there in full season when thousands of tourists are invading them and the prices are 5 times bigger.

But, if you go off season, like I did, for the 1^st of May, there are high chances to enjoy the peace and quite of an island and to admire the beauty that made them so famous.

The main harbor in Milos is Adamas, where, I arrived from Athens, after 3h by boat. Being hungry, I rushed into one of the tavernas on the promenade and ordered the dish of the day. The waiter had to go ask his mother what did she cook for that day: delicious rooster meat cooked with vegetables and tomato sauce!!!yaaamy!

Hunger problem solved, I then, needed to find accommodation. So, I headed to the kafenion, the tipical Greek coffee shop, where the old people of the town gather to enjoy a Greek coffee (always say Greek and not Turkish coffee if you want not to make some enemies right away), gossip and play tavli (backgammon). I greeted them and ask them where I could find some cheap and nice room to stay. After a public debate on who’s open at that time of the year and whom they should advise me to go to, one of them said he would take me to one of his friend’s who has a family hotel. Great place, with very welcoming people. I knew that the old guys from the kafenion are better than any Tripadvisor reviews!!!

After few minutes of walking and exploring Adamantas, I went to a place to rent a bike. The guy there, tried to persuade me that a bicycle is not such a good idea, since the island is quite hilly, but, no chance. The furthest village was 10km away so, I told him that even if I do pushbike I will still be able to go there and back. So, after spending half an hour chatting and taking some hints on what to do and what to see, I’ve rented the bike and started my exploration.

Right from the first minutes of pedaling, I congratulated myself on not giving up my plan and resisting to the rent-a-bike guy’s arguments: cycling is pure joy, especially on an island, off season!!!

First destination: Plaka, the hora of the island (main village), situated on a hill, with a kastro (citadel) on top, giving you a 360° view over the whole island.

And, since the motto when being on an island is “no day without a swim”, I went to the famous Sarakiniko, where white rocks end into crystal clear waters and where the landscape is simply breathtaking.

Next day, I went to Klima, a fishermen village, with houses and “syrmata”, boat garages, painted with very vivid colors. There were only few locals there, re-painting the houses, cause, apparently, after every winter, some reparations are done, since the waves strike the houses and cause damages. There is only one bar over there, but was closed, and because I run out of water, I have asked one of the local painting his door for some, and he gave me a bottle of cold water from the fridge! Life-saving gesture, for a thirsty biker like me, who had to push the bike up for 1-2km, since the slope was way too big to make it cycling.

A must do when in Milos, is a boat trip around the wild part of the island, where, due to the volcanic origin, some amazing rocks are popping out of the water, making Milos a paradise for geologist or simple travelers like me, who cannot stop being amazed by what the nature created. The most famous among those rocky faleses, is Kleftiko, a place where giant white rocks are surrounded by emerald waters.

In my last day on the island, I went to Pollonia, the other big village of the island, which, I think it’s also the most beautiful one, better than Plaka or Adamas.

On the way there, I have checked some more beautiful beaches and rocky shores and I enjoyed a great lunch in the company of the waiter of a tavern, who, after finishing serving the other 3 people there, came and sat down at the table and chatted with me for about an hour about how much he enjoys the island and how nice is off season, when very few tourists are coming and he can afford himself interacting with them more.

Since I enjoyed so much Pollonia, I got back to Adamas when the sun set and took some amazing pictures from different belvedere points.

After this trip, Milos, is, definetly on my top 3 favourite islands in Greece.

Malta

Whenever the idea of traveling somewhere comes to my mind, I always ask myself: “What do I know about this place?” The things I knew about Malta were: The Knights of St. John that I was learning about in the history lesson, that they have a weird language, that they are a fiscal paradise and that the shipping industry is big there.

So, mixing historical places to visit and nice beaches in the midlle of the Mediteranean looked like good premises for a nice 1 week escapade.

The reality, was slightly differrent, though.

My initial plan was to rent a bike and cycle the island, since, its only 40km long and 10 large. Well, despite this, going by car, from on side to the other would take around 2h because of the traffic jams. I was told that Malta has about 1,5 cars/inhabitant, so, you would definetly not want to jalonate between this hell of a traffic. Moreover, there is barely a green belt to see, here and there, because of the extreme urbanisation.

So, reconfiguration of plans: let’s try the public transportation, since, with 21 euros a week, you can use all the buses getting you in, basically, every corner of the island. Bad idea! It takes ages to move from here to there because of the numerous stops they do and the already mentioned traffic.

The first thing to visit, was, of course, Valletta, where I’ve joined a free walking tour to get some more insights about the city’s history. Everything in Valletta is about the Knights of St. John. After being conquered by the Ottomans in the island of Rhodes, their former headquarter,the knights have settled in Malta in the 16th century and have build imposing citadels and churches, first in the 3 cities, on the other side of the nowadays Valletta, then, after the Great Siege of Malta, in Valletta itself.

The Knights of St. John were nobles coming from all over Europe and advertising themselves in front of the Pope as the defenders of Christianity. The Maltese cross you can see on the flag, with 8 corners, represent the eight lands of origin, or Langues of the Knights: Auvergne, Provence, France, Aragon, Castille and Portugal, Italy, Germany, and the British Isles. The co-cathedral in Valletta is devised in 8 main parts were the head-masters of the order were buried. The co-cathedral worth a visit, since it’s a quite impressive example of the Baroque and hosts 2 amazing Caravaggio paintings: Saint Jerome Writing and Beheading of St. John the Baptist.

My favourite spot in Valetta was the garden with a view over the harbor. There you can understand why Malta is an atractive destination when it comes to the film industry. Many movies were shooted here, including the famous Game of Thrones.

The entrance to the city consists of the Parliament House designed by Renzo Piano. Also, you can find, around the city, strange sculptures depecting maltese proverbs.

But, the real emblem of the city are the so called “galerias”, collorfull wooden balconies that can be found all over Valetta. It is said that they were first introduced in the architecture of the city by one of the grand masters of Valetta, Pinto, who was a very proud of himself kind of man and who used to hang paintings and sculptures of himself in those balconies, so that the population can admire him.

This year, Valetta is the European Capital of Culture, so, I did not miss the oportunity to go to one of the events. It was a contemporary maltese opera, on the topic of refugees. Very nice performance and a great oportunity to hear this strange language of theirs: the maltese, a strange mix of Arabic with Italian, written with Latin alphabet.

Apart the language, I expected much more Arabic influences, since, before the Knights of St. John, the island was under Arabic occupation and, since, they are not very far away from the Arabic countries in the north of the African continent. But, no, Malta is very much a western country.

Speaking of languages, although Malta has 2 official languages: English (since they use to be a British colony) and Maltese, and although all over Malta you can see Language Schools specialized in teaching English to foreigners, the Maltese people don’t speak such a good English. They seemed rather eager to speak Italian than English.

Because Sicily is around 150km far from Malta, Italian influences can be felt all over, especially in the cuisine. You can eat Pizza, Pasta and Gelato, as if you were in Italy. So, food-wise, Malta is very nice! Their traditional thing is a delicious ring-shaped bread called Jtira. I made friends with the guy from the kiosk in the corner of the street who was preparing me a delicious sandwich filled with whatever I wanted from the ingredients he was selling in his shop.

But my biggest disappointment were the beaches in Malta: they are not very many, and the few of them are mostly rocky ones and extremely crowded. I’ve been to the famous Blue Lagoon, in Comino, which is said to be the most beautiful beach in Malta, which, indeed is beautiful, but, which I could not really enjoy because of the crowds of tourists and tens of boats. Probably, locals have their own spots were they go to enjoy the blue, clear waters around Malta. I also gave it a try for the St. Peter’s pool, but, again: no chances to get rid of the hundreds of tourists around. Luckily, I met a Belgium who found out from a local that 1km away from St. Peter’s Pool, there’s an even better beach, quite similar with the famous one. And indeed, I can say that was the only day when I actually enjoyed the sea in Malta.

Other very nice places that I have visited are:

– Mdina, the ancient capital of Malta, a medieval citadel, with charming narrow streets and stony buildings.

– Marsaxlokk, a fishermen village, in the south, with a nice promenade and amazing sea-food.

– Zurrieq, a small village that I saw during a religious festa, very decorated for St. Catherine’s celebration

– The Blue Grotto, were I had a tour by boat in the small caves full with turquoise waters

– Gozo, the other small island belonging to Malta, with a charming little harbor and a nice citadel in Victoria, the main city on the island

And because my souvenir, when I travel, is a book written by a local, I was searching for “In the Name of the Father (and the Son)” by Immanuel Mifsud, which is said to be the best contemporary Maltese writer, but unfortunately, I could not find it in none of the bookshops in Valetta. So, guess what I got instead: a Corto Maltese comic book!!! Hugo Pratt’s hero is an emblematic character of the island and was to be celebrated through a mise-en-scene of an opera performance based on one of the first volumes: Ballad of the Salt Sea.