BALI
Dec. 27-29 Sanur, Bali – Parigata resorts and spa. Great spot right off the Main Street. Lots of places to eat nearby. Nice pool. Short walk down a quiet road (no cars) to the beach. ($109 – 2 nights)
Dec. 29 – Jan 8 Gilli Air, Taman senang. Breakfast included. Middle of the Island so a bit of a walk either east or west to the beach. Good idea to rent a bike to get around on inside roads. Breakfast included. Can get a room off of a shared pool (3 rooms to share) or a little bungalow with a private pool (ie- clothing optional). We chose to spend first few days in shared area and latter days in private. Outdoor ensuite bathrooms. Amazing!!! ($1100 – 10 nights)
Jan. 8 – 11 Ubud. Suparsa’s HomeStay. Breakfast included. Quieter street really close to restaurants, shops, palace, market (now closed for restoration). Traditional house with guest rooms at the back, small pool, good shower (all in 1 room so keep toilet lid closed!). Super reasonably priced ($85 – 3 nights)
VIETNAM
Jan. 11-15 Ho Chi Minh City. The White Guest House. In District 1 in the centre of the backpackers area. Down a little alley super close to the crazy party street. The rooms are very clean, super quiet, nice shower, all-in-one bathroom, small space all around. The reception will book tours. Good price and good quality. $143 / 4 nights.
Jan. 15-18 Hoi An – Thanh Van 1 Hotel a nice, big room in a boutique style hotel. Had a pool in the middle but we didn’t use it. Right on the Main Street. Short walk to the waterfront area with all of the lanterns. $153 / 3 nights
Jan 18-22 Hanoi – Hanoi Siva Luxury Hotel and Travel. Big rooms, breakfast included, on the edge of the Old Quarter, pretty close to walk to lots of spots. We were there just before and just after Lunar New Year so prices elevated a little. $268 / 4 nights.
Jan 22-24 – Ha Long Bay – Unicharm Cruise with Vega Travel. Great cruise. Anchored in spots away from other boats so felt more authentic. Kayaking, hiking, biking. We felt 2 nights was best. All meals and activities included. Drinks extra plus tips. $800 / 2 nights.
Jan. 24-27 Hanoi – Hanoi Siva Luxury hotel and Travel. Breakfast included. $207 / 3 nights
THAILAND
Jan. 27-30 Chiang Mai – Awana House. Decent room. Bed fine. Not a great shower. Good location near Tapae Gate. $106 / 3 nights.
Jan 30-Feb 1 Pai. pai Princess Resort. Breakfast included. Across the river. Loved the location. Super confy bed, pillows, good shower. Concrete bungalow so was cool in the day but warm at night (got quite cold) $116 / 2 nights.
Feb. 1-4 Cave Lodge- North of Pai near Soppong (closest bus) and Lod Cave. A very quiet, out of the way lodge with a lot of adventure activities to book (caving and kayaking). Food is great! Bed was a little hard but not too bad (worse for Paul). Hot water between 5-10 pm. $476 total (3 nights, 3 adventure trips, food, drinks, tips, (accom $90 / 3 nights, $140 tours, $245 food, drinks, tips – we tipped quite generously..)
Feb 4-5 Chain Mai – Awana House $30 / 1 night
Feb 5-7 – Sukhothai. Pottery Street House. Breakfast included. One of the beat places (not fanciest), we’ve stayed. Comfy bed, super clean, good pillows, great shower (pressure and heat), super helpful host, did our laundry (for a fee), arranged drive to bus and asked her to make sure we were good to go with the bus before driving away. $83 / 2 nights
Feb. 7-8 Bangkok Niras Bankok Hostel – had stayed here 11 years ago. Cool vibe. Private rooms are in a building across the street. Still funky but jot as much flavour as the original building. Twin beds not very comfortable. Terrible pillows. Not a great shower but not terrible. Great location!!! $61 / 1 night.
Feb. 8-10 Hua Hin. Springfield Village Golf and Spa – Weekday deal for 2 nights, 2 golf rounds, 1 cart $340. Breakfast included. Additional charges for club rental, $100 collared shirt I had to buy 😣 food & drink et al.
Feb 10-11 Overnight bus to Krabi $104 –
Feb. 11-19 Koh Lanta, Klong Khong Beach Lanta Fa Rung Beach Resort – right on the beach, a bunch of small bungalows, rocks in front on this pretty quiet beach that are not super noticeable at high tide, a little break right in front of this place, husband (chilean) and wife (Thai). $850 / 8 nights
Feb. 19-20 near Krabi airport for early flight. Chalalai Hotel Krabi ( Ban Nua Khlong ). $39 / 1 night.
Bahrain
feb 20-21 overnight stay as part of airline layover – included in cost of airline ticket
Jordan
Feb. 21-23 Amman – Al Midan Hotel. Very close to the Roman Theatre and about a 5 minute walk into the downtown action. basic accommodation. Good breakfast. Comfortable enough all around. Nice view from the roof. The owner was very helpful and kind. Amman is very busy and hilly if you want to wander a bit and save on taxis, you’ll be walking up hills and stairs! $106 CAD for 2 nights (52 JD) + 25 JD for taxi from airport
Feb. 23-25 Beit al Barak. Umm Qais. Wonderful homestay run by a community organized tourism group. In Northwest corner of Jordan on Syrian, Israel, Jordan borders. They can organize tours and home cooked meals either at a member’s house or in the guesthouse, breakfast included – delicious and home cooking $302 (141 JD) 20 JD per dinner
Feb 25-27. Marriott Dead Sea. Super fancy!!!!
Feb 27-28 Tel Madaba – Madaba – very nice Family run hotel. The son speaks really good english and happy to give recommendations as to where to go for dinner or touring around. About a 10 minute walk to the main tourist sites and dinner locations. Good breakfast buffet selection included. Parking right out front. $63 (32 JD) / 1 night
Feb. 28 – March 1 Najem Farm – Rabbah (near Al Karak) in the middle of the fields. Near small town of Rabbah where there are a few cheap places to grab groceries and / or dinner. Pigeon coop out the back can be a little noisy. Cute, newer little bungalow with kitchen and decent shower (laundry too). $45 (23 JD) / 1 night
March 1 – 4 Petra Guests House – Petra – $235 (108JD) / 3 nights plus dinners and breakfasts were extra. Mohammed gives great advice on walking around Petra (makes a plan for you on the daily). We had a gorgeous sunset view over the city. Nice room comfy bed and pillows.
March 4-6 Star Trail Beduin Camp -Wadi Rum – $63 (33 JD) plus dinners (10 JD) lunches (7 JD) and jeep tour (67 JD). Perfect location where you can’t see any other camps. Picture window in the tent looking out over the desert and the closest mountain. Pretty thin mattress and HARD pillows – but you’re in Wadi Rum desert!!
March 6-9 (Marriott connected) Al Manara Resort – used points so price not included.
March 9-10 Faraseen apartments. 1 night $76 (32JD). super close to the Queen Alia airport. Flight leaves at 5 am so will be there for a short rest before flying out.
Morocco March 10 – 26 – bus tour from March 12-26 organized by Intrepid Tours. Total cost of tour including all breakfasts and accommodation and tours $3373.50
Portugal March 26 – April 15
March 26 – April 1 – Lisbon – Alfama Blue House – Green Apartment- $854.00 It was a wee tiny apartment with very steep stairs, typical of the Alfama area when you’re in an old building. Maggie the host was SUPER attentive and helpful. There was a little courtyard below to have wine and appies. We loved it!
April 1 – 5 Lagos – booked by Madeleine thru airbnb. We had a great 2 bedroom rooftop apartment close to the central square. Loved it!!
April 5-9 Porto – Air bnb – $1107 – 5th floor, 2 bedroom apartment with nice view right across from balhoa market. A 15 min walk to the river front area but close to main square et al. Worked our great.
April 9-15 camino de Santiago bike journey on Portuguese camino central organized by the natural way through $3166 (bikes, route support if needed, accommodation including breakfasts)
April 9 – Barcelos – Hotel Bagoera
April 10 – Ponte de Lima – Hotel Imperio de norte
April 11 – Valença – Hotel Lara (last day in Portugal)
Spain April 12-19
April 12 – Pontevedra – Hotel Avenida
April 13 – Padron – Casa Antiga do Monte
April 14 – santiago de compestela – Hotel Gelmirez
April 15 Madrid – $190.00 – air BnB – a room in Eduardo’s house with his dog Mr. Bubba. the room and patio space were very nice. The dog was sweet. Sharing a bathroom was interesting as Eduardo fell asleep in the bathroom and when Paul went to go at 7 am bathroom was locked and he could hear snoring. Ended up fine and just a good story now but not a great situation at the time!
April 16 – 19 Madrid – Airbnb Emmanuel’s apartment – $361.00 – great location (10 Valverde). Small little room with kitchen double bed, couch and table and big bathroom. Worked out very well!
France April 19- May 31
April 19- May 31 – Paris Airbnb 27 Rue St. Jacques – Marianne and Stephane. $4049.00 ($96/night). We just loved our little place in the Latin Quarter (5th). It had a bed that we raised and lowered each day, it was roomy and super comfortable. May have gotten quite hot in the summer so our timing was perfect. Close to the Seine and Notre Dame, almost daily walks in jardin de Luxembourg. Fabulous boulangerie nearby.
May 31 – June 2 – Athens – Spot Apart –
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