THE TRAIN TOOK US TO WILD MALAYSIA…TO PENANG AND HISTORIC GEORGE TOWN ON PENANG ISLAND

Our Malaysian adventure continues with a stop at the Taman Negara National Park. Children from a nearby school serenaded us. We were so lucky to experience this! We travelled on pickup trucks to start the ride to the park. What seatbelts??? The “Tree Top Walk” took us high…

AN AMAZING EXCURSION ON THE BELMOND EASTERN & ORIENT EXPRESS THROUGH THE JUNGLES OF MALAYSIA

Having a 3-night Belmond train excursion as a component of our AHI “Treasures of Southeast Asia” trip was a giant bonus and something I always wanted to do! Of course I was a huge fan of Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express.&#8221…

A VERY SPECIAL VISIT TO A PRIVATE HOME AND MUSEUM OF SINGAPORE PERANAKAN CULTURE.

Our guides told us they had a nice surprise for us. We were visiting a private Singapore home and museum dedicated to “Peranakan” culture. I knew the term, but really didn’t have a grasp of the history . The video below gives a fascinating overview of this…

OUR SOUTHEAST ASIA ADVENTURE BEGINS IN…SINGAPORE

Our travel adventure plans began a few years ago with the receipt of a brochure from our college alumni organization advertising a trip to Egypt and Jordan. Our daughter Lisa and husband Ray planned on joining us as well. Due to continuing wars in the region the trip was cancelled…

PEACOCKS, 5 FOOT MONITOR LIZARDS, ANCIENT TEMPLES, TEA PLANTATIONS, A DANCING DEVIL… AND DELICIOUS REGIONAL CUISINE. SRI LANKA HAS THIS AND MUCH MORE. “OH, DID I MENTION…I TOOK A HARD FALL ON MY BIKE”.

We were transported to beautiful Kandy House boutique hotel after a 2 hour drive from Water Garden Sigirya.  In 1804, the last Chief Minister of the Kandyan kingdom built a palatial villa with local, moorish and dutch styles in the beautiful countryside near the former capital. 200 years later…

THE DAMBULLA CAVE TEMPLE WAS MY FAVORITE PLACE I VISITED ON MY FEBRUARY SRI LANKA BIKE TOUR

The Dambulla Cave Temple was a place I always wanted to visit but it was not on our bike tour itinerary. Our guide Peter made it happen for three of us who were interested. We were still exhausted from climbing Sigiriya’s 1250 steps before lunch so the 400…

I REALLY HATE HEIGHTS BUT I WAS COMPELLED TO CLIMB THE 1250 STEPS TO THE ANCIENT SIGIRIYA LION ROCK FORTRESS IN SRI LANKA

We took the van to our next luxury resort, Water Garden Sigiriya. Beautiful water features and pathways in the resort. Sigiriya Lion Rock looms very large in the background of our resort. It is an ancient rock fortress known for its massive column of rock that reaches nearly 650 feet…

AN ADVENTURE LIKE NOTHING BEFORE…COME ALONG ON MY EXCITING CYCLING TRIP TO AMAZING SRI LANKA.

My good friend Tom is the consummate adventurer completing over 90 cycling, multi-adventure, and walking tours on all seven continents. He sends out his trip itineraries over a year in advance. I saw he had reserved a Butterfield & Robinson Sri Lanka bike tour with good friend Jennie, and…

A CYCLING ADVENTURE IN SWITZERLAND…BEAUTIFUL COWS, CHEESE, AND EVEN SOME SNOW! A CHILLY BUT FUN WEEK RIDING WITH FRIENDS!

Mid-September’s Butterfield & Robinson bike tour in Switzerland was the last segment of a fabulous jam-packed 7 weeks in Europe. I flew into Lausanne on the banks of Lake Geneva on the eve of our bike trip and explored the city. Lausanne is in the French…

A VISIT TO THE INCREDIBLE VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM IN LONDON

London’s Victoria & Albert Museum never fails to amaze! The museum has the world’s largest collection of applied arts, decorative arts, and design with over 2.8 million objects in the permanent collection. This has always been one of my very favorite museums in the world…