Becky and I always talk big about writing up our travel recs. Well...look, I started!
AfricaI've sadly only ever been to a small portion of South Africa. That's a lot of continent left to explore, yo! South AfricaMy "must" list for the Capetown area: - Kirstenbosch National Botanic Garden: http://www.sanbi.org/frames/kirstfram.htm
- Cablecar ride to the top of Table Mountain, and then a hike around the mountain
- Dinner at Moyo: http://www.moyo.co.za/
- Boulders Beach: walk right up to African penguins; you could even swim in the water with them!
- Robben Island Tour: http://www.robben-island.org.za/
- a note on this...your experience at Robben Island very much depends on your tour guide. Some people who go are like "eh, it's a prison, the guide was boring, it was like he was reading the guidebook verbatim." For us, it was TRANSFORMATIONAL. We had a former prisoner as our guide, and he told personal stories, historical and political contexts, passions and poetry, and vibrant descriptions of life in and out of the prison. I could spend a whole afternoon talking about what I learned from this man. So I definitely recommend going, even if your guide may be hit or miss. Because it could be the hit of a lifetime.
- A tour of a township (shantytown/slum -- how most indigenous SA natives live); we went to Khayelitsha -- you'll probably go with a tour group; it's important to find a tour company that is owned and run by Africans. If I can find the name of the company we went with, I'll add it.
A note: Capetown can be very very windy. Not cold, just windy. A light windbreaker with a hood is a great accessory.
In other parts of South Africa: - If you like wineries, small towns, and nature walks: rent a car and drive The Garden Route.
- In particular, we visited Oudtshoorn, 'cause that's where Ben's grandma is from. It used to be the ostrich capital of the world, and you can still visit ostrich farms...which is SO WORTH IT to see adorable baby ostriches!
- Moessel Baai is also a beautiful beach town with funky rock formations to play in. I think the Moesselbaai lighthouse is where benjie's grandpa proposed to his grandma. =^)
- Cape Point: windy but stunning! The southernmost tip of Africa, complete with baboons wandering around. We even saw zebra.
- Knysa Heads offers lovely hiking opportunities along the coastline
- Cango Caves: very fun spelunking, if you want a break from gorgeous scenery and amazing beaches. ;^)
Asia...eating. That is what I recommend...
BeijingNo matter if you are going for work or for fun, make sure you have a map in Chinese of where your hotel is -- you can print one out from the hotel's website. That's the only way to tell a taxi driver at the airport where to take you, unless you speak chinese or a chinese-speaker is meeting you at the airport. They don't really use addresses, taxi drivers just know landmarks and some street names!
Also, this website is SO USEFUL: you put in an English address, and it can text it to you in Chinese. That way you can just show the phone to a taxi driver and it all works. MAGIC. Must-Dos:- HouHai lake in the evening for outdoor ballroom dancing! We went twice, soooo much fun.
- Visit the Olympic Stadium & Water Cube, preferrably around sunset. Sunset is best because you get to see the buildings light up. Better get there before the whole thing sinks into the ground...
Favorite restaurants:Xian Lao Man - The best jiao zi (dumplings) I've ever had. Especially the eggplant/meat ones (I think it was eggplant/pork).
- http://www.mobilenative.com/record.php?poi_id=9p3qwnac6E0%3D
- it's hard for taxi-drivers to find, 'cause it's around on the side of the "Hua Zun Mansion" (condo building) and you can't see it from the street.
- We had to have our taxi driver call the restaurant to get specific directions.
- It's also close to a Line 10 subway stop (jiandemen), if you don't mind a bit of a walk.
- HUGE MENU of dumplings to choose from; they don't speak any english but they have an english menu if you ask for it.
Hi De Lao hot pot Ma La Xiang Guo -- Experience sichuan-style mouth-numbing yummyness at its finest! There's one in the mall at the second-to-last (southern) subway station on the Blue line...have a chinese-speaking co-worker look it up for you and/or take you there. Great for small groups (4 - 6 range) and SO YUMS. I haven't seen this style of cooking/serving in the US, so I really enjoyed the "differentness." If you don't like spicy at all, though, don't bother. =^)
Additionally, if you want to try the famous Roast Duck meal, QuanJude is the best place. Seriously. I tried a couple. It's not cheap, but it is much much better than the ones in the more touristy areas.
But overall, Chinese food has HUGE variety, much more so in Beijing than basically anywhere else. So try not to eat western food -- just try something new and Chinese every time!
Australia...oh gawd it'll take a solid month just to write up stuff for this continent alone... Sydney Our favorite restaurants in Sydney are handily compiled in our travel blog: http://lavendrome.net/blog/?p=29 (oh how I wish I could go to gelato messina right now!) Here's a place-holder writeup on visiting Sydney that I will someday fill out and make more organized.
Central & South America...Ecuador & Belize favorites coming someday...
EuropeI really don't have much to offer, here. Other than The Sedlec Ossuary in Kutna Hora (Czech Republic) and eating veggie soup in as many Irish pubs as you can...
North America...maybe I should list LA and hawaii separately... |
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