What is your favorite view? activity? meal?
Favorite View(s) – the sunsets we were lucky enough to score on a nightly basis while in Laban Bajo, Indonesia were nothing short of spectacular. The view from the top of Mount Ijen volcano is something I will never forget, had I not already written about it here, it might have been the answer to the ‘freeze one moment of time’ question.
Favorite Activity – We spent a handful of mornings in Chiang Mai waking up before sunrise then riding our bikes to early morning markets. A simple and routine part of everyday life in this nook of the world, but it is something that I would recommend all my friends and family back home try and witness at least once their life.
Favorite Meal – We befriended an Indian immigrant working at our guesthouse in Kuala Lumpur who took us to a hole-in-the-wall Pakistani restaurant where we had food to die for. I don’t know what it was, but it was gushing with flavors, herbs and spices.
Favorite Place to Wake Up – Ubud, Bali. Our room was on the second story just overlooking the blooming, emerald-green rice paddies. We stayed there for a month and every morning we woke up, there was a thermos full of coffee ready and waiting outside our door. Every morning we’d sit and watch the elderly man, who was knee-deep in water, work the rice fields as the early morning’s birds sang and danced.
Favorite Place to Sleep – Our apartment in Chiang Mai. Big, comfortable bed (not two twin beds pushed together, something we’ve become far too accustomed to). Singing birds and shrills from the school kids were often the soundtrack playing while we drank our morning coffee and took in the scenic mountain outside our wall of windows.
Favorite People – SE Asia has some of the world’s friendliest smiles. Thailand’s second name is, “The Land of Smiles”, but nowhere have we both been as impressed with the people, and the genuine amount of smiles generated while simply walking down the street, as while we were in Burma. Although we made the journey there on four different occasions, we were only within the borders of Burma for short periods of time, hours to be exact. As this is the country we’d cross into once our Thai visas had expired. But, they were so unbelievably friendly, excited and grateful to have us two Westerners roaming around, that it left us both with an overwhelming desire to return. Note: We had penciled in spending a month in Burma following Nepal, but the monsoons have had us rearrange our plans.
Thanks for the question, Nathan Mathieu. – Adrian