French Polynesia · 5 stories
Tales, tips, and reflections from the road
Zoroastrian fire temples, ancient water systems, labyrinthine streets, a rooftop dinner above the Jameh Mosque — and a non-alcoholic "beer" that tasted like lemonade. Yazd was interesting without being our favorite.
From a UNESCO adobe citadel to a 1,000-year-old cypress tree, from drone flights over desert Kalouts to sleeping in a Flintstones cave — Kerman province delivered the full Iranian adventure.
A Facebook post, 50 private messages, a Couchsurfing family, Persepolis, a pink salt lake, and the most hospitable people we've ever met — our first days in Iran exceeded every expectation.
From the top of the Burj Khalifa to a ski slope inside a shopping mall, the UAE felt like someone playing Sims City in the middle of the desert with all the cheats enabled.
Nepal wins a prize for destroying the world's most majestic trek with jeep roads — but between the dust, the blue sheep, the marshmallows by a waterfall, and the Thorong La Pass at dawn, we had more fun than we expected.
Crossing into Nepal at Kakarbhitta, we met an extraordinary couple who had dedicated their lives to educating 60 children — and then found ourselves in Kathmandu preparing for our biggest trek yet.
From rain-drenched Day 1 to a 3AM wake-up for the sunrise at 4,600m — eight days of altitude sickness, sleep apnea, football at 4,100m, yaks at Lake Samiti, and two South African women of 60 who would likely outpace most of us.
After 11 exhausting days on a motorbike, we reached the most beautiful city in India — Gangtok in Sikkim — with its Himalayan zoo, monasteries, waterfalls, incredible Tibetan food, and a snoring man we will never forget.
Following our app blindly into the middle of nowhere, we found a sand footpath, a tiny wooden boat, and eventually — the world's largest river island, slowly sinking into the Brahmaputra.
After being turned back from the China border, we rode through every kind of mountain weather to reach the breathtaking Ziro Valley — home of the Apatani tribe, the only kiwi winery in India, and a uniquely clever rice cultivation system.
Riding through China's "claimed" South Tibet on roads that barely exist — through a snowstorm at 4,175m — to reach the magnificent Tawang Monastery at 3,000 metres and its fluffy cold-weather monkeys.
After William's hospital adventure in Guwahati, we made the best decision of Northeast India: rent a motorbike. First stop — Kaziranga National Park, closing in days for monsoon season.
Our first footprints in India — a bad-planning adventure across three states, waterfalls tall enough to have creepy stories, and a jungle village reached by 3,000 stairs.
Four days in one of the world's most densely populated countries — and one of its most unexpectedly beautiful. Dhaka's chaos, Sreemangal's tea plantations, and a trek that made it all worth it.
A quick stop in little-visited Pyay and its ancient ruins, then some well-earned beach time at Ngapali before flying to Bangladesh — oh, and we travelled for weeks without our passports.
From the sunrise magic of Bagan's thousand temples — on a truly awful electric scooter — to getting absolutely drenched at the Buddhist New Year water festival in Mandalay.
Two weeks in Myanmar and we really enjoy it — Hpa-An caves, the Golden Rock (and its frustrating foreigner pricing), 3 days in Yangon, and a magical sunrise on Inle Lake.
Myanmar was a very nice surprise. A country we really enjoyed — and one where we couldn't go a single day without saying "we are so lucky to be here now, not in 5 or 10 years."
We spent 10 days in Thailand — Koh Lanta with friends, Railay Beach, and 4 intense days of PADI Rescue Diver training on Koh Tao. We even don't have a single picture of a fish.
Very helpful and awesome people, amazing dishes and an impressive mix of cultures — that are the first things that comes to our mind after 10 days exploring peninsular Malaysia.
We finally found some time to post a quick update from Singapore — quite an unusual direction for us, more comfortable in nature than big cities, but we went to explore.
Bali was a place to relax — at least for us, thanks to some friends! After fighting our way through Indonesia all last month, we finally stopped.
Mission accomplished — we met the dragons. Three dives, manta rays, enormous turtles, and face-to-face with the most poisonous prehistoric creature that doesn't even need to bite you hard to kill you.
A week in Raja Ampat — bad diving guides, a jungle crossing with a machete, the happiest kids we've ever met, and glowing plankton under our bungalow at night.