Beach and Island Hopping in Thailand

After the craziness of Bangkok, Tom and I wanted to take a bit of a vacation from traveling. (You'll notice this is a theme for us. We also 'vacationed' in Melnik, Bulgaria and Colonia, Uruguay, as well as a few others.) We figured that the islands and beaches in Southern Thailand would be the perfect place to unwind for a few days.



We flew into Phuket, spent a few nights in town, and then headed to Kata Beach, which was just a quick bus ride from Phuket town. We treated ourselves to a few nights at a resort just a few minutes off of the beach with a great pool. Plus, swans. The beach itself was gorgeous, with warm waves and clean sand and views of islands in the distance. At first, we were a bit apprehensive about going into the water. Since we were visiting during rainy season, we'd heard to watch out for riptides and jelly fish. We did see some red flags warning of riptide areas, but we swam happily and jelly-fish free for hours. When your biggest complaint is that the water is 'just a little too warm,' you know that you've found a pretty great beach.

Photo Tour: In, Above, and Around Dubrovnik

I'll admit it. My fascination with Dubrovnik, Croatia probably started around the time that I learned that part of the HBO show, Game of Thrones, is filmed in the old city. Nerdy, and kind of weird, I know. So when we arrived in Dubrovnik, I was kind of surprised to see thousands of people in modern clothing swarming around the city walls. I shouldn't have been, of course. Dubrovnik has entered the 21st century along with the rest of the world. Even the travel industry hasn't perfected time travel yet-- particularly not time-travel to a fictional universe. (One day, I hope, one day.)

Animals Around Puerto Madryn

After our weeks of hiking in the Lake District and Patagonia, Tom and I were looking forward to a change of pace from all of the walking around in the wilderness. We saw some stunning scenery and met some great people, but we were still ready for something new.

We headed up the Atlantic Coast and decided to stay near Puerto Madryn, Argentina for about a week. The biggest draw? Wildlife.

I promised my mom that we'd see some penguins on this trip of ours, but up until Puerto Madryn, we'd had little luck in that regard.  We didn't make it as far south as Ushuaia, the streets of Puerto Natales were home to little more than tourists, and there was not a tuxedo-clad bird in sight around the glaciers of Torres del Paine.

So we rented a car with another couple and headed to the Punta Tombo reserve outside of Puerto Madryn.

And that's where we got to hang out with this guy:

And this one:

And these:

It was molting season, so some of the penguins were in an awkward transition. Sort of like puberty, but with feathers:

Keeping the momentum of our animal sight-seeing kick going, we rented bicycles the next day and headed to Punta Loma (14 km one way) to see sea lions bathing on the shore.

This is me resting, not falling

- R