NEW YORK CITY, USA | what to see and do in 5 days

KatjaCITY BREAKS, USA Leave a Comment

The Big Apple. Empire City. Gotham City. The City. Call it like you want to, it´s simply a city everyone should visit AT LEAST ONCE IN A LIFETIME. least once in a lifetime I guess there are many women who would love to be a Carrie Bradshaw, going out for all that delicious food, dancing in the clubs and buying all those shoes. Even if you are not the biggest fan of anything American, this place is worth a visit. I would not want to live here long term, maybe for a year – just because it´s soooo big and there is soooo much to see it´s impossible to suck it all in in just a few days or in a week. Luckily for us, Europeans, the PLANE TICKETS are quite affordable and there are many direct flights to choose from, making it easy to travel over there. The problems begin though, probably already at hotels search – because everything seems very expensive. And you will not be needing the money only to pay tor your ACCOMMODATION, but also for all the other things – and trust me, once you are there you just want to use the opportunity and experience as much as you can.

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THAILAND | 2 weeks backpacking from Bangkok to the SW coast

KatjaTHAILAND Leave a Comment

If you have never travelled somewhere out of your comfort zone before, but you start to feel like the time has come to set off on your first journey somewhere far – Thailand is one of the best destinations you can pick! Why? It´s really EASY TO TRAVEL around, it´s CHEAPER than home (although for Asia, it´s really not all that cheap), there are good flight connections with Europe, the local FOOD is just amazing (but you do get western fast food in many places also), it´s pretty SAFE, people are used to tourists and mostly speak or at least understand ENGLSH. There are enough big cities, small villages, beaches, islands, jungles, mountains, party places and historical sites to choose from – you can mix it like you want.

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SINAI PENINSULA, Egypt | from Sharm El-Sheikh to Nuweiba

KatjaEGYPT Leave a Comment

Back in 2004 we spent a week in Sharm el-Sheikh, which was also our FIRST TIME IN EGYPT. We had a great time relaxing on beautiful beaches, discovering the underwater world and the desert – many credits for having such a great time also go to our dear friend T who made us feel especially welcomed ;). In 2008 we came back to Egypt, but this time we flew to HURGHADA and spent 8 days on a NILE CRUISE, but in 2009 it was time for SINAI again. It seemed very convenient, tourism was blooming, there were many flights to Sharm el-Sheik and we had other special reasons to visit the place. So, we were off – but this time we planned to travel around a bit more, we stayed in Sharm for a couple of nights at friends and climbed up MOUNT SINAI for the sunrise, spend some time in DAHAB and NUWEIBA, before returning to Sharm. In 2009 it was safe to go anywhere and we had a good time – unfortunatelly today (in 2015), the picure is a bit different as many tourists avoid the area due to the current situation on the Middle East and previous events on the Sinai Peninsula.

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Tignes France skiing in French Alps

TIGNES, France | skiing winter holiday

KatjaFRANCE, WINTER SPORTS Leave a Comment

When we were younger we used to ski always either in Austria or in Italy (besides Slovenia). But then, at one point we went to France and went again and again and again. You get the picture. Austria, Italy and Slovenia were good for a day, or a weekend, or a ski opening, but seriously, it´s hard to compete with France! We went always for a week towards the end of March, because then the weather was normally also better, warm enough to sit outside in just a T-shirt in the sun, and yet cold enough that the snow didn´t melt. We went to Tignes a couple of times as well as to Val Thorens and other ski resorts in the region.

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EGYPT | 8 days Nile cruise & beach holidays at the Red Sea

KatjaEGYPT, SPECIAL EXPERIENCES Leave a Comment

November always seems to be a great month to get away from Europe´s grey weather and catch some sun! And so we were off to Egypt for a Nile cruise and a couple of days at the beach. We enjoyed 8 days of great FOOD, great COMPANY and great HISTORY. Nice sunny weather made it a great Autumn escape and the temples on the river Nile banks are really something one should see at some point!

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Laos food and drinks - typical Lao dishes and what to eat in Laos

LAOS food & drinks | typical lao dishes and what to eat in Laos

KatjaFOOD + RECIPES, LAOS Leave a Comment

We were so happy to see FRENCH BAGUETTE, the first thing I ordered when we arrived into Luang Prabang was a TUNA SANDWICH. I would most certainly not do that if we were not already travelling for weeks and I really missed good BREAD for breakfast. Red wine was still too luxurious for our pockets, but 600mL BEER LAO made up for that. We loved STICKY RICE, PAPAYA SALADS, FISH and fresh FRUITS. We even got used to the FISH SAUCE taste. Surprisingly there were lots of INDIAN RESTAURANTS, so when we got sick of rice, we went there for some naan. So, here are a few Lao culinary specials.

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Laos-Asia-travel-backpacking

LAOS | 3 weeks backpacking from the north to the south

KatjaLAOS Leave a Comment

We didn´t know if it´s Tuesday or Wednesday and we did not even care. WE HAD ALL THE TIEM IN THE WORLD, well at least until our plane left from Bangkok. We started our SE ASIAN TRIP in CAMBODIA, travelled through VIETNAM from the south to the north, where we crossed the border to LAOS. We had no plan where in Laos we wanted to go and where we will cross the border to Thailand, so we just took it day by day. Everything was PEACEFUL in Laos – no mad horn beeping, not much traffic on the road, naked children were running around in small villages, sometimes we shared outside bathrooms with pigs, the electricity was often shut off in the evenings. In other words, it was exactly like some other countries were years before. It was great.

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Cambodia backpacking trip 7 days Siem Reap Battambang Angkor Wat Phnom Penh

CAMBODIA | 1 week low budget backpacking from Phnom Penh to Battambang, Tonle Sap lake, Siem Reap & Angkor Wat

KatjaCAMBODIA Leave a Comment

Cambodia was first up on OUR LONGER SE ASIA TRIP on which we also visited VIETNAM, LAOS and a small part of THAILAND. We flew in to Phnom Penh from Europe via BKK and tried to survive the first couple of days not getting hit by a motorbike crossing the road. We learned soon enough the best way to do it is to be patient and wait for the right moment or even better – just follow the locals. Always walk steadily and do not panic. Once you´ve mastered that, you are all ready to go out and explore.

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Vietnam food and drinks - typical Vietnamese dishes and what to eat in Vietnam

VIETNAM food & drinks | typical Vietnamese dishes and what to eat in Vietnam

KatjaFOOD + RECIPES, VIETNAM Leave a Comment

One evening in Ho Chi Minh City we wanted to try something truly Vietnamese. We saw a very nice restaurant, so we decided to give it a try. It was extremely expensive compared to what we would normally pay for food and we were not quite sure what we ordered as the waitress couldn´t speak English so good. She brought us the food and we thought it´s just the appetizer. We even said to ourselves something like “wow, that´s quite a lot of food for an appetizer”. Well, it turned out this was it – this was the main dish, for the both of us. Rice cakes with shrimps, pork paste in banana leaf and something with rice. Hm, tasted good, but we left hungry.

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