Aly M
Adventures of the A-Team Joined: September 5th 2009
Logged in: May 14th 2011
Logged in: May 14th 2011
Travel Blog Posts
Halong Bay
This was the reason we decided on Vietnam in the first place, Halong Bay. Breathtaking beauty is only one simple explanation of this absolutely GORGEOUS place. It is by far one of the most beautiful places we have both ever been to. It's almost as though you are dreaming, being in a place this beautiful. Everywhere we would look, you just wanted to stop and just breathe....PHENOMENAL! The drive from Hanoi to Halong is about 3 and 1/2 hrs. We were picked up by a tiny bus, along with 6 other people and all our packs. Lets just say the ride wasn't like sitting 1st class, not even standard economy, domestic style. The ride was worth every ache and sweat molecule....the moment you could see the massive limestone mountains, we both looked at each other and ... read more
Streets of Hanoi
Translation: WELCOME TO VIETNAM!!!!!! And yes we were very welcomed here! We arrived to Vietnam early in the morning. It was 9:30 in the morning and we were greeted by our driver first thing! It's always such a relief, bags check, driver with our name written...check check! The drive from the airport to the hotel was about an hour...we weren't really expecting that, but again, we weren't really expecting anything I suppose! It was such an interesting ride. Hanoi and it's surroundings are covered in a thick layer of smog...it's overwhelming at first, everything has such a haze to it....you look out to the left and right and see vast rice fields sprinkled with women in straw pointy hats working hard harvesting the rice. It's something right out of a book. Big gray water buffalo are ... read more
Kuala Lumpur Airport Sleeping Arragements
We left our place of paradise for the aiport in Bali at 630pm....the flight was continually pushed back 15 mins, 30 mins it left and hour and a half late....wasn't the worst delay, only Bali airport has not a whole lot to offer and has barely any seats worthy of sitting in....we managed however. We flew Airasia with no dramas and in 3 hours arrived in Malaysia at Kuala Lumpur Airport. It was 1am at this point...we had a plan in place to pay for the Plaza lounge they had at the airport. Sounded blissful, free flowing draught beer, food, comfy couches, shower, even a putting green (so the internet said). We figured we could cough up a few extra dollars to be able to sleep a bit before our flight at 6am left for Hanoi....yeah ... read more
Beautiful White Tiger
The next morning we decided we needed to get up early and start on our adventures since we had been doing nothing but relaxing, pool plunging and eating!!! We scheduled a friend of Sarah's parents, Charlie, to come and drive us to Ubud (about an hour drive) to the Bali Safari!! The rain had finally arrived in Bali thanks to this crazy weather pattern and it poured all day long. This however did not stop us! It was myself, Al, Blair and Louise two of Al's friends from Perth. Blair had only had a couple hours of sleep but was fabulous in keeping up with the rest of us at the Safari. We had no idea what to expect either but we were very very pleasantly surprised! Camera gear in hand we ventured out into the ... read more
Kunja Villa Chapel-Bali
The beautiful wedding of Dave and Sarah started off a bit cloudy in Bali. Something we did not expect for the season in late September but with the Typhoon and earthquakes near by, we figured the weather might try to act up a bit. The hot sun did eventually make it's way out from behind the clouds and shone brightly for the ceremony. We had to take a cab about 15 minutes away from our little area/villa to another absolutely breathtaking villa. Inside the villa stood a gorgeous glass chapel where we sat to enjoy the wedding. Sarah was stunning and Dave so handsome it was beautiful. Since the wedding was to be done in Bali, the ceremony was 1 hour in length. They did a catholic ceremony, said their vows, kissed each other...then took a ... read more
Well finally after a few days i have made it on here have just been so busy plunging in the pool sipping Bingtang and collecting as much sun as possible. But all has been amazing. As you would have been reading plenty of fun has been had by all and i couldn't say more about the villa. Days have been prefect here lots of sun and not too humid and even when we do get warm like i said "PLUNGE". Has been great over the last few days catching up with friends and introducing Aly to them some of the crew here i have not seen in 4 years so there has been plenty of laughing and a few drinks here and there. Of course as we are here for the wedding which is actually today ... read more
It was 6:30 again when my eyes opened and I was awake completely. Jetlag....*sigh* still here... I suppose it could be worse, it could be 3am instead! I crawled quietly out of bed to clean up (we had about 15 people over at our villa last night for cheese and beer before a great dinner), and figured I could read a bit and have a nice relaxing swim. I noticed 7 banana peels on the small table in the kitchen where our fruit bowl sits. It didn't even cross my mind as being something strange. I just figured one of the boys had gotten a little hungry and ate a few before we headed out to dinner. I went back into the bedroom and at this time Al was awake and I told him about the ... read more
Plunge Pool Ahimsa Villa
So I usually try to tell myself the jetlag thing is just in my head and the more I think about it the worse it is, it’s like the whole altitude sickness I felt in Peru…right…right, nausea had overcome me and there was no meditating or “thinking” myself out of this one. It happened right after we spent a few hours on the roof-deck and immediately the room was spinning and I had no appetite. Yes that’s right, me of all people, someone who can eat whenever food is offered, actually didn’t want to put anything near my mouth. I powered through though, Al feeling great helped me along my moans and groans and we made it to the airport en route to Bali. We ended up on a flight with the end destination Perth, and ... read more
SIngapore Sunrise
The adventure began early in the morning on Thursday September 24th in Boston..we woke up at 5am, both of us working the day before, but we had such an excitement that it didn't really matter to either of us. I of course was a bit anxious, knowing that we would be leaving the house, the cat, my family for weeks....ahhhhhh. I just wanted to make sure everything was covered and of course I couldn't be more thankful for Al being so calming and reassuring that everything was going to be ok....he's my rock and my light thank god we found each other. The cab arrived as scheduled at 5:30 am and we settled in nicely at the Logan Express in Framingham. Our 2 backpacks, our "wedding bag" and our carry on oh and don't forget we ... read more
Bali Bliss
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 24, 2009 BOSTON TO SINGAPORE SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 26, 2009 SINGAPORE TO BALI THURSDAY OCTOBER 1, 2009 BALI TO HANOI (VIA OVERNIGHT IN MALAYSIA) THURSDAY OCTOBER 8, 2009 HANOI TO DELHI (VIA MALAYSIA) SATURDAY OCTOBER 24, 2009 NEPAL TO PERTH (VIA DAY IN DELHI) SUNDAY OCTOBER 25, 2009 ARRIVE IN PERTH AT 3PM!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MONDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2009 PERTH TO SINGAPORE (ARRIVE 11/10) SINGAPORE TO BOSTON (STOPOVER TOKYO) ARRIVE HOME IN BOSTON TUESDAY NOVEMBER 10, 2009 AT 730PM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ... read more
