Top Travel: Thailand Inspiration

The beaches, the sun, the markets. Thailand is a place so many people dream of and the hype is definitely well deserved. I'll soon be writing a post about a trip I took to Thailand, but for now, I'm just sharing a bit of inspiration and planning help for travelling Thailand.

{hints & tips for travelling thailand}

{7 places to explore when you visit phi phi islands in thailand} 

{a weekend in kata beach phuket}

{how to travel thailand in in one month}

Hope you're feeling inspired!

-Gabi

Top Travel: Oman

The Sultanate of Oman is a country in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula which is a fast growing travel destination and an amazing place to visit. I visited Oman a few months ago and I was very impressed. I enjoyed it even more than I expected to!

One of the first things we did there, and my favorite, was the Wadi Shab. A wadi is pretty much a (mostly) dry riverbed that you can find all over Oman and other places in the Middle East. Wadi Shab and a few others in Oman are very popular places for tourists because they can be easily hiked and are great for a more active, fun thing to do when traveling. 

I didn't take my camera on the walk, because you come to a point where you have to swim and I didn't want to risk any damage, but I did find this great YouTube video, so that you can see what it's really like! 

We also went to the Bimmah Sink Hole, only about 15 minutes to drive there from Wadi Shab. You can see it in this video by Casey Neistat. I thought that was pretty cool, because I had never seen the video until the day when we went to the sinkhole, when I just stumbled upon it on his channel, having no idea he had been to Oman! 

It is the part when he jumps off the ledge into water (so scary), it's even higher up in real life than it looks!

While in Oman, we stayed at the Shangri-La's Barr al Jissah Resort for most of our time and it was gorgeous. (Also, the food was amazing!)

We did so many other things too, but these were some of the highlights!

-Gabi

Top Travel: Abu Dhabi, UAE

Last November, I went to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates for a long weekend with my family.

The first day we were there we went on a desert safari and stayed overnight in the desert. The first part of the safari was dune bashing which was extremely fun. We stopped in the desert to take pictures before heading to the camel farm.

We ate dinner and spent the night at the desert camp, where you could ride camels, go dune boarding, and smoke shisha. Some people left after dinner and my family all agreed that would have probably been enough time to do everything we wanted, but since we were some of the only people there in the morning, my brothers got to do some more dune boarding.

The next day, we went to Yas Island. This is where a lot of hotels are in Abu Dhabi, as well as the F1 track, Ferrari World, Yas Mall, and Yas Waterworld, along with a few other attractions. I would recommend staying on Yas Island for tourists because of its large offering of activites. At Yas Mall, I bought a pair of pants a lot like these from American Eagle, but in black and with a draw string waist. I've been wearing American Eagle jeans for years, but had never worn any of their other pants. I wear the ones I bought all the time now and I would definitely recommend them.

For me the highlight of our trip was the last day. My brothers and dad all went to Yas Waterworld (which they loved), so my mom and I had the day to ourselves. We visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, which was so so so beautiful. Living in and traveling around the Gulf, I have been to a lot of mosques and I have to say this is one of the most amazing that I have seen. There was so much color and detail on the inside, while the outside was a crisp white with the most gorgeous architecture. 

After the mosque, we ate lunch at Amici restaurant in the Yas Viceroy over the F1 track. I had pizza (I'm not sure which one, oops) and cannoli and they were both delicious.

Overall, I had a great time in Abu Dhabi and it was a wonderful place to go for a weekend away!

Top Travel: Cape Town, South Africa

Top Travel is a new series here on Sarcasm and Stripes for those of us with a severe case of wanderlust! Visiting new places is such a great experience and I have been lucky enough to do a lot of traveling in my life. In this series, I will be writing about both places at I have been to (and loved) and places that I wish to visit. Up first: Cape Town, South Africa. 

This year on my spring break I had the amazing experience of traveling with my family to this diverse, immensely interesting city for the first time (of hopefully many!) and it was one of the most unforgettable trips I have ever taken. There is so much culture and history as well as endless things to do. 

Table Mountain is a definite must for anyone visiting Cape Town. The views of the city are gorgeous:

We took the cable car to the top and, once again, the views were amazing. This was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. It is very obvious why Table Mountain has been named one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature. Hiking to the top (instead of taking the cable car) is also an option. It is a 3km hike that is steep and strenuous, according to the visitor's website for Table Mountain. That being said, I think that the views and experience would be well worth the walk, if time will allow.

The Cape Town sunsets are another marvelous thing about the city, so be prepared for an overload of "sun dipping into the horizon behind the ocean" photos in this post, starting with this one:

The neighborhood of Camp's Bay is a great place to spend a day at the beach. There are restaurants lining the street along the beach and gorgeous views of Table Mountain and the 12 Apostles, not to mention white sand and extremely blue water. I've heard it gets pretty crowded in the summer, but when I went in April, since it was fall in the Southern Hemisphere, the number of people wasn't too bad.

Another sunset, this time from the restaurant that we ate at in Camps Bay along the beach.

Next up, the V&A Waterfront. It contains four markets to browse, as well as many other shops and restaurants, and is in close proximity to the Two Oceans Aquarium (one of the best aquariums that I've been to in the world).

One of the markets is the Market on the Wharf, a building with a bunch of food stalls inside that were absolutely delicious! I think we ate here about 3 times and each time it was amazing. I'd recommend the wraps, the juices, and the empanadas.

About a 45 minute drive from central Cape Town is Boulders Beach. This beach is famed around the world for being the home to...

a colony of African Penguins! 

There is an inlet for (human) swimming, but be prepared for crowds. People come for the penguins, but stay for the gorgeous, clear water. Same goes for the penguin viewing area, it will be crowded, but it is well worth it.

I'd recommend taking a day to explore both Boulders Beach and the Cape of Good Hope. They are both a bit of a drive from the city, but you can make a route from the beach to the cape and take Chapman's Peak Drive as a segment of your journey to and from the city's center. Chapman's Peak Drive is a scenic road which is famous in Cape Town and beyond. You can knock out those three exciting things in one day which is an especially great plan if you're pressed for time during your travels. 

The Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point are at the tip of the Cape Peninsula and provide beautiful views of the ocean and some great photo-ops.

On the drive back to Cape Town, we spotted these ostriches on the side of the road.

Definitely an awesome experience!

Also on the way back, we spotted a gorgeous beach and an absolutely mind-blowing sunset.

One last one. Sorry, I can't resist!

Cape Town is a dream destination and I definitely hope to visit again sometime in the future!

-Gabi