Vietnam Diary - Hoi An Ancient Town

Happy Friday, everyone! I hope you're enjoying the Easter holidays with your family and friends. Today I have a new post for you about one of my favorite places in Vietnam, the charming town of Hoi An.

We left Phu Quoc Island early in the morning via plane. For more comfort we booked a flight with Vietnam Airlines from Phu Quoc back to Ho Chi Minh and another one from Ho Chi Minh to Da Nang. By train or bus this route would have taken us several days and probably lots of stress. We spent only one night in Da Nang because it was our stopover on our way to Hoi An. Da Nang is very modern but quite industrial, there's lots of construction going on, and other than a beach and a few cool cafés there's not much more to see in the city. We had a great hotel there but didn't want to spend too much time in Da Nang so we left for Hoi An the next day with a local bus which took us only 30 minutes.

Hoi An Ancient Town

I have to say that of all Vietnamese cities and towns we visited Hoi An was by far my favorite! Side note, it was also one of the cleanest places we had visited. The city boasts a beautiful and charming, well preserved and pedestrianized ancient quarter where you can admire colorful historic buildings of Chinese, Japanese and European influences. There's an abundance of cozy cafés and restaurants, museums and temples, tailors, shops and market stalls. I'd recommend to simply stroll the old town, grab delicious street food, buy some unique souvenirs (I got coconut bowls and Vietnamese tea), take photos and soak up the spirit of Vietnam. Even though the ancient town gets super crowded with Chinese tourists in the afternoon (come early in the morning to avoid crowds), it is surely a stunning town that's especially magical at night when hundreds of lanterns illuminate the streets. Hoi An is just dreamy and the right place to go if you wanna get a feeling of the historical Vietnam. Have a look yourself!

Presentation of Cerveza Rosa Blanca

Hi there, my dear readers. I'm sincerely sorry that this blog isn't updated regularly anymore. It's just my lack of time and also I'm not really in the mood to sit down and write or select and edit photos since I got a new job. I'm working as an editor and online manager for the lifestyle magazine Look Mallorca now and my work pretty much consists of what I'd do for my blog. So after spending eight hours daily with my laptop I simply don't feel like seeing it any longer. I have so many beautiful photos of great events and vacations though that I didn't post so today I'm finally updating my blog a bit.

I took these photos at a beautiful event my colleague Anna from the magazine and I got invited to. The authentic Mallorquin beer brand Rosa Blanca organized a unique presentation to celebrate the revival of the beer that had disappeared from the market for a while. We were greeted at a stunning villa in Binissalem with fresh lemonade, snacks and a tour of the finca. Later we could visit the Conalma Design art studio you can find on the estate. They produce beautiful wooden accessories and tiles. After the meet and greet we all sat down for lunch on the terrace where we could enjoy some traditional Mallorquin cuisine with amazing views of the surrounding countryside. I loved the event, especially the great food and the wonderful people that came. It was a colorful mix of artists, designers, singers, bloggers and press. Thank you, Rosa Blanca, for inviting us to this special event!

Mexico Diary - Paradise Holbox

Hello there, adventurers and dreamers! I hope you're all having a great weekend. I was pretty busy all week long so today my boyfriend and I are just chilling at home and I'm working a little on my blog. I have some photos of our last stops left in Mexico before I will be posting about more recent events and my beloved home Mallorca again.
Today's post is about one of my favorite places in Mexico, the beautiful island of Holbox, a true paradise for beach and art lovers like me! All over the island you can feel the free spirit. There are no cars but golf carts and bikes on sandy roads instead, most of the buildings are small, made of wood and painted in joyful colors, there are palm trees, hammocks, graffitis and beautiful handicrafts made with the typical sea shells called 'conchas' everywhere. Holbox has been my personal favorite among all the wonderful places we visited in Mexico. Its secluded beaches, slow life and laid-back vibes allowed us to finally realx a bit after almost three weeks of traveling through Mexico. Holbox is still more quiet and by far less touristy than other islands of the Yucatan peninsula. A world without pressure and worries, so to say a bohemian paradise, an island where time seems to stand still.

How to Get There
The most common transport to use is the ferry which takes less than an hour from the small coastal town of Chiquila. The ferry runs every half hour so it's never too crowded and it's the cheapest way to get to the island too, we paid 140 Pesos per person, about 7 Euro per way. You can also take a private speed boat or even a plane to the island if you're feeling fancy.

Where to Stay
You can either stay at hip, laid-back and less expensive hostels and 'cabañas' that are located in the island's only town or you spend the night at one of the fancy hotels that are located along the beach and all embody simple luxury. We spent two nights at Casa Frida, not just because I'm a huge fan of Frida Kahlo, but also because we loved their apartments we saw on Booking.com. We were not disappointed when we got there. We had a spacious private and fully equipped kitchen (I loved the fact that I finally had a blender to make smoothies), a small dining table and two comfy sofas, a bright and spacious bedroom with two double beds and a large bathroom with a walk-in shower. All apartments had a shared garden with palm trees providing shade, hammocks and swings which I personally loved. I included some photos of Casa Frida in this post so you get an idea of what it looks like.

What to Do
Explore the island by golf cart, you can rent them everywhere and it's so much fun going for a bumpy ride on the sandy roads. Or go for a bike ride along the beach, stop whenever you feel like it and relax in one of the hammocks or on the swings you will find in the water. There are lots of activities offered as well, you can learn how to do kite surfing, go stand up paddling, snorkeling or kayaking. Holbox also has a reputation as a great spot for watching and swimming with wild whale sharks. I personally would have loved to see and swim with them! I mean, hello, I don't get to see these beautiful giants in Europe (or at least not in the Mediterranean sea). However, the whale shark season was already over when we got to Holbox so we unfortunately didn't get a chance to see them. After enjoying the shallow water, white sand and Mexican sun at the beach for a few hours go discover the little town (the only one on Holbox) with its colorful shops, art galleries, excellent restaurants and cute cafés. Taste the local cuisine or sip a delicious cocktail, buy some souvenirs, art and boho or surfer clothes.

I hope this post made you dream a bit on this February Sunday, a second post about our adventures on Holbox will follow soon! Have a relaxed start of the week, my dear readers, and don't forget to wander once in a while, even if it's just in your mind ;-)