Soaring nearly 200 meters above the very heart of the Cambodia Capital and the central business district lies the new ultra-luxury Rosewood, our hotel of choice during our entire stay in Phnom Penh. Topping out the 39-story of the city’s most iconic, as well as the tallest, Vattanac Capital Tower, displaying the unparalleled and unstructured 360 degrees view of the mighty Mekong River as well as the city from the former French colonial quarter in the north all the way to the Royal Place in the Southeast. Setting a new level of luxury in Phnom Penh. We seriously could not choose a better home away from home in this city.
“Welcome to Amanpuri”; the voice echoed as a beautifully handcrafted fragrant heart-shaped jasmine bracelet slipped onto your wrists as soon as the car door opened. With the sight of endless coconut palm trees shooting out from the horizon, just like the fireworks but in a full broad daylight. The sound track of whispering ocean as the calming wave kisses the shore. The dramatic staircase leading the way to the seemingly infinite stretch of powdery white sand beach with a mesmerizing backdrop of crystal clear turquoise Andaman sea, and the view of the stunning 40 villas. All designed to echo the Buddhist Zen and architecture of ancient Ayutthaya, gently cascading down the oceanfront hillside. We know we have arrived here in heaven on earth. A true place of peace, living up to its name, “Amanpuri” in Sanskrit.
It is so good to be back, the last time was 8 year ago when we were celebrating our 1st year anniversary together. Despite the long gap between these visits, Soneva Kiri has always been one of our top favorite three resorts in Thailand. In fact, Soneva is also one of our top favorite chains; we have been to every single property ever built. At Soneva, we always find the simple life at its very best; the kind of barefoot luxury meets secluded lush green tropical paradise. One of many things we like about Soneva Kiri is the swift and the ease of the travel, with 80 minutes direct flight from Bangkok’s Suvarnnabhumi Airport on the resort’s private jet. Time flew by so quickly, we hovered over many different beautiful islands of the Gulf of Thailand, the scenery that you normally would never see from Bird’s eye view (as there is no flight to Koh Kood or even our neighbor islands like Koh Chang or Koh Mak. After cruising down the turquoise clear water via our private speedboat, upon our arrival on this idyllic island, we were welcomed by our Miss Friday (as butlers are called here) on the jetty. She said, “Welcome back”. Let the holiday begin!
A place with the true beauty and vivid memories of Asian yesteryear dating from well before colonial times, Luang Prabang, is rightfully the town with best preserved colonial architecture in Indochina. Walk down the memory lane to discover the authentic charm of this city which is hidden away in every corner of every street and every alley. Best things to do in Luang Prabang are the enchanting “Tak Bat ceremony” where hundreds of Buddha monk in beautifully-vibrant-saffron-colored robes are traveling down the street of Luang Prabang before the break of dawn to receive food offerings, cruising down the Mighty Mekong River to experience first handedly the local way of life during the golden hour of the sunset with sundowners, walking through countless exquisitely hand drafted monasteries and temples including the majestic glass mosaic Three of Life at the famous Xieng Thong Temple, hiking those steps up to Mount Phousi to witness the panoramic view of Luang Prabang, and making the journey to Laos’ most beautiful waterfall, Kwang Si, swimming in the crystal clear turquoise natural water, staying at the wonderfully renovated 100-year-old former governor’s residence paradise, Sofitel So Luang Prabang, and having authentic Laos cuisine at Manda des Laos.
Santorini welcomes you with its greatest charm, the volcano embraced by the Aegean, multi-colored cliffs, whitewashed homes, the famous blue dooms, the view of caldera, white sand beaches, dazzling panoramas, and picture-perfect-sunsets. The scenery is unbeatable. The island is immortalized by painters and photographers. We plunged ourselves into our private infinity cave pool that flirts with the the endless golden horizon, here at Charisma Suites, our home away from home. With beautiful quiet morning like this it’s hard to believe that this is summer in Europe in mid July. And we are finally crossing this our of our bucket list! <3
Bagan, a paradise of over ten thousand of dazzling ancient temples and exotic pagodas stretch as far as your eyes allow. Asia’s greatest archaeological site can be seen both by adventurously roaming around in your electrical bikes and from the superb sunrise hot air balloon “Balloon Over Bagan”. This is a spectacular sight to be seen, at least once in a life time. Once a mighty capital of the ancient empire, dating back thousands of years and today still as charming as ever to those lucky few who get to visit this magical land without the massive touristy crowd of its rival sites like Egyptian Pyramids, Angkor Wat, Machu Picchu. Now is the time to visit Myanmar and seize the opportunity to experience this unseen magical land. Checking into our marvelous resort “Tharabar Gate”, situated in the center of Old Bagan and tucked away in between fragrant frangipani bushes. We are falling in love, and it hit us hard! Bagan, you are so splendid in every way possible. Click here to see full gallery <3
