Travel blog

Image – Lagoa das Sete Cidades, Sao Miguel Island

Chocolate massages and fish pedicures!

One of the things I am dreaming about as soon as the spas reopen, is a hot stone, full–body massage! A good massage has countless benefits; it is one of those experiences to help us live well.

In fact, I have been thinking about some of my favourite spa experiences and here are my top three:

Thai Massage – Bangkok, Thailand

I had always heard about the Thai Massage but knew nothing about it. I assumed it would be similar to the Swedish Massage. The perfect opportunity came when my family and I travelled to Bangkok, Thailand, where I made sure to book one at our hotel spa. We were staying at the Pathumwan Princess Hotel, which had a gorgeous view of the city. When I checked into the spa, they gave me a pair of pajamas to change into instead of a robe. That should have been a clue! When my masseuse started, I instantly understood why. She pulled and stretched me into different positions. This must be how pretzel dough feels; this was not the massage I was expecting! However, immediately afterwards I felt a bit sore but it turned out to be good for getting the knots out. I became a knot to get the knots out! You should try it if you haven’t.

Fish Pedicure – Guadeloupe

Then there was Guadeloupe, where I saw someone on a travel show get a fish pedicure while they were visiting the island. I was intrigued!

As part of a pre-birthday trip to Guadeloupe, my family and I booked the fish pedicure at the Tendacayou Spa. We took the drive up a precarious mountainside where I prayed the car all the way up but the reward when we arrived at the spa, was a gorgeous view all the way to the ocean. We donned our robes with no clue what to expect. Imagine our surprise when they led us to a pond where other people were dangling their feet into the water and squealing at moments. There was one man in particular whose squealing made me chuckle!

We proceeded to gingerly put our feet in. The water was cold but then I understood the squealing when some fish attached themselves to my toes and heels. It was the weirdest sensation but when the shock wore off, I started to speak to the fish. There was a little fat one who liked my heels which was good because they are supposed to be eating the dead skin off your feet. I encouraged the fish to make sure they got every bit of dead skin off! After all, I was paying for this service LOL.

It was a unique experience that I would recommend if you are not squeamish. Also make sure you do it in a safe and sanitized environment.

Chocolate Massage and Flower Bath – Bali

Now for those of you who are thinking…pretzel massage and fish nibbling on my feet are not my idea of spa treatments, then this one is for you!

It was a $2 million massage at the eco chic wellness resort called Five Elements. The spa was nestled among (rice) paddy fields and it took over an hour to get there from our hotel in Bali. The treatment room opened onto to a river roaring merrily in the background.

I got the full-body chocolate treatment. You know how I love some chocolate!! First, a cacao scrub, then a warm chocolate wrap. A warm rinse off followed and my skin was like silk. The climax was a full-body massage with chocolate-infused oil.

My masseuse had one long random chin hair that fascinated me. But oh she was good! The treatment ended with a soothing 25-minute floral bath overlooking the river. My masseuse explained the purpose of the various flowers in the bath where I soaked away in bliss. It all ended with a delicious piece of chocolate for me to eat.

If you are still wrestling with the price tag of $2million dollars for a massage, it was really only $2 million rupiah which = US$173 taxes included. Now read again all that was included in that price and you will agree, all of that fabulousness was in fact.. priceless!

Do you have a favourite spa experience? Do share!

Bali the finale!

The architecture and culture in Bali is distinct! There are small ‘offerings’ everywhere…in the vehicles, at the hotel reception, on the ground in front of businesses. We had to be careful not to step on them as we walked the streets.

There were little surprises everywhere. I had a moment though when I first saw the swastika boldly hanging in the rearview mirror of our taxi. In fact, in Bali you will see the swastika in different places. It was terrifying to see, until I learned for the first time, that the swastika is a Hindu symbol (svastika) that Hitler took and used for his Nazi cause.

It is amazing that this symbol I had always associated with death, hate and terror is actually a symbol for good fortune and well-being!

As time passed on our vacation, I started to see why this country inspires everything from furniture to jewelry. I accidentally stumbled onto the John Hardy Factory. The story behind his jewelry is fascinating and his factory is very eco-friendly and chic. I would encourage you to look into his story, you won’t be disappointed.

Bali is also the place for massages; I paid over $2 million dollars for mine! $2 million rupiah dollars (that is) for my Spa treatments.

On the second day I had a 75-minute, full-body banana leaf massage. They massage you and then cover you in banana leaves to help draw out tension. For my Barbadian family, I now understand how a “conkie” feels. $450,000 rupiah to be a conkie (banana leaf wrap) = US$45.

My $2 million massage was at the Spa in the eco chic wellness resort called Five Elements. It is nestled among (rice) paddy fields and took over an hour to get there from our hotel. The treatment room is open to a river roaring merrily in the background.

I got the full-body chocolate treatment. You know how I love chocolate!! First a cacao scrub, then a warm chocolate wrap. A warm rinse off followed and my skin was like silk. The climax was a massage followed with chocolate infused oil massage.

My masseuse had one long random chin hair that fascinated me. But oh she was good! The treatment ended with a gorgeous 25-minute floral bath and a piece of chocolate to eat.

2.5 hours, 3 treatments (all full body) for only $2 million rupiah = US$173 taxes included. Priceless!

Meanwhile, the family found a “trick eye” attraction to visit. Unfortunately, I missed it but, from the photos, they had a blast.

We also visited quite a few temples that are stunning. The Pura Tanah Lot temple is in the ocean but during low tide we walked close to it. Meanwhile, the Uluwatu monkey temple was FULL of monkeys and we had to watch our back. They warned us to put up away everything that the monkeys could steal including our sunglasses! The sunsets from this temple though are simply breathtaking and worth the monkey side eye!

So, in summary, the Instagram photos are true. Bali is stunning BUT it is also a country that is real and gritty with a people who are all heart. Go with that perspective and you will love it as I now do.

Instagram Power – Bali Part 1

The blog post is about our travel adventure to Bali, Indonesia.

Watching our plane roll in - Korean Air — Flight on Korean Air

Instagram! It is so easy to follow this platform and sometimes get the wrong ideas by what you see. I saw all the fabulous images of Bali and it shot to the top of my list of places to visit. I went to Bali and it was nothing like I expected! Here’s my story.

It takes us 4 days of travel – several time zones – layovers in 2 countries, all to reach…Bali, Indonesia!

We say a few prayers in Immigration because one of my brothers-in-law gets pulled into the little room for his passport while my suitcase is MIA. Finally, we clear customs and head to the Novotel Bali Ngurah Rai Airport hotel for a night. Our actual hotel wouldn’t be ready for the first night, so that’s why we booked the airport hotel. We follow some dusty signs up a ramp that says, “Airport Hotel”. There is nothing but tumbleweed on this extremely dark ramp and my sister goes, “are we going the right way?” But we fearlessly press on and end up on a dark lonely rooftop. Fortunately, we discover it is the back of the hotel! But life is all about perspective because, the next morning, we see the amazing rooftop view of the hotel which, by the way, is quiet, pretty and clean! So clean, that there was a sign under the bed that said “yes we have cleaned under here too!”

We leave the airport hotel the next day to check into the Novotel, Nusa Dua. I am surprised to see there is a grittiness to Bali that isn’t portrayed in all the beautiful images. In fact, it reminded me of some other cities where the place feels like it has been seriously lived in. Maybe I was thinking everything would be exotic beyond measure. Instead, it is a beautiful paradox – gritty and gorgeous!

The Novotel Nusa Dua is really nice. It seems the area Nusa Dua was created specifically for tourists in order to limit visitor invasion on local life. I get there must be “tourist strips” but they don’t always let you experience the soul of where you are visiting. In addition, the Balinese homes are often surrounded by very ornate walls. I spent a lot of time trying to glimpse what I could.

The people of Bali are absolutely warm hearted. We were constantly welcomed by people who seemed genuinely happy to have us visit their country; from the taxi drivers to the food vendors, the Balinese have such heart!

We did a tour with Baliagritours of the padi (rice) fields. The fields are stunning! They then fixed us a meal that included moringa soup. Who knew moringa soup would taste so good! It was also fascinating to learn a little about the rice farming politics. We even got an extra treat as one of our guides schooled us on how to pick coconuts! He looked quite senior and shaky but he shimmied up that coconut tree with ease.

Generally,the food in Bali was delicious but, of course, different. I had to be careful with my allergies because they use shellfish products as a base for dishes. One day I was “hangry” because we went to a restaurant and of all the deliciousness listed on the menu, the only thing I could eat was chicken…and you know I am not fond of the bird! I ended up eating rice while listening to the others declare it was the best lunch! ARGGH! We also loved going to the markets to get a bounty of fresh fruit. The biggest laugh was a drink my Sister purchased. It had what looked like a foot on the can so we called “Passion foot” and apparently according to the can it was good for “body heatedness”.

A word of caution though, it was the first time I heard the term “Bali belly” aka upset stomach or even food poisoning. As such, watch what you drink and eat!

Cuca restaurant – one of our favourite in Bali

There is so much to Bali…stay tuned for Part 2 and the million dollar massage!!

Surfing in Bali, Indonesia. Cause we like adventure!

The blog post is about our travel adventure to Bali, Indonesia.

Our family likes to call it “soft adventure”; these tours or activities we would book as part of a desire to do something cool while travelling. Unlike extreme adventure, where the chance of hurting yourself is in high 80- 90% risk range, soft adventure has a respectable 40-50% risk. Furthermore, we always get suckered into an adventure because of photos.

For example, the Airbnb experiences site has testimonials highly rating the the surf class in Bali. There were pictures and videos of people riding the waves. It looks so exciting!

I managed to persuade my two sisters and our friend to do an introductory class with me. Both of my brothers in-law developed a bad case of excusitis -as one muttered under his breath “somebody’s got to live to tell the tale”.

We arrived near the location and the surfing guides picked us up on scooters, with a dog riding shot gun, to take us to the famous Legian Beach.

I was like “yea”, our friend was like “yea”, my sisters were like “yea”. Then we saw the sea and everyone went quiet. I thought to myself, whose bright idea was this? My friend asked a guide, “any thing lives in that water?” You see, we weren’t surfing the crystal clear waters of Seven Mile Beach. Nooo…this one had a slightly murky hue and I honestly couldn’t tell you if there was sand on the bottom. Our guide snickered and gave us some wet-suit tops to put on.

Meanwhile, one of my brothers-in-law was capturing the whole thing while lounging on the beach – muttering something about “surf and durf”!

We practiced surfing on the sand and we looked good, if I may say so myself. Then the instructor said, “lets hit the waves”! We dragged those heavy boards which were attached to our ankles to the sea. The cold water of the waves slapped us silly. We fought our way out to sea to a spot where the surf instructor stopped us. We had to turn our boards to the shore and get into position. I could hear a roar and then it felt like something was pushing my board, and my instructor yelled, “Jump up!” Heart racing, I jumped up for about 2 seconds before upside down I went… board and all. Fortunately, the board didn’t kill me or knock out my teeth So, after washing ashore, I turned around and went back out into waves. I went because the waves had clearly knocked out any common sense I had and I was determined to surf! Finally, after 30 minutes of this cycle, I stood on the board and rode a wave to shore!

I posted that video on Facebook, sent it out to family and friends with pride! However it was a comment from a family member that made me watch the videos again. It was a shock to see that those humongous waves in real life looked like kiddie waves on the video LOL, I guess it is all perception but man was it an adrenaline rush!

Medellin, Columbia.

Never judge a book…or a country by its cover?

The blog post is about our travel adventure to Columbia.

One of my sisters kept saying we should go to Colombia, in particular Medellin. She had been reading about it and was very excited to visit the city. Me, on the other hand, I wasn’t very enthused. Colombia does not have the best reputation and Medellin worse of all. I know people from Colombia or who have visited Colombia and they all had great things to say about it however I wasn’t fully convinced.

Believe it or not, I acquiesced to the trip when I learned that JetBlue was offering direct service to Medellin from Fort Lauderdale. At that time JetBlue was relatively new and everyone was talking about their great service. So we booked our trip for Easter that year. We boarded the flight and there were two lovely ladies seated next to me. As we talked, I asked them what was to the best thing to do while we were there. One lady replied “Pray”! Ahhh not what I was expecting but I think what she meant was Easter is a big religious holiday there with lots of celebrations. I think?

The drive to our hotel from the airport was surprisingly beautiful through hills where you could see the lights twinkling all around. We prearranged the transportation from the airport with our hotel – the Medellin Royal hotel. The Medellin Royal was in a great location…next to a mall! No really, it was quite central and we could walk to the train station to easily get around. There was a bear…wait sorry a beautiful dog called Achilles who hung out in the lobby at night and whose bark we could hear on our 5th floor room.

Medellin (the city “where spring is eternal”) surprised me because it is so progressive. First their subway was clean and we learned they took great pride in it. There were special chair lifts so the disabled could get up and down the stairs. I remember a beggar came on the carriage and asked people for money. I was struck by the fact that many people gave him something. Most times we avert our eyes and grip our bags tightly.

In the poorer area there are gondolas (cable cars) which takes visitors for views of the city but also serves as a cheap form of transportation for people who live in these poorer neighbourhoods to get to work and school.

In the midst of one of the poorer neighbourhoods, there are three huge black boxes known as Biblioteca Espana (biblioteca means library). We would have loved to go and visit them but we had no guide at the time. Apparently it has since closed due to structural challenges at the time of this post.

We booked our first walking tour where you pay what you think the tour was worth. For me, that was a fascinating concept because it depends on people’s honesty. Our guide was Pablo…go figure LOL He was engaging and honest in the tour as he took us from spot to spot. This city has a long history of violence and the evidence is everywhere but I liked that he made it clear from the beginning that this tour was not about Pablo Escobar and drug wars. As we moved around we attracted the curiosity of locals who would come to listen. In one location, a young lady challenged Pablo questioning”why are you telling people these stories? There is so much more to us than this violence!”. It was awkward but members of the group could share that the tour didn’t focus on violence. Pablo then invited the young lady to join him on one of his tours so she could hear the full spiel and not just a short portion.
At the end of the tour Pablo opened a backpack where we could put the money to pay; simple enough, as no one would know who paid what or who paid for that matter.

We also took a tour out to El peñón de Guatapé which is a huge stone structure outside Medellin. It has just over 700 steps on the outside that take you to the top of the stone. This is a national attraction in Columbia that is over 7000ft above sea level. My sister and I bought our tickets and we began to climb.

Step 100: there was a huge sign saying “Retorno” or, in other words, “turn back”. This was the point of no return! It seemed a great idea at the time to climb it except for one little detail…my fear of heights!

During the climb my sister stopped me and asked if I was sure I wanted to continue. She said I’d turned white as a sheet! But I was all in because there were all kinds of people climbing up the side of this mountain. Some even eating ice cream and wearing flip flops so I pulled myself together! Best of all, there was a medic station halfway up the stairs…just in case. I am happy to say I made it to the top and the view was simply stunning. You could see far into the gorgeous countryside of Guatape. Fear of heights…pshish! Then I had to climb down!

What about the food, you ask me? That was the one thing I found a little disappointing. My sister found a great chicken place called Frisby in the Santafe mall by the hotel. At least according to her, as you know how I feel about the bird.

We also tried their typical dish bandeja paisa which includes beans, rice, ground meat or carne asada, chorizo, fried egg, arepa, and chicharrón. Be warned…it is all fried!

All in all though, Medellin was an eye opening experience for me. Their struggle to break their country’s reputation is going to be tough because, ironically, when we returned home we learned they had arrested some Colombians for drug trafficking a few days prior.

Columbia left a fabulous impression on me with the natural beauty of the place and the heart of the people. Truly, this is one book I judged incorrectly.

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Bourton on the Water, UK

“Venice of the Cotwolds”

To my fellow explorers, the next time you are in London, consider venturing out to the Cotswolds for a weekend. The Cotswolds consists of five English counties (Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire and Worcestershire).

Based on recommendations, I booked a Great Western Railway train from London to the town of Moreton-in-Marsh. This village would form my operational base to explore the area.

There are accommodation options from a charming B&B to a guest house but, in my case, I decided to try “glamping”! Yup, the English love camping but that’s not quite my thing. Instead I booked a glamping pod on a camp site through Experience Freedom, where you can book these types of vacations throughout the UK. The pod was fabulous with a mini kitchenette, full bathroom and outdoor patio. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize I needed to specify one that is pet free! No bueno!

Anyway Moreton-in-Marsh is an easy walk around with great little restaurants. I had one of the best English breakfasts in the village. For dinner one night, I tried the Indian restaurant highly recommended by a taxi driver and it was there I saw “Father Brown“! Who knew the show is filmed in the Cotswolds?

Experience Freedom – the entrance to the Camp side

Image of the patio and entrance of the glamping pod in Moreton-on-Marsh, Cotswolds, UK — Experience Freedom – the entrance to the Camp side

I grabbed the bus one day and headed to Bourton-on-the-Water, aka the Venice of the Cotswolds. On the way there, the bus stopped in other small towns. It seems you could hop on and off the bus to explore these towns. They are all easy to walk and do sight seeing.

Bourton-on-the-Water is a gorgeous little water town but man was it busy with people! I walked around at leisure, checking out the arts and crafts shops. On one stop, I met two resident artists and talked about vacationing in Cayman. At the other stop the store clerk said to me,” I saw you walking through the town and was wondering if you would stop by our store!” LOL -who knew I had been spotted wandering around the place?! Then I took a break to watch the world go by and enjoy a cream tea because the English do cakes so well. It was a blissful afternoon.

The next day was a visit to the Cotswold Falconry Centre to have an educational bird experience. I have mixed feelings about the visit. On the one hand it was great to learn about these birds of prey and see them up close but, on the other hand, I wasn’t fond of how they were secured.

All in all, the Cotswolds is truly special and absolutely gorgeous. It is a huge area but you can select the county or villages you want to explore. It is such a far cry from the big city of London and so worth the visit, particularly if the weather is great!