03 June 2019

Prior to chilling on the beach in the Maldives (see my previous blog!) my husband and I had had a hectic but enlightening week touring the Golden Triangle in India. We started our tour in New Delhi and saw some very grand government buildings, and then onto Old Delhi, the 300-year old walled city built in 1648 by Emperor Shah Jehan and a visit to the Red Fort which is built of red sandstone. We drove onto Agra, visiting Agra Fort first where we saw our first glimpse of the Taj Mahal and then onto the amazing place itself. The Taj Mahal had been the one I had been looking forward to the most and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Onto Jaipur, this vibrant capital of Rajasthan is popularly known as the ‘Pink City’ because of the pink coloured buildings in its old quarters. A visit to the beautiful Amber Fort with its amazing views and a sightseeing tour of Jaipur city palaces and awe inspiring Jantar Mantar Observatory. We were extremely lucky to experience the Holi festival celebrations in Japiur and I would highly recommend this if you can. Everyone gets involved, covering you in the coloured powder and generally having a good time! We had done this tour with a driver who stayed with us the whole trip. It was lovely having someone to point out all the different sights as you were driving across from place to place. Despite it being a hectic week, we thoroughly enjoyed it and have both said we would love to return to India to explore some more.

20 May 2019

After a week travelling around India, my husband and I flew to the amazing and most beautiful island we have ever seen. Kuredu is the second largest island in the Maldives, but is still only 1,800 metres long by 325 metres wide. You could walk round the island in an hour! It takes 40 minutes from Male to get to the island by seaplane. Even though it is classed as a larger island by Maldives standards, it still had a small, friendly feel to it which we loved. We had the pleasure of staying in a Jacuzzi Beach Villa which had private outdoor jacuzzi in the back and our own sun loungers on the beach in front of the villa, although all of the rooms looked beautiful. We were staying on an All Inclusive gold basis which meant that we could eat in any of the restaurants including one of the three a la carte restaurant each day for no extra charge. We did eat in the buffet restaurant one night which had a good variety of food on offer including a fresh cooking station. There are plenty of sports activities to participate in at Kuredu should you wish to keep active. Non-motorised sports include stand up paddle boards, kayaks, canoes to name a few. There is a gym, golf course and even a football pitch to keep the energetic ones entertained! The snorkelling at Kuredu is amazing and it’s very easy to get to the house reef from either the pier or the beach so no need for a boat to take you meaning you can come and go as you please! The marine life incredible and we saw sea turtles on numerous occasions as well as reef sharks and stingrays! For anyone reading this who is visiting the island you may see lots of people on the pier at night shining their torches under the moored boats – try it and see for yourself what you can see! Whilst at Kuredu, we took the opportunity to visit the 5.8 underwater restaurant which is on a neighbouring island only a short boat ride away. I had heard so many good reviews and we weren’t disappointed! The food was amazing and the views of being under the sea and seeing all the marine life was out of this world. I would definitely recommend a visit. After what was a long week travelling we had needed a week to relax so didn’t really want to venture too far on any excursions. We will save those for our next visit!

20 September 2018

After a few days stopover in March on our way to Thailand we realised that there was so much more we wanted to see and do in Dubai and so soon after returning we booked to go back! We stayed in the Le Royal Meridian hotel this time and what an amazing hotel it was. We had stayed a bit further up Jumeirah beach last time, but we wanted more of a ‘resort feel’ and chose this hotel as it seemed to fit the bill. With three pools and a beach front location there was certainly a lot more outdoor space to explore. The food at the hotel was amazing! The buffet restaurant was one of the best I’ve eaten in, and the other restaurants as part of the half board were definitely worth the visit, especially the Gary Rhodes restaurant in the hotel. You are also able to eat in the sister hotel across the road, The Grosvenor, although we didn’t use this option - maybe next time! Out and about, we went out into the desert to experience dune bashing in a 4x4, it was like a roller coaster ride! Once in the desert my husband and daughter hired quad bikes to explore the desert further and came back saying how good it was! One late afternoon we took a speedboat ride to go out for a couple of hours. The boat took us right round the Palm, past the Atlantis hotel to the Burj Al Arab and back again. It was a lovey quick trip to see some different hotels from the sea! It was also lovely to see the sunset from the boat. I think we have definitely fallen in love with Dubai. The weather was perfect and the area is great to explore. We may even venture to Abu Dhabi next time for a few days – there will definitely be a next time!

16 August 2018

Flying to Koh Samui in March of this year we have agreed has to be one of our best holidays ever as a family. I was travelling with my husband and my 18-year-old daughter and after a quick couple of days in Dubai we flew into Koh Samui via Bangkok. First impressions – wow! We were staying in the beautiful resort of Bophut which is situated on the northern coast of Koh Samui, in the amazing Peace Resort. I had luckily managed to persuade my husband to treat us a little and upgrade to a pool villa just for a few nights and what a treat it was, I didn’t ever want to leave the room! When I did manage to drag myself away from the hotel, the main part of Bophut was just a 15-minute walk away – a little place called Fisherman’s Village. It is here that there is an abundance of restaurants from Steak Houses to traditional Thai cuisine. It is also in the Fisherman’s Village that there is a weekly street market where local traders come to sell their wares and you can pick up a bargain or two. You can also sample the street food if you like the look of the deep-fried crickets and grasshoppers, amongst other delicacies! Whilst in Koh Samui we took the opportunity to do a few trips. My favourite was zip-lining above the jungle although the snorkelling trip we took to the Angthong National Marine Park came in a close second! The Angthong National Marine Park was stunning – just like the beaches you picture Thailand to be – white sand and bright blue sea. It is an environmentally protected reserve comprising of 42 islands and is just a one-hour speedboat ride away from Koh Samui. We went kayaking, snorkelling and climbed lots of hills for the great photo opportunities! Our time in Koh Samui came to end far too quickly and we are already planning our next trip!