Blog — The Tipsy Gypsies

Aside from its rich culture and architecture, Siem Reap has one of the best drinking scenes in South East Asia. The most famous (or infamous) place to get drinks in Siem Reap is of course, Pub Street. Pub Street is exactly what it sounds like, a street full of pubs, but also some restaurants and massage parlors. Most of the bars on Pub Street are known for their cheap buckets, a mix of terrible bottom shelf alcohol and your choice of soda. A 20 year old backpackers paradise. Buckets are a fun and fast way to get drunk but sometimes you might want something a little more sophisticated. Every bar on Pub Street is offering the “best happy hour” in town and it can be hard to decided where to go. 

So we did the work. We drank A LOT. The Tipsy Gypsies got completely drunk (again), and although Pub Street is great, we also discovered a lot outside its neon glow. Therefor we’ve created this list of our favorite bars in Siem Reap, on and beyond Pub Street.

“You see we never ever drink

Nice and easy

We always DRINK nice and hard

We started the night nice and easy but finished it hard”

(thanks Tina Turner “Proud Mary”)

Miss Wong

One of our favorites, Miss Wong has the best central location. It is situated in a small alley, just few steps away from the madness of the Pub Street, which is way more relaxing and classy.  Miss Wong is well know amongst locals and tourists, and it is well worth the visit not only for drinks but also the elegant atmosphere.  

We arrived at Miss Wong around 6pm, just when the bar opened and things were just coming to life. We were immediately impressed by the gorgeous interior: high ceilings, crimson red walls, glowing lanterns hanging off the ceilings, lots of paintings and moody lighting. This place is sexy! There were so many great details in this bar and our eyes were constantly traveling up and down the walls discovering new trinkets.

We were greeted by the super cool owner of the bar Dean, who is an expat from New Zealand and has been living in Cambodia for the last 12 years. Dean opened and designed the bar himself 8 years ago. The design is based on a paining that the owner’s grandmother had in her home back in New Zealand. The painting is of Miss Wong, a beautiful, mysterious woman painted by a Russian artist, who became famous for his prints of Chinese ladies he painted. The painting was a great inspiration for an asian theme speakeasy and it also reminded him of his home.

When Miss Wong opened the idea was to offer something different from the popular and cheap buckets of alcohol. The owner wanted to serve a top shelve alcohol to his clients, but 8 years ago that was a problem in Siem Reap. The better quality liquor had to be imported and was very expensive. That is why he decided to infuse his his own alcohol. Dean’s background is in biochemistry, and when you taste his infused vodkas you can tell that he knows his craft. The infused vodkas, also used in mixed drinks, are very unique flavors like Tom Yum (yes the famous Thai Soup), cardamon or pepper. Vodka has never tasted better!

The Tipsy Gypsies recommend:

Mixed drinks:

Jen Queens Ang-Pau

Jen Queen Year of the Cocktail

Apricot & Kaffir Lime Martini

Spiced Bloody Mary

The Elbow

Shots:

Pepper infused vodka

cardamon rose gin

Tom Yum Gin (so pretty much all of them)

They also serve delicious appetizers. Pictured below: dim sum

Georges Rhumerie

This place is all about rum, but not just any rum. This rum is made in house and to make it even better, it’s all infused. This place is a MUST try in Siem Reap!

We arrived to Georges Rhumerie by rickshaw around 8pm and the place was not very busy. Perhaps because G.R  is located a bit “outside” of the tourist zone (aka away from Pub Street), and is why this place is not super crowded. If you want to hang out with some awesome expats and stay away from the crazy drunken tourists of Pub Street, this bar is great! The rickshaw ride was only $3 and it was totally worth the cruise outside downtown. Also, don’t worry about getting back to your hotel. They have trusted rickshaw drivers waiting outside so when the bar is finally closed, they will help you get home safely. And after this journey through rum heaven, we definitely needed some assistance getting back.

We sat at the outdoor bar area, which is very casual, but if you need AC they also have an indoor restaurant. The relaxed atmosphere, very friendly bartenders, who joke around and talk with the customers is probably why so many expats (and us), love to hang out here. 

Our bartender served us a flight of rum shots to start with. The flight was 10 different infused rums, and if you think we can tell you what was our favorite, we would have to say all of them! We definitely recommend this sampling experience as all of the flavors are wonderfully unique.

We desperately needed to eat something after our “little” sampler of rums, so we ordered a delicious appetizers plate of samoussa, bouchon, baida and crackers with home-made delicious jams! Trust us, you will want to snack on something while you’re sipping on one of their many delicious concoctions. The snacks were well paired with the drinks and we never thought that jam and crackers would go so well with rum, but we swear it’s worth it!

We don’t know when to say no to alcohol, and so when our bartender suggested that we try some of their cocktails we ordered not one, but two: Bokator and George’s Grog, both very delicious, refreshing and light. 

Our master bartender, Houern, who was entertaining us the whole night told us that the staff likes to create their own drinks, and if they are popular they end up on the menu. He mixed us his latest creation, which was not yet listed on the menu, and we hope it has since been added because it was absolutely fantastic. It was hands down one of the best cocktails we’ve ever tasted. He called it a “Svay” or “Mango cocktail” ( ingredients: mango rum, mango juice, mint syrup, lime juice, milk). If you visit Georges you must try this cocktail!

Park Hyatt

The Park Hyatt is probably the most gorgeous hotel in Siem Reap, and we had the privilege of staying with them. We highly recommend that you go to and splurge at least one night with them and have a drink either on their patio surrounded by fire pits, enjoying a traditional dance performance (check schedule) or you can sip a cocktail in their gorgeous ‘living room” lounge, decorated with pinks sofas, fresh lotus flowers, dimmed lights and soft music playing in the background. The design alone is worth the $10 plus drinks.

If you time your visit right, the traditional Cambodian dance performance is absolutely spectacular. Just sit in the patio and enjoy your drink and the show.

The Tipsy Gypsies recommend:

New York Sour

 Singapore Sling

Hemingways Diary

Victoria Angkor

This hotel has a great pool and if the day is hot, which is almost always the case in Siem Reap, there is no better way to cool down than by the pool while sipping on ice cold drinks. The best time to go is for brunch on the patio, overlooking the pool area or directly by the pool under umbrellas. There is also a bar inside the hotel and their drinks are very good, but there isn’t much night life going on. 

The Tipsy Gypsies recommend:

Frozen Coconut Mojito

Passion Daiquiri

Mango “Caviar” Fizz

Angkor What?

Did we mention the buckets? Angkor What? is a very popular, if not the most popular bar in Siem Reap and it would be wrong not to mention it. It was probably our least favorite bar because it’s a bit loud. Every time we went there to meet with friends they were blasting obnoxious music. We are not saying they should change what they are doing, just keep this is mind. If you are planning on conversing with friends at this bar, forget about it. But if you want to get some cheap buckets and dance your ankles off, this is the right place for you. Angkor What? is located on Pub Street and with it’s grungy design and cheap drinks, it obviously attracts a younger crowd. The buckets are large and strong so be prepared to get shit faced or make some friends to share it with. And lastly, don’t wear anything white as all those “invisible” stains will be shinning bright in their black lights. 

“The more I drink, the better I write and the more I write the better I drink.”

Disclaimer: We make sure to have at least few drinks before we start to write any bar or drink reviews! Because who wants to write about drinking when you’re sober?

Cheers!

We spent 4 days in Hong Kong and although the rainy weather was beautiful in the city, it made shooting a bit difficult so I didn’t get as much footage as I hoped. Regardless, we had an amazing time and can’t wait to visit again.

The Tipsy Gypsies Cruisin’. Illustrated and animated by Felix Roos.

It was nearly Christmas Eve and we were four months into our journey through India. We had arrived in southern India in the state of Kerala, famous for its backwaters and we had reached the point in our trip where we felt like we’d seen enough temples, tombs and forts for a lifetime. We had run out of the “Top 10” same (bullshit) things to do and we needed some serious balance of sightseeing and real adventure. So after much discussion, we decided to ask Santa for a rickshaw. This is the story of how we managed to explore nearly half the length of India in a rickshaw and not kill ourselves while doing it. 

After a few days of frantically trying to buy a rickshaw and an additional 5 days of finalizing the paperwork, fixing major mechanical issues and pimping our rickshaw, we were finally ready to leave Kochi on new years and start our wild road trip. We had no plan of how far to drive or where, so we just picked a direction and started driving north. These are our favorite places that we visited in our rickshaw.

Alleppey, Kerala

This is the famous backwaters country of South India. You can rent a houseboat for few hours and cruise around or sleep on the boat, which is what we did and highly recommend it. If you show up last minute during the middle of the week or off season, you can negotiate a pretty decent price for an overnight stay.

These traditional wooden houseboats with thatched roofs, were traditionally used to transport various materials and people. It was also the fastest way of transportation between the 5 lakes connected by canals. Nowadays the house boats are a big hit and a big tourist attraction. Staying overnight on a houseboat can get quite pricey, especially during the high season. Because we booked same day, we paid about 7,000 rupees for the whole boat, which is extremely cheap since it was around the holidays. Typically these boats cost anywhere from 15,000 to 50,000 per night.

We left the main harbor around 3pm to cruise and watch the sunset on the backwater. The boat was very comfortable and the crew was extremely nice and cooked us amazing Kerala style food. At night the boat parked on a quiet bank of the backwaters, far from the other boats we watched the stars and drank beers until the stars got blurry. 

In the morning we enjoyed a few more hours watching the sunrise, drinking hot chai and eating spicy Kerala style breakfast with eggs, appam (coconut pancakes), sambar (vegetable and lentil stew) and fruit.

Munnar, Kerala

Munnar is absolutely breathtaking and its hills are covered with vibrant tea plants. Many of the tea plantations in Munnar were started by the British, who loved this region for it’s cool climate and natural beauty.

A lot of the Indian tea is still produced here. Every time we drove through the hills we could hear the clipping sound of the fresh tea being cut. It also smells incredible! 

Munnar is situated in the Western Ghants mountain range with an altitude of 1,600 meters (5,200 ft), so getting there in the rickshaw was not easy, but it was absolutely worth it. We spent 2 days driving around the tea plantations and visiting the hill stations. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any plantations that offered tea tastings, which was odd, but if you want to taste the regional tea you can visit the Munnar Tea Museum.

Karnataka

Not many people know that the state of Karnataka has some of the most beautiful beaches in India. We were shocked how pristine and remote the beaches were here. This is also probably the only place in India where the beaches have white sand. This coastline is not developed and you can only see small local huts near the beach and there are not many places to stay near the beach We found one hotel with a beach view near Mattu village, but the security guard turned us away. We returned to the hotel the next day and insisted on speaking to the manager. Eventually the manager told us the same thing, that they were booked and they didn’t have any future available dates. It was a very strange response. Perhaps we weren’t welcome because of our unusual form of transportation and we didn’t meet their typical guest profile. We will never know. Honestely it was for the best because we would never stay in a place that is so snobbish.

When we asked the locals on the road about some simple guest houses they mentioned one but we couldn’t find it. The nearby town Udupai (about 15km away), has plenty of accommodations though. We slept there and we hung out on the beach for few hours the next morning before we left

One day we would love to come back to Karnataka with a tent and sleep on the beach near Mattu.

Our favorite area was the stretch from Kapu till the end of the peninsula. The beaches on the peninsula are absolutely amazing and unlike anywhere else you will see in India!

Goa

Goa was probably the easiest place for us to drive our rickshaw. This state is one of the busiest tourist destinations in India and at the same time is very laid back. Most of people who live or work here are in the tourist industry, therefore, are accustomed to western habits like the love of strong coffee, eating pizza, women in bikinis or women driving a rickshaw for that matter. Just kidding about the women driving rickshaw, that still totally freaked everybody out.

 We drove through many towns in Goa and here some of the places that we liked the most.

Palolem: A Hippy’s Paradise

Palolem seems to attract mostly young hippy types and for some reason lots of Israelis. Tourists come here for yoga and spiritual trainings, to master fire dancing and hula-hoop skills. Palolem is one of the most westernized small towns in India that we have visited. You can actually eat an authentic pizza here at Magic Italy restaurant, drink perfectly brewed coffee, that has not been diluted and sweetened with 10 spoons of sugar, from Mika Mocha. The beach in Palolem is very popular during the day with people trying to sell you boat rides and at night the atmosphere is quite charming with candle lit tables on the sand and fresh seafood being grilled. With no shortage of places to eat on the beach, we always tried to time our dinner around sunset so we could take in the amazing view. 

Agonda: the Holly Cow beach

Agonda is the smaller and more quiet sister of Palolem. There are a few decent restaurants on the main road and the guest houses seem to be the cheapest here. We rented a bungalow, on the beach for 800 rupees/12 USD. The beaches although less crowded and relaxing are full of cow shit, so be careful where you walk, especially at night. If you want something even more remote, visit the nearby Cola beach, which is gorgeous.

Morjim: a Russian Paradise

We actually like Morjim a lot mostly because the wide and well kept beaches and the sunsets are incredible!

Although this area used to be known as a heavy party town, it seems like things have changed these days. We had a relaxing stay at Xaviers with their restaurant and great food situated right on the beach (the service is a bit slow, but the food was worth the wait). At Xavier’s, they also screen movies every night, but in Russian. Morjim is a popular tourist destination for many Russians and almost everything has been translated into Russian including menus in the restaurants and movies, which have a Russian voice over. We heard some rumors from the locals that a while ago this town was owned by the Russian mafia. It has since changed and nowadays you will come across many Indian and western tourists who don’t know how to order from a Russian menu.

Malvan, Maharastra

Malvan has a really special place in our hearts. We first came to this town before we started the rickshaw road trip and we fell in love with it’s people and atmosphere. We’ve made some very good friends, ate some amazing food and so we had to come back for more.

Unlike touristy Goa, the beaches in Malvan are almost empty. You wont find any obnoxious, loud bars on the beach here, but you are welcome to chill with a cold brew. 

Malvan is known for it’s unique blend of spices and the seafood is great here. This town has the best Thali restaurant that we have tasted in all of India.  The name of the restaurant is Love kick and it is run by the Kirtane family. We ate there everyday. The Veg Thali came with a fresh green leafy salad mixed with raw coconut, chana with a unique mix of coconut, aloo (potatoes) mixed with cabbage and a sol curry, which is to die for! Sol curry, also known as Solkadi, is a popular Konkani curry made from coconut and kokum fruit. It is a staple of Malvan, eaten with rice or drank after a meal. It’s mildly sour flavor and light texture not only tasted delicious but it helps your mouth cool off from the spices and also helps with digestion. So many benefits from one fruit!

If you are polite when you arrive, the owner of the Love Kick restaurant will help you with a secret BYOB section. You might have to sit in the VIP room, aka the back of the house, so nobody sees you drinking. Also please don’t embarrass us by asking for a fork. Make sure you eat your Thali like it was meant to be eaten, with your hands!

Besides the food and beaches in Malvan, you can visit the Sindhudurg Fort by a small boat, buy some fresh fish from the market in the early morning, and make sure you try the local drink made from coconuts called Madi.

But most importantly, make sure you make some friends. The Malvan people are some of the best we have ever met! 

If you come to Malvan we INSIST you stay at Vicky’s Guest House. We can’t recommend this place enough. The whole Fernandez family is so lovely and Vicky who runs the guesthouse, is the best unofficial guide in town. He will give you many tips and will go out of his way to make sure you are a satisfied customer. 

Malvan was our last stop on the rickshaw road trip. We drove about 1,500 km and we covered 4 states in two weeks. We originally planned to drive all the way to Rajasthan but at the end we had to change our travel plans and we left our rickshaw with a friend in Malvan, who helped us sell it to a local who will use it for his business. The small profit was then distributed amongst our friends who helped us along the way.

Final Thoughts

Buying and driving the rickshaw wasn’t just fun, it was also educational and eye opening. Traveling at a top speed of 40km/hr on mostly backroads gives you a perspective of India you can’t get in any other way. It doesn’t matter if you go by train, bus or car, you’re moving too fast. And there is no better ice breaker than a crazy looking rickshaw to make new friends in every town you go.

But like many things in India, driving a rickshaw can be quite dangerous. They are slow, unreliable and have questionable balance. So if you ever decide to try this, please make sure you get lots of practice beforehand and do not overestimate your or the rickshaws abilities. Vehicles drive fast and with little regard to the rules of the road so driving defensively will be your best chance of survival.

The legality of what we did is also somewhat questionable but we had no issues, even when we were pulled over by police. 

And finally, the most important take away from this trip was how humbled we were by everyone that we met. It didn’t matter what village or city we were in, when we broke down, people went out of their way to help us get back on the road. When we were lost, people gave us directions with a smile. And when we were just stopping for fun, there was always someone with the kindness and sincerity to make us feel truly welcome. 

We wish we could take the rickshaw with us to every country that we visit because the experience was so much greater. But since we can’t, we will continue to seek out other adventures that allow for these types of connections. Because to us, that is what travel is really all about. As great as the beaches or mountains are, in the end it’s always about the people. So India, we thank you for that. Thank you for welcoming us into your home and and treating us like family and thank you for teaching us what unconditional generosity really means.

We look forward to seeing you again soon!

If you have any questions about the trip or want advice on doing something similar, feel free to ask in the comments below.

There are road trips and then there are road trips… this the latter. Although merely a 3 – 4 day loop, the majestic views and the multitude of caves and villages to be explored make it a must for anyone traveling through Laos.

We at The Tipsy Gypsies have a great appreciation for temples, museums and guided tours but after so many months on the road, what really tickles our pickle, are trips that involve adventure and allows for the amazingness that is known as, The Unexpected.

Marta taking her first ride!

Although we have embarked on far more adventurous journeys such as driving a rickshaw across India, or exploring remote villages in the Himalayas, we were thoroughly excited when we arrived in the town of Thakhek and picked out our rides for this journey. Marta had never ridden a motorcycle before yet she already knew her favorite of the two wheel family, is the dirt bike. Therefor it was natural that we rent a Kawasaki 150cc for her to get her feet wet. Since this was a learning experience, we decided our second bike would be an easy, cruising, fully auto, Honda scooter. That way we could take turns on the more rugged, not designed for road trips Kawasaki, and after a few hours of ass sore, find relief on the cushony Honda cruiser.

We arrived in Thakhek late the first evening so little was to be done. But our next day we rented the dirt bike and stayed in town so Marta could get her bearings on riding the (for her petite size), beast of a two wheeler. Thakhek as a town doesn’t have much to offer but they do have a cute tiny night market at the city center square where you can sit at children size tables and nibble street goods, while watching some projected Lao soap operas.

The next day we set out early. Within minutes of leaving Thakhek you see yourself surrounded by those beautiful steep cliffs iconic to South East Asia. There are a slew of caves you can visit within the first half of your day but after our first, we decided to skip the rest.

There are a slew of caves you can visit within the first half of your day but after our first, we decided to skip the rest. They are pretty, but honestly it felt like (understandably) they were built just to attract tourists to these villages that otherwise, have nothing else. The locals we met were friendly and inviting but the cave we visited left a lot to be desired. Preferring the view from the road, we decided to just continue towards our first days end destination at the town of Thalang.

The drive was spectacular and ascending to a higher altitude, we made some steep winding climbs. Eventually you see the terrain drastically change as you pass the Nakai-Tai Damn. The landscape suddenly takes on a surreal, beautiful and yet post apocalyptic feel as you’re suddenly driving between unnatural islands formed by once-upon-a-time hilltops and surrounded by unnatural lakes filled with barren and dying trees.

The town of Thalang itself is tiny and situated on one of the hilltop-turned-islands. There are two companies operating bungalow guesthouses and although Mad Monkeys recommended the first called Phosy Thalang, we decided on the second, which is right before you cross the bridge and is called Saibadee Guesthouse. We still walked to Phosy to compare and we were very happy with our decision. We got a great but modest bungalow for 50,000 kip ($7 dollars) and the family who runs the place is awesome. Really friendly, welcoming and they do an all you can eat BBQ every night which was worth every penny of our higher than normal dinner expense of 50,000 kip/person. Everyone sits at a long communal table and it’s like having a big family cookout.

The next day we took our time and we were on the road by 9:30am. The drive out of the lake area is spectacular and eventually the terrain will change as you reach the junction town of Lak Xao. Not much to see here but a good stop for lunch if you had a light breakfast.

Beyond Lak Xao the terrain again becomes more mountainous and jungly, sprinkled with little villages and picturesque rice paddies.

About an hour out of Lak Xao, just past the town of Phontan, you will see a sign that says Pool Spring, or something to like that. This is a must stop. After hours on the dusty hot road it’s a gorgeous natural swimming hole with a vibrant blue and cool refreshing water. When we first arrived things were quiet and peaceful, but within an hour of getting there, scooter after scooter of local teens from the local school began arriving and the atmosphere turned into a spring break party. We weren’t sure if this was a normal, every day occurrence or school was out for holiday or summer… but regardless, we were happy we got there before the music started blasting. No stress to us though because it was time to hit the road again as we still had another 150km and a hike ahead of us before the day was done.

Eventually you make another climb and then finally a descent into a massive valley. The viewpoint you’ll pass as you descend is totally worth a stop. After you finish your decent you’ll reach the town of Nahim, which mainly exists for the large hydro plant in town. But just past the turn you’ll later make to head to Konglor, is a trailhead and a hike to a waterfall (also clearly marked). There is an entrance fee of 10,000 kip and it’s a beautiful 1.5-3km hike depending on where you park, but we were so bummed when we reached the waterfall.

We did this hike in April, which is not the rainy season so the waterfall was merely a trickle. Nonetheless we were still grateful to find a swimming pool large enough for us to cool off before heading back.

After the hike we hit the road fast and furious to make our final stop for the day before the sun went down. This was honestly my favorite part of the day’s trip. The road into Konglor is spectacular as you pass through farming village after farming village. And as the walls of the valley grew narrower and narrower, it only became more spectacular. If you can time this  part of the ride during dusk you won’t regret it. I was smiling from ear to ear at the scenery, back dropped by the pastel colors of the famous Laos setting sun.

We arrived at the end of the road and the town of Konglor, right as it got dark. And we scoped out every guesthouse in town. We can say with certainty, stay in the very first one! The rooms again are only 50,000 kip, which is cheaper than most, and spotlessly clean. Their menu left a little to be desired but you can easily walk to any of the other guesthouses, or the one restaurant in town for dinner.

The next morning we were out by 8:30 and heading to the ferry dock for the main attraction on this trip: the Konglor Cave. Although we had grown less than enthusiastic about the previous caves, this one is worth every penny. And if you share the boat with the max passenger capacity of three, that’s pretty much what this awesome experience will cost you (2,000 kip into the park and 130,000 kip for the boat, which you can divide by the three passengers).

The Tipsy Gypsies Tip: Caution, you will get a little wet and have to walk in some water so bring flip-flops if you have them. If not, you can rent them.

The boat ride is amazing and takes you through the massive 7km long cave, out the other side and then back again. Aside from one small Disneyland, gimmicky section where they’ve lit the cave with colorful lights, your only light source is your headlamp. As you emerge from the other side you’re greeted by lush green jungles and even if only for a moment, you and your two companions feel like real explorers. After a quick break and a cold Laobeer at the other ferry dock, you head back and experience it for a second time. After saying goodbye to our awesome guide and momentary fellow explorer, it was time to hit the road again.

From this point you have two options. Head back the way you came, which takes most people an additional two days, or do what we did because of time, continue the last section of the loop, which connects to the main highway and speeds you back to Thakhek.

Final view before descending towards the main highway.

Our recommendation, if you have the time, head back the way you came. Although we hit a couple amazing and quite memorable viewpoints before reaching the main highway, once you get to the busy road, the ride sucks. It’s dangerous and nothing to see. Buses, trucks and cars will fly past you and you’ll be bound to have a few heart attacks along the way.

Needless to say, we were all smiles when we got back to Thakhek. After two weeks of “sight seeing”, it gave us at least a little adrenaline boost and reinvigorated our travel spirits. And on top of that, Marta is now a motorcycle rider! I must say I’m extremely proud of my wife for yet again, wanting to do something ambitious, and kicking ass at it. At a height of 5’1”, a 150cc bike is the MAXIMUM size she can fit on. Her feet barely touched the ground, yet she took it on fearlessly and with determination. I can’t wait to see her ride a bike more her size as I know she will love it even more.

In Thakhek, we were thoroughly pleased with our experience renting from Mad Monkey who had great customer service and good prices. We were also happy with our stay at the Thakhek Travel Lodge, offering dorm rooms, affordable simple doubles as well as some more upscale rooms if you want something a bit nicer after the long ride.

Two important notes. First, if you are trying to decide between this loop and the Pakse, choose this one! Although we have not done both our selves, we talked to multiple long term riders who have done both and they say the Thakhek Loop wins hands down. Second, if you read some of the other popular blog posts on this loop, most are completely outdated in pictures and details. For example, the loop is now completely paved! We were expecting major sections of road to be dirt and muddy but aside from small side roads to reach caves and swimming holes, the main route is as smooth as butter.

We can’t wait for our next two-wheeler road trip, maybe South America??? Maybe sooner??? Who knows, so stay tuned!

If you have any questions or think we missed something awesome from your trip, please share in the comments below!

One of the biggest struggles for us backpackers, is that you can’t buy any cool handcrafted souvenirs to bring home with you. Our backpacks always seem to be too small and too damn heavy. But we have a solution for all y’all. Look for portable and consumable souvenirs like… alcohol!

On our recent trip to Luang Prabang in Laos, we went to the night market and found some awesome rice wine sold by a local lady. She was sitting on a floor matt between other vendors, who were selling the typical tourist tchotchkes like t-shirts, statues and clothes, which we don’t care for too much. She made us an offer we couldn’t refuse; a free tasting. We tried a couple bottles of different wines and we decided to purchase a small bottle of the most mild flavored fermented rice wine.

The taste was unique and it reminded us of the health drink called kombucha. If you love kombucha you will like this wine. Naturally, rice wine tastes excellent with asian food. We got a bowl of spicy noodle soup and drank the wine with it. It was delicious! 

This rice wine was easy to drink. It is alway dangerous when alcohol tastes like juice because it’s hard to know when to stop! If you’re ever in Luang Prabang give it a try and you won’t regret it.

Cheers!

Bangkok is a modern city thriving with culture, art, music, food and anything else you could ask for. 

When we landed in Thailand’s capital we didn’t even know where we were going to stay. The trip happened so spontaneously we hadn’t figured out any details. Luckily our good friends and fellow bloggers HandZaround were already there, and they booked us a room in a great little hotel where they were already staying called Eco House. Small but clean and private rooms with shower go for 500 baht or $15 in a great central location. 

The Tipsy Gypsies Tip: If you’re traveling through SE Asia, Agoda.com is your best source for online bookings. Better deals can always be arranged in person, but unlike India or Europe Agoda beats Booking.com on prices almost every time.

The Tipsy Gypsies Tip: Public transport is an easy and convenient option but it doesn’t always work out to be the cheapest here depending on where you are going and how many you are traveling with. Auto Tuk Tuks are a must try experience in Bangkok with their neon lights and lavish decorations but also know that Uber is available. Sometimes you don’t want to haggle or have to explain your final destination so having this option is nice. And unlike many other countries, we tested and found that normal taxis were typically the same price as an Uber so don’t be afraid to flag one down either.

Our arrival in Bangkok was unlike many others foreigners experience, as we had just come from nearly 6 months in India. Most people who arrive in Thailand from the west feel overwhelmed with exotic and foreign excitement. We felt like we had just returned to the U.S… and that was a good thing! As our other blogging friends YesKamp once said, Thailand is “Asia Light”. 

The city was so clean, organized and people actually followed the rules of the road! We saw our sheets were actually clean when we checked into our budget hotel. We couldn’t believe it!

All the stress, that had built up from the awesome insanity of our previous adventures in India melted away instantly. 

Having been on the road so long we skipped many of Bangkok’s “must do’s”. Bangkok has more beautiful temples than you could ever want to visit. And having filled our thirst for temples months ago, we agreed to visit one but that was it.

We visited Wat Pho with two amazing new friends Karol and Agnieszka from Poland we had met at our hotel. The temple is absolutely beautiful. The architecture and the giant statue of sleeping Buddha are breathtaking. It’s a huge temple too so if temples get you hot and bothered, there is plenty to explore at Wat Pho. But again, we’ve already seen so many temples in India, we pretty much dine and dashed.

What made us fall in love with Bangkok was the street food. From Chinatown to Chotochok weekend market (both must do’s), to a hundred others we can’t remember the name of or didn’t have time to visit, there is an endless supply of new and exciting markets and dishes to try. 

The Tipsy Gypsies Tip: Spend an evening in Chinatown stuffing your face with as many dishes and beers that you can manage, and then proceed to digest your horrendously gluttonous consumption with an hour long foot massage for 150 baht or about $4.

The Tipsy Gypsies Tip: People touching your feet not your thing? Then after eating, settle down at Chinatown’s Soulbar for a drink at let the sweet jazz melodies serenade you.

Our next activity is not something you necessarily need to do in Bangkok, but we do feel it’s a must at some point during your trip. The Thai cooking class in an awesome experience if you are a fan of Thai food. From going to the markets to learning about the ingredients, to making your own curry paste to finally cooking and eating your freshly made dishes will most definitely inspire your cooking creativity for when you get home. We went, per a friends recommendation, to Sompong Thai Cooking School and they were fantastic. The teachers were really friendly and spoke great English. For a budget traveller it was a little pricey at about $30 per person, but we found it worth the cost. 

with Hanna and Zach from HandZaround travel blog

Our last great adventure was again, thanks to our friends HandZaround. They had interviewed a local artist who was also in charge of what are known as Trasher parties. These are events thrown in large venues for Bangkok’s LGBT community and they are awesome. Through a special invite we all attended one of their concerts and it was an amazing night. Gay, straight or anything in between, the people and community are amazing and we highly recommend you see if an event is happening when you are there as you’ll have the best night partying possible.

After recovering from our Trasher party hangover we said goodbye to our new friends and headed south for amazing island adventures you can read about here. Bangkok is most definitely a city worth exploring as it has a lot to offer before you head to the beautiful Thai countryside.

We look forward to visiting this city again some day and can’t wait to discover what else it has to offer. 

KL, short for Kuala Lumpur, is a modern city full of tall skyscrapers, shopping malls and surprisingly, a small population. But between the new modern skyline, there are also some old treasures that allow you to take a look into the past of this fast growing city. Here are our recommendations as well as some things we tried but think you can probably skip.

The Petronas Twin Towers

These towers need no introduction and are an obvious stop to anyone visiting the city, but we had to mention them because they’re f*#king amazing. We went to see the Petronas Towers multiple times on our stay in KL. That is how beautiful they are. They are particularly magnificent at night with the lights showcasing the truly stunning architectural design. Also at night, the KLCC park behind the towers, has a colorful fountain show much like Bellagio in Vegas.

The best free view of the towers is from the Grand Hyatt KL located at Grand Hyatt KL, Jalan Pinang, KL. Just take the elevator to the 39th floor and enjoy the beautiful view of the Towers. 

The towers themselves have an interesting history when you read about the design, construction and some significant obstacles that almost stopped the entire construction because of a poor site selection and a batch of bad concrete at one of the towers. Needless to say, we’re happy that all these hurdles were overcome because it was truly a memorable experience.

The Tipsy Gypsies Tip:  Public transportation is a great way to get around the city. We used the monorail to get to all the tourist sites and it’s quite cheap.  You can also use Uber and another similar app GrabCar, which is more popular in Asia.

Kampung Baru

Kampung Baru is the last village in KL city with low rise, traditional Malay homes. The village is very controversial because of the aggressive construction that is happening in the neighborhood. Unfortunately it won’t be much longer before the value of this prime property outweighs the value of the locals lively hood and they will be forced out. The land is said to be worth more than 1 billion dollars. It has been an ongoing and a difficult fight between the owners of the land trying to preserve it and the government having different plans, so despite the protests, it’s disappearing fast. 

Visiting the Kampung Baru was the highlight and most fun tourist activity we did in the city. We joined a great free walking tour hosted by the mayors office. The guide was excellent, spoke perfect english and knew everybody in the neighborhood. It was more like walking around a new town with a local friend, who knows all the cool spots and whom you could ask everything. It was partially a cultural, historical and culinary trip. Kampung Baru is also famous for it’s night market. We stopped to try many traditional Malay delicacies for free. Sometimes it can be intimidating to order foreign food, but not with a native who will tell you what you are eating.

We definitely recommend you register for this free tour with Jalan- Jalan @ Kampong Bharu. The tours are every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday.

The Tipsy Gypsies Tip: We actually almost stayed in Kampung Baru village because we’ve read so many great things about it. There is a nice guest house there called Bagasta that is not quite the cheapest for a budget traveler (about $25/night), but our tour guide confirmed it’s worth the stay. They have a roof top patio with an amazing view of the towers and there is tons of great food within walking distance.

China Town

Chinatown in KL is like every other chinatown in the world, except probably for China. Even during a hot day it was crowded with people and many vendors selling the same cheap junk: iphone cases, fake gucci bags etc. However, the most disappointing was the food. It wasn’t terrible but definitely not the best and there were few options compared to other food markets. If you are a foodie, there is way better to be found.

If you’re staying near Chinatown then you might as well check it out, otherwise we would not recommend going there.

The Tipsy Gypsies Tip: Despite our lack of enthusiasm, Chinatown is great for cheap hotels and in general is a good central location. If you are planning on staying in Chinatown we’ve read the Lantern Hotel is nice and moderately priced. We walked by it on our visit. It is located in the heart of Chinatown right next to the market, and it looked very hip from the exterior.

Bukit Bintang

Bukit Bintang is the new trendy neighborhood where the “cool” kids hang out. It has everything teenagers love: big shopping malls, mini malls, cute cafes and trendy bars. Unaware of all these “great things”, we stayed in this neighborhood and we actually loved it. It’s conveniently located right next to the most famous night market in KL, Jalan Alor and also has some very convenient metro stops nearby. This night market is a very lively place to get food and people watch. It stretches several blocks and after 7, is bustling with hungry patrons sampling all of KL’s specialties. 

Our hotel, the Hotel Paloma Inn was quiet and the staff was extremely friendly.  We’re sorry to say though if you want some decent wifi, it sucks at this hotel, so consider yourself warned.  On the other hand, the location was great. We were in close proximity to the metro, Chinatown, the night market and all the trendy western restaurants. We found this really amazing brunch spot with killer food right around the corner from us. If you are craving something fresh from the west, VCR is the place to go. We could talk for hours about how tasty the food was but on top of that, the design was cool and the crowd was hip. This might sound bad if you haven’t been away from home long, but it felt like we were eating food somewhere in the arts district in LA and for us, that was awesome. 

Brickfields, Little India

If you’ve never been to India, there’s nothing wrong with visiting Little India. But since we’d just come from India, we’re sorry to say this was probably our least favorite part of town. We went there around lunch time looking for some good Indian food but when we got to the recommended food market, all we were served were some cold flavorless “leftovers” that tasted nothing like in India.  

After lunch we wandered on the streets of little India. All we could find were the “iconic” arches painted with bright colors, a small flower market and a lot of cheap, low quality Indian clothes. 

We feel it was not worth buying the metro ticket to come here. There is supposed to be a free walking tour of this neighborhood too and we tried contacting them without any luck. If any of you ever do the free walking tour or find something cool to do in Brickfields, definitely let us know. Maybe we were lousy at finding the good stuff. 

We only had a few days in KL but we would love to come back and explore some more. There were definitely things that we missed on this trip that sounded very interesting and we would love to try them in the future. Here is our wish list we didn’t get to. If you try any of these please let us know how they are!

• Dialogue in the dark: what started as an art project by an artist, is now a life changing experience, where you walk through a complete pitch black space guided by a blind person. They also do “Dinner in the Dark.” It’s a project to make the general population aware of diversity and disability. It sounds so interest and we would loved to meet the guides.
• Go to Publika, the hipster mall, on Monday for a free movie screening.
• This Kul city discovery walk: for the next 18 months you can participate in another free walking tour of KL focusing on “specific cultural and heritage sites of the city” with guest speakers and more. This just sounds like a great way to discover the city.

Cheers!

It was a beautiful evening in the coastal town Malvan, and we were sitting at Chivala beach watching the sunset. Early on we had befriended a local fisherman named Bhi and we would see him working every day when we went to the beach. He barely spoke any english and we didn’t speak any of his local language but that didn’t stop us from having a good time. 

As we watched the sunset and sipped our freshly opened ice cold King Fishers, we heard a motorcycle pull up. It was our friend! He wanted to take us on an adventure but we had just opened our beers so we almost said no. But finally after some convincing, we agreed to go. 

We finished our beers and the two of us hopped on the back of his motorcycle. This might sound crazy outside of India but we’ve easily seen 4-5 people on one bike so this was actually quite comfortable. 

First he took us to an amazing view point where we finished watching the sunset. A place we never would have found on our own so thanks for that Bhi! But after that he took us somewhere even better. 

His bike pulled over on the side of the road and we had no idea where we were. The only thing we saw was a tiny makeshift shack. We went inside and there was a group of men sitting on the floor clearly having a good time. “Coconut juice!” they said enthusiastically. We decided to take a sip and it was absolutely delicious. It clearly tasted fermented so we asked if there was alcohol in it. “NO!” the men said in unison. But after hearing them later call it “slow poison”, and doing a little research we later learned it was definitely alcoholic. They must have meant there was no ADDED alcohol.

The drink is formally called Madi, which you can read more about here, but we definitely prefer “coconut juice” 🙂

It’s not every day that a country decides to scrap two of it’s most popular currencies, the 500 and 1000 rupee, let alone scrap them and tell everyone the night before.

Yet this is what happened to us while we were in Bombay. In order to cut down on blackmarket money and counterfeit bills, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to pull this bold move.

The government announced they would put a limit on how much cash you could turn in without imposing major penalties and fines up to 50% of your money. Luckily for us we had limited money to exchange. It still took us about an hour and half of chaos at the bank turn the old currency in.

Once we exchanged what we had, our problems weren’t over. All ATM machines were down for several days and when random ones started reopening they would have lines around the block and run out of cash within hours. On top of that, few businesses accept credit cards so needless to say we had to be careful with our money.

Almost everyone we’ve talked to here is supporting this crazy strategy despite the major inconveniences many are facing. India is largely a cash based economy so there are millions who will be affected by this including the massive wedding industry. Many families pay for the weddings in cash and spend years saving for it. The restaurants in Goa are empty because so many people canceled their trips to avoid the hassles so we’re sure the tourism industry is taking a huge hit. Also, remote poor people who live too far from a bank can have piles of cash saved up that may now be worthless.

Anyway, it was interesting to witness a country thrown into financial chaos for more than a month. Considering the stress it’s causing so many people we sure hope the long term benefit is worth it and does what their hoping. Only time will tell… 

For our last few nights in Shimla, the capital of Himachal Pradesh, we moved to a nice little hotel in the Laakar Bazaar district in order to be more central. 

The hotel was decent enough and everyone who worked there was quite nice. But there was one employee who went above and beyond the call of duty. 

He was kind of like a bellhop, but also worked in the restaurant and just kind of helped out with whatever needed to be done. As we were checking into our room he began to converse with us. “What country are you from?” “What are your names?” etc. 

He was quite nice and so we indulged in some light conversation with him. At the end he wanted a selfie with us, which isn’t unusual. We’ve taken millions at this point. But then he asked if he could meet us in the evening because he wanted to talk with us more in English.

We said okay, he left and we went on with our day. Sadly by the time we got home from touristing it was quite late and we honestly had forgotten to look for him (he was working anyway) and we went straight to our room.

The next day we saw him and there was a sad look on his face. Turns out he waited for us until midnight! We felt terrible.

We weren’t actually able to meet with him until the last day. It was actually just me (Nate), who met with him. I agreed to talk with him in the restaurant and I brought my computer armed to show him some pictures of our trip and our blog etc.

As soon as I sat down the first thing he asked me was, “can you get me a visa for the UK?” I looked at him shocked and said I was from America. He then asked if I could get him one for the U.S. Sadly, I told him I couldn’t for reasons obvious to anyone from there. I explained that the process was quite complicated and expensive and that I had no connections or authority.

After that we chatted a bit more and he insisted on giving me a gift which was quite sweet. I tried to refuse but he wouldn’t have it. He also invited us to his village to stay with him and his family and said it would be “his greatest honor”. At the very end he told me “we will be best friends and I will write you on Facebook every day”. Well he’s kept his promise. 

I’ve received messages almost every day ranging from, “how are you?” to “where are you?” to “I love you”, “I miss you” and “please come back to Shimla!”. Marta and I were a bit worried and quite shocked that we might have an actual stalker.

But since talking with other Indian friends we think it’s a combo of things. One is a “lost in translation”, two is a cultural difference, and three, he’s never been treated this way by a foreigner before. The hotel we stayed at was really a locals place where Indian tourists stay. I don’t think many westerns have stayed there. And the fact that two exotic foreigners walked in, talked with him gave him probably far more respect than Indian tourists do, he couldn’t help but wear his heart on his sleeve.

With that perspective in mind, we’re still in touch and he think he is a great guy. His messages still “weird” me out a bit but I try to remember they are coming from a good place. And although we don’t always get it, we have to say the people of India are some of the sweetest, most sincere people we have ever met. 

… and that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

It’s 3am and the alarm goes off. 

Time to get up and out the door in 15. Uber is on the way.

We load into the car and I (Nate) take a look at the driver. Something doesn’t seem right. Is he sleepy? Is he drunk? I whisper to Marta to keep her eye on his driving. No napping for us on the way to the train station because who knows what this driver could do while we’re out. 

The first half of the journey, things are fine. He’s driving a bit slow which is weird for India but he isn’t swerving or anything. We make our way onto the major freeway headed from Gurgaon to Delhi for a 5am train departure.

All of a sudden in the middle of the freeway, the driver starts slowing down. Actually more like coasting to a stop. He says nothing to us. Marta and I look at each other, then we look at him and ask, “what’s going on?”. He doesn’t look at us and he doesn’t say anything. 

My mind starts scrambling. I didn’t hear an engine noise, I didn’t hear any stutter, we just stopped. Is he trying to kidnap us? Is a van going to pull up in the dark and masked men whisk us away? Finally we start screaming at him “What’s going on?!” That wakes him up and he finally gestures that the car is broken. 

At that moment a giant semi-truck flies by in the other lane. Great. We are in the middle of the freeway, in the fast lane, in the dark, in a stalled car. I instantly think one of these giant trucks could plow into us. Not more than seconds later, BAM!!!! My life flashes before my eyes (not literally…that would have been cool though) and we look back. A motorcyclist has just hit us. The motorcyclist gets up, and is miraculously okay. I don’t think this was his first time. This is India after all where people drive INSANE! That’s when I tell Marta we have to get out of the car and onto the side of the freeway. We grab our bags, exit the uber and move to the shoulder. 

At this point 2-3 Auto Rickshaws have pulled up. They offer us rides which at first we refuse but soon we realize time is running out to catch our train, and we don’t have time to wait for another uber. So we negotiate the price, jump in the Rickshaw and he speeds us to the station just in time to catch our train.

The whole experience was so surreal and fast that it took us a few hours on the train to finally calm down and process. We were lucky this time but if that motorcyclist had been a large truck, we would probably be dead. 

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it….

After weeks of  dealing with one of the most populated cities in the word we were ready to spend some time in nature.We traded the hot and humid weather of New Delhi for the cooler temperatures of the north. Our journey begins in Shimla, the beautiful mountainous town, famous for it’s spectaculars views, friendly and hard working people and delicious organic apples. The Tipsy Gypsies are on a journey to explore the spectacular Himachal Pradesh, and more….

PART 1

Delhi to Shimla

On an early morning, we boarded a train from Delhi to Shimla. This was our first long distance train ride, and we cautiously decided to sit in an AC cart with reserved seats. We almost missed the train because we got into a car accident with a crazy uber driver, which you can ready about it here

Still shaken up after the uber drive we ran into the station a few minutes before 5:15am and just in time to catch our train. The ride was very pleasant and comfortable and perfect for catching up on sleep. 

After a few hours we arrived in a town called Kalka and boarded the Himalayan Queen “Toy Train” to Shimla. This train was very tiny, hence the name, and operated on a different, smaller track. Before we boarded the train, we were able to buy lunch and eat before we starting our long journey to Shimla.

The journey on the toy train is spectacular. You get to soak in the views for about 6 hours so get comfortable and enjoy the ride.

The train makes short stops along the way so if you get hungry there are plenty of opportunities to eat food: delicious hot samosas, snacks, and sweet chai. Food vendors will also come onto the train with chai and fresh snacks like chana chaat (garbanzo beans with onion, tomatoes, chilis and fresh lime juice).

The boonies of Shimla

Shimla is a popular destination, therefore not the cheapest for budget travelers like us. We decided to stay in a hotel called “Snowflake Cottage”, located 9 kilometers outside the town, which turned out to be a good decision. The following day in a desperate search for beer, we explored a small town nearby, Mashobra, on foot. It was a walk worth the adventure despite the rain that got us soaking wet. Here are some things we got see while walking along the road.

The advantage of staying outside the city was that the hotel was cheaper, but the negative was that getting to the city was not so cheap. We knew that the taxi would be around 500 rupees one way, which was almost half of what we spent on the hotel. We had to come up with another plan for transportation.

We asked the front desk for help. They reluctantly said that buses do exist, but they don’t recommend it. Perhaps they wanted us to use the paid taxi service (commission for the hotel) or they were just confused why two white kids would want to ride the locals bus. Of course, we decided to try the bus.

The local buses can get crowded in seconds, with people transporting all sorts of things: packages, propane bottles (totally illegal and dangerous), farm animals, but you are almost guaranteed to fit no matter how many people are inside. Seldom do tourists use public transportation. If you are a foreigner traveling on a local bus you will be the talk of all the conversations for probably weeks. We learned the the local buses are a lot fun, fast (sometimes too fast), and very cheap. Locals are very helpful so don’t be afraid to ride the crazy bus.

The Tipsy Gypsies Tip: The bus will stop pretty much anywhere you want. When you are stacked in the back of the bus and you want to make the bus to stop, just whistle.

Touristing in Shimla

First things first, coffee is a must. We went to the old school coffeeshop “Indian Coffee House”, where waiters wear cool outfits and the coffee is decent and you can grab some snacks before you explore the rest of the city.

Also they have a restroom and toilette paper!! It’s a luxury in India.

Jakhoo, Monkey Temple

Hindus worship animals, cows being the holiest of them all. For a semi-vegan, this sounds like a great religion. We decided to visit the Jakkhoo temple, which is dedicated to the monkey god Hanuman.

Jakhoo temple is located on top of a hill. Either we are out of shape or this is a really steep climb. Before you start the walk make sure you’ve had some coffee and bring plenty of water with you. Once you get to the top, the atmosphere is amazing. Architecturally, the design of the temple itself is ok, but there are mischievous monkeys running around the whole place, which was the most fun part about this place. 

Beware of the monkeys

Seeing monkeys in the wild was something very new to us, so naturally we got very excited. However, the monkeys are clever with the dumb tourists, so here is the thing. They are very cute and extremely smart. We “played” around with them, taking pictures and watching them, and we got very comfortable maybe too comfortable… it’s hard to resist them, just take a look.

Just when we started to leave one of the monkeys tried to steal the scarf of my (Marta’s) backpack. The monkey was screaming and I was screaming. Fortunately for me, my scarf was tide to my backpack so the monkey ran away empty handed.

The Tipsy Gypsies Tips: Lesson #1 put all your loose shit away (sunglasses, scarfs, phones, cameras!!) because they will try to snatch it from you. These guys are smart and once they steal your stuff they will try to bribe you to bring them food and trade for your belongings. Yes, this sounds crazy but it is true. There is a chance that if you have some tasty snacks they will return your stuff to you, but unfortunately it might be in poor condition.

Advanced Studies aka Rashtrapati

This is a beautiful classical structure built by the British in the 1800’s. Don’t bother with the tour of the interior because it sucks. Since there is still an interior designer in me, I love learning about the interior architecture and we decided to tour the interior. This tour was really lame. The guide knew English, but during the tour spoke Hindi language only. We spent about 5 min in each room. The guide told us to read the pamphlets in the rooms (as long as the Lord of the Rings) and ask him questions if we have any. Mhhh ok, thanks. So we recommend that you do your own research on the history of the place, and spend as much time as you can around the gardens surrounding the building. 

Food Porn

After the hike we sure got hungry. We decided to hit as many food stalls as possible

Snack #1 Veggie Samosa burger from SITA Ram and Son

Snack #2 Gravy and Ghawna (pancake)  from SITA Ram and Son

Snack #2 Chinese noodles Indian Style

After Shimla, we originally planned to travel to the Ladakh region, but winter was approaching rapidly and we weren’t prepared for the snow and freezing weather. We decided to journey through the Spiti Valley loop instead, but there was one catch. Foreigners need a permit to visit this region. The bureau of tourism in Shimla said they couldn’t help us with the permit, and we needed to go to Manali. So guess where we are going next? …Read part 2, Manali and Inner Line Permit coming soon…

Marrakesh has been called the Jewel of the South, Paris of Africa or simply the Red City. Marrakesh is unquestionably the most exciting city in Morocco that you should visit. Here are some Tips from The Tipsy Gypsies that hopefully will inspire you to go!

Jemaa el Fnaa aka The Big Square

Jemaa el Fnaa, is a busy and chaotic city center square, which is often referred to as “The Big Square”. It is the most recognized landmark in Marrakesh. Jemaa el Fnaa is where it all begins and ends. Moroccan men standing on the street will constantly try to “guide” you to his shop. If you come here in the evening, you will see many exotic things for tourists like snake charmers, monkeys dressed in doll clothes, henna artists and food vendors but what you can not see in the pictures is the music of the African drums, pipes and the smell of the energy and intensity that this place has. Also from here you can enter the maze of souks. 

The Tipsy Gypsies Tip: Jemaa el Fnaa is also a tourist trap, so watch out for people placing monkeys or snakes on your shoulder for a picture. You will need to pay for it. If you actually want a picture like that make sure you clearly ask for the price first. We witnessed one of the snake charmers telling our friend it was 40 dirham for a picture and then he demanded 400. She ended up paying 100, which was still a rip of.

The Tipsy Gypsies Tip:  If you find yourself lost in the small streets of the medina, ask any shop owner for directions but never ask the guys on the street. These guys are fake “guides” and all they do is try to confuse you. Many of them work in groups and if you get far from a familiar area you will have no choice but to pay them a hefty fee to walk you out to a familiar area. You might get scammed and pay some money to find your way out but in general the city is safe. 

Souks

Laa Shukran , which translates into “No, thank you”, is the most common phrase uttered by tourists in the souks.  In Marrakesh “No” means “Maybe”. It can be a little intense at first walking through the souks and being bombarded with the vendors trying to sell you whatever is in their store. We learned to say ” Maybe…later”, which for some reason worked much better to stop the aggressive salesman from approaching us.

Another thing you need to learn is to bargain in the souks and in Morocco in general. Don’t feel uncomfortable because it is apart of the culture here. Otherwise you might as well say, “take all my money!”. Bargaining is like playing a game and you need to be patient. It might take some time, so don’t shop right before a dinner reservation. Marrakesh is the best place to shop for handmade everything: textiles, fashion, house decorations, art etc. and it is totally worth buying some beautiful and unique crafts from here.

The Tipsy Gypsies Tip: We traveled to Fez, Chefchaouen, Tangier and hands down Marrakesh has the best tourist shopping in Morocco. We also found the prices in Marrakesh to be better compared to the other cities.

 The souks are divided into sections based on the type of craftsmanship. Below are some examples:

Rugs & Textiles

Moroccan rugs are very famous for a good reason. They are handmade, beautifully designed and are great quality. There are a few kinds of rugs you can buy here: sheep wool (the most common), camel wool (expensive) and silk rugs (also pricey). Each rug is unique because the pattern slightly differs depending on the person who made it. Many of these traditional rugs are made by organizations that hire women who are widowed or divorced and otherwise would not have the opportunity to work. But the sad truth is there are also many who claim to sell products made in a co-op but are just trying to overcharge sympathetic tourists so be wary. The Tipsy Gypsies visited one of these co-ops and we learned that rug making is a very hard work. Not only is it strenuous on the back, but it also requires intensive eye focus which is very tiring. For that reason one person will spend only few hours a day making a rug. 

Below are examples of the Moroccan wedding blankets. Traditionally women receive and wear these on their wedding day, but they also look fabulous as a wall decoration or bed spread. 

The spice market

If you have a rash, can’t sleep, you’re missing an arm or your wife/husband is cheating on you, the spice market is the place where you can find a cure. We hope you don’t suffer from all the above because it can get expensive. The spice market is full of spices obviously aromatics and “magic” herbs, cosmetics and tea. You can also buy the famous aragon oil here (be careful because the cheap ones are diluted). In general whether you believe in the super powers of herbs or not, it’s fun to try them out. The vendors are great at explaining what they are used for. 

Blacksmith: lanterns, lamps, trinkets, teapot etc

The Tipsy Gypsies Tip: If you wan to buy a metal teapot for use make sure you select the “heavy weight” one. The light weight teapots are used for decorations. A good quality teapot of smaller size, should be around 150 dirham.

Leather: shoes, bags, puffs and anything leather.

Leather shoes are particularly famous in Morocco. You can get a custom pair of slippers made for about $10-20. We asked for vegan, faux leather shoes, and they actually wanted to sell to us fox shoes(jk).

It is so fascinating to see the whole process of manufacturing in Morocco. For example the leather comes from animals that are butchered, the meat is used for cooking and after that the leather is prepared and auctioned in the morning time and sold to a leather vendor who sells it to the different leather goods makers, like a shoemaker.  The finished product is then sold to the stores. It’s a lot of middle-men, but that way everyone makes a bit of money and has a job. Btw nothing goes to waste in Morocco. Even the scraps from leather instead of being trashed are used to make cool bracelets, key chains and other small decorations.

Hammam

Forget the Swedish massage. When you come to Morocco you must try hammam. Hamman is a bath house with steam rooms where you can get a full body scrub. For Moroccan people hamman is a part huge part of their culture and entire families go to hammams a few times a week. 

You can choose to go to a spa type hamman where you will pay anywhere from 250 dirham and up, or you can go to a public hamman. If you choose to visit the public hamman check the hours first. Men and Women have designated hours when they can enter. There is no nudity allowed, so bring your bathing suit. You can bring your own toiletries or you can purchase them at the hamman. You can also hire a professional for a full body scrub. You skin will feel clean, soft and a bit sore.

This is actually what goes behind the scene of hamman. This guy made sure there is enough steam coming into the hamman. He was burning saw dust, old furniture among other things that people brought in. Again, Nothing goes to waste in Morocco. 

The man working at the hamman was part of the Gnawa tribe and was also a musician. He entertained us with a beautiful song, which was an old tale about a daughter who was kidnapped for a marriage. Her dad went looking for her and singing the song. The man in the picture is wearing the traditionally decorated hat with a hassle on top.  He was making a hypnotizing, circular movement with his head, which the dad in the song did to attract strangers to hear his tragic story about his daughter. 

Baker man is baking bread

Every morning the streets of Marrakesh come to life with people carrying trays of freshly kneaded dough ready to be baked at a local bakery. Women knead the dough at home but the baking process is done in a large communal oven. Morocco has many varieties of bread: from round pita’ish type (Khobz), to spongy (Beghrir) popular with breakfast and pancake fluffy (Msemen or Meloui) often stuffed with onions and spices. They are all delicious.

Food

Don’t be afraid to eat street food while in Morocco. Sure, be careful where you eat but you must try the fresh olives from the market, the Moroccan msemen pancakes stuffed with onions, prickling pears, or freshly squeezed orange juice and of course nuts and dried fruits.

Water in general should be fine too, but if you want to be 100% sure, drink bottled water. Tap water is fine for brushing teeth.

It’s DinnerTime

The name of the game is Tagine. This is the most common dish in Morocco. Tagines are great for both for vegetarians and meat lovers. Moroccans eat a lot of Tagines and so will you. You might get a bit sick of it by the end of your trip, but as soon as you leave you will miss these hot, flavorful dishes. 

The Tipsy Gypsies Tips: a lot of tourists buy the Tagine dishes to bring them home. If you decide to buy one and you intend to cook in it, you must first:

Soak it in cold water for few hours (or overnight), dry it and then oil the Tagine with olive oil  (if it’s unglazed) and put it in a cold oven at 300 F for 2 hours. Wait till it cools and rub the olive oil all over it again.

This process will “cure” the Tagine, otherwise it will crack and break while you bake in it. 

Stay in a Riad

Riads are old traditional Moroccan houses with an interior courtyard or a garden. They are very fun to stay in and learn more about the culture and the customs of the locals. Most of the Riads are also located near the city center, which is a plus. The only negative is that they might be a bit hard to find sometimes, due to the crazy city planning, so make sure you communicate with the owners and get clear directions. Most of the riad host will be also happy to come and greet you at the main street.

The Tipsy Gypsies Tip: We found a great riad/hotel (pictures below) in Marrakesh where we stayed during our second part of the trip, that we absolutely loved.

Riad Les Jardin des Lilas is beautifully designed, professionally staffed, the food is fantastic and they have a great small pool in the courtyard that is always empty. The best part about staying here is that they own a few other bigger riads nearby with bigger pools and you have a full access to use them too. We highly recommend this place!

If you are staying at a riad or a hotel your breakfast will most likely consist of khabz, variety or jams, butter, juice, coffee or tea. Simple but delicious!

Moroccan Tea

Since Morocco is predominantly Muslim and Muslims don’t typically drink alcohol, they came up with a very tasty drink: mint tea. Moroccans often call the tea “Moroccan Whiskey”. Moroccan tea is made with fresh mint leaves and a few scoops of sugar (also good without). It has no caffeine and Moroccans drink this refreshing, aromatic tea all day long. Drinking mint tea in Morocco is almost like a second religion. Everybody will want to welcome you to their home with mint tea. Even when you go shopping the merchants will offer you a cup of tea. 

The tea is served in beautiful metal tea pots which is poured into an ornate glass. 

There is only so much mint tea that you can drink, so if you had enough and you need something stronger read about the secret alcohol that Moroccans drink here.

The Tipsy Gypsies Tip:  We enjoyed our Moroccan tea in a beautiful setting of Dar Cherifa (pic below). This place is gorgeous!

Garden Majorelle

This botanical garden was designed by a French painter Jacques Majorelle, and it is also known as the secret hideout for Yves Saint Laurent and his lover. Yves Saint Laurent purchased the estate in the 80’s and decided to restore it and save it from plans of turning it into a hotel. 

Rooftops

Rooftops are great in Morocco for eating breakfast (if it’s not too hot), sunsets and… watching what the neighbors are up to while hanging their laundry. 

Sunset and drinks

For incredible sunset views and the best happy hour in Marrakesh visit Le Salama. It is the only place in Marrakesch near the old medina where we found a Happy Hour. Food at Le Salama is delicious and the staff is super friendly. Ask for Khalid, the manager, he is the best thing that will happen to you in Marrakesch. Make sure you say “cheers” to him from The Tipsy Gypsies.

We are nothing short of amazed by the Sikh people. What they have created is not just a place for themselves, but a sanctuary for all faiths (or non faiths) as long as you come in peace.

Aside from beautiful prayer rooms, where you can pray to whichever god you choose, every Gurdwara has a langer hall where anyone can come almost any time of the day, and eat fresh, healthy vegetarian food.

In the massive kitchens you will find volunteers of almost every faith churning giant pots of daal or kneading dough for freshly baked roti.

When you sit in one of their giant food halls, you will be served with a smile and provided as many portions as you’d like. But it doesn’t stop there.

Many Gurdwara’s also offer other services like nurseries, and classrooms at no cost.

The Sikh’s have a complicated history steeped in tradition which we won’t elaborate on here, but we highly recommend you read about them further as they are a fascinating and wonderful people.

Like Port wine is famous in Porto, Lisbon has it’s own alcohol which it is famous for. It’s Ginginha (Ginjinha). A sweet cherry liquor. The Tipsy Gypsies have a lot of respect for traditions, especially the drinking ones, and we were told that it would be rude not to try the Ginginha, while in Portugal.  

Ginginha is hard to pronounce, but luckily for you Lisbon has many little bars, where all they serve is Ginja. Simply walk in and say how many you want.

How to drink Ginja? You can choose to drink Ginja from a frozen chocolate shot or a regular glass. With a cherry, or without. It’s up to you! 

The verdict? One of us liked it, the other didn’t. It’s VERYYY sweet. It tasted a bit like the cherry liquor my Tipsy Gypsy grandma used to hide in her pantry.

We suggest indulging in a glass after dinner. The sweet little shot makes for a nice dessert and night cap. Whether you’re a fan of sweet drinks or not, you must try it to insure a true Lisbon experience!

If you think that Vinho Verde means green wine, like us, you probably used Google Translate. Unfortunately, that is not correct and it’s time for some “edumacation”.

Vinho Verde actually means “young wine” because the wine is not fully matured when it is released, which gives its unique, fresh and almost spritzer like taste. You can find many varieties of V.V: red, white and rosé. They all taste different, so make sure to try them all!

Vinho Verde is best when chilled, so it’s perfect for hot summer days. V.V. is low in alcohol, about 4.5% so you can drink plenty of it! It’s basically like drinking water, so don’t feel bad if have 1-2 bottles all to yourself. Our medical recommendation is to drink more the hotter it is.

There are many brands of Vinho Verde, and it can be hard to pick the right one. There is nothing worse than a bad wine, but don’t worry. We went through hell trying to find the tastiest and cheapest Vinho Verde for you. After many “agonizing” hours of tasting, followed by painful recovery mornings, we finally came across Casal Garcia. 

We highly recommend this wine if:

A) Your last name is Garcia or you know a Garcia. It’s mandatory you drink it!

B) Anybody who doesn’t like wine but there’s no beer available. 

C) You want a bottle of wine to yourself on your lunch break, but still have to finish a deadline.

D) You’re a light weight who wants to impress more seasoned drinkers. Just don’t let them see the label!

Salud!

Here is another short post about what we did in Helsinki, Finland.  

Finland was not in our original itinerary. However, our ticket from America to Poland was cheaper by stopping through Helsinki. Plus our good friends Noora, a native Finnish girl and Alex, an all American boy, were already in Helsinki at the same time. So a two day layover in Helsinki just made sense.

As usual, on our first day we walked around the city. This is the best ways to get the “vibe”. You can go to museums, admire the new and old architecture and be a tourist.  You will see what people look like, what they eat and what they wear. Every city has a unique sound and smell. So if Helsinki had a smell, it would be fresh lake water in a birch forest, and the sound would be the Finnish language, which sounds like a mythical melody. Helsinki is the biggest city in Finland yet it feels rural and small compared to other capitals. People in general were also very calm and polite.

Summers are short and moderate in temperatures in Finland, so whenever the sun is out, people are out too. It is kind of funny seeing people spreading out on city benches, grass at the parks and rocks. Yes, Finnish people are obsessed with sitting on large rocks in parks, at the beach, wherever they can find them, they sit on them. 

After a few hours of walking around the town, we stopped at “Sandro” for lunch. Sandro is really great Moroccan fusion cuisine with many healthy options. They have an all you can eat buffet for about 12 euros (with meat) or 10 euros (vegan) including coffee and refreshing mint tea. We highly recommend this place. We left “Sandro” happy and stuffed. 

Here is link to Sandro’s restaurant:

http://www.sandro.fi/

Another recommendation for vegans/vegetarians when visiting Finland is “Soi, Soi”. This place has a amazing food. When you are craving something substantial, this place is the bomb. Plus we got to hang out with the one of the owners of this place and he is very lovely.

http://soisoi.fi/

Vegan burger fro Soi Soi restaurant in Finland !! (pic. soi soi)

Picnic at Suomenlinna Island

The highlight of our trip was a visit to Suomenlinna ( Sveaborg) island. This island used to be a sea fortress build to protect from Russian expansion. Nowadays, people live and work there year around. There is a school, post office and grocery store on the island. A lot of people go there to sunbathe and swim so definitely bring your swim suit. 

It’s a short, 15 minute ferry ride, from the city center (Market Square).The tickets are 5 Euros for adults (round trip) and it is definitely worth the money. Many people like to take a picnic there. Either bring some food with you or just get it a the local store. They have cold beer!!

You can spend the whole day on the island, especially in the summer because it doesn’t get dark till 1-ish am. The last ferry from Suomenlinna back to the city leaves at 2am. 

Ferry info:

 ww.helsinkicard.com/attraction/ferry-suomenlinna/

The Finnish Sauna

We couldn’t leave Finland without the sauna experience. It would be like going to Octoberfest and all you get is a Coca Cola. After all, Finnish people invented sauna.

The sauna to Finnish people is more that just sweating in a hot room. It’s a cultural and bonding experience. Most of the Finnish houses have saunas and if you go to Finland it is most likely that your Finnish friends will invite you to join them. Finnish people believe that the sauna is good for almost everything and everybody. If you have a cold, arthritis, breathing problems or you need to relax etc, the sauna will make it better. 

After a long day of drinking beers, bbq’ing and loving life, the sauna sounded amazing. 

Here is what you need to prepare yourself:

Before you enter the sauna you first take a cold shower. Then butt naked, you go to the sauna and join the rest of your friends who are also butt naked. It’s a faux pas to wear a bikini or a towel in the sauna. Everybody is naked! If you feel uncomfortable in the beginning, we guarantee that after your second and third beer you will be cool with the whole thing. If you still feel uncomfortable, just keep drinking. 

Thank you to all our friends (new and old) who made this trip so fun for us. Noora and Alex thank you for showing us the local’s perspective on Finland. 

Also specials thanks to Ana Šuligoj’ and Monday Mou who let us crash in their cool, artsy apartment. Teemu, you are such a kind and beautiful person. Thank you for driving us to the airport at 6 am! 

The tipsy gypsies saying goodbye to their Swedish Friends at 5am. Thank you Alex, Nora and Teemu!

We make new friends everywhere we go!

Helsinki recommendations:

Food: 

Sandros: 

http://www.sandro.fi/

Soi Soi:

http://soisoi.fi/

What to do: picnic at Suomenlinna Island

Day trip: Take a ferry from Helsinki to Tallin in Estonia. It’s a one day minimum trip. 

“Love and Rosé”

If there is anything the Tipsy Gypsies like more than traveling, it’s traveling to a wedding of their best friends. This summer we were invited to attend the wedding of our close friends from San Francisco, Liz and Felix in a beautiful vineyard in Arild, Sweden. Here is the story.

We arrived to Arild Winery on a rainy Friday afternoon. The place was quiet and enchanting. The countryside and the rustic buildings covered with thatched roofs and white stucco walls made us feel like we had just stepped into a medieval village. We were the first wedding guests to check in at the small reception. Not wanting to waste any time, we ordered some Rosé wine to warm up our cold bones.

As the first sip of sweet wine hit our lips, we leaned back, closed our eyes, and inhaled a deep breath of that authentic, wine country air. And we don’t mean any of that pretentious, snobby, The Real Housewives of Sonoma air; we mean REAL wine country air. A delicate and sophisticated mix of rich fertile soil… and manure. We loved it because it was earthly and you could literally feel the elements coming together to produce this wonderful wine.

The Town

Arild is a small costal town and it’s a favorite spot for Swedes to vacation. One sunny afternoon, we took a walk through the small windy roads of Arild. We could tell that the locals are very proud of their town. Although every cottage is probably a century old, it has been restored and is freshly painted. Each house is unique and they all have the most amazing, green and lavish gardens. 

Very quickly we realized why people love to come here for vacation or choose to live here. The cool breezy air, delicious food, the hospitality and the views are just a few reasons why we fell in love with this place. Check out the views of the town below.

There are lots of fun activities in Arild besides walking and wine tasting. Arild is a small town but it has a lot to offer for the tourists who want to stay active. You can do horseback riding, rent bikes and hike. Down at the harbor they offer scuba diving classes, you can rent kayaks and even do some fishing.

THE WINERY -“Arild Vingård” and the property

You might actually be surprised to hear that there is a vineyard in Sweden because wine is not something that Swedish people are typically known for, but as it turns out, it is actually quite delicious. In fact, the Arild Vingård produces somewhere around 60%-80% of the wine for the whole country. They make a dry white and Rosé wine, schnapps and a dessert wine, which we all tried at the wedding. You can also purchase some imported red wine from Italy. Having said that, Sweden has very strict drinking laws. Alcohol must typically be purchased from authorized government stores. That means that if you buy a bottle at the winery, you have to drink it while you are there. If you want to take it with you, the bottle better be empty.

In our opinion, the restaurant at Arild Vingård has the best food in town. The meals are reasonably priced and they can accommodate all dietary restrictions (vegan, gluten free, you name it!). And don’t skip on the dessert: chocolate cake with Italian style gelato or a scoop of sorbet ( for the vegans). Lastly, their delicious espresso is a perfect pairing with the dessert…. or maybe another glass of wine.

We checked out some other restaurants in town, but they were all a bit out of our price range and they seemed a bit too fancy for us. Plus, for the vegan “gypsy queen” the options were none. However, if money is not an issue for you, the town has two gorgeous restaurants and I am sure the food is amazing. 

The Wedding

We have been to many weddings in our life, but we have never experienced a wedding so laid back and fun like the one of our friends Liz and Felix. First of all, the wedding venue did’t feel commercial at all. In fact, you could hear the cows mooing in the nearby pastures. There were no bullshit mandatory schedules or fake introductions and the food was spectacular. If you like the concept of “farm to table”, this place has it down!

This was a really special event to us because you don’t hear that often about two awkwardly awesome kids who fall in love in high school and stick together. We met this goofy couple years ago in an art school in San Francisco. They were much younger than us, but for some reason they didn’t mind hanging out with these two older gypsies.

We like Liz because she hosts the most awesome house parties and you can always count on Felix to drink one more beer with you. They are both very social people and their friends are like a family to them. 

This was the most international wedding that we had ever attended.  There were guests from Sweden, Germany, Norway, Australia, Italy, America, Canada, Mexico, England and Poland. It says a lot about the bride and groom that so many people were willing to travel so far to celebrate with them. 

The most memorable and moving part was listening to the many, many speeches durning the wedding. Apparently, Swedish weddings are known for an abundance of speeches. One thing that we learned about the Swedes and this family in particular, is that they are extremely sarcastic and funny. And so were their speeches. 

A lot of us stayed at the vineyard and after the wedding, a smaller group of us continued the celebration in Barcelona ( we will write about that soon). 

The evening was filled with great food, drinks and dancing. We can’t remember exactly when we left the venue but we are guessing it was around 1am. But that wasn’t it. The party continued in the guest rooms and didn’t finish until we heard the farmers feeding the cows their breakfast in the morning.  You know that you partied hard when the owner of the winery tells you that she’d never had a wedding where the guest drank so much and were still standing. We actually weren’t that surprised…

If  you go to Sweden make sure you stop at Arild. You can stay at the  Arild Vingård bed and breakfast. You are guaranteed to have great time staying at this magical place. The surroundings are breath taking and place is very peaceful. 

Lund is a picturesque college town is southern Sweden. We stopped there for a short visit to see our friends that we met over a decade ago. During our one day there, our friends took us for a charming walk around the city center. The highlight was most definitely the Lund Cathedral. Sweden is not a religious country and it was interesting to see how nowadays people go to the religious institution more for cultural reasons rather than prayers. When we went there, there was a high school theater rehearsal and one of the aisles had a circular bench with a teddy bear sitting on it. Perhaps the toys in the church are placed because the kids tend to get bored durning the mass. Below are some pictures of the cathedral. 

Ancient astronomical clock & religious calendar

Lund cathedral has several spectacular must sees. One is a massive astronomical clock and calendar. The other is it’s catacombs. It was amazing visiting these ancient tombs and experiencing them almost entirely to yourself. Where other sites like this are typically bombarded with tourists, on the day we visited it was completely empty. It was also special because on the day we visited, it was the anniversary of one of the tombs burial, 893 years ago! 

Sweden has really good coffee and we learned on our trip that there is a big coffee culture here. They even have a word for it which is FIKA, a “coffee break”. This isn’t just a regular coffee break or a visit to Starbucks. Swedish people take their time drinking coffee and eating some baked sweets. The Fika’s (coffee shops) are social hangouts and many people go there to relax and talk with friends. The coffee shop that we went to, Espresso House, was filled with people young and old, and there was not one person working on their laptop. We had the “Salted Carmel latte” with soy, of course, at the Espresso House. It was probably the best latte ever! Yum!

The Swedish countryside is unbelievably beautiful. If you love nature and the country side with wild flowers, dramatic clouds and moderate temperatures definitely come to see Lund.

Special thanks to our hosts Charlotte and Adam for letting us stay with them. They are both amazing friends that cooked for us, took us on a tour of Lund and welcomed us into their home and family. This was a great experience. Thank you!!