#20 — Hidden Gems of Northern Bali - Lovina, Mount Bratan, Mount Batur and Bondalem

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We surprised ourselves and spent three months in Indonesia in 2024! Our initial visit in the spring included two weeks in Bali and two weeks in Java. Then, after a month each in Sri Lanka and India, we came back and spent two full months just in Bali. We love it and below we tell you all about it!

#19 — A Month in India (Part 2): Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram / Trident Hotel

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After our month in Auroville (see Part 1 - podcast #18), we stopped on our way back to the Chennai airport to visit the Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram. As one of India's popular tourist sites, Mahabalipuram is a UNESCO World Heritage Site of 7th- and 8th-century Hindu monuments. We then spent the night at the wonderful Trident Hotel Chennai near the Chennai airport. This is our third visit to India. It’s such a welcoming country. We love the food, the culture and the people!

#18 — A Month in India (Part 1): The Auroville Intentional Community in Tamil Nadu

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We arrived for a one month’s stay in a wonderful Airbnb apartment in Auroville, Tamil Nadu — just north of Pondicherry and about three hours south of the Chennai airport.

This is our third visit to India. So much felt familiar and we felt an excitement because such a fast moving society was likely to have changed significantly since our last visit in 2020. It’s such a welcoming country. We love the food, the culture, the people — and the cows who were just as likely to be sauntering down the middle of the highway as they were to be grazing in the gorgeous green open space behind our apartment building. We didn’t even mind that walking to dinner our first night, in the dark along the main Auroville Rd., our village hometown this month, that Paul squarely squished a fresh cow pie (shit) under his left shoe. That’s India. Take it in stride. By the way, our US$8.50 dinner of veg paneer with gravy, masala chicken, jeera rice, phulka and sweet lassis that night was intoxicating. More please.

#17 — Second Time Around, Our Return Visit to Sri Lanka

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We arrived in Sri Lanka in late May 2024. It was our second visit to the pearl of south Asia and we stayed a month including two weeks of relaxation on Nilaveli beach, north of Trincomalee, on the eastern coast — an area we did not include on our first visit in 2018. Our itinerary also included some familiar spots worthy of a return visit. We wanted to see again the exquisite 4th century BCE Dambulla caves filled with beautifully preserved Buddhist carvings. Our good friend Ayesh, a young Sri Lankan man we met six years ago, was our host and guide the entire month.

#16 — Bali and Java, Our Month in Indonesia

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We visited Bali, Indonesia in April and May 2024. It’s a great time of year south of the Equator to enjoy Asia! This is our second visit to Bali, and a first time visit to Java, including the ancient and mysterious megalithic site near Jakarta of Gunung Padang. Most of the spots on Bali were clothing optional. All on Java were historical or spiritual. We started in Denpasar and exited from Jakarta. Affordable paradise! We went back to Bali in mid-July 2024 visiting all the clothing optional places again as we love them all!

#15 — Our 25 Days in Japan 2024

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Dreams Do Come True — Our Second Visit to Japan We spent three weeks in Japan in 2018 and ever since we’ve attempted to jockey our itinerary for more, more, more! We tried in 2020, just before the Covid lockdown, with what was to be an albeit inadequate three night stopover in Tokyo between Thailand and Portland, Oregon USA. But that got nixed.

So in late March 2024, we arrived in Tokyo for a second three-week visit, to this alluring, gorgeous country. In addition to visiting Tokyo we took a Shinkansen (bullet train) south to Naoshima, a destination commonly known as Japan’s art island and also enjoyed several spots around Osaka/Kobe.

#14 — South American Travel Stories

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We recap the end of our 2023 South American travel with stories from the wine country of Mendoza, Argentina to celebrating Mardi Gras in Brazil and our visit to Iguazu Falls ending with a retelling of our experiences on Easter Island. We start with our incredible emergency plane landing story! Listen to our informative and lively conversation below. Moderated by Nancy Ward.

#10 — Tea Adventures in India: Tea Emporium — Darjeeling, West Bengal INDIA

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During our 2017 travels we sipped our way through south India's tea region and Sri Lanka's fabled tea highlands. But these regions are just a small part of south Asia's tea industry. Throughout our journey, northeast India's distant powerhouse tea regions of Darjeeling and Assam kept calling us. Our discovery there had to wait until another visit.

So this year, our Heart-to-Heart tour began September in Darjeeling, North Bengal near the end of the regions persistent monsoon. So charming. With sweeping Himalayan vistas. Surrounded by lush tea plantations!

In Darjeeling, we met Rajiv Mitra a dynamic local tea merchant. Darjeeling produces the oft-described champagne of teas. Rajiv purveys only single-estate, premium teas at teaemporium.net. We became good friends. Listen to our informative and lively conversation below.

#8 — Announcing the "Heart-to-Heart" Tour 2019-2020

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The Hotel Guys are on the road again! Our six month visit to India in 2017 left us yearning for more. More. More! We’ll drink tea in Darjeeling. Take a river cruise in Assam. Visit remote carved temples. Ride rickshaws in teeming cities. We’ll see old friends and undoubtedly make many new ones. After three months touring incredible India, we’ll push on to Thailand to integrate on the beach in the south and then meander the old city of Chiang Mai in the north. By February 2020 we’ll still have more than three months of our “Heart-to-Heart” excursion remaining. Enjoy listening to our podcast now and then join us throughout our adventures! Keep traveling!