WHAT IS TRAVEL REALLY ALL ABOUT?

For me, the people. 

I truly believe to travel, is to understand humanity. The more people we meet from all walks of life and background, the better we understand what differentiates us and appreciate what makes us all the same.

Those that know me well, know my genuine fascination of the Arabic and Muslim world. It's something so foreign to me, that my inquisitive nature keeps leading me back here.

The road to Petra

After hiring donkeys on a whim with the intent of 'discovering Petra' we wandered aimlessly for a few hours through some dusty and rocky terrain thinking at every turn and cavernous rock formation, that 'now we'd found Petra', until we resided to the fact we were well and truly lost.

Just in the nick of time we stumbled across a local family enjoying some cooked tomatoes over a small fire. From my understanding Bedouin hospitality often involves sweet tea, and one should always graciously accept, even in the middle of the nowhere.

After a few more hours in the blistering sun on this quest to find Petra, we were about to give up and then...around the corner...

...a whole city carved into the stone! Nothing quite like I had ever seen! After picking our jaws up from off the floor, we quickly realised we had taken the very 'scenic' route around as there were souvenior shops and buses full of tourist driving up the road (yes there was an actual road lol) right up to the main city area. 

Noticing a sign to "The end of world" of course we followed it. Which led us to....

...our two new friends, Abraham and Ahmed aka Jack Sparrow (because he looked like the Arabic version of Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean). They quickly befriended us with sweet tea, and stories and songs of their beduoin life and before we knew it we were both on their donkey's being led up to their home. After a quick pittstop to meet the family and for supplies we headed out for a night under the stars surrounded by the caves they were born and raised in.

Here is a short clip of some bedouin kids and the friends we made, very much amused to see themselves on video

Everyone loves a bit of Bob Marley

It's memories like this that make me hungry to travel again, and not just holiday. 

Day two, now all the best of friends, they wanted to show us the natural beauty of their homeland, and took us through vast canyons and landscape so beautifully barren, until we reached a small oasis to stop for lunch. 

Further and further out we went into the dessert, singing along enthusiastically to popular Arabic songs and taking in the rolling dunes. As if there were invisible road signs we took one last left and pulled up at the base of a dune. This would be our camp for the night. 

No guide, no tents and no phone signal....definitely one of those don't-tell-my-mother moments!

Living in Hong Kong it's easy to forgot that stars even exist. Out here, in the Wadi Araba dessert the blanket of stars is almost blinding. In the far distance, you could see the glow of the lights from Jerusalem, but other than that, just silence and blackness. We danced, we ate without a piece of cutlery in sight, and shared stories of how different our lives were until the fire died out and we had all drifted off.

This trip to Jordan really showed me that as cliche as it sounds, everyone smiles in the same language, and I love how traveling reminds me of this.

FALLING IN LOVE WITH THE INDIAN OCEAN

Keeping in the 'overwater villa' theme, let's rewind to a few years ago when I was lucky enough to visit the quintessential honeymoon destination, the Maldives. Made up of 26 atolls that are composed of live coral reefs and sand bars, the Maldives offers those picture perfect moments where the water is strikingly clear and blue, and the sand is chalky white.

Now Cathay and Hong Kong Airlines both fly direct from HK to Male, it's much more convenient for us in the 852. Although, the arrival time is quite late at night which means if you're staying in a resort which can only be accessed by seaplane you must stay the first night in Male (suggest the Traders Hotel, 5*, near airport) or if your resort is only a boat ride away, often you can arrange a late night pick-up at an extra surcharge if it's outside of their regular schedule. 

Where I stayed:

Gili Lankanfushi (5*) ~ approx USD$1400 / overwater villa / night  (breakfast is extra)

http://www.gili-lankanfushi.com

This stunning property was the former Six Senses Gili Island (no secret, this is my favourite beach resort brand) when I was there but has since changed owner. A hotel representative greets you at the airport which is a short walk to the pier, where you are taken to your luxury speedboat transfer. You swap your shoes with a refreshing welcome drink and sit back to enjoy the 20 min transfer to the resort. From here on in it's "No news, no shoes"...

(on a side note, for those who have partners with crackberry's they can't get great reception out here, WINNING!!)

Upon arriving at the resort, there's no 'front desk' check-in procedure, instead you're carted straight to your overwater villa, and you're checked in from there. It's this attention-to-detail that you pay that extra for.

At the front of every door was this lil' guy, to brush the sand off your feet

Don't miss the small white-tip reef sharks, stingrays and colourful fish that swim all around the villas. This caused me quite a fright as I had been swimming without any mask unknowingly amongst all this marine life. Once they brought the snorkelling equipment to the villa and I saw who I was swimming with, I was in for quite a surprise! So long as you are respectful of them and their environment, you shouldn't have any problems. For keen divers, day trips to some of the best dive spots in the world can be arranged through the resorts' Padi Dive centre.

The good:

- these overwater villas are HUGE, with a private outdoor tanning area on both levels, a spacious living room area with a day bed, outdoor shower, a heavenly four-poster bed, and the bathroom floor is made of glass so you can see the marine life below 

Believe it or not, this is a picture of the lowest room type! 

- they ask you to complete a pre-arrival questionnaire, that is so detailed you can request the pillow type (eg. hard or soft, allergy or 50% duck feathers) and the scent (eg. sandal wood, rose, lavender) and of course whether you're celebrating a special occasion so they can add extra touches to make it even more memorable.

Room for improvement:

- there are no private pool overwater villas; arguably you would want to swim in the ocean anyway, and there is the main pool for guests who prefer to swim in fresh water, but still for some people, a private pool is a deal breaker

My tips (no matter where you stay):

- if it's feasible upgrade to an overwater villa, it's the Maldives, you didn't come all this way for a beach villa!?

- and whilst we're talking about upgrades, choose the half-board option (rather than just breakfast daily) as you are confined to eat at the resort restaurants anyway as there's nothing else on the island. Purchasing a la carte will really add up, as these restaurants are anything but cheap. Full board I didn't think was really necessary as at lunchtime you'll be out and about snorkelling, diving or on day trips so you don't really need a big lunch buffet every day.

- remember, this is a muslim country so any alcohol you have (even sealed duty free bottles; they scan your check-in luggage also) will be confiscated temporarily and can be collected when you clear customs on your journey home

- visit from Oct --> June, the middle of the year is monsoon season and will really put a damper on your trip if you're confined to indoors because of the sideways rain

- often if you are on your honeymoon, send your marriage certificate ahead of time to ensure you get any honeymoon bonus offers (eg. welcome champagne and chocolates, discounts on a romantic destination dinner, discounts on couple's spa treatments)

The view from my spa bed

For the foodies, when in the Maldives stick to seafood, deliciously fresh!

There's no denying the Maldives is a beautiful part of the world, which is why so many of us want to visit it, but there's a lot more to it than villas over turquoise water. The country's capital Male, is a far cry from these luxurious islands, revealing the true poverty and income disparity which is the reality for the Maldivians. With tourism being the largest industry for these islands, natural events like tsunami's or the sea level rising from global warming, and unnatural events like over-fishing and unsustainable development really threaten these islands' very existence and the aquatic life that makes this place such a desirable destination in the first place. So please try and keep this in mind when choosing where to stay, and support a property like Gili Lankanfushi which works within environmentally and socially responsible management every day.

The property's organic garden  

The Maldives really is your very own slice of paradise. Take me back!

LIKE A BOSS

This next place is somewhere I definitely plan on returning to. It's one of the few holidays where I've done a whole lot of nothing. I admit, I get a little restless on flop 'n drop style holidays as I prefer to get amongst it during the day and the relax in the evenings. However, I can make an exception for this next place.

When you think of over water villas, destinations like the Maldives and Seychelles generally spring to mind. Well, did you know there's 5* over water luxury much, much closer...in beautiful Cambodia!

Song Saa (5*) ~ approx USD$2300 / overwater pool villa / night including all meals and drinks http://songsaa.com
Meaning 'the sweethearts', this property is a private island off the coast of Sihanoukville, offering overwater pool villas and 'luxury that treads lightly' with a focus on eco-tourism and sustainable management and practices.

 

For my HK-readers, it's only a short 2.5 hour direct flight to Phnom Penh, then you take a 2 hour car transfer (depending on traffic) up north to Sihanoukville port where you are met by a luxury speedboat transfer to take you on a 30 min ride to the island. Alternatively, for the real ballers, they can arrange a 1 hour helicopter for you from the Sofitel in Phnom Penh straight to Sihanoukville. So, whether it's a flight+car+boat or 2-flights+boat, you do spend half a day traveling each side, so not somewhere you'd go for less than 4 nights. I'm not a very good boat person as I get seasick very easily, however, there's a reason places like this are so hard to get to. There are very few beach resorts left in Asia that still give that feeling of  complete exclusivity and calmness like this. With only 27 villas on the island, we were lucky enough to be the only guests up until our final night there, so had the whole island to ourselves.

If like me, there's only so much sunbaking you can do in a day before you get restless, there are plenty of motorised and unmotorised water sports.

For the foodies, get to know your chef and the delicious local dishes through a cooking class. Fresh ingredients and commonly-used flavours, like fresh coconut milk, black pepper and bitter lemon, offer not only delicious but light dishes. Bordered by Thailand and Vietnam, there are definitely similar flavours running through all 3 countries' cuisines, each with their own defining twist.

We got the low-down on the fish amok and beef lok lak, both very fragrant and flavourful Khmer cuisine staples. 

Hey good lookin', whatcha got cooking?

Attracting lovers from all over the world, the hosts of this stunning private island know how to make your stay extra memorable and uber romantic. On request, they can arrange a magnificent seafood spread as a 'destination dining' experience - a candlelit banquet set up just for the two of us at the end of the jetty. 

Sleep in until midday then enjoy breakfast in your villa...

Sunsets with a bottomless glass of bubbles...

                       

      

...and a mini-bar that gets stocked and re-stocked twice a day...

Aside from the sustainable day-to-day management of the property, the owners vowed to do what they can to help improve the local villages, their economy and the environment. They manage Cambodia's first marine reserve, fund a solid waste management facility in the neighboring village, where they also run a sustainability centre and training program. 

If you have the time, visit the neighbouring village of Prek Sway where you can see these research programs in action and get a better understanding of what this means to the local villagers and their economic future. This isn't about throwing money at the problem, so no one speaks out against the development, this is about giving them the tools, education and training thereby creating opportunity to live sustainably and widen their skills.

This gentlemen worked on the island and had the most contagious, brilliant smile I've ever seen, from ear-to-ear...a real pleasure to have met. I wish I remembered his name...

It's not every day you get to live the life of a baller, with your own private island all to yourself, a chef at-the-ready and free-flow everything. But, if the occasion calls for this sort of thing, perhaps an anniversary or honeymoon, this really is the perfect place to celebrate!