The Elephants in the Room
Travel Mike Travel Mike

The Elephants in the Room

After more than a week of vegging out in Chiang Mai, we went on a whirlwind 1-day tour to see everything north Thailand has to offer — elephants, temples, waterfalls, etc. Spending three hours with a family of elephants was definitely the highlight.

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Chiang Mai Coffee Mania
Travel Mike Travel Mike

Chiang Mai Coffee Mania

Having joined the local Facebook groups before coming, I knew that there were a lot of high quality coffee shops in Chiang Mai, but I was not prepared for the madness that we’d discover.

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Siamese Cocktails
Travel Mike Travel Mike

Siamese Cocktails

For a relatively small city, Chiang Mai has more than its share of craft cocktail places. While they may not be quite world class level, they do boast some excellent flavors.

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Hello Chiang Mai!
Travel Mike Travel Mike

Hello Chiang Mai!

Our first few days in Chiang Mai, our first stop in Thailand, proved a shock to our system after Japan. The warm air, the pungent smells, the intensely flavorful food, the unexpected torrents of expats, the (pleasantly) charged energy — was an utter contrast to our past month.

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Kyoto, director’s cut
Travel Mike Travel Mike

Kyoto, director’s cut

Kyoto might be our favorite Japanese city. Having already published a condensed itinerary post for Kyoto, read on for a more personal take on this awesome city.

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Tick Tock Tokyo
Travel Masha and Mike Travel Masha and Mike

Tick Tock Tokyo

We spent a week in Tokyo, imbibing its energy. Here are the highlights, from private karaoke and sushi sculpting to the roiling crowds of Shibuya and teamLabs massive art installations.

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Japan — Still the Most Exotic
Travel Mike Travel Mike

Japan — Still the Most Exotic

As we finish our tour of Asia, I would still say that Japan is the most different and unique place we visited. To sum up Japan as a whole, how about a medley of some of the neat and quirky things that stood out to us during the trip.

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Indulging our Soviet Nostalgia in Tashkent
Travel Mike Travel Mike

Indulging our Soviet Nostalgia in Tashkent

After spending several days in Samarkand, we took a train to Tashkent for a week of Soviet nostalgia. What we found is a city straddling the late Soviet period, with its Zhiguli and buying fresh milk from the back of a truck, and Western modernity of top notch coffee, escape rooms and cheap fast internet

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Get your Afrosiyob Tickets Now!
Travel Mike Travel Mike

Get your Afrosiyob Tickets Now!

If you expect to be traveling between Samarkand and Tashkent, buy your Afrosyab high-speed train now! Otherwise you may have to share a cabin with a bunch of strangers and have an unforgettable four hour conversation…

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Strolling the Silk Road in Samarkand
Travel Mike Travel Mike

Strolling the Silk Road in Samarkand

For those of our age with Soviet roots, Uzbekistan is the land of plov. For those outside the Soviet world, though, Uzbekistan is one of the key regions of the ancient Silk Road. Samarkand, in particular, was the center of Timurlane’s empire and is filled with unique relics from that era.

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Karousing in Kadıköy
Travel Mike Travel Mike

Karousing in Kadıköy

Kadıköy was the perfect neighborhood for the first part of our stay in Istanbul, with its abundance of lively cafes during the day and vibrant, restaurant-filled streets at night. This part of Istanbul has warmth and spirit bursting from every nook and cranny.

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Beach Town in Wind-Down: Two Weeks in Sarandë
Travel Masha and Mike Travel Masha and Mike

Beach Town in Wind-Down: Two Weeks in Sarandë

Mike had wanted to see what it’s like to live in a beach town, and he certainly got his wish with Sarandë. But as the last of the tourists left town and restaurant after restaurant closed, we started thinking, what are we doing here? That is, until we met the local and expat community, discovered turquoise beaches, got seriously into jiu-jitsu, jet skied in the sea — and generally created our own vibe.

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A Roman Holiday
Travel Mike Travel Mike

A Roman Holiday

We tour the iconic landmarks of Rome, then switch it up with a stay in Villa Borghese with Alexander Pushkin and the runaway trolley.

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Barreling through the Birthplace of the Renaissance
Travel Masha and Mike Travel Masha and Mike

Barreling through the Birthplace of the Renaissance

Florence was our first stop on a whirlwind tour of central Italy where we abandoned any pretense of “slow travel” and went into hyper-tourist mode.

Check out our romp through this beautiful city, the beneficiary of the most generous gift in history.

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