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Like The British Museum in London, The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a place that I would go back to visit again and again. The Met also has amazingly large Egyptian and Asian Art collections.

Here are a few photos from my visit to The Metropolitan Museum of Art back in 2013, giving a glimpse into the Met’s glorious collection of over 5000 years of art.

the-met-fifth-avenue the-met-fifth-avenue-2 the-met-fifth-avenue-3 the-met-fifth-avenue-10 the-met-fifth-avenue-11 the-met-fifth-avenue-12 the-met-fifth-avenue-13 the-met-fifth-avenue-14 the-met-fifth-avenue-7 the-met-fifth-avenue-6 the-met-fifth-avenue-5 the-met-fifth-avenue-4 the-met-fifth-avenue-9 the-met-fifth-avenue-8 the-met-fifth-avenue-15 the-met-fifth-avenue-16

theatreland

While there is plenty for you to do if you are going to spend four or five days or a week or more in London, for those that might only be coming to the city for a night or two you want to make the most of what little time you may have to do something. One of the real draws in London is getting the chance to go to the West End and take in one of the great musicals or plays that are currently running. Going to a show like this may be something you have never had the chance to experience before so it can be something new and exciting. You can make your night in London special by seeing a show at staying at one of the hotels near Theatreland to really make it a grand experience.

At any given time there may be up to forty different shows playing in the Theatreland area in London. You can choose from famous shows that have had long runs in the area, musicals where you know all the words to the songs, famous plays starring world-famous actors of the stage and screen and little-known gems that can open your eyes to a whole new world of comedy or drama. As fantastic as the different shows can be for you to see, even just stepping foot into some of the historic theatres in the area can be a big thrill for you. Many of the theaters are older and date back to the Victorian era, making them historical sites of their own just so you can see the history and architecture of the buildings.

If you are coming into the city to see a show it is always a good idea to make a special night complete by staying at one of the bed and breakfast hotels in Victoria London. This will keep you right in the area of Theatreland so that you can easily walk to the show you are planning to see without worrying about getting a taxi or finding a way to get to where you want to go. You can start your day early and have a wonderful dinner at one of the great restaurants in the area, go to see your show, walk back and have a drink at a local pub, then return to your hotel for a comfortable night of sleep before getting on your way the next day.

If you want to create a great day in London and are looking at the hotels in Theatreland London, check out the Best Western Victoria Palace as a place to stay. The Best Western Victoria Palace is in the ideal location so that you can easily get to any of the great theatres in the area, have a nice play to stay and do it all without spending a fortune on a hotel in this part of the city.

Photo source: Dpreview

princeton-university-12 princeton-university-11 princeton-university-10 princeton-university-9 princeton-university-8 princeton-university-7 princeton-university-6 princeton-university-5 princeton-university-4 princeton-university-3 princeton-university-2How beautiful is the campus of Princeton University? Those buildings look like Castles only exist in fairytales.

 

The Charging bull of Wall Street, owner of the world’s most recognisable bronze ball:new york: The Charging bull of Wall Street, owner of the world's most recognisable bronze ball

Small people and one gigantic statue:new york

Framing pretty in Central Park:New York - Central Park

The Yankee Stadium and lots of yellow school buses:new york: Yankee Stadium

Approaching Time Square: New York: Time Square

On top of the Empire State Building – Can you spot the Flatiron building?new york empire state building-7

Photo of the Brooklyn Bridge, taken from Brooklyn.
New York - the Brooklyn Bridge

View of Manhattan Bridge from Brooklyn – can you spot the Empire State Buildingnew york: View of Manhattan Bridge from Brooklyn – can you spot the Empire State Building?  

View of Manhattan from New Jersey.
View of Manhattan from New Jersey.

Washington Square Arch:New York, the Washington Square Arch

Time Square at night:New York: Time Square at night

Shake Shack just opened its 100th location in the world this month – on 16th August 2016, in Boston. It reminded me the first time I tried Shake Shack in New York a few years ago. It was a warm autumn night in Manhattan and I was starting to feel peckish after a day’s exploring in the city. Looking out for somewhere to sit down and have a bite to eat randomly, Shake Shack really stood out in the dark.

From the distance, it looked like a fancy restaurant with elegant glass windows, warm, inviting lights and a catchy name: Shake Shack. That was the first time I’d heard of the name, “Shake Shack”. Out of curiosity, we went into the glass doors to check out what food they had. It turned out to be some sort of burger place, but popular burgers – you could tell from the long queue. It proved to be a good choice. I loved the Pickled Jalapeno burger, the milk shake and those crispy crinkle-cut chips. Oh, also loved having a beer while gazing out those glass windows.

shake shack in new york

A couple of years after I first tried Shake Shack in New York, the company went on public. Obviously it’s become more and more popular over the years. Hopefully one day they’ll open a chain store in Sydney but Shack Shack is so New York. If you are visiting New York the first time, try Shake Shack there. Here are 7 reasons why you must try Shake Shack in New York:

mmexport14713151306641.Tasty food. Burgers at Shake Shack are definitely not boring. The company keeps developing new menus and I love the old favourite pickled Jalapeno burger. Clearly your first choice if you want some punchy flavour in your burger.

mmexport14713158768792. Enjoyable dining environment. Like I mentioned before, Shake Shake chain restaurants look a lot fancier than your average fast food restaurant. Their logo is green and white and every chain restaurant has been decorated with a “fine dinning” feel to it.

mmexport1471315545512

3. People are always queuing up for Shake Shack. It’s so not your typical fast food. You’ll have to wait for your food at Shake Shack. Seems that people are happy to wait, no matter how long the queue is. One thing for sure, you’ll never want to eat in an empty restaurant  during peak hours. If people are always happy to wait at Shake Shack, they must have done something right.

mmexport14713158963134. Shake Shack emphasizes its “use of all natural 100% angus beef only and that its meat is completely free of hormones and antibiotics.” So there, at least you know what you are eating.

mmexport14713151387465. It’s fun. A business has to have good products and good marketing strategy to be successful. Shack Shack has both. Never ending clever marketing ideas have surely helped Shake Shack become one of the fastest-growing  food chains since its founding. Who doesn’t want some fun? People love getting involved and sharing their experiences with Shake Shack on social media.

6. Shake shack has The. Best. milk shakes. You just have to try it yourself.

7. It’s also cool to be able to have wine or bottled beer with your burgers and fries from a fast food restaurant. Well it’s not really fast food place, is it? It’s way better than that.

mmexport1471315820329From a hot dog car inside Madison Square Park to publish company with restaurants in 100 locations all over the world, Shake Shack has come a long way. You know what they say now? If you haven’t seen the Statue of Liberty and haven’t had Shake Shack in New York, you haven’t been to New York!

Photos from Internet.

 

If you ever feel overwhelmed by those endless shadows of skyscrapers in the New York City, escape to Central park. It’s an entire different world from hustling downtown Manhattan. Who wouldn’t love this vastly green, calm & dreamy place? Maybe that’s why New York city is often regarded the No 1 desirable city in the whole world – it has everything for everybody, each with a different taste.central park new york-13 central park new york-12 central park new york-11 central park new york-10 central park new york-9 central park new york-8 central park new york-6 central park new york-5 central park new york-4 central park new york-3 central park new york

Needless to say, New York is the home of many famous Skyscrapers. Do you remember the Empire State Building in movies like Sleepless in Seattle or Oblivion where it’s always romantic and widely empty for just two lovers to meet (whether the first time or not)? Well you know it, that only happens in the movies; the reality is that the Empire State Building observation deck on 86th floor would probably be a very frustrating place for a blind date because it’s always jam packed.  Millions of people from all over the world come to the top of Empire state building to admire the ever impressive skyline of Manhattan. Can you see all the other skyscrapers?

Manhattan Skyscrapers- View from the top of the Empire State Building

View from the top of the Empire State Building

Manhattan Skyscrapers -View from the top of the Empire State Building

View from the top of the Empire State Building

Manhattan Skyscrapers: View from the top of the Empire State Building

View from the top of the Empire State Building

Manhattan Skyscrapers: View from the top of the Empire State Building

View from the top of the Empire State Building

Manhattan Skyscrapers: View from the top of the Empire State Building

View from the top of the Empire State Building

the empire state building new york

the Empire State Building itself

Flatiron Building New York

The famous Flatior Building

Manhattan Skyscrapers-11

the Empire State Building again

Another place has a spectacular view of the New York city including the Empire State Building is Top of the Rock (Observatory on top of Rockefeller Center).

View of the Empire State Building from Top of the Rock

View of the Empire State Building from Top of the Rock

Manhattan Skyscrapers-3

The GE building of o Rockefeller Center

view from the top of the rock new york

View from Top the Rock – Observatory on top of Rockefeller Center

Manhattan Skyscrapers-4

Rockefeller Center

Manhattan Skyscrapers-10 Manhattan Skyscrapers-9 Manhattan Skyscrapers-8 Manhattan Skyscrapers-7 Manhattan Skyscrapers Manhattan Skyscrapers-2

Can you escape the shadows of these skyscrapers?

Headless buddhas, crumbling bricks & stucco – ruined yet still stunningly beautiful.Can you imagine its former glory? 

Ayutthaya thailand-12One of the highlights of my Thailand trip this year was visiting Ayutthaya, a World Heritage City and historic capital of Thailand.

On the way from Bangkok to Ayutthaya, we visited the the Summer Palace of King Rama V with its mixture of Thai, Chinese and Gothic architecture.

By the time we got to Ayutthaya historic park around 10:30am, it was burning hot already. But the heat couldn’t stop me from running around, staring at everything in awe. This once glittering, vibrant capital city was destroyed by the Burmese in the 18th century. Can you imagine its formal glory?

Wat Mahatad, the royal monastery, served as the residence of supreme monk:

 

Ayutthaya thailand-2
Ayutthaya thailand

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The famous sandstone Buddha head entwined in tree roots:Ayutthaya thailand-4 Ayutthaya thailand-3

Ayutthaya thailand-6

Wat Phrasrisanphet, the largest and most important temple in Ayuthaya, which was used as a residential palace. After Thai Capital was moved to Bangkok, The Grand Place in Bangkok was built, copying the exact style of this palace in Ayuthaya.

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Ayutthaya thailand-11

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Wihan Phramongkhon Bophit, the large bronze Buddha image was originally enshrined in the ipen are outside the grand palace and later covered by a building called Wihan:

Ayutthaya thailand-16 Ayutthaya thailand-13

Cruise back to Bangkok, passing Temple of Dawn which was under construction at the time:

Ayutthaya thailand-17

Back to the hotel, sipping cocktail on the roof top bar while watching sunset:

Ayutthaya thailand-18

 

Having seen so many Buddhas in Thailand, it wasn’t exactly my plan to see the Big Buddha in Pattya but we kind of bumped into it one day.  It was a hot and steamy morning and I went for a hike to look for the Pattaya tourist centre in hope of getting some local knowledge.  It turned out, that tourist centre was almost impossible to find; as I finally got there, it was obvious that I was the only visitor there and the two girls working there hardly spoke any English.

The good news was, I found some maps and according to one of the maps, we were directly under the top of the hills where the Big Buddha located. It was quite a hike all the way up and by the time we finally reached the top, I was soaking wet. On the upside, I also achieved the most steps within one day. Bonus!

pattaya big buddha You can’t miss the Walking Street if you are in Pattaya. If you want a Turkish ice cream? Try your luck with this man. It was so funning watching all his tricks in delivering the ice cream to his customers. He is so good and I think you can even find him on Youtube.
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Another tourist attraction on my list to visit in Pattaya apart from the Sanctuary of Truth is Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Garden. It looked amazing in the pictures and had really good reviews on Trip Adviser. When we finally got there, I realised it was such an artificial, tacky tourist trap. There were fake plastic animals everywhere which really destroyed the beautiful of any botanical garden.

Nevertheless, I tried my best to beautify this garden in photos too – as you do.

pattaya nong nooch garden-6 pattaya nong nooch garden-4 pattaya nong nooch garden-3 Pattaya tropical gardenpattaya nong nooch garden

Can you spot me in this picture?

Is it fair to say that it’s a shame the most famous/beautiful Thai house that is not a palace in Thailand was built by an American? I absolutely adored The Jim Thompson’s house in Bangkok and was so inspired by its amazing design and collection. All visitors inside the house were organised  by tour groups and it was not allowed to take photos inside the house so the tour guide had everyone’s full attention. Outside the house, there are beautiful details gardens, a large shop selling Jim Thompson branded merchandise and a wonderful Thai restaurant where you can enjoy delicious, authentic Thai food without worrying about getting sick from food poisoning afterwards.

 

Jim Thompson house Bangkok

Silk worms @ Jim Thompson House

I picked Hotel Mercure Bangkok to stay in Thailand due to it’s super convenient location and excellent review. It didn’t disappoint a bit in every aspect, as a matte of fact, this hotel really exceeded my expectation. They even send me some cake and afternoon desert to my room on my birthday.

Birthday Cake Bangkok

Birthday cake & chocolate, courtesy from my hotel in Bangkok.

Erawan Shrine is a well respected, busy place of worship in Thailand. It is surrounded by modern, high end shopping malls in Siam area and directly opposite to Louis Vuitton store.

erawan shrine Bangkok

Erawan Shirne Bangkok

My favourite place to eat in Bangkok is this Japanese chain restaurant that offers hot port and sushi buffet. The food there is deliciously fresh and clean. Later I was ecstatic to find this chain restaurant in Pattaya too! Please excuse me for siting a Japanese restaurant as my favourite restaurant in Thailand, but I love hot pot and that Japanese place was literary just cross the road from my hotel in Bangkok!

Japanese hotpot, sushi buffet

My favorite restaurant in Thailand, a Japanese hot pot and sushi buffet place

While those sleepless night bars and clubs in Thailand are loved by many visitors to Thailand, being someone who can’t handle more than one drink, I could easily describe the night life of Bangkok as being crazy. The whole city really comes to life at night. One can possibly be overwhelmed by the stand still traffic packed with cars, motor bikes, tuk tuk, hot hair and the ever increasing numbers of night market stalls. Still, it is good to just go out at night and see it yourself. A good place to go and experience Bangkok’s night life at its best is Soi Cowboy. This red light district attracts tons of tourists and expatriates with colourful gogo bars that could stay open until 2:30am. I wasn’t really interested in stepping inside any of those bars but aren’t those dazzling neon lights and party scene truely phenomenal?

 

Temple of Reclining Buddha:

Bangkok Temple of Reclining Buddha Bangkok Temple of Reclining Buddha Bangkok Temple of Reclining Buddha Bangkok reclining buddha (4 of 11) Bangkok Temple of Reclining BuddhaBangkok Temple of Reclining Buddha Bangkok Temple of Reclining Buddha Bangkok Temple of Reclining BuddhaBangkok Temple of Reclining BuddhaBangkok reclining buddha (2 of 3)

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When it comes to travel planning, I’m never lazy. Planning for travel is one of the few things that’ll give me this kind of adrenaline rush. I’ll search and read without blinking; making notes and planning itinerary tirelessly while thinking, I’d blog about my travel experience right after the trip. But very often after the trip, procrastination kicks in and prevails. Truth is I’d have great pleasure planning trips and exploring different places but hardly ever note down my travel experiences. Do you ever experience the same – there are things you always want to do but never really do?



So back to taking notes after the trip, I visited these two temples: Wat Pho (Temple of Reclining Buddha) and Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) on the same day after the Grand Place Thailand.

The complex of Wat Pho (Temple of Reclining Buddha) contains quite a few sizeable sections but the most populated place is the temple where the gigantic chilling Buddha lies in. I think many people just come here to see the famous reclining buddha then leave. It is actually very nice to take time to look around other less crowded areas there and have a foot massage afterwards. If you like old and beautiful things, you’ll enjoy the striking architecture, fascinating sculptures and amazingly painted golden doors.

The tradition Thai massage school located inside the complex of Wat Pho is highly reputable with both full body and foot massages on offer. It’s really a nice way to have a break and sip on some ice tea while having a food massage.

Wat Pho (Temple of Reclining Buddha) and Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) are very close on the map. It’s a short boat trip from one another but it took us a while to find the Pier. Initially we tried to hail a taxi from Wat Phot since taxi fairs are so cheap in Bangkok but the taxi driver refused to take us. “It’s the easiest to take a boat.” He shook his head and left. After walking in the heat and looking for 10 minute, we found the Pier for boarding across the river to Wat Arun. The taxi driver was right, it only took 5 minutes to cross the river. And you know how much was the ferry fare? 5 Bart. That must be the cheapest transportation ever! The smallest change on me was 50 Bart at that time. After paying for ferry, I was left many coins and small notes as souvenirs.

Wat Arun, however is much smaller than I’ve had expected. Having seen so many amazing photos of it in sunset, the reality didn’t quite match those images. It didn’t help that Wat Arun was under construction at the time and it wasn’t sunset either but I wasn’t really disappointed or dislike the place. It’s still an amazing temple and a wonderful place to wander around. Those tall stairs though, are not easy to climb but the view on top makes it all up.

 

 

 

From charity-shop finds to designer bags, it’s not that hard to spend your hard/easy earned cash in London. Just like New York, Pairs and Rome, London is frequented by visitors from all over the world for some of those big-name shopping attractions, off-beat vintage finds and ever-evolving high street chain stores. A London shopping trip can be a lot of fun but also very expensive – prepare to give your wallet a good workout. Don’t worry to much though – with some strategic planning, your London shopping trip could be even more fun and extremely rewarding.

london shopping trip-002

Here are some practical tips to help you save on your London shopping trip.

  • Research and Plan. The key is to plan ahead. Last minute of everything can be expensive and stressful. Figure out what you want to buy. Research to find out where you can get those items in London. Plan your trip literary in details and start book your flight + accommodation well in advance.
  • Check airline baggage limit and pack sensibly. You don’t want overweight baggage resulting in heavy fines. Pack and shop sensibly will help you avoid unnecessary headaches.
  • Arrange travel insurance. It’s better to be safe than sorry. Travel insurance is god-sent in case of lost luggage and illness. With many major credit cards suppliers, you can get free overseas travel insurance once you made a travel booking by your credit card.
  • Inform your debit/credit card company of your travel plans. Major credit cards are accepted everywhere in London but be aware that credit card companies might lock your credit card after one day of your heavy spending overseas, leaving you empty handed in the shops (this happened to me twice). You can avoid this situation by simply calling your credit card provider before you go, advising your travel plan.



  • Choose the Right Time to Travel. If you are going to a London shopping trip, there’s no point going during Christmas time. All shops are closed on Christmas day and plane ticket can be expensive. Besides, it’ll be freezingly cold! Keep an eye out on special offers from different airlines. Often you can save quite a bit by booking your flight well in advance. Shopping malls and designer outlets usually offer Sales at a particular time of the year so you might want to plan your travel time accordingly too.
  • Stay in the Right Location. Accommodation in London can be painfully expensive, and you’ll almost always need to book your room well in advance. The good news is that decent, central hotels are easy enough to find and also offer reasonably priced rooms. Take a look at the hotels near Westfield Shopping Centre in Chiswick. Charming and safe, Chiswich is at an ideal location from which to travel to various sites in London. The Best Western Chiswick Palace could be the perfect place for you to stay. It offers comfortable rooms in the right location, at a price that allows you to enjoy your shopping even more.
  • Work by neighborhoods to avoid wasting time (and money) on transport. London is huge and there are different shopping areas so plan your day trips accordingly.
  • Use Public Transportation – Taking advantage of the public transit system in London. The quickest (but most expensive ) from of public transport is Underground (Tube). Trains run from 5.30am to 12.30am (7am to 11.30 pm Sunday). The train is also an easy way to get to anywhere in the city fast and is very affordable. Bus is slow going but cheap and offers ace views from double-deckers.
  • Avoid rush hour (6.30am to 9.30 am and 4pm to 7am) Tube. Fares are more expensive and it’ll be uncomfortably crowded. Most shops in central London are open seven days a week, though they can only trade for 6 hours (usually noon to 6pm ) on Sunday.
  • The cheapest and most convenient way to pay for public transport is to buy an Oyster Card. Oyster Card is a smart card on which you can store credit. If you are planning to stay more than just a few days, you get also get a weekly or monthly travel card.
  • Need some extra cash? The best place to change money is in post office branches, which do not charge a commission.
  • London travel trip

    A grumpy guard and me, somehow in matching outfit

Sanctuary of Truth, hands down is the most majestic structure that Pattaya has to offer.  Pattaya indeed surprised me, not totally in a pleasant way mainly due to my own ignorance. Why on earth didn’t I know earlier that Pattaya’s biggest attraction is actually the vast number of prostitutes and lady boys on the streets? Seeing tours to Pattaya are considerably popular and its beach position in close proximity to Bangkok, I planned a self exploring trip to Pattaya in Thailand. On top of my list of places to visit, is the Sanctuary of Truth, which is truly a stunning site and fairly easy to get to from Pattaya city centre.

Sanctuary of Truth Pattaya Thailand-001

12 amazing facts about Sanctuary of Truth:

1.It might give you the impression on the picture that it’s an ancient temple but in fact it’s quite new and still a work-in-progress. Building work started to begin in 1981 and isn’t expected to be finished until 2025. You can see many unfinished pieces and plain wood poles waiting to be turned into something magical.

Sanctuary of Truth Pattaya Thailand-006

2. The massive structure is entirely made of wood without any metal nails. Looking at this architectural masterpiece, I can’t imagine how it could be done but somehow Thai people made it all possible. Those amazing, elaborate carving is totally created by hand using just hammer and chisel.

Sanctuary of Truth Pattaya Thailand-003

3. There’s a dress code inside Sanctuary of Truth so shorts, short skirts, tank tops and dresses above the knees are not allowed inside. Clothes to cover you up are available for rent ( 200 Bart deposit, refundable upon return). Just as you thought it’d be a place where you need to dress appropriately and show respect, they’ll hand you a helmet to wear because it’s still under construction.

Sanctuary of Truth Pattaya Thailand-002

Behind those gigantic toes, it was me wearing a helmet and a backpack.

4. Due to the deterioration from hot weather, sea air and termites, the woodwork is always under repairs and protective treatment. As a result, the wood colour tones of Sanctuary of Truth range from light honey to dark brown.

5. Most of the Buddha sculptures in Sanctuary of truth are extremely sexy, possessing enviably proportioned bodies and elegant poses.

High five? ?These buddhas pose much better than I do & are way sexier? #thailand #temples #travel #amazing #buddha

A post shared by Yvonne Zhai (@yvonne_zhai) on

6. The highest point of Sanctuary of Truth is about 105 Meters.

7. Open doorways and total reliance on natural light. There are open doors all around the building to allow in natural light. It could be quite dark around the centre as there’s not a single artificial light inside but it’s nice and bright near the doorways in broad daylight.

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8. The design and carvings are rich in symbolism with a mix of Thai, Khmer, Indian and Chinese influences spread throughout the four wings of the building. Its Buddhism core overlays Hinduism, Taoism and Confucianism equally, a sign of perfect harmony and peace.

Sanctuary of Truth Pattaya Thailand-001-2

9. Sanctuary of Truth has revived and preserved ancient building techniques and architecture in danger of extinction. In this case, the building continues to support hand-hewn woodworking skills.

10. It’s about 3km from Pattaya town center. Next to the Sanctuary of Truth, stretches fine white sand and warm, turquoise water. You won’t see any swimmers or sun bakers on the beach though; expect to see the occasional speedy boats using it as a parking dock.

11. Building such an ornate temple-like complex was the idea of Lek Viriyaphant, a Thai millionaire whose other heritage projects including Ancient City near Bangkok.

12. It’s hard to define what exactly Sanctuary of Truth is. My first thought was that it’s a temple because of the Buddhas and the required dress code but then I was quite taken aback by the helmet.  Isn’t wearing a hat (or helmet in this case) disrespectful to Buddhas? There are also shows of Thai fighters and dancing on a covered stage at 11:30am and 3:30pm, which are nothing spectacular but rather disturbing. Some people say it’s a combination of a temple, a museum and a workshop. Whatever you define it, it’s the most significant attraction for tourists to Pattaya and a magnificent modern work of art to see with your own eyes.

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Opening hours: 8am – 6pm.

Guided tours are offered in every 30 minutes ( the tour is included in the cost of the ticket price, you are not obliged to join the tour).

Ticket price: 500 Bart

Puerto Ricoimage source

Many people may not realize that when you live in the United States, there is a tropical paradise practically in your backyard that you can travel to easily. Puerto Rico, as a commonwealth of the United States, is easily accessible from the United States, uses the same currency and can provide you with an amazing place for you to visit with family and friends. The immense beauty of Puerto Rico island is simply breath taking. There are several amazingly beautiful spots that you’d love to see and you won’t be surprised that once you get there, they’ll leave you awe struck and wanting to return to Puerto Rico again and again.

The Beauty of the Waters

Puerto Ricoimage source

Puerto Rico is known for its white-sand beaches and coral reefs, popular for snorkelling, diving, surfing and sailing. Needless to say, the waters are beautiful when you visit the various beaches throughout Puerto Rico. A truly unique place that you can go to is Bioluminescent Bay, also known as Bio Bay. The trip through the mangroves is relaxing and serene, also a unique experience under the sky itself. Bio Bay is filled with microorganisms that, when the still waters are moved, glow and light up brightly underneath the water. You can take tours out to Bio Bay so you can see just what it looks like for yourself. Guides will take you out in kayaks to the best spots in the bay so that you can slowly go through the water, learn about the organisms and see just how much they glow and the amazing colours they show. While you’ll find plenty company (some people may complain it’s over crowded) around Bio Bay area, at some other places in Puerto Rico,  you might also have the best stretches of the beach in the world all to yourself.

The Beauty of the Land

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While there is great beauty on the waters, the beauty of the land of Puerto Rico is just as impressive. This is particularly true if you take the time to go over to El Yunque Rainforest which is located in the Sierra de Luquillo Mountains. This would be one of the prettiest rain forests you’ve ever been and a beautiful place to hike with great views. Those beautiful natural trails and La Mina waterfall are just awesome. Guides can lead you safely through the forest, explain to you what you see and what you can expect and take you to all of the popular spots to explore and snap as many photos as you like. Though some of the hikes can be strenuous for less fit people and the paths could be steep and slippery, I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy every bit of the experience.

Puerto Rico is a historical and fun. Places like Old San Juan or the Bacardi Rum Factory are always fantastic to visit. If you are not totally game to explore the island on your own, check out some tours when you are planning to do some sightseeing in Puerto Rico. Go Tours Puerto Rico is one of the tour companies that offer several different guided tours of areas of the island to make sure you won’t miss the best Puerto Rico has to offer during your trip.

With endless waters, amazing history and wildly diverse tropical land, no wonder Puerto Rico is an ideal Caribbean daydream.

What’s not to love.