Vacation Help Needed Please (Page 2)

Since you were originally considering Mallorca you may want to shift slightly to the left and consider Southern Spain. The weather is still decent in Oct (the probability of rain is very low), and its relatively cheap so you'll leave with money left over for the next trip. You can combine biking and hiking with some touristy stuff like Cadiz, Granada, Sevilla, Ronda, Marbella (beaches), and there's tons of good golf courses down there if you're into that.

Happy Travels....

Kept thinking about it on the way to work. Late fall is a great time for points a little further west in SE Asia as dry season tends to start earlier and be a bit cooler, esp. morning and evening. For a short trip, maybe the area in and around Luang Prabang in Laos. Direct flight from Bangkok, great deals on accomodation and food, lots of active day trips available--hikes, bike rides on and off road, kayaking. Plus just a neat place to explore and hang out.  I have done lots of shorter trips with Green Discovery; five-day ride from Luang to Vientiane with Grasshopper Adventures. Just a really friendly, laid back place.  Could be combined with a short trip to Vientiane coming or going--some cool markets and great restaurants there. Or maybe with Angkor Wat in Cambodia. (Plus there's a HM, 10K and bike rally there in early December.....)

a lot of great suggestions here but I cannot say enough about...Ecuadore. I spent over a month there in college and want to go back with every once of my being. They speak spanish and quichua (sp? - the native tongue) but their currency is the US dollar which makes buying things easier. they have a great coastline, fantastic mountains, interesting biological habitats to observe or you can spend time in the amazon rainforest, all in the same little country. Or hit the Galapagos for a really fantastic experience.

My wife like Honduras but I do not know much about it other than the pictures of the ruins she visited and the beach she went too.

My favorite vacation was Turkey. My wfie and I went there in Nov. 2001 on a spur of the moment (decided to go on Friday, left on Saturday).  

Istanbul is lovely and incedible if you like history and culture (Greek, Roman, Byzentine, Ottoman). Then you go accross the Bosphorous and you're in Asia minor - we loved the Cappadocia region. Beautiful location and friendly people. Then we spent a few days on the Medditerrnian.  Its cool enough in October to bike around.

Hmm...I might take a look at Belize. That could be a fun place though it would be hard to win my heart back from Ecuador. granted I do live in the pacific Northwest it is easy for me to go from mountains to rainforest to ocean to rivers and lakes without driving more than 2 hours from my front door. I might be a little spoiled.

Bolzano: several castles in the immediate vicinity, architecture, great open-air market, outdoor cafes, take a bus up to "Uberbolzano" for day hiking through the alp (plus farm-style places with local products for lunch), "Weinstrasse"--a loop of about 100 km through vineyards with lots of tasting rooms and little restaurants. You can take a bus tour of it, rent a car, or (we did this) bike it. Rather wobbly by the end, though. Lots of day rides--there's a bike trail thru the (Po?) river valley and one that drops into the valley from the mountain region above town--you can take the train out in AM and ride back. Plus Osti the ice mummy, if you're into that, in the provincial museum. Val de Gardena is famous for Ladin culture and wood carving, plus a great walking path thru the valley.

Luang Prabang: World Heritage site. Lots of beautiful temples and French colonial architecture. Great restaurants and coffeehouses. Great town for morning and evening walks and photography, watching sunsets on the rivers (Mekong and Nam Khan) over a BeerLao. Huge night market. It's a very laid-back place--you can do nothing for a long time there.

As for tour companies, I rarely do organized tours, except for bike tours. I have used local agencies for adventure-type day trips. In Bolzano, we did a DIY bike tour--there are lots of places with maps. In Luang, I've done most of my day trips with Green Discovery. Exotissimo has a good reputation for high-end cultural tours in SE Asia--I did my Myanmar and Bhutan trips with them owing to restrictions on independent travel and was very happy with them.

Some great roads in Oki; Head out on Hwy 58 to Hwy 2 for a very nice ride! The further south you go the more congested it is... The Northern section is AWESOME!!!

So… Belize report.

Great trip! Easy flight and water taxi to Caye Caulker I would defiantly go out to one of the Cayes. Rented a small “cottage” but did not spend much time there so… Very comfy! All the basics; Bed, Shower and AC at night. You also get a Bike to ride the Island just be careful… "GO SLO MAN"

We swam with Turtles (Green and a Loggerhead), Nurse sharks and TARPON!!!

(Free; OWS Free no pet fish or Turtles here.)

Decided to go on a “jungle” ATV tour (was kinda lame jungle wise but fun ATV wise) then cave tubing which was kinda cool but only because we had only 4 peps in our group. Check to see if a Cruise ship is in and schedule around if you decide to go... You could also do a Zip line but we did not.

Lots of fishing if you like that and lots of OWS (snorkeling). We then took a 3 day sail tour with Ragamuffin which was fun fish, snorkel, rum punch, camp on a deserted island and that was just the first day… Unfortunately there was little wind so we had to use the motor for the best part of the second day but still relaxing, the girls read and tanned, I fished with some of the other peps on the boat. Several stops for swimming and snorkeling pretty much free roam not a “guided” snorkle trip more like we will be here for 1.5 hours you can swim snorkel jump of the top of the boat and we will have lunch for you when you return…

Stops on the trip included Rendezvous Caye (only a single caretaker lives here) You camp under a Thatched roof cabana (sleep on the sun tan chairs out under the stars it is amazing!!! 

FYI, very dark so enjoy your SO… Just saying. (It is Rendezvous Cay after all… )

Sergeants Cay is basically a sandbar in the middle of the Caribbean Sea swim to it and frolic for a bit then lunch to finish at Tobacco Caye.

Tobacco Caye is civilization! Showers and an open air Cabana Bar with live “Native” music which is a mix of Reggae, African drum beats with a Creole flair. Quite enjoyable.

You will feast on fresh fruit and the fish you catch or Spear; I went spear fishing two days in a row and BE WARNED the water is DEEPER than you think. Shot a fish and when it “swam” to the bottom it was 40-50 feet DEEP! I haven’t dove that DEEP in 30 years!!! But I made it got the fish and made it back to the top!

Third day on the boat had Dolphins with us for a time which was very cool and even watched as the mommy was teaching the baby to swim and hunt pretty freking cool!

The Whale Sharks are in Belize this week (with the full moon) so we missed them by a week or so but a few had shown up early and one of the boats in front of us had one swim right under it! Great pictures!

Spent 1 ½ days in Placentia at the Laura Beya (check Groupon for Roberts Grove or Turtle Inn) then flew back to Belize City to catch our flight home.

Not a big fan of the mainland but the Cayes are perfect.

It is HOT and HUMID and some bugs but overall was a fun trip. If you want more EXCITEMENT I have contacts that will custom design your trip and would even take you inland for two days of climbing which I was told is VERY adventurous!!!  

More pics to come…

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