Whoops \ Exception \ ErrorException (E_WARNING)
http_response_code(): Cannot set response code - headers already sent (output started at /home/findrext/travels.findrextravels.com/app/controller/gateways/interswitch.php:1) Whoops\Exception\ErrorException thrown with message "http_response_code(): Cannot set response code - headers already sent (output started at /home/findrext/travels.findrextravels.com/app/controller/gateways/interswitch.php:1)" Stacktrace: #6 Whoops\Exception\ErrorException in /home/findrext/travels.findrextravels.com/index.php:184 #5 http_response_code in /home/findrext/travels.findrextravels.com/index.php:184 #4 {closure} in /home/findrext/travels.findrextravels.com/app/lib/router.php:298 #3 call_user_func_array in /home/findrext/travels.findrextravels.com/app/lib/router.php:298 #2 AppRouter\Router:call in /home/findrext/travels.findrextravels.com/app/lib/router.php:254 #1 AppRouter\Router:dispatch in /home/findrext/travels.findrextravels.com/app/lib/router.php:309 #0 AppRouter\Router:dispatchGlobal in /home/findrext/travels.findrextravels.com/index.php:295
Stack frames (7)
6
Whoops\Exception\ErrorException
/index.php184
5
http_response_code
/index.php184
4
{closure}
/app/lib/router.php298
3
call_user_func_array
/app/lib/router.php298
2
AppRouter\Router call
/app/lib/router.php254
1
AppRouter\Router dispatch
/app/lib/router.php309
0
AppRouter\Router dispatchGlobal
/index.php295
/home/findrext/travels.findrextravels.com/index.php
$current_uri = (isset($_SERVER['HTTPS']) && $_SERVER['HTTPS'] === 'on' ? "https" : "http") . "://$_SERVER[HTTP_HOST]$_SERVER[REQUEST_URI]";

// GET CLIENT IP
$ip = call_user_func(function(){
$ipaddress = '';
if (getenv('HTTP_CLIENT_IP')) $ipaddress = getenv('HTTP_CLIENT_IP');
else if(getenv('HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR')) $ipaddress = getenv('HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR');
else if(getenv('HTTP_X_FORWARDED')) $ipaddress = getenv('HTTP_X_FORWARDED');
else if(getenv('HTTP_FORWARDED_FOR')) $ipaddress = getenv('HTTP_FORWARDED_FOR');
else if(getenv('HTTP_FORWARDED')) $ipaddress = getenv('HTTP_FORWARDED');
else if(getenv('REMOTE_ADDR')) $ipaddress = getenv('REMOTE_ADDR');
else $ipaddress = 'no-ip';
return $ipaddress; });

// DD FUNCTION FOR DEBUG RESPONSES
function dd($d) { echo "<pre>"; print_r($d); echo "</pre>"; }

// ERROR 404 PAGE
$router = new Router(function ($method, $path, $statusCode, $exception) {
http_response_code($statusCode);
$title = slogan; $meta_title = slogan; $meta_desc = ""; $meta_img = ""; $meta_url = meta_url; $meta_author = meta_author; $meta = "1";
$body = views."404.php";
include layout;
});

// SESSION VIEW AND DESTROY CONROLLERS
$router->get('s', function() { echo "<pre>"; json_decode(print_r($_SESSION)); });
$router->get('sd',function() { session_destroy(); echo '
    <style>body{background:#545454;display:flex;justify-content:center;align-items: center;}</style>
    <svg width="44" height="44" viewBox="0 0 44 44" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" stroke="#fff"> <g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd" stroke-width="2"> <circle cx="22" cy="22" r="1"> <animate attributeName="r" begin="0s" dur="1.8s" values="1; 20" calcMode="spline" keyTimes="0; 1" keySplines="0.165, 0.84, 0.44, 1" repeatCount="indefinite" /> <animate attributeName="stroke-opacity" begin="0s" dur="1.8s" values="1; 0" calcMode="spline" keyTimes="0; 1" keySplines="0.3, 0.61, 0.355, 1" repeatCount="indefinite" /> </circle> <circle cx="22" cy="22" r="1"> <animate attributeName="r" begin="-0.9s" dur="1.8s" values="1; 20" calcMode="spline" keyTimes="0; 1" keySplines="0.165, 0.84, 0.44, 1" repeatCount="indefinite" /> <animate attributeName="stroke-opacity" begin="-0.9s" dur="1.8s" values="1; 0" calcMode="spline" keyTimes="0; 1" keySplines="0.3, 0.61, 0.355, 1" repeatCount="indefinite" /> </circle> </g> </svg>
    <meta http-equiv="refresh" content="1; URL='.root.'"/>';
});

// CREATE DYNAMIC CONTROLLERS FROM FILES
// $controller = 'app/controller';
// $indir = array_filter(scandir($controller), function($item)use($controller)
// {return !is_dir($controller.'/'.$item);});
// foreach ($indir as $key=>$value){
// include $controller.'/'.$value; }

/home/findrext/travels.findrextravels.com/index.php
$current_uri = (isset($_SERVER['HTTPS']) && $_SERVER['HTTPS'] === 'on' ? "https" : "http") . "://$_SERVER[HTTP_HOST]$_SERVER[REQUEST_URI]";

// GET CLIENT IP
$ip = call_user_func(function(){
$ipaddress = '';
if (getenv('HTTP_CLIENT_IP')) $ipaddress = getenv('HTTP_CLIENT_IP');
else if(getenv('HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR')) $ipaddress = getenv('HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR');
else if(getenv('HTTP_X_FORWARDED')) $ipaddress = getenv('HTTP_X_FORWARDED');
else if(getenv('HTTP_FORWARDED_FOR')) $ipaddress = getenv('HTTP_FORWARDED_FOR');
else if(getenv('HTTP_FORWARDED')) $ipaddress = getenv('HTTP_FORWARDED');
else if(getenv('REMOTE_ADDR')) $ipaddress = getenv('REMOTE_ADDR');
else $ipaddress = 'no-ip';
return $ipaddress; });

// DD FUNCTION FOR DEBUG RESPONSES
function dd($d) { echo "<pre>"; print_r($d); echo "</pre>"; }

// ERROR 404 PAGE
$router = new Router(function ($method, $path, $statusCode, $exception) {
http_response_code($statusCode);
$title = slogan; $meta_title = slogan; $meta_desc = ""; $meta_img = ""; $meta_url = meta_url; $meta_author = meta_author; $meta = "1";
$body = views."404.php";
include layout;
});

// SESSION VIEW AND DESTROY CONROLLERS
$router->get('s', function() { echo "<pre>"; json_decode(print_r($_SESSION)); });
$router->get('sd',function() { session_destroy(); echo '
    <style>body{background:#545454;display:flex;justify-content:center;align-items: center;}</style>
    <svg width="44" height="44" viewBox="0 0 44 44" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" stroke="#fff"> <g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd" stroke-width="2"> <circle cx="22" cy="22" r="1"> <animate attributeName="r" begin="0s" dur="1.8s" values="1; 20" calcMode="spline" keyTimes="0; 1" keySplines="0.165, 0.84, 0.44, 1" repeatCount="indefinite" /> <animate attributeName="stroke-opacity" begin="0s" dur="1.8s" values="1; 0" calcMode="spline" keyTimes="0; 1" keySplines="0.3, 0.61, 0.355, 1" repeatCount="indefinite" /> </circle> <circle cx="22" cy="22" r="1"> <animate attributeName="r" begin="-0.9s" dur="1.8s" values="1; 20" calcMode="spline" keyTimes="0; 1" keySplines="0.165, 0.84, 0.44, 1" repeatCount="indefinite" /> <animate attributeName="stroke-opacity" begin="-0.9s" dur="1.8s" values="1; 0" calcMode="spline" keyTimes="0; 1" keySplines="0.3, 0.61, 0.355, 1" repeatCount="indefinite" /> </circle> </g> </svg>
    <meta http-equiv="refresh" content="1; URL='.root.'"/>';
});

// CREATE DYNAMIC CONTROLLERS FROM FILES
// $controller = 'app/controller';
// $indir = array_filter(scandir($controller), function($item)use($controller)
// {return !is_dir($controller.'/'.$item);});
// foreach ($indir as $key=>$value){
// include $controller.'/'.$value; }

/home/findrext/travels.findrextravels.com/app/lib/router.php
            } else {
                throw new InvalidArgumentException('Route/error callable as string must not be empty.');
            }
            $callable = str_replace('.', '\\', $callable);
        }
        if (is_array($callable)) {
            if (count($callable) !== 2)
                throw new InvalidArgumentException('Route/error callable as array must contain and contain only two strings.');
            if (strlen($callable[0]) > 0) {
                if ($callable[0][0] == '@') {
                    $callable[0] = $this->baseNamespace . substr($callable[0], 1);
                }
            } else {
                throw new InvalidArgumentException('Route/error callable as array must contain and contain only two strings.');
            }
            $callable[0] = str_replace('.', '\\', $callable[0]);
        }

        // Call the callable
        return call_user_func_array($callable, $params);
    }

    /**
     * Dispatches the router using data from the $_SERVER global
     *
     * @return mixed Router output
     */
    public function dispatchGlobal()
    {
        $pos = strpos($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'], '?');
        return $this->dispatch(
            $_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'],
            '/'. trim(
                substr($pos !== false
                ?   substr($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'], 0, $pos)
                :   $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'],
                strlen(implode('/', array_slice(explode('/', $_SERVER['SCRIPT_NAME']), 0, -1)) .'/')),
                '/'
            )
        );
/home/findrext/travels.findrextravels.com/app/lib/router.php
            } else {
                throw new InvalidArgumentException('Route/error callable as string must not be empty.');
            }
            $callable = str_replace('.', '\\', $callable);
        }
        if (is_array($callable)) {
            if (count($callable) !== 2)
                throw new InvalidArgumentException('Route/error callable as array must contain and contain only two strings.');
            if (strlen($callable[0]) > 0) {
                if ($callable[0][0] == '@') {
                    $callable[0] = $this->baseNamespace . substr($callable[0], 1);
                }
            } else {
                throw new InvalidArgumentException('Route/error callable as array must contain and contain only two strings.');
            }
            $callable[0] = str_replace('.', '\\', $callable[0]);
        }

        // Call the callable
        return call_user_func_array($callable, $params);
    }

    /**
     * Dispatches the router using data from the $_SERVER global
     *
     * @return mixed Router output
     */
    public function dispatchGlobal()
    {
        $pos = strpos($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'], '?');
        return $this->dispatch(
            $_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'],
            '/'. trim(
                substr($pos !== false
                ?   substr($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'], 0, $pos)
                :   $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'],
                strlen(implode('/', array_slice(explode('/', $_SERVER['SCRIPT_NAME']), 0, -1)) .'/')),
                '/'
            )
        );
/home/findrext/travels.findrextravels.com/app/lib/router.php
                    // Fix trailing /
                    if ($len > 1 && $regex[$len - 1] == '/')
                        $regex = substr($regex, 0, -1);

                    // Prevent @ collision
                    $regex = str_replace('@', '\\@', $regex);

                    // If the path matches the pattern
                    if (preg_match('@^' . $regex . '$@', $path, $params)) {

                        // Pass the params to the callback, without the full url
                        array_shift($params);
                        try {
                            return $this->call($callback, $service == null ? $params : array_merge([$service], $params));
                        } catch (HttpRequestException $ex) {
                            $params = [$method, $path, $ex->getCode(), $ex];
                            return $this->call($this->error, $this->service == null ? $params : array_merge([$this->service], $params));
                        } catch (Exception $ex) {
                            $params = [$method, $path, 500, $ex];
                            return $this->call($this->error, $this->service == null ? $params : array_merge([$this->service], $params));
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }

        // Nothing found --> error handler
        return $this->call($this->error,
            array_merge($this->service == null ? [] : [$this->service], [$method, $path, 404, new HttpRequestException(self::NO_ROUTE_FOUND_MSG)]));
    }

    /**
     * Internal function to parse and call custom callables
     *
     * @param mixed $callable string, string[] or callable to call
     * @param array $params   The parameters to send to call_user_func_array
     * @return mixed The results from the call
     */
    private function call($callable, array $params = []) {
        if (is_string($callable)) {
/home/findrext/travels.findrextravels.com/app/lib/router.php
                }
            } else {
                throw new InvalidArgumentException('Route/error callable as array must contain and contain only two strings.');
            }
            $callable[0] = str_replace('.', '\\', $callable[0]);
        }

        // Call the callable
        return call_user_func_array($callable, $params);
    }

    /**
     * Dispatches the router using data from the $_SERVER global
     *
     * @return mixed Router output
     */
    public function dispatchGlobal()
    {
        $pos = strpos($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'], '?');
        return $this->dispatch(
            $_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'],
            '/'. trim(
                substr($pos !== false
                ?   substr($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'], 0, $pos)
                :   $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'],
                strlen(implode('/', array_slice(explode('/', $_SERVER['SCRIPT_NAME']), 0, -1)) .'/')),
                '/'
            )
        );
    }

}

class HttpRequestException extends Exception {

}
/home/findrext/travels.findrextravels.com/index.php
echo '<script>window.location.href = "'.root.'"</script>';
}); } }

// STORE LOGS TO LOGGING FILE
function logs($SearchType){ $log = "IP: ".$_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'].' - '.date("F j, Y, g:i a"). '- Type => '.$SearchType . ' - URL => ' .$_GET['url'].PHP_EOL.
"------------------------------------".PHP_EOL;
$logs_path = "app/logs";
if (!file_exists($logs_path)) { mkdir("app/logs", 0777); } else { };
file_put_contents('app/logs/log_'.date("j.n.Y").'.log', $log, FILE_APPEND); };

// STORE SEARCHS TO SESSION
function SEARCH_SESSION($MODULE,$CITY){
$actual_link = (isset($_SERVER['HTTPS']) && $_SERVER['HTTPS'] === 'on' ? "https" : "http") . "://$_SERVER[HTTP_HOST]$_SERVER[REQUEST_URI]";
$b_=(object)array($MODULE,$CITY,$actual_link);
if (isset($_SESSION['SEARCHES'])){} else { $_SESSION['SEARCHES'] = array();  }
array_push($_SESSION['SEARCHES'],$b_); };

// $router->get('/page/(.*)', ['PageController', 'viewPage']);
// $router->route(['OPTION', 'PUT'], '/test', 'PageController::test');
$router->dispatchGlobal();

?>

Environment & details:

Key Value
url lang-ar
empty
empty
empty
Key Value
app stdClass Object ( [modules] => Array ( [0] => stdClass Object ( [name] => flights [status] => 1 [order] => 1 ) ) [slider] => Array ( ) [payment_gateways] => Array ( [0] => stdClass Object ( [title] => pay-later [c1] => [c2] => [c3] => [c4] => [c5] => [dev] => [dev_endpoint] => [pro_endpoint] => [order] => 1 ) [1] => stdClass Object ( [title] => paystack [c1] => sk_live_6ddfa51617587d0aaac2d6487257fd17b36d56f2 [c2] => [c3] => [c4] => [c5] => [dev] => [dev_endpoint] => https://api.paystack.co/transaction/ [pro_endpoint] => https://api.paystack.co/transaction/ [order] => 7 ) [2] => stdClass Object ( [title] => flutterwave [c1] => FLWSECK-f05a429abfa0d4d87c8337a89633d1ad-18c48862d5fvt-X [c2] => [c3] => [c4] => [c5] => [dev] => [dev_endpoint] => https://api.flutterwave.com/v3/ [pro_endpoint] => https://api.flutterwave.com/v3/ [order] => 8 ) ) [extras] => Array ( [0] => stdClass Object ( [title] => newsletter [status] => 1 ) [1] => stdClass Object ( [title] => blog [status] => 1 ) [2] => stdClass Object ( [title] => offers [status] => 1 ) ) [currencies] => Array ( [0] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 1 [name] => USD [symbol] => $ [code] => USD [rate] => 1 [decimals] => 2 [symbol_placement] => before [primary_order] => 1 [default] => [status] => 1 ) [1] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 2 [name] => NGN [symbol] => ₦ [code] => NGN [rate] => 1538 [decimals] => 2 [symbol_placement] => before [primary_order] => 0 [default] => 1 [status] => 1 ) ) [languages] => Array ( [0] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 1 [name] => Arabic [rtl] => RTL [country] => sa [default] => ) [1] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 2 [name] => German [rtl] => LTR [country] => de [default] => ) [2] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 3 [name] => English [rtl] => LTR [country] => us [default] => 1 ) [3] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 4 [name] => Spanish [rtl] => LTR [country] => es [default] => ) [4] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 5 [name] => Farsi [rtl] => RTL [country] => ir [default] => ) [5] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 6 [name] => French [rtl] => LTR [country] => be [default] => ) [6] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 7 [name] => Russian [rtl] => LTR [country] => ru [default] => ) [7] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 8 [name] => Turkish [rtl] => LTR [country] => tr [default] => ) [8] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 9 [name] => Vietnamese [rtl] => LTR [country] => vi [default] => ) ) [cms] => stdClass Object ( [header] => Array ( [0] => stdClass Object ( [Company] => Array ( [0] => stdClass Object ( [href] => company [target] => [title] => Company ) [1] => stdClass Object ( [href] => about-us [target] => [title] => About Us ) [2] => stdClass Object ( [href] => terms-of-use [target] => [title] => Terms of Use ) [3] => stdClass Object ( [href] => faq [target] => [title] => FAQ ) [4] => stdClass Object ( [href] => how-to-book [target] => [title] => How to Book ) ) ) ) [footer] => Array ( [0] => stdClass Object ( [Company] => Array ( [0] => stdClass Object ( [href] => company [target] => [title] => Company ) [1] => stdClass Object ( [href] => about-us [target] => [title] => About Us ) [2] => stdClass Object ( [href] => terms-of-use [target] => [title] => Terms of Use ) [3] => stdClass Object ( [href] => cookies-policy [target] => [title] => Cookies policy ) [4] => stdClass Object ( [href] => privacy-policy [target] => [title] => Privacy Policy ) ) ) [1] => stdClass Object ( [Support] => Array ( [0] => stdClass Object ( [href] => supprt [target] => [title] => Support ) [1] => stdClass Object ( [href] => become-supplier [target] => [title] => Become Supplier ) [2] => stdClass Object ( [href] => faq [target] => [title] => FAQ ) [3] => stdClass Object ( [href] => booking-tips [target] => [title] => Booking Tips ) [4] => stdClass Object ( [href] => how-to-book [target] => [title] => How to Book ) ) ) [2] => stdClass Object ( [Services] => Array ( [0] => stdClass Object ( [href] => services [target] => [title] => Services ) [1] => stdClass Object ( [href] => file-a-claim [target] => [title] => File a claim ) [2] => stdClass Object ( [href] => offers [target] => [title] => Last minute deals ) [3] => stdClass Object ( [href] => signup-supplier [target] => [title] => Add your business ) [4] => stdClass Object ( [href] => careers [target] => [title] => Careers and Jobs ) ) ) ) ) [app] => stdClass Object ( [appname] => FINDREX TRAVELS [site_url] => https://travels.findrextravels.com [offline] => 0 [default_theme] => default [offline_msg] => Our website is offline currently please visit us back soon. [restrict_website] => [allow_registration] => 1 [allow_agent_registration] => 1 [suppliers_registration] => [gmap_key] => AIzaSyDk_iQ6QWOTHW-TWoXSFLwbcnhaxlcnXXk [default_language] => en [multi_currency] => 1 [multi_language] => 1 [currency_code] => NGN [copyright] => FINDREX TRAVELS [email] => [email protected], [email protected] [phone] => +2348032030430 [address] => 9, Mike Adegbite Avenue, Lekki Phase 1, <br>Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria. [meta_title] => FINDREX TRAVELS | Travel Technology Partner [meta_keywords] => FINDREX TRAVELS APPl [meta_description] => Findrex Travels App is complete booking and reservation system provides complete solution for travel agency ) [social] => Array ( [0] => stdClass Object ( [social_id] => 9 [social_name] => Facebook [social_link] => https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063583392698 [social_position] => footer [social_order] => 1 [status] => 1 [social_icon] => slufm6otpasooc.png ) [1] => stdClass Object ( [social_id] => 16 [social_name] => Linkedin [social_link] => https://www.linkedin.com/in/findrex-travels [social_position] => footer [social_order] => 1 [status] => 1 [social_icon] => mj3vda58gnkck8o488.jpg ) [2] => stdClass Object ( [social_id] => 10 [social_name] => Twitter [social_link] => https://twitter.com/findrextravels [social_position] => footer [social_order] => 2 [status] => 1 [social_icon] => 9ztbr148kh4o8c8.png ) [3] => stdClass Object ( [social_id] => 12 [social_name] => Whatsapp [social_link] => https://wa.me/message/6FAWEALBCNPWL1 [social_position] => footer [social_order] => 4 [status] => 1 [social_icon] => 528076email.png.png ) [4] => stdClass Object ( [social_id] => 14 [social_name] => Instagram [social_link] => https://www.instagram.com/findrextravels/ [social_position] => footer [social_order] => 6 [status] => 1 [social_icon] => 729370rs.png.png ) ) [featured_hotels] => Array ( [0] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 40 [title] => Rendezvous Hotels [slug] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/hotels/singapore/singapore/Rendezvous-Hotels?&checkin=03/03/2026&checkout=04/03/2026&adults=2&child=0 [thumbnail] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/slider/thumbs/75043_1.jpg [stars] => <i class='fa fa-star'></i><i class='fa fa-star'></i><i class='fa fa-star-o'></i><i class='fa fa-star-o'></i><i class='fa fa-star-o'></i> [starsCount] => 2 [location] => Singapore [desc] => Rendezvous Hotel Singapore is located in the Arts and Heritage District, within 3 km (0.2 mi) of the Singapore National Museum, Singapore Art Museum, and Singapore Management University. The Dhoby Ghaut MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) station is a five-minute walk, and Orchard Road shops are a 10-to-15-minute walk. Hotel Features. The exterior of the building combines history and sophistication, while the interior offers an art-infused experience and a unique aesthetic. The hotel offers an outdoor pool, and a fitness center. Public areas and all guestrooms are nonsmoking. Straits Cafe@Rendezvous offers buffet and a la carte dining. Room service is available around the clock. A lobby bar and a gourmet food court are also on site. The hotel offers a concierge desk, a multilingual staff, and business services. Guestrooms. The air-conditioned guestrooms feature cable TV, pay movies, and in-room safes. Wireless and wired high-speed Internet access are available for a surcharge. Minibars and coffee/tea makers are also included. Bathrooms offer shower/tub combinations, handheld showers, and telephones. Wake-up calls are provided upon request [amenities] => Array ( [0] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/522827_airport.png [name] => Airport Transport ) [1] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/593292_receptionist.png [name] => Business Center ) [2] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/920288_wheelchar.png [name] => Disabled Facilities ) [3] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/78888_club.png [name] => Night Club ) [4] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/813018_laundry.png [name] => Laundry Service ) [5] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/53193_858245_wifi.png [name] => Wi-Fi Internet ) [6] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/906341_bar.png [name] => Bar Lounge ) [7] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/926605_811401_poll.png [name] => Swimming Pool ) [8] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/6348_541779_parking.png [name] => Inside Parking ) [9] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/117737_653168_busstation.png [name] => Shuttle Bus Service ) [10] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/403809_764557_fitness.png [name] => Fitness Center ) [11] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/308869_654419_spa.png [name] => SPA ) [12] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/124634_ac.png [name] => Air Conditioner ) [13] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/524780_card.png [name] => Cards Accepted ) [14] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/999481_elevator.png [name] => Elevator ) [15] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/179352_pet.png [name] => Pets Allowed ) ) [avgReviews] => stdClass Object ( [clean] => 0 [comfort] => 0 [location] => 0 [facilities] => 0 [staff] => 0 [totalReviews] => 0 [overall] => 0 ) [latitude] => 1.354313975537631 [longitude] => 103.81743274072267 [discount] => [address] => Rendezvous Hotel Singapore by Far East Hospitality Singapore [price] => 1538 [currCode] => NGN ) [1] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 38 [title] => Hyatt Regency Perth [slug] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/hotels/united-arab-emirates/dubai/Hyatt-Regency-Perth?&checkin=03/03/2026&checkout=04/03/2026&adults=2&child=0 [thumbnail] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/slider/thumbs/637176_3.jpg [stars] => <i class='fa fa-star'></i><i class='fa fa-star'></i><i class='fa fa-star'></i><i class='fa fa-star-o'></i><i class='fa fa-star-o'></i> [starsCount] => 3 [location] => Dubai [desc] => This 5-star luxury hotel offers a 25-metre heated pool and a tennis court minutes from the banks of Swan River and Perth&rsquo;s city centre. A free city shuttle bus is provided. Hyatt Regency Perth Hotel provides large rooms that with views of the river or the city. Some rooms include free access the hotel&rsquo;s fitness centre and sauna. Guests can enjoy superb cuisine at any of the 5 dining outlets at the property including Cafe Restaurant, Joe&rsquo;s Oriental Diner with its spectacular open kitchen or the sumptuous Conservatory Lounge. Hyatt Regency Perth is 20 minutes&#39; drive from Perth international and Domestic Airport. [amenities] => Array ( [0] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/522827_airport.png [name] => Airport Transport ) [1] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/593292_receptionist.png [name] => Business Center ) [2] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/920288_wheelchar.png [name] => Disabled Facilities ) [3] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/78888_club.png [name] => Night Club ) [4] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/813018_laundry.png [name] => Laundry Service ) [5] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/79773_breakfast.png [name] => Restaurant ) [6] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/53193_858245_wifi.png [name] => Wi-Fi Internet ) [7] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/6348_541779_parking.png [name] => Inside Parking ) [8] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/117737_653168_busstation.png [name] => Shuttle Bus Service ) [9] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/403809_764557_fitness.png [name] => Fitness Center ) [10] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/308869_654419_spa.png [name] => SPA ) [11] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/7599_441834_children.png [name] => Children Activites ) [12] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/124634_ac.png [name] => Air Conditioner ) [13] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/524780_card.png [name] => Cards Accepted ) [14] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/999481_elevator.png [name] => Elevator ) [15] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/179352_pet.png [name] => Pets Allowed ) ) [avgReviews] => stdClass Object ( [clean] => 0 [comfort] => 0 [location] => 0 [facilities] => 0 [staff] => 0 [totalReviews] => 0 [overall] => 0 ) [latitude] => -31.95819269999999 [longitude] => 115.86670630000003 [discount] => [address] => Hyatt Regency Perth, Adelaide Terrace, Perth, Western Australia, Australia [price] => 1538 [currCode] => NGN ) [2] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 37 [title] => Islamabad Marriott Hotel [slug] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/hotels/pakistan/islamabad/Islamabad-Marriott-Hotel?&checkin=03/03/2026&checkout=04/03/2026&adults=2&child=0 [thumbnail] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/slider/thumbs/94178_4.jpg [stars] => <i class='fa fa-star'></i><i class='fa fa-star'></i><i class='fa fa-star'></i><i class='fa fa-star'></i><i class='fa fa-star'></i> [starsCount] => 5 [location] => Islamabad [desc] => The 5-star Islamabad Marriott Hotel provides high speed wireless internet, an indoor pool and a fitness centre. Pampering spa treatments with separate male and female lounges are also available. Room service is provided 24 hours. The modern air-conditioned rooms are all equipped with a 42-inch flat-screen TV, a personal safe and tea/coffee making facilities. En suite bathrooms come with hot-water showers, bathrobes and free toiletries. Islamabad Marriott Hotel is about 20 km from both Islamabad Airport and Rawalpindi Station. Daewoo Bus Station is 25 km away. On-site parking and valet parking are free. Guests can visit the beauty salon, browse the on-site bookstore, or rent cars to explore the area. The hotel also provides a florist, daily newspapers and a tour desk. Continental buffet spreads are offered at Nadia, while Chinese cuisine is served at Dynasty. Other dining options include The Royal Elephant Thai restaurant, Jason&#39;s Steak House, Dumpukht Mughlai Restaurant and Sakura Japanes [amenities] => Array ( [0] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/522827_airport.png [name] => Airport Transport ) [1] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/593292_receptionist.png [name] => Business Center ) [2] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/920288_wheelchar.png [name] => Disabled Facilities ) [3] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/813018_laundry.png [name] => Laundry Service ) [4] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/79773_breakfast.png [name] => Restaurant ) [5] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/53193_858245_wifi.png [name] => Wi-Fi Internet ) [6] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/906341_bar.png [name] => Bar Lounge ) [7] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/6348_541779_parking.png [name] => Inside Parking ) [8] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/403809_764557_fitness.png [name] => Fitness Center ) [9] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/308869_654419_spa.png [name] => SPA ) [10] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/7599_441834_children.png [name] => Children Activites ) [11] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/124634_ac.png [name] => Air Conditioner ) [12] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/999481_elevator.png [name] => Elevator ) [13] => stdClass Object ( [icon] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/amenities/179352_pet.png [name] => Pets Allowed ) ) [avgReviews] => stdClass Object ( [clean] => 0 [comfort] => 0 [location] => 0 [facilities] => 0 [staff] => 0 [totalReviews] => 0 [overall] => 0 ) [latitude] => 33.7293882 [longitude] => 73.09314610000001 [discount] => 15 [address] => Islamabad Marriott Hotel, Islamabad, Pakistan [price] => 1538 [currCode] => NGN ) [3] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 36 [title] => Rose Rayhaan Rotana [slug] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/hotels/united-arab-emirates/dubai/Rose-Rayhaan-Rotana?&checkin=03/03/2026&checkout=04/03/2026&adults=2&child=0 [thumbnail] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/hotels/slider/thumbs/596771_5.jpg [stars] => <i class='fa fa-star'></i><i class='fa fa-star'></i><i class='fa fa-star-o'></i><i class='fa fa-star-o'></i><i class='fa fa-star-o'></i> [starsCount] => 2 [location] => Dubai [desc] => Occupying the world&rsquo;s second tallest hotel, the Rose Rayhaan by Rotana offers convenient accommodation surrounded by several restaurants and caf&eacute;s. Financial Centre Metro Station is 2 minutes&#39; walk. Rose Rayhaan is a 333-metre tall, 72-storey building providing a variety of modern, spacious rooms and suites that include LCD TVs and feature stunning city views. Rose Rayhaan&rsquo;s swimming pool is situated on the 4th floor of the hotel. Other facilities include a hot tub, massage rooms, sauna and steam rooms. The largest shopping centre in the world, Dubai Mall, is 1.5 km from this alcohol-free hotel. Dubai Exhibition Centre, the Mall of the Emirates and the Burjuman Shopping Mall are also within a 10 minute drive from the property. We speak your language! Hotel Rooms: 462, Hotel Chain: Rotana. 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In Manchester&rsquo;s vibrant centre, the hotel also features a brasserie and fitness centre. The chic rooms have luxurious beds and intimate mood lighting. Rooms also feature a plasma-screen TV and high-speed internet access, and the modern bathrooms have power showers and exclusive toiletries. 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The spacious apartments each have a fully equipped kitchen, living room and dining area plus 2, 3 or 4 ensuite bedrooms. Guests may enjoy stunning views over The Palm Jumeirah and Dubai Marina, restaurants, a swimming pool deck just steps from Jumeirah beach and access to the private beach at JA Jebel Ali Golf Resort. 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Happily for our guests, the Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai is equally famed for its amazing value and sheer wealth of options to enjoying your stay. All the hotel&rsquo;s 617 rooms, suites and villas are luxuriously furnished and provide spectacular views of the Arabian Gulf. And once you&rsquo;ve finished taking in the view, you can choose from the widest array of leisure facilities around one of the best family hotels in Dubai, including a scuba diving centre, five swimming pools, Sinbad&rsquo;s Kids Club, The Hub for teens and complimentary, unlimited access to the Wild Wadi Water Park. You&rsquo;ll find everything you&rsquo;re looking for and much more at Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai. 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Guests are served a complimentary breakfast each morning. Complimentary wireless and wired high-speed Internet access is available in public areas and a computer station is located on site. This 5-star hotel features business amenities including a 24-hour business center and small meeting rooms. The staff can provide concierge services, wedding services, and tour assistance. Additional amenities include multilingual staff, gift shops/news stands, and laundry facilities. Onsite parking is complimentary. 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The historic townhouse Alzer Hotel is over 100 years old and has been fully restored with great attention to detail. The clean and comfortable guest rooms offer modern amenities, including air conditioning. Start each day with a rich breakfast served on Alzer&#39;s charming terrace, whilst admiring views of the Blue Mosque and Marmara Sea. Traditional Turkish cuisine is served in the evenings. Enjoy a stroll around the historic neighbourhood before returning to Alzer Hotel for peace and relaxation. Alzer&#39;s friendly staff is available 24 hours a day to help you with any information you may need to make the most of your stay. 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[1] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 11 [title] => Air Phillpines [from] => CGK Jakarta [to] => DPS Bali [thumbnail] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/flights/slider/b47cgm5h3tc8sw0.png [desc] => [price] => 1538 [currCode] => NGN ) [2] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 10 [title] => Gulf Air [from] => CAI Cairo [to] => ANK Ankara [thumbnail] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/flights/slider/91raniksw5wc404.png [desc] => [price] => 1538 [currCode] => NGN ) [3] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 9 [title] => Etihad Airways [from] => SHJ Sharjah [to] => KHI Karachi [thumbnail] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/flights/slider/9nl4tj6jspgco00.png [desc] => [price] => 1538 [currCode] => NGN ) [4] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 8 [title] => Canadian Airways [from] => YXC Canada [to] => JFK New York [thumbnail] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/flights/slider/rd28iqxqv808gk.png [desc] => [price] => 1538 [currCode] => NGN ) [5] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 7 [title] => Turkish Airlines [from] => IST Istanbul [to] => DXB Dubai [thumbnail] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/flights/slider/2qccdvq0wvy840c.png [desc] => [price] => 1538 [currCode] => NGN ) [6] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 6 [title] => Air India [from] => BOM Mumbai [to] => DXB Dubai [thumbnail] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/flights/slider/7lcw4cf8hwo480w.png [desc] => [price] => 1538 [currCode] => NGN ) [7] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 5 [title] => Emirates Airlines [from] => DXB Dubai [to] => KWI Kuwait [thumbnail] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/flights/slider/20tegedgl4yswgk.png [desc] => [price] => 1538 [currCode] => NGN ) [8] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 4 [title] => American Airlines [from] => MTH Florida [to] => YXC Canada [thumbnail] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/flights/slider/ae838q1tjrscs8k.png [desc] => [price] => 1538 [currCode] => NGN ) [9] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 3 [title] => Pakistan Airlines [from] => ISB Islamabad [to] => JED Jeddah [thumbnail] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/flights/slider/ybaegc18zpc4ko.png [desc] => [price] => 1538 [currCode] => NGN ) [10] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 2 [title] => Malaysia Airlines [from] => KUL Malaysia [to] => SIN Singapore [thumbnail] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/flights/slider/1gmmwudrvzi888k.png [desc] => [price] => 1538 [currCode] => NGN ) [11] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 1 [title] => Qater Airlines [from] => LHE Lahore [to] => DXB Dubai [thumbnail] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/flights/slider/e2kkchakfxw80w8.png [desc] => [price] => 1538 [currCode] => NGN ) ) [featured_tours] => Array ( [0] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 26 [title] => Big Bus Tour of Dubai [slug] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/tours/united-arab-emirates/dubai/Big-Bus-Tour-of-Dubai?date=03/03/2026&adults=1 [thumbnail] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/tours/slider/thumbs/dubai.jpg [stars] => <i class='fa fa-star'></i><i class='fa fa-star'></i><i class='fa fa-star'></i><i class='fa fa-star'></i><i class='fa fa-star'></i> [starsCount] => 5 [location] => Dubai [desc] => Experience hospitality at the city, from its stunning to vibrant culture, architecture and exquisite cuisines. Take a weekend trip on the occasion&nbsp;and create a memorable experience with your loved one. If you are a sun and sea lover, this paradise offers you an array of splendid sandy beaches, where you can spend time relaxing or go on a refreshing yacht experience. And if you are a history lover, explore the birthplace of many civilizations, empires, historic figures and legends together with diverse mixture of many different ethnic origins. &nbsp; Day 1 Arrive to the city&nbsp;and transfer to your hotel. Check in and spend the day at leisure. Day 2 After breakfast, go on the Boshphorus cruise and the Spice market tour. Enjoy the traditional excursion along the waterway separating Europe and Asia. The shore is lined with old wooden villas, palaces of marble, fortresses and small fishing villages. Witness major highlights whilst sailing such as the Dolmabah&ccedil;e Palace, the parks and pavilions of the Yildiz Palace. Visit the colorful Spice Market to buy local spices and shop for souvenirs. Day 3 Begin your day with a delicious breakfast and go on your city tour on seat in coach basis, the heart of the Imperial Center from where the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires once ruled. Explore the Hippodrome, a beautiful park known as the Byzantine chariot racetrack &ndash; a stadium capable of holding 100,000 people. There are three great monuments in the Hippodrome, the Egyptian Obelisk of 1500 BC, the Serpentine Column from the Temple of Apollo at Delphi and the German Fountain of Wilhelm II. Later visit the Blue Mosque, which faces Hagia Sophia and features six towering minarets and spectacular interior covered by overwhelmingly blue Iznik tiles. Day 4 After breakfast, check out from your hotel and spend the day shopping and exploring the city on your own. In the evening, transfer to the airport and board your flight and return home with great memories of your holiday. 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Visit the colorful Spice Market to buy local spices and shop for souvenirs. Day 3 Begin your day with a delicious breakfast and go on your city tour on seat in coach basis, the heart of the Imperial Center from where the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires once ruled. Explore the Hippodrome, a beautiful park known as the Byzantine chariot racetrack &ndash; a stadium capable of holding 100,000 people. There are three great monuments in the Hippodrome, the Egyptian Obelisk of 1500 BC, the Serpentine Column from the Temple of Apollo at Delphi and the German Fountain of Wilhelm II. Later visit the Blue Mosque, which faces Hagia Sophia and features six towering minarets and spectacular interior covered by overwhelmingly blue Iznik tiles. Day 4 After breakfast, check out from your hotel and spend the day shopping and exploring the city on your own. In the evening, transfer to the airport and board your flight and return home with great memories of your holiday. 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Take a weekend trip on the occasion&nbsp;and create a memorable experience with your loved one. If you are a sun and sea lover, this paradise offers you an array of splendid sandy beaches, where you can spend time relaxing or go on a refreshing yacht experience. And if you are a history lover, explore the birthplace of many civilizations, empires, historic figures and legends together with diverse mixture of many different ethnic origins. &nbsp; Day 1 Arrive to the city&nbsp;and transfer to your hotel. Check in and spend the day at leisure. Day 2 After breakfast, go on the Boshphorus cruise and the Spice market tour. Enjoy the traditional excursion along the waterway separating Europe and Asia. The shore is lined with old wooden villas, palaces of marble, fortresses and small fishing villages. Witness major highlights whilst sailing such as the Dolmabah&ccedil;e Palace, the parks and pavilions of the Yildiz Palace. Visit the colorful Spice Market to buy local spices and shop for souvenirs. Day 3 Begin your day with a delicious breakfast and go on your city tour on seat in coach basis, the heart of the Imperial Center from where the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires once ruled. Explore the Hippodrome, a beautiful park known as the Byzantine chariot racetrack &ndash; a stadium capable of holding 100,000 people. There are three great monuments in the Hippodrome, the Egyptian Obelisk of 1500 BC, the Serpentine Column from the Temple of Apollo at Delphi and the German Fountain of Wilhelm II. Later visit the Blue Mosque, which faces Hagia Sophia and features six towering minarets and spectacular interior covered by overwhelmingly blue Iznik tiles. Day 4 After breakfast, check out from your hotel and spend the day shopping and exploring the city on your own. In the evening, transfer to the airport and board your flight and return home with great memories of your holiday. 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With room for 5 passengers and 4 pieces of luggage, it&#39;s ideal for families and small to medium-sized &nbsp;Travel in comfort and style in this compact model. With room for 5 passengers and 4 pieces of luggage, it&#39;s ideal for families and small to medium-sized&nbsp;Travel in comfort and style in this compact model. 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With room for 5 passengers and 4 pieces of luggage, it&#39;s ideal for families and small to medium-sized groups. Fuel consumption 62.7 m/g CO2 emission 190.0 g/km&nbsp;Car Description Travel in comfort and style in this compact model. With room for 5 passengers and 4 pieces of luggage, it&#39;s ideal for families and small to medium-sized groups. Fuel consumption 62.7 m/g CO2 emission 190.0 g/km&nbsp;Car Description Travel in comfort and style in this compact model. With room for 5 passengers and 4 pieces of luggage, it&#39;s ideal for families and small to medium-sized groups. Fuel consumption 62.7 m/g CO2 emission 190.0 g/k [doors] => 2 [passengers] => 4 [transmission] => Manual [airportPickup] => yes [baggage] => x1 [price] => 1538 [currCode] => NGN [carType] => Standard [discount] => [latitude] => 25.2048493 [longitude] => 55.2707828 [avgReviews] => stdClass Object ( [clean] => 0 [comfort] => 0 [location] => 0 [facilities] => 0 [staff] => 0 [totalReviews] => 0 [overall] => 0 ) ) [2] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 9 [title] => Ford Mondeo 2012 [slug] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/cars/united-arab-emirates/dubai/Ford-Mondeo-2012 [thumbnail] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/cars/slider/thumbs/65339_3.jpg [stars] => <i class='fa fa-star'></i><i class='fa fa-star-o'></i><i class='fa fa-star-o'></i><i class='fa fa-star-o'></i><i class='fa fa-star-o'></i> [starsCount] => 1 [location] => Dubai [desc] => With room for 5 passengers and 4 pieces of luggage, this is the perfect model for families or groups looking to arrive in style at their destination. Fuel consumption 39.2 m/g CO2 emission 171.0 g/km&nbsp;With room for 5 passengers and 4 pieces of luggage, this is the perfect model for families or groups looking to arrive in style at their destination. Fuel consumption 39.2 m/g CO2 emission 171.0 g/km&nbsp;With room for 5 passengers and 4 pieces of luggage, this is the perfect model for families or groups looking to arrive in style at their destination. Fuel consumption 39.2 m/g CO2 emission 171.0 g/km &nbsp; [doors] => 2 [passengers] => 5 [transmission] => Auto [airportPickup] => yes [baggage] => x3 [price] => 1538 [currCode] => NGN [carType] => Standard [discount] => 20 [latitude] => 25.2048493 [longitude] => 55.2707828 [avgReviews] => stdClass Object ( [clean] => 0 [comfort] => 0 [location] => 0 [facilities] => 0 [staff] => 0 [totalReviews] => 0 [overall] => 0 ) ) ) [featured_blog] => Array ( [0] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 35 [title] => Virgin Gorda beaches and lobste [thumbnail] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/blog/780975_1.jpg [desc] => <p>This is the second leg of a truly fun week. There are adventures to get each morning when we land somewhere else, but also fun time on the boat itself.&nbsp;</p> <p>The Club Med 2 has an open bar. Yes, that means free flow of pretty good things...all day long. So being on a French boat, you have Ricard for aperitif at lunch time if you are on the boat at lunch time...and pina colada by the pool before sunset, and obviously wine during meals. We are in the North Hemisphere end of November, so sunsets are early at around 5.30pm each day...with some pretty cool views from the swimming pool bar on the back deck. By 6pm, it&#39;s champagne time...all night long. Well, first it&#39;s shower time and getting change for the evening obviously...this is still a French place! And as we all now that mixing different alcohol drinks is not a great idea, I found a fun group of people ready to go on the champagne all night long, each evening, for great and fun time! More in the next entries of this truly fun group of people.&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Little warning, Club Med 2&nbsp;<br /> Club Med 2Club Med 2<br /> Club Med 2<br /> is French, and it feels. Out of the 280 guests on the boat this week, I don&#39;t think a single one doesn&#39;t speak at least some French. It would be a pretty boring week if you can only speak English here...and as you may be aware...French people living in France suck when it comes to speak something else than French. You&#39;ve been honestly warned!&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>So this morning, it&#39;s BVI time. No I&#39;m not coming for business here. And BVI doesn&#39;t only stand for offshore companies...it does too stand for gorgeous beaches, yachts, and British Virgin Islands. We have sailed all night long from Dominica...Dominica is Commonwealth and poor....BVI is British Territory and pretty wealthy.&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>I spent my day with Thierry....same age as me, and ready to have some fun this week. Because at the end of the day we know you don&#39;t find single ladies in their thirties on these cruises...we knew we would need to get organized to do something else than read our books! Didn&#39;t do my homework about Virgin Gorda. I kew the diving was average, and that the cruise had a BBQ lunch of lobster organized for us on the&nbsp;<br /> Lobster time...Lobster time...<br /> Lobster time...<br /> beach! So we took a &quot;beacher&quot; with the intention to simply go on the beach for the morning.&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>There was a shuttle to &quot;a&quot; beach rented for the morning by Club Med. We set next to the rasta driver...yeah man...and he dropped us on the way. That was off-plan, completely out of the blue! It was time for us to go explore the National Park of &quot;The Baths&quot;. This is some kind of a National Park...it is a series of beaches separated by granite rocks. I first felt in the Seychelles...before finding myself rather in some kind of adventure hike for teenagers ready to have some serious fun. Wow, that place is amazing!&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>We spent the all morning going from beach to beach and climbing those huge rocks...even getting lost on deserted beaches as wandering if we were only on the right trail. The water was beautiful and warm....the yachts were around, it was just plain full fun...simple!</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>We made our way back to the Club Med beach, just on time for the last shuttle. Good idea, as we had no idea where the BBQ was, and the ride back to&nbsp;<br /> Little pina colada by the pool...Little pina colada by the pool...<br /> Little pina colada by the pool...<br /> the landing point of the cruise was quite a walk away. Lobster BBQ! That simply cannot be bad just by the way it sounds. It was another of these...free flow of rose wine...of salad, and yes, of lobster too! The sun was there, at the end of the lunch...our faces ended the same color as the lobsters on the grill....but one more time...fun it was!&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Back on the boat before the crowds for a good nap and some swimming pool time. Not that 280 guests makes you feel crowded on such a huge sail boat...but queueing is simply really not our thing.&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Another really fun night was awaiting us...and a short sail to the land of Uncle Sam...or pretty close to this actually, for another fun adventure...on which I will have to write pretty soon!</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> [shortDesc] => This is the second leg of a truly fun week. There are adventures to get each morning when we land somewhere else, but also fun time on the boat itself.&nbsp; The Club Med 2 has an open bar. Yes, that means free flow of pretty good things...all day long. So being on a French boat, you have Ricard for aperitif at lunch time if you are on the boat at lunch time...and pina colada by the pool before sunset, and obviously wine during meals. We are in the North Hemisphere end of November, so sunsets are early at around 5.30pm each day...with some pretty cool views from the swimming pool bar on the back deck. By 6pm, it&#39;s champagne time...all night long. Well, first it&#39;s shower time and getting change for the evening obviously...this is still a French place! And as we all now that mixing different alcohol drinks is not a great idea, I found a fun group of people ready to go on the champagne all night long, each evening, for great and fun time! More in the next entries of this truly fun group of people.&nbsp; &nbsp; Little warning, Club Med 2&nbsp; Club Med 2Club Med 2 Club Med 2 is French, and it feels. Out of the 280 guests on the boat this week, I don&#39;t think a single one doesn&#39;t speak at least some French. It would be a pretty boring week if you can only speak English here...and as you may be aware...French people living in France suck when it comes to speak something else than French. You&#39;ve been honestly warned!&nbsp; &nbsp; So this morning, it&#39;s BVI time. No I&#39;m not coming for business here. And BVI doesn&#39;t only stand for offshore companies...it does too stand for gorgeous beaches, yachts, and British Virgin Islands. We have sailed all night long from Dominica...Dominica is Commonwealth and poor....BVI is British Territory and pretty wealthy.&nbsp; &nbsp; I spent my day with Thierry....same age as me, and ready to have some fun this week. Because at the end of the day we know you don&#39;t find single ladies in their thirties on these cruises...we knew we would need to get organized to do something else than read our books! Didn&#39;t do my homework about Virgin Gorda. I kew the diving was average, and that the cruise had a BBQ lunch of lobster organized for us on the&nbsp; Lobster time...Lobster time... Lobster time... beach! So we took a &quot;beacher&quot; with the intention to simply go on the beach for the morning.&nbsp; &nbsp; There was a shuttle to &quot;a&quot; beach rented for the morning by Club Med. We set next to the rasta driver...yeah man...and he dropped us on the way. That was off-plan, completely out of the blue! It was time for us to go explore the National Park of &quot;The Baths&quot;. This is some kind of a National Park...it is a series of beaches separated by granite rocks. I first felt in the Seychelles...before finding myself rather in some kind of adventure hike for teenagers ready to have some serious fun. Wow, that place is amazing!&nbsp; &nbsp; We spent the all morning going from beach to beach and climbing those huge rocks...even getting lost on deserted beaches as wandering if we were only on the right trail. The water was beautiful and warm....the yachts were around, it was just plain full fun...simple! &nbsp; &nbsp; We made our way back to the Club Med beach, just on time for the last shuttle. Good idea, as we had no idea where the BBQ was, and the ride back to&nbsp; Little pina colada by the pool...Little pina colada by the pool... Little pina colada by the pool... the landing point of the cruise was quite a walk away. Lobster BBQ! That simply cannot be bad just by the way it sounds. It was another of these...free flow of rose wine...of salad, and yes, of lobster too! The sun was there, at the end of the lunch...our faces ended the same color as the lobsters on the grill....but one more time...fun it was!&nbsp; &nbsp; Back on the boat before the crowds for a good nap and some swimming pool time. Not that 280 guests makes you feel crowded on such a huge sail boat...but queueing is simply really not our thing.&nbsp; &nbsp; Another really fun night was awaiting us...and a short sail to the land of Uncle Sam...or pretty close to this actually, for another fun adventure...on which I will have to write pretty soon! &nbsp; [slug] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/blog/Virgin-Gorda-beaches-and-lobste ) [1] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 34 [title] => Fiercely Independent Cultures [thumbnail] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/blog/696228_2.jpg [desc] => <p>In a world that is increasingly homogenous, fiercely independent cultures and places are especially intriguing. Likely a result of it&#39;s geographical isolation from both mainland Europe and North America, Iceland has always taken it&#39;s own unique path. Icelandic architecture and fashion is a reflection of it&#39;s unusual geography, the Icelandic palette is most comfortable when quality local ingredients are cured, cultured, fermented, or pickled, and the Icelandic people revel in self sufficiency and environmental sustainability. Iceland has always been deeply rooted in nordic liberal sensibilities, but unlike any other nation, they refused to bail out their banks after the 2008 recession, in 2009 they elected the world&#39;s first openly gay female prime minister and in 2010, Reykjavik elected John Gnarr, punk rock singer, comedian, and self proclaimed anarchist as their mayor. The physical landscape is as striking and unique as the culture itself; an island covered in black volcanic rock, lush green fields, geothermal vents and dramatic volcanoes. It was with this in mind, that Dennie, Henry and I boarded a plane for Reykjavik over Easter holidays, where we would spend 9 days swimming in hot pools, driving through fjords, and eating delicious Skyr (Icelandic yogurt).&nbsp;</p> <p>Iceland is expensive. As&nbsp;<br /> Hiking near Eyjafjallaj&ouml;kullHiking near Eyjafjallaj&ouml;kull<br /> Hiking near Eyjafjallaj&ouml;kull<br /> a way to mitigate the costs our plan involved renting an old, rusty but mainly reliable car from Sadcar (a 2002 Yaris with 280,000 Kms), cooking 2 out of 3 meals a day at our rental apartment with Bonus brand groceries and doing as little shopping as possible. Upon walking through customs I began to have some minor reservations about our plan to be budget oriented when we were greeted by what I assume is one out of the two Sadcar employees who took us to a quonset in a field 10 minutes from the airport. When we inquired about a carseat for Henry, they directed us to the back of the auto body shop/rental car graveyard where 3 very used and slightly broken carseats sat amongst mufflers and cooling fluids. Dennie chose the most functional of the lot, we loaded into our Sadcar and took off towards Reykjavik through a minor snow storm.&nbsp;</p> <p>Our little Ikea apartment was perfectly located down the street from Hallgrimskirka, the spired Lutheran church that provides a compass for travellers exploring the city. This was a great location to have as home base, as most of our mornings were spent wondering the streets&nbsp;<br /> Hank and I inside the HarpaHank and I inside the Harpa<br /> Hank and I inside the Harpa<br /> of the old town where colorful terraced houses with main floor commercial space provide a vibrant and walkable downtown dotted with record shops with comfy couches and free espresso (12 Tonar), Icelandic design and furniture stores, vegetarian cafes, pubs, clubs and curry houses. We visited all three locations of the Reykjavik Art Museum (Hafnarhus, Kjarvalsstadir, Asmundarsafn) where the post modern works of Erro and the cubist and abstract landscape paintings of Kjarval hang next to rotating exhibits from contemporary Icelandic artists. We stumbled upon an Easter egg hunt in the Einar Jonsson Sculpture Park, played cards in the sprawling lounges inside The Harpa, and took in the Reykjavik Museum of Photography (inside the public library), the Viking Saga Museum, the Reykjavik Children&#39;s Park and &quot;zoo&quot; (more of a petting zoo) and took the elevator to the observatory at The Pearl. The city is surprisingly cosmopolitan yet retains a small town hospitality that acts as a reminder that there are only 120,000 people within city limits.&nbsp;</p> <p>Despite the high cost of bars and restaurants in Reykjavik&#39;s centre we managed to find a number of reasonably priced eateries serving delicious and fresh food. Here are some of our recommendations: Babalu (grilled&nbsp;<br /> Easter Egg Hunt in Einar J&oacute;nsson Sculpture GardenEaster Egg Hunt in Einar J&oacute;nsson Sculpture Garden<br /> Easter Egg Hunt in Einar J&oacute;nsson Sculpture Garden<br /> Hallgr&iacute;mskirkja in the background.<br /> cheese and tomato soup), C is for Cookie (homemade soup and sandwiches with great cheesecake), Laundromat Cafe (lake trout with root vegetables was outstanding and the children&#39;s play area in the basement is something to behold!), Austur India Fjelagid (delicious vegetarian Thali), Graen Kostur (Eastern inspired fusion veggie food with two lunch options daily). For drinks, Microbar has a lot of local craft beers on tap (Happy Hour from 5-8 pm). The Labowski Bar also seemed like an amazing place but they were having pub trivia when we walked in so we didn&#39;t stay for a drink.&nbsp;</p> <p>Our Sadcar managed a number of day trips from Reykjavik; we drove north through the Hvalfjorour (Whale Fjord), stopping for a picnic near some rapids. We drove to the geothermal town of Hverager&eth;i and onto the famed Eyjafjallajokull volcano which erupted in 2010 causing flight cancellations across Europe. We drove the Golden Circle with stops at Geyser, Pingvellir National Park and the Gulfoss waterfall. Once you leave Reykjavik the geography is stark but majestic with green fields punctuated with black volcanic rock, rolling hills, steep mountain passes and steam rising into the air from thermal vents dotting the landscape throughout.&nbsp;</p> <p>Dennie&nbsp;<br /> Outside of the Blue LagoonOutside of the Blue Lagoon<br /> Outside of the Blue Lagoon<br /> and I have fast come to the realization that when travelling with a baby, the experience is more fun for all if all planning revolves around the baby. And while Reykjavik&#39;s legendary nightlife may have called my name once or twice, parenting with a hangover certainly did not. As such, we spent a good deal of our time in Iceland immersing ourselves into the thermal pool culture. With 122 thermal pools and 17 in Reykjavik alone, we made it our mission to swim in a new pool each day. In Reykjavik we swam at Laugardalslaug, Sundhollin, Arbaejarlaug, Grafarvogslaug, Sudurbaejarlaug, and Asvallalaug. During our day trips around the Icelandic country side we also had the opportunity to swim at the beautiful pool at Hverageroi, naked in the deserted Seljallalaug located in a mountain valley surrounded by waterfalls, and on our last day at expensive but amazing Blue Lagoon. 9 pools in 9 days. The water in all public pools is chemical free, heated through geothermal, and nearly all have a number of &quot;hot pots&quot;, saunas, lanes for swimming, kids pools, and water-slides. I got the impression from my time sitting in &quot;hot pots&quot; chatting with locals that thermal pools are important&nbsp;<br /> Enroute to the Seljvavellir hot pool Enroute to the Seljvavellir hot pool&nbsp;<br /> Enroute to the Seljvavellir hot pool<br /> gathering places for members of the community. Old and young alike move between the various pools and openly converse with strangers and friends. In moments where Henry was grumpy or tired we always knew we were within a few minutes from a pool where he would immediately be transformed back into the smiling Hank we have become used to. While the pools certainly made travelling in Iceland with a baby much easier, it is the Icelandic people who really make Iceland a child friendly locale. Almost every restaurant we went to had a children&#39;s play area, there was signage that encouraged breastfeeding, and all bars and pubs allow children. Icelandic people were warm and outgoing but not loud or obnoxious and no matter where we went, it seemed they had thought about ways to welcome children.&nbsp;</p> <p>On our final morning in Iceland, I walked down the street from our apartment to pick up a couple cd&#39;s at Tonar 12. I sat on their comfy couches listening to FM Belfast and Seabear while Henry rummaged through the stacks. Without asking, the man running the shop brought me an espresso. I picked up a Reykjavik guidebook from a coffee table and&nbsp;<br /> Dennie driving our Sad CarDennie driving our Sad Car<br /> Dennie driving our Sad Car<br /> opened the book to the first page to read the mayor&#39;s welcome message for visitors. Jon Gnarr (the mayor) foretold his version of the country&#39;s origin. I read,&nbsp;</p> <p>&quot;But how can it be that such a warm country came to possess such a frigid name? Yes, the explanation is simple: MISUNDERSTANDING. Ing&oacute;lfur Arnarson, the first man that found Reykjav&iacute;k, wasn&rsquo;t on his way here at all. He was en route to the United States of America, to buy grapes and other fast food that grew wild there in those days. He was very interested in food. And also homicide. On his way he noticed a cloud of smoke ascending to the heavens from an unknown country. His curious nature got the best of him, and he changed his course and set sail to Reykjav&iacute;k (Reykjav&iacute;k literally means &ldquo;smoky bay&rdquo;!).&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>As he disembarked his ship, he saw that the smoke was in fact steam rising from Reykjav&iacute;k&rsquo;s many swimming pools. He was therefore quick in tearing off the suit of armour that he had worn in case he&rsquo;d encounter some Native Americans while picking grapes, and jumping into some swim trunks. After swimming a good&nbsp;<br /> Hank test driving Indie music at Tonar 12 in ReykjavikHank test driving Indie music at Tonar 12 in Reykjavik<br /> Hank test driving Indie music at Tonar 12 in Reykjavik<br /> 500 metres he sat in the hot tub and relaxed. After a fun chat with the locals he had forgotten all about America. Who needs to travel all the way to America to pick grapes when there&rsquo;s a shop on Laugavegur called V&iacute;nberi&eth; (V&iacute;nberi&eth; literally means: &ldquo;the grape&rdquo;)? Ing&oacute;lfur decided to settle here. He rented a small apartment along with his wife, Hallveig Fr&oacute;&eth;ad&oacute;ttir, who many claim was the daughter of Frodo from &lsquo;Lord Of The Rings&rsquo;. Nothing has been proven about that, however.</p> <p>One day Ing&oacute;lfur and Hallveig were taking a stroll around town. They were walking their dog, who was called Pl&uacute;t&oacute; and was a Great Dane. It was a sizzling hot summer&rsquo;s day. It was long before the t-shirt was invented. They were both dressed in full suits of armour, with swords and shields and helmets and everything. They stopped by at &Iacute;sb&uacute;&eth; Vesturb&aelig;jar in Hagamelur to get some ice cream and cool down. The story goes that Ing&oacute;lfur asked the clerk whether she knew what the country was called.&nbsp;</p> <p>She thought it was called Thule. Ing&oacute;lfur felt that was a stupid name.&nbsp;</p> <p>&ldquo;No country can be called Thule&rdquo;, he said.&nbsp;</p> <p>Outside the&nbsp;<br /> Henry inside the eyjafjallajokull theatreHenry inside the eyjafjallajokull theatre<br /> Henry inside the eyjafjallajokull theatre<br /> ice cream shop, a crowd had gathered. They had heard that foreign visitors were in town. A lot of those people were elves. Ing&oacute;lfur then approached the crowd, raised his ice cream cone aloft and shouted:&nbsp;</p> <p>&ldquo;Henceforth this country will be called Iceland, because one can get the world&rsquo;s best ice cream here!&rdquo;.&nbsp;</p> <p>Today we have a statue of Ing&oacute;lfur. The statue depicts Ing&oacute;lfur dying of heat, leaning on his dog.&nbsp;</p> <p>Don&rsquo;t be a stranger, be like Ing&oacute;lfur! &quot;&nbsp;</p> <p>Only in Iceland!&nbsp;</p> [shortDesc] => In a world that is increasingly homogenous, fiercely independent cultures and places are especially intriguing. Likely a result of it&#39;s geographical isolation from both mainland Europe and North America, Iceland has always taken it&#39;s own unique path. Icelandic architecture and fashion is a reflection of it&#39;s unusual geography, the Icelandic palette is most comfortable when quality local ingredients are cured, cultured, fermented, or pickled, and the Icelandic people revel in self sufficiency and environmental sustainability. Iceland has always been deeply rooted in nordic liberal sensibilities, but unlike any other nation, they refused to bail out their banks after the 2008 recession, in 2009 they elected the world&#39;s first openly gay female prime minister and in 2010, Reykjavik elected John Gnarr, punk rock singer, comedian, and self proclaimed anarchist as their mayor. The physical landscape is as striking and unique as the culture itself; an island covered in black volcanic rock, lush green fields, geothermal vents and dramatic volcanoes. It was with this in mind, that Dennie, Henry and I boarded a plane for Reykjavik over Easter holidays, where we would spend 9 days swimming in hot pools, driving through fjords, and eating delicious Skyr (Icelandic yogurt).&nbsp; Iceland is expensive. As&nbsp; Hiking near Eyjafjallaj&ouml;kullHiking near Eyjafjallaj&ouml;kull Hiking near Eyjafjallaj&ouml;kull a way to mitigate the costs our plan involved renting an old, rusty but mainly reliable car from Sadcar (a 2002 Yaris with 280,000 Kms), cooking 2 out of 3 meals a day at our rental apartment with Bonus brand groceries and doing as little shopping as possible. Upon walking through customs I began to have some minor reservations about our plan to be budget oriented when we were greeted by what I assume is one out of the two Sadcar employees who took us to a quonset in a field 10 minutes from the airport. When we inquired about a carseat for Henry, they directed us to the back of the auto body shop/rental car graveyard where 3 very used and slightly broken carseats sat amongst mufflers and cooling fluids. Dennie chose the most functional of the lot, we loaded into our Sadcar and took off towards Reykjavik through a minor snow storm.&nbsp; Our little Ikea apartment was perfectly located down the street from Hallgrimskirka, the spired Lutheran church that provides a compass for travellers exploring the city. This was a great location to have as home base, as most of our mornings were spent wondering the streets&nbsp; Hank and I inside the HarpaHank and I inside the Harpa Hank and I inside the Harpa of the old town where colorful terraced houses with main floor commercial space provide a vibrant and walkable downtown dotted with record shops with comfy couches and free espresso (12 Tonar), Icelandic design and furniture stores, vegetarian cafes, pubs, clubs and curry houses. We visited all three locations of the Reykjavik Art Museum (Hafnarhus, Kjarvalsstadir, Asmundarsafn) where the post modern works of Erro and the cubist and abstract landscape paintings of Kjarval hang next to rotating exhibits from contemporary Icelandic artists. We stumbled upon an Easter egg hunt in the Einar Jonsson Sculpture Park, played cards in the sprawling lounges inside The Harpa, and took in the Reykjavik Museum of Photography (inside the public library), the Viking Saga Museum, the Reykjavik Children&#39;s Park and &quot;zoo&quot; (more of a petting zoo) and took the elevator to the observatory at The Pearl. The city is surprisingly cosmopolitan yet retains a small town hospitality that acts as a reminder that there are only 120,000 people within city limits.&nbsp; Despite the high cost of bars and restaurants in Reykjavik&#39;s centre we managed to find a number of reasonably priced eateries serving delicious and fresh food. Here are some of our recommendations: Babalu (grilled&nbsp; Easter Egg Hunt in Einar J&oacute;nsson Sculpture GardenEaster Egg Hunt in Einar J&oacute;nsson Sculpture Garden Easter Egg Hunt in Einar J&oacute;nsson Sculpture Garden Hallgr&iacute;mskirkja in the background. cheese and tomato soup), C is for Cookie (homemade soup and sandwiches with great cheesecake), Laundromat Cafe (lake trout with root vegetables was outstanding and the children&#39;s play area in the basement is something to behold!), Austur India Fjelagid (delicious vegetarian Thali), Graen Kostur (Eastern inspired fusion veggie food with two lunch options daily). For drinks, Microbar has a lot of local craft beers on tap (Happy Hour from 5-8 pm). The Labowski Bar also seemed like an amazing place but they were having pub trivia when we walked in so we didn&#39;t stay for a drink.&nbsp; Our Sadcar managed a number of day trips from Reykjavik; we drove north through the Hvalfjorour (Whale Fjord), stopping for a picnic near some rapids. We drove to the geothermal town of Hverager&eth;i and onto the famed Eyjafjallajokull volcano which erupted in 2010 causing flight cancellations across Europe. We drove the Golden Circle with stops at Geyser, Pingvellir National Park and the Gulfoss waterfall. Once you leave Reykjavik the geography is stark but majestic with green fields punctuated with black volcanic rock, rolling hills, steep mountain passes and steam rising into the air from thermal vents dotting the landscape throughout.&nbsp; Dennie&nbsp; Outside of the Blue LagoonOutside of the Blue Lagoon Outside of the Blue Lagoon and I have fast come to the realization that when travelling with a baby, the experience is more fun for all if all planning revolves around the baby. And while Reykjavik&#39;s legendary nightlife may have called my name once or twice, parenting with a hangover certainly did not. As such, we spent a good deal of our time in Iceland immersing ourselves into the thermal pool culture. With 122 thermal pools and 17 in Reykjavik alone, we made it our mission to swim in a new pool each day. In Reykjavik we swam at Laugardalslaug, Sundhollin, Arbaejarlaug, Grafarvogslaug, Sudurbaejarlaug, and Asvallalaug. During our day trips around the Icelandic country side we also had the opportunity to swim at the beautiful pool at Hverageroi, naked in the deserted Seljallalaug located in a mountain valley surrounded by waterfalls, and on our last day at expensive but amazing Blue Lagoon. 9 pools in 9 days. The water in all public pools is chemical free, heated through geothermal, and nearly all have a number of &quot;hot pots&quot;, saunas, lanes for swimming, kids pools, and water-slides. I got the impression from my time sitting in &quot;hot pots&quot; chatting with locals that thermal pools are important&nbsp; Enroute to the Seljvavellir hot pool Enroute to the Seljvavellir hot pool&nbsp; Enroute to the Seljvavellir hot pool gathering places for members of the community. Old and young alike move between the various pools and openly converse with strangers and friends. In moments where Henry was grumpy or tired we always knew we were within a few minutes from a pool where he would immediately be transformed back into the smiling Hank we have become used to. While the pools certainly made travelling in Iceland with a baby much easier, it is the Icelandic people who really make Iceland a child friendly locale. Almost every restaurant we went to had a children&#39;s play area, there was signage that encouraged breastfeeding, and all bars and pubs allow children. Icelandic people were warm and outgoing but not loud or obnoxious and no matter where we went, it seemed they had thought about ways to welcome children.&nbsp; On our final morning in Iceland, I walked down the street from our apartment to pick up a couple cd&#39;s at Tonar 12. I sat on their comfy couches listening to FM Belfast and Seabear while Henry rummaged through the stacks. Without asking, the man running the shop brought me an espresso. I picked up a Reykjavik guidebook from a coffee table and&nbsp; Dennie driving our Sad CarDennie driving our Sad Car Dennie driving our Sad Car opened the book to the first page to read the mayor&#39;s welcome message for visitors. Jon Gnarr (the mayor) foretold his version of the country&#39;s origin. I read,&nbsp; &quot;But how can it be that such a warm country came to possess such a frigid name? Yes, the explanation is simple: MISUNDERSTANDING. Ing&oacute;lfur Arnarson, the first man that found Reykjav&iacute;k, wasn&rsquo;t on his way here at all. He was en route to the United States of America, to buy grapes and other fast food that grew wild there in those days. He was very interested in food. And also homicide. On his way he noticed a cloud of smoke ascending to the heavens from an unknown country. His curious nature got the best of him, and he changed his course and set sail to Reykjav&iacute;k (Reykjav&iacute;k literally means &ldquo;smoky bay&rdquo;!).&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; As he disembarked his ship, he saw that the smoke was in fact steam rising from Reykjav&iacute;k&rsquo;s many swimming pools. He was therefore quick in tearing off the suit of armour that he had worn in case he&rsquo;d encounter some Native Americans while picking grapes, and jumping into some swim trunks. After swimming a good&nbsp; Hank test driving Indie music at Tonar 12 in ReykjavikHank test driving Indie music at Tonar 12 in Reykjavik Hank test driving Indie music at Tonar 12 in Reykjavik 500 metres he sat in the hot tub and relaxed. After a fun chat with the locals he had forgotten all about America. Who needs to travel all the way to America to pick grapes when there&rsquo;s a shop on Laugavegur called V&iacute;nberi&eth; (V&iacute;nberi&eth; literally means: &ldquo;the grape&rdquo;)? Ing&oacute;lfur decided to settle here. He rented a small apartment along with his wife, Hallveig Fr&oacute;&eth;ad&oacute;ttir, who many claim was the daughter of Frodo from &lsquo;Lord Of The Rings&rsquo;. Nothing has been proven about that, however. One day Ing&oacute;lfur and Hallveig were taking a stroll around town. They were walking their dog, who was called Pl&uacute;t&oacute; and was a Great Dane. It was a sizzling hot summer&rsquo;s day. It was long before the t-shirt was invented. They were both dressed in full suits of armour, with swords and shields and helmets and everything. They stopped by at &Iacute;sb&uacute;&eth; Vesturb&aelig;jar in Hagamelur to get some ice cream and cool down. The story goes that Ing&oacute;lfur asked the clerk whether she knew what the country was called.&nbsp; She thought it was called Thule. Ing&oacute;lfur felt that was a stupid name.&nbsp; &ldquo;No country can be called Thule&rdquo;, he said.&nbsp; Outside the&nbsp; Henry inside the eyjafjallajokull theatreHenry inside the eyjafjallajokull theatre Henry inside the eyjafjallajokull theatre ice cream shop, a crowd had gathered. They had heard that foreign visitors were in town. A lot of those people were elves. Ing&oacute;lfur then approached the crowd, raised his ice cream cone aloft and shouted:&nbsp; &ldquo;Henceforth this country will be called Iceland, because one can get the world&rsquo;s best ice cream here!&rdquo;.&nbsp; Today we have a statue of Ing&oacute;lfur. The statue depicts Ing&oacute;lfur dying of heat, leaning on his dog.&nbsp; Don&rsquo;t be a stranger, be like Ing&oacute;lfur! &quot;&nbsp; Only in Iceland!&nbsp; [slug] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/blog/Fiercely-Independent-Cultures ) [2] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 33 [title] => Peace Train A Long Time Coming [thumbnail] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/blog/120331_3.jpg [desc] => <p>&nbsp;mainland Europe and North America, Iceland has always taken it&#39;s own unique path. Icelandic architecture and fashion is a reflection of it&#39;s unusual geography, the Icelandic palette is most comfortable when quality local ingredients are cured, cultured, fermented, or pickled, and the Icelandic people revel in self sufficiency and environmental sustainability. Iceland has always been deeply rooted in nordic liberal sensibilities, but unlike any other nation, they refused to bail out their banks after the 2008 recession, in 2009 they elected the world&#39;s first openly gay female prime minister and in 2010, Reykjavik elected John Gnarr, punk rock singer, comedian, and self proclaimed anarchist as their mayor. The physical landscape is as striking and unique as the culture itself; an island covered in black volcanic rock, lush green fields, geothermal vents and dramatic volcanoes. It was with this in mind, that Dennie, Henry and I boarded a plane for Reykjavik over Easter holidays, where we would spend 9 days swimming in hot pools, driving through fjords, and eating delicious Skyr (Icelandic yogurt).&nbsp;</p> <p>Iceland is expensive. As&nbsp;<br /> Hiking near Eyjafjallaj&ouml;kullHiking near Eyjafjallaj&ouml;kull<br /> Hiking near Eyjafjallaj&ouml;kullIn a world that is increasingly homogenous, fiercely independent cultures and places are especially intriguing. Likely a result of it&#39;s geographical isolation from both<br /> a way to mitigate the costs our plan involved renting an old, rusty but mainly reliable car from Sadcar (a 2002 Yaris with 280,000 Kms), cooking 2 out of 3 meals a day at our rental apartment with Bonus brand groceries and doing as little shopping as possible. Upon walking through customs I began to have some minor reservations about our plan to be budget oriented when we were greeted by what I assume is one out of the two Sadcar employees who took us to a quonset in a field 10 minutes from the airport. When we inquired about a carseat for Henry, they directed us to the back of the auto body shop/rental car graveyard where 3 very used and slightly broken carseats sat amongst mufflers and cooling fluids. Dennie chose the most functional of the lot, we loaded into our Sadcar and took off towards Reykjavik through a minor snow storm.&nbsp;</p> <p>Our little Ikea apartment was perfectly located down the street from Hallgrimskirka, the spired Lutheran church that provides a compass for travellers exploring the city. This was a great location to have as home base, as most of our mornings were spent wondering the streets&nbsp;<br /> Hank and I inside the HarpaHank and I inside the Harpa<br /> Hank and I inside the Harpa<br /> of the old town where colorful terraced houses with main floor commercial space provide a vibrant and walkable downtown dotted with record shops with comfy couches and free espresso (12 Tonar), Icelandic design and furniture stores, vegetarian cafes, pubs, clubs and curry houses. We visited all three locations of the Reykjavik Art Museum (Hafnarhus, Kjarvalsstadir, Asmundarsafn) where the post modern works of Erro and the cubist and abstract landscape paintings of Kjarval hang next to rotating exhibits from contemporary Icelandic artists. We stumbled upon an Easter egg hunt in the Einar Jonsson Sculpture Park, played cards in the sprawling lounges inside The Harpa, and took in the Reykjavik Museum of Photography (inside the public library), the Viking Saga Museum, the Reykjavik Children&#39;s Park and &quot;zoo&quot; (more of a petting zoo) and took the elevator to the observatory at The Pearl. The city is surprisingly cosmopolitan yet retains a small town hospitality that acts as a reminder that there are only 120,000 people within city limits.&nbsp;</p> <p>Despite the high cost of bars and restaurants in Reykjavik&#39;s centre we managed to find a number of reasonably priced eateries serving delicious and fresh food. Here are some of our recommendations: Babalu (grilled&nbsp;<br /> Easter Egg Hunt in Einar J&oacute;nsson Sculpture GardenEaster Egg Hunt in Einar J&oacute;nsson Sculpture Garden<br /> Easter Egg Hunt in Einar J&oacute;nsson Sculpture Garden<br /> Hallgr&iacute;mskirkja in the background.<br /> cheese and tomato soup), C is for Cookie (homemade soup and sandwiches with great cheesecake), Laundromat Cafe (lake trout with root vegetables was outstanding and the children&#39;s play area in the basement is something to behold!), Austur India Fjelagid (delicious vegetarian Thali), Graen Kostur (Eastern inspired fusion veggie food with two lunch options daily). For drinks, Microbar has a lot of local craft beers on tap (Happy Hour from 5-8 pm). The Labowski Bar also seemed like an amazing place but they were having pub trivia when we walked in so we didn&#39;t stay for a drink.&nbsp;</p> <p>Our Sadcar managed a number of day trips from Reykjavik; we drove north through the Hvalfjorour (Whale Fjord), stopping for a picnic near some rapids. We drove to the geothermal town of Hverager&eth;i and onto the famed Eyjafjallajokull volcano which erupted in 2010 causing flight cancellations across Europe. We drove the Golden Circle with stops at Geyser, Pingvellir National Park and the Gulfoss waterfall. Once you leave Reykjavik the geography is stark but majestic with green fields punctuated with black volcanic rock, rolling hills, steep mountain passes and steam rising into the air from thermal vents dotting the landscape throughout.&nbsp;</p> <p>Dennie&nbsp;<br /> Outside of the Blue LagoonOutside of the Blue Lagoon<br /> Outside of the Blue Lagoon<br /> and I have fast come to the realization that when travelling with a baby, the experience is more fun for all if all planning revolves around the baby. And while Reykjavik&#39;s legendary nightlife may have called my name once or twice, parenting with a hangover certainly did not. As such, we spent a good deal of our time in Iceland immersing ourselves into the thermal pool culture. With 122 thermal pools and 17 in Reykjavik alone, we made it our mission to swim in a new pool each day. In Reykjavik we swam at Laugardalslaug, Sundhollin, Arbaejarlaug, Grafarvogslaug, Sudurbaejarlaug, and Asvallalaug. During our day trips around the Icelandic country side we also had the opportunity to swim at the beautiful pool at Hverageroi, naked in the deserted Seljallalaug located in a mountain valley surrounded by waterfalls, and on our last day at expensive but amazing Blue Lagoon. 9 pools in 9 days. The water in all public pools is chemical free, heated through geothermal, and nearly all have a number of &quot;hot pots&quot;, saunas, lanes for swimming, kids pools, and water-slides. I got the impression from my time sitting in &quot;hot pots&quot; chatting with locals that thermal pools are important&nbsp;<br /> Enroute to the Seljvavellir hot pool Enroute to the Seljvavellir hot pool&nbsp;<br /> Enroute to the Seljvavellir hot pool<br /> gathering places for members of the community. Old and young alike move between the various pools and openly converse with strangers and friends. In moments where Henry was grumpy or tired we always knew we were within a few minutes from a pool where he would immediately be transformed back into the smiling Hank we have become used to. While the pools certainly made travelling in Iceland with a baby much easier, it is the Icelandic people who really make Iceland a child friendly locale. Almost every restaurant we went to had a children&#39;s play area, there was signage that encouraged breastfeeding, and all bars and pubs allow children. Icelandic people were warm and outgoing but not loud or obnoxious and no matter where we went, it seemed they had thought about ways to welcome children.&nbsp;</p> <p>On our final morning in Iceland, I walked down the street from our apartment to pick up a couple cd&#39;s at Tonar 12. I sat on their comfy couches listening to FM Belfast and Seabear while Henry rummaged through the stacks. Without asking, the man running the shop brought me an espresso. I picked up a Reykjavik guidebook from a coffee table and&nbsp;<br /> Dennie driving our Sad CarDennie driving our Sad Car<br /> Dennie driving our Sad Car<br /> opened the book to the first page to read the mayor&#39;s welcome message for visitors. Jon Gnarr (the mayor) foretold his version of the country&#39;s origin. I read,&nbsp;</p> <p>&quot;But how can it be that such a warm country came to possess such a frigid name? Yes, the explanation is simple: MISUNDERSTANDING. Ing&oacute;lfur Arnarson, the first man that found Reykjav&iacute;k, wasn&rsquo;t on his way here at all. He was en route to the United States of America, to buy grapes and other fast food that grew wild there in those days. He was very interested in food. And also homicide. On his way he noticed a cloud of smoke ascending to the heavens from an unknown country. His curious nature got the best of him, and he changed his course and set sail to Reykjav&iacute;k (Reykjav&iacute;k literally means &ldquo;smoky bay&rdquo;!).&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>As he disembarked his ship, he saw that the smoke was in fact steam rising from Reykjav&iacute;k&rsquo;s many swimming pools. He was therefore quick in tearing off the suit of armour that he had worn in case he&rsquo;d encounter some Native Americans while picking grapes, and jumping into some swim trunks. After swimming a good&nbsp;<br /> Hank test driving Indie music at Tonar 12 in ReykjavikHank test driving Indie music at Tonar 12 in Reykjavik<br /> Hank test driving Indie music at Tonar 12 in Reykjavik<br /> 500 metres he sat in the hot tub and relaxed. After a fun chat with the locals he had forgotten all about America. Who needs to travel all the way to America to pick grapes when there&rsquo;s a shop on Laugavegur called V&iacute;nberi&eth; (V&iacute;nberi&eth; literally means: &ldquo;the grape&rdquo;)? Ing&oacute;lfur decided to settle here. He rented a small apartment along with his wife, Hallveig Fr&oacute;&eth;ad&oacute;ttir, who many claim was the daughter of Frodo from &lsquo;Lord Of The Rings&rsquo;. Nothing has been proven about that, however.</p> <p>One day Ing&oacute;lfur and Hallveig were taking a stroll around town. They were walking their dog, who was called Pl&uacute;t&oacute; and was a Great Dane. It was a sizzling hot summer&rsquo;s day. It was long before the t-shirt was invented. They were both dressed in full suits of armour, with swords and shields and helmets and everything. They stopped by at &Iacute;sb&uacute;&eth; Vesturb&aelig;jar in Hagamelur to get some ice cream and cool down. The story goes that Ing&oacute;lfur asked the clerk whether she knew what the country was called.&nbsp;</p> <p>She thought it was called Thule. Ing&oacute;lfur felt that was a stupid name.&nbsp;</p> <p>&ldquo;No country can be called Thule&rdquo;, he said.&nbsp;</p> <p>Outside the&nbsp;<br /> Henry inside the eyjafjallajokull theatreHenry inside the eyjafjallajokull theatre<br /> Henry inside the eyjafjallajokull theatre<br /> ice cream shop, a crowd had gathered. They had heard that foreign visitors were in town. A lot of those people were elves. Ing&oacute;lfur then approached the crowd, raised his ice cream cone aloft and shouted:&nbsp;</p> <p>&ldquo;Henceforth this country will be called Iceland, because one can get the world&rsquo;s best ice cream here!&rdquo;.&nbsp;</p> <p>Today we have a statue of Ing&oacute;lfur. The statue depicts Ing&oacute;lfur dying of heat, leaning on his dog.&nbsp;</p> <p>Don&rsquo;t be a stranger, be like Ing&oacute;lfur! &quot;&nbsp;</p> <p>Only in Iceland!&nbsp;</p> [shortDesc] => &nbsp;mainland Europe and North America, Iceland has always taken it&#39;s own unique path. Icelandic architecture and fashion is a reflection of it&#39;s unusual geography, the Icelandic palette is most comfortable when quality local ingredients are cured, cultured, fermented, or pickled, and the Icelandic people revel in self sufficiency and environmental sustainability. Iceland has always been deeply rooted in nordic liberal sensibilities, but unlike any other nation, they refused to bail out their banks after the 2008 recession, in 2009 they elected the world&#39;s first openly gay female prime minister and in 2010, Reykjavik elected John Gnarr, punk rock singer, comedian, and self proclaimed anarchist as their mayor. The physical landscape is as striking and unique as the culture itself; an island covered in black volcanic rock, lush green fields, geothermal vents and dramatic volcanoes. It was with this in mind, that Dennie, Henry and I boarded a plane for Reykjavik over Easter holidays, where we would spend 9 days swimming in hot pools, driving through fjords, and eating delicious Skyr (Icelandic yogurt).&nbsp; Iceland is expensive. As&nbsp; Hiking near Eyjafjallaj&ouml;kullHiking near Eyjafjallaj&ouml;kull Hiking near Eyjafjallaj&ouml;kullIn a world that is increasingly homogenous, fiercely independent cultures and places are especially intriguing. Likely a result of it&#39;s geographical isolation from both a way to mitigate the costs our plan involved renting an old, rusty but mainly reliable car from Sadcar (a 2002 Yaris with 280,000 Kms), cooking 2 out of 3 meals a day at our rental apartment with Bonus brand groceries and doing as little shopping as possible. Upon walking through customs I began to have some minor reservations about our plan to be budget oriented when we were greeted by what I assume is one out of the two Sadcar employees who took us to a quonset in a field 10 minutes from the airport. When we inquired about a carseat for Henry, they directed us to the back of the auto body shop/rental car graveyard where 3 very used and slightly broken carseats sat amongst mufflers and cooling fluids. Dennie chose the most functional of the lot, we loaded into our Sadcar and took off towards Reykjavik through a minor snow storm.&nbsp; Our little Ikea apartment was perfectly located down the street from Hallgrimskirka, the spired Lutheran church that provides a compass for travellers exploring the city. This was a great location to have as home base, as most of our mornings were spent wondering the streets&nbsp; Hank and I inside the HarpaHank and I inside the Harpa Hank and I inside the Harpa of the old town where colorful terraced houses with main floor commercial space provide a vibrant and walkable downtown dotted with record shops with comfy couches and free espresso (12 Tonar), Icelandic design and furniture stores, vegetarian cafes, pubs, clubs and curry houses. We visited all three locations of the Reykjavik Art Museum (Hafnarhus, Kjarvalsstadir, Asmundarsafn) where the post modern works of Erro and the cubist and abstract landscape paintings of Kjarval hang next to rotating exhibits from contemporary Icelandic artists. We stumbled upon an Easter egg hunt in the Einar Jonsson Sculpture Park, played cards in the sprawling lounges inside The Harpa, and took in the Reykjavik Museum of Photography (inside the public library), the Viking Saga Museum, the Reykjavik Children&#39;s Park and &quot;zoo&quot; (more of a petting zoo) and took the elevator to the observatory at The Pearl. The city is surprisingly cosmopolitan yet retains a small town hospitality that acts as a reminder that there are only 120,000 people within city limits.&nbsp; Despite the high cost of bars and restaurants in Reykjavik&#39;s centre we managed to find a number of reasonably priced eateries serving delicious and fresh food. Here are some of our recommendations: Babalu (grilled&nbsp; Easter Egg Hunt in Einar J&oacute;nsson Sculpture GardenEaster Egg Hunt in Einar J&oacute;nsson Sculpture Garden Easter Egg Hunt in Einar J&oacute;nsson Sculpture Garden Hallgr&iacute;mskirkja in the background. cheese and tomato soup), C is for Cookie (homemade soup and sandwiches with great cheesecake), Laundromat Cafe (lake trout with root vegetables was outstanding and the children&#39;s play area in the basement is something to behold!), Austur India Fjelagid (delicious vegetarian Thali), Graen Kostur (Eastern inspired fusion veggie food with two lunch options daily). For drinks, Microbar has a lot of local craft beers on tap (Happy Hour from 5-8 pm). The Labowski Bar also seemed like an amazing place but they were having pub trivia when we walked in so we didn&#39;t stay for a drink.&nbsp; Our Sadcar managed a number of day trips from Reykjavik; we drove north through the Hvalfjorour (Whale Fjord), stopping for a picnic near some rapids. We drove to the geothermal town of Hverager&eth;i and onto the famed Eyjafjallajokull volcano which erupted in 2010 causing flight cancellations across Europe. We drove the Golden Circle with stops at Geyser, Pingvellir National Park and the Gulfoss waterfall. Once you leave Reykjavik the geography is stark but majestic with green fields punctuated with black volcanic rock, rolling hills, steep mountain passes and steam rising into the air from thermal vents dotting the landscape throughout.&nbsp; Dennie&nbsp; Outside of the Blue LagoonOutside of the Blue Lagoon Outside of the Blue Lagoon and I have fast come to the realization that when travelling with a baby, the experience is more fun for all if all planning revolves around the baby. And while Reykjavik&#39;s legendary nightlife may have called my name once or twice, parenting with a hangover certainly did not. As such, we spent a good deal of our time in Iceland immersing ourselves into the thermal pool culture. With 122 thermal pools and 17 in Reykjavik alone, we made it our mission to swim in a new pool each day. In Reykjavik we swam at Laugardalslaug, Sundhollin, Arbaejarlaug, Grafarvogslaug, Sudurbaejarlaug, and Asvallalaug. During our day trips around the Icelandic country side we also had the opportunity to swim at the beautiful pool at Hverageroi, naked in the deserted Seljallalaug located in a mountain valley surrounded by waterfalls, and on our last day at expensive but amazing Blue Lagoon. 9 pools in 9 days. The water in all public pools is chemical free, heated through geothermal, and nearly all have a number of &quot;hot pots&quot;, saunas, lanes for swimming, kids pools, and water-slides. I got the impression from my time sitting in &quot;hot pots&quot; chatting with locals that thermal pools are important&nbsp; Enroute to the Seljvavellir hot pool Enroute to the Seljvavellir hot pool&nbsp; Enroute to the Seljvavellir hot pool gathering places for members of the community. Old and young alike move between the various pools and openly converse with strangers and friends. In moments where Henry was grumpy or tired we always knew we were within a few minutes from a pool where he would immediately be transformed back into the smiling Hank we have become used to. While the pools certainly made travelling in Iceland with a baby much easier, it is the Icelandic people who really make Iceland a child friendly locale. Almost every restaurant we went to had a children&#39;s play area, there was signage that encouraged breastfeeding, and all bars and pubs allow children. Icelandic people were warm and outgoing but not loud or obnoxious and no matter where we went, it seemed they had thought about ways to welcome children.&nbsp; On our final morning in Iceland, I walked down the street from our apartment to pick up a couple cd&#39;s at Tonar 12. I sat on their comfy couches listening to FM Belfast and Seabear while Henry rummaged through the stacks. Without asking, the man running the shop brought me an espresso. I picked up a Reykjavik guidebook from a coffee table and&nbsp; Dennie driving our Sad CarDennie driving our Sad Car Dennie driving our Sad Car opened the book to the first page to read the mayor&#39;s welcome message for visitors. Jon Gnarr (the mayor) foretold his version of the country&#39;s origin. I read,&nbsp; &quot;But how can it be that such a warm country came to possess such a frigid name? Yes, the explanation is simple: MISUNDERSTANDING. Ing&oacute;lfur Arnarson, the first man that found Reykjav&iacute;k, wasn&rsquo;t on his way here at all. He was en route to the United States of America, to buy grapes and other fast food that grew wild there in those days. He was very interested in food. And also homicide. On his way he noticed a cloud of smoke ascending to the heavens from an unknown country. His curious nature got the best of him, and he changed his course and set sail to Reykjav&iacute;k (Reykjav&iacute;k literally means &ldquo;smoky bay&rdquo;!).&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; As he disembarked his ship, he saw that the smoke was in fact steam rising from Reykjav&iacute;k&rsquo;s many swimming pools. He was therefore quick in tearing off the suit of armour that he had worn in case he&rsquo;d encounter some Native Americans while picking grapes, and jumping into some swim trunks. After swimming a good&nbsp; Hank test driving Indie music at Tonar 12 in ReykjavikHank test driving Indie music at Tonar 12 in Reykjavik Hank test driving Indie music at Tonar 12 in Reykjavik 500 metres he sat in the hot tub and relaxed. After a fun chat with the locals he had forgotten all about America. Who needs to travel all the way to America to pick grapes when there&rsquo;s a shop on Laugavegur called V&iacute;nberi&eth; (V&iacute;nberi&eth; literally means: &ldquo;the grape&rdquo;)? Ing&oacute;lfur decided to settle here. He rented a small apartment along with his wife, Hallveig Fr&oacute;&eth;ad&oacute;ttir, who many claim was the daughter of Frodo from &lsquo;Lord Of The Rings&rsquo;. Nothing has been proven about that, however. One day Ing&oacute;lfur and Hallveig were taking a stroll around town. They were walking their dog, who was called Pl&uacute;t&oacute; and was a Great Dane. It was a sizzling hot summer&rsquo;s day. It was long before the t-shirt was invented. They were both dressed in full suits of armour, with swords and shields and helmets and everything. They stopped by at &Iacute;sb&uacute;&eth; Vesturb&aelig;jar in Hagamelur to get some ice cream and cool down. The story goes that Ing&oacute;lfur asked the clerk whether she knew what the country was called.&nbsp; She thought it was called Thule. Ing&oacute;lfur felt that was a stupid name.&nbsp; &ldquo;No country can be called Thule&rdquo;, he said.&nbsp; Outside the&nbsp; Henry inside the eyjafjallajokull theatreHenry inside the eyjafjallajokull theatre Henry inside the eyjafjallajokull theatre ice cream shop, a crowd had gathered. They had heard that foreign visitors were in town. A lot of those people were elves. Ing&oacute;lfur then approached the crowd, raised his ice cream cone aloft and shouted:&nbsp; &ldquo;Henceforth this country will be called Iceland, because one can get the world&rsquo;s best ice cream here!&rdquo;.&nbsp; Today we have a statue of Ing&oacute;lfur. The statue depicts Ing&oacute;lfur dying of heat, leaning on his dog.&nbsp; Don&rsquo;t be a stranger, be like Ing&oacute;lfur! &quot;&nbsp; Only in Iceland!&nbsp; [slug] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/blog/Peace-Train-A-Long-Time-Coming ) [3] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 32 [title] => South Africa: A Terminal Tyre [thumbnail] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/blog/96375_4.jpg [desc] => <p>Jaap&rsquo;s tyre was not only down to the canvas, but through a couple of layers. As a result the 120km ride to Springbok was a rather tentative one. We did however arrive safely around lunchtime, and were hopeful of being able to track down a tyre for Jaap. However it was a Sunday and the day of Nelson Mandela&rsquo;s funeral, and the tyre outfit was of course closed. Miraculously we met someone who knew the owner and called him for us, but less miraculously he did not hold the tyre size we needed. We spent that afternoon and the Monday phoning around trying to find some way to get a tyre to Springbok urgently. I was running out of time before my flight to NZ, and was keen to explore the back roads on the way to Cape Town, rather than having to rush down. Unfortunately locating a tyre proved difficult, and it looked as if Jaap would get his tyre on Wednesday at the earliest. As Jaap was staying longer than me in South Africa and would have time to explore after Christmas, I decided to head off for an explore with him catching up so we could hit Cape&nbsp;<br /> Terminal tyreTerminal tyre<br /> Terminal tyre<br /> Agulhas together.&nbsp;</p> <p>Someone a month or so previous had suggested that I head into the hills southeast of Clanwilliam, so I stopped there for petrol and got into a chat with a dreadlocked guy with a ute filled with children&rsquo;s toys that he was travelling around the country trying to sell. He suggested that I head for Wupperthal and then south from there. This proved to be an excellent suggestion. After winding my way up and over a pass I reached Wupperthal, an incongruous Germanic village in the middle of the Cederberg Mountains that had been founded by missionaries in 1830. After stopping for a snack from the town store, and then feeling quite out of place while I ate it, I followed a track on the GPS that looked interesting, but was slightly concerning in its ruggedness. I wanted to explore, but time was tight, and I didn&rsquo;t want to be stuck by myself in the middle nowhere. However, my concern faded away after making it over another pass and encountering the spectacular scenery of the Matjiesrivier Nature Reserve. Wow. Riding by yourself in isolated unfamiliar areas can sometimes be a bit nerve-wracking, but the thrill of having<br /> They went all out on the design and materials for this sign.They went all out on the design and materials for this sign.<br /> They went all out on the design and materials for this sign.<br /> a spectacular landscape to yourself, without encountering anyone else on the road for an afternoon makes up for what-ifs like: &ldquo;if I plummeted over that cliff no one would find me for days&rdquo;.&nbsp;</p> <p>I emerged later in the afternoon onto a larger gravel road, and soon after stumbled across the Cederberg Oasis, a guesthouse with camping which was tucked amongst a spectacular landscape of sedimentary hills tilted by intercontinental tectonic forces and eroded by the grinding of ancient glaciers. The landscape, pool, cold beer, hospitality, wrist-thick steaks, and massive KTM banner behind the bar, meant that even after the thrill of the day&rsquo;s ride, it truly felt like an oasis.&nbsp;</p> <p>The next morning I left with Werner, a biker from Cape Town, and we headed down through the arid environment of the Great Karoo and Little Karoo towards Cape Agulhas. Even with my blown rear shock the gravel roads were great fun, and I found that I would regularly end up being many minutes ahead of Werner &ndash; three months on the bike had meant that we had started to work pretty well together. This difference in pace was good, as it gave me a chance to stop,&nbsp;<br /> Near the Cederbarg Oasis.Near the Cederbarg Oasis.<br /> Near the Cederbarg Oasis.<br /> turn off the bike, take my helmet off, and soak in the landscape.&nbsp;</p> <p>Farmland greeted us as we approached the coast, and we stopped for a beer with one of Werner&rsquo;s mates in Bredasdorp. Many a &ldquo;lekker&rdquo; was uttered before we left for a backpackers near Cape Agulhas. We shared an excellent burger dinner with an Icelandic couple on their honeymoon, and then washed it down with some impressive craft beer. The Icelander rode enduro competitively, and explained how they made ice tyres by drilling hundreds of screws through the tyres from the inside. I then received confirmation from Jaap that he would meet us there the next morning at around 10am for the ride to Cape Agulhas - brilliant.&nbsp;</p> <p>Jaap arrived as planned mid-morning. In tow was Kev, an Irishman on a BMW GS1200 who had chased us down the continent, asking questions as he went via the Horizons Unlimited forum and then Facebook. A bottle of bubbly was purchased in town before setting off for the cape, something that for me had grown in significance during the trip. On a trip like this you spend quite a bit of time within the confines of your helmet&nbsp;<br /> Cape AgulhasCape Agulhas<br /> Cape Agulhas<br /> imagining the arrival at your goal. The trip was always about the journey rather than the destination, but despite the different landscapes, cultures, and climates, our goal remained constant - Cape Agulhas. Regularly my thoughts would drift to imagining the moment our southward progression would come to an end &ndash; at some point we would run out of Africa.&nbsp;</p> <p>At lunchtime, on the 19th December we did indeed run out of Africa. With a possibly misplaced sense of entitlement, we ignored the signs forbidding motorbikes from the path leading to the marker for the southern-most point of Africa and the official dividing line between the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Parked up with each of our bikes in front of a different ocean we popped the bubbly and savoured the moment. Rather than being a celebration of a goal, reaching Cape Agulhas allowed me to metaphorically look north and savour the many experiences we had had on the way through Africa: a taste of a new continent in Tunisia; war-torn and extraordinarily friendly Libya; ancient monuments and civil unrest in Egypt; endangered animals 4000m high in the Ethiopian highlands; deserted pyramids in the Martian deserts of Sudan; colourful thirsty tribesmen&nbsp;<br /> Chapman&#39;s PeakChapman&#39;s Peak<br /> Chapman&#39;s Peak<br /> and the Hell Road in Kenya; Lake Tanganyika leading us from the winding roads of Burundi, through the wildlife of Tanzania, and ending with a Zambia fish feast; the corruption, red dirt road and jungle of the DRC; lightning storms, baobab trees, and a tough afternoon in the saddle in Botswana, mind-blowing landscapes, thrilling riding, a ghost town, and a living desert in Namibia; and finally a solo ride through the Cederberg and Matjiesrivier Nature Reserve here in South Africa.&nbsp;</p> <p>It felt good to be at Cape Agulhas, and while I could have easily turned north to head up the west coast of Africa, I was also missing Trace and Finn, and couldn&rsquo;t wait to see them in a few days for Christmas.&nbsp;</p> <p>A ride west under the monstrous looming cliffs along the coast got us near Cape Town, and as it was my last day on the bike I took a detour over the spectacular Chapman&rsquo;s Peak. This meant I entered Cape Town from the south, which was strange as for three months Cape Town had been the epitome of &ldquo;south&rdquo;.&nbsp;</p> <p>The next day I rode the bike to the shipping company and prepared her for&nbsp;<br /> Table MountainTable Mountain<br /> Table Mountain<br /> the seaward trip back home. She had been a brilliant steed, as fun and sure-footed on the tarmac as she was off-road. Apart from the blown rear shock and a choked fuel filter, she had tackled a whole continent without missing a beat. Packing her into a crate and leaving her with strangers seemed pretty ungrateful.&nbsp;</p> <p>My last full day in Africa was spent walking amongst the unique ecosystem at the top of Table Mountain. Bare-footed on the flat stone of the mountain, with the sun overhead and a spectacular view over Cape Town and the surrounding area made for a fitting way to say goodbye to Africa.&nbsp;</p> [shortDesc] => Jaap&rsquo;s tyre was not only down to the canvas, but through a couple of layers. As a result the 120km ride to Springbok was a rather tentative one. We did however arrive safely around lunchtime, and were hopeful of being able to track down a tyre for Jaap. However it was a Sunday and the day of Nelson Mandela&rsquo;s funeral, and the tyre outfit was of course closed. Miraculously we met someone who knew the owner and called him for us, but less miraculously he did not hold the tyre size we needed. We spent that afternoon and the Monday phoning around trying to find some way to get a tyre to Springbok urgently. I was running out of time before my flight to NZ, and was keen to explore the back roads on the way to Cape Town, rather than having to rush down. Unfortunately locating a tyre proved difficult, and it looked as if Jaap would get his tyre on Wednesday at the earliest. As Jaap was staying longer than me in South Africa and would have time to explore after Christmas, I decided to head off for an explore with him catching up so we could hit Cape&nbsp; Terminal tyreTerminal tyre Terminal tyre Agulhas together.&nbsp; Someone a month or so previous had suggested that I head into the hills southeast of Clanwilliam, so I stopped there for petrol and got into a chat with a dreadlocked guy with a ute filled with children&rsquo;s toys that he was travelling around the country trying to sell. He suggested that I head for Wupperthal and then south from there. This proved to be an excellent suggestion. After winding my way up and over a pass I reached Wupperthal, an incongruous Germanic village in the middle of the Cederberg Mountains that had been founded by missionaries in 1830. After stopping for a snack from the town store, and then feeling quite out of place while I ate it, I followed a track on the GPS that looked interesting, but was slightly concerning in its ruggedness. I wanted to explore, but time was tight, and I didn&rsquo;t want to be stuck by myself in the middle nowhere. However, my concern faded away after making it over another pass and encountering the spectacular scenery of the Matjiesrivier Nature Reserve. Wow. Riding by yourself in isolated unfamiliar areas can sometimes be a bit nerve-wracking, but the thrill of having They went all out on the design and materials for this sign.They went all out on the design and materials for this sign. They went all out on the design and materials for this sign. a spectacular landscape to yourself, without encountering anyone else on the road for an afternoon makes up for what-ifs like: &ldquo;if I plummeted over that cliff no one would find me for days&rdquo;.&nbsp; I emerged later in the afternoon onto a larger gravel road, and soon after stumbled across the Cederberg Oasis, a guesthouse with camping which was tucked amongst a spectacular landscape of sedimentary hills tilted by intercontinental tectonic forces and eroded by the grinding of ancient glaciers. The landscape, pool, cold beer, hospitality, wrist-thick steaks, and massive KTM banner behind the bar, meant that even after the thrill of the day&rsquo;s ride, it truly felt like an oasis.&nbsp; The next morning I left with Werner, a biker from Cape Town, and we headed down through the arid environment of the Great Karoo and Little Karoo towards Cape Agulhas. Even with my blown rear shock the gravel roads were great fun, and I found that I would regularly end up being many minutes ahead of Werner &ndash; three months on the bike had meant that we had started to work pretty well together. This difference in pace was good, as it gave me a chance to stop,&nbsp; Near the Cederbarg Oasis.Near the Cederbarg Oasis. Near the Cederbarg Oasis. turn off the bike, take my helmet off, and soak in the landscape.&nbsp; Farmland greeted us as we approached the coast, and we stopped for a beer with one of Werner&rsquo;s mates in Bredasdorp. Many a &ldquo;lekker&rdquo; was uttered before we left for a backpackers near Cape Agulhas. We shared an excellent burger dinner with an Icelandic couple on their honeymoon, and then washed it down with some impressive craft beer. The Icelander rode enduro competitively, and explained how they made ice tyres by drilling hundreds of screws through the tyres from the inside. I then received confirmation from Jaap that he would meet us there the next morning at around 10am for the ride to Cape Agulhas - brilliant.&nbsp; Jaap arrived as planned mid-morning. In tow was Kev, an Irishman on a BMW GS1200 who had chased us down the continent, asking questions as he went via the Horizons Unlimited forum and then Facebook. A bottle of bubbly was purchased in town before setting off for the cape, something that for me had grown in significance during the trip. On a trip like this you spend quite a bit of time within the confines of your helmet&nbsp; Cape AgulhasCape Agulhas Cape Agulhas imagining the arrival at your goal. The trip was always about the journey rather than the destination, but despite the different landscapes, cultures, and climates, our goal remained constant - Cape Agulhas. Regularly my thoughts would drift to imagining the moment our southward progression would come to an end &ndash; at some point we would run out of Africa.&nbsp; At lunchtime, on the 19th December we did indeed run out of Africa. With a possibly misplaced sense of entitlement, we ignored the signs forbidding motorbikes from the path leading to the marker for the southern-most point of Africa and the official dividing line between the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Parked up with each of our bikes in front of a different ocean we popped the bubbly and savoured the moment. Rather than being a celebration of a goal, reaching Cape Agulhas allowed me to metaphorically look north and savour the many experiences we had had on the way through Africa: a taste of a new continent in Tunisia; war-torn and extraordinarily friendly Libya; ancient monuments and civil unrest in Egypt; endangered animals 4000m high in the Ethiopian highlands; deserted pyramids in the Martian deserts of Sudan; colourful thirsty tribesmen&nbsp; Chapman&#39;s PeakChapman&#39;s Peak Chapman&#39;s Peak and the Hell Road in Kenya; Lake Tanganyika leading us from the winding roads of Burundi, through the wildlife of Tanzania, and ending with a Zambia fish feast; the corruption, red dirt road and jungle of the DRC; lightning storms, baobab trees, and a tough afternoon in the saddle in Botswana, mind-blowing landscapes, thrilling riding, a ghost town, and a living desert in Namibia; and finally a solo ride through the Cederberg and Matjiesrivier Nature Reserve here in South Africa.&nbsp; It felt good to be at Cape Agulhas, and while I could have easily turned north to head up the west coast of Africa, I was also missing Trace and Finn, and couldn&rsquo;t wait to see them in a few days for Christmas.&nbsp; A ride west under the monstrous looming cliffs along the coast got us near Cape Town, and as it was my last day on the bike I took a detour over the spectacular Chapman&rsquo;s Peak. This meant I entered Cape Town from the south, which was strange as for three months Cape Town had been the epitome of &ldquo;south&rdquo;.&nbsp; The next day I rode the bike to the shipping company and prepared her for&nbsp; Table MountainTable Mountain Table Mountain the seaward trip back home. She had been a brilliant steed, as fun and sure-footed on the tarmac as she was off-road. Apart from the blown rear shock and a choked fuel filter, she had tackled a whole continent without missing a beat. Packing her into a crate and leaving her with strangers seemed pretty ungrateful.&nbsp; My last full day in Africa was spent walking amongst the unique ecosystem at the top of Table Mountain. Bare-footed on the flat stone of the mountain, with the sun overhead and a spectacular view over Cape Town and the surrounding area made for a fitting way to say goodbye to Africa.&nbsp; [slug] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/blog/South-Africa-A-Terminal-Tyre ) [4] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 31 [title] => It Wasn’t Supposed to Rain [thumbnail] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/blog/835693_5.jpg [desc] => <p>It isn&#39;t supposed to rain in Ko Samui this time of year.&nbsp;</p> <p>I did a little research about Ko Samui before I decided to spend the end of the year here. December is supposed to be warm &ndash; make that hot &ndash; and mostly sunny. Typical afternoon rain storms, but not bad beach weather. I looked forward to lazy days in the sun, reading cheap novels and swimming in azure waters.&nbsp;</p> <p>However, Typhoon Hagupit apparently didn&rsquo;t read the same sources as I did. It parked itself over the Phillipines about a week before I arrived in Ko Samui, causing untold destruction and taking the lives of at least 27 people. After the typhoon had had its way with the Philippines, it moved off to the west, slowly losing power as it did so.&nbsp;</p> <p>Guess what is directly in the westward path of what is now Tropical Depression Hagupit? Yep, Ko Samui and me.&nbsp;</p> <p>Now this isn&rsquo;t some wimpy remnants of a storm. The wind was strong enough to knock over a half-full beer mug and break the glass. I watched a young man who worked at the hotel take a surfboard out and come back in less<br /> Wat Bo PhutWat Bo Phut<br /> Wat Bo Phut<br /> than five minutes with half a surfboard, never having gotten past the first line of breakers. This was surf that tossed around whole tree trunks, broke mooring balls from their anchorage and never apologized. I am NOT going swimming in that. At least not yet.&nbsp;</p> <p>I know a retired Anglican priest who tells me (with a certain amount of un-priestly glee) &ldquo;Man plans, God laughs.&rdquo; However, I am nothing if not adaptable, and I learned long ago that I won&rsquo;t melt in the rain, so I headed to the north side of the island to poke around.&nbsp;</p> <p>I went to the main road to flag down a songthaew, which is a pick-up truck with two bench seats fixed along either side of the bed. It is cheap transport and fairly reliable. As I was waiting in the drizzle for one to come along, a guy on a motorbike pulled up and offered to take where I wanted to go. Now riding on the back of a motorbike with a stranger on twisting roads and no helmet is challenge enough, but to do it in the rain for double the cost of a songthaew &ndash; well, that was easy&nbsp;<br /> Bo Phut stupaBo Phut stupa<br /> Bo Phut stupa<br /> to turn down.&nbsp;</p> <p>The other cool thing about songthaews &ndash; other than the price &ndash; is the passengers. In the songthaew I flagged down there was a Thai lady with a basket of four Samoyed puppies. Samoyed puppies look like they belong in a toy store, they are so cute and fluffy. In addition to the puppies there was a Hungarian lady who wanted to practice her English, and six young men who could have passed for Muay Thai fighters.&nbsp;</p> <p>I was headed to Bo Phut on the northern coast. This is home to the Buddhist temple Wat Bo Phuttharem, Fisherman&rsquo;s Village, and, a bit to the east, Wat Phra Yai, also known as the Big Buddha Temple.&nbsp;</p> <p>At the Hungarian lady&rsquo;s urging, I got off at the Bo Phut wet market. There was lots of lovely fruit and one stall selling Good Wife cakes. This is a flaky pastry filled with wintermelon or lotus paste, and since this is one of my favorite pastries, I bought one. (I&rsquo;d show you a picture, but I ate it. It was good.) From there it was a short walk to Wat Bo Phuttharem.&nbsp;</p> <p>I like visiting Buddhist temples;&nbsp;<br /> detail of temple buildingdetail of temple building<br /> detail of temple building<br /> they are generally very calm and accepting places. Wat Bo Phuttharem confused me, though, and I haven&rsquo;t been able to find out much about it. The temple grounds are very spacious, and it looks like new buildings are going up. It is obviously not set up for tourists, no signs in any language other than Thai, and, while there were pavilions with Buddha images, none of the temple buildings were open like they are in the northern part of the country.&nbsp;</p> <p>I put a donation in the box for my birth year, and was startled when a pre-recorded chant came out. I&rsquo;m guessing that the weight of the coins set off the recording. Donation boxes are pretty common in temples, but I have never had one chant for me before&nbsp;</p> <p>There were elaborate tombstones lining the walls of the compound, something else I have never seen in a Buddhist temple. I&rsquo;ve been told that most Thais are cremated and their ashes commingled in concrete stupas around the temple. I&rsquo;ve seen name plaques in temples, so if a person has no offspring to pray for them they will have the prayers of the monks. I had never seen memorials&nbsp;<br /> revered monksrevered monks<br /> revered monks<br /> such as these, each dedicated to a particular individual.&nbsp;</p> <p>Maybe it was my state of mind &ndash; well, probably it was my state of mind &ndash; but I failed to find my peace here. I walked up the road to Fisherman&rsquo;s Village, which is definitely a tourist area. Amidst the bars, T-shirt shops, and lots of mass-produced tat featuring elephants and Buddhas you may be able to find a whisper of the old fishing town, but I didn&rsquo;t see it.&nbsp;</p> <p>About five kilometers further down the road is Wat Phra Yai, more commonly known as the Big Buddha Temple. Big Buddha deserves an entry all its own, so that will be up next.&nbsp;</p> <p>In the meantime, here is the legend of the Good Wife Cake:&nbsp;</p> <p>Once upon a time, there was a very poor couple living in imperial China. They loved each other and lived in a small village. Suddenly, a mysterious disease spread through their village, and the husband&#39;s father became very sick.&nbsp;</p> <p>The couple spent all of their money in order to treat the man&#39;s father, but he was still sick. The wife sold herself as a slave in exchange for money&nbsp;<br /> temple buildingtemple building<br /> temple building<br /> to buy medicine for her father-in-law. Once the husband learned about what his wife did, he made a cake filled with sweetened wintermelon and almond. He dedicated this pastry to his wife, whom he could never forget, and sold it in the street. His cake became so popular that he was able to earn enough money to buy his wife back.</p> [shortDesc] => It isn&#39;t supposed to rain in Ko Samui this time of year.&nbsp; I did a little research about Ko Samui before I decided to spend the end of the year here. December is supposed to be warm &ndash; make that hot &ndash; and mostly sunny. Typical afternoon rain storms, but not bad beach weather. I looked forward to lazy days in the sun, reading cheap novels and swimming in azure waters.&nbsp; However, Typhoon Hagupit apparently didn&rsquo;t read the same sources as I did. It parked itself over the Phillipines about a week before I arrived in Ko Samui, causing untold destruction and taking the lives of at least 27 people. After the typhoon had had its way with the Philippines, it moved off to the west, slowly losing power as it did so.&nbsp; Guess what is directly in the westward path of what is now Tropical Depression Hagupit? Yep, Ko Samui and me.&nbsp; Now this isn&rsquo;t some wimpy remnants of a storm. The wind was strong enough to knock over a half-full beer mug and break the glass. I watched a young man who worked at the hotel take a surfboard out and come back in less Wat Bo PhutWat Bo Phut Wat Bo Phut than five minutes with half a surfboard, never having gotten past the first line of breakers. This was surf that tossed around whole tree trunks, broke mooring balls from their anchorage and never apologized. I am NOT going swimming in that. At least not yet.&nbsp; I know a retired Anglican priest who tells me (with a certain amount of un-priestly glee) &ldquo;Man plans, God laughs.&rdquo; However, I am nothing if not adaptable, and I learned long ago that I won&rsquo;t melt in the rain, so I headed to the north side of the island to poke around.&nbsp; I went to the main road to flag down a songthaew, which is a pick-up truck with two bench seats fixed along either side of the bed. It is cheap transport and fairly reliable. As I was waiting in the drizzle for one to come along, a guy on a motorbike pulled up and offered to take where I wanted to go. Now riding on the back of a motorbike with a stranger on twisting roads and no helmet is challenge enough, but to do it in the rain for double the cost of a songthaew &ndash; well, that was easy&nbsp; Bo Phut stupaBo Phut stupa Bo Phut stupa to turn down.&nbsp; The other cool thing about songthaews &ndash; other than the price &ndash; is the passengers. In the songthaew I flagged down there was a Thai lady with a basket of four Samoyed puppies. Samoyed puppies look like they belong in a toy store, they are so cute and fluffy. In addition to the puppies there was a Hungarian lady who wanted to practice her English, and six young men who could have passed for Muay Thai fighters.&nbsp; I was headed to Bo Phut on the northern coast. This is home to the Buddhist temple Wat Bo Phuttharem, Fisherman&rsquo;s Village, and, a bit to the east, Wat Phra Yai, also known as the Big Buddha Temple.&nbsp; At the Hungarian lady&rsquo;s urging, I got off at the Bo Phut wet market. There was lots of lovely fruit and one stall selling Good Wife cakes. This is a flaky pastry filled with wintermelon or lotus paste, and since this is one of my favorite pastries, I bought one. (I&rsquo;d show you a picture, but I ate it. It was good.) From there it was a short walk to Wat Bo Phuttharem.&nbsp; I like visiting Buddhist temples;&nbsp; detail of temple buildingdetail of temple building detail of temple building they are generally very calm and accepting places. Wat Bo Phuttharem confused me, though, and I haven&rsquo;t been able to find out much about it. The temple grounds are very spacious, and it looks like new buildings are going up. It is obviously not set up for tourists, no signs in any language other than Thai, and, while there were pavilions with Buddha images, none of the temple buildings were open like they are in the northern part of the country.&nbsp; I put a donation in the box for my birth year, and was startled when a pre-recorded chant came out. I&rsquo;m guessing that the weight of the coins set off the recording. Donation boxes are pretty common in temples, but I have never had one chant for me before&nbsp; There were elaborate tombstones lining the walls of the compound, something else I have never seen in a Buddhist temple. I&rsquo;ve been told that most Thais are cremated and their ashes commingled in concrete stupas around the temple. I&rsquo;ve seen name plaques in temples, so if a person has no offspring to pray for them they will have the prayers of the monks. I had never seen memorials&nbsp; revered monksrevered monks revered monks such as these, each dedicated to a particular individual.&nbsp; Maybe it was my state of mind &ndash; well, probably it was my state of mind &ndash; but I failed to find my peace here. I walked up the road to Fisherman&rsquo;s Village, which is definitely a tourist area. Amidst the bars, T-shirt shops, and lots of mass-produced tat featuring elephants and Buddhas you may be able to find a whisper of the old fishing town, but I didn&rsquo;t see it.&nbsp; About five kilometers further down the road is Wat Phra Yai, more commonly known as the Big Buddha Temple. Big Buddha deserves an entry all its own, so that will be up next.&nbsp; In the meantime, here is the legend of the Good Wife Cake:&nbsp; Once upon a time, there was a very poor couple living in imperial China. They loved each other and lived in a small village. Suddenly, a mysterious disease spread through their village, and the husband&#39;s father became very sick.&nbsp; The couple spent all of their money in order to treat the man&#39;s father, but he was still sick. The wife sold herself as a slave in exchange for money&nbsp; temple buildingtemple building temple building to buy medicine for her father-in-law. Once the husband learned about what his wife did, he made a cake filled with sweetened wintermelon and almond. He dedicated this pastry to his wife, whom he could never forget, and sold it in the street. His cake became so popular that he was able to earn enough money to buy his wife back. [slug] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/blog/It-Wasn-t-Supposed-to-Rain ) [5] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 30 [title] => Graphic Tour Sri Lanka [thumbnail] => http://travels.findrextravels.com/api/uploads/images/blog/791534_6.jpg [desc] => <p>sri Lanka doesn&rsquo;t have the same head-to-toe attitude to decor than India, it still holds surprising treasures if you take the time to look.<br /> From the ancient frescoes of Sigiriya to Geoffrey Bawa&rsquo;s drawings, exotic woods patterns and whimsical traditional textiles, it&rsquo;s the same delicate and playful touch.</p> [shortDesc] => sri Lanka doesn&rsquo;t have the same head-to-toe attitude to decor than India, it still holds surprising treasures if you take the time to look. From the ancient frescoes of Sigiriya to Geoffrey Bawa&rsquo;s drawings, exotic woods patterns and whimsical traditional textiles, it&rsquo;s the same delicate and playful touch. 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