MEXICO (MEXICO CITY, TEOTIHUACAN)

An impromptu birthday trip to Mexico City was the best celebration I could ask for. One of my favorite people, Alka, readily agreed to accompany me on this adventure when I realized that Sumit won't be able to take any time off. And here we were, in the heart of Mexico city.

Here is our rough itinerary for four days in Mexico City -

Day 0: Arrive. Settle in.
Day 1: Chapultepec Castle, Pujol lunch, Artesano Market
Day 2: Day trip to Teotihuacan, Spa day, Tacos!
Day 3: Tour Frida Kahlo house, Coyocan, Xochimilco, Palace of Fine Arts
Day 4: Museum of Anthropology, Metropolitan Cathedral, National Palace Square, Condesa stroll

Day 5: Fly out

I 💖 Mexico City!

Mexico City has my heart. It has everything one could ask for. Chaos, Culture and Cuisine. It reminded me of Delhi in so many ways. The city is densely populated and the best way for us to get around was Uber. We didn't dare to take public transport. It has a lot of cute cafes, taquerias, restaurants, food stalls and Michelin star restaurants. Bon Appetite! People are polite and courteous. We chose to stay in central area near Chapultepec Castle in the Juarez area. Stay in a lively and upscale area. Just strolling on Avenue de la Reforma in the evening was so relaxing. Beautiful sculptures at every 'roundabout'. Before you go, just plan for some time to walk around and relax along with the things to see. And if you are interested in some Michelin star restaurants, then make sure you make reservations well in advance. 

Day 1

Chapultepec Castle

The weather was lovely! We stepped out to get breakfast at cute little cafe a couple of blocks from our hotel. Then we walked all the way to the Chapultepec Castle. It is a bit of a hike to get up there. Lovely castle, beautiful interiors and perfect views of the city. There are few great brunch places around the area, but they need reservations a few days in advance, so make sure to make those.
After our hike, we were headed to the Michelin star restaurant, Pujol, for my birthday dinner! We got so lucky that we got an afternoon reservation just a couple of days in advance. Our reservation was from 2-5pm and I wondered what would we do for 3 hours. But my oh my, three hours for a six(or was it seven?) course meal was fantastic. I never imagined that we could finish our meals and thoroughly enjoy them. Everything was flavorful, colorful and worth ever penny. We walked out at about 5:30 pm and the next meal we had was our breakfast the next day. 

Pujol

We walked down to very fancy perfume/fragrance shop close to Pujol. Xino. We had to pick up for a friend, and it was very interesting shop. The welcome area had a lots of lamps and no human. You just keep walking and take the dark stairway up three floors to get to the shop. Its all black walls and ceiling and the fragrance shop has two rooms with their few products laid out for you. It was an experience in itself and I am glad we went there.

Next up, we took an Uber to the Artisan Market. It reminded me of Palika Bazar in New Delhi. It shuts down at 6 pm or so, so check the hours before you go. We took a quick stroll through the shops and picked up some souvenirs. It is a good place to get your local shopping done if you want to. By now we were tired and headed back to the hotel, there was no way we were going to have dinner after our sumptuous meal at Pujol.

Day 2

We had an early morning full-day tour booked for Teotihuacan. If you plan to visit this site, I highly recommend booking a tour and getting their early in the morning. We got to learn the history and archaeological findings as well. The guide however repeated everything he spoke in English in Spanish for the tourists. That was very confusing; to tune in and tune out got exhausting. So much so, that I tuned all of it out. Might as well book an English only tour. Would be a better experience.

On our drive to the pyramids, we passed through the outskirts of Mexico city, which is densely populated and their is a network of gondola to take them around as the terrian is that of rolling hills. Pretty innovative I'd say. We got to the site early in the morning before other tourists had started pouring in. Hence, got a chance to take pictures without crowded people in the background. It was a lot of walking. We even got to climb one of the pyramids. 

Teotihuacan

Best Tacos Ever!

On our way out we stopped at this Mexican restaurant and a gift shop right outside the pyramids. Did some expensive shopping their for the Obsidian jewelry and tasted Mezcal. We got home early evening. Now was time for our massage appointment. There are quite a few and we booked one closer to our hotel and it was a perfect after so much walking all day. Now that we were rejuvenated, we were ready to walk down for some TACOS! 

We headed to Tacos Ornico. Their logo is so funny. An upside down cow inside a taco shell. They had a long queue of customers but it was fast moving. They had a vegetarian option which was quite good. I understand why the tacos were worth the long queue. After dinner, we headed straight to Panderia Rosetta. Their guava roll is quite popular we learnt that it is usually gone my early afternoon! So we settled for a slice of another cake and coffee. More than the coffee or the cake, it was ambience that was so chic. The neighborhood is very upscale too. Hash! Now we were ready to retire for the night!

Day 3

Frida Kahlo Museum

We had another tour booked for this day. It was to get to Coyocan and Frida Kahlo museum combined with Xochimilco. First we had an obligatory stop at a silver shop. Apparently they made the famous Heart of Ocean Necklace for Spielberg for his movie, Titanic. The famous Kate Winslet necklace. Sigh! Once we got this out of the way, we were headed to Coyocan. Here we roamed around the neighborhood, visited an old cathedral, had crepes, went to small marketplace to do some more shopping and then headed to the Frida Kahlo museum. In hindsight, we could have simply Uber'd here. And walked around the neighborhood, plaza, etc. Then walked to the Frida Kahlo House. Frida Kahlo house/museum was very intriguing. Se became more real to me. And I learnt more about her life and her struggles. Definitely worth a visit. 

Next was a quick stop at the University (of Mexico?) to see some murals and a stadium on our way to Xochimilco. The highlight was Xochimilco. This place with water canals and floating gardens was the most fun place on this day. The boats were beautifully decorated. Some were selling stuff and and some had Mariachi bands that would hop on to your boat and sing songs for your boat. It was party time! This was a lot of fun and I am glad we went with a group. Just the two of us wouldn't have had as much fun. Highly recommend doing this with a group. This is wear we purchased our Friday Kahlo headbands. We got back to our hotel around 6 pm from our tour.

Xochimilco

After a couple of hours, we decided to head out for dinner. Now I wanted some Indian food, so we headed to an Indian restaurant near Chinatown, Swagat. We roamed around Chinatown and headed to the plaza next to the Palace of Fine Arts. The place is beautifully lit and so happening. There was lively music, hawkers, families, kids, couples, Salsa circle going on. We walked around a bit and it reminded us of what happens at India Gate in the evenings. There is a very popular Churros place in this area as well. I forget the name, but just google it if you like Churros. And with Churros, we called it a night.

Day 4

Metropolitan Cathedral

Today was a free day, so we booked an impromptu tour of Anthropology Museum. But first, we had to head to Panderia Rosetta to make sure we got our Guava rolls! Then we were headed to the Museum. The museum itself is a beautiful set of building around an open space and a fountain. The tour started off great, and the first 20 minutes were so interesting that we were thoroughly engaged to our own surprise, but as the tour went on, it became unbearable with each passing minute. Plus, the hunger got to us and the Guava rolls weren't enough and we were slowly getting hangry. We decided to ditch the tour after an hour or so and headed to Zanaya for a soul filling brunch. Burp.

Next we Uber'd to the Metropolitan Cathedral and the National Palace Square. It was a weekend and there was so much going on all over the plaza. We walked around a bit and then headed to the Condesa area. We walked around aimlessly and when we were near Parque de Mexico, it started to rain. Like pour. We quickly called an Uber and headed to Maestro Taqueria. Unfortunately they didn't have anything vegetarian, but their Beef Tacos were great is what I hear. 

We had wonderful four days and I think we checked off everything on our list. Yay! I am definitely coming back if my daughter learns to talk in Spanish, because then it'll be so much more fun! 

Tips:

• If you intend to go to Frida Kahlo museum by yourself, make sure to get the tickets in advance. They get sold out pretty quickly.
• You could google for "Taco Trail" and try the taco shops on the trail.
• Make reservations for high end and popular restaurants in time. 

Jaipur, India

 

We were on our way to a wedding in Pushkar, a few hours away from India. The nearest airport was Jaipur, so we took the opportunity to spend two days in Jaipur before heading out to the wedding.

What we planned?

Here is the itinerary we had planned for our two days in Jaipur with a kids. Keep in mind, we were short on time and wanted to keep it easy. Details below in 'What to See?'

Day1: Arrive in the afternoon. Jantar Mantar, City Palace, Hawa Mahal, Bapu Bazaar for shopping

Day2: Amber Fort, Jal Mahal, Birla Temple, Meet Friends

What we skipped?

As we were short on time, we skipped the following from our planning, but would have added if we had more time:

Ranthambore/Sariska Tiger Reserve - This requires a full day or two and needs to be reserved in advance. 

Elephant Sanctuary - Feedback from friends was that it is unnecessarily expensive and not as much fun for kids. 

Jaigarh Fort, Nalagarh Fort - We had planned to see only one fort, so we skipped the other two. However, we were told that Nalagrah Fort was solely for the queens and is quite pretty and well maintained. 

Patrika Gate - Supposed to be a very picturesque place, close to the airports. It is supposed to the most 'Instagrammable' spot. 

Panna Meena ka Kund - Just something I wanted to visit looking at the pictures. I hear there are many more 'step wells' in Rajasthan. Geometric staircases make for very good pictures!

When to go?

Umaid Bhawan

Weather will be critical. Jaipur is extremely hot in summers. Winters are cool and pleasant. We were there in February end, which is beginning of summer season and it was just bearable. In fact we preferred spending our afternoons in the hotel to beat the heat! Start early morning for good weather and to avoid crowds. 

Where to Stay?

We stayed at Umaid Bhawan. And that was the highlight of our trip. I cannot recommend it more! It is a beautiful boutique hotel with beautiful rooms. The roof is also hand painted. It is exquisite! The staff couldn't be nicer. This is by far the best hotel I have stayed in. They have a terrace where they serve lunch and dinner. Breakfast is served in another lounge and it is so pretty. There is a swimming pool too. Room service, of course. So, I totally enjoyed drinking my tea in the balcony of my beautiful room. 

They even had folk dance every evening for entertainment while you had dinner. Great service, great facilities. Neat and clean. Centrally located. 

How to Get Around?

Well, Uber can be tricky. It is a hit or a miss. Sometimes, the traffic is so much that they just cancel your request. So if you are on a schedule, it may make sense to just hire a taxi for the day. There are good, air conditioned taxis available with knowledgeable and courteous guides. Your hotels can help you get one. Just plan your itinerary looking at the map and being mindful of the rush hour traffic, which is most likely all-hour traffic.  We also Uber'd autorickshaw a couple of times as our daughter was super excited to sit in one. 

Amber Palace

What to see?

Amber Palace - You got to see a palace!duh! We chose the Amber Fort as it was the most popular one. Once we reached the Fort, we simply asked our driver to park in the parking area. It was too crowded and finding parking looked like a nightmare. To go up the hill from the parking lot to the Palace, you can either hike, or get an elephant ride, or take the EV vehicle. We decided to take the EV, it was a very nominal fare for the ride. Once we were at the entrance, we just hired a guide. He bought the tickets for us and we skipped the queue. The ones who are approved, usually wear a badge. We told him our time constraints and our interests. He took us around the palace in about an hour. Took our pictures too.

While going uphill in the EV, my phone fell from my lap on to the road. And there was an elephant going uphill as well, the driver managed to get down and grab the phone before the elephant stomped on my phone and precious pictures!

Sheesh Mahal is absolutely beautiful. The best part of the tour. There are roadside vendors sitting at the exit where you buy souvenirs. There is a government approved showroom behind the palace for Jaipur style textiles, jewelry and souvenirs, which we chose to skip.  

Jal Mahal

Jal Mahal - Half submerged palace. It makes for beautiful pictures and is indeed very pretty. I found it very serene to look at. There isn't much to do. No tours or anything. So it is just a stop over on your way to or from Amber Palace.

Jantar Mantar- We found this absolutely fascinating. I had no idea that it was an astronomical structure(s). I was very pleasantly surprised to learn more about it. The angles  are based on various constellations and shadows of the sun. There is a 15 minute documentary that talks in detail about these structures with visuals and full explanation that runs continuously in a room at the far end of the complex. It is worthwhile watching that and understanding the structures you are looking at. 

I got in the queue of International Tourists for tickets in all my honesty, and not because the queue was short. But the clerk insisted that I buy Indian National tickets and despite me asking him to give me International Tourist tickets, gave me local national tickets! 🙈

Hawa Mahal - It is beautiful and I just kept taking pictures and editing them to remove the vehicles, wires, people, etc. There are a few spots/ cafeteria, which are right across Hawa Mahal and make for good pictures. Just stepping into those cafeterias is paid as they are now very popular spots for pictures. Shopping here by roadside would be cheap and need a lot of haggling if you are up for it. 

Jantar Mantar

City Palace - It is right next to Hawa Mahal and Jantar Mantar. It is currently in use and only a part of it is open for public. We skipped it as we were done for the day, the heat got to us and just wanted to get to our lovely hotel.

Shopping - Roadside, by Hawa Mahal is the best place to shop as it is right there. But if you are looking for something particular, like clothes, or Jewelry, then it makes sense to google, or ask your concierge for the best places to shop for them. Otherwise, Bapu Bazaar and Johri Bazaar are your best bets for shopping. We didn't intend to shop this time so we skipped these, but I have been to these area on our previous trips with family. The pink shops with uniform headers painted across them are what give Jaipur the name of  'Pink City'

Birla Temple - Its a beautiful marble temple created by the Birla family. They have very strict hours, so make sure you check them before you go. This temple is on the outskirts of the city, or well, not in city center. So if you are planning to go here, make sure you make note of the times. For us, when we had planned to go, we realized it was closed and hence had to divert to go back to our hotel. 

Other tips and tricks:

Amber Palace

• Hire a cab. Autos in the heat are a no-no
• Go early, beat the crowds. Split your day into two. Tour early morning. And take rest in the afternoon. And get our early evening again.
• Hire a guide!
• Be vary of monkeys. They are trained well to snatch everything and anything
• Pay for parking if you have to.
• Buy tickets from the International Tourists line. They are short.
• You will spend a lot of time in traffic. So plan well.
• Restaurants take time to get your food. 
  

New Zealnd (North Island)

 

New Zealand's North island had been on our list for a while. We had visited South Island in 2016 and were so awestruck by the beauty of this country that we had ever since wanted to go to the North Island. We knew it would be more city-like and more touristy, and hence it fit the bill for us. We were travelling with our 3 year old and wanted a scenic, developed country with warmer climate during Thanksgiving break and easily accessible medical facilities. And this fit the bill perfectly, as we found direct flights to Auckland which weren't as pricey as we had imagined.

Our Itinerary:

Our driving route

• Day 1: Arrive in the morning ->Auckland sightseeing and stay 
• Day 2: Drive to Hamilton Gardens -> Waitomo Caves -> Rotorua
• Day 3: Day in Rotorua/Taupo
• Day 4: Day trip to Hobbiton.
• Day 5: Drive to Paihia
• Day 6: Day in Paihia/KeriKeri/Russell
• Day 7: Paihia -> Auckland
• Day 8: Day in Auckland
• Day 9: Fly out

Where to fly?

There is pretty much only one option. You fly in to Auckland. This is the most well connected airport in the country. From SFO, we have Air New Zealand and United Airlines flying direct to Auckland. It is 12-13 hours flight, but quite convenient. I know that United is planning to start direct flights to Christchurch from SFO soon, so that would be an option if you want to visit South Island.

When to go?

We went in November this time as well. Weather was pleasant. We needed light jackets in the evening and it is did drizzle a little on most of the days. No heavy rains that would interrupt your plans though. And it wasn't hot summer either. So it worked pretty well for us.

Where to go?

When going to North Island, the top destinations are Waitomo Glowworm Caves and Hobbiton movie set. That is the most advertised ones. Lake Taupo is a pretty lake and the town of Rotorua nearby is a small 'weekend getaway' type of town. We also wanted to go to a beach, so we went all the way to Paihia. We didn't Coromandel as there was some inaccessible areas that were under repair/construction. Other popular thing to-do is hikes, but we didn't look into it with a three year old in tow. We skipped hikes and the town of Wellington. Those are for next trip, along with Abel Tasman Park. More in the section towards the end, What's left?. This website has been the most useful in exploring what to do.

Auckland

At the Ferry Building

It is not the capital of the country and I have to remind myself again and again. It surely is the number one tourist entry/exit city though. It's a good city to just get your bearings after a long flight and do some 'standard' city- tourism. 

Where to stay:

Their main street is the 'Queen Street' and if you want to stay in middle of all the action, then that is where you'd like to stay. And closer to the pier, means closer to touristy-stuff. We stayed in a hotel on Queen Street first, but it was a bit far and we ended up driving and paying for parking, so we moved to a little farther accommodation for our second stay at the end of our trip. 

Where to eat: 

The best thing was the food. And we found an excellent Indian restaurant. Couldn't believe the food was so good at Jatt & Juliet. Rajma as good as home-made. And our daughter couldn't stop eating the noddle burger in spite of how spicy it was! 

What to do:

Our walking map

We spent an evening going to the sky tower, which is I think nth tallest tower in the world and the tallest in Southern Hemisphere or something. But having been to Burj Khaleefa and taking a elevator through the clouds and feeling dizzy looking down, this was quite meh! It is more like, you are there, might as well check it off your list. We took a stroll from Ferry Building to the Princes Wharf. Reminded me a bit of San Francisco Pier but smaller scale and less crowded. So, essentially strolling on Quay Street. You could also walk from Princes Wharf to Silo Park. Next stops would be going to Aotea Square and the Town Hall building. So we spent our evening walking around this route, approximately.

Walk Around this route. Place to see: Sky Tower, Silo Park, Princes Wharf, Ferry building, Aotea Square, Town Hall.

Sky Tower

And tonight was India-Australia cricket world cup final and we were so excited to be in a cricket loving nation where we could easily watch the match on our TV at the hotel. I had partly hoped that it would be India-NZ final and it would have been fun to be in NZ then as Kiwis are my second favorites, always. But nonetheless, we were here and it was India-Australia. So once we got done with all the sightseeing, we retired to our hotel, waited for the kiddo to fall asleep and turned on the match. But as the match progressed, and depression kicked in, we wanted to eat our emotions. And voila, DoorDash works awesome in New Zealand. We ordered some really good food from Curry-On. Spicy and satisfying. And then we figured we have almost lost the match, we just dozed off to avoid further depression! :D
There is also an Auckland Zoo for kids and we kept that for our last day of the trip. 

Hamilton

Charminar Gardens

Our second day entailed a long drive from Auckland to Rotorua via Waitomo. So, Hamilton was a natural stop for us. So we ended up at Hamilton Gardens. They are super cute small gardens based on various themes. I had picked the few gardens I really wanted to see so we had our work cut out for us. The gardens are free and you could get a map for $2. I really did like these gardens and would have preferred a relaxed stroll, but we were on a time budget as we had to make sure we reached Waitomo for our cave tour that we had pre-booked. It would take about and hour or two to see all of them. They are well maintained gardens and super cute. My favorites were, of course Charminar (India style), Alic in Wonderland and Egyptian gardens.
We then had lunch at a café located in Hamilton Gardens. It is next to a lake and the whole set up in very serene, right our of a storybook. Just that we were running out of time so just inhaled our food as quickly as we could. But this was a very quick and an easy stop. So glad we did it. 

Waitomo Glowworm Caves

At the cave exit

Now we were en-route to Waitomo Glowworm Caves. The drive get prettier and with overhead clouds, it was really beautiful. Once we reached, there was plenty of parking and everything is streamlined given that this is the most sought after tourist destination in all of north island. Glad we had bought tickets as there is quite a crowd. The tours are guided and well managed. No photography allowed, so I don't have pictures, but you do see very pretty glowworms. It isn't long and that is all there is to it. I am glad that my daughter remembers all of it and often mentions glowworms when she sees something shining in the dark, like, stars in the sky were glowworms according to her!
The tors starts with a walk into the caves. You get to see the limestone caves and take a walk through them with about 20 other people. And then once you get down inside the caves, there is a section where they turn off lights and you see glowworms, bright and shining and oh, so many! Its beautiful. THen you take a short boat ride to get out of the caves. This boat ride was pretty nice because it is all in the dark and there are glowworms above you in the cave's ceiling. Fun experience, overall. 

Rotorua

After the caves, we carried on to Rotorua. And the drive gets prettier closer to Rotorua. This is a touristy weekend-getaway kind of a town. Places to see, things to do and restaurants to eat at. 

We stayed at Quest Rotorua Central. It was a suite and they offered a mini kitchen, we we needed with the kiddo. So we made a quick stop at the grocery store and stocked up our kitchen fridge with milk, eggs, yogurt and other essentials.  

What we did:

Luge Ride

We spent one morning taking the Skyline Gondola ride up to the hill top and coming down on the Lugo Ride. this was so much fun. The wait gets a little tiring, but the ride is so much fun. We could have the kid sit in front of us on the Lugo and she enjoyed as well. We could have done this again and again, but given the wait, we just did it once. So you take the gondola to the top of the hill. Get in the queue for the Lugo ride, come down via the Lugo. Then take a chairlift back up. The queue for repeat riders is short, but we just skipped it. There are also other things you could do at the top, like various hikes, mountain biking, etc. We enjoyed the views of Lake Rotorua from the top and enjoyed our Lugo ride till we got down. 

We spent half a day at the pool at the Polynesian Spa. Rotorua is known for hot springs. There is this facility for families where you could just sit and swim in the hot springs water. They have various options you can pick from depending on water pH, views of the lake, etc. We picked the one that was most suitable for us as we wouldn't have done it for long hours and we know our daughter loves going to the pool. There was a cute little slide as well for the kids. The locker rooms were really neat and clean and well managed. 

Every evening, our routine was to hit the playground next to the lake. And boy, was this some playground. Every fixture is so unique and fun. It was a huge playground and could accommodate many kids. There were climbing structures, swings, see-saws, and oh, plenty of other funky looking things. It was like Disneyland of playgrounds. And all the three evening we were here, we spent good 30-40 minutes at this playground. Convincing my daughter to go back to the hotel or for dinner became a huge task. Must-do with kids. 

There is just so much to do in Rotorua. There are plenty of canopy tours, ziplining, mountain biking, etc. There is also Agrodome, which is an animal farm with some shows and tours. We skipped as we thought it was way too pricey and probably won't be much fun for our kid.

Where we dined:

Rotorua had really good food. Good restaurants and variety of cuisines. They have a dedicated Eat Street which has only restaurants and is close to many other good restaurants.

• Our favorite breakfast place was  Le Café de Paris. We were here every morning.
• We had amazing Mexican at El Mexicana Zapata. Finger-licking good.
• We tried Italian at two restaurants, both were good. Urban Gusto and Leonardo's Italian Food and Wine.

Lake Taupo

We took a day trip to Lake Taupo from Rotorua. Its about an hour drive. The lake is beautiful and pristine. We didn't do any activity on the lake, but I guess you could do boat rides or stuff. We got here around lunch time. Just next to the lake is small marketplace with plenty of restaurants and shops. We spent some time strolling around the lake and then headed to our next stop Huka Falls. Park your car and it is a five minute walk to the various view points. It is a voluminous waterfall, icy blue in color, but not too high. It didn't take much time and next we were off to 'Craters of the Moon' thermal walk. Since this is the area of geothermal activity, that is one of the things you'd like to do here. We picked the one which would be easy for the kiddo. Honestly, it wasn't that great given all the geothermal activity you see in Yellowstone. But there are other thermal walks in this area which could be better I assume. I just picked the one easy for the kids. It took us about an hour to walk around the well paved walk and view some activity. I think Waikea Thermal Walk is the highly rated one here, so perhaps try that. 

Fun fact - Lake Taupo hosts the second oldest Ironman triathlon. Perhaps next time Sumit could sign up for that! 

Hobbiton 

This was another day trip from Rotorua. The drive is about an hour and you must, absolutely must pre book your tour. This is definitely a must-do whether you are a Hobbit fan or not. The sets are located near the town of Matamata and it is definitely very very beautiful. The tours are well organized and run on time. There is a café, toilets, etc. The tours start with a short bus ride to the location of the movie set. And it is so cute! The whole scenery is beautiful and something you'll definitely remember. We couldn't stop taking pictures. The tour ends with a nice ginger beer at the Green Dragon Inn. The whole tour took about two hours. They have now expanded the tour to take you inside the Hobbit homes, when we visited that was still under construction. 

Bay Of Islands

After we wrapped up from Rotorua, we were headed to Paihia as we were staying in this town.. We chose to drove as it was more convenient compared to driving. It took us about 6 hours drive time, but more in total with stops, it was totally manageable.  We stopped at some scenic waterfalls and vista points on our way. Had lunch at Hamilton and dinner at this cute little town close to Paihia, Whangarei.

Paihia

Paihia

This is a cute little town, with one street. Our hotel was located on the road across the beach. The view was very nice to wake up to. The weather was however a little chilly. So we wouldn't go to the beach for sure. We walked in the evening to a restaurant located on their main Wharf, Charlotte's Kitchen. The town is cute and well lit. There is also a playground located at the other end of the Paihia beach which was again quite unique and fun. And our daughter absolutely loved it. The market close to the wharf is the main area in this town and has plenty of shops and restaurants to offer. The most sought after thing-to-do is however, a cruise to the 'Hole in the Rock'

Hole in the rock.

We booked a morning cruise to the 'Hole in the Rock'. This was thankfully pre-booked as well, because the boat was full. A very comfortable boat, but with 200 people on board. It was windy outside, so we preferred to sit inside. It took some time to get to the view point, but well it is a Hole in the Rock and I wonder how you find them everywhere, Cabos, Italy, wherever you go! We did see some dolphins swimming along our boat on our way and that got everyone way more excited than the destination itself. We didn't do it, but I hear on a good day with calmer waters, they take the boat through the hole in the rock as well. 
The more interesting part of this cruise was that on your way back, they drop you to this island, Urupukapuka, for about an hour or so. And this is a beautiful, almost untouched island with plenty of hikes. There is a restaurant onsite, but no one resides on the island. We did hike to view point to see the other side of the island and got beautiful views. Spotted sting rays in the clear blue water at the beaches. This was definitely the highlight for us. 

Russell

First church in Russell

It is a small coastal town across the bay from Paihia. There are regular ferries between Paihia and Russell from the main Wharf. We took a ferry to get to Rusell, took about twenty minutes. There are only a couple of streets to walk around and 'the oldest church' of New Zealand that you could visit. We spent about an hour strolling around and on the beach. There is an old hotel, which has beautiful interiors and transports you to old English charm. Usually people go to Russell, have tea or lunch here at 'Duke of Marlborough Hotel' and get back to Paihia or Kerikeri. We just walked in, looked around and decided to get back on the ferry to go back to Paihia. 

Kerikeri

Rainbow Falls

Kerikeri is the main town in Bay of Islands. If you were flying in, this is the town you will fly in to. It is about 20-30 minutes away from Paihia. We spent about half a day in Kerikeri. There is much more to do and see here. Our first stop was the Rainbow Falls. It is just a few meters from the parking lot and offers three view points from the top of the waterfall. But you could also do a short hike and go to the base lagoon of these waterfalls. I found these to be prettier than the Huka Falls which are much more hyped. These are too high or don't have much water, but the whole set up is quite pretty. There is a popular stone store and a Parrot Place as well to visit, but we chose to go have lunch/dinner as we were all  hungry after that easy-peasy hike! :D

Mis-adventure in Auckland!

We drove back from Paihia to Auckland to spend a couple of nights here before we flew out back to San Francisco. Our plan was to spend a day at Auckland Zoo and to see the Auckland cricket stadium.

As we were headed out for the day, we wanted to grab breakfast at this bagel place. We ordered a veggie bagel and sure enough it looked just fine. But when our daughter ate it, she started getting hives, we know that she is allergic to nuts, but didn't think that a veggie bagel would have nuts. But the pesto in it is what caught us off-guard. What followed was the whole drill, Benadryl, followed by epi-pen and a visit to urgent care, then to emergency. And then another dose of adrenaline, followed by a few more anti histamines. And an overnight hospital stay. We are very thankful to the Auckland Starship Children's hospital for such good care and. The doctors and staff were so nice, calm and reassuring. They even accommodated us when there was no bed in the regular overnight stay ward. So thankful to them. And a lesson learnt the hard way. We are super careful always, but one slip, and it got us.

Anyhow, the kiddo was upset because we were headed to the zoo and landed in the hospital. So next day we made sure that we went to the zoo for a couple of hours before heading out to the airport. To make sure we keep our promise to her. 

Other notes:

• Visa: It is very easy to get Travel Authorization through their website. You have to upload your passport details and a photo. It took us only a couple of hours to get this once we took our photos. 
• Bookings in advance: We made most of our bookings for popular destinations, like the Waitomo glowworm caves, Hobbiton set and cruise to the Hole in the Rock in advance it turned out to be a wise decision. 
• Adventure Sports: New Zealand is the hub of adventure sports and you will find them in every famous tourist area. Be it Bungee Jumping, Mountain Biking, skydiving, zip lining, you name it and they got it. 
• Driving around: We rented a car and drove around. Very convenient, especially with a kid. Driving it on the left, India style.
• Play grounds: New Zealand has some great playgrounds. They have these unique structures to play on there has been enough thought put into designing these. 

When are we going next?

Ahaa, yes we need one more trip. Perhaps when our daughter is old enough to bungee jump!! We want to do a few more hikes, especially Abel Tasman Park, I also wanted to visit Dunedin and east coast of the southern island. Perhaps, after another 8 years! :)

CANADA (VICTORIA, VANCOUVER)

We had a few days of PTO and we wanted to step outside of US but with caution, given it would be the first time traveling with our three year old. So what could be better than Canada! Vancouver has been one of our favorite go to places because of many factors, short flight from San Francisco, feels like US, so many activities to do, and offers a variety of landscapes. The city had a very relaxed laid back vibe. And on our previous visits, we had skipped Victoria, so we added that to our itinerary. Only this time, we were flying to Seattle and then driving to Vancouver.

Seattle

You can also scroll down to 'A day in Victoria' if that is what you are looking for.
Previous Vancouver itinerary is here.

Itinerary:

Day 0: Arrive in Seattle. Spend the day with our friends

Day 1: Drive from Seattle to Vancouver

Day 2: Spend the day in Vancouver
Day 3: Ferry to Victoria
Day 4: Day in Victoria
Day 5: Ferry to Port Angeles. Stay Overnight.

Day 6: Half a day in Olympic National Park. Drive to airport.

Seattle to Vancouver

Gastown, Vancouver

We arrived in Seattle with a lot of hullabaloo! We were in the middle of the potty training and decided to take this trip. How very brave of us. After exploring the noisy flushes of airports and crying at loud at the automated flushes, we made it to the airport and rented a car to drive to our friends' house in Issaquah. They have two and it was lovely to see kids play together and explore the creek behind the house and have fun. Even though the travel was tiring, it was very relaxing to just be out of our daily routine. 

The next day we drove from Seattle to Vancouver with a few stops. Drive was about 3 hours and the landscapes started getting prettier as we got close to Canada border. Immigration was quick, no waiting, not even getting out of car. So pretty smooth and we got to Vancouver with no hiccups. We were staying near the University of British Columbia, so it was a bit away from the city center, but was nice to see a few students around and a few coffee shops to explore.

We spent the evening walking around Vancouver downtown. The area near Gastown is always lively and has a plenty of restaurants to offer. Plus walk up to the convention center offers nice views.

Capilano Suspension Bridge

A Day In Vancouver

We had our to-do list for the day all planned! It also became a toilet-exploration trip due to potty training in progress. Piku wanted to see all the toilets, everywhere. If they had automatic flushes or manual. If there were paper wipes or air dryers, how many stalls were there, etc. etc. In the background, we checked off the three places on our list.

Capilano Suspension Bridge  

We arrived early, right after breakfast, to beat the crowds. Got our tickets and crossed the bridge! It was sunny and they do have quite a few activities for kids. We also did the treetop walk and learnt about the owls. This place will keep the kids busy especially with their booklet of puzzles and games. Then we of course had to get ice cream from the ice cream shop before we headed out to our next destination.

Grouse Mountain

Bird Show, Grouse Mountain

Grouse Mountain is very close to the Capilano Bridge. We found parking right next to the gondola ride. Piku got super excited for the gondola ride and once we reached atop the mountain, we just walked around. The views are great and you cans pend as much time as you'd like to, here. There were a few icy patches here and there. There are plenty of activities to do, like zip lining, hiking, etc. We were interested in the lumberjack show as it is quite entertaining (we remembered from our previous visit), but the show time wasn't until much later. However, we attended a bird show where they had owl, eagle and a hawk displaying their antics for you. Super entertaining. 

Stanley Park

After we grabbed lunch, we headed to Stanley Park. We parked our car and walked around a it towards the west side as we were looking for a play ground. It was full of kids and it kept Piku and us busy for sometime. There was a pool as well and we didn't realize that it would be accessible to public, else we would have gotten our bathing suits too!  We got some nice views and had beach access, but no swimsuits! We retired for the night after an excellent meal at Kesari in Vancouver downtown. Highly recommend this restaurant.

Vancouver to Victoria

Fisherman's Wharf

We were up bright and early to get on the car ferry from Vancouver to Victoria. It is highly recommended to pre-book the ferry. It is all very streamlined and comfortable. The cars are parked in the lower floors and you can sit indoors on the upper floor or just spend time outdoor on the deck. It takes about a couple of hours to get to Victoria. The ferry has a small café that sells snacks and drinks. The toilets are clean too. We spent some time on the deck taking pictures. And also spotted a few dolphins in the water. Once we reached Victoria, we drove out in our car and headed to Victoria downtown. Ferries from Vancouver leave and arrive on the port that is west of the island. Driving to the downtown takes about 45-60 minutes. 
Parking is hard to find! We found paid parking at a hotel. And we had to walk a bit to get to our lunch spot. After lunch and of course, ice cream, we checked in to our hotel. This is a very touristy place, with plenty of places to eat at a lot of things to see and do.

We stayed at the Chateau Victoria and after we checked in and freshened up, decided to go for a walk at the waterfront. This is really a very beautiful island and has a "Victorian" feel to it. We walked around the waterfront, to the fisherman's Wharf and then took pictures near the Fairmont Hotel and at the
Legislative Assembly. There was a horse carriage ride nearby with very royal horses, but we skipped it. Then we headed out for dinner and retired for the day, all charged up to spend a day on the island the next day.

A Day In Victoria

Butterfly Gardens

Bright and early, we headed to The Butterfly Garden in the morning. It isn't as big as I had imagined, but it was fun, especially for Piku. There weren't just butterflies, but a few other tropical birds and animals! Flamingo, parrots, etc. and it was a fun visit. We decided to skip the Butchart gardens, as it wasn't really spring and reviews said that we wouldn't be seeing many flowers. Instead, we headed to the Victoria Bug Zoo. Houses in a couple of rooms, it makes for an interesting stop especially with kids! We loved the creepy crawly creatures. 

We headed to Mexican restaurant for a quick lunch. It was located in the Commonwealth Center and here we saw the lovely swim activity center. Oh boy, how much we regretted not getting our bathing suits. It looked like a prefect place for a summery afternoon. Pool, slides, splash pads!

We sulked and got hungry and grabbed a burger at bin4burger. Really good burgers. Must try. And then we headed straight to the hotel pool. We figured that driving back to the commonwealth center would take a long time, so it made sense to just make do with our hotel pool, which btw, was good enough and did not disappoint at all!

Then for the evening, we stepped out to the Craigdarroch Castle. Strolled around, took a few pictures as it was closed for entry by then. And then headed to the QV Cafe near Victoria's Chinatown. As I had posted about Victoria on social media, a long lost classmate pinged me who had moved to Victoria a year ago! It was so good to meet him and his family! The true power of social media.

Craigdarroch Castle

Victoria (Things to do)

We skipped a few as they didn't make sense with a three year old. There were also bike rentals which would have been a good idea. They had bike buggies for kids, but they had to be booked in advance, so we missed out on that. Here is the list:

• Butchart Gardens
• Walk around the Waterfront from Fairmont Empress to Legislative Assemble to Fisherman's Wharf. Here is the walking map
• Get afternoon high-tea at Fairmont Empress
• Butterfly garden
• Victoria Bug Zoo
• Craigdarroch Castle
• Chinatown 
  
• BC Museum.

Victoria to Port Angeles

Feeding Alpacas

The next day we took the car ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles in USA. The immigration check is done in Victoria, Canada. And we made this reservation in advance as well as the number of ferries allowed on the vessel aren't much. The port for this ferry is right at the Waterfront, it is a different port compared to the one where the ferry for Vancouver departs.

Once in Port Angeles, we drove to Olympic National Park. We had a few hours, so we drove to Lake Crescent. And then took a short hike near the visitor center. We did a loop of Moments in Time Trail. The park is beautiful, but we were short on time, so did not explore more. We stayed at a hotel near Port Angeles.

Next day we could have driven to the park to another vista point, Hurricane Ridge, but we decided to skip it and instead drove to Olympic Game Farm close by. Here you drive through the farm/zoo and can feed the farm animals. The animals are expecting you to feed them and hence can get really aggressive and get their heads inside the car. It is silly and scary at the same time. There was moose, peacock, bear, tiger and a plenty of animals. It was quite entertaining. 

Then we headed straight to the airport with a stopover for lunch. And to our surprise, out neighbor was on the flight and was our seat neighbor! What are the odds! 

Puerto Rico

It was about time for a beach vacation! Had been almost two years since our last beach vacation, so we thought of picking a destination in the Caribbean. After doing a bit of research on the Caribbean islands, we narrowed down to Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. We ended up picking Puerto Rico because Dominican vacation meant we would've been mostly confined to the hotels/resorts where as Puerto Rico had more activities and places to offer.

One thing I learnt from this trip was that you gotta have your expectations right. I had heard extreme reviews from our friends visiting PR. Some of them had a whole lot of fun and others didn't know how to kill time on their vacation. For us, we knew we would have 5-6 days and we would have to plan our time well as both of us prefer vacations loaded with activities and things to do. So, we did some good research on what all we'd like to do and planned all our days so that we wouldn't get bored and we did not. We had a wonderful time, a good mix of activities and leisure and it was just as we expected and hoped for. Our brief itinerary:

Day 0: Arrive in San Juan. 

Day 1: Old San Juan, Ashford Avenue

Day 2: Culebra (Flamenco beach, Tamarino beach)

Day 3: Isla Verde beach, Sea Trek

Day 4: El Yunque rainforest, Luquillo beach

Day 5: Boqueron beach (Jet Ski, Kayak, ~~Paddle board)

Day 6: Old San Juan. Fly out.

Fly in:

SJU: San Juan Martinez International airport is well connected with many cities within the US, especially the ones on the east coast. We booked ours with American Airlines with a stop over at Charlotte. The airplanes are so darn old, with such less legroom and no entertainment units. Thankfully I slept through the entire flight.

Stay at:

View from our apartment - Condado beach

Initially we were looking at accommodations close to Isla Verde beach as we wanted to spend most of our time here, but we figured that we were already late looking for hotels and airbnbs even in mid-November. Most of the places were already booked. So, we moved to Ashford Avenue and finally found an 1bhk apartment in the heart of Ashford Avenue. I couldn't have asked for a better location. We had private balcony with a partial ocean view, walking distance from the Condado beach, next to 24 hour Walgreens and restaurants open till 3 am or so. I loved this street! It had some good restaurants and was always always lively. Would be a bad choice for a light sleeper though, but wasn't an issue for us at all. For some reason, we never considered staying in Old San Juan! I guess we were looking for parking options too as we had rented a car and driving and parking in Old San Juan would've been a nightmare.

Day 0:

Lively Avenida Ashford in the background

We arrived around 7 pm at the airport. And the moment I stepped out of the airport, I was in love with the weather. Purrrfect! We took a cab to our airbnb accommodation at Ashford Avenue. YOu got to stand in the queue for the cab, where the person in charge would ask you for the address and let you know the fixed price to your destination and assign a cab. Once we reached our apartment, the hosts greeted us and gave us some good recos on where to eat and what to do in Puerto Rico. We felt really welcomed and comfortable :) Once that was done, we headed out to hunt for some veggie food. We found BUNS (burger shop) which had some grilled cheese potato buns to offer. We were both hungry and found the burgers pretty good. I'd say decent enough option for vegetarians. After our dinner, we strolled on the lively Ashford Avenue, explored some souvenir shops and then crashed for the night. After our jet lag woke us up at 3 am, we gave in to our Maggi cravings. (benefits of having a mini kitchenette and renting from Airbnb!) 

Day 1:

Castillo San Felipe del Morro

Paseo de la Princesa

Our first vacation day was here and I was all excited to explore San Juan. We had not planned much for this. And after catching up on our sleep, we headed out only around noon. First stop was Ben n Jerry Cafe. We tried Vegetarian pizza and burger and I loved the pizza, but hated the burger! And their lemonade was out of the world, just fyi! Good place to try. After we got some fuel in, we just spent some time admiring the Condado beach, right behind the cafe. Then we headed out on the Ashford Avenue to pick our car rental. Once we got our car, we drove to Old San Jaun and parked in the Dona Fela Parking. Now, we visited a few spots here. There isn't anything mind vlowing or out of the world here. But, I just loved the cozy feel of bright multi colored houses, on wither side of narrow inclined cobbled streets. Lot of tourists and everyone walking around. It was a good way to spend just half a day and trust me, you will get a lot of good photo ops! Here is our approximate walking map. We mostly walked up to the old fort(Castillo San Felipe del Morro), the San Juan Bautista, La Terraza, Paseo de la Princesa. Meanwhile, we took a break at Choco Bar for some snacks and then ate dinner at Istanbul Turkish restaurant. Chocolate lovers may want to go to Choco bar, I didn't find it all that unique though. Istanbul Turkish restaurant was good though. Since it was Christmas eve, we had a very few options to choose from as many places were already closed. Walking around PR 1 will also give you scenic views. After dinner, we just wandered around the streets and then shopped at a few local shops for souvenirs, snorkeling shoes, beachwear etc. Was a very relaxed day and I really did enjoy hanging out in the Old San Juan neighborhood. 

Day 2:

It was December 25th and we had saved it for our day trip to Culebra. This was one of the most fun days!
There are two ways to get to Culebra which lies on the west of the main island. One is by ferry, which is like 5-10 bucks per person, takes about an hour and a half one way. Here is a ferry schedule I found. Now, this being the peak touristy season, and we being super late in our bookings, ran in to trouble while trying to book ferry tickets online. They were all sold out! Some of our friends told us that you do end up getting tickets on the day of, but we didn't want to take a chance, so we booked air tickets(the other way to get to Culebra), which are usually 50$ one way, but being the holiday season were ~75$ each way. There are many local airlines that fly between islands. Here is a list I found. Another thing to remember is that, you have the option of booking these tickets from a number of airports, San Juan International airport, Cieba and Isla Grande airport. We were lucky to find tickets from Isla Grande airport which is five minutes away from the downtown.

Flamenco beach - The best beach in PR

So, we booked 7:30 am flight from Isla Grande to Culebra. And we being excited, jet lagged tourists, reached the airport at 5:55 am, only to
find the gates closed! Apparently, the airport opened at 6 am! So, we waited for a few minutes and then someone walked up to the gate and opened it for us. We drove and parked in the open area outside the small building for some 10$ a day. There is not hurry to get here 90 minutes before your scheduled departure. No one cared to check us in till about 30-40 minutes before the flight. So, we could've very well caught up on sleep. Anyway, it was a ten seater plane and they are strict about seating their passengers in a particular order because of weight balancing. It was smooth 30 minute ride though.

The airport at Culebra was similar to one in Isla Grande. The car rentals were right in the airport lounge. However, the golf carts and scooters were all booked and we could only rent a jeep, which wasn't a bad option either. They gave us a map of the island a list of things to do. We got in the jeep and headed straight to some bakery, which was suggested by the lady at the car rental and was the only place open at 8 am. Just got some coffee and packed chips as I wasn't too impressed with flies all around. Then we headed straight to Flamenco beach. We were here by 9 am and had the beach almost to ourselves. Found a nice shaded spot. This was my favorite beach in the entire trip! White sand, turquoise water and pleasant breeze. The sea was a little rough though. But not bad at all. We spent about an hour or two here. Initially I had planned to camp here, which I think was easily do-able, but then, just didn't fit our plan, so we skipped it. There were some shacks at the beach where we ate some fries and burger. 

Our next stop was Tamarindo beach. There is no paved way to get here. It a dirt road, so you better ask your way around. A perfect place to snorkel. This was a pebble beach. So water was clear and our snorkel booties came in handy. We hung around this place for about an hour. I just absolutely loved snorkeling here. I didn't go in the deep as I am scared of deep water, but there were people who were swimming a little farther away and spotting turtles and such. We spotted some translucent fish, some multi colored striped ones and I spotted a baby fish which had a long nose, I have no idea what is it called! Plus some corals too. There were some day tours leaving from this place, but didn't fit our schedule as we had to head back by 3:30 pm flight. Weather was pleasant and it even started drizzling. It was just a perfect day!

Tayzan Sushi

Then we headed to the town, got some really pizza for lunch and drove around the island for whatever time we had left. We were suggested to go to Zoni beach as well, but we just didn't fit it in our schedule. This is our route. We didn't go to Zoni beach, but I just added it to the map, for reference. We got on to our 3:30 pm flight back to San Juan.

We grabbed some sushi at the Tayzan Sushi, close to our apartment before going home and taking rest. Once we got home, we took rest and then met our friends in Old San Juan who had flown in that day and were going to keep us company for the next few days. We had dinner at this Spanish place, Triana with Flamenco dancing. We didn't get to see any dancing, because we were sitting upstairs, but the food was cold and service was bad. So, this place wasn't really fun, but all in all it was a great day given Culebra was magnificent. For late night snack, I had nutella crepe at Crepe Maker and others had Praline gelato at Le Macaron. Crepes were average and gelato was average too. 

Day 3:

We were scheduled for a Sea Trek at 10 30 am in the morning. But, we got a call around 9 30 am that it was high tide and we need to move it later in the afternoon. So, we settled fro 3:30 pm, but this meant our plan for going to Camuy Caves after Sea Trek wouldn't work out. So, we headed out to Isla Verde beach instead. But before that, we stopped at Tomate restaurant for lunch. Excellent mexican food and great service. Highly recommend it. After lunch, we headed to Isla Verde beach. Nice, calm beach with a great view of the city and lovely warm water.

We headed out to Caribe Hilton for our Sea Trek tour at 3 30 pm. We had booked our tour with Aqua Adventures. I was initially very scared, but this was so simple and easy. We took some great videos with go pro. The entire activity took almost an hour. One thing we discovered was that this bay at Caribe Hilton was a good place to swim and snorkel even on your own and it was open for public. So, if you want to snorkel and head out in calm waters close to Old San Juan, this would be a good choice!

In the evening, we chose to dine at Budatai as recommended but our host. Excellent place. Fusion asian restaurant and they had great vegetarian options too. We made reservations as most of the popular places have a long wait time. 

Day 4:

Trail head map

Our plan for the day was to go to El Yunque rain forest and Luquillo beach. We planned on having a sumptuous breakfast to begin the day (benefits of a kitchen!) But, in the process, we got pretty late, to my utter dislike, because this just meant we would have to do only one hike instead of the planned two. One thing to keep in mind is to go to the Palo Colorado Visitor Centre and not any other information center as the trail heads for the two most popular hikes (La Mina trail and the El Yunque trail) are here. Here is the exact location on the map. The El Yunque trail leads you to the peak with some great views, but we had to ditch because of less time. But we did the La Mina hike to the La Mina waterfalls which was a lot of fun. Completely shaded and pretty easy hike I'd say. Involves some steps, but totally do-able! Waterfall was good, and don't forget to take your swimwear if you want to take dip. It was just utterly crowded and we din't stop here for long. We headed back to the trail head and our parked car. I suggest getting here early and starting your hike early on before the crowds get here. Useful Maps.

Plan was to hang out at the Luquillo beach after the hike. We had the option of eating lunch at the shacks at the beach, but didn't feel they maintained good hygiene, so headed out to a nearby subway. Luquillo is one of the better beaches around. Not very crowded. Calm and warm waters. very neat and clean shower and locker rooms at the beach. We spent an hour or so here. I guess this beach offers some activities like jet skiing and parasailing too. 

Once we got home, we headed out for dinner to Alibaba Mediterranean restaurant. Good food. Lavash was very fresh and delicious. For dessert, it was Gelato and Co right outside Marriot. They were out of chocolate gelato, but had a good hazelnut chocolate (Bachio or something). If you like gelato, this is the place for it. 

Day 5:

Boqueron beach

This day was set aside for Boqueron and beach activities. We drove for about a couple of hours to Boqueron beach. A nice quiet beach, very less crowded and pretty clean. But we couldn't find any restaurants for change of clothes. But, we managed. We first rented a jet ski. It wasn't our first time, but it is always fun! Then, after lunch at Subway, we headed out for kayaking at the beach. There are two little shacks at the beach itself for rentals. After kayaking, we tried our hand at paddle boarding for about 5-10 minutes. It is talent to balance yourself on that thing. I mean, you gotta try and see it for yourself. Then we spent time at the beach watching the sunset and it was beautiful. A lot of sail ships at the beach so, it makes for a good photo op for anyone who is looking for a good sunset picture. 

For dinner we tried Italian food at Di Parma Trattoria. Ravioli and pizza were excellent. I have to give it to Puerto Rico for really really good food. 

Day 6:

We could have either left really really early and gone to Camuy caves. But we ditched it for a few extra hours of sleep. This has been indeed the laziest vacation for us. So, we decided to spend rest of our day before our flight in Old town. Loved walking around in the colorful streets one last time. Taking pictures. The museum had high ratings, but was closed until early January. So, we had to skip it. We then bought some souvenirs and cigars! After one final meal, we headed out to the airport for flying out. It was a fun trip and we had a really good time. Thank you Puerto Rico.

More fun stuff to do:

• Bio luminescence bay: Three places to do it in order of brightness and popularity: Vieques, Fajardo and La Parguera. We didn't do it because it was full moon night and the tour operators told us that the visibility will be close to zero.
• Do the triangle: A lot of people go to Vieques by ferry for bio luminescence tour at night. Then go to Culebra in the morning and spend the day there and then fly/ferry back to San Juan.
• Camuy Caves: You need to leave early as they take tours on first come first served basis and the tours are for about ~2 hours. You could end the day with a sunset near Rincon where you could also watch surfers.
• Camping at Flamenco beach: If you are up for it, here is a website that'll be helpful. 
• Old San Juan itinerary: I collapsed most of it in to one day. Plus, don't forget to take pictures of the fort in the evening. We missed it, but it will be well worth the trip, I am sure.
• Pina Colada was invented here in Puerto Rico, so do try one!
• Boqueron: You could do jet ski tours or head out of mangroves in La Parguera. We just weren't too enthusiastic about it, but they have good reviews online.

Remember to:

• Make reservations well in advance especially if you are heading to PR in holiday season. We had a tough time looking for accommodation and making reservation for Culebra. Thnakfully we had reserved our car well in advance.
• Eat at a different restaurant each time. Some really good places to eat, you may need to make reservations. We missed eating at Verde Mesa and Pani Agua because we didn't make any and these places had really good ratings and good vegetarian options.
• We used Google Maps. The names of the roads and exists are all messed up. So, you need someone to navigate and tell the driver to take next left or next right else you won't be able to use maps.
• For local airlines, don't forget to print your boarding passes. We had to walk in to Marriott and pretend to be their guests and ask them to print our boarding passes.