The Venice of "Don't Look Now"

If like us you’re a bit of a movie fan, then this section is for you. The Venice of Don't Look Now is encapsulated in a 1973 British-Italian thriller directed by Nicolas Roeg, adapted from a short story by Daphne du Maurier. It was filmed at a variety of locations throughout Venice, showing a see
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Venice Osteria and Trattoria

Considering that Italy is pretty much one big restaurant, there’s never any difficulty finding somewhere to eat. Whether a Venice osteria and trattoria or pizzeria, there are plenty of places to choose from. In our experience, the overall quality of food in Italy is generally good to very go

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Vaporetti Essentials: Get a Day Pass

Of course, one of the reasons we all go to Venice is to travel on their unique vaporetti transport system. Unless you are particularly flush with cash, you’ll want to do this in the easiest and most economical way possible. For a short weekend, a Vaporetti Day Pass is the answer.
Vaporetti Day P

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Booking a Venice Hotel

Choosing the Ca ’Fortuny Hotel Venice was the result of some precise online research. Finding a good, reasonably-priced hotel in Venice that’s not too far from the center can be a challenge in itself. It's therefore always a good idea to scrutinize the best deals that are currently on offer.

We

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Venice off-Season

How much should a short 2-night break in Venice off-season really cost?

With low-cost airlines flying from numerous destinations, the return flight is possibly one of the cheapest items of a trip to Venice. However, even this can be deceptive: The budget airlines fly to Venice Treviso, not to

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Budget Accommodation Highlights

Traditional & cost-effective budget accommodation: The hotels and guesthouses you book will have a dramatic effect on your overall travel experience. Check out our recommendations for some of the best, most cost-effective budget accommodation we've discovered in our recent travels.
Our Budget

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Temple of the Tooth - Buddha & Lotus Blossoms

Before we left Kandy we took a few hours to visit the celebrated Temple of the Tooth. This is where they keep one of Buddha’s teeth as a holy relic. The relic is regarded as a symbolic representation of the living Buddha and is the focus of a daily series of offerings, rituals, and cerem

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Beneath the Knuckle Mountains

During our stay at the Polwaththa Eco Lodges we arranged several treks through the surrounding thickly-jungled mountain areas. Whenever we emerged into a clearing, we could see the Knuckle Mountains bathed in mist in the far distance.

It's clear to see how these mountains got their name. L

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Polwaththa Eco Lodge

From Kandy, we had arranged a pickup by tuk-tuk to take us up into the surrounding mountain jungle to the Polwaththa Eco Lodges.

We were looking forward to a peaceful break, close to nature and away from the hustle and bustle. Our tuk-tuk driver arrived on time shortly before noon. We paid Rs

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Elephant Orphanage - Return visit, but none of them remembered me... http://www.sandspice.com/pinnawala-elephant-orphanage/ #ElephantOrphanage #Pinnawala #SriLanka

#SriLanka Elephant Orphanage - Return visit, but none of them remembered me...

http://www.sandspice.com/pinnawala-elephant-orphanage/

The poop from #Pinnawala #elephant #orphanage has its uses: Need recycled paper made from elephant dung? Great for those "Don't Forget" notes...

Kandy Lake Comfort

From Sigiriya, we travelled the short distance to Dambulla by tuk-tuk. We were in two minds whether or not to visit the Dambulla Cave Temple. The deciding factors were time and the weather. It was still raining, and we didn't want to delay our bus trip to Kandy. We were heading for the Kandy lake

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Lion Rock Sigiriya

After spending our first wet night in Sigiriya, it was still raining the next morning. However, our plan was to climb to the top of the famous Lion Rock buddhist monument, and a wet day wasn't going to stop us doing that.

Before that, we had a look around the grounds of our guesthouse - The

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Ceylonica Beach Hotel Negombo

Our flight arrived in Sri Lanka in the early evening. Since Bandaranaike International Airport is actually much closer to Negombo than to Colombo, we decided to make Negombo our first port of call. This actually makes a lot of sense if you are first heading east to the central areas. We were

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Sri Lanka Travel Plan Budget - Central & South

Our Sri Lanka travel plan was a 21-day rollicking rollercoaster of a ride to the World’s End and beyond, taking in the Central Highlands and the South Coast. It promised to be an eventful trip, with all content published from a tiny Samsung smartphone.



 
Researching the Trip - Sri Lan

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Sandbank Affaire

The Sandbank Affaire Makunudu Maldives is a special experience devised by the Management of the Makunudu Island Resort. This is a private evening excursion to a distant mini-island (the Sandbank). You are accompanied by just your waiter and a chef, and are treated to a Lobster BBQ with a bottle of

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Makunudu Island Paradise, Maldives

Travelling with Emirates from Europe to Makunudu Island, we had an initial stop in Cyprus. We then had another stop in Dubai for our connecting flight to Male - The Maldives capital.
We had a couple of hours to kill in Dubai, so spent most of it queueing up to spend a penny in a toilet not big

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Maldives Planning a Break

Maldives Planning a Break: The luxury of some of the smaller islands in the Maldives comes at a price. However, if included as a short addition to a longer trip through other countries in the region, this unforgettable experience can be enjoyed without drastically over-doing the budget.

The pric

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Tropical Travel Plans

Plan Your Travel : Travel Your Plan - SandSpice

Kuala Lumpur Chinatown - the delicious aroma of food...

Jalan Petaling, otherwise known as the Kuala Lumpur Chinatown, is as good a reason as any to visit this cosmopolitan city. After just 3 nights in Sepilok, we packed up our bags again and made our way to the airport at Sandakan.

We had pre-booked flights back from Sandakan to Kuala Lumpur via

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Borneo Rainforest Discovery Centre

Located within the Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve, the Borneo Rainforest Discovery Centre is one of Sabah's most popular and most accessible environmental education centres. It is open daily from 8.00 am to 5.00 pm.

We made a special trip to the Discovery Center, since it was within easy walking

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Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center

Our first day in Sepilok, and we were keen to get a closeup view of the orangutans. The Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center is the reason most visitors come to Sepilok, and you can enjoy a very pleasant and informative day out ‘with the apes’.



The reserve is just 5 minutes down the road

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Sepilok Borneo - Where to Stay & Eat

After 4 days in Kuala Penyu, we organized a taxi to take us to the airport at Kota Kinabalu. Our next destination was Sepilok Borneo, not far from Sandakan.

We had a late morning flight booked with Malaysia Airlines (RM99 per person, 1-way Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan). This is a short 40-minute

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The Soná of 'Prison Break' Fame

Any fans of the mini-series will be familiar with the infamous Soná of 'Prison Break' fame. This fictional prison featured in much of Season 3 of the series.

The good news is that if you're planning to travel by bus from Panama City (or from Boquete) to Santa Catalina, you will get to visit S

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Borneo Wavehunters

White Water Rafting is a "must do" activity if you are staying a few days in the vicinity of Kota Kinabalu. As a result, the Borneo Wavehunters had been on our agenda from the very beginning of the trip, and we were lucky enough to experience it.

I say “lucky” because these excursions are very d

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Kuala Penyu Tempurung Seaside Lodge

Before leaving Kota Kinabalu, we telephoned ahead to our next lodging - the Kuala Penyu Tempurung Seaside Lodge - to arrange a pickup once we arrived in Kuala Penyu. We needed to do this, since there are few transport options in the area around Kuala Penyu- even taxis are difficult to find.

We

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Kota Kinabalu, Borneo

From Kuantan, we would have to take 2 flights to reach Kota Kinabalu, with a change in Kuala Lumpur.

After the disappearance 6 days earlier of Malaysian Airlines flight 370 out of KL, we were a little apprehensive about our forthcoming flight with the same airline, also travelling into and out o

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Kuantan by Taxi from Mersing

After 4 nights in Tioman, we planned to take an early ferry back to Mersing, and then travel on by bus to Kuantan, where we had already booked a hotel.

We needed to reach Kuantan on the same day we left Tioman, since we had an early flight booked from there the following morning.



After c

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Into the Tioman Rainforest

One of the nicest beaches on Pulau Tioman is Juara beach on the northern coast. There are rivers at both ends of Juara beach. On the northernmost river you can hire a kayak and navigate your way a short distance upriver into the Tioman rainforest.

Just before the river at the southern end of

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Juara Beach -Tioman Island, Malaysia

 on Juara beach is a relatively new place. It comprises 8 to 10 compact but comfortable raised wooden beach chalets. The management and staff are very welcoming, and helped us with advice on the local areas of interest, and to fine-tune our onward journey. We paid €37 per night for our chalet, inc

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Tioman Island Ferry

Although we arrived at the ferry terminal in the morning, the Tioman Island ferry wasn't due to leave until early afternoon. Depending on the weather, the ferry times can vary. There is an elaborate ticketing process, friendly staff, and a comfortable "departure" area.

Return tickets cost RM70:

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Miserable in Mersing Malaysia

Mersing Malaysia is the gateway to Tioman Island, a very popular destination for travellers. We had a pleasant coach ride down to Mersing from Cherating, on a very comfortable Adik Beradik coach. The 240km trip took around 4 hours, including a 20-minute stop along the way where we could eat and

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Cherating Accommodation: Will you choose Top-end or Budget?

After our first night in Kuala Lumpur, we made an early start: We needed to get to the bus station to take an early coach to Cherating, on the east side of the peninsula. Cherating accommodation options are a little limited, but for this occasion we'd decided to choose one of the larger beach

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In-transit through Rome Airports? Try Best Western Fiumicino

Our trip to the Philippines was planned with a return flight to Fiumicino, near Rome. The flights back to Italy from the Philippines hit us a lot harder than the flights there. The Best Western Hotel Riviera Fiumicino (€51, breakfast included) was a good choice for a one night stop-gap.

We would

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