Only 30 kilometers from Granada, the Masaya Volcano National Park is the first, and largest national park in the country, consisting of a volcanic caldera with two volcanoes and five craters. Its crater “Santiago” has an altitude of 635 meters above sea level, and continuously emits large amounts of sulfur dioxide.

The park opens its doors for the daytime visit and it is also possible to take a short night tour, this is what we did. We took a taxi from Granada, arrived to the park before sunset. This visit is available without reservation, from 5 PM to around 8 PM. You just need to get the road main entrance; if there are people or groups before you, you will need to stand in line, as visitors are allowed to enter and go to the crater in order of arrival. The vehicles are parked one after the other next to the main road. The entrance fee for the night tour is US$10 per person.

The light was amazing when we reached the crater : we could see the golden rays of the sun through the volcano’s smoke.

The eruptions have had a dramatic impact on the surroundings. Rocks and volcanic ashes still cover the area surrounding the volcanoes. The nature is rough yet peaceful. Different types of vegetation appeared after the eruptions. We walked around the main crater for a while. The sky’s colors and appearances were changing a lot and created interesting landscapes photographies!

Our friend Laurine also took some lovely pictures of us, and with us 🙂

There are several trails that lead to the other craters and the Tzinaconostoc Cave in which hundreds of bats house. Those trails distance vary between 1.4 and 5.9 kilometers, but some were closed to the public at this time, and we didn’t have a lot of time to explore because we decided to arrive before sunset, so we just walked around different spots nearby.

Night time Visit

Every night the park offers a spectacle that astonishes its nocturnal visitors: the appreciation of the so-called “lava lake” that can be observed from the very shore of the crater. The crater maintains an incandescence inside due to a persistent lava lake, reason why it was object of veneration by the inhabitants of the area before the arrival of the Spanish colonizers, who baptized the active volcano with the name of “The Mouth of Hell”.

The spectacle is rare and breathtaking: the sky is getting dark, allowing you to see thousands of stars and, from the edge of the crater, right into the bottom of it, you are able to see an amazing lava lake that move with its incandescent color. The contemplation lasts a few more minutes, after that time you will be asked by guides and park ranger to leave the area and go to the main gate.

I visited Ephesus twice already, but it was always at the wrong time of the day : 11am/1pm, terrible light and so many people! With Eric, we decided to enter the site at 4pm and stay until sunset!

If you’re travelling by yourself, without a tour operator, this is definitely the best choice ever! Why? First, because it will be way less crowded! Most people comes here with a group tour from Turkey’s coastline or from a cruise ship. They usually arrive at 10am and leave in the middle of the afternoon, but this is just the moment you will arrive

The air becomes cooler, especially if you’re travelling in summer as we did, temperatures sometimes rises up to 45°C in the hottest part of the day! And the most important, the light becomes softer…

When entering Ephesus at 4pm, you have about 3 hours to enjoy the site. For us it is enough time to both visit quietly and catch some shots! We took the option the visit the terrace houses, it was not my favourite part but still interesting to see!

Of course, what makes Ephesus so famous through the world and one of the most visited places in Turkey is its spectacular library! 

It was my third time here and I was still very impressed!

We tried to catch some different angles and play with the light!

The more the sun goes down, the less people you will see… We lost ourselves into the alleys, it felt like time had stopped…

But, time hadn’t stopped! At 7pm, the guard kindly reminded us it was time to leave! As usual, we were taking pictures, but the last rays of sun were so worth it !

If you need a break to escape the “intense” Vietnam’s capital, Hanoï,  this is THE place! Meliá Ba Vi Mountain Retreat is just 55 kilometers from Hanoi and offers you the perfect getaway to relax into the mountain jungle, with the panoramic view of Northern Delta!

After driving through beautiful scenery in the heart of BaVi National Park we found a beautiful place of peace. The hotel is beautiful with a mix of colonial and vietnamese architecture in the middle of a rainforest.

From the lobby to your room every details are enchanting.

The Meliá Ba Vi Mountain Retreat is a proudly Eco-friendly resort which features an organic garden and sustainable amenities mixing wooden fournitures in the rooms and amazing fusion of French colonial and Vietnamese village architecture at the lobby and diverse places.

The breakfast is a fantastic buffet and you can enjoy lunch and dinner in one of the other two restaurants in the hotel. If you want to enjoy a cocktail or a beer you can do it as well in the bar.

To relax the spa will welcome you in a beautiful setting with quality massages.

The must : the pool with a beautiful view of the surrounding nature is heated. Meliá Ba Vi Mountain Retreat definitely a perfect retreat for a few days. The kind of place where times stopped to offer to you a real escape!

The place: Melia Ba Vi website

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meliabavi/

After some researches on the Halong Bay it was obvious that cruising would be the best way to explore this area and it was definitely the best choice !
We embarked for 2 days and one night on the Perla Dawn Sails, a very beautiful boat, with the charm of the typically Vietnamese decoration and beautiful sails.

Each cabin has a private balcony and our room had a beautiful bathtub with a large window.

Such an amazing view ! It’s difficult to explain how incredible it was to woke up with this view.

Unfortunately it was a little bit cloudy during this time but it still breathtaking. You have to do it once in your life !
During our trip all your meal are all included and the food was really good.
Breakfast and lunch are a buffet (very large choice of meals) and dinner served on the upper deck (depends of the weather) with a traditional music show is magical. Happy hours as well if you want to partying

You can choose as well several activities: kayaking, night fishing, swimming, visiting caves in a bamboo boat… or just staying on the boat will amaze you from the view. That we will never get tired of.
If you want to enjoy as we do choose the Perla Dawn Sails !