See the Best of the World by Rail

If you ever find yourself in Sri Lanka, don’t skip the Kandy to Ella train.
It’s not fast and fancy, but that’s the whole point.

It climbs more than 1,300 meters in just a few hours and passes through tea hills, cloud forests, waterfalls… it’s really something else. 😍

You’ll feel the climate change along the way, so maybe pack an extra sweater for those misty highlands.

Originally, it was built to transport tea down to Colombo’s port and it’s still used by locals today.

Who’s done this ride before? Got any tips or favourite moments? 😊 ...

Hi, it’s Justin!
Bali is our all year round Summer haven happy place, and after visiting 10+ times in the last 13 years this trip was a little different for my wife and I, as we had my brother and his wife with us, first timers to Bali.

We started in Legian, getting them used to the shopping, traffic, food and the essential sunset beanbag beach bars.

Next, we headed to the beachside village of Candidasa, watching the scenery and local life change as we went and stopping at local day markets, taking guidance from our trusted local driver to purchase local snacks and sweets.

We have used this Driver many times and he repaid our loyalty and friendship by stopping into his home for a visit on the way. His wife's surprise homemade lunch was my brothers favourite meal of the trip, and their generosity and warmth really touched us all.

Next stop was Ubud, but not before taking a detour to Bali's most significant Temple, Pura Besakih, somewhere we had also not been before and a highlight as we toured the sacred site, receive a blessing and were taught to pray with the locals.

This time we chose a private villa in Ubud and enjoyed a couple of days checking out local markets, the monkey forest, and ending in a guided walk through the rice fields adjacent to our villa by the villa owner. This was an unexpected surprise, and her willingness to give us an insight into her family's daily life, including a visit to her home compound, was pretty special!

Finally, we saved our favourite spot, Sanur, for last (always a good travel tip!). It is much busier than it was when we first visited 13 years ago, but this beachside hub, with it's 8km level beach path, waterfront restaurants, shopping and our favourite day spa for regular massages, never disappoints (we are seriously considering spending Winter there every year in retirement).

Getting to catch up with Ana from our Trip Design team, who lives in Bali, was also a highlight. ...

"We'll miss you all and hope to catch you all again one day. Thank you for making the Silk Road journey so wonderful."

Ahh, that feeling of nostalgia when an amazing adventure comes to an end is just so... bittersweet. 🥹

But this adventure was more than just sweet. We've been jealously keeping an eye on the WhatsApp group all September and wow, it was so awesome!

They had a little train party, shared meals with locals, and explored the 4 Stans, with so many special moments in between.

And the part we absolutely love is that they're still sharing updates even after the trip's finished. Says it all really - what a bunch of legends!! 🧡 ...

Stop the scroll…👀

You’ve gotta see this!

We just can’t get over the pics rolling in from our first ever Swiss Alps trip.

The WhatsApp group is giving us major FOMO. I mean, just look at the mountains, trains, lakes… you name it. 😍 ...