solo travel Archives - Wandering North

Asia Mongolia-Kuwait-Bahrain trip 2025 South Korea

Hello Kitty to the Rescue: A Layover in Seoul

I don’t know why, but in the last few years my travel planning has become a little bit more chaotic. I used to book my trips many months in advance, and I would spend time refining the itineraries and learning phrases in the local language and getting organized. But more recently I find myself booking the trips with just a few weeks’ notice. I still make a good itinerary, but it all feels a little rushed. I don’t think I can conceive months in advance of actually being able to take time off work, but then something happens and I just need a holiday and then I book it without much planning. This was one of those trips.

I had decided that I needed to go somewhere, and I decided to go to Mongolia. But I didn’t just want to go to Mongolia, I wanted to try to visit a couple of other countries. And that’s what I tried to do on this trip. I decided to go to Mongolia and Kuwait and Bahrain. I’m aware that Mongolia is nowhere near Kuwait and Bahrain, but it made for an interesting itinerary. And it started with an overnight layover in Seoul South Korea.

This was my third or fourth time visiting Seoul, although each of those visits has been on some sort of long layover. I’ve never actually taken a trip just to see South Korea. I probably should, but this would be another layover visit.

I don’t love Seoul. I know that Seoul is very popular but, overall, I am not enamoured with it. It does make for a good layover though. I appreciate its excellent public transportation and its affordable accommodations, and that there’s lots going on day and night to fill your time. As much as I don’t love it, I was happy to be back for my layover this time.

*Arex: the fast train into the city. Of course it has a cute mascot.*

I arrived at 4:00 PM and I would have to leave again at 9:00 in the morning, so I just had an evening. I booked myself into the Hostel Drip & Drop, which is conveniently located in Myeongdong and right by the Euljiro 1(il)-ga metro station. I took the AREX Express train (which is only slightly faster than the other train) into the city with my backpack and walked to the hostel and dropped it off.

Before I say anything else, I have to say how impressed I was with this hostel. I have fantasies of designing the perfect hostel because there are so many of them that just have design flaws, like having no lighting options between pitch black and blinding white or showers in shared bathrooms with no place to take off your clothes or hang them up outside of the soaking wet shower. This hostel was close to perfect.

It had an immaculate sleeping quarter. I opted for the girls’ dorm and it was one of those ones where every bed is a pod with a proper curtain, a shelf, lighting, and a comfy mattress inside. For the first time ever, I had a little bunk with a window in it. This hostel also had an adjoining room where there were lockers to put your backpack and your shoes, so you would take off your shoes and get your pyjamas, or do whatever you needed to do, and then you could either go into the room with the beds or into the shared bathroom. What this meant was there was no possibility of anybody in the sleeping room rummaging around in their bags, or getting dressed, or crinkling plastic bags because all of that happened in another room. I’m sorry if you’re not here to hear about effective hostile design, but I was very excited by this. And it was $56 Canadian per night. Not exactly dirt cheap, but pretty close.

I don’t know why it’s called Drip & Drop except that it has something to do with coffee and they do provide you with a coffee pour-over situation and they had a pour-over station in the common area. I mean, that’s pretty great. The downsides were no kitchen, and the common area was very sterile and didn’t really invite one to hang around, but that’s OK; I wasn’t there for long. I would 1000% stay there again.

Once I was finished admiring my hostel, I set out into the city. I decided to wander along the Cheonggyecheon, which is sort of a man-made urban river that runs through the city lined with pedestrian and bike friendly spaces with benches and sculptures. It’s a really wonderful use of public space and provides some serenity into what a busy city is otherwise.

I meandered around taking exploring the streets. There appeared to be some sort of festival happening geared towards children and there were a lot of inflatable things and children’s activities. I have no idea what was going on but it did make for some fun photos. It was blisteringly hot in Seoul, so, to cool off, I lingered by the fans set up outside next to some inflatable children’s water park set up for the event, until I realized that a single adult lingering near strange children is creepy.

I wanted to visit a cigar lounge before it got too late (and I needed an escape from the weather) and so I went to the Resolver Cigar Lounge. It was walking distance from my hostel in a commercial building. The lounge was a little bit difficult to find and I nearly gave up and left but finally I found it and it was worth the effort as it was a beautiful lounge. Dimly lit with comfortable leather chairs, excellent cigar accessories, and a sophisticated atmosphere. I visited the humidor and picked out a Plasencia Alma Fuerte – a cigar made at the Plasencia factory I had previously visited in Nicaragua. They had a decent selection of Cubans and some non-Cubans but the prices were very high, and this was the cigar that I decided best fit my budget and palate. The only downside of the lounge, if there was one, was that it was very quiet. There were a couple of other groups of men smoking cigars, but it didn’t have a very social atmosphere. I’ve noticed this a lot with cigar lounges in East Asia which is that people don’t really seem that inclined to talk to each other. Everyone seems to kind of keep to themselves.

By the time I left the lounge it was dark, but that did nothing to reduce the heat and humidity. Sweating profusely, I walked back to the area near my hostel to visit the Myeongdong Night Market. I was delighted to have a night market to go to. At first, it was terrific to walk around the area with the market. The neon signs were twinkling, throngs of people were out gawking at the stalls and eating things on sticks and there was food and merchandise for sale throughout the streets. It was a fun atmosphere. Except now not only was it hot, but it was hot and I was walking past stalls frying up food and producing clouds of hot greasy air.

I quickly became very uncomfortable. I also desperately wanted to eat something but, as is always the problem with night markets in Asia in my experience, it’s very difficult to find anything vegetarian; plus, I had forgotten to get cash from the ATM. After a while I just needed some air conditioning and relief from the weather and that’s when I saw it, like a beacon calling to me. My savior. Hello Kitty.

I love Hello Kitty and I’ve been wanting to go to a themed cafe forever. And there it was: a two-story Hello Kitty café, open late and artificially ice cold. While I was thankful for the air conditioning, I will say that the interior of the Hello Kitty cafe was so brightly lit that I felt like I was in some sort of alien spacecraft, but I was happy for it. I bought two food items that I’ve never had before and will certainly never have again which was a dragon fruit iced tea and a mango cake that was shaped like an actual mango inside a hard shell. It was delicious; or maybe I was just hot and famished. I sat by the window by myself, my eyes ringed in smudgy black eyeliner; I was looking goth-adjacent smelling of cigar smoke and thoroughly enjoying my Hello Kitty meal.

After that, I took one last spin around the market and then went back to my hostel for a shower and asleep. In a few short hours I would be up again and heading back to the airport to fly to my next destination: Ulaanbaatar.

*Temple at sunrise. Headed back to the airport*

Canada North America

One Day in Calgary

It was about two months since my trip to Yemen, and I was desperate to go somewhere. I didn’t have enough time to do a proper trip anywhere internationally, but I just felt that urge to get on a plane. And that’s what it occurred to me: I never been to Calgary, Alberta. I also had no desire to go to Calgary, Alberta, but I looked at the flights and there was a flight leaving early in the morning and coming back in the evening for about $100 round trip on Flair Airlines. Without giving it any more thought, I booked the trip. I may have had no interest in Calgary, but surely there would be enough there for me to be entertained for the day.

The time it took me to get to the airport in Vancouver was longer than my whole flight to Calgary which was only about an hour and a half. I landed in the morning and took a bus into the city. It was a Saturday and I wasn’t quite sure where to go, but the bus dropped me off in the business district, which was kind of a ghost town on the weekend. I found a nice cafe and had an espresso and came up with sort of a plan.

I went for a bit of a stroll which involved walking down Stephen Avenue, a pedestrian street lined with restaurants and shops. Nothing on the street interested me other than a few statues in the area, but it was good for a wander.

Weirdly, the thing that I was most excited about seeing in Calgary was the public library. It is an impressive modern art building completed in 2015, the work of a Norwegian and American design firm. It has a huge atrium with a lot of light and curved wooden elements. It’s very nice but I have to say that its shape did remind me a bit of a vagina. It’s worth checking out if you are in the area; it has some sculptures outside which are interesting and the building itself is attractive, but also inside there were various art displays and lots of places to sit and relax. But I had no time for relaxing. I was only there for the day.

I spoke to the people at the information desk at the library and they recommended that I check out the National Music Centre. It wasn’t on my radar previously, but it was free on the day that I happened to be there so I figured why not check it out.

This was another knew an impressive building, although unlike the library I didn’t find this one to be that attractive. Nevertheless, it was something to see. They had live music concerts going on and displays about the history of different genres of music in Canada. It was more interesting than I thought actually and I gave it a walk through. Not really giving it the time that it deserved but I got a sense of this thing and it gave me some more appreciation for Canadian musical artists.

From there I had decided to walk to a neighbourhood called Inglewood as I heard that it was sort of the “hipster” kind of neighbourhood of Calgary. It was a beautiful Sunday and a pleasant walk over a little river and into the neighbourhood. This was my favourite area that I saw while I was in Calgary. It had a street lined with lovely shops. Thrift stores, record stores, bookstores, coffee shops, even a vegan bakery. I browsed around, bought a book, and had a bite to eat.

There was also a small art museum called the Esker Foundation on the 4th floor of a commercial building. The art was good and although it was a small space there was a lot to look at. This was also free and, strangely, it didn’t even have anyone working at the information desk. I would have thought that it was closed except the doors were opened and the lights were on. I was delighted with the find.

If I had more time, I think I could have spent more of it in Inglewood just exploring the neighbourhood, but I had two more stops to make.

I called an Uber and I went to Contemporary Calgary, another modern art museum. This one wasn’t free, but it had reasonable admission price which was absolutely worth it. It had some excellent exhibits, including several by American artists dealing with subjects like slavery and immigration that were quite moving.

It was just about 5:00pm and I had my final stop to make on Calgary day tour and this was the thing that I most wanted to do in Calgary. Years before, my mother, whose name is Betty-Lou had told me about her speakeasy bar at Calgary called Betty-Lou’s Library. How could I not visit? I love a speakeasy bar, and my mother loves books, so how could I help visit the bar that seems to be her namesake? It was delightful. It was in the basement of an older building on a residential street just off of a commercial street. You’re supposed to make a reservation, although I’m not sure it’s technically necessary. I had emailed them to make the reservation, and I had gotten the necessary code word. Entering the building, I picked up an old-fashioned phone, and they asked me for the code word which I gave them. (The name of an English author.) And then a bookcase opened and I was let inside. The decor is exactly what you would want in a place like this: vintage furniture, dark with red lighting, and old time jazz. It was wonderful. It was also just after 5:00pm and they had just opened, so I was one of only three people inside but I bet it would be even more fun to go later in the evening when it’s busy.

I sat at the bar and had a cocktail and chatting with the bartender I told her about my mother Betty-Lou and how she loved books, and I showed her the tattoo I have of Betty-Lou’s name on my arm as proof that I wasn’t inventing the story. The bartender told me that the owner had named the bar after his mother whose name is also Betty-Lou and a photo of her was hung above the bar. The owner came out and introduced himself and then my next drink was on the house. I was delighted to have been able to go to this place. (Thanks mom)

And with that, it was time to return to the airport. I called an Uber and arrived just in time for my flight.

I had a thoroughly enjoyable day and would recommend it to people living in Vancouver who have never been to Calgary and need a little travel fix. Would I go back? I don’t think so. I did everything that I wanted to do (and more) but I didn’t like the city enough to warrant a return visit. There’s nothing wrong with it really, I just didn’t really like it. It’s definitely a driving city, not a walking one, and a lot of it just feels very business-y and not that interesting or beautiful, however, I was delighted to have gone.

This trip would tide me over until my Mongolia trip in August.

Europe United Kingdom Yemen Trip 2025

London Layover: The Canals

I landed in London at 8:40 AM after my incredibly short night in Cairo, concluding my journey to Yemen. I had only a five-and-a-half-hour layover before my flight home to Canada, but there was absolutely no way I was going to spend that time sitting inside the airport terminal. Within minutes of clearing customs, I was on the Heathrow Express heading straight for Paddington Station.

I stopped for a quick espresso and to take in a little public art.

I firmly maintain that for a layover of this length, taking a stroll along the canals near Paddington is an excellent option. I had visited the area once before, but only the sections directly adjacent to the station. This time, I ventured a little farther into the neighbourhood properly known as Little Venice. It was so much more beautiful than I had imagined.

There are countless reasons why London remains my favourite city in the world, but one of the main ones is its seemingly endless supply of charming neighbourhoods. Walking that morning past the clear, reflective canals—lined with beautiful historic buildings and flowering trees—I was in absolute heaven. It is entirely possible that it all felt especially lovely because I had just spent the better part of a week in Yemen. While Yemen is incredibly beautiful in its own right, it was also hot, punishing, and dusty.

I felt a wave of pure happiness that morning, enjoying the slightly cool weather, walking under a canopy of lush green trees, and looking out over the serene waters. Eventually, I made my way back toward Paddington Station and stopped for a coffee and some avocado toast at one of the charming little barge restaurants moored on the canal. It was an absolute delight.

It really is amazing how much you can accomplish during a short layover in London if you are willing to move. With that, I headed back to Heathrow Airport. My magical Yemen trip was officially over. My next adventure would keep me a little closer to home: a quick day trip to Calgary.

Africa Egypt Yemen Trip 2025

Cairo Layover: Heliopolis

My flight from London landed in Cairo just after 4:00 AM. I would have about eight hours before my flight to Yemen. Sure, I could have spent my time at the airport enjoying the comforts of a lounge or speed walking on the moving walkways, but I just can’t resist going into a city. Initially I thought to myself that with eight hours in Cairo I could go and visit the new museum which has been high on my list for many years, but I then realized that landing at 4:00 AM meant that nothing would be open for several hours. I didn’t want to risk going into downtown Cairo and getting stuck in traffic, so I decided to stick reasonably close to the airport and just visit the area of Heliopolis. It took a little while to get through immigration, but once I did, I called an Uber to take me to Heliopolis. I just sort of picked a random intersection and had him drop me off there.

Heliopolis was once kind of a suburb of Cairo but is now just a part of the larger city. Most of its older buildings are from about the early 1900s, so it’s a reasonably cosmopolitan area, but with the number of nice mosques and historical buildings.

At the point at which the Uber driver dropped me off it was still a bit dark outside. I hadn’t really factored this into my layover plans. The interesting thing about getting into the city that early was that there was really nothing going on. The streets were empty, apart from a few dogs and cats wandering around. I walked down the streets and took in the atmosphere, such as it was, thinking wow I’m in Cairo. But it did have a different, apocalyptic feel without seeing any other humans.

Finally I came across a little corner restaurant that was open. No one there spoke English, but I walked up and explained that I wanted something to eat and the serve me a feast of a breakfast. There was foul and falafel and pita bread and hummus some fresh vegetables, and, inexplicably, french fries, as well as coffee and water, all of which cost me about $3.50 Canadian. I couldn’t even finish it all and gave my French fries to some cats that were stalking my table. It was quite nice.

I walked around some more, and I took in some churches and mosques and poked my head into one where there was a service ongoing with beautiful music. It was so early there that, really, very little was open and not much to do, but it was a nice way to see a part of the city that I had never seen before and to get in a bit of exercise before I boarded my third flight.

I wanted to get back to the airport early because I was meeting two friends there for the third flight, So at around 9:00 AM I called an Uber to go back to the airport. I can’t believe I was ever so anti ride sharing; it certainly does cut down on the stress and hassle of catching a taxi in city with Cairo. I arrived back at the airport, cleaned myself off a bit and got ready to check in for my flight for Yemen. More on that in the next post.

Europe United Kingdom Yemen Trip 2025

London Layover: Belgravia

One of my greatest travel joys is having an exciting destination to visit with the bonus of getting a long layover in London on the way there. I say it so often that’s cliched, but London is probably my favourite city. I used to live there, and have visited it many times so for me it is a perfect place to have a day layover as I already know my way around and I’m happy to revisit it.

The way I approach London as a layover is to pick a neighbourhood that I want to visit and generally stick to that neighbourhood. Sometimes it will be because there’s something in particular that I want to do, like visiting a certain museum or a cigar store, and other times it will be just an area that I haven’t been to in a long time or forever. Obviously, the length of my layover somewhat dictates what I do. On my way to Yemen, I had some time in London and decided to base my visit around a cigar lounge.

I smoke cigars a lot in London, and that usually finds me going to Saint James Street, but I had been hearing about a lounge called TomTom and decided to make that my focus. I took the Heathrow Express into Paddington station and switched to the Tube, and took the underground to Sloane Square. From there it was a short walk to the TomTom cigar lounge. But what a walk.

I don’t know the names of all the streets that I walked down, but if you look at a map and you trace the route from Sloane Square to TomTom, you’ll have an idea. I think one of them was Pavilion Road. Anyway, the streets were ridiculously charming. All bricks with Union Jack flags strung up and every door festooned with colourful flowers. It was a charming neighbourhood. It seemed that every second window had delectable looking pastries and the weather was just nice enough that people were starting to sit outside.

Just as I got to the cigar lounge, I noticed a cute pink tea and cake shop across the street and I couldn’t resist. It was called Peggy Porschen cakes. I had never heard of it before, but they certainly did a good job of drawing me in with their pink floral exterior. I went inside settled on a pot of tea and a slice of a cake that I surely didn’t need but was happy to have. I sat outside and enjoyed my delectable treats feeling very girly. Just then the weather turned and I headed over to TomTom.

TomTom is a bit of an odd cigar merchant. They have a walk-in humidor but in the humidor only one of each type of cigar for sale is on display. I’ve never seen anything like it. Normally the merchant will display a box of the cigars that are on sale this one just one of each. It had a very minimalist appeal. Cigars in London can be quite expensive and none of them are cheap, but while there are options that are hundreds of Pounds you can still get a decent high end Cuban cigar for less than $100. I picked one of those.

Had I not known that they had a cigar lounge, I would not have discovered it on my own. The retail portion of the business was quite small and there were a couple of seats outside but nothing to suggest that there was a lounge, however when I asked about it, they led me through a slightly hidden door at the back of the humidor and I went down a flight of stairs into the basement. This is cigar lounge is quite cool. It’s very stylish and has a little bit of a 1970s flavour. Unfortunately, I was the only one in there when I went so it was a bit strange to have it all to myself, but I appreciated the time to relax and enjoy my cigar. I did that before deciding out of an abundance of caution that I should go back to the airport. I probably could have spent another couple of hours, but I had a flight to catch to Egypt and then another one to Yemen, where I was meeting up with people, and I couldn’t risk missing any of my flights.

I wandered back to the Tube station through Belgravia, which honestly doesn’t even sound like a real place. It sounds like something out of a Harry Potter book. I caught the train back to Heathrow, my spirits high and my energy fueled by tea, cake, and tobacco.

Onwards to Cairo.

Belize Central America / Caribbean North America

24 hours in Belize City

I left the island paradise of San Pedro not the way I arrived, on a tiny plane, but by ferry. I wanted to have both experiences: one flying above the technicolor blue waters and the other skimming on top of them. I preferred the plane, but the ferry was cheap (about $30 US) and convenient.

I boarded at the San Pedro Ferry Express terminal on San Pedro Island. I bought my ticket online ahead of time for the 7am departure and picked it up in person. I queued up with the other travellers. The boat was close to sold out and the seating was first come first serve and if you end up in the back of the queue you might end up on the upper deck or on the sides, in which case you would be in the sun the entire time. Not fancying melanoma, I got a seat in the middle. (It looks like there might be different types of boats, but the one I was on had two levels and was open on the sides and on top.) It isn’t particularly comfortable; just a hard seat to sit in for the 90 minute journey. The sea air was nice, but there wasn’t much to see and it was loud. The plane was more fun, but I was very happy to arrive at the ferry terminal in downtown Belize City. No need of taxis or buses, I was able to walk to my accommodations.

But first a breakfast by the water.

I walked to my hotel, the charming One South Place Hotel. It is in an old house just steps from the water, and I had a room on the top floor with a private patio and view of the sunrise. I would only be there for one night, but it was a nice place to spend time.

*My accommodations and me on the street out front*

I had only about 24 hours, so I had to make the most of it. I started walking. Reading about Belize City there really were not any major attractions I wanted to see. There weren’t even any minor ones. But the day started out promising. I walked through my neighbourhood back to the downtown centre. It was sunny and I was in a good mood. On the way I was delighted by the large sea-worn houses with accents and showing the ravages of time. The streets were pretty. Flowering bushes. Cats and dogs.

The closer I got to the centre of the city, the buildings became a little grander and there were statues of people that I was unfamiliar with. It also got busier. Belize City feels a bit like a poor city. There is no fancy or modern downtown core. The whole place feels a little bit rough, but lively during the day. I walked past people playing checkers and groups of people buying food from street vendors and sitting in parks passing the time. I visited a cute little bookstore slash café (Bricks & Books), how could I resist that? Even if Belize City was not postcard pretty, it was colourful.

Belize City, with a population of just under 65,000 people, is the biggest city in the country. It was founded in the 1600s by the British. I assume there were already people living there. Although Belize City is the largest city in the country, it is not the capital. That honour goes to a small city called Belmopan, more in the centre of Belize and with only about 20,000 residents. Apparently it was some planned community from the 1970s. Being the biggest municipality, Belize City should Have a little more going on than it seemed to. It was, in my opinion, a bit sleepy. Maybe it’s because I was there on the weekend, but it felt very quiet.

I made my way over to the Museum of Belize, which was the only attraction that I had planned to go to. If you’re in Belize City and passing time, the museum is worth a visit – but just barely. It’s small and not particularly interesting. It did not have too much on display and I was a bit disappointed, but still there are some nice and interesting things to look at and it was good to be out of the heat for a short time.

I walked around the neighbourhoods more. The thing that I did like about Belize City was all of the dilapidated buildings. You could see that a lot of them were quite lovely at one point in time. For example, one had balcony railings with swans carved into them and others had delicate wooden trim around the rooftops like gingerbread houses, but they were all in pretty poor repair, some of them maybe even abandoned. They still had a certain beauty. I also liked all the various colourful end differently designed breeze-blocks that added interest to even basic buildings. Essential in a climate like this.

After several hours of mostly aimless wandering, I really had nothing else that I wanted to do, except that Carlos at the Havana Cigars store in San Pedro had told me about a good place to enjoy a cigar on a patio, and so that is where I went next. The Cork Street Whisky Bar might be my new favourite place, at least in Belize City. It was in what I can only assume was once a mansion just across the street from the sea, set on a green yard with a big patio. The inside was beautiful like an old library or a men’s club; all outfitted in leather and mahogany. But I had my sights set on the patio, which was sheltered from the sun and off the ground and had lots of comfortable seating options. I settled into a wicker chair and had two cocktails and two cigars and watched the waves crash in. Very relaxing.

I went back to my hotel room for a bit and then decided that I was starving and I wanted to get something to eat. I was a little bit nervous because I had heard nothing but bad things about the safety situation in Belize City. It felt fine during the day, but night was a different question and I wasn’t exactly right in the centre. I decided to go out but just to stick to the main streets; and it did seem fine although the streets were quite empty. I walked a little ways until I found a restaurant that was open and I had a completely uninspiring vegetarian burrito sitting by the canal where they wouldn’t let me smoke a cigar because they said people would complain, notwithstanding that everyone else was smoking cigarettes.

I walked back to my room, passing some particularly interesting murals along the way.

*Murals, the last one with a voodoo theme?*

The next morning, I had a little bit of time before I had to head to the airport, and so I went out for a nice breakfast and a walk.

Belize City is barely worth a visit. I hate to say that. I hate to be mean but, it was not that interesting. Spending a day and a night there was perfect; any longer and I would have struggled to find things to do. I am glad that I visited it as I think it would have been a shame if all I saw of Belize was San Pedro. I wouldn’t object to going back to Belize and seeing some of its jungles or Mayan ruins, but it is not high on my list; San Pedro however will continue to live in my memory fondly.

And so ended my workation to Belize.

My next trip would be just a couple of weeks later and will keep me closer to home. A cigar weekend in Detroit.

Belize Central America / Caribbean North America

Island Life in San Pedro, Belize

One of the perks of my job, in addition to my vacation time, is that every year for the past three years I get to take a week and work remotely. I can travel anywhere, but I stay in North America to remain in similar time zones for work availability. So far, I’ve done these ‘workations’ in Antigua, Guatemala and Estelí, Nicaragua. This year, I decided to try something a bit more tropical and go to San Pedro, Belize. I had never been to Belize, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Last Night I dreamt of San Pedro

Belize is, of course, the tiny country clinging to the east side of Guatemala and just below the tip of Mexico, on the Caribbean Sea. Its mainland has jungles and Mayan ruins, but what I wanted to visit was one of its many islands: San Pedro. Why did I pick San Pedro? One reason was just that I wanted to try a tropical island vacation, which I don’t think I’ve ever done (Cuba doesn’t count); but I specifically picked San Pedro because I saw that it had several cigar stores and because it is the island that Madonna sang about in her song La Isla Bonita. Honestly, the Madonna thing was really the reason that I chose it, but the cigar stores made it definitive. I was a huge Madonna fan as a kid and I’m sure I sang “Last night I dreamt of San Pedro” a million times, so why not visit the island itself?

Getting There

I flew to Belize City and then caught a tiny little plane on an airline called Tropic Air to fly the 15-minute flight to San Pedro. There are two options for getting from Belize City to San Pedro: one is the short flight and the other is a ferry. I decided to take the flight there and the ferry back because I wanted to have both experiences. (I wrote about the ferry trip in my post about Belize City.) The plane was super cool. It was tiny and it flew over shockingly turquoise waters and tiny little islands. It was amazing. And the airport, if you can call it an airport, is right in downtown San Pedro and it was about a two-minute walk from where I was staying.

Where I stayed: A Trailer by the Sea

Accommodations for workations are a little bit different than what I would book if I was on holiday. Since I am going to be in the place for about a week or more, I need to make sure that I have a suitable space for working and strong Wi-Fi. It has to be comfortable enough and I need a place where I can enjoy a cigar. I couldn’t afford a resort and the central hotels looked lacklustre, but I found this terrific little Airbnb. It was a bit weird. It was a trailer that had a little bit of an extra space added onto it (to add width to the kitchen and put in doors that open onto a wooden patio. It sat on the beach in downtown San Pedro and was painted blue and it looks very cute. It also might look a little trailer trash to some people, but I spent my early years in a trailer, so I was right at home. Really, the whole thing was bigger than my apartment and I thought what would be better than waking up in the morning and having my coffee on my own private patio looking at the beach or spending the evening in a hammock with a cigar.

*i know, it is not fancy, but very cozy*

It was an awesome place to stay. I loved it. I had all my needs met. I even had a trio of cats that came to keep me company on the patio each morning. The only downside was that there was a boat that was parked on the beach in front of the Airbnb and there was a homeless man that was living in the boat. For the most part, it wasn’t a problem; I didn’t see him or he was just doing things around the boat. To be clear it wasn’t his boat; he was just squatting in it. I am sure he was harmless, but I felt a little bit creeped out at night staying in the trailer with its big glass patio doors that didn’t have a curtain, meaning that anyone could just walk by and peer in, but I never felt unsafe. I live in a high-rise so ground level accommodations always feel a little weird to me. But, hey, this is island life; there are no highrises.

How I Spent Time

I was in San Pedro for exactly a week. I arrived on the weekend, so I had time to explore before I started working. San Pedro is small. During my time there I walked the length of the island a few times. But for the most part I stuck to the centre where most of the businesses were. You’re never more than a blocks from the beach in San Pedro.

Anyone who reads my blog regularly knows that I don’t like the beach, but I can’t deny that it was beautiful to look at. Fortunately, the downtown area of San Pedro has a string of restaurants and cafes all of which have beach-side seating. So I got to enjoy a lot of coffees, cocktails, and cigars looking out at the waves and the swaying palm trees.

San Pedro was a great destination for my workation because, while it was very beautiful, there’s not much to do. In a day and a half, I felt like I had explored the island and seen what I wanted to see, so when Monday came and it was time for me to settle into work I didn’t feel distracted things that I wanted to enjoy. The island is mostly beaches and resorts and beach bars and beach restaurants and shops selling hammocks and flip flops and souvenirs. Away from the very touristy areas it was interesting to see the neighbourhoods where people lived and the little food kiosks they shopped at and some local cafes and bars. A lot of the houses were still brightly coloured and adorable.

It is all completely pleasant. One of the neat things about the island is that there are no cars. Except for a few delivery vehicles, everyone gets around by golf carts. And there are a lot of golf carts. Tourists rent them and they seem to drive them everywhere, even if it would be faster for them to walk. The streets are positively clogged with them and if I was driving, I think it would be very annoying, but as a pedestrian I wasn’t bothered by it. It was just charming and quaint.

Speaking of tourists, while I had visions of myself going to some of these popular beach bars and enjoying my evening cigar, that idea went away quickly once I visited a couple of these spots. The tourists that were at these locations were probably nice people but not people that I really wanted to hang around with. A lot of conservative politics and alcohol. A little too loud and just not my crowd; so after that, I picked quieter spots where I could simply listen to the waves or enjoy a book or a podcast with my cigar.

So, I walked and I took in the views of turquoise waters and palm trees, white sands and colourful buildings and little glimpses into the lives of people that made this island their home. Many of which were immigrants or expats from other countries.

One thing that was a little bit of a drawback for having San Pedro as my location destination, as opposed to when I went to Guatemala and Nicaragua, was that San Pedro was expensive. My Airbnb was a very good deal, but going out for food and drinks was pricey. Everything was priced similarly to how it would be priced at home in Canada except it was priced in American dollars so for me that meant that everything was about 40% more expensive. It wasn’t prohibitive, but it certainly wasn’t a bargain. What was shockingly expensive was groceries. On the first weekend I went to a local supermarket and bought some supplies for the week. Coffee, yogurt, fruits, that sort of thing, and I couldn’t believe how much it was. I think I found a can of chickpeas that was about $7.00 US and a package of four yellow peppers that was $14.00 US. I guess this is part of the problem of island life.

Once my work week kicked into gear. I started each day with a walk somewhere nearby to grab a coffee and get a bit of exercise and then I worked until about 5:00 PM and then went out for dinner and a cigar. There were lots of appealing restaurants to choose from in San Pedro and most of them had at least one vegetarian dish – usually a delicious coconut curry. Most nights I had a virgin piña colada or some other tropical drink sans alcohol. Sitting on a patio with a cigar and listening to some music was very relaxing.

Smoking Cigars in San Pedro

As I said, one of the reasons that I chose San Pedro was because it had cigar stores. There were three, two of which had proper lounges and one that had a little patio for smoking. Smoking on patios and Belize was not a problem, but it’s still nice to go to a lounge to visit with other cigar smokers. On my first day I went to all three lounges.

One was called Saul’s Cigar & Coffee House. They had some of their own cigars and some other brands that they sold including some Cubans although the Cubans were, in my estimation, fake. I bought some of the cigars they rolled themselves to try and sat on their narrow front patio and watch the traffic roll by. Their cigars were OK but a bit expensive, although the staff was very nice and it was a pleasant place to sit.

There was also the newly opened La Casa del Habano Belize which was gleaming and pristine. It was a beautiful store with a well-stocked humidor selling all Cuban cigars. In wonderful condition and with OK prices compared to Canada. I went there twice and both times I got a cigar and sat in the air-conditioned environment in a leather chair enjoying an espresso and chatting with the women that work there. They were very nice, but they weren’t cigar smokers and were still learning about cigars. I just chatted with the staff or did a bit of work on my computer. It wasn’t my favorite place to go but I can’t deny that it was a nice place for a cigar.

My favourite place, and the place that I went nearly every day that I was in San Pedro is a cigar store called Havana Cigars. It is owned by a fellow who lives in San Pedro and has for many years, but he is originally from Havana. Nearly every time I went in there were other people, locals and tourists, stopping in to buy or smoke cigars. It had just the right atmosphere. I felt like I was a local almost from the first time that I went in and everyone went in was up for chatting. He was a great host and I enjoyed chatting with him. Particularly I got the scoop on local politics in San Pedro and we talked about the situation in Cuba. I won’t recount the stories that he told me, but he told me some incredible tales about his life in Havana and how he left on a small boat bound for Miami. I’d never really heard anyone tell me their story of fleeing Cuba and it was fascinating and emotional. It’s his story to tell, but I feel lucky for having heard it.

i think a third of my camera roll was cigar pictures.
And, yes, i did travel to Belize with an ashtray from my law firm. That’s normal, right? (Bottom right)

Looking Back

San Pedro was great. I would recommend it to pretty much anyone who wanted that sort of a beachy, chill trip. In addition to the cigar smoking and staring at the waves experience that I had, there are beaches to visit and stingrays and to swim with and other similar activities. I had planned to take a short flight over the Blue Hole (one of the main activities) but it was exorbitantly expensive and so I scrapped that idea. If I had not been in San Pedro working I think it would have been perfect for me as a two-day trip because I would have been bored after that; but it was wonderful to be there on this slower pace where I could keep busy with work and in my off hours I could just enjoy the island vibes. It was a special experience.

Onwards

After my week in San Pedro, I still had about two days before I had to be back at work (one of which would be taken up with flying, so I decided to spend a day and a night visiting Belize city before returning home. More on that in the next post (here).

Argentina/Uruguay/Paraguay trip 2025 Paraguay South America

Asunción: Second Time’s the Charm

This was my second time to try to visit Paraguay. The first time was a failure. I wrote about it in a previous post. I was trying to fly from Brazil, and they would not let me board because I didn’t have the paper copy of my yellow fever certificate. Lesson learned. This time, flying from Uruguay, I made sure I had my yellow fever card in hand. Of course, no one asked me to see it. Anyway, I felt quite a sense of satisfaction to actually be on the plane headed to this country that had previously eluded me.

There is not a lot said about Paraguay as a tourist destination. It is a little under the radar and a little less appealing than its neighbours. Decades of war, corruption, and instability haven’t helped. And there are not a lot of big-ticket sites to see in Paraguay. Sure, you can cross the border from Iguazu Falls and technically enter the country, but beyond that, there are not a lot of very famous or appealing sites to visit. No problem, I wasn’t going for famous; I was just going to check out the capital: Asunción.

I landed and took a taxi from the airport to the city. No visas at all required and no hassles presented themselves. I arrived very early in the morning, but my hotel let me check in. I was staying at the Asunción Palace Hotel. A nice and moderately priced hotel in the city centre that I picked for its location and the fact that each room seemed to have its own balcony. It was nice but not fancy. My favourite thing was that when I left the key with the front desk every time I went out and came to pick it back up, they wouldn’t give it to me until I correctly said my room number in Spanish. I appreciated the push as I was being quite lazy with my language efforts.

I immediately set out to explore. Asunción Is not a particularly beautiful city. It has some beautiful things in it, and it has some pockets that are interesting, but the city centre itself is not the best. I enjoyed visiting it, but it had certain shortcomings. The main problem was that it was blisteringly hot when I was there. It was at least 40°C and most of the streets seemed to lack any tree cover. It was so hot that at one point I felt like I was going blind. Aside from that though, there are a lot of once beautiful buildings that have fallen into ruin. My favourite, but it meant that there were a lot of empty streets and not a lot going on in certain areas. Also, in a majority of the areas downtown the streets were quite broken and in poor repair with lots of garbage. It just didn’t feel like a super functional city. But then out of nowhere, I would be confronted with an incredibly well maintained and stunningly beautiful building. Surprising. There was beauty to be found but you had to look for it. There weren’t rows of interesting or cute little shops or cafes, and the market, when I went, was mostly empty, but there with some decent street art and the all the people I encountered seemed very friendly.

And this is where it should be said again that Paraguay has had a bit of a rough go. It got its independence from Spain in 1811 but following that it had a series of dictatorships and military rule, followed by a war in the 1800s that left more than half of its population dead. In the 20th century, the instability continued. The first 54 years of the 20^th century saw Paraguay have more than 30 presidents, most of whom were removed through coups or violence. In 1954 they got a new leader, Alfredo Stroessner, who lasted until 1989, however he was a dictator, apparently good for the economy, but bad for human rights. Violent oppression, torture, et cetera. After he was overthrown in 1989, things moved in a more democratic, though conservative direction. So, Paraguay had a lot going on for a long time and tourism wasn’t really the focus.

Notwithstanding that I was kind of underwhelmed by the centre of Asunción, there were some delightful things. I found at least one good cafe that was pleasant and had vegetarian things for me to eat.

At night, there were lots of little bars and restaurants that appeared seemingly out of nowhere on more quiet side streets and I found them all quite appealing. Of course, the question arose: was it even safe to be walking around Asunción at night? All the information that I had suggested that it wasn’t really that safe to be walking around late at night, but I wasn’t going to stay in my hotel. So on that first night, which just so happened to be Valentine’s Day, I went for a walk and tried to stick to the slightly busier streets, but on an otherwise desolate side street I came across a cute little bar and restaurant that was all decorated for Valentine’s Day and had good music and I decided to have a cigar and a bite to eat there. They were not happy about giving me a table given that I was there by myself, but I was not to be deterred. My sense is that it’s not really that dangerous to walk around the centre at night if you stick to the streets where businesses are open, but I would probably avoid the streets where it’s dark and everything is closed. I guess this is a situation is of ‘do as I say, not as I do.’

Another thing I liked about downtown Paraguay was an area called Loma San Geronimo. It was a little neighbourhood just a short walk from the centre of the city and is notable for its colourful buildings and public art. It seemed to be primarily residential, but tucked in here and there was the odd little restaurant, perhaps operating out of someone’s house, a church, and possibly a few other little small businesses, though none of them were open when I was there. It was delightful. The buildings were all painted bright colours and there were narrow walkways with tiled stairs and plenty of murals. Cobblestone streets and flowering bushes made it even prettier. Aside from one police officer and one guy on a motorcycle, I didn’t see anyone as I was walking through the neighbourhood, which was a little bit strange but all the better for taking selfies. The walk there was a bit odd as it led me down many streets with derelict buildings and dilapidated storefronts, but it was well worth it.

I didn’t stay only in the centre of Asunción; there were a few things that I wanted to see that were in different areas. One of those things was a chair museum. I don’t know why there’s a chair museum or why it would be interesting, but I wanted to go to it. Unfortunately, when I got there it was closed.

I also wanted to visit the Museo del Barrio. It is a museum with Paraguayan and South American artifacts as well as contemporary art. From the outside, it looks like it is going to be very small, but inside it had a multi-layered almost catacomb feel and I was surprised by how much it contained. It is a really good museum. The items they had were so unique and interesting and a lot of the art was legitimately creepy, which I really enjoyed. There was no admission fee (or I accidentally walked in without paying anything) and very few other visitors when I was there. It was a bit of an Uber or bus ride from the centre, but once in that neighbourhood there were more modern malls, hotels, and restaurants and I ended up on a rooftop of a hotel having lunch and a cigar.

Of course, I was very curious to check out the local cigar scene in Asunción. As best as I could tell, there was only one cigar lounge, which was a La Casa Del Habano in the fanciest neighbourhood of town, called Villa Morra. I decided to walk there but got halfway and realized it was much farther than I thought and so I called an Uber. Yes, there were lots of buses, but I didn’t feel like at that point like waiting around in the heat for one. I just wanted air conditioning and speedy transportation.

It’s hard to believe the Villa Mora is even in the same city as central Asunción. It feels like South Florida or Los Angeles. It’s very fancy and everything is new and well-manicured and there is a lot of security. It’s not particularly appealing, especially as a pedestrian, but if you want to sit down and have a fancy meal or a cigar this is the place to go. Upon arriving, I was surprised because there is no La Casa Del Habano anymore; it is now simply called “Cigar Shop.” I went there on both of my days in Asunción. They had a decent selection of cigars, mostly non-Cuban and reasonable prices and then they had a couple of lounge areas; one for regular people like me and then one for VIPs in the back. It was busy both times I went in. It had excellent air conditioning cold water and strong coffee. I was quite content. The first time I went everybody in there was speaking Spanish and I sat there trying to understand their conversations with my limited knowledge of the language. The next time I went in I ended up chatting with an American guy who lives there. He was astonished that I had come there voluntarily. He told me his story, which was that he was from Los Angeles but met a girl from Paraguay and fell in love, so he came down to spend time with her and then the pandemic hit and he couldn’t leave. And then she got pregnant and they got married and now he lives there. He hates it. I mean he loves his family, but he really hates living there and leaves as much as he can. His disdain for the city was amusing to me. There was also a group of American guys that were there going on a fishing expedition, and I talked with them a bit as well. So, I wasn’t the only tourist in the city. As usual, cigar lounges saving the day and giving me a bit of respite and camaraderie.

I left Asunción after two and a half days and was satisfied with the time that I spent there. I have no doubt that if I spent more time I would have explored deeper and found more interesting and hidden places, but I was happy to carry on. It was time to return home via a long flight through Sao Paulo and Montreal to Vancouver. Every time I go to South America I am astonished by how far away it is.

And so ended my trip to Buenos Aires, Montevideo, and Asunción. My next trip would keep me a little closer to home. 10 days in Belize.

Argentina/Uruguay/Paraguay trip 2025 South America Uruguay

The Quiet Charm of Montevideo

I had arrived in Montevideo by boat from Buenos Aires. I covered that journey in the previous post. From the boat I walked just a few minutes and found myself in the heart of the city. Montevideo was a place that I was visiting because it was there, not so much because I had a particular interest in visiting it. Montevideo is one of those places that one probably doesn’t know very much about and isn’t likely to end up unless you’re either collecting countries or just fancy a boat ride from Buenos Aires. I’ve always had good luck with trips to places that I didn’t have a burning desire to visit. Maybe it’s because I entered those places with low expectations. How can I possibly be disappointed when there is nothing in particular that I want to accomplish? Montevideo was one of those places. I really enjoyed it and I enjoyed two perfectly pleasant days there.

Like its capital, Uruguay is a place that I didn’t know a whole lot about, aside from the fact that it was the first country in the world to legalize cannabis. (I’m not a cannabis user but I did spend years working on cannabis legalization files as lawyer in Canada and so this is just one of the facts that seeped into my consciousness.) Aside from that, Uruguay is pretty progressive. It was one of the first countries in the world to legalize homosexuality, it has one of the most stable democratic governments in South America, it relies completely on renewable energy and has institutionalized secularism, which in South America is kind of a big deal. It is also the second smallest country in South America so it’s easily overlooked.

So what does the capital city if such am unusually progressive country look like? It is pleasant and chill. It doesn’t feel like a rich city, but it’s quite pretty. Lots of well-maintained colonial buildings and some newer buildings as well. Big squares with statues and palm trees, small pedestrian streets, and parks with cafés and markets. The whole place has kind of a relaxed vibe that I enjoyed.

It is also fairly touristy, as cruise ships dock there as they are making their way down the East Coast of South America. There were certain streets that during the day were simply flooded with cruise ship visitors, but they all seemed to disappear at night.

As far as attractions, Montevideo didn’t have much that I was interested in, so I simply wandered the city. There were lots of pleasant murals and I visited the National Museum of Visual Arts. I made the decision to walk to the art gallery from the centre of the city, which turned out to be a little bit far, but it was nice to walk through both the commercial districts and residential ones before arriving in a park. And if I hadn’t walked, I wouldn’t have seen this spectacular mural of four film directors: Federico Fellini, Alfred Hitchcock, Luis Buñuel, and Lucrecia Martel.

The art gallery itself was pretty nice, but they were doing work on the floors so I could was only able to visit a very small part of it. Fortunately, there was a nice café outside where I took refuge from the heat. I wanted to avoid the walk back I took the bus which turned out to be relatively simple provided you have the cash to pay for it.

I was staying at the Hotel Palacio, which wasn’t anything special except that the price was right and it was centrally located. It was a nice hotel with friendly staff but it didn’t have any particular charm.

As a lover of hanging out in charming cafés, I was delighted to find that Montevideo has (at least) two wonderful historical ones. Café Brasilero is the oldest café in Montevideo, having been open since 1877 and has a history of being popular with artists and intellectuals, like all the best cafés. There is also La Farmacia Café was a former pharmacy from 1980 in a historical art nouveau building. It is so charming, maintaining a lot of its historic features and pharmacological items. Also, they take their coffee seriously and it is excellent.

Probably the one thing that I was most excited to visit in Montevideo was the museum dedicated to the crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571. Probably well known to most, this plane crashed in the Andes in 1972. On board were 45 people including twelve members of the Uruguay and rugby team and their friends and families. Many people died on impact but not all. Some survived the crash but succumbed to their injuries not long after. The rest of the survivors remained in the snowy Andes waiting for help or trying to find it for over two months. Famously, they succumbed to cannibalism of the dead bodies of some of the passengers before being rescued – They were not found per se, rather, they went looking for help and found help. The museum is a small one that tells the story of the crash the aftermath and their survival and includes artifacts from the event. Nothing is said of the cannibalism in the museum. It’s not meant to be sensationalistic. I, being a bit of a ghoul, wanted to hear about the cannibalism, but I didn’t really care that it wasn’t included because the museum was so inspiring. One of the stories they told in the museum was that the survivors had a radio that worked for a while and at some point, they heard on the radio that efforts to rescue them had been called off. At that point, one of the survivors said to his son that it was great news because now they got to rescue themselves. That’s a kind of positivity that I aspire to. And they did rescue themselves. That’s too long talking about a museum, but it is really worth going into.

Apart from the museum and the gallery and cafés and generally walking around the city. I didn’t do much in my two days in Montevideo. I enjoyed a few cigars. (there were no cigar stores or lounges in Montevideo. Previously there had been a La Casa del Habano and I found it but it was boarded up and closed.) I drank coffee and chatted with anyone who would talk to me.

I marveled it the ubiquity of yerba mate in Montevideo. It’s like the national drink or something. It is a tea that I had never had before going to Montevideo and having already gone there I can tell you it’s still a tea that I haven’t tried. I couldn’t find it for sale in any of the cafés that I went to. It seems that it’s something that people largely make it home for themselves and then drink throughout the day. And they don’t just drink it throughout the day; they transport it with them in specially designed bags. Everywhere I saw men and women walking around with these leather bags specifically designed to hold both a thermos of the tea and a specific little gourd with a metal straw that they drink it out of. I saw people in the city selling these bags and devices, but nowhere did I find anyone selling the drink itself. I probably could have tried harder. I have a feeling that it is not something that I would have enjoyed but I am still curious to try it.

Just as I had met up with someone from Vancouver when I was in Buenos Aires, I also met up with someone from Vancouver while I was in Montevideo. A casual friend from a travel group that I belong to in Vancouver happened to be in the city at the same time as I. He was doing a driving trip down the length of Argentina to the bottom to scatter the ashes of a friend who had died. We met up for dinner and drinks. It was a terrific evening of swapping travel stories and also a bit of a moving one, hearing about his deceased friend, and their history together, and the tale of a trip that they never completed. It was a good reminder of the importance of friendship and the fact that all of this will end, which for me means it better make the most of it. Between that and the visit to the plan crash museum, Montevideo left me inspired and full of self-reflection. Not bad for a country I didn’t know much about.

In the spirit of making the most of things, the next morning, after my two days in Montevideo, which was exactly the right amount of time, I caught a flight to a new city in a new-to me country: Asunción, Paraguay.

Argentina Argentina/Uruguay/Paraguay trip 2025 South America Uruguay

From Buenos Aires to Montevideo

From Buenos Aires, Argentina, I was heading to Montevideo, Uruguay. Flying was an option, but I decided to go by ferry. The two capital cities are separated by a large estuary called the Río de la Plata. Flights are only about 50 minutes but factoring in the hassle of going to and from airports against the relative pleasure of riding a boat, it was an easy decision.

There are lots of ferry options between the two cities, many of them were slow ferries, stopping along the way, taking up to 7 hours. The express ferry takes 2.5 hours and is direct. That was the one that I decided to take, operated by Buquebus. I booked in advance, which based on the crowds on the ferry, I think was a good idea.

I booked the earliest ferry I could find online (departing at 7:15am and arriving 9:45am), and on the morning of my departure I walked from my hostel in Buenos Aires to the ferry terminal. Part of the reason I had picked the hostel I did was because it was walking distance to the ferry terminal. I arrived early and there was a large crowd waiting to pick up their tickets. Even though I had booked online and had no luggage to check, I still had to pick up a paper ticket. The ferry terminal is new and modern and has a cafe and Wi-Fi, so it wasn’t a bad place to pass the time.

I picked up my ticket and boarded the ferry.

There are four classes of ticket for walk on passengers and they range from about $80 to $150 US. Normally I would get the cheapest, but in this case, I decided to get the first-class ticket. In hindsight that was a good decision. I think at the time it was the only class that offered free Wi-Fi, which was part of the reason that I selected it. It allows priority check in and boarding, but it also meant that I got to exit the boat first which was a huge time saver or given how busy the ship was and how slow it appeared people were disembarking. I had access to a lounge with free drinks and snacks prior to departure.

On board, there the first-class seating was comfortable and on the top of the ship. It had kind of a weird 60s décor, but the seats were very comfortable and there was free Wi-Fi and charging ports and some complimentary beverages. Most importantly it was very calm. The other cabins when I walked through them as I was leaving were absolutely packed and full of lots of noisy families and they just didn’t seem as appealing. I found the journey incredibly tranquil.

The business class seating looked pretty nice too, but they didn’t offer the free Wi-Fi.

As they had checked my passport when I was boarding the ship, when I exited, I just walked into Montevideo and was steps away from the city centre. There was none of the hassle of airports and taxis. It was maybe 1 of the easiest non-European border crossings I’ve ever had.

And just like that, I was in a new country and ready to explore Montevideo, Uruguay.

Tag: solo travel