solo travel Archives - Wandering North

Kuwait Mongolia-Kuwait-Bahrain trip 2025

Kuwait: Quick and Quiet

I had wrapped up my time in Mongolia and flew to the next country on this trip, which was Kuwait. You may be thinking what I was when I came up with this preposterous itinerary, which is, “Kuwait is nowhere near Ulaanbaatar.” And you would be right. After deciding to visit Mongolia, I wanted to visit another country that I had not been to before, but there wasn’t much around Mongolia, so I looked West and decided it was time to time to hit up a couple of Gulf microstates. Next stop Kuwait.

Almost every blog or social media post I see from people who have been everywhere and feel the need to rank countries, ranks Kuwait near the bottom. Boring is the consensus. No problem. I didn’t plan to spend much time there and, in my experience, everywhere is interesting for a day or two. I would be in Kuwait for about 36 hours.

I landed in the middle of the night and took a taxi to my hotel, the ibis Sharq (so called because it is in the Sharq district). Uninspired, but it was cheaper than a lot of options. I have no idea if there is a better area to stay in Kuwait City; something walkable and affordable. I feel like it does not exist, but I am open to suggestions. The ibis was fine. I slept for a few hours and headed out. I wanted to get an early start because I was there only a short time and I knew the afternoon would be hot.

I wasn’t sure what to wear in Kuwait. I heard mixed things about how covered up and conservative I should be, so erring on the side of caution, I wore a light black abaya and matching headscarf with some black beading at the hems and underneath I had leggings and a t-shirt. I don’t know that it was necessary to be so conservative, but I think I would have felt conspicuous walking around without it. But the thing was, it was very hot. It was at least 45°C and I think at one point it went up to 48. It was not pleasant for walking. Throughout the day, I kept tucking into air-conditioned establishments or sitting on the sidewalk in the shade and drinking lots of water trying to get my temperature down. It was intense.

My main stop, and I think every tourist’s main stop in Kuwait City, was the Kuwait Towers. Three retro futuristic sipe-like towers built in the 1970s. Two of them piece blue spheres. One sphere is a water tank, one is a café, and one is divided in its lower half as a water tank and its upper half is a restaurant. I did not pay the money to go inside and I don’t regret it. But they were cool to see in person. During the day they are blue and white but at night they are lit up in different colours. I was able to walk there from my hotel and took a bit of a stroll along the bay, again until the heat overtook me.

Thankfully they have Uber in Kuwait, and I called a car and asked it to take me to another area of town so I could visit a big mosque and the souk area.

A couple of problems with Kuwait: One problem is that it is a car culture. It’s not designed for walking, so the streets don’t have much life them. The distances are long and there’s not a lot of things to engage with along the way. Also, it’s hot, so walking isn’t great to begin with. The other problem was that I was there on a Saturday; a Saturday being sort of like the equivalent of a Sunday in a Christian nation and pretty much everything was closed. So a city that wasn’t super exciting to begin with felt even more quiet. The business district was a ghost town.

I did wander over to the souk and that was a little bit interesting although most of the shops were closed. Fortunately, some of the cafes were not, and I found a café (Dalalwa Café) with lots of outdoor air conditioners and men lounging outside, drinking tea and smoking shisha in crisp white thawbs (locally called dishdashahs). I joined them and drank tea and smoked a cigar. They refused to take my money. I attracted a lot of curious looks, but they were polite and no one was no one made me feel unwelcome. (I’m not sure if the looks were due to my gender, the cigar, or the face that my face was so red and sweaty.)

The mosque I wanted to visit wasn’t open. All I could do was walk around the outside. I walked around some streets and took in more of the atmosphere, such as it was. I tried to visit the museum, but it was closed, as was the aquarium. There really aren’t a lot of designated tourist attractions in Kuwait.

What Kuwait lacked in museums, it made up for in cigar lounges. I was able to visit two. Both were in commercial buildings: one, simply called No.21 high up in The No2 of the two Pearl Towers; a bit difficult to find, but worth it. (UPDATE: sine I was there it has relocated to the 4th floor of the Four Seasons Hotel Kuwait at Burj Alshaya. The other, the Cabinet Club on the second floor of Salhiya Mall. They were nice lounges. Very well appointed and with excellent selections of cigars. Not cheap. Nothing in Kuwait is.

I enjoyed the respite from the heat, and I was able to chat with the employees of the two lounges. It wasn’t easy to engage with people in Kuwait because there weren’t a lot of them around but the people working in the lounges were all from other countries and spoke English and were happy to chat for a bit. I was the only woman in the two lounges. The others there were men, again dressed in gleaming white dishdashahs with designer sunglasses and perfectly groomed facial hair. They looked very fancy. I felt bedraggled by comparison.

At some point in the day, I started to feel a bit unwell. I wasn’t sure if it was heat stroke or if it was the subtle food poisoning that I had been experiencing yesterday at the Istanbul airport, but my stomach just wasn’t right. I went back to my hotel to have a bit of a rest before dinner. Because I had some big dinner plans.

The most interesting thing about going to Kuwait was that I was having dinner with someone that I have been working with for over 10 years but had never met. If you don’t know, I’m a lawyer. In 2015 we took on a case involving members of the Kuwaiti royal family and their deceased father who had invested in some properties in British Columbia Canada. Several of the children ended up suing each other including in British Columbia and we became lawyers for one of them. (I’m able to write about this this because there are several reported decisions in the Supreme Court British Columbia, so all of this is public information.) At the time of writing, the case is ongoing. Anyway, I had never met our client, the Sheikha, and I was excited to have dinner with her and her daughter. A Sheikha is effectively the equivalent of a Princess. She and her daughter selected the restaurant and picked me up at my hotel in a black window tinted SUV. And we went to a restaurant called Dar Hamad in Salmiya, which is its own city, but really seems like part of Kuwait City.

Again, to be respectful I was wearing my abaya with my headscarf loosely draped over my shoulders. The Sheikha was also wearing a black abaya with her hair covered but the daughter was wearing a more western style outfit, although still quite modest. The restaurant we went to was gorgeous. Beautifully designed and fancy. We had a table that looked like it was meant to seat ten but it was just for us. I didn’t understand why we had such a large table until they started bringing out all the dishes. The Sheikha had ordered a feast. Not a veritable feast but an actual feast of different things for me to try. She knew ahead of time that I was a vegetarian so most of the dishes were designed to be vegetarian.

*some of the dishes i was too sick to enjoy*

This would have been heaven, except that by the time I went to the dinner I was feeling extremely unwell. I had been suffering from terrible bouts of nausea and feeling like I was going to throw up. I hadn’t eaten anything all day, but I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep anything down. I politely told them that I wasn’t feeling that well but that I was excited to try all the food. And I did have the smallest nibbles of all of the different dishes but every time I did, I felt really ill. On two occasions during the meal I urgently had to leave the table and I went to the bathroom to violently vomit. This was not the first impression that I wanted to be making, but it was a very enjoyable dinner and I felt very privileged to be able to experience it.

They drove me back to my hotel and I went to bed. I had a flight early the next morning.

Apart from my dinner with the Sheikha and the cigar lounges, I didn’t love Kuwait. It wasn’t the most interesting of places, however, I think being there on a weekend was a bad decision. For that reason I would like to go back and get a better sense of what the country has to offer. So while it’s not high on my list of countries that I’ve visited, I’m not sure I gave it a fair shot. But that was my visit and my next flight would take me to another new country of similar size, Bahrain.

Mongolia Mongolia-Kuwait-Bahrain trip 2025

Ulaanbaatar redeems itself

On that third day in Ulaanbaatar, I woke up in a good mood. I had so enjoyed my tour the day before and, despite not loving Ulaanbaatar on my first day, I was excited to see more of it. I devised a loose walking plan through the city, with plans to meet someone for a cigar in the evening.

I walked from my hotel (the Hotel Nine by the main square) to Gandantegchinlen Monastery. It was a pleasant, if unremarkable, walk. I did make one blunder, though: I walked by but did not visit the newly constructed Chinggis Khan Museum. I felt like I had done enough of that the day before, and I didn’t think I had enough time, so I skipped it. Everyone I have talked to since has told me it was a mistake and that the museum is incredible. I should have at least popped in. Next time.

I arrived at Gandantegchinlen Monastery and discovered my favourite place in the city. It is a complex of Buddhist temples, and I’ve seen lots of Buddhist temples, but there was something about the way they were laid out and the openness of the space. There was also this low, deep chanting and the occasional soft sound of a gong that permeated the space and made it feel so serene. I felt it kind of deeply. I think it was mostly the chanting. I think, with the right music, I could be tricked into joining a cult.

From there, I walked to a café/tea house called Potala. I read about it on a blog or in a book because I would never have discovered it otherwise. It is on the 11th floor of an office tower called Gem Palace. Weird. But it is a lovely café, decorated in a Buddhist-temple style, with lots of places to sit comfortably and look at the view. They had food (including vegetarian dishes), but I wasn’t peckish. I did try one of their specialty drinks, “Potala Coffee.” which was strong coffee with shar tos (Mongolian clarified sheep or cow butter). It wasn’t terrible, but I think I’ll stick with black coffee. Great café, though. They even had Wi-Fi and lots of outlets; it would be a great place to work on a laptop.

After that, I wandered around more and made my way to a restaurant at the Corporate Hotel. There isn’t anything too special about the hotel, but it has a restaurant with a big, covered patio and comfortable seating. I had a veggie curry and a cigar (Juan Lopez No. 2) and decided it was time to try Mongolia’s vodka. I opted for the Chinggis Gold Vodka, which was the best they had on the menu. The menu said it would be just an ounce, but the waitress brought out the bottle, and I swear she poured me half a glass of vodka. Look at the photo; that’s not water. (It tasted like…vodka.)

Rested and feeling good, I walked south to the Bogd Khan Winter Palace. Bogd Khan was the leader of Mongolia from 1870 to 1924, and this was one of his residences. It was not a great walk there, but I did find this excellent Soviet-style mosaic on the way.

The palace had small, modest interiors and a little bit of a museum, but the palace itself was the real draw, with its decorations and murals.

I didn’t feel like repeating the long walk back to the centre of town, so I hopped on a bus heading in the right direction, and it got me where I wanted to go. I meandered around town for a little longer and then took a taxi to a cigar lounge to meet a stranger.

When I had posted on Facebook that I was flying to Ulaanbaatar, a cigar friend of mine from Vancouver who now lives in Hong Kong messaged me to say that his neighbour, who is also a cigar smoker, was in Ulaanbaatar for a year for work. I’ll call him Pemberton. My buddy connected us, and Pemberton and I arranged to meet at a cigar store and lounge called Habanos Cigar Lounge.

*a nice lounge in an uninspiring setting*

I greatly appreciated that there was a lounge in Ulaanbaatar, but the selection of cigars for sale was only so-so. I bought a Bolivar Belicoso Finos and a Partagas Serie D No. 4 from a disinterested salesperson and settled into the lounge. The inside was actually pretty nice, but, when Pemberton arrived, we sat outside on the patio. It was nice.

We chatted, and I got to hear what it was like to live and work in Ulaanbaatar. Dismal was my takeaway. Pemberton was from the Netherlands but had moved to Hong Kong long ago and worked for a beverage company. His posting in Ulaanbaatar was for about a year, during which he worked with the government to set up manufacturing and distribution in Mongolia. Similar to the stories I had heard from others, doing any work with the government was slow, inefficient, and a bit corrupt. Pemberton found living in Ulaanbaatar depressing and unpleasant. I can see that.

We parted ways well after dark, and I walked back to my hotel. Ulaanbaatar may not have a lot going for it, but it did feel very safe. The next morning, I got up early and took a private transfer to the airport (hoping not to take the bus this time). The sky was beautiful.

I enjoyed my three days in Mongolia, even if I was only lukewarm on Ulaanbaatar. If I were to return, though (and I wouldn’t rule it out), I would take the train to some other locations in Mongolia and try to spend more time in nature.

But I was on to my next destination from Mongolia, which was, illogically, Kuwait.

*some murals and a random Beatles monument in Ulaanbaatar*

Mongolia Mongolia-Kuwait-Bahrain trip 2025

First impressions of Ulaanbaatar

I arrived in Ulaanbaatar at about 9:30 in the morning flying in from Seoul on, what would turn out to be a ’round the world’ trip.

Mongolia. A new country and a new capital city. Apparently, some people will shorten Ulaanbaatar by just calling it “UB”, but I was committed to the saying the full name every time. It’s fun to say and even better to read and write. With all those long As. I was excited.

As exciting as it was to land, getting in from the airport was a bit annoying. It is far from the city. There is an airport bus to take you on the approximately 50-kilometre journey, but the traffic is so terrible that the journey can take up to two hours. It took nearly that long the morning that I arrived. It’s bizarre really, there is lots of room for roads through the countryside, but it is a narrow highway congested with too many cars. I was impatient, but I still enjoyed the journey. The scenery was beautiful with rippling hills of green but very few trees. The bus dropped us off in the main square in the city which was just a minute or two from my hotel on foot. The main square was impressive. Imposing buildings some with attractive colours and columns; a giant statue of Genghis Khan – the fellow who would be everywhere – and the weather was nice.

I walked to my hotel the Hotel Nine, which is nothing special to look at but it has an excellent location, a good buffet breakfast, and reasonable rates. The nicer hotels were mostly unremarkable and overpriced.

I went out to explore. Ulaanbaatar didn’t make a great first impression on me. I’m not sure it made it great last impression on me. At least not in terms of beauty. It is, generally speaking, an unattractive city. There are some buildings that are nice, some that look decorative, some that look a little bit Soviet, and there are some beautiful temples, but overall, it is just quite ugly. It is unattractive buildings with busy streets and neighbourhoods that were designed for cars and not walking. It’s not the sort of place that you wander around and explore and get lost in charming little nooks and crannies. But it was interesting and I enjoyed it.

I visited the National Art Gallery which had some nice works of art, but mostly it was interesting to see the very specific Mongolian paintings of nomads and camels and harsh winters on the steppe.

There was a temple area sort of in the middle of town that I wandered over to. I wasn’t able to go inside, but viewing them from the outside was and gave me hope that there would be more interesting things to see.

I walked a lot around the central part of the city that day exploring what there was to see and I wasn’t really loving it. I was having a good time, as I always am when I’m exploring somewhere new, but I wasn’t charmed or wowed or impressed by what I saw. I did visit a little cafe with some vegetarian food, and I went there and had a bite to eat and smoked a cigar. It was kind of a cool place with music playing and lots of young people with neck tattoos and army boots. I was pleased to see that there was kind of a cool alternative subculture. And in walking around the city I have to say that I think Mongolian people are underrated for their beauty. Obviously not every person is beautiful, but the people that are attractive are extremely good looking.

I wandered around some more and found myself on the patio of another restaurant where I had a negroni and a cigar and watch the sunset behind some unattractive buildings. Speaking of the negroni, a fun fact about Ulaanbaatar is that until it was repealed in 2022, on the first day of each month alcohol was not allowed to be sold or consumed. It was a law. Apparently, Mongolia has high rates of alcoholism, but the law was repealed because it just drove drinking and alcohol sales into the black market for that day.

I was tired from my journey and underwhelmed by the city and I didn’t stay out late that night. There also didn’t seem to be anything in the evening that I really wanted to do, so I had an early night. The next day I had booked a driver to take me around to see some sights outside of the city. That day would be excellent, as would my second day exploring Ulaanbaatar which I’ll write about in another post.

And this is one of the downsides of writing a dairy-style blog, The first day was mediocre, but it got a lot better from there. So if you are reading this and thinking “Ulaanbaatar sounds awful” or “Ugh, she didn’t even visit the good spots”, I get it. My next two post will be decidedly more positive. But this was my first day and impressions.

Read on for enhanced positivity. (Nature! Temples! Gers! Cows!)

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).

Tag: solo travel