Escape to the Hotel Escondido Oaxaca Mexico. The hotel is alluring, the rooms beyond private, the beach empty and the vibe … a bit corporate. If you manage your stay in advance; you can experience lovely abandon.
While the rooms are comfortable and private; the consumables can be a bit bland. Luckily, as you are in Oaxaca, it is easy to bring your own!
Beach & Bungalows
The true attractions of Hotel Escondido Oaxaca Mexico are the beach and the bungalows.
First the beach: A perfect, empty expanse of sun & warm ocean. You look left – nothing. You look right – nothing. You look out – nothing. Aside from a few other tanning bodies; you have the world to yourself.
Second the bungalows: Spacious and private, you enjoy your own plunge pool and hammocks. Sliding doors pull wide letting in air and the delicious smells of the warm beach scrub.
Not far from Shinjuku train station, we find the Owl Cafe Tokyo perched in a petite 5th floor studio apartment of a modest building. In a quintessential Japanese moment, we find 8 types of owls eyeing us while we sip tea.
The words Owl Cafe as often end with a “?” as a “.” What qualifies this as a cafe is because you are paying for the tea, not completely mesmerizing and delightful experience of hanging out with OWLS !!!
Book in advance; there is very limited space and availability in this owl rescue.
There are 10 minutes where you are stared at and scrutinized; judged and inspected. Warily watched, your movements noted. Then you are rewarded with a moment to treasure.
Traveling is both escape and search to see what there is to see; to live in another’s world. And sometimes – when we are lucky – to understand exactly what the human being is capable of. The Golden Temple in Kyoto shows us human potential.
Kinkaku-ji is one of the transcendental places on the planet; where the bar for your understanding of human capability rises. Everything else that has come before is simply … inferior. Imagine what the world would be like, if we all had the will of the Japanese?
The Kinkaku-ji (金閣寺, Golden Pavilion in Kyoto, Japan) is, at its simplest, a Zen temple of the Rinzai sect. Not so simple is the idea that it is completely covered in gold leaf, and perches in the middle of a large pond.
Limosneros (lit. Beggars in Spanish), is in the middle of, and possibly the best restaurant in, downtown CDMX. It is a lively crossing ground for multiple types of Mexican cuisine.
Chef Atzin Santos deploys a tasting menu, taco menu and an a la carte menu. We appreciate the flexibility as one does not always want a full set menu. The cuisine likewise ranges from the experimental (see the Fresh raw tuna) to the comfortable classics.
The salsas constructed at the table is a lovely touch. Your water wheels over a pantomime of a desert cart. Instead of sweets, this one is full of dried and fresh chilis, herbs, oils, onions, garlic and more!
The Pedras Salgadas Spa and Nature Park feels something of an anachronism. A thermal spa dating from 19th-century Portugal.
All the original buildings restored by Pritzker award-winning architect, Alvaro Siza Vieira. The out of time vibe comes as Vieira kept it’s old-world romantic feel, while updating and adding.
Key to the update are 12 pre-fabricated eco-cabins, and 2 tree houses. Designed by architect Luis Rebelo de Andrade, winning him the Building of the Year award in 2012.
