We’ve finished our RTW trip. We get a lot of questions about our favorite things on the trip. We’ve decided to start a new series called “So, What Was Our Favorite…” We visited 29 countries on our RTW: Egypt (just 1 day), South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe (just 1 day), Namibia, Germany (just 1 day), Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Ireland, USA, Myanmar, Singapore, Indonesia (just Bali), Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Macau, and Nepal.
As many of you know, we are not really big partiers- but we definitely like a good drink/drinking experience. As we traveled around the world, we tried as much of the local alcohol as we could, but there were a few “drinking experiences” that really stood out. These were times that we remembered best for being somewhat alcohol centered, however, we think you’ll notice that often it wasn’t just the alcohol that made the experience so memorable.
This edition looks at our top 10 favorite “drinking experiences” around the world. These are not in order from best to worst. They are just our top 10 favorite in the order in which we visited them.
Chobe Safari Lodge, Kasane, Botswana
For three nights on our self-drive safari, we stayed at Chobe Safari Lodge in Botswana. The campsite itself was a little substandard. But the benefit was that we were less than 100 feet from a bar overlooking the river, where we spent multiple afternoons drinking beers and watching elephants graze. The sunsets were gorgeous and we enjoyed some local beer. The beers themselves weren’t wonderful, mostly pretty boring lagers, but the setting and sights were awesome!
Groot Constantia Wine Estate, Cape Town, South Africa
We visited here during our city sight-seeing tour in Cape Town, and we wish we could have spent the whole day there! It is the oldest wine estate in South Africa. It was started in the late 1600s by members of the Dutch East India Company. It took awhile but it then began to compete with all the fine wines in Europe and has continued to make excellent wine since then. We took the cellar tour and participated in a delicious wine tasting. We then wandered the vineyard and explored the historical buildings. The location was lovely and historic and we felt like we had a nice connection because we had just read James Michener’s Covenant which was about the history of the Cape and we had learned about a similar winery in the story. Definitely an enjoyable day!
Valley of Beautiful Women, Eger, Hungary
Just over the hill, about a 25 min walk from the Old Town of Eger, is the Valley of Beautiful Women. We’re not sure why the name, especially because we saw almost no one in our time in the valley. It was a miserably rainy day. But, the bad weather didn’t deter us from our reason for visiting Eger: the ~ 50 wine cellars all right next to each other, clustered in the valley. Tastes are free and glasses were as reasonable as 100 forint (about $0.50)! We really enjoyed striking up a conversation with a bored Hungarian working in the first cellar. We chatted about wine, Hungary, language, and her life. We also enjoyed trying the Eger special wine: Egri Bikaver or Bull’s Blood. The wine gets its name because in 1552, the people of Eger withstood a siege by the Ottoman Empire for a month. 2000 men from Eger against 100,000. They held! The king Istvan Dobo helped his troops by giving them wine which stained their beards red. This lead to rumors through the Turkish army that the men of Eger were so strong and vicious because they were drinking the blood of bulls! Every cellar has their own variant of this famous Eger wine. They also will fill up a plastic bottle of wine for cheap prices. We filled our 1 liter nalgene bottle of our favorite wine for only 500 forint (a little over $2.00!!) There are many cellars to try, but the rain and the alcohol caused us to only get to 3. We wish we lived close by cause we would go back regularly!
Buza Bar, Dubrovnik, Croatia
Buza means hole in the old Dubrovnik dialect. That’s just what this bar was – a hole in the wall. Literally, you walk through a hole in the city walls of Dubrovnik. The bar was quite crowded, but it was still an absolutely beautiful view out over the ocean. We had a few drinks there at sunset, enjoying our last evening in Croatia. Gorgeous!
Literary Pub Crawl, Dublin, Ireland
This was a new adventure for us! Dublin has a very rich literary history- writers such as WB Yeats, Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, and and James Joyce made Dublin their home. Neither of us knew much about any of these authors, nor had read anything by them. But, Della thought that maybe this would be the perfect way to learn more about them, especially as we were in Dublin… and it couldn’t hurt that beer was involved. We really enjoyed the pub crawl! We went to 4 different pubs throughout the evening. At each one, we enjoyed our guides. They made sure to tell us stories either about the history of Dublin or about one of the many authors that contributed to that history. They also sprinkled in several small performances, either scenes from different plays or books, or from letters from the authors. It was an entertaining way to spend an evening exploring Dublin’s past and Dublin’s beer!
Red Mountain Winery, Inle Lake, Myanmar/Burma
On our first full day in Inle, we rented bikes and headed out of town toward a winery! The Red Mountain Winery is about 5 miles outside of Nyuang Shwe (the main town for Inle which we were staying in). It was a glorious day and we really enjoyed the ride. It was quite a push up the hill to get to the winery, but it was so worth it. You can get a taste of 4 wines for about $2. The wine was OK though not fabulous. We each found one we liked well enough to enjoy a glass of while we nibbled on an appetizer and took in the view. We waited around for the free tour and ended up being the only 2 on it for a little while. It was a short tour and we learned how the winery is quite new, imports most of its plants from France, and has mostly broken machines so they do things like label by hand. The glorious views and lovely day make this a fantastic place for a drink!
A Riverside Bar, Vang Vieng, Laos
Many people talk about the joys of tubing down the river and stopping for crazy party drinking at the riverside bars in Vang Vieng. We weren’t really into that, but on our last day in town, we headed down to the river where there were a few small riverside huts and a small bar with music playing. It was past the crazy, tubing part of the river so it was really quite calm. It also helped that we hung out there during sunset. It definitely felt like spending a day at the beach (without the icky sand and salt!) We had nice shade and shelter from the sun in our bungalow. We took turns going for a quick dip – the water was pretty cold – and relaxed and read our books while sharing a Beerlao. The bar also had some speakers playing Western pop music, many of which we recognized and had fun singing along to. We also enjoyed watching the huge air balloons floating above us as the sun sank down to the horizon.
Beachfront Restaurants, Ko Lanta, Thailand
We had a short time on the beach during our trip to Thailand. (Short was just the right amount of time for us!) We stayed near Khlong Nin beach, which was quiet and restful. There were lots of beachfront restaurants where you could sit and enjoy a drink. We ate many lunches, using the restaurants as sun blocks while we enjoyed our beer and looking out on the beach. Many of the beachfront restaurants offered happy hour deals on beer, which was great since the beach faces west. We took advantage and made sure to find a good seat to watch the sun fade below the horizon.
Sampling Fresh Beer, Hoi An, Vietnam
In Hoi An we had our first chance to sample “fresh beer,” a classic beverage that is unique to the country. The beer is called fresh because it has just recently been brewed and is served without preservatives. It has less alcohol than normal beer and less carbonation, but is very cheap. We paid only 3000 dong (about 15 cents) per glass! It was also extremely hot during our time in Hoi An. Stopping in at a restaurant or stand to enjoy a cheap, quick, and refreshing fresh beer was a great way to cool down and rest out of the heat!
Wine in Our Own Lodging, Anywhere Around the World
In several countries (though most notably: Croatia, Montenegro, Greece, and Hong Kong), the most affordable option for drinks was to buy a bottle of wine (or retsina) and take it home for an evening in. There were many a bottle that we enjoyed while lounging on a balcony of our hotel or in the sunroom of an airbnb that bring back some wonderful memories. There is something special about spending time together, remembering the new and exciting experiences of the day, planning our next moves, and relaxing – with no stress of job (or calories). It’s a freedom we will try to remember often as we restarted our jobs this last week.
Globe Gazers 