Holiday season again already? Well, this year kind of snuck past in a hurry, didn’t it? Or so it seems to us. It feels as though it was just yesterday when we boarded a plane for Bangkok and, yet, here we are, back home again, this time greeted by plenty of snow and those gross winter temperatures everyone at home is always so blasé about.
And family. And friends. And some different clothes, which is nice. Chocolate chip cookies. Hockey games. Our favourite Vietnamese restaurant (Red Pepper). Where, incidentally, we plan to get our fill before heading to the actual Vietnam where, oddly enough, the spring rolls aren’t quite as good.
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One reason this trip flew by so quickly was that it was, in fact, shorter than normal. We stuck around into October this year for a family wedding so were only away for just over 2 months. Different, for sure, but it also gave us the opportunity to spend most of September in Waskesiu – definitely our favourite time of year there – as well as head to Canmore for a week of “larch hunting”, and, boy oh boy, those yellow bastards did NOT disappoint.
The scenery around Kananaskis, Canmore, Banff and Yoho is pretty much stunning any time of year, and only gets better when half the trees are bright yellow. The top highlight was, once again, incredible Lake O’Hara. Turns out, third time was the charm, with previous visits in a) smoke, then b) cloud were followed this time by c) glorious blue sky and nothing but sun, son. Truly stunning. We also tackled the surprisingly difficult but predictably gorgeous Pocaterra Ridge with our friends, Walter and Sybille, plus a few other nice mountain walks to complete a pretty perfect week.
Then we spent a fun week back home, visiting, packing and eventually enjoying Kenz and Sam’s Waskesiu wedding and, before you know it, it was Boarding Group 5’s turn (or whatever the last group happened to be on that flight, because that is always us) and we were leaving Canada yet again. Which brings us to:
Stuff We Got Up to While We Were Gone
In our previous newsletter, I mentioned we’d be stopping off for a few nights in Bangkok on our way to Nepal. Well, as promised, we did exactly that. And we also, predicably, did all the usual stuff we love to do in Bangkok. Eat street noodles, drink street Singha, take a river trip, sweat. Plus, we added a couple new adventures, like actually going inside Wat Arun (along with roughly one thousand costumed tourists working on amateur photo shoots), then… actually that might have been about it for new stuff. But why am I telling you about it here? I promise you I already covered everything in:
On to Nepal. First, the good news. The political ‘troubles” that kicked off in September (i.e. a full-on coup) seemed to have fallen by the wayside by the time we visited, potentially ramping back up when the next elections take place in January but by then, as they say, that will be a “them” problem, not an “us” problem. More good news, I didn’t get sick for a change. Staying healthy in Nepal is not something I had tried before but, turns out, I much preferred it. Chalk up another win for masks on planes and buses. Or luck.
Finally, the weather, part 1. From the time we landed in Kathmandu, through our lazy week in Pokhara preparing for our trek and continuing on through our first week on the spectacular Manaslu Circuit, well, the weather was truly wonderful.
Then, however… Then it fucking snowed. A lot. Right before we were ready to attempt a 5,100m mountain pass. So we had to turn around and walk back down the way we’d come, this time in the snow, then rain, then mud, etc. That part mostly sucked. But we met some fun people, made it out in a timely fashion (unlike many others who ended up stuck for days) and “all’s well that end’s well”, or some shit like that. We are still annoyed to have missed out on the famous Larke Pass but, hey, what can you do? Go back, probably. But that’s a decision for another day. Anyway, once again, we already covered all this in even more detail:
Manaslu Circuit: A Planning Guide
And during our time pre- and post-trek, we somehow found time to form even more questionable opinions on Nepal. These are those opinions:
Then we spent 36 hours in Bangalore slash Bengaluru. Don’t ask, it’s really not much of a story. But we did take some photos:
And, then, phenomenal Cape Town. Despite our fairly recent visit to many parts of South Africa, including Cape Town, it seems we can’t get enough of that gorgeous city. Which is why we booked an apartment for a month and convinced our friends, Bill and Jan, to stick around for a proper visit after their month-long West African cruise. We did some hikes, watched a lot of sunsets, then saw some baboons. It was quite a ride.
You may have already seen our Best Hikes in Cape Town post – not subjective at all, that one – and I will be writing some more about the city in the coming weeks. Specifically, a Day Trips from Cape Town post, plus an update to our Cape Town: 48 Things to Know. Hard as it is to believe, we now know even MORE. We have also kept relatively up-to-date on Instagram or Facebook but, if the wait is simply killing you, here are a few other random thoughts:
A combination of rising prices and weakening dollar/rand ratio meant Cape Town was roughly 30-40% more expensive this time around. Yet still cheaper than most of Europe.
While we were away it seems all the women of the Sea Point neighbourhood got together and agreed to wear exclusively sports bras and spandex workout shorts. Matcha tea accessories remain optional, but highly recommended.
Why is that fish & chips are never as good as you remember them when you return to the same generic food court you loved last time? The Jack Black Lager, on the other hand, did not disappoint.
Big shout out to the woman at Tao Yuan who emphatically talked me out of ordering a spicy mistake.
Bill and Jan travelled all the way down the coast of Africa, waited in line for 2 hours for the Table Mountain cable car station and somehow arrived at the top just 10 minutes after we completed our hike to the top. All completely unplanned.
“Why are Americans always so loud?” mused a woman standing near Jan and Laynni’s excited Table Mountain reunion. Rather justifiably.
Paying for an oceanfront suite with a huge balcony and amazing sunset views – pricey. Having friends stay in that suite and invite you over every night – priceless.
Even if the apartment did have a weirdly low window above the toilet that faced directly into the neighbouring apartment, leading Bill to often start sentences with “The people who watch me pee…”
We learned that even in Saskatchewan, the sun sets in the northwest in summer. Thanks, Bill.
Apparently, you see a lot more penguins when you pay to enter Boulders Beach than you do skulking around the nearby rocks for free, like we tried last time.
After years of milkshake disappointment we discovered Fran’s Place in Simon’s Town, where their “Double Thick Milkshake” finally met my high milkshake standards. Thick as in, the straw can only be used as a hopelessly inefficient spoon, that kind of thick.
Well, it was nice to get all that off my chest. Now, to fill you in our final week in South Africa – a short road trip starting with:
The Cederberg Mountains
In brief:
Hot
Dry
Rocky
Full of amazing rock formations, hoodoos and caves
We visited two excellent natural swimming pools
Saw lots of lizards
Stayed in a place called “The Pump House” where the water was often scalding hot and the lizards too cheeky by half
Did several hikes, including one named after Lot’s Wife – one of the many biblical messages reminding us that women are foolish and bound to ruin everything
Then we continued on to:
Pringle Bay
Big views, big winds, big beach, big hills
Enough baboons to warrant “baboon watch” – a local WhatsApp group dedicated to keeping an eye on those clever, mischievous buggers (Laynni still insists it is simply “boon watch”)
Prairie chickens, or something similar, that were always racing somewhere for some reason
Tortoises, that were never racing anywhere, for any reason
Looking Ahead
As usual, we won’t be lingering in Canada for long post-Christmas, heading out promptly on January 1st in general direction of the setting sun. And, in a rather exciting development, we have managed to fight our (my) natural instinct to complicate every trip and instead have limited the entire time to warm/hot places, with little to no hiking planned, let alone any high mountain passes. Not that we don’t love those things, it’s just that we so often plan these wildly diverse trips that hit every conceivable climate and culture along the way, making them virtually impossible to pack for. Well, impossible to pack for WELL. Usually we either stuff absolutely everything we need into our overfull backpacks, or leave a bunch of important stuff behind, neither of which is a perfect system.
This time, though, we only need enough warm clothes to get through a plane journey, and maybe a frigid Thai sleeper train, and won’t have to worry about hiking shoes, hiking poles, merino wool everything, rain gear, puffy jackets, long johns or even my super-special quick-dry hiking undies. Just one more pair of shorts than usual and an extra t-shirt, along with a fair tolerance for sweating.
So, Vietnam again, already! 15 years between visits one and two, and now we’re already heading back again just 2 years later. Turns out it’s a pretty great country when you don’t visit bang in the middle of hot monsoon season.
Then Thailand, yet again. For the eighth time, maybe? Not sure, but it feels like we go a lot. We plan to continue with our recent theme of mixing old favourites with new regions which, in this case, means a couple weeks back up north in Chiang Mai and Pai, followed by some new spots including some beach time in Ko Samet and a long-term stay in Rayong province. Random? A bit. Hot. Definitely.
Then Singapore, where we have technically spent a night, renewed an Indonesian visa AND been devoured by bed bugs, not exactly in that order (but pretty close). We’re hoping for a much different few days this time around.
And, finally, Indonesia for some island hopping and scuba diving and, after a short while, probably complaining about the food. But I’ll leave all that for a bigger discussion down the road.
So, obviously, we’re looking forward to all that, along with the almost certain absence of snow. Follow all our current adventures on Instagram or Facebook, where Laynni’s stories continually inform and delight, while my occasional photo dumps, well, they’re functional. In the meantime, if you have any questions for us about one of our trips or one of your own, feel free to send us a message and we’ll help out however we can!
Just For Fun
Not every Routinely Nomadic blog post has to be informative and useful (obviously). Sometimes we just like to tell a funny story. Sometimes we just want to share an amusing anecdote. Sometimes we are just in a weird mood. Sometimes we like to cut and paste exact sentences from previous newsletters. Nonetheless, in honour of our upcoming return visit to Thailand, you may want to check this out:
Journal of a Koh Siboya Castaway
Summary
So, there you have it, everything you wanted to know, needed to know or accidentally learned about Routinely Nomadic, specifically in late 2025 and very early 2026. I bet that will really come in handy at some point.
Cheers, and have a great holiday season!
Dean & Laynni