Our World Travels

National Parks of Utah

Southern Utah is home to some of the most unique geologic formations in the world. Illustrating this vast terrain of twisting canyons and red rock plateaus are six of America's most magnificent national parks.

Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands, Monument Valley and Capital Reef National Parks offer breathtaking overviews, brilliant red rock sunsets and adventure-filled hiking trails, plus the opportunity for exhilarating relaxation. Utah's parks are located in close proximity so it is easy to see them all in one trip. Alternately, each park makes a great destination in its own right; you can spend several days exploring a Utah national park and never see all of its wonders.

We have planned to visit Japan long time. Our expectations to the trip were quite high - modern technology from one hand and traditional Japan from the other hand. We wanted to see as much as possible in ten days.

Japan has seen exceptional economic growth since 1950. Now it is one of the World's most powerful economies. Japan has bustling cities burst with skyscrapers, bullet trains and trendy people at the streets. Yet beneath the brash modernity beats an ancient heart. This is still the realm of the exquisite art of the geisha and the skill of the sumo wrestler.

Post factum we can say Japan is a land of contrast and miracles. Tokyo dazzles with bright lights and high-tech gadgetry while traditions and history stand at every corner in Kyoto. Adding to that the peace and sadness from Hiroshima, it made just perfect trip to us.

Japan is unforgettable.

Getting there

Our journey started with boat trip to Helsinki where we had an Air Finland flight booked through Finnmatkat. The flight had a scheduled refueling stop in Abu Dhabi for one hour at night. During that hour a heavy fog came and therefore the departure from Abu Dhabi was delayed. At first by six hours, then it came out that pilot working hours have been finished and therefore the departure was delayed again. Then it came out that pilots have started the strike and new crew was sent to serve us. But it really took long time.

A trip to Iceland

We had to decide quite quickly where to go in ten days. We thought that it should not be far away as we only had five days for that trip. We have a general principle that in summer we go to Northern destinations. Shortly we came to conclusion that Iceland would be a good idea.

Getting there
25 March, 2007

We have thought about visiting Arabian Peninsula and now, in March 2007, it seemed to us that time is right. After reading some Lonely Planet travel forum topics and with help from friends we decided to visit Oman, because it promised to be beautiful nature, rich culture and not very touristic yet.

Search in the internet indicated that not all major airports have direct connection to Muscat, the capital of Oman. Also, the price of the ticket from London or Frankfurt was available for about 500-600 EUR. BUT, as we live in Tallinn, Estonia this means we also need to fly there. Or travel agent from Matkapunkt suggested an option to start the trip from Riga and fly Turkish Airlines. The price for the ticket was 510 EUR.