Dirty room at Chateau Franz  We stayed at the Chateau Franz Backpackers hostel for a couple of nights in Franz Josef. This hostel was by far the worst accommodation we stayed at in New Zealand.…

View from our oceanfront room at the Purple CowWe stayed at The Wanaka Purple Cow YHA Hostel which was in stark contrast to the terrible hostel we had stayed at in Franz Josef.…

Us outside the Treks YHA - Our daughter's first hostel! Rotorua has many, many accommodation choices, and a lot of it falls into the category of budget accommodation. We chose Rotorua Treks YHA, based on the good reviews we had read.…

The bathroom at the Holiday In KoreaThe bathroom at the Holiday In Korea We stayed at the Holiday In Korea (not to be mistaken with the Holiday Inn) in Insadong in Seoul.…

Wat Phra Si Sanphet Early the next morning we caught a train to Ayutthaya. Contrary to what our guidebooks said, it only takes one hour 20 minutes on the train to get to Ayuthaya from Bangkok – faster than the bus.…

The cab dropped us right off at the hotel we had reserved a few nights before which we had found from our trusty Let’s Go guide book. Anyways, we are told the hotel was full (despite the credit card reservation), but there is another hotel they will take us to.…