/Travelled 2020 August/

 

Before going to the mountains in Italy, first you have to decide to go East or West. Both Italian mountain ranges technically belong to the Alps. However most locals call the range in Italy's northeast corner the Dolomites, while those in the northwest, in the Valle d'Aosta, are the Alps.

They have pretty different landscape: Italian Alps are green and will remind you of the same Alps in Switzerland or Austria, while the Dolomites are more plain and rocky with less trees. We have chosen DOLOMITES (just because it was less similar to what we have seen before, travelling and skiing in the Alps).

 

As you select the area, the number of treks narrows down. Nevertheless, it is still difficult to choose.

Dolomites are famous for its via ferratas. However due to lack of time we decided to leave it for another trip, but it definitely stays in the bucket list.

Having rulled out via ferratas we were left with several reasonable choices for 3 days with reasonable driving distances from one place to another. We combined 3 really different treks; I am sure they all have appeared in your search if you have googled about trekking in Dolomites at least for 5 min.

 

We have used app ALL TRAILS for maps and treks, was very helpful.

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Day 1. The Lakes

LAGO DI BRAES

 

First of all, it’s not really a trek; you can get to the lake by car. If you wish, of course you can walk there. There are some treks that include Lago di Braies on the way.

 

Lago is a supper crowded place so you will see all recommendations to get there as early as possible. HOWEVER I have to disagree because: firstly, everybody knows this recommendation and there are plenty of people even at 8 am., might as well be that it is less crowded later in the morning (however cannot confirm that), secondly, the sun hides behind the hill till 11am, so until then you will not have the perfect picture of that turquois water (BIG disappointment). Only when the sun comes up, you can see the lake in its whole beauty.

 

You can go around the lake clockwise or in reverse. Our recommendation is to go clockwise as there will be more of beautiful views in front of you not behind you.

 

It takes about one hour to go around the lake if you are not stopping – which is impossible to do. Most popular attraction is renting and rowboat and going to the middle of this really small lake. Yeah. I have to say, it really adds charm to the view, however we did not fall for this as there were like 50 boats on the lake and it felt a bit tacky. Also, we assumed the view is no better from the boat and you are not allowed to swim in the lake, so what’s the point.

 

If you decide to rent a boat, the price is 29 EUR per hour (you can get for half an hour, too)

 

Parking a (5 min walk from the lake) costs 6 EUR per day.

It is a very intense, busy, jammed with traffic and generally not a very pleasant city. Nevertheless, many travelers get to spend a night there, either when flying in or out of the country or on the way from Angkor Wat down to the islands. So, we will give you a few tips how to survive one day in Phnom Pen.

 

First things first, to enter Cambodia a visa is required for majority of foreigners. Visa on arrival can be obtained in Phnom Penh or Siem Reap (a town by Angkor Wat) international airports with a printed passport photo. However, the easiest way to get the visa is online at https://www.evisa.gov.kh.

Price: 30 USD. 

 

There are several ways to get from the airport to the city center: train, bus, taxi or tuk-tuk.

Public transportation is the cheapest option, but the waiting time for a train or shuttle bus was too long at our time of arrival, so we chose to go by tuk-tuk. It was around 7-10 USD, twice cheaper than taxi, and quite fun. Bearing in mind all the traffic, probably it was also two times faster. 

Travel time: around 30 min.