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We stayed at the New Gudauri Twins Apartment. The units here are privately owned but many are rented out on Airbnb. We rented this one and it was really nice. www.airbnb.com.au/rooms/40670904

Thank you so much ❤

Glad it was helpful, have a great trip

Glad you enjoyed your journey!

There's ski rental on the mountain and some small rental shops in Almaty, which are about half the price. I paid, about $11 per day for snowboard rental; the gear was not the highest quality. We couldn't track down second-hand clothes to buy in Almaty and ended up renting them, so it might be better to purchase them in Australia.

@@TheVanabondTales Thank you so much for the reply. Might bring my gear from Australia over depending on how expensive it is to bring them in check-in luggages.

You can find affordable Airbnbs in Almaty and take the bus, taxi or drive to the mountain (that's what we did). There are also plenty of nice and reasonably cheap hotels in Almaty. You can also stay on the mountain there are a few hotels that are ski in ski off. Check out the blog post for links. thevanabondtales.com/skiing-kazakhstan-almaty-shymbulak-altai/

I haven't got around to posting the Kyrgyzstan video yet 😬. The resort skiing in Kyrgyzstan is not great, very old lifts, runs that only work with lots of snow, etc. However, there are some great backcountry opportunities, we did ski touring in some yurts in Jyrgalan, ner Karakol. Kazakhstan, the resort at Shimbulak is very good albeit a bit small by European, North American, Japanese standards and there are some opportunities for cultural experiences in Almaty plus good hotels restaurants etc. I think though, in your case, I would choose Georgia, great cultural scene in Tblisi very interesting city, solid resort in Guduari and opportunities for exploration to other ski fields like Bakuriani which has an older but less crowded resort and Mestia which has backcountry. Check out the blog thevanabondtales.com for extensive writeups on each!

@@TheVanabondTales Excellent, thanks a lot! My only problem with Georgia is that it is so close to the ongoing war in Ukraine. Moreover, the Georgia/Russia situation is quite tense, so bringing the family there now doesn't feel ideal. At least not for the time being.

@@BeautifulKrk In that case maybe Kazakstan but still close to Russia. Bulgaria is another place we've skiied and enjoyed!

Hey, Gudauri is open for skiing in December, but snow is not always that deep

Thanks so much! We visited in January 2024

@@TheVanabondTales Amazing conditions in January…. I would have guessed March! Was it early/mid/late Jan? Im planning a trip there during late Jan.

@@althr321we arrived mid Jan and stayed two weeks until the end of Jan

@@TheVanabondTales Thank you! I look forward to more reviews from you guys!

@@althr321 🙏

Thanks! Meeting people and making friends is definitely doable but for us the language barrier made striking up a convo on the lifts a little more challenging with locals and Russian tourists. We ended up making friends and skiing with some expats. I’m sure if you’re outgoing you’ll definitely have no trouble finding people to hang with on the lifts or in the bars! Eddie

You bet!

Parga is an hour north of Preveza on the mainland,

Welcome, thanks for subscribing! Cheers 🍻

Cheers!

Hi Rozi, thanks a lot! We are now in Pula so not far away

Hi Linda, Thanks a lot! You need an agent to clear into or out of Albania. They handle all the customs and immigration on your behalf, so you only need an agent in the first port you arrive at and the last port you leave from. In the south, the easiest port to enter or leave from is Sarande. Jelja from Saranda Summer Tours Yachting Agency is fantastic, and we can highly recommend her. In the north, you can check in or out from Shinjin or Durres if you sail further. We used an agent called Frrok Frroku in Shengjin - oroin.shipping.agency@gmail.com . We have also checked out of Orikum on the Vlore peninsula, the Orikum Marina helped us get in touch with an agent here. We've also made a blog post about this which you might find help ful thevanabondtales.com/sailing-albania-cruising-guide/ Hope that helps; let me know if you have any other questions. Eddie

this is really interesting, I wasn't 100 percent sure but after some research I convinced myself it was the famous Bura! I'll have to update the description. Definitely a bit chillier than we were hoping for but now it' really beautiful weather. 100 percent agree that May and June are optimal. We are in the islands north of Zadar now and it's warm and sunny but no too many boats around still. Thanks for watching and for this very informative comment, we appreciate it!

@@TheVanabondTales If you're already north from Zadar, then don't skip island of Cres (pronunced "tsress" not "kress"). By me the most beautiful island in Adriatic sea. It is also the biggest in the Adriatic but not nearly as touristy as the island in central Dalmatia. On its south tip you have a few sandy bays like the bay of Meli (uvala Meli). Then let say the town of Osor which is one of the oldest island towns in the region, where in the past when the keel ships were not a thing yet, they waited for the right wind to sail south. In the Antique times it had more than 10000 inhabitants, now it has less than 100 ;) There's an artificial passage that opens twice a day and which separates Islands of Cres and Lošinj, build way back by the Romans. Before that this was one island with a different name. On the west side you can find multiple pebble beaches most famous being Sv. Ivan or Lubenice bay. There's a fresh water lake in the island that has a fresh water spring on its bottom, which is 70 meters bellow the sea level, so the entire island and the near ones too get its water from it. Island is well worth to circumnavigate together with the island of Losinj if you have the time. If your current position is not a secret, I could throw a hint or two more where to go in this part of Adriatic ;) Cheers again!

@@amalkic We are at Ilovik right now and today we sail for Losinj. Unfortunately, our sailing season is coming quickly to an end, we have cut our summer short and head to Zagreb at the end of June. Soon we will sail for Pula and haul the boat out. So Cres, the Istrian Peninsula, and the other islands in the north will have to wait until next year. We will be at Losinj for a few days so if you have any tips here that would be great!

​@@TheVanabondTales Hope you checked the northwestern site of island Olib with its sandy shallows and blue water. What to say about Losinj? Well the town of Mali Losinj (small Losinj) is the biggest island town in the Adriatic, second being Vela Luka on Korcula. The smaller town on the island, a bit to the south with the name of Veli Losinj (big Losinj) - yeah I know ;) is actually more interesting. You can stay on anchor in front of the Losinj bay in "uvala Engleza" (bay of Englishmen) on the island of Koludarc (44°33'01.1"N 14°25'47.0"E). I hope someone didn't already put buoys also there. Nice sandy bay protected from all the winds and it shouldn't be packet with boats yet! Nice walking paths on the island. Just don't anchor in between island of Koludarc and smaller island of Murtar - wooden tourist ships sail through here. Also do not go through Boka Falsa (44°32'53.7"N 14°26'23.1"E) with the sailboat! The passage Privlaka thou (44°32'39.8"N 14°27'34.6"E) is perfectly suitable for your boat. Just be aware of potential strong current in it and don't use it in a bad weather. The bridge opens at 9h and at 18h - boats going into the bay have the right of way, so they go first. Btw. what's the draft of your boat? Enjoy the nice weather ;)

@@amalkic Excellent, thanks for these tips! Lots of buoy fields up this way but we've still found nice anchorages too. Our draft is 1.65 m Looks like a few more days of gentle weather before it gets windy on the weekend.

Maybe we are

That's not been our experience. While there are some drawbacks, it's a pretty wonderful part of the med to liveaboard

Glad you found it useful!

Hi Michael, great question, we recently posted a full comparison on the blog about this and maybe we should make a video too. It's fairly comparable but there are definitely some differences. People: In our experience Greek people are perhaps more outwardly friendly and outgoing. Croatians are just as nice and hospitable but maybe a little more reserved. Scenery , Greece has a little bit more variety from island to island but they are pretty similar in our experience. Food: For us Greek food is the best, very affordable, very authentic and a wide variety of dishes found in local tavernas throughout the islands. Croatia has great food but it's harder to find really great restaurants and you normally pay a premium, also there is not as much variety. We eat out less in Croatia. Costs, Croatia just seems to get more and more expensive especially all things boating, marinas, boatyards, national park passes, marine supplies, tourist taxes for sailors, all this stuff is more expensive in Croatia. They are both pretty similar in terms of services for sailors with both having really well developed nautical industries. Those are the main things for us in terms of sailing here.

Thanks for the feedback. I’m debating whether to try a holiday in Croatia or stick to Greece,decisions, decisions. Stay safe guys looking forward to more content ❤

Glad you found it useful, thanks for watching!

Awesome, this seems so long ago now, but we are on our way back toward Zadar and Iz. Thanks for watching

I'd be happy to help if I can, which permits are you referring to?

@@TheVanabondTales Hi. Thanks. If you enter from the sea, do you need any kind of permit to sail up to Skradin? And also any tips on free anchorage because the Marina there is quite expensive. Thank you.

@@blahdiblah2169 I don't think there are any permits required to sail up the Krka river to skradin. Or at least there wasn't when we did it in 2022. I remember the marina and mooring buoys in skradin were expensive so we moored at a Konoba about one NM before the town (konoba bidrovaca from memory) it was free to stay on their dock if you ate at the restaurant. We paid the restaurant to take us up to skradin on their fast boat, we could have also taken our dingy up river but our motor was broken. I hope that helps. You could also ask sailors in the Skradin area on the Navily app or ask in the med sailing group on Facebook for up to date info. We are actually in sibenik now, but we are not going back to Krka this season.

@@TheVanabondTales Wow. Thank you again for the response. I hope you keep documenting your trips. Would love to see more.

@@blahdiblah2169 You're welcome, and thanks we will try

Glad you found it useful! We also do a big clean right after hauling it out and another before relaunching because it always gets a bit duty. We also service the engines before we leave the boat for the winter (but on land).

well there you go, the more you know

Us too!

Thanks for having us!

😂 Heck yeah, enjoy it! ❄

Sorry it didn't float your boat. Thanks for the feedback and for taking the time to watch and make a comment.

А что не скучно? Самогон, баня, бабы?😉

Hi Raphaël, we didn't get in the water; well, actually, I did once when I crashed the drone in the sea. From memory, the water was warm enough for swimming, but I was a little bit sick, and it was very windy that week, so we didn't swim. However, I think if it had been better weather, we would have gone swimming. The water temperature rises a lot during May, so toward the end, it gets up to 18 or 20 degrees, quite nice for swimming on a warm day. Enjoy Vis!

@@TheVanabondTales thanks for your reply! I see that you crashed your drone...I'm hesitating to take mine 😅 did yours crash due to the wind you describe?

@@bigvalpasha@bigvalpasha No, I tried to land it too fast on the boat, I flew too close to the sea, and that seemed to confuse it, and it took a dive. Its a beautiful island for aerial photography but don't get to close the water!

Thanks! We paid €23,500

GLad you found it useful!

I'm glad you found it helpful. It's definitely one to add to the bucket list. We can't wait to go back again.

Welcome back! We are doing great. Gudauri was beautiful but we'll be bac on the boat soon.

Very pleased you enjoyed it! Yeah it's not perfect but for price and for how uncrowded it is definitely worth a look.

Thanks for the feedback, first time trying to edit with Da Vinci, may need a bit more practice, will pay closer attention on the next one

Relax

Very affordable and good value considering the level of infrastructure

Thanks for watching

I cannot find the place we stayed at on Booking.com anymore, but in our blog article we mention a few options we researched and found were nice. Enjoy LDM! thevanabondtales.com/lo-de-marcos-nayarit/

And that is exactly why we like it. Everything goes a bit slower in LDM!

We absolutely love Corfu and Paxos! Definitely a fair few of absolutely stunning bays!

Haha charades might not be our strong suit. A beautiful part of the world, Invermoriston was one of our favorite stops.

Thanks! We uploaded it this week, so hopefully people find it helpful and share it around.

sound advice!

Hey Julian, can't say I understand all these tips but thanks for taking the time anyway

For a second, I was referring to the 14-meter swells (not the 14 mlm rain), lol. I have a sailboat, so i was suggesting what to do in that situation!! However, that bit is not Albanian. (Greek) I am glad you were able to see Albania into it. Good luck 👍

Ok now I'm with you@@julianshametaj4824