About bontaks

Nic is the the 'Bon' part of 'Bontaks.' Together we are Nic and John - two travel-addicted teachers who enjoy every opportunity to go places, meet people and experience life.

Marrakech – city tour and historic hotels

So much of our visit to Marrakech centred around our exquisite Moroccan hotel, La Maison Arabe, from outstanding meals to hammam treatments, cooking classes to jazz piano bar entertainment (see Continue Reading →

Chiang Mai (Part 3) – Cooking School and Elephants

Mama Noi Cookery School Following the suggestion of another couple staying at the B&B, we booked ourselves in for a Thai cooking class at Mama Noi Cookery School. Having always Continue Reading →

Chiang Mai (Part 2) – Temples, Walking and Food

Lonely Planet Temple Walk Our day began with a delightful breakfast at our B&B – Khao Gai Pad Khing (usually sautéed chicken stir-fried with fresh ginger and garlic, with steamed Continue Reading →

Chiang Mai (Part 1) – Arrival and Initial Explorations

We decided that our first visit to Thailand would be simply a relaxation holiday, nestled in one location that provided us with culture, atmosphere and good food. We only had Continue Reading →

Copenhagen, Denmark

Love a bit of coincidence – sitting in departures at Stockholm airport and Pink Martini were playing at the café near where we were sitting, then when we checked into Continue Reading →

Stockholm, Sweden

Travelling in countries renowned to be expensive requires a little bit of research and heeding the advice of those who have gone before. We did not use any taxis for Continue Reading →

Oslo, Norway

I didn’t know much about the capital of Norway, apart from the fact that it was the location of the first full West End production of Les Misérables in Europe Continue Reading →

MS Nordnorge, Norway

Embarkation Our three night January stay in Tromso, the ‘Capital of the Arctic’, prepared us well for our cruise above the Arctic Circle aboard Hurtigruten’s MS Nordnorge in winter. It Continue Reading →