Category: Experiential Travel

I slowly started to stir in my little bed. I turned over and pulled my covers up to my ears. I could hear the campground waking up around me and morning light started to illuminate my little caravan. I heard people whispering morning conversations, searching for toothbrushes and taking the walk to the campground bathroom. This is actually one of my favorite things about camping, this group campground mentality – that we are all in it together – out here in nature.

But we weren’t actually out in nature. Six other caravans surrounded me, but we were all inside a large building with a cement floor. We didn’t drive our caravans here, they were already in the building as a permanent fixture in this unique ‘hotel’ in Berlin’s hip Neukölln neighborhood. This was not your typical glamping – instead it was one of the most inventive ideas for urban glamping I had ever experienced.

I took my morning walk to the ‘campground’ shared bathroom and it was all toasty and warm inside as the radiator was going full blast. I said hello to the other campers and took my hot shower. This was much better than regular camping! And instead of sitting around a campfire, people gathered at the little wooden breakfast bar in the morning. I grabbed one of the croissants and apples that were available to all of the ‘campers’, made myself a cup of coffee, and sat on the chairs neatly arranged outside of my caravan planning what I was going to do in Berlin for the day.

“Huttenpalast means cabin palace in German – we wanted a play on words,” Silke explained. Silke and her partner Sarah dreamed up the idea for this adorable indoor caravan campground in 2009. She was at a crossroads in her career, a burned out event planner, in desperate need of a change in her life. Silke knew nothing about how to run or start a hotel, but she was familiar with how to be a customer in one. She had grown up in a family that moved around a lot, living in many countries and staying in hotels for much of her life.

She had three goals for Huttenpalast
1. Every guest should have a place to sleep that is clean and tidy with attention to detail.
2. Have good beds – no cheap mattresses. After all, people are paying for a good night’s sleep when they book a night in a hotel.
3. Keep it personal and create experiences where people can easily meet and mingle from the employees to the guests.

Caravans with Attention to Detail

Kleine Schwester (little sister), Friedel, Dubener Ei (egg), and Schnewittchen (Snow White) – each caravan has a name and a story. No two caravans are alike at Huttenpalast as each one was researched and bought via ebay around the region by Silke and Sarah. Once they transported them back to Berlin, they gutted, and refurbished the retro caravans to their original glory. The kitchenettes and tables were removed in the caravans to make room for comfy large mattresses.

We stayed in the Schwalbennest (swallow’s nest), which was the only West German model among the family of caravans. It had a little closet and a table with cushioned seats that also converted into a single sleeping ‘bed’. I adored the modern touches in the retro caravans like the wooden shelving designed by a local artist. Sarah and Silke had curated each caravan beautifully giving each a personality.

Swallow’s Nest – our glamping home for 3 nights

Swallow’s Nest

The other caravan that stole my heart was the Snow White caravan – perfect for the solo traveler. Outside 7 little Garden Gnomes surrounded it and inside it was only big enough to sleep one person…Snow White of course.

Snow White’s Solo Caravan

The Dubener Ei had been elevated so that you had to go up a flight of stairs to enter it. It was the penthouse of the caravans. In addition to the retro caravans, there were also 4 little cabins at Huttenpalast that were created special for the space.

The ‘Penthouse’ Egg complete with flower box

Tiny Cabins intermixed with Caravans

Comfortable Beds in a Small Space

Most of the caravans consisted of simply a bed inside, but these were not typical European beds. You won’t find any split twin beds pushed into a queen at Huttenpalast! Instead you have a proper queen mattress in most of the caravans that’s super comfortable and outfitted in luxurious thread count sheets. In fact, I’m pretty sure the beds were a big upgrade to the original beds in the caravans! I slept like a baby during my nights in the caravan.

Every bit of space in the caravans are filled with comfy beds

Meet and Mingle

It’s an indoor campground, and it’s a super place to socialize. Outside of each caravan was space for people to sit, mingle, read, work or drink. Little faux trees dotted the space and funky 60’s inspired chairs, couches, and lamps made the place cozy. Every little nook had a cushion, and there was even a community ukulele. Every detail was impeccable down to the glass mugs for unlimited tea and coffee.

If you want to get outside for real and enjoy nature you can do that in the summer months in the Huttenpalast garden. It’s full of plants, picnic tables and hammocks – a warm inviting place to mingle with other visitors.

A shared ukulele
Garden space

Not only is there shared space in the caravan area and a garden, but Huttenpalast also has a sidewalk café that serves coffee and breakfast accessible by guests and locals. So you may even get to mingle with Berliners while staying there.

Instead of having to hitch a caravan to your car and fight traffic and mosquitos, you get a lovely indoor glamping environment in the city. Berlin is full of creative, innovative ideas, so why would you want to stay in a normal hotel when you could be glamping in a restored, cozy caravan?

If you build it, they will come.

These are the famous last words of real estate developers across the world who try, but fail, in their bold attempts to create something out of nothing. Occasionally, however, someone with an exceptional vision, perfectly executed, manages to prove the old adage true.

Enter: 4 Rivers Floating Lodge.

4 Rivers Floating Lodge is a boutique glamping resort located at the confluence of four rivers at the base of the Cardamom Mountains in southwestern Cambodia. Yes, you read that correctly. As the name suggests, 4 Rivers is literally located on top of a river, a construction style inspired by the floating villages native to Cambodia’s countryside.

Photo Credit: 4 Rivers Floating Lodge

Further, the lodge is located in a remote part of an already faraway country, about five hours west of Cambodia’s capital city, Phnom Penh. But this did not deter us or thousands of other travelers. Like I said, “build it and they will come” occasionally works out.

Our trip started with an adventure: a harrowing, five-hour bus ride during which our driver played chicken with oncoming traffic the entire time. We spent most of the ride with our eyes closed, teeth clenched. All part of the experience, I guess. Once deposited in the village of Tatai, our journey continued with a longtail boat ride down the river.

4 Rivers Floating Lodge is only accessible by boat, naturally. After twenty minutes of putt-putting down the river, the secluded resort finally appeared in the distance, around a bend, tucked between the eastern bank and a small island.

Even though we knew what to expect, landfall — or shall I say “tentfall” — was still astonishing. There’s something hard to believe about real estate created on top of a moving body of water.

The property, if you want to call it that, consists of a landing area in the center, which includes the restaurant, the office, a library, and some back of house operations. This central landing area is flanked by two long pontoons, with six tents each, for a total of twelve suites.

Our suite was a massive safari tent with a pitched roof, great room, and ensuite bathroom. We also had a large riverdeck with lounge chairs and swim ladder.

Once settled in, we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing by the river, reading, swimming, and kayaking.

We also enjoyed a bottle of pinot noir while watching an unexpectedly spectacular sunset.

The next morning, the river’s beauty continued to amaze. The surface was like a polished mirror, covered in fog which had snaked its way down from the highlands. While we rose, the land fog began its retreat from the heat of the rising sun.

After a morning swim and breakfast, we set off on one of 4 Rivers’ many nature excursions. We chose to visit the Tatai Waterfalls. Sambo, a local Khmer guide employed by the lodge, took us up the river.

Once there, Sambo immediately showed us the hidden climb up the slippery rocks and through rushing water to the top of the falls. He wasted no time demonstrating how to properly jump off. After some nervous jitters, Meghan bravely went first. Once I let her test the depth, it was my turn.

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the falls, eating a picnic lunch, and kayaking back down the river. Among Sambo’s many talents, we learned he’s also a candid photographer when we discovered these shots on our camera afterwards. Thanks Sambo.

The waterfalls were stunning and our kayak ride further added to a connection we were starting to feel with the river. To passersby, the river might be overlooked as a mere geographical feature blended into the overall landscape. Once you get up close and personal, however, it becomes clear that the river is the source of life for everything in its path. It is the backbone for a way of life practiced by the locals for hundreds of years.

This was one of the surprises of 4 Rivers Floating Lodge. I honestly thought we’d find the “floating” aspect of the resort to be a gimmick — just a cool way to differentiate from other glampsites and ecolodges. But it’s so much more than that. By floating, you are authentically connected to the river: the cradle of life in this part of Cambodia.

In talking to Sambo and the rest of the staff, I began to understand that 4 Rivers accomplishes this connection in a sensitive manner, protecting the environment, instead of exploiting it. This is, in my opinion, the most impressive accomplishment of 4 Rivers. Unlike typical destination resorts, which purposefully isolate themselves, 4 Rivers has integrated into the community and generated remarkably positive effects on the locals and the environment.

Sambo was literally a hunter-gatherer before 4 Rivers. Now, thanks to the lodge, he and many other locals speak fluent English and hold an unusually progressive view towards protecting the environment. No longer just a natural resource, they want to preserve the environment for the future. For example, we were impressed as we noticed Sambo quietly collecting litter left behind by other shortsighted locals while we climbed the waterfalls.

For these reasons, 4 Rivers Floating Lodge has redefined what we consider to be the pinnacle of glamping. The basic promise of glamping is to provide an opportunity to enjoy nature without sacrificing modern day amenities. 4 Rivers takes this pledge one step further, providing an opportunity to not just enjoy nature, but to connect with it. And protect it.

Perhaps the old aphorism should be rephrased in 4 Rivers’ example: if you build something special, they will come.

The Australian Outback is not a place you can just wander into on your own (unless you’re Mick Dundee). To approach this 2.5 million square miles of rugged terrain and its countless deadly creatures, a fearless guide is essential. With local recommendations and a ton of research, all signs pointed to Adventure Tours’ Kakadu National Park and Katherine Gorge Safari. We joined their small-group trip (as in one other guest and our fantastic guide, Luke) and fell in love with this vibrant corner of the Northern Territory and UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Leaving the city of Darwin, our first stop was Mary River National Park… a lush place covered with lotus flowers, surrounded by waddle trees and exotic birds. The Mary River is renowned for its bird watching and abundance of water pythons (like 800 found in 1sq kilometer. Swimming is not recommended). Being so close to the equator and coast, this section of the Outback was surprisingly pretty tropical.

We stopped for lunch and took a riverboat up the Crocodile River, the border of Arnhem Land. This area of the Northern Territory is all aboriginal land and virtually closed to independent travelers. We cruised up the river escorted by our Wulna guide, learning about the local traditions, including how to throw a spear wicked far.

Adventure Tours has their own fixed camps around the country and ours had a lovely screened-in cabins and a dining tent with full kitchen facilities where Luke cooked us delicious meals.

The next morning we set out for Kakadu National Park, stopping for water monitors, wallaroos, and any other critters Eagle Eye Luke could spot. A favorite detour was this 50-year old and 15-foot tall Cathedral Termite Mound. The construction of these natural skyscrapers with their walls of mud, plants, saliva, and feces is mind-boggling.

Kakadu and its surrounds have stunning landscapes but when you get to Ubirr, with its rock shelters and ancient cave art, dating back 40,000 BC (yes, THAT old), you can see why UNESCO groupies swoon here. The aboriginal people of Kakadu are the oldest living culture on earth and, while these paintings date back an unfathomably long time, they are actually regularly being added to and updated by the local people who preserve them as archives. The aboriginal languages were never written, so their sacred texts of creation, law, and values were drawn out. We marveled at the rock art then climbed the sandstone cliff shelters for sunset views of the Nardab floodplain.

We delved deeper into Kakadu National Park and arrived to one of the most scenic Crocodile Dundee location, Gunlom Falls. Hiking alongside the 200-foot cascade, we reached the infinity pools on top, basked in the baths as Mick did, and enjoyed the stunning views across this diverse Outback landscape (six different environments to be exact: monsoonal vine forest, open woodland, flood plains and rivers, mangroves and mudflats, southern lowlands and ridgeline).

Katherine Gorge in Nitmiluk National Park was our most southerly and possibly most spectacular point in our Northern Territory tour. Formed by the Katherine River flowing from Arnhem Land to the Timor Sea, this 23 million-year-old natural marvel is made of towering red rock walls, with just enough room for a couple of boats to pass through. We sailed in between the 230-foot high pass taking in a bit of history and plenty of scenery.

With over 100,000 crocodiles, 140 species of marsupials, 300+ types of birds, it’s not surprising we had animal sightings up until our return to Darwin. We only captured a fraction of the animals on film but have a gander at this water monitor, frill neck lizard, rock wallaby, wallaroos and the most famous Outback mammal of them all, Charlie the Water Buffalo, spotted at the Adelaide River Inn Pub.

We not only survived the Outback, we were enriched by it. Adventure Tours’ thoughtful itineraries and incredible guides made Kakadu and its surrounds come alive—from animal sightings to aboriginal culture. Don’t let the “deadly” reviews of the Outback deter you, it’s a to-die-for place.