Zipaquira Salt Cathedral Feb 2014
Zipaquira is a town about 50km from Bogota and is a place of pilgrimage in Colombia. The town is made famous by its the Zipaquira Salt Cathedral, which is an underground church built within the tunnels of the salt mine 200 meters underground. Many years before the main cathedral was built, the miners have already […]
Salento Feb 2014
Salento is a sleepy town in the northeast of Colombia. The peaceful town becomes filled with tourists on weekends and holidays, using it as a base to visit the nearby Valle de Cocora, as well as the coffee plantations in the region.
Peruvian Amazon Oct 2013
There are two seasons at the Amazon River in Peru: high water season from December to May and low water season from June to November. Even though we went during the low water season, there was still some rain. The main difference in visiting during the different seasons is the ability to access the jungle […]
Moray & Maras Oct 2013
Moray, about 50km northeast of Cusco, is an ancient agricultural research center made of several enormous circular terraces. I thought this was one of the more interesting Inca sites I visited. The location and design of this place creates a temperature difference of 15 degrees Celsius between the lowest and highest terrace.
Machu Picchu Oct 2013
Machu Picchu in Peru has always been on my bucket list. Since the Inca had no written language, there is no record of why this complex was ever built. It may forever remain a mystery as to why such efforts were made to build a city that could only support a few thousand people especially […]
Cusco and Sacred Valley Oct 2013
We based ourselves in Cusco, the historic capital of the Inca Empire in southeastern Peru, in order to explore the nearby Sacred Valley of the Incas as well as Machu Picchu. Cusco is at an elevation of around 3,400m. Flying directly in from Lima which is at sea level doesn’t allow for the body to […]
Alacati July 2013
Turkey is filled with unsung beach holiday towns along the Aegean coast. Largely undiscovered outside Turkey, Alacati is less touristy than Bodrum and is where many Turks like to spend their holidays. Its white stone houses, cobblestone streets lined with outdoor cafes and shops, and beautiful beaches are perfect for an idyllic seaside break. It is only […]
Ephesus & Pergamum July 2013
Ephesus was once one of the three largest cities of the Roman Asia Minor. The city was famed for the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The iconic Library of Celcius and the open-air theatre capable of holding 25,000 spectators are other highlights at Ephesus. The city had one […]
Pamukkale & Aphrodisias July 2013
Pamukkale, which translates to “Cotton Castle”, is a natural site in southwestern Turkey. The white terraces here are made of travertine, and not salt, which is a sedimentary rock deposited by water flowing from the hot springs. The water from the hot springs are supersaturated with calcium carbonate and when the carbon dioxide de-gasses from […]
Cappadocia July 2013
Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia of Turkey. Ancient volcanic eruptions covered this region with thick ash which solidified into a soft rock. These volcanic rocks in the area eroded over time by wind and water into hundreds of pillars and minarets called fairy chimneys, some up to 40 meters high. People of […]
Bagan April 2013
Bagan is the land of thousands of ancient stupas and temples dating from the 11th and 12th centuries. Over 10,000 religious structures were built in the 42 sq km plain with about 2,200 remaining today. Erosion is an issue in this area with much of the stucco coating of the temples gone revealing the reddish […]
Mandalay April 2013
Mandalay is the second largest city and the last royal capital of Burma. Only two Burmese kings ruled from here, King Mingdon and King Thibaw, before the British conquest in 1885. Even though a large part of the city and its splendid wooden structures were bombed during WWII, Mandalay still remains the religious center of […]
Yangon April 2013
Yangon, also know as Rangoon, was the former capital of Myanmar. It is filled with colonial buildings left behind from the British times. We spent most of our time relaxing at the Governor’s Residence Hotel. We did venture out to visit the Bogyoke Market (Scott’s Market) but the highlight was definitely the Schwedagon Pagoda, the […]
Easter Island March 2013
Easter Island or Rapa Nui is probably the most remote place in the world I ever will be, other than Antartica. It is truly in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by water, with no other land mass in sight. A lot of its history is still a mystery because there is no written record and […]
Atacama Desert Feb 2013
Atacama Desert in northern Chile is known to be the driest place in the world. Before arriving, I envisioned super dry skin and chapped lips, but strangely enough, it was not as dry as I thought. I have had drier skin in NYC in the winter. What is interesting in Atacama Desert is its Martian […]