Omo Valley Part 1: Mursi Tribe Sep 2018
After visiting the Himba tribe in northwest Namibia last fall, I have been yearning to visit and photograph other African tribes before they get completely swallowed by our fast changing modern world. I decided to plan a trip to Omo Valley in the southern part of Ethiopia where there are about 10 distinct tribes. Omo […]
Mykonos Beach Clubs July 2018
After our stay at Semeli Hotel in Mykonos Town, we moved down to the Branco Hotel on Platis Gialos which is the longest beach of the island. Branco Mykonos is one of the newer kids on the block located right on the beach with their own beach club. It is a short walk to the […]
Mykonos July 2018
After a week of culture, sightseeing, and lots of driving in Romania, we flew to the Greek island of Mykonos for some R&R and for our proper holiday to begin. For our week on this sun-soaked island, we decided to stay 3 nights at Semeli in Mykonos Town or Chora and the other 3 down […]
Bucharest July 2018
Leaving behind the medieval Painted Monasteries of Bucovina, we returned to modern civilization in Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It was once known as the “Little Paris of the East” before World War II when the city was filled with Parisien style art nouveau buildings. Unfortunately, the years of conflict and communist rule destroyed most […]
Painted Monasteries of Bucovina July 2018
After our time in Translyvania, we headed northeast towards the region of Moldavia specifically to see the Painted Monasteries of Bucovina. The drive from Brasov took almost 6 hours. We based ourselves in the small town of Guru Humorului which is very close to two of the four main monasteries people visit: Voronet and Humor […]
Sibiu July 2018
Sibiu is about two and half hours away from Brasov. Sibiu is one of the most important cultural and historical centers in Transylvania and was designated the European Capital of Culture in 2007. Of the seven walled citadels built in the 12th century by the German settlers or Transylvanian Saxons, Sibiu was the largest and […]
Sighisoara July 2018
After about hour and half on the road from Brasov, we arrived to the fairytale-like fortified city of Sighisoara. I noticed I have been using the term fairytale a lot lately but that is really what these towns are like, they exist in a different time. There are a total of seven walled citadels in […]
Brasov July 2018
Brasov is a crayon colored 13th century town in the center of Romania that for centuries was a key commercial center linking the Ottoman Empire with Western Europe. It is one of the seven fortified citadels built by the Saxons and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Saxons settled in Transylvania in order to help […]
Peles Castle & Bran Castle July 2018
From Sofia, we flew to Bucharest in Romania and rented a car to explore the country for the next 5 days. When I hear Romania, my mind immediately jumps to Transylvania’s medieval towns, castles, and Dracula. Romania today is created by the union of Moldavia, Wallachia, Transylvania, Bukovin, and Bessarabia. For a while after World […]
Rila Monastery July 2018
Rila Monastery is about 2 hours south of Sofia and is the largest and most famous Eastern Orthodox monastery in Bulgaria. It was founded in the 10th century and named after the hermit Ivan of Rila, also known as St John of Rila. St Ivan actually lived in a cave not far from the monastery. […]
Sofia July 2018
From Beirut, we continued our summer holiday to the capital and largest city of Bulgaria, Sofia. Sofia is one of the oldest cities in Europe and over the last 2,000 years have come under Thracian, Roman, Ottoman, and Russian rule lending to the mix of architecture with Ottoman mosques sitting next to Soviet-era buildings. Recent […]
Byblos July 2018
About an hour north of Beirut is Byblos. Byblos is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, believed to have been first occupied between 8,800 and 7,000 BC. It was built as the first city in Phoenicia by Cronus. In the middle of the 3rd century BC, Byblos was already an important […]
Jeita Grotto July 2018
En route to Byblos, we made a stop at Jeita Grotto, one of the longest cave systems in the Middle East, spanning almost 9km in length. It was one of the finalists for the New Seven Wonders of the Natural World. There are two separate but interconnected limestone caves filled with stalagmites and stalactites of […]
Anjar July 2018
The ancient ruins I have visited in the past were normally of Greek and Roman origin. Rarely have I come across an Islamic one. Not far from Baalbek is the Umayyad city of Anjar founded by Caliph Walid bin Abd Al Malik in the 8th century. The Umayads were the first Muslim dynasty to pass […]
Baalbek July 2018
Baalbek is an ancient Phoenician city about 2 hours northeast of Beirut in the Beqaa Valley. It was a religious center attracting thousands of pilgrims who worshipped the Phoenician sky-god Ba’al and his consort Astarte, the Queen of Heaven. There was once a grand temple here dedicated to these two pagan gods which was later […]