One of the most popular ways to soak up the scenery of Guangxi Province is to take a bamboo raft down the Li River.  Yangdi is the preferred starting place and the new fee structure starting January 1st, 2012 requires a 118 RMB (US $19) fee which includes a spot on a four-seat bamboo raft. [...]

The shops are all closed up. There’s hardly any foot traffic or cars on the streets. Red lanterns hung around the city add to the atmosphere. But the most noticeable way to tell it’s the Eve of Chinese New Year is by the excessive and near constant explosions of firecrackers. Children light them off. So [...]

My former classmate Alexey and his friend By Nelya Rakhimova There are places on the Earth where winter lasts almost 9 months. Yar-Sale is one of them. Located above the Arctic Circle, it is a small town with population about 5,000 people. It’s the administrative center of Yamal Region, which occupies the whole Yamal Peninsula. [...]

A few years back I had a week’s layover in the UK and bee lined it directly to Wales. It was the only country of the United Kingdom that I hadn’t already visited. After a couple days in Swansea I boarded the famous Heart of Wales Rail Line. After about three hours I had arrived [...]

Photo by leo.prie.to The other day, a good friend had posted her status on Facebook as: Looking to do a Costa Rican yoga retreat… Any recommendations? What a brilliant idea. But wait. What if I’m not Facebook Savvy? Why not Ask GoMad NoMad? If you “don’t do” Facebook or Twitter, that’s why I’m here. You [...]

The day we named the school   One day last June, I went for a jog with my new friend Shannon.  She had moved to Cajamarca as part of a Fulbright grant to teach English at the university.  While she loved her life in Peru, she missed working with school-aged children and was looking for [...]

To many people, Macau means one thing: casinos. This little special administrative region of China that was both the first and last European colony in Asia, makes more money from gambling than Las Vegas. It’s a hot destination for rich mainland Chinese. To me it was about visiting an anomaly: a territory with a curious [...]

The sun sets on 2011 in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia   10)  Ask GoMad Nomad: When to Visit Jeju Island, South Korea   9)  The Women Divers of Jeju   8 )  Photo of the Week: Cinque Terre   7)  My life in Baños del Inca, Cajamarca, Peru   6)  5 Spectacular Castles to Visit in Ireland [...]