No visit to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is complete without visiting the Skybridge of the Petronas Towers. When the towers were completed in 1998, they were the tallest buildings in the world at 451 meters, holding that title until 2004 saw the completion of Taipei 101 reach a height of 509 meters. Malaysia was understandably proud at this engineering triumph and the twin towers remain a symbolic achievement of Malaysia entering the  modern global economy.

If you arrive at the towers early in the morning you can get one of the few allotted tickets for each day to ride the elevator to the Skybridge on the 41^st floor. The two-story bridge is 170 meters off the ground and spans the 58 meters between the towers. The bridge is not attached to the structures, but is instead designed to slide in and out of the towers to prevent it from breaking during high winds.

Under the towers is the Suria KLCC Mall which features mostly high-end retailers. It also includes an art gallery, a philharmonic theater, an underwater aquarium and a science center. Encompassing 17 acres below the buildings is KLCC park with walking paths, fountains, wading pools, and a gigantic children’s playground.

The Petronas Towers remain the world’s tallest twin buildings.

Text and photos by Stephen Bugno

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My first afternoon in Bangkok I wandered around the back streets of Chinatown. Here Bangkok looks much as it did 100 years ago. Markets abound in the side streets and alleyways in between and around the two main parallel boulevards of Yaowarat and Charoen Krung. In Chinatown you’ll find everything from herbalists and gold dealers to restaurants serving specialties such as bird’s nest and shark fin soup.

Meet some of vendors of Chinatown in my photos below.  See the complete set of Bankok Chinatown photos in my Flickr album.

Text and images by Stephen Bugno

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Here is some street art from the Columbia Heights and Adams Morgan neighborhoods of Washington, DC.

The District of Columbia is one of the most underrated cities in the United States. Besides several great museums, most of which are free (the ones of the Smithsonian, anyway), there are the various neighborhoods, each with its own essence.

Head to Mount Pleasant for lots of Latin flavor, the U Street corridor for great music and African-American history, and Georgetown for historic buildings. Scattered around the city are some of the best Ethiopian restaurants this side of Addis Ababa.

Text and images by Stephen Bugno

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These photos were taken at the khachkar field in Noratus, Armenia. It is the largest such concentration of these carved memorial stones, known as khachkars, anywhere in the country. A few years back I was lucky enough to visit an Armenian-Russian friend of mine’s extended family living in Armenia.

The Armenians are some of the friendliest, most hospitable folks I’ve met in my travels. They are a proud people with an ancient culture. So few tourists make it to Armenia, that almost everyone I came in contact with was curious about where I came from and what I was doing there.

The Noratus khachkar field lies close to the shores of Lake Sevan and truly is one of Armenia’s most remarkable sites. The huge cemetery is filled with nearly 900 of these beautifully caved stones, spanning a period from the 10^th to the 17^th century. No two khachkars are identical.

See more photos from Armenia.

Text and photos by Stephen Bugno.

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Khachkars are carved memorial stones.

The Field of Khachkars in Armenia

Looking west off Highway 285 in south-central Colorado

Big skies, wide open spaces, imposing mountains; this is Colorado. These photos were taken in or around Great Sand Dunes National Park—the most underrated National Park in the United States.

I’ll never forget the image of the glowing orange sun in my rear view mirror as I drove down from Poncha Pass into the valley with the commanding Sangre de Cristo Mountains rising to the east.

See more images from my road trip through Colorado on Flikr.

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Great Sand Dunes with the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the backgroud.

A gas pump just outside of Great Sand Dunes National Park.

Gergeti Trinity Church on the hill above Kazbegi, Georgia

Georgian culture is completely inseparable from their orthodox Christianity.  The land and people have been Christian since the 4th century.  People walking past a Georgian church stop, face the church, and cross themselves before continuing on their way.  The interior of the churches are dim with painted icons of saints and the holy family on the walls.  Devotees kiss the icon and then dip their forehead to lightly touch the object as they pray.  This is also done on the outside of the church’s gates and the interior corners of the building.  Services are marked by chanting prayers and ethereal singing by the priest and select groups of worshippers.  The Byzantine faces of the art, the candles, and the devotion of the people make the churches much more than a tourist attraction.

Text by Jett Thomason, photos by Stephen Bugno

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The Jvari Monestery on the cliff overlooking Mtsketa

Brought to popular culture in the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade film, Petra, Jordan is one of the highlights of any trip to the Middle East. The entrance of Petra follows the bottom of a narrow rock gorge called The Siq, eventually leading to the dramatic first view of The Treasury.

Petra is thought to have been established sometime around the 6th century BCE as the capital city of the Nabataeans. What remains today is quite a large area. I spent two days hiking around the site, exploring the various tombs, ruins, and rock cut architecture.

Petra is accessed from the nearest town, Wadi Musa.

Text and photo by Stephen Bugno

The Treasury at Petra

The Monastery at Petra

A view of the town of Wadi Musa towards the direction of Petra

By Jett Thomason

“So what’s the food like in Canada?” I ask. Chris, environmental engineer and admitted Canadian, is telling me about his country at a Washington, DC winter happy hour.

“Well, basically it’s pretty much the same as the States.” I knew it. “But there, we’ve got a great bar food that originated in Quebec. It’s called ‘poutine’.”

Not quite the melodic French flow of words like hors d’oeuvres or entrée that I was expecting of a dish from Quebec.

“Oh man, it’s great!” Chris is enthusiastic. “French fries and cheese curds. It’s so good!”

Cheese curds were introduced to me by an ex-girlfriend from Wisconsin, so there’s a soft spot in my heart for a squeaky curd. But I’m not really feeling the pairing with French fries.

“And then,” Chris continues, “You add gravy on top!”

“What, like brown, regular gravy?” I ask.

“Yes. Man! It’s so good.”

I take a long swig of my beer. “Chris, you Canadians are alright, but I’m never eating that poutine stuff.”

Six months later I’m cowered over an Ottawa diner with Chris, his lovely wife Christine, and a large group of their friends. My fork is poised with a prime load of fries, cheese curds, and slightly congealed brown gravy. I take a bite. Man, it’s so good.

Ottawans know that poutine is good. They love poutine and God love Ottawans, they’re not afraid to buck tradition and take some chances with the dish, too. In my ten days in Ottawa (great city and you should visit) I started seeing poutine in its classic incarnation and other interpretations everywhere. I knew that for this experience, these tales to have any real credibility, I’d have to capture photographic proof. Thus was born, “Portraits of Poutine”.

This is it. The classic, the renowned, the poutine. Legend has it that the gravy is to help keep the French fries and cheese curds warm in a cold Quebecois bar. Doesn’t it look wonderful here? Yours, for the idiosyncratic price of $5.48. Canadian.

I’m not kidding when I said the poutine is available everywhere. Everywhere.

I don’t know what’s more pretentious. Claiming their take on basic poutine is ‘famous’ or somehow belittling what I’m sure is lovely ‘rural’ poutine. Let them know what you think at www.urbanwell.ca

Canada prides itself on its multiculturalism. And here we have it, cuisine from the heartland and cuisine from the islands living side by side in peace. United in their poutine.

How can you not spring for the $2 addition of curds, gravy and a lil’ island jerk flava?

I was a big fan of Smoke’s. It is the kind of poutine joint not afraid of asking The Eternal Question. “How do you like your poutine?”

Newspaper clippings celebrating poutine. Note the stark and shameful absence of American newspapers on this wall.

This is a photo of the counter of a ‘poutinerie’.

Note the wide variety of poutines. From Italian to Mexican to American South and back, Smoke’s has it all.

Note the young man at center. He is a ‘poutinier’. Learn these words and you are ready for Canada.

Note the great Smoke’s Poutinerie tee-shirt on the poutinier. I cry a little every time I see this picture and remember I decided to pass on purchasing a Poutine tee-shirt.

Smoke’s pulled pork poutine. Before.

Smoke’s pulled pork poutine. After.

Mmmmmm….I recommend making some Canadian friends and sharing the large.

This is a shot of the closest thing to a ‘hood in Ottawa. Here, it’s just drive-by Delicious Poutine.

Like a high-school yearbook, this brings back memories…

First dish of poutine. Saturday, 2:04 am. Happy face indeed.

Moscow is not the most popular destination for the Christmas and New Year holidays for foreigners. However, during this time you can see a different Moscow; everything is illuminated and Christmas trees are in every corner of the city. Red Square is a place of celebration where you can find a traditional ice skating rink and fireworks. Moscow is not the coldest place in Russia, nevertheless sometimes it is necessary to find a nice cafe and drink hot mulled wine which the best way to get warm. I was lucky to spend several days in Moscow with my friends, walking around and enjoying the festive mood in the heart of Russia that is throbbing fast and shining bright.

Text and photo by Nelya Rakhimova

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Whitby is a picturesque seaside town in Yorkshire, in the northeast of England. There’s an old ruined abby on the top of the hill with great views of the brick row houses and out to the sea. But the best thing about Whitby is the fish and chips, claimed to be the world’s best.

Text and photo by Stephen Bugno

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This shot was taken in Wadi Rum, Jordan, an incredible desert landscape that was used in the filming of Lawrence of Arabia. We took a jeep tour around the area and camped out in the open air for two nights with the Bedouin. The full moon was so bright it illuminated the serene desert scenery and drowned out any chance to see the stars.

Text and photo by Stephen Bugno

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Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia is the largest salt flat in the world. The only way to see it is by going on one of these jeeps navigated by experienced drivers/guides through this otherwise disorienting landscape where every direction looks the same. The day was sunny but bitingly cold and there were many other jeeps cruising around like specks of metal in a vast whiteness. As our jeep sped toward the horizon where the crystal clear blue sky meets the blinding white land, I realized that this was a surreal experience never to be forgotten.

Photo and text by Noel Lau

Noel Lau is an international nomad who is currently living in Medellin, Colombia and blogs at http://wander2nowhere.blogspot.com/

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After an arduous journey by overnight train and long, bumpy van ride, we arrived in Svaneti, a region of the Republic of Georgia surrounded by huge mountain peaks. The region is inhabited by the Svans and is known for the stone watchtowers that fill the villages and for the recent wave of banditry. I wrote a story about my trip to Svaneti on TheExpeditioner. Read Majestic Mountains, Beguiling Towers, And Lawless Bandits, Oh My

Photo and text by Stephen Bugno

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Cocora Valley, Colombia just outside Salento.  Cocora valley is the home to the famous Wax Palms that can reach up to 25 meters high. The valley is also one of the entrances into Los Nevados National Park and one of the best hikes of my life.

Photo and text by Suzi Clark

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It’s hard to believe this park is only 2 ½ hours from 12 million people and there were so few visitors. Joshua Tree National Park is nearly 800,000 protected acres in Southern California where the Mojave and Colorado deserts converge. We entered the park from the south where the Colorado Desert lies at an elevation of 3,000 feet and climbed northwest into the Mojave at elevations of four and five thousand feet where huge granite boulders rise up among the pinyon pines, junipers, Mojave yuccas, prickly pears in addition to the park’s namesake: the Joshua Trees. Although they can grow up to 40 feet tall (at a rate of an inch per year) the Joshua Tree isn’t a tree at all, but species of yucca.

Text and photo by Stephen Bugno

After battling mobs of American and European families on holiday in Colorado’s crowded Mesa Verde National Park, we headed west into Utah to find a much less visited park. National Bridges National Monument is a great example of extraordinary display of beauty that is southern Utah. There are three natural bridges in the park, Kachina, Sipapu, and Owachomo, each a natural bridge of a slightly different age. We took a steep and twisting trail down to the river that flows underneath this bridge, Sipapu.

Text and photo by Stephen Bugno

We needed to return our rented moto by 4pm, so we decided to visit Santorini’s white sand beach before leaving the island. However, there were some road signs that just didn’t make sense and we decided to follow any sign that said beach. To our delight, we found ourselves at the red sand beach. We had to park the moto and walk about 10 minutes (over red rocks and stones), but it was well worth it. The blue water and deep red sand was such an unexpected surprise! It was hard to leave the beautiful spot, but we did return the moto and caught our flight away from paradise and back to reality.

Text and photo by Cara Metell

About 15 miles outside of Ulaanbaatar, we made a sharp left turn off the main two-lane highway and started off-roading it in our Russian van south to the Gobi. For another six days we wouldn’t see another paved road.

Part of the attraction of driving to the Gobi was just to be out in the middle of nothingness: no people, no other vehicles, no trees, no roads, no mountains, no camels, a featureless landscape. This is what I had come to see. And I wasn’t disappointed.

Text and photo by Stephen Bugno