Without enough money or time to reach Patagonia but needing a break from Chile’s urban triangle of Santiago, Valparaiso and Viña del Mar, we overnight bused it south to Pucón, in the heart of the Chilean ‘Lake District’. The name Pucón means ‘entrance to the mountains’, in the language of the native Mapuche […]
Photo of the Week: Pucon Chile Read More »
Something seems special about staring across a wide valley towards Afghanistan. All through the Tajik Wakhan, I find my eyes lingering at the villages just across the border and wondering what life is like there. This photo, taken above the village of Langar, is nearly to the end of the Tajik Wakhan. Several kilometers
Photo of the Week: View above the Tajik Wakhan Read More »
I sometimes wonder if I did actually visit Itacaré. It’s taken the form of a warm dream that I was gutted to wake up from. It all started on an ashtray gray bus, jumping across the bay heading north out of Rio de Janeiro where a warm dusk and sewage effluence fumes sent me
Photo of the Week: Itacaré Sunset, Brazil Read More »
Nothing can prepare you for Iguazu Falls. No coffee table picture books or sweeping movie panoramas could come close. The scale is just too vast. This is the widest waterfall in the world stretching across 2.7km and it demands your attention. No, that’s not right. It doesn’t demand it, there’s no need, you just
Photo of the Week: Iguazu Falls taken from Argentina Read More »
Welcome to the Whitsundays, a collection of 74 islands off the central coast of Queensland, Australia. This is Great Barrier Reef territory and a day out on a boat exploring the beaches and reefs around here is pure fun. Together with our vessel’s perma-tanned, skin like leather, captain, six of us headed out
Photo of the Week: Hill Inlet, Whitsunday Island Australia Read More »
Aksai Gorge near Almaty Kazakhstan Almaty just exudes ‘nature’ and ‘mountains’. From almost anywhere in the city, the Tian Shan Mountains form a beautiful snow-capped backdrop to city life. After spending nearly two weeks in the city waiting on an Uzbek visa, though, getting out of the city and into these mountains was my highest
Photo of the Week: Gorge-ous Outpost Aksai Kazakhstan Read More »
I remember (with embarrassment, now) Azerbaijan as a place where at least 30% of my interactions were astoundingly negative, occasionally progressing to in-your-face yelling by both parties. Xinaliq, then, stands out so brightly in comparison to the rest of Azerbaijan precisely because everyone I met seemed so kind. These two men, shepherds who spend much
Photo of the Week: Shepherds' Camp Azerbaijan Read More »
Khovsgol Lake, in the far northern reaches of Mongolia just below Siberian Russia, is actually one of the most popular tourist sites in the country. Show up outside of the summer high season, though, and you’d be forgiven for thinking otherwise. When I arrived at Khatgal, the main town and southernmost edge of the lake, the
Photo of the Week: Khovsgol Lake Panorama Mongolia Read More »
Everybody seems to know that Nepal has beautiful mountain hikes in the Himalayas. What many don’t consider, though, is that lowland Nepal is full of amazing folks and festivals as well. These two girls, in a village just outside the city of Janakpur, are all dressed up to celebrate the annual Sita Bibaha festival. Southern
Photo of the Week: Festive Day Best in Nepal Read More »
This week’s Photo of the Week comes to us from Juno Kim of RunawayJuno.com Seven o’clock in the morning, four of us started hiking to the top of the small hill behind our hotel. We could see the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California) from our balcony, but we were determined to watch a great
Photo of the Week: Sunrise over the Sea of Cortez Mexico Read More »
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