Traveler’s Desk

For the traveler that writes

Introducing Gawai Dayak: the Harvest Festival in Sarawak

Introducing Gawai Dayak: the Harvest Festival in Sarawak

Introducing Gawai Dayak: the Harvest Festival in Sarawak   Gawai Dayak is the celebration of the Rice Harvest Festival of the Dayak people of Sarawak, Borneo (Malaysia). Gawai Dayak translates literally to “Dayak Festival”. The Dayaks are the name given to dozens of individual ethnic tribes of the region, which are chiefly divided into two […]

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kyrgyzstan's alpinad festival

Introducing: Kyrgyzstan's Alpinad Festival

Introducing: Kyrgyzstan’s Alpinad Festival Out of my tent and onto the trail at 05:00, the mountains of Kyrgyzstan’s Ala-Archa National Park look somehow less imposing before the sun rises fully to illuminate the top of ‘Young Communists’ Peak nearly 6500ft above. Despite my pre-dawn enthusiasm, I’m quickly put in my place as one after another

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Goodbye Peru: After Four Years Living in Peru

  In January, 2010, Charlie and I moved to Lima, Peru with two suitcases and our dog, Brandy. I left my family, friends and career for an undetermined amount of time having no idea what it would be like to live abroad. My goal was to quickly learn Spanish and take advantage of every opportunity

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Kolkata (Calcutta) by Morning [Images]

You can learn a lot about a city in its early hours. That’s when my overnight train pulled into Howrah Station. At 5:45am I witnessed Kolkata (Calcutta) waking up. Howrah Station is heroic. It’s not glamorous, but its worn iron structure is still impressive and is, on a whole, tidy in comparison with other stations

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What you need to know about Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

In preparation for our upcoming small group tour to Malaysia and Singapore, I wanted to give you basic information that would help you get a better understanding about Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Although, a hub of southeast Asia, foreigners know very little about the city. Here’s what the traveler needs to know about Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia:

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bhutanese dzong

Introducing: the Bhutanese Dzong

For centuries the dzong has repealed invasions and kept Bhutan a sovereign state. Dzongs are the mighty fortresses of Bhutan. They are an intriguing combination of monastery and government building in one. The Bhutanese Dzongs are impressive, and any trip you take to Bhutan will at include visiting at least two of them. This one,

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george town

Why George Town (Penang) is Probably the Best UNESCO City

An Islamic neighborhood in George Town (Penang) was holding a garage sale a few months back. After a half-hour spent rummaging through broken watches and old leather belts, I left with just one item: a postcard, from the 1960s or ‘70s, of the very hotel we’d checked into the previous day, the Oriental. What’s shocking

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