Paris on a Budget

Like any large city, Paris is expensive and like for any visitor, the daily expenses add up. Below are a few practical suggestions, for every budget, on how to make the most of your money; however long your visit.

Choosing the right travel Pass
Paris’s array of metro options can seem daunting at first glance, but for visitors they basically boil down to two choices: taking a ticket for a single trip or buying... [Read more]

Paris Museums

Paris has some of the best museums in the world, but not all of them have to cost you a fortune. All national museums are free on the first Sunday of each month ( but expect long queues) and if you’re under 25 you can enter the Louvre for free every Friday night (after 6pm) for free.

Many other museums offer free entry at various times and there are over a dozen free museums which are well worth checking out. Some... [Read more]

Mexico’s Mayan Temple of Ixchel

When Spanish explorers first sailed ashore Isla Mujeres in 1517, they discovered an island where the Mayans had already lived out part of their existence.  Built hundreds of years earlier, at its southern end stood the temple to the goddess Ix-Chel as well as several stone structures in the shape of women.  To honor Isla Mujeres’ female slant, it was given its current name - Spanish for “the island of women.”    

Positioned... [Read more]

Mexico’s Sculpture by the Caribbean Sea

An outdoor modern art exhibit stands at the southern tip of Isla Mujeres, Mexico, a colorful tribute to the area’s indigenous Mayan civilization. Situated about five miles away from the island’s little downtown area, Punta Sur Sculpture Garden was created in 2001  - the work of almost two dozen Mexican artists as well as sculptors from around the world.  Travelers wanting to mix a little culture into their... [Read more]

The Maasai of Kenya

I was setting up my tent behind the park office in Amboseli NP and didn’t notice a local teenager approaching. His earlobes hung down to his shoulders weighed down by special little copper-colored weights, the rest of the earlobe wrapped in beaded tubes. On his right hip was a sheathed knife, and on his left was a cellphone. “Do you maybe want to visit a Maasai village?” he asked.

Finding the Mandrills in Gabon, Africa

I ground my teeth but kept on going. Gently securing the camera on my back, and making sure more dirt doesn’t get in, I plowed through the swamp and cursed under my breath when sharp serrated grass blades cut me deep enough to draw blood. By now, I looked like I’ve been whipped. “Think about it as of an exfoliating treatment,” said my husband walking behind me. I could hear him smile. I turned around,... [Read more]

People Watching in Axum, Ethiopia

Ethiopia’s people walk the dusty streets of Axum like characters from sun-bleached pages of a biblical picture book. I catch them in mid-stride, fetching water, going to church and carrying wood. The town is big, but almost everybody is traditionally dressed. Dignified elders sit on street benches and swat flies with horse-hair brushes, their respectable heads wrapped in white turbans. Most women have exactly the... [Read more]

Visiting the Simien Mountains with the King of Africa

His eyes are in the shade of massive brows. A ridged muzzle, small angular nostrils, and a round jaw with the top lip curling back suddenly to expose sharp fangs set in wide pink gums. If I didn’t know better I’d be convinced his get-up is skillfully sewn of lion skins, so splendid is his costume, from mane to tuft. A cocked fur hat, and on his chest — a bleeding heart, set right in the middle, like a... [Read more]

Gondor’s Tresure in Ethiopia

It there was one church that won my heart in Ethiopia, it was the Debre Birhan Sellassie of Gondor. Stepping into it was like stepping into a children’s biblical storybook. Angels adorn the roof and pillars of this truly divine dwelling, while every single other holy character is depicted on the walls in fading, though still very vivid colors.

Its keeper is a frail but tough old monk with an exquisite ability... [Read more]

Birds, Poachers, and Twitchers in Ethiopia

Sometimes, it seems like Ethiopia is all lakes, birds, and monasteries. Dirty swimming water and organized religion I can do without, but after seeing a silvery-cheeked hornbill I doubt that I could keep living my life and not become a serious twitcher - a bird-watcher who tries to spot as many rare varieties as possible.

My new found obsession with birds reached its peak when I spotted a man selling lovebirds in... [Read more]

Chichen Itza, A Must-See in Mexico

Chichen Itza, the greatest of the Yucatan Peninsula’s Mayan ruins, was a mandatory stop for me when I was in the area - and not because it’s made one of the Seven Wonders of the World lists.  Rather, I had explored Tulum just a year earlier, Chichen Itza’s little sister several hours away on the Riviera Maya.  Although Tulum is spectacular in itself, I had felt I was missing the big time.

Now,... [Read more]

Bale Mountains

Just as the little bastard had probably planned it, only a few kilometers later I’ve discovered that the basket of berries he sold me was half full with banana leafs. Cursing aloud, but smiling inside, I had admit to myself that it was kind of clever and my own fault for not checking.

I was on my way to the Bale Mountains. African scenery is often monotonous and rarely overwhelming with few exceptions like... [Read more]

Love Ethiopia

Ethiopia is one of the most interesting, memorable, and difficult countries in Africa, and I’m happy to say I was in love with it at first sight.

The countryside is lovely. I never knew if the subject of my next spontaneous rural shot will give me a big smile and then come see what’s on the screen, or will bend down for a rock. On that note - tired looking women with enormous heaps of straw, grass,... [Read more]

My Peak, Climbing Mount Kenya

It finally happened. I got there first. I’m never first. Not when it comes to mountain peaks. No, I’ll make it, to this day I only have one “white whale” and it stands above six thousand meters high in Bolivia. On the bright side, I now know the limits of my body when facing elevation sickness.

I’ve decided to climb Mount Kenya as independently as possible. Just with a guide, no porters,... [Read more]

Macau, Don’t call it Vegas.

Many people expect Vegas when they come to Macau. There are certainly a plethora of casinos and plenty of ready and able gamblers. But the gambling scene seems the least of it really when such a vast offering of cultural experiences await. The ruins of St. Paul, a plethora of temples from grande to tiny, the lavish Handover Museum, Senado Square, and the Mandarin House. We have only four days here and we take in as much... [Read more]

The Colors of Isla Mujeres, Mexico

I didn’t want to know what to expect when I disembarked from the ferry onto Isla Mujeres. The only information I really needed upon my arrival to this little island in Mexico was the name of the family-owned hotel where I would be staying.  The rest, I had decided, I would discover bit by bit. 

Isla Town, a village at the island’s northern end, holds most of the restaurants, shops and hotels as well... [Read more]

“Messiah” Mara in Kenya

It hailed on the way from Lake Nakuru to Masai Mara. Tiny, but vicious hailstones bombarded the pavement, bounced of it, and lived, if only for a few seconds, to make their mark. Can one really forget hail on the African Equator?!

Later, the sky cleared in a most heavenly way, with sun rays piercing fluffy but angry-looking clouds. It looked like maybe the messiah read the address wrong, and will be beamed down... [Read more]

Cirque in Macau

Cirque du Soleil’s first permanent show in Asia has finally found it’s way to Macau. The show is called Zaia and it’s housed in a theatre in The Venetian Macau on the Cotai Strip built especially for the show. It is only 90 minutes long in an effort to be family friendly and I was enthralled every second. Performers bicycled through the sky. Acrobats dangled impossibly high above our heads. Astronauts drifted through... [Read more]

Travel Cheap, Free City Tours of Paris

Want to see the sights and know the stories behind them? Paris is full of tour guides but one company offers their services for free. A 3.5 hour tour of the city takes in many of the major sites including: Place Saint Michel, Notre Dame, Pont Neuf, Académie Française, the Louvre, Musee d’Orsay, les Invalides, Palais Royal, Opera Garnier, Tuleries Gardens, Place de la Concorde, Grande and Petit Palais and (of course)... [Read more]

Altira Hotel, My Kind of Digs

Years ago, Martini and Rossi hosted me on a trip to Italy that included one evening at the Venice film festival. The roof top bar at the Altira Hotel in Macau reminded me of that terrace with groovy chairs in which couples can lounge head to toe and toe to head like a living Yin and Yang and a view of the city that rivaled any I have seen. Friday nights, the hotel offers a free wine tasting and a bounty of dried fruits... [Read more]

Grutas Park, Lithuania’s Communist Past

The Grutas Park is southern Lithuania’s biggest tourist attraction and has been open since 2001. The Park was the brainchild of mushroom entrepreneur Viliumas Malinauskas, who bought all the park’s sculptures in the decade after the country became independent in 1991. He realized that after the downfall of Communism and the break up of the Soviet Union, all the statues from this era of Lithuanian history would need... [Read more]

Travel Africa, Amboseli Twisters

I thought it was a beginning of a tornado, but then another one appeared, and another. Pillars of copper sand twisted and grew with every spin, rising high into the sky. Some were as big in diameter as a decent sized hut, and as one of the twisters approached a village I almost jumped out of the car screaming for the villagers to take cover. But the villagers saw it coming, and as they seemed to be unbothered, I too calmed... [Read more]

Four Seasons and Venetian Macau. Hotels. Yum.

I have a bad habit of turning my nose up at hotel restaurants. That would be a very big mistake in Macau. There are a ton of fab ones there, many of which are chain, like the MGM Grand and the Four Seasons. We had a dim sum meal at the Four Seasons that I still dream about. Steamed dumplings and hot soup. A flight of tea. Impeccable service and Coke Light over ice. Not traditional I know. But I love the extra sweetness... [Read more]

The Treasures in Bodrum, Turkey

I didn’t really expect to find a Maritime Museum in the imposing Knights of Malta Castle, towering over Bodrum Harbor, but that’s exactly what I found this extraordinary place. The castle has many dark and cool rooms as well as arched walkways, which have been made good use of as exhibition places for the museum pieces. The Maritime Museum is very special, as it is the only of its kind in Europe which exhibits... [Read more]

The Real Cancun, Mexico

Cancun as it is popularly known - a haven for fans of soft sand beaches and see-through sapphire water, a home to all-inclusive resorts catering to people who want a forget-the-world beach vacation - this is, in reality, but a part of this Mexican city.  Drive away from the Zona Hotelera, or the hotel zone, and you will find the rest. 

Away from the strand of sand where tanning tourists lounge is the real Cancun. ... [Read more]

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