In the Eye of the Beholder, part 1

It is two days later and I still don’t have all my memory back. I remember arriving at the village where the Shaman’s house was and being a bit nervous. I tried to do some research and asked people I had met and the guides how they felt about such an experience, and all I got was that it’s something I should do. I remembered Ramiro, our English speaking guide, who left me with a Spanish guide in Pantoja,... [Read more]

The War of Tomatoes, Spain

Once a year, one particular street in the sleepy town of Buñol, Spain becomes a red from an ankle-deep tomato juice river, which flows with flip-flops, t-shirts, beer cans, and the occasional Afro wig. The event is called La Tomatina and is the world’s largest tomato fight.

Buñol, which is a one-hour train ride from Valencia, has been hosting La Tomatina since 1945. There are various theories about how it began.... [Read more]

Guerrillas in the Mist

I crawled like a leopard after the still clenched fist ahead of me and received the signal to rise slowly to my knees. As I began to lift myself up, a copper collared snake slithered across my splayed hands. I stifled a scream by sinking my teeth into the quilted collar of my jacket.

At the prospect of being educated by African game rangers in a tropical rain forest, with the added promise of an experience I would... [Read more]

Dune Bashing in Dubai

Dune Bashing in Dubai – adventure for the spirited

It looked, for a moment, like a mirage gone mad. There on the rolling sand dunes were scores of misshapen four-wheelers racing up and down, kicking up clouds of sand as they went. The first thought that leapt to my mind was that a pack of daredevil circus stuntmen had been let loose in the desert. Nope. This wasn’t a mirage. I was 30 minutes out of Dubai and... [Read more]

Sins in Saigon

It began to drizzle when the toothless motorbike man asked to take me home. It was about midday and I had wondered around the city most of the morning finding my way to Reunification Palace, a white square building no more than 7 stories with a retro 1950’s kind-of feel.

A child of the eighties I had a fascination with the Vietnam War, and I couldn’t leave Saigon without finding the places that lit my mind in... [Read more]

Life in Durbar Square, Kathmandu

My first impressions of Kathmandu were nothing to write home about. Scenes of suicidal drivers hysterically tooting loud horns, buffalos crossing the road and open sewers reeking of stale urine did very little to impress me, as I sat speechless in a rattling tuk tuk, swerving its way through the crowded, chaotic labyrinths of Thamel, Kathmandu.

Even more shocking was the bus station. I was horrified at the scene... [Read more]

A Whiskey in Svalbard

It felt kind of weird fleeing a hot Swedish summer and going up north to the cold regions of the North Pole. Nevertheless, going to Svalbard during the sunny period, where temperatures are only a few minus degrees below-zero Celsius instead of the usual minus 30 degrees during the dark period, seemed like a much better option.

I wanted to experience the northern Frontier, the wild untouched areas of the arctic pole,... [Read more]

In The Belum Caves

It isn’t everyone’s idea of a great way to spend the weekend. Definitely not for the city bred, disco and mall addicted youth. A day’s exploration of one of the longest underground cave systems in the sub-continent, can put off even the most adventurous city dweller. Cold, clammy caves, deep under the earth’s surface, infested by bats and other nasty creatures of the night. Yes, all that, but there’s also a touch... [Read more]

Argentina: More Than Meats the Eye

When she announced her plans to move to Argentina, vegetarian Sophie Weber’s friends told her she was crazy. You’ll starve, they told her. Haven’t you heard? Argentina is all beef, all the time.

Sophie, a 21-year-old student from Munich, Germany, wasn’t worried. Having been a vegetarian for all but brief period of carnivorous rebellion, her vegetarian survival skills were finely tuned.

As it turns... [Read more]

Architecture and More in Dusselforf

Apart from it being Germany’s richest city, the nation’s advertising and fashion capital (where Claudia Schiffer was discovered), and the hub of many Japanese corporations and banks, it’s also a city of eclectic art — ultimates and extremes, a sensational mix of over-the-top, old and new.

Radical architecture dominates the Media Harbour were, instead of warehouses and silos, stand edgy art installations... [Read more]

Down the Nuevo Rocafuerte, Ecuador

The jungle trip began the same way I planned to start my independent journey to Iquitos. Early Friday morning I, along with the guide and five other participants - Alex [the writer's husband], two British girls, a New-Zealander, and an Australian, piled up into a motorized canoe filled with locals and baggage of all kinds. The trip down to Nuevo Rocafuerte is about 12 hours long, so this was an excellent opportunity for... [Read more]

Monemvasia: The Medieval Treasure of Greece

The towering rock of Monemvasia topped by a fortress, rises from the sea on the south eastern coast of the Peloponnese. Known as “Rosemary of the East“, or “the Gibraltar of Greece,” it has been a fortified settlement since ancient times. It got its name which means “Sole Entrance” from the 6th century AD because the only entry is through a fortified tunnel. In the words of the poet, Yannis Ritso, “This... [Read more]

In the Jungle, It’s All About the Monkey

His monkey was of the smallest kind in South America, and that is why I trusted him. In this place, it was as good a reason as any. The place was Coca, Ecuador, a small jungle town that I had big expectations for as a portal to an off-the-beaten-track adventure. This trip along the Rio Napo, which eventually merges with the Amazon, would be my first stab into the jungle. The plan was to make way to the border with Peru... [Read more]

Angola, Land of Endless War

At Ondangua, northern Namibia, I met up with the convoy I was travelling with into Angola. We encountered no border controls and continued on past Ruacana Falls to Xangongo, which was once a prosperous Portuguese town, but now most buildings had no roofs and the town was quiet and overgrown. Many of the crumbling buildings’ white-washed facades were riddled with bullet holes. In some places, the road was not clear and... [Read more]

Sydney: Inner Harbor on Foot

The sun is fighting through the clouds and soon clearing the sky from any suspicious rain that may ruin the day. I pack a light picnic along with my swimmers and head out to the harbour. Nothing was going to stop me from having the perfect day.

It is mid-morning and Wharf 3 is already crowded with day tripper taking advantage of the warm weather of a Sydney autumn. Families with children, teenagers with their beach... [Read more]

Chasing the Holy Grail to Dinas Bran Castle

There’s nothing like a medieval castle to exhume one’s sense of romance however deeply it may be buried beneath the mundane. And Wales, that piece of geography that bulges from British soil into the Irish Sea like a full belly, has close to 400 of them in various states of restoration and ruin. But only one claims legendary ties to the Holy Grail: Castell Dinas Bran, which translated into English means ‘castle of... [Read more]

A Sip of Sri Lanka’s Tea Country

Television news bombards us daily with images of global destruction, famine, disease, and wars. No wonder we despair at the future mankind is forging for itself, one filled with hopelessness and religious fanatics hiding behind guns.

However, what the news does not show is a modified trend amongst the citizens of the world - a transfer from salvation to liberation; a change in mindset and taking responsibility, teaching... [Read more]

Close Encounters with Tanzanian Treasures

It’s midnight. A relatively peaceful night so far. As I turn over sleepily, absent-mindedly rolling out of my safe perimeter of flimsy mosquito net (supposedly protecting me from the dreaded tsi tsi fly), the silence is interrupted by a knock. Someone at the door? Who could possibly need me at this hour? Plus, nobody knows me here at Seronera Wildlife Lodge. I drag myself to the large window and peer out – there he... [Read more]

Chinatown in Bangkok, Thailand

Having previously lived in China, I had to know what Bangkok’s Chinatown was like. I took the skytrain to Saphan Taksin (the last stop on the Silom line) and then rode the Chao Phraya River Express north to Tha Ratchawong where I could walk into Chinatown. I walked straight off the ferry dock, following the people and the pungent aromas into the heart of the activity. All of Bangkok is congested, but nothing like this.... [Read more]

Taichung Adventure in Taiwan

Over a bowl of steaming soup in Taichung, Taiwan, I am tempted to ask my sister about its ingredients. The beef-broth soup was a delicious blend of tofu, chicken, noodles, mushrooms and a few ingredients I could not identify. However, one lesson I had learned during my trip to Taiwan was that nothing ruins a great bowl of soup like finding out the brown chunks I had been eating were actually cow stomach.

Located... [Read more]

Habibi

“You married or single?” Ali asks me bluntly. I am in Iraq wearing a flak jacket and Kevlar helmet – I do not feel feminine at all. I am not surprised when I am greeted as “sir” in all my gear so his question takes me off guard.

“What?” I ask. I have just introduced myself to this man.

“Are you married? With husband? Or single.” He asks pointing at the gold Claddagh ring I wear on my... [Read more]

Solo She-Surfer, Costa Rica

I have a list of things I want to do before I die, and learning how to surf is one of them. So I searched the web for surf camps anywhere in the world. From the uber swanky to a relaxed experience, I decided on a combination with Waves Costa Rica.

After years of traveling with a spouse, I became comfortable traveling anywhere. However, this changed when it came time to travel alone. I’m a woman. I had worries... [Read more]

Puebla’s Food for Angels

Galleons with bellies bulging gold sailed from Mexico bound for Spain, but a staggering amount of gold stayed in Puebla de Los Angeles, one of the jewels in Colonial Spain’s crown. When the city was designed by Bishop Julian Garces in the 1530’s, he intended it to be a city where angels could reside.

Whether angels have laid their heads to rest here, or as legends claim, helped to build the cathedral’s bell... [Read more]

Plaza Life of South America

Some of the most enjoyable memories on my year long journey through South America happened while sitting, reading, gazing, listening, talking, zoning out or all of the above in a town’s plaza. Whether it was the fullness of trees and detailed flower structures sprouting around, artisans hanging out and conversing among themselves, actors performing skits to an encircling crowd of pedestrians, or permanent chess boards... [Read more]

Eger, The Jewel of Hungary’s Wine

Being one of life’s great cheapskates, I decided against hiring a car and took a two-hour €6 bus ride out of Budapest to Eger, the historic wine region of Hungary. This was a decision I would later regret.

A formidable Neanderthal lumbered onto the already full bus. He could easily have been the world’s most terrifying human. He lunged passed, grunted then looked back at the empty seat beside me. I felt a... [Read more]

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