Stalk the Cheetahs at San Diego Zoo Safari Park

The San Diego Zoo Safari Park, previously known as the San Diego Wild Animal Park, is a zoo experience unlike most others that you will experience. Unlike in conventional zoos, the animals at the San Diego Safari Park roam in large enclosures that approximate their homes in the wild. Visitors to the park can explore the animals’ habitats on a safari ride that allows them to glimpse endangered African animals up close and personal in a free-range enclosure, without the typical zoo barriers. Imagine being within a few feet of a majestic giraffe, close enough to see its long tongue curling around tree branches and stripping them of its leaves. Children will love the sight of little gazelles fleeting nimbly over the hills, or locking ...

read more

Ride the Star Ferry for Night View of Hong Kong Skyline

Hong Kong is one of the world’s most vibrant cities, and for the uninitiated can seem overwhelming. The crush of crowds in Causeway Bay, the polished skyscrapers in Central, the local eateries where servers rush to and fro shouting in Cantonese, the never-ending rush to shop, shop, shop – it all begins to blur a little after a day or two of sightseeing. One excellent way to enjoy local culture and experience a moment of serenity in the middle of the city is to take the Star Ferry across Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour in the evening. One of the city's icons, the Star Ferry ride is cheap, has local flair, and offers a great view of the Hong Kong skyline and harbur front illuminated at ...

read more

Explore a 500-Year Old Feudal Castle - Himeji Castle

read more

Encounter Elephant Seals Breeding at Piedras Blancas Beach

The cries of the elephant seals reached our ears as we walked along the boardwalk towards Piedras Blancas Beach along the Central Coast of California. Strange popping sounds heralded the huge males as they threatened each other for beach territory, while the females wailed as they nursed their young. The vast expanse of beach was completely covered by a mass of milling, blubbery bodies, reminiscent of overstuffed sausages, yet surprisingly agile. A huge male, his large snout hanging like an elephant's trunk (from whence the elephant seals get their name), rose onto his front flippers and chased another male down the beach, his multiple-ton body moving with astonishing rapidity. December through March is breeding season for the elephant seals at Piedras Blancas beach, and visitors ...

read more

Follow the Path to Crucifixion at the Via Dolorosa

Following in the footsteps of Jesus along the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem is one of the most meaningful and significant ways to experience the Old City. Jerusalem, one of the most vibrant and most fought-over cities in the world, is a holy site for three of the world’s major religions: Islam, Judaism and Christianity. Pilgrims from all over the world flock to this beautiful ancient city in search of inspiration and fulfillment. From the arresting sight of the faithful in earnest prayer at the Western Wall, to glimpses of the beautiful Dome of the Rock, Old Jerusalem overflows with incredible sights. The Via Dolorosa, latin for “Way of Suffering”, is regarded as the path that Jesus trod as he was tried, convicted, beaten, and then ...

read more

Uncle Ho

read more

Cruise the River Art Gallery that is the Li River

Cruising down the Li River in the Guilin area of China is one of the most memorable ways to experience the natural Chinese landscape. Imagine floating down a peaceful river, ice-cold drink in your hand; while around you, rising up on the banks of the jade-green river, countless karst peaks tower into the sky—majestic renderings of a classical Chinese landscape. Bamboo rafts fitted with chairs and steered by oarsman cruise down the many tributaries of the Li River. Skillfully plying a long bamboo pole through both deep and shallow waters, you are able to relax, forget your worries, and enjoy the misty jade and emerald-hued Guilin landscape. The surrounding karst mountains are curiously eroded and worn into fantastic shapes; their ancient limestone peaks carved with ...

read more

Ascend Mount Sinai by Cover of Night

It was midnight, and our Egyptian driver was impatient as 10 tourists tried to stuff themselves into a rather undersized van. Making sure we had our passports to show for the midnight checkpoints, we were soon en route, sleepy but excited, towards our destination: climbing Mount Sinai by night. The night route for climbing Mount Sinai is a popular one, undertaken by many in order to bask in the beautiful Sinai sunrise. We were dropped off at the front gate along with hundreds of other travellers making the night trek. Waving flashlights, the Bedouin guides called for their assigned tour groups to make their way through the metal detectors to begin climbing Mount Sinai. Our guide was a friendly, quiet fellow who had an odd ...

read more

Hiking the Cinque Terre Trail, Italy

In the rugged mountainous coastline of Cinque Terre National Park, we gazed down at the impossibly vibrant colours of a gem-like town perched on a cliff. Our Cinque Terre hike had brought us through five of these jewel-tinted towns, countless delightful swimming spots, hillsides planted with olive groves, and walkways overlooking the ocean. Cinque Terre National Park is located on a rugged area of coastline on the Italian Riviera. The five villages in the Park: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore—are charming historic towns where time seems to have stood still. Vendors hawk fresh produce in the narrow winding streets, and tourists can wander at will through the village shops, pausing to sample the delicious local fare, or cooling off in the sunlit ...

read more

Trace the Fall of the Berlin Wall

Once an ominous dividing barricade at the heart of Berlin, the Berlin Wall has today been absorbed into thriving city life; yet it remains a monument to the past. In certain parts of the city the Berlin Wall has disappeared entirely; while in others visitors can still see the brick outline set into the pavement which traces the historic separation between the former East and West Berlin. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, certain parts of the concrete barricade were left standing. Today, they are painted over with various artists’ creations, embodying the German sentiment about both the Wall and the country. A visit to the “East Side Gallery" at Warschauer Strasse allows visitors to trace the fall of the Berlin Wall through artists' ...

read more

Release a Chinese Lantern at the Mid-Autumn Festival in China

The Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival in China is a fascinating cultural experience. Strolling along the waterfront in Xiamen, a small coastal city in southern China, it's exciting to witness celebrants lighting sky lanterns and watching them float up into the dark sky like red and orange stars. These Mid-Autumn festival paper lanterns are roughly balloon shaped, with a bundle of rags tied underneath them. When the rags are set aflame, the balloons begin to fill up with hot air until they float up into the night sky. While these sky lanterns can’t be very safe (we once witnessed a burning pile of rags dropping down from the sky and just missing a couple of girls on a motor scooter), they are certainly a fun and beautiful ...

read more

Bathe in a Natural Hot Spring at Kerosene Creek

The best things in life are free, and that is certainly the case for the hidden beauty of Kerosene Creek in New Zealand. A thermal river runs over an old lava flow, and here visitors can relax under warm waterfalls in two naturally-heated pools. The surprising thing is that this natural wonder, though popular with locals, is hardly mentioned in the tourist guidebooks distributed in the region; and scarcely honoured with a few lines in the Lonely Planet. Maybe that's because Kerosene Creek, truly is off the beaten track, requiring a drive down a dirt road to a barely visible wooden marker; and then a short hike through a pine forest. Nevertheless, a hot soak in Kerosene Creek's beautiful and secluded pools on a slightly ...

read more

Yellowstone National Park

As traffic slowed to a halt we stuck our heads out of the windows to see what could have caused a traffic jam on the East Entrance Road at Yellowstone Park. Eventually, we glimpsed a dark brown mass milling about on the road. It was a herd of bison. Their gigantic 2,000 lb bodies grouped together blocked both directions of traffic as they plodded along. Unable to drive forward or backward, we pulled out our cameras, and from the relative safety of the car we nervously shot a few photos of these majestic but fearsome animals as they passed us by. If I had either the courage or the stupidity (and had not been prohibited) I could have reached through the window and touched one ...

read more

Roam the Tea Fields of West Lake Hangzhou

The classical Chinese landscape of the West Lake has drawn visitors to Hangzhou for the past thousand years, and we were no exception. Strolling along the Su Causeway and its six bridges, built by the famous Song Dynasty poet-governor, Su Dongpo, we drank in the sight of restored classical pagodas, lakeside pavilions, and newly opened lotuses swaying in the breeze. Willow trees gracefully draped their branches towards the water, and wooden pleasure boats floated peacefully on the lake. Although we had been to Hangzhou before, this visit was a new revelation in enjoyment as we walked through gardens we had not seen before, filled with lush greenery, and wandered through stands of towering bamboo. The highlight of our visit, however, was our afternoon hike among ...

read more

Delight in a Fujianese Tea Ceremony on Gulangyu Island

A hiss of steam from the kettle accompanies the fragrance of Oolong tea leaves, as our host scoops a small green mound of tea into a bowl. After a quick rinse and refill, the young woman pours the tea into a small jug with a flourish, and portions out the tea into our tiny, delicately painted teacups. The first whiff is delicious, but the first sip, even more so. This is not your average Lipton brew, but whole Oolong tea leaves of the finest local quality. A perfect blend of full tea flavour with a hint of sweetness, infused with natural spring water. If China is a tea-obsessed country, Gulangyu Island, a short ferry ride from the city of Xiamen in Southern Fujian province, is ...

read more

Experience 'Nam at the Cu Chi Tunnels

A trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels is a strange, and in some ways, deeply emotional experience. Here the curious may crawl down the tiny tunnels that comb the jungle floor, watch animated mannequins reenact daily life during the Vietnam War, and examine some pretty brutal booby traps, oddly enough, all presented by cheerful and enthusiastic guides. Now a war memorial park, the 120 km long Cu Chi Tunnel network was once used by Vietcong fighters during the Vietnam War and functioned as the base of operations for the Tet Offensive in 1968. Today, the museum recreates the living quarters, battle techniques, and hiding places that enabled the Vietcong forces to withstand years of battle with a technologically superior enemy. For Westerners, seeing the war ...

read more