From the World Heritage inscription for the Bahla Fort: The immense, ruined Bahla Fort, with its walls and towers of mud brick on stone foundations and the adjacent Friday Mosque with its decoratively sculpted prayer niche (mihrab) dominate the surrounding mud-brick settlement and palm grove. The fort and settlement, a mud-walled oasis in the Omani …
Home to over 15 million Istanbulites, Istanbul may not be Turkey’s capital (that honor belongs to Ankara), but it remains the country’s largest city by quite some margin. Formerly known as Byzantium and Constantinople, the area has long been a major area of trading and commerce thanks to its location and the Bosphorus, the river …
Nepal is the home of Mount Everest, ancient cities and kingdoms, and a country that was shut away from foreign visitors up until 1951. After the regime of isolation ended in the 50s, just two short years later two mountaineers summited Mount Everest and brought the Himalayas of Nepal to international fame. If you’re planning …
Prior to the communist takeover in Laos, Luang Prabang was the royal capital of the country. These days, it’s a sleepy town (well, all of Laos is pretty sleepy) on the Mekong River that has become a popular attraction on the tourist and backpacker circuit in Southeast Asia precisely because of that sleepy charm and …
My featured travel this week is Sherry Ott who is an accomplished travel photographer and blogs at Ottsworld.com. Sherry has been travel about as long as I have and I have met her on two continents, most recently in Valencia, Spain. Sherry Ott just completed driving from London to Mongolia in the Mongol Rally. A …
Amritsar is the most visited city in the northwestern Indian state of Punjab. The city is known as Holy City since it’s home to the Golden Temple religious complex (one of the most visited places in the world). It’s the most important city in Punjab, and also the center of Sikhism. The Punjab region of …
Most travelers interested in traveling around Southeast Asia have heard of Sapa, Vietnam—an area showcased by incredible photos of lush green rice fields terraced on the side of mountains, and colorful local ethnic minority women and men working the rice fields. Sapa has long been on the popular traveler’s route from Hanoi in the north …
Traveling to Papua New Guinea is like exploring the last frontier. It might sound cliche; it’s not. Papua New Guinea is one of the less-visited countries in the world. The road system is limited, the tourist infrastructure still developing, and the safety a primary concern. However, the country is home to rich forests and jungles, …
The experience of traveling the world on can vary greatly depending on a traveler’s passport. A lot of Americans and Europeans assume they have the most powerful passports in the world, but that honor falls to Japan, where passport-holders can visit 190 countries without a visa. Many people in the world, however, are not so …