One of the most amazing shopping experiences in Asia is a visit to a wet market. A wet market is basically a fresh food market make “wet’ by the liberal use of water to keep the poultry, meat and vegetables looking clean and fresh plus keep the fish and shellfish alive.

Traditionally they are open-air markets often on the bank of a waterway so the fish…

The Spanish colonial city of Grenada

I remember traveling to Costa Rica in the early 90s. This was when travelers were just starting to take notice of this lush land of jungle and beaches. As an owner of a travel agency, I heard stories of clients of mine buying pieces of beachfront property for $8,000 on Costa…

One of the most fascinating and enjoyable day trips from Puerto Madryn, Argentina is the journey south to visit the penguin reserve at Punta Tombo. With stops along the way for Dolphin watching and a traditional Welsh Tea in the historic town of Gaiman this is a full day of unequaled activities. The Flamenco Tour agency offers this…

Es el barrio favorito de los chilangos para ver y ser vistos. La Colonia Roma, en México DF, se ha convertido en el distrito de…

Europe is surrounded by sea on almost all sides, with a diverse coastline and of course fascinating culture and natural beauty. If you're thinking of a holiday on the continent that includes sailing, these ten destinations, are undoubtedly the highlights:

1. Ionian islands, Greece – It is the most common charting place for travelers around the…

Some of my deepest understandings of place, my most intense sense of "being" somewhere come neither from actually being there, nor from reading a travel book about the destination.

They come from a novel or short story which, because they set out to tell a story and not to describe a location, actually create a powerful sense of time and place. 

At…

Petering out crowd is a challenge to any festival. Keeping the audience interest alive is a comment on the organisers’ ingenuity and imagination. Day three of the Hornbill in Nagaland in December was therefore a test; the teasers had done their job, the flitters had left and the real festival junkies slouched around to check whether the varnish…

Exploring Costa Rica by kayak is a fun way to enjoy nature and spot wildlife in a myriad of different settings. Costa Rica counts close to 800 miles of ocean coastline between the Pacific and Caribbean coasts, along with hundreds of rivers and estuaries, and several lakes – all full of…

That Friday, when the Lord was on the Cross, an angel named Ourael took the blood of Christ in a glittering cup and sprinkled it all over the Earth. All grounds that received a drop of the holy blood were chosen to be sanctified and blessed places to establish churches on them and made them their holy seats. So Ethiopian Orthodox Church history recounts.

The…

The very name Cheltenham conjures up images of turf being thrown up by thundering hooves to a backdrop of shouts and cheers.  This elegant spa town in Gloucestershire in the heart of England is one of the country's most prominent horse racing venues, and each year in March the town's racecourse hosts a festival widely regarded as the "Oscars" of the horse-racing world.  The festival is commonly referred to as the Cheltenham Gold Cup, although strictly speaking it is the Cheltenham Festival,…

My visits to Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Sanya, cities on the tourist map of China, by air and train were journies to view the impassive facades of city life. Sanya, touted as the Hawaii of the East, is the winter holiday destination for cold East Europe and Mainland China. The Expressway route to Taizhou, Ningbo and Cixi, the emerging industrial icons,…

Long swaths of gold and light beige sand, warm, clear aquamarine water, world-class surf conditions and spectacular sunsets – the Pacific beaches of Santa Teresa and Malpaís in…

When I was young, I dreamed of getting out of my small town, my dysfunctional family, and cold New England winters to places where palm trees rustled in the wind.

©2014 Karla Jacobs. Leaving Bora Bora bound for Raiatea

Once I entered the job market my dreams didn't fade a bit, but…

Florida means different things to different people. Popular characteristics include Disney, sunshine, gators, the Everglades, and miles of wide open beaches. And then there's Florida's Gulf coast, endless stretches of powder white sand that were remarkably resilient to the ravages of the Deep Water Horizon oil spill several years ago. Right in the middle is…

Following in the ancient mariners footsteps of Greece is a joy sailing in a traditional clipper. Bev Malzard reports.

It was the first morning on board the Star Clipper – a wondrous beauty that was to take us in Homer’s steps across the sea from Greece to Turkey. The renowned re-creation of a classic clipper was exclusive enough to only carry 170 passengers and we had 70 crew to look…

A esta ciudad le va la marcha. Y no solo por los volcanes que la rodean, que de vez en cuando truenan. Caminando y dando traspiés sobre el empedrado se juntan señoras con vestidos de colores, turistas con ganas de conocer a fondo Guatemala y veinteañeros americanos dispuestos a…

Living the life you dream of means some day you have to wake up. For a year I'd traveled the world, sipped vintage Champagne, ate at swanky restaurants and bedded down in suites at five-star hotels. Without opening my purse -- well, maybe twice I opened my purse -- I still paid. Journalism was my game.

          The last…

The morning sun filtering through the rainforest foliage at Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge in Costa Rica shimmers gold as the light catches the strands of the complex web woven by a golden orb spider.

I’m generally not a big fan of spiders, like most people, but the…

Tá lá no Aurélio: “nobre” vem do latim “nobile” e significa, entre outras coisas, “distinto, célebre, generoso, majestoso, excelente, sublime”. Não por acaso, a cidade de Nobres, no Mato Grosso, leva este nome – e no plural. Mérito da beleza impressionante das águas e da  fauna que pode ser encontrada lá, escondida do mundo. Quer dizer, mais ou menos: a cidade recebe a visita freqüente de turistas alemães, vindos lá de longe para se…