And here is a close-up view of the same pyramid, with me standing at the base and the rocks all around me going up, and up, and up…

How exactly did they construct this 4,000 years ago? It’s mind-boggling.

Photo credits: Bob Riel

The Northern Lights.

It’s winter. The snow, ice and cold currently draping the Northern Hemisphere may be great for skiing vacations, but not for very many other travel experiences. Or so you would think. But winter does actually offer some unique opportunities that aren’t available at other times of the year. After all, northern lights, ice festivals and reindeer migrations are not exactly summertime favorites. Lonely Planet recently published an article of seven exceptional “winterland marvels” and there’s not a ski trail anywhere on the list. An excerpt:

The northern lights of Canada – It’s the middle of night, in the middle of nowhere. It’s so dark that you can hold your hand three inches from your face and not see it. The silence is so complete that the low thud of snow falling from a nearby tree makes you jump. Your eyelashes are close to frozen and it’s a struggle to separate them when you blink. And yet you’d happily sit there all night, for many nights to come, for the chance to see nature’s most mysterious sight: the northern lights.

With little light pollution, optimum weather conditions (very cold, with plenty of clear nights) and its position directly beneath the prime-viewing zone of the auroral oval, Churchill in Canada is one of the best places in the world to see the northern lights. The Arctic tundra and boreal forest surrounding the town see over 300 nights of auroral activity each year. Displays might last hours, or be gone in a minute. Flashing neon pink, turquoise and green, the lights swirl across the sky in myriad imagined shapes (is that a walrus, a witch, a whale?) before whipping back on themselves and disappearing. In the presence of such a spectacle, it’s easy to believe local Inuit myth that the aurora borealis are signals from the afterlife, particularly if you hear the sky crackle and swoosh as some claim. What is in no doubt during those moments when the lights whirl above your head is that you’re part of the greatest show on earth.

Icebound St Petersburg – January in St Petersburg. The city’s residents, long used to the cold, don fur hats and heavy coats to stand in line. Nowadays, they wait not for bread, but for art: frozen art. Every winter, sculptors transform blocks of ice into elaborate models of people, animals and objects. It’s a tradition that dates back to 1740, when an entire ice palace was constructed to celebrate the birthday of the Empress Anna. Set against a backdrop of golden domes sparkling in the light of the low sun, the exhibit embodies the magic of St Petersburg in winter.

Locals bypass the city’s bridges, slithering over the ice-covered rivers and canals to make their way across town. The Neva River is frozen solid, except for one large hole in front of the Peter Paul Fortress. This is the plunge pool for the Walrus Club, a group of swimmers who exhort the health benefits of a daily dip. When the cold finally seeps in, Petersburgers warm up with a vodka, served in an ice glass, from the ice bar. ‘At least we can do something with all this ice other than slipping and falling on it!’ observes one happy patron.

Sweden’s reindeer migration – One of the world’s greatest migrations takes place each year just over a thousand miles north of Britain. As snow thickens on every surface, lakes freeze over and the temperature drops below -25?C, tens of thousands of reindeer make their way across northern Sweden. Descending from summer pastures in the mountains to the west, the herds travel east to spend the long winter foraging in the forests.

Accompanying them on a journey that can take ten days or more are their seminomadic Sami owners. While herding methods may have modernised over the centuries (snowmobiles – and even helicopters – have replaced snowshoes), reindeer husbandry is still a cornerstone of their culture. To fall in with the Sami and their herds is to be part of a heritage that stretches back millennia – one of days dictated by the pace of the reindeers’ steady trot, and of nights sharing stories round the fire under a chill, star-filled sky.

Check out the full article for four more wintry travel experiences.

Photo credit: Public domain photo via Wikimedia Commons.

A view of the Prague Christmas market.

Twinkling lights. The smell of Christmas pine trees. Artisanal holiday crafts. Gingerbread houses. Hot chocolate and mulled wine. And, of course, a chilly night spent traipsing through a city square. What could be more festive than a visit to a Christmas market? The most famous ones are in central Europe, where the tradition goes back centuries in some places, but a few other cities have developed popular Christmas markets of their own. Here are some of the more interesting Christmas markets, selected from a few recent news articles about this holiday tradition:

Reuters (with the help of cheapflights.com) published an article on the top 10 Christmas markets around the world. Seven of their picks were in Europe, including:

Prague, Czech Republic – A giant Christmas tree in the Old Town Square is the focal point for Prague’s festive fun. The main markets are to be found at the Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square and there are smaller ones at Namesti Republiky and Havelske Trziste. All feature beautifully decorated stalls that sell everything from Bohemian crystal and Czech marionettes to braided pastries and gingerbread. While shopping from stall to stall it’s customary to grab a mug of svaree vino (sweet mulled wine) to sip along the way.

Strasbourg, France – Strasbourg’s Christmas market takes pride of place in front of the sublime, towering Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg. It’s the largest and oldest Christmas market in France. For more than 400 years the city has welcomed visitors to its Christkindelsmaerik. Beautifully made Christmas decorations, Nativity figurines and traditional delicacies (spiced bread, mulled wine and foie gras) fill the stalls. Each year, a different country is celebrated; in 2011, it’s Switzerland’s turn. Place Gutenberg will host a Swiss market featuring authentic delicacies, concerts, dancing and exhibitions from its cantons.

Nuremberg, Germany – Nuremberg’s Christmas market was first held in 1628 and is one of the best known in Germany with more than 2 million visitors annually. Candy-cane striped stalls serving glühwein and bratwurst fill the Old Town while live music is performed late into the night. The must-buy souvenirs are the Nuremberg Plum People, tiny figures made from prunes.

Away.com and BootsnAll published a similar story on the best Christmas markets. An excerpt:

Chicago, Illinois - Chicago’s Chriskindlmarket is the largest traditional German market outside of Germany, a must-do to kick off Christmas season in Chicago. On November 26, it sprang to life in the Loop’s Daly Plaza with the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony. Nosh on Bavarian pretzels and grilled bratwurst, or pick up some hot wine in a souvenir cup, and browse the small village of shops beneath the lights of city skyscrapers.

Munich, Germany – Like many large cities in Germany, Munich offers several Christmas markets, but the largest and oldest is in Marienplatz, in the old center. More than 140 stalls in the shadow of a giant Christmas tree sell decorations, art, jewelry, and traditional German fare. The market opens on the first Friday in December, and every evening at 5:30 Alpine choirs perform in the Town Hall’s balcony.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Philadelphia’s four-week Christmas Village is just about the closest you can get to a traditional German Christkindlmarkt without getting a new stamp in your passport. Inspired by Germany’s most popular market in Nuremberg, the Philly version takes place downtown in Love Park and offers live music, a recreation of Santa’s house, more than 50 market stalls and timber houses beautifully lit at night, and all the German fare you would expect including gingerbread, bratwurst, and mulled wine.

Bolzano, Italy – Like its European neighbors, Italy has its share of Christmas markets as well, though they are predominantly located in the northeast, especially the Trentino-Alto Adige region. The market in Bolzano was one of the first Christmas markets in Italy, known for the South Tyrol cuisine served and the massive advent calendar, made from the windows on the facade of a nearby building. The Italian spin on the German Christmas market can be seen in other areas of Italy, but this one stays true to its roots.

Check out both articles for a more extensive list of wonderful Christmas markets.

And here’s wishing one and all a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season!

Photo credit: Hynek Moravec via Wikimedia Commons.

Milford Sound, New Zealand

It’s that time of year, when major travel publications begin promoting lists of top destinations for the upcoming year. Lonely Planet has been particularly productive, recently publishing articles on the top regions, cities and value destinations for 2012. Here is a sampling of their selections, from London to Oman to Tajikistan:

REGIONS

Hvar, Croatia – Come high summer, there’s no cooler place in Croatia to get your groove on than Hvar Town on its namesake island. Fabulous suntanned bodies flock to this drop-dead gorgeous spot for round-the-clock fun. Think après-beach parties as the sun dips below the Adriatic horizon, full-moon shindigs and designer cocktails sipped seaside to fresh DJ-spun tunes. Croatia’s party island really is as hot as the marble of the old town when the noon sun beats down. Best of all, on this Mediterranean flyspeck you can still get away from pulsating nightlife. For island bliss unmarred by glitz and bling, get into your birthday suit on the Pakleni Islands just offshore and – bikinis back on – explore the island’s coastline and dreamy interior, with its endless fields of lavender, stretching sea vistas, towering peaks, scenic canyons and abandoned hamlets.

Queenstown & Southern Lakes, New Zealand – There isn’t a bad time to turn up in the world’s top adventure playground. There’s nonstop outdoor activities year-round in the resort towns of Queenstown, Wanaka and Te Anau, as well as the surrounding mountains, lakes and national parks. It’s not just the unbelievable alpine scenery. Where else can you ski in the morning and golf or water-ski in the afternoon? Head out hiking and drink water from mountain streams…then down more potent liquids in vibrant resort nightlife when the sun goes down. Raft down white-water rapids, tandem paraglide from craggy peaks or hike worldclass trails such as the Milford, Routeburn and Hollyford tracks. Add excellent wineries and superb restaurants, and what more is there to say?

CITIES

London, England - London is going for the knock-out blow in 2012. The Olympics are riding into town and a whole swath of the capital is being transformed in the process. London’s east will be thrust into the spotlight but the rest of the capital will be rolling out the red carpet too. Seeing Tower Bridge lift its bascules to let a tall ship pass beneath is all stately grace, as opposed to your first rush-hour trip on the tube, getting up close and personal with strangers of every colour, creed and nationality. Mind the gap! Whoever you cheer for, you won’t be alone in this most international of cities.

Muscat, Oman – Oman is firing on all fronts to attract international visitors, expanding everything from its museums to its resorts. Muscat is the focus for the revamp, with cultural events, luxury accommodation and aquatic activities taking centre stage. This year it’s all about Qurum’s trendy designer outlets, Old Town souks and wacky water sports enlivening its coastline alongside traditional dhows. Muscatis are still genuinely interested to see visitors, so much so that first-timers might have the odd feeling of returning to the house of an old friend. ‘Tomorrow will be a new dawn on Muscat,’ the Sultan pledged upon attaining power in 1970. Today in Muscat, the sun has well and truly risen.

VALUE DESTINATIONS

Tajikistan – Marco Polo was impressed – and you will be too, once you experience the stunning scenery of this safe, stable Central Asian nation. And it can be accessed at dirt-cheap rates, even including the hire of a car and driver. Getting a Russian Lada for several days can be arranged for about US$300, which opens up the Afghan border and Pamir Highway, one of the world’s greatest road trips. You’ll stop off at hot springs, 2000-year-old stone structures and cartoon-style forts, finishing your days at village homestays or yurts.

Mekong Delta, Vietnam – Vietnam is always good value, but you can now skip the package trips arranged in Ho Chi Minh City that tread the same worn-out routes. It’s become easier, more rewarding and just as cheap to go on DIY multiday adventures to destinations like Ben Tre, Chau Doc and the floating markets of Vinh Long, and some less-seen ones like Ha Tien or Tra Vinh. Go by air-conditioned bus or hire moto-taxis as you go; the latter know ferry crossings on roads not on any map.

There are 10 selections on each of these lists, so check out the three LP articles for 24 additional destination ideas for 2012. Happy traveling!

Photo credit: Olywyer via Wikimedia Commons.

Ushuaia, Argentina

Penguins and sea lions lounge on an island in the Beagle Channel off the southern tip of South America, near Ushuaia, Argentina.

One of the best of these head-scratching translations is this picture from China. Huh?

Restaurant menus are always good for some fun. Hmm, do you want herbs or herpes with that chicken? And spicy grandma? I don’t even want to know.

Naturally, you can’t rely on that Holy Cow to watch your vehicle:

If you want to see many more hilarious versions of this unintentional comedy, do yourself a favor and head over to Lonely Planet’s pick of 20 top photos or to the many submissions posted on their Facebook page.

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Balloons take to the sky at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.

The Shakespeare and Company bookshop in Paris.

If you’re a traveler who loves books and reading, there are any number of historic sites and interesting bookstores to add to your list of dream destinations. Along those lines, BootsnAll recently published an article that suggests nine intriguing destinations that could serve as a pilgrimage for lovers of Western literature. Here is a sample:

Shakespeare and Company Bookshop,  Paris – There is perhaps no place more important to the history of Western Literature than “The Illuminated City.” …But Paris has also been a magnet for expatriate writers from across the English-speaking world. Irish playwright Samuel Beckett fled Ireland to settle here permanently, as did James Joyce, who first published his earthshaking novel Ulysses under the stamp of The Shakespeare and Company bookshop, the infamous bookstore whose clientele has included many of the most famous writers of the 20th century. If one needed to torpedo the one establishment in Paris no English-speaking Literary enthusiast should miss, it is the Shakespeare and Co. The store’s founder, Sylvia Beach, was on intimate terms with the community of American expat writers of the 1920s, which included Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein, among others.

Globe Theatre, London – It’s perhaps fitting that  “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players, ” was first said in the aptly named Globe Theatre in London. The theatre was built in 1599 by the Bard’s own theater company, possibly for a production of Henry V. Except for a brief respite from 1613-1614, when a fire from a prop-cannon malfunction during Henry the Eighth razed it to the ground, the Globe played host to some of the most important and influential verses of all time.

Even after Shakespeare’s death, the theater continued in prominence until 1842 when it was closed down by the Puritans. Two years later, it was burned down for a second time. This time, it took 353 years to get rebuilt as “Shakespeare’s Globe.” … Shakespeare’s Globe was built based on voluminous research and with painstaking historical accuracy, and like the original is open-air and unaided by spotlights, speakers, or recorded music. Even the seats are true to history, simple wooden benches, while the roof is the first thatched roof allowed since the Great Fire. Simply put, for the Bard-buff, there is no more authentic way of experiencing theater in an Elizabethan setting.

James Joyce’s Dublin – Whether you like him or not, Dublin will be forever associated with Ireland’s most famous author, James Joyce. Sometimes obscure, often seemingly purposely unreadable, Joyce is nevertheless considered by many, particularly those who’ve never read him, to be the greatest writer of the 20th century. Though he could not bear to live in this his native land (he left at a young age for Europe), his mind could likewise not bear to leave it; subsequently much of his fiction takes place in this little metropolis on the River Liffey.

Luckily for Joyce admirers, there are those who’ve gone through the trouble of mapping out the real locations of places and landmarks mentioned in his books: Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Ulysses. A good place to begin is either the James Joyce Centre, which houses a recreation of his actual bedroom and occasionally gives lectures concerning his work, or the James Joyce Tower and Museum, the Martello tower in Sandycove that Joyce gave a significant role to in his novel Ulysses. Another significant site is “the House of the Dead,” a small museum in the restored house where Joyce spent Christmases with his aunts and made the setting of his short story The Dead.

For six more literary pilgrimage ideas, check out the full article.

Photo credit: Flo21 via Wikimedia Commons.

Ancient ruins at Mesa Verde National Park.

Everyone loves ancient ruins, don’t they? Yahoo! Travel recently compiled a list of 10 of the best ruins around the world and it included some of the usual suspects – the Great Pyramids, Machu Picchu, the Acropolis – but also a few sites that are stunning in their own right but not quite as well known. These included Tikal, a Mayan city in Guatemala; Palmyra, an ancient desert city in Syria, and Mesa Verde, the clifftop remains of an American Indian settlement in Colorado. An excerpt from the article:

Tikal, Guatemala – Stay overnight in the national park for the ultimate experience at Tikal, an ancient Maya city in northern Guatemala that was home to 90,000 people before being abandoned in the tenth century. Early the next morning, before the park opens to the general public, join a small group making the trek through a jungle awash in the pre-dawn symphony of birds and insects. Climb to the top of Temple IV, the Temple of the Two-Headed Serpent, to witness a sunrise that reveals ancient temples and pyramids rising from the verdant forest blanket. You’ve still got hours to explore this vast complex of pyramids, temples, and plazas before the big crowds roll in. Along the way, catch glimpses of brown coatis, toucans, howler monkeys, and some of the hundreds of other species to call Tikal home.

Palmyra, Syria – Twice a day, at sunrise and sunset, the Bride of the Desert blushes, even 18 centuries after her birth. Palmyra, also known as Tadmor, is in the desert northeast of Damascus, Syria, and was once a wealthy caravan oasis along the Silk Road, linking Persia, India, and China with the Roman Empire. At a crossroads of cultures, the ruins of grand colonnaded streets, temples, funerary towers, and aqueducts demonstrate a mingling of influences that made this an awfully cosmopolitan place for the second century. Palmyra was also home to the warrior queen and conqueror Zenobia, and tour guides tell exciting tales that give this seemingly isolated place a starring role in world history.

Mesa Verde, Colorado, USA – Great ruins aren’t always an ocean away: Some of the best preserved Native American cliff dwellings in North America reside in Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. Home to the Ancestral Puebloans—whose descendants became 20 different Southwestern tribes, including the Hopi and Zuni—Mesa Verde traces 700 years of history across 4,000 archeological sites. Visit mesa-top pueblos and the dwellings built beneath massive overhanging cliffs. Ascend steep trails and ladders, or crawl through tunnels to explore ancient architecture such as the 150-room Cliff Palace or the hard-to-reach Balcony House. The park’s hours vary by season, and not all sites are open year-round.

Check out the entire article for the full list of 10 ancient ruins to add to your travel list.

Photo credit: Bob Riel

Flamingos at Lake Nakuru in Kenya.

After a few days at Kenya’s Shaba National Reserves, we moved on to Lake Nakuru National Park. This entailed a bone-rattling six-hour drive, although the first part of the journey was through the Buffalo Springs game reserve. It was interesting to casually drive by groups of zebra, giraffe and gazelles on our way from one destination to another. Quite a contrast to our normal morning commute at home.

By mid-afternoon, we’d arrived at our destination in the Rift Valley, a geographical crevice that runs through the middle of Kenya and stretches more than 3,500 miles across the continent. Nakuru is one of several soda lakes in this region, all of which have warm alkaline water as a result of ancient volcanic deposits and thus an abundance of blue-green algae. Fortuitously, for tourists at least, this algae is a staple of the daily diet for Kenya’s pink flamingos and hundreds of thousands of birds make their home in the area.

It began raining during our afternoon game drive at Nakuru, but we still saw an abundance of zebras, along with buffaloes and hippos by the water and a tribe of baboons along one of the roadways. We also saw two rhinos from close range and had a medium distance sighting of three leopards. This gave us the satisfaction of knowing that we’d completed our sightings of the so-called Big Five, as we saw lions, elephants and buffalo in Shaba.

We asked our guide, Zach, why these particular animals made up the Big Five. After all, they weren’t necessarily the five most popular safari animals.

“It has nothing to do with safari popularity,” he explained, “but with toughness. These are the five ‘toughest’ game animals.”

Lisa and I later decided there should be a Big Ten for safari purposes. The Big Five can retain their importance, of course – who are we to argue with them? But then we decided that giraffes and zebras should be included on our Big Ten list, being that they are unique, fun to gaze at and popular with tourists. Also, gazelles were Big Ten worthy, since they are extraordinarily graceful and beautiful to watch.

For the ninth and tenth members of our club, we added animals that were top attractions in Kenya. These included the wildebeest, a popular sight during part of the year at Masai Mara, and pink flamingos, which are predominantly found at the soda lakes of the Rift Valley.

It was our experience at Lake Nakuru that prompted us to include flamingos on our Big Ten list. We’d heard they were an interesting sight, but we weren’t prepared for the full impact of seeing tens of thousands of pink flamingos strutting around the perimeter of a single lake. This was one of the most visually interesting spectacles we saw on the safari. From a distance, it appeared the water was ringed with stretches of pink sand. But as we approached, it became apparent this was an illusion, caused by the presence of more pink flamingoes than we ever knew existed, all living together on the edge of a lake.

This was the only time all week that we were allowed out of the safari vehicle to approach animals. We walked along the beachfront and gaped in amazement at the thousands of pink flamingoes squeezed together in front of us – feeding, walking, flying, landing. And the noise! It’s remarkable, the volume of sound that can be produced by all of those squawking animals.

Interestingly, as we walked towards the birds, who formed a ring perhaps 15 or 20 feet deep along the perimeter of the lake, they edged away from us in unison. They moved calmly, and not in panic, but a giant pink wave would invariably form opposite whichever direction we moved. If we walked straight towards the water, the birds in front of us would disperse into a semicircle. If we walked left or right, the wave would move in that direction. We felt like flamingo conductors.

It was raining fairly steadily at this point, but we were entranced and didn’t want to leave the flamingos. So we stood there for long minutes on the edge of the lake, hoods pulled over our heads, no sound but for the clamor of birds and the drumming of raindrops, thousands of pink flamingos forming a dreamlike picture in front of us, and we breathed in the sweet smell of rain on a warm African afternoon.

Photo credit: Syllabub via Wikimedia Commons.