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| 257.KauaiThese photographs were taken on our 40th wedding anniversary trip to Hawaii. | |
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| 258.OahuThese pictures were taken while celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary in Hawaii. | |
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 | 259.OttawaA President's Day weekend escape to the wintry north.
Arriving in Ottawa on the last weekend of their Winterlude (winter festival), we checked into the historic Chateau Laurier hotel and then checked out the "Beaver Tail" - as in local pastry specialty - situation. By day we skated on the Rideau Canal, explored the Canadian Musem of Civilization and toured the Parliament building. At night we'd wander the town and admire the floodlit ice and snow sculptures. | |
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 | 260.Inle Lake, MyanmarInle Lake - set among the picturesque Shan Hills - provided a wonderful respite from the hustle and heat of Mandalay and Yangon.
Besides admiring the narrow (18 miles long, 5 miles wide) lake's blissful setting, most visitors come to witness the one-legged rowing style of the native fisherman or to drift through the dozens of canals threading Inle's ingeniously tethered floating gardens.
A day-long boat trip captures many of the lake's highlights but casual rambles to some of the nearby villages uncover the lake's real charms - its people. | |
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 | 261.Central and Northwest ArgentinaOur second summer trip to Argentina.
Landing and departing from Buenos Aires allowed us to extend our search - for another summer - for the best steaks and helado (ice cream) in town. Between meals, we squeezed in an overnight stay in Colonia, Uruguay.
From BA, we flew to San Juan to catch an two-day excursion to the otherworldly national parks of Valle de la Luna and Talampaya. Then bounced over to Mendoza - the wine capital of the country - and endured three rain-soaked days before retreating to the sunny Northwest.
We traveled up to Jujuy and Humahuaca (our second visit to the town) mainly to access the remote village of Iruya. | |
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 | 262.Sumatra, IndonesiaAs a side trip from our trip to Malaysia, we flew to the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Our goal was to reach the mountain town (3,000 feet above sea level) of Bukittinggi - home of the staunchly matrilineal Minangkabau people.
Although we only traveled a few hundred miles by air, Sumatra felt worlds away from the Malay mainland. Gone was the well-ordered transportation network typical of a former British colony (Malaysia). Instead, we were flung into the chaos of Indonesian roadways where every mode of tranport - cars, trucks, buses, bicycles, motorcyles - jockeys for space along with chickens, dogs, horses, pedestrians and the occasional oxen.
The town of Bukittinggi will win no beauty prizes. But the warmth of the people made us believe that it was one of the most attractive places we had ever visited. | |
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 | 263.Bali and Java, IndonesiaThese photos are highlights from a two-week August vacation to Bali and Yogyakarta, Java.
On Bali, we based ourselves initially in the "artist town" of Ubud - away from the mega-hotels and beach bustle found along the southern reaches of the island. Our bungalow style hotel - Oka Wati's - was a peaceful oasis just a stone's throw from the main action. Days were filled with hiking through rice paddies, biking down from volcanic lakes or simply lounging by the pool. Nights were booked with dance, music or shadow puppet shows. And in between we indulged in massage or two, downed a few Bintan beers or worked on filling our extra duffle bags with Balinese treasures.
We left Bali for a few days and flew to Yogyakarta on the neighboring island of Java. "Yogya", like Ubud, is the cultural center of the island. But unlike Ubud, Yogya is a large city. And the change was dramatic: streets were an endless sea of buses, cars and bicycles; sidewalks were hopelessly clogged with pedestrians day and night. But outside of Yogya are two sites worth all that urban tussle: Borobudur and Prambanan. Borobudur is a stunning Buddhist mountain temple complex; Prambanan, a glorious collection of Hindu buildings rising from the Javanese plain. Borobudur beckons you at sunrise; Prambanan you fall in love with on a moonlit night.
We returned to Bali for a few more days in Ubud and then headed south to the beach village of Jimbaran. Fresh fish restuarants wrestle for space along the beach; wildly colorful fishing boats fill the bay every morning. Not as overly developed as its more famous neighbor - Kuta Beach - Jimbaran still retains much of its fishing village feel.
In two weeks, we just scatched the surface of these island wonders. They just leave you itching for more time in this part of the world. Some day... | |
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 | 264.BoliviaWe spent nearly two weeks in Bolivia with an additional week-long trip to Peru sandwiched in between.
We jump-started our trip in La Paz, the highest capital city in the world. (We actually never stayed anywhere in Bolivia that was under 9,000 feet!) From there we traversed the altiplano to Copacabana on the shores of Lake Titicaca and then to Aegean-like island of Isla del Sol. After catching our breath (literally) for a few days on Isla del Sol, we returned to La Paz and flew down to its sister capital - Sucre.
From Sucre we visited the colorful Tarabuco market, the amazing Cal Orko dinosaur prints and the dizzingly high-altitude city of Potosi.
We returned to La Paz, crammed our suitcases with our last-minute purchases from Calle Sagarnaga and talismen from the Witches' Market and prepared, reluctantly, to go home. | |
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 | 265.New Orleans| Adjust your monitor to show all 16 shades |
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 | 266.Peru 2010Three weeks of travel in Peru - more off than on the Gringo Trail. Just the way we like it.
We began by skimming along the Pacific coastline. Starting in the north - in Chiclayo and Trujillo - we worked our way south to Paracas and the Ballestas Islands. Then, weaving our way inland, we drifted into the oasis town of Huacachina before flying off to view the nearby Nasca Lines.
But the mountain towns were not to be neglected. The colonial towns of Cajamarca and Ayacucho were standouts. But Huaraz and Chavin - cradled by picture-postcard, mountain scenery - demanded bundles of days for high-altitude Andes exploration.
These desert and mountain regions of Peru should be on every independent travelers "must see" list - before the strangle of tourism takes hold. And it will. The archeological treasures of the north coast, the stunning desert vistas of Huacachina and the barren beauty of the Paracas coast are fated to emerge as world-class destinations. Trust us. Word is already out. | |
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