Have you ever experienced something exceptional you’d hoped to capture and share, but you were forbidden to photograph or record it? That was the Easter celebration in the village of San Juan Chamula in the Chiapas region of Mexico.
This was no ordinary Catholic church, nor was this an Easter celebration like any we’d ever seen.
Mexico has ruins, Mexico has beaches. But the only place in the country where you'll find them both? That's the Riviera Maya.
This is the story of a perfect afternoon in Yucatan, including relaxing in the ruins of a hacienda, eating a traditional Yucatecan lunch, swimming in a lush collapsed sinkhole, and perhaps most importantly, satiating my six-year long curiosity about something called puerco pibil.
“For lunch, everything is local,” Julia, our host, explained as she walked us about the grounds of the old hacienda near the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza.
Iran is again catching its share of headlines. So it seemed as good a time as any to share the story of our exit from the country — hopping a train en route from Tehran across the border to Turkey, then all the way to Istanbul. One of the finest and most surprising segments of our around-the-world journey.
This is a story about two different visits to Istanbul, the utter pointlessness of posing as a Canadian when you're American, and the secret to experiencing Istanbul without being offered a carpet.
This is story about five-sided underwear, a laundry detergent named BARF, socks that smell like goat cheese, and jeans that have never been washed. Oh, and it's an answer to “What do you do about laundry while traveling?”
The other day, Audrey and I walked into a laundry service here in Oaxaca, Mexico and after a confounding exchange we discovered that they don’t accept underwear.
When time is limited, you have to make tough decisions. In Alexandria, Egypt, I decided to hit the streets of its old town rather than going deep into the ancient catacombs. I was looking for interaction, for life on the streets.
And rather than heading down the main street, I found the loneliest alleyway to take me in a different direction. I ended up in a vein of street markets that wasn't so lonely after all.
We can learn from our food.
Really.
As I assembled photos and descriptions for our recent travel round-up post, I kept getting distracted. Perhaps unsurprisingly for those who know me, food was the culprit. I was continually drawn back to memories of unforgettable meals from each country — memories not only of the taste, but to the time, the place, the people.
Coptic Cairo. The name alone exudes ancient, mysterious, almost mystical. People still live, work and worship in the same place as they have for thousands of years. It's a humbling walk back in time in this secluded Old Cairo neighborhood, whose tranquility belies the 22-million strong bustle of modern Cairo just outside.
One of the highlights of Coptic Cairo: The Hanging Church, suspended above firm ground on palm tree trunks connecting two ancient Roman fortress towers.
