The Secrets of Seacacar Canyon

I wasn’t quite sure what we were getting ourselves into as we parked next to the small cement building, painted green and white, in the middle of the Guatemalan jungle. We’d offered to help Paul, a friend back in Colorado, look in on his decade-long humanitarian venture in very rural Guatemala and he’d taken us

A Temazcal Ceremony

I wasn’t even sure if the place existed.  I’d been wanting to try a Temazcal sweat bath (of pre-Hispanic Mexican fame) ever since I’d read about them, but the one I’d located on google maps seemed to be in a very strange place—on a hilltop in a middle-of-nowhere town and up a rather rough dirt road.  I

Touring Jordan: Itinerary

Petra Of course the top thing to do in Jordan is visit Petra, the world-famous city carved into the colorful sandstone, originally built by the Nabateans. I’ve been to Petra three times now and each time has been special and different. The last time I was there, I was getting married to Chris on the

Crusader Castles and Caves in Jordan

Because I lived for several months in the south of Jordan, it’s hard for me to think about it as much in a tourist mindset, but I have been back with Chris twice now, as a tourist rather than a student. The village of Showbak, about half an hour from the world-famous Petra, will always

Top Things to do in Crete

I’d wanted to visit Greece ever since I was little and read the Greek myths. Watching some documentaries and seeing all the awesome pictures on Instagram only increased my desire to see this country of Islands, so when Chris found airfare to Crete for a discount, we jumped on it. We rented a car and

Off the Beaten Path in Mumbai

We flew into Mumbai and then Chris rented a car. This made me slightly nervous since Mumbai’s traffic is some of the worst in the world and we were renting a stick shift and driving on the left side of the road, so everything was backwards, but Chris is a champ at driving and we

What to Expect in the Hindu Mecca, Varanasi

Varanasi. The religious center of Hinduism. An ancient city. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect and even so I was surprised. The city was dirty. By far the dirtiest place I’d ever been. Cow manure was formed into cakes by hand and then slapped against walls to dry so it could be burned as

Agra India and the Taj Mahal

Our 5-hour train ride to Agra turned into a 7-hour train ride (apparently a very common thing in India), but we felt we couldn’t go to India and not experience its famous railway system. The other passengers were very curious and friendly since most foreigners opt to ride in the nicer private cabins instead of

Touring the Pink City of Jaipur, India

Our first destination in India, after several VERY long flights, was the city of Jaipur. Known for its temples and kites, the pink city welcomed us with a cacophony of sights, sounds, and smells. From our first day there, my senses were overwhelmed (especially the olfactory one) and continued to be so over the next

Touring Siem Reap and Angkor Wat

We began our experience in Cambodia crossing overland from Thailand. Even though we were headed to Siem Reap, the top tourism destination in the country, I was surprised at how much poorer and less-developed Cambodia seemed in comparison. Customs was somewhat of a nightmare, taking several hours to navigate the confusing sequences of necessary bureaucracy.