After the awesomeness of El Malpais, we were fine that El Morro was a little disappointing. The El Morro National Monument is most known for its sandstone cliffside. Deciding our drive up to its massive edge was good enough, we got our stamp and continued on.

Cold air beats against our faces as we fly down the street in our tuk tuk. Once again we are up before sunrise. This time our early rise is intended so we meet the sun not dolphins on the sea. We didn’t realize how cold it can be in Siem Reap this early in the morning. We huddle into each other until we reach the fabled Angkor Wat.

Originally, I hadn’t planned on doing a whole blog about just Meow Wolf but here we are. This art installation in Santa Fe had been on my list for a long time after a friend sent me a link telling me to go there almost two years prior. So now with some free time Friday evening in the Santa Fe area, it was time to check it out!

With my main knowledge of this art installation being pictures, I imagined it was very similar to the Sweet Tooth Hotel art installation that had been back in Dallas, which you can read about in this post: Sweet Tooth Hotel. I thought it would be a lot of people taking pictures, with only a handful of things to see, with a time limit so the next specific group of people could enter. No to all accounts.

This place was insane!

What’s great about Meow Wolf, is you’re not just taking pictures of everything, you’re actually going through it to explore. There is so much to see – so many different paths to take it feels like a secret garden. Except instead of a garden, it’s a forest, a house, a spaceship, another world entirely.

I went into this a little buzzed from trying a local cider, but I felt sobered up as soon as I entered the house. There’s truly just so much to look at! There were (supposedly) two actors creepily watching a television, a forgotten seance at the dining room table, a lonely looking dryer machine – except, wait! I opened the dryer and bright colors met me and I saw a path to a new place. So I slide down the tunnel and ended up staring at a big mystical tree.

Seriously, if this place sounds like a fever dream – it’s not. It’s just art.

I took pictures when I remembered, but mostly I just explored and tried not to lose track of my friends, Jenna and Lola. With so many different paths to choose, so many different colored rooms calling me, it was hard to figure out the maze-like exhibit. Every inch had something new to see. But also so many different things to do – like playing the magic mushrooms like a xylophone.

I’d definitely make another visit, because even after spending more than an hour here (till the ten o’clock closing time just as a concert started in another wing), there’s no way I saw everything. And they’re adding to it all the time!

I could not hold myself from writing about the “Hall of Fame” which is very special and wanted to take this opportunity to share with you to plan your visit to this place during your Leh Trip.
“Hall of Fame” is not just a memorial or a place of attraction, it is a place which talks about the forces behind us having a peaceful time, about the conditions they work in, about the sacrifices these brave hearts make not caring about anything other than their “Motherland”.

I’ll be honest, a lot of the National Park sites are very similar. I’ve been all over the Southwest region and seen an assortment of battlefields, ruins, forts, and pictographs left by lots of different Peoples. In most cases, it feels like you seen one, you’ve seen them all. But every now and then, there’s room for surprise.

In most parts of India, October is all about celebrating Navratri and Dussehra. But some parts of the country celebrate Durga Puja instead. And no one does Durga Puja quite like the Bengalis, wherever they are.
For the people of West Bengal, Durga Puja is arguably the most important and looked-forward-to event of the year. So much so that they mostly just call it Pujo (the Bengali pronunciation of ‘puja’), with no qualifier needed. All other religious ceremonies fade to insignificance in comparison.

Cholula is home to the largest pyramid known in the world. Don’t worry if you didn’t know this, a few months ago I didn’t either. Most people think of looking in Egypt if they want to find the largest pyramid in the world. But the Great Pyramid of Cholula, with a base of 450×450 meters (1480×1480 feet), a total volume of 4.45 million cubic meters and 66 meters tall, it’s not only the largest pyramid base but also the largest monument constructed anywhere by any civilization on the planet. Yes, it’s in the Guinness Book of records.

Whilst the majority of my fellow Brits are lamenting the end of our long, hot summer, I’m secretly thrilled about the seasonal change. Call me crazy, but I love packing my flip flops and sun cream away for another year and getting out my chunky knits ready for Autumn.

Xochitécatl, meaning “Place of the Flower Lineage” is Cacaxtla’s sister site, another set of ancient Mesoamerican ruins near Puebla City. It was dedicated to Xochitl, the Goddess of flowers and fertility. (Joyce Kelly, An Archaeological Guide to Central and Southern Mexico).
Open to the public since 1994, and close to a major city, it still stayed off the beaten track. When we stopped, I realized that, as in Cacaxtla, we were the only visitors.

For years I’ve been reading about the murals of Cacaxtla, but I never paid much attention to it. If it’s not in the Yucatan it can wait, I thought. So it waited, didn’t go anywhere, and we finally got to it on our recent trip to Puebla City.

Kukulcan, the mythical feathered serpent of the ancient Maya, still shows up every year on the pyramid named after him in Chichen Itza. At least his shadow does. I can attest to it, I’ve seen it.
It happens during sunset on and around each equinox.

The moment an Indian hears about Kargil, he is reminded of the Kargil conflict dating back to 1999 between India and Pakistan and “Operation Vijay” which was implemented by India to regain control of various posts captured by Pakistan and the brave soldiers who lost their lives serving their motherland.

Though easy to reach if you know where to go, Aké Ruins of the ancient Mayan city escaped the tourist crowds so far. Chances are, if you go, you’ll be the only visitors, just like we were. True, the site is not as spectacular as some well-known ones, but it has a few structures that made the drive worth it for us.
Being the only visitors, we got the rare feeling we were explorers who stumbled on an unknown site. It felt like the Yucatan of the old days when few people were interested in visiting ancient structures.

Yesterday the journey through the north-west area of the sacred valley was surely a long one but for today we’re planning to do a shorter route. The idea is to visit all the important archaeological sites just on the northern city limits of Cusco, these being Sacsayhuaman, Q’enqo, Puca Pucara and Tambomachay. Cusco to Sacsayhuaman…

Each Thursday, I will post a throw back Thursday post from my old website about my trip to Australia and SE Asia! This week’s is a post about volunteering on a Buddhist Monastery in Northern Thailand!

During our last two weeks in Thailand we watched eight sunrises. You must be thinking, “wow, what partyers!” It’s not what you think though. For the past ten days, we volunteered at an amazing project in Northeast Thailand near Khon Kaen and woke up at 5am everyday to do yoga and meditation.

The Mindfullness Project, started a year and four months ago by Christian and Anja, a German couple that once took the vow to be monk and nun in Wat Pho Monastery in Khon Kaen. Now their project has moved from the monastery grounds in the city to a forest monastery.

Their vision for the project is to raise awareness and funds to restore the forests of Northern Thailand. At the moment though they are just at the beginning of building their new center in the forest.

Each morning we awoke at 5am to a chorus of partying roosters and dogs. Their hoots, hollers, and howls made it difficult to fight the alarm ringing in my ear to wake up. With bleary eyes, we each walked down to the school for our yoga and meditation. We all looked like zombies meandering in the dim light of headlamps.

In the flickering light of a candle, we observed our every breath as we practiced mindful yoga. Each stretch helped to awaken our limbs. Once our body felt more alive, we focused in on our minds. At first I experienced a lot of frustration with meditation. My mind seemed to drift in and out of dreams as I attempted to wake up. Then near the end of the ten days, I started to succeed in focusing my mind and watching my thoughts. It felt so enlivening.

As we each slowly exited the yoga school and welcomed the new day, we were greeted by a happy rising sun. Each day presented us with a different array of colors painting the morning sky. I always took time to pause and observe the suns glorious ascent.

On the slow walk home, we each took our time to absorb our surroundings. I tried to walk slowly and listen to every crunch of gravel beneath my shoes and every bird singing it’s morning song. Somedays my mind became immediately distracted with thoughts but on a good day I could be present in the moment and observe my surroundings. Focusing my mind got easier as the week went on.

Everyone ate breakfast in silence. I chewed each bite of fresh fruit and coconut yogurt with a conscious mind. I tasted every sweet bite. After breakfast we all worked on different projects in groups. Twice I volunteered at the local school teaching English. The children had zero structure in the classroom making it challenging. I enjoyed connecting with them though.

Other projects included building the kitchen out of stones and cement, making a mosaic, preparing lunch, and gardening. I worked on all of these projects except for gardening.

After a hot day working in the sun, we all gathered on the steps and helped prepare lunch, which was always vegetarian and half raw/half cooked. The raw component always amazed me, because I never knew eating raw could be so good. A lot of the sauces were made with nuts and coconut milk making them tasty and healthy. Lunch was always eaten silently not because we had to, but because it was so good it made us speechless.

In the afternoons, we relaxed or swept the path around the monastery. At 6:30pm everyday we had a sharing circle to share our honest feelings from the day, good or bad. Everyone felt comfortable to share openly in front of each other. The group always felt like a close family, no matter who came or left. We all respected and loved each other from the start, making it difficult to say goodbye when people left.

It is truly amazing how each person that passed through the project doors brought true hope and joy to the project. Everyone also had inspiring skills and stories to share with the group. Each time a person left, we had a proper goodbye of prayers and love for them. I cried during mine.

On the weekends, we visited Khon Kaen for the night market and a break from sleeping on the floor. On our last Saturday it was Buddha day. On Buddha day you prepare food all morning then bring it to the monastery to offer to the monks. We listened to the beautiful chanting of the monks and meditated, then shared our food with the monks and villagers in attendance. The lovely women of the village also shared their food with us. Each food brought to my lips was a surprise in flavor and texture. I loved this practice, which happens each week in accordance with the moons cycle.

Later that day we visited Khon Kaen and wandered around the city before going to Wat Pho, the temple where Christian and Anja were monk and nun. Here we saw the beautiful grounds where they built an earth back dome with mosaiced walls and interior used for darkness meditation. Then we sat in the temple for more chanting and meditation. I really felt connected to these words even though I couldn’t understand their meaning. The chants place a warm guiding hand on my heart. I felt love inside me instead of the usual fear.

Leaving this project and these wonderful people made me feel like I was leaving the nest for the first time, scared but prepared to face the world with new eyes.

After visiting Chachapoyas, we headed to the coast to see a bit of archaeological sites in the cities of Chiclayo and Trujillo. We didn’t really have limited time and for that reason decided to go and visit them both to see what the coast of Peru had to offer. That being said, if you do…

Though the place is named Aztec, the people who built these structures and inhabited them have nothing to do with the Aztecs of Mexico. They were ancestors of the Pueblo people, including present-day Hopis and Zunis. The ruins are in New Mexico, in fact in the Four Corners area of the US.

Following on the coast of Peru, a “short” 4-hour bus ride bring us to the city of Trujillo, a unmissable stop for those looking to know more about Peru’s culture and history. Even though the city might seem as chaotic as Chiclayo at first, strolling around the Plaza de Armas and seeing the cathedral is…

I’m not the most artistic person in the world, and I’ve never been too great at remembering different artists, methods, or artistic periods… it just really isn’t my thing. But, of course, there are a few artists who stick out in my mind and have caught my attention. One of them is Gaudi, the designer of the beautiful Sagrada Familia. Another is Salvador Dalí… I mean, whose attention hasn’t been caught at some point in their lives by his melting clocks or infamous upturned mustache?

After a while in the Northern Sierra of the country spent visiting archaeological sites and nature hiking, it was time for us to move onto the coast to a warmer (or at least we thought so!) destination: Chiclayo. On a misty cold morning of August, which got us thinking we took a night bus to…

Among the most beautiful archaeological sites to see while in Chachapoyas sits Karijia, a small but rewarding reminder of the long-gone indigenous people living in the area located in the village of Cruz pata. While the site itself can be visited in less than 30min, the entrance price is very small (5 soles/pp) and getting…

Cobá is one of the largest and oldest ruins on the Yucatan peninsula. It is also one of the better-known ones. Thousands of people flock to the site to climb the famous Nohuch Mul and walk around the rest of the ruins.

One of the full-day activities to do from the city of Chachapoyas is organizing a visit to the Fortress of Kuelap. The fortress, built by the chachapoyas indigenous people (a.k.a. warriors of the clouds) back in the 6th century BC, lies on the top of a huge hill close to the villages of Maria and…

Carlingford is one of our favourite towns in Ireland full of history, famous for oysters, and at the foot of the small mountain range the Cooley’s, which are crisscrossed by perfect walking trails.

The MIM, Musical Instrument Museum, is one of those places that might make even Phoenix a summer destination. Or maybe not. With temperatures above 110 degrees on a regular basis, I don’t encourage anyone to visit Phoenix in the middle of the summer. Still, if you have to be here for any reason, this is the place to spend a great day. Not to mention “travel the world” by learning about music all over.

Since I’ve been sharing my trip in Jefferson on the blog, and today is Friday the 13th (Oooh), I thought it’d be a great opportunity to share with y’all the spookier side of Jefferson, TX! And um, my very own ghost experience while staying in this “sweet” little town. Boo!

My mom called me one day to ask if I wanted to go to a little town called Jefferson, located right on the east edge of Texas. I think her old lady club (love ya, mom!) had been talking about it and she wanted me to go with her because she knew my old lady soul would enjoy it too. Spoiler alert: she was right!

Well Joyful Noise 2018 is in the books. Another amazingly fun, worshipful, wonderful family time for the huge, diverse faith community.
What is Joyful Noise you ask? Joyful Noise is a Christian Music Festival in the Minneapolis St Paul Metro area. The festival is put on by 98.5 KTIS, a powerhouse Christian Radio Station started by The Reverend Billy Graham.

Finishing off our last day in Belize with a visit to Caracol was simply great but this morning its time to move on: we’re ready to cross into Guatemala! After taking a ride back to San Ignacio from Santa Familia (the place where we were volunteering on workaway), getting a bus to the border with…

Arriving in Granada, one of the most important cities in Nicaragua, we are gifted with a beautiful surprise: today started the XIV International Festival of Poetry! Every year around the 15th of February, poets from all parts of the world meet here to share and celebrate the beauty of poetry. But there’s more! This year,…

A suburb directly north of Dallas, Richardson has some pretty cool events now and again. The Wildflower Festival is definitely one of them. I grew up going to the festival almost every year, but it’s only now in adulthood that I really appreciate it.

Since the first few moments we landed in Tamil Nadu (southern region in India), we knew Hindu temples would have been the norm for the rest of our trip. A couple on the main street, five more around the corner and a last hidden one that nobody knows its precise location – those were…

Waking up well rested in San Antonio, I was ready for a day of exploration. Seeing old friends the night before had been nice, but I was ready to get to some new places and see a side of Texas I hadn’t before.

The Gold Coast is an amazing area of eastern Austrailia with a sprawl of fantastic restaurants along the golden sands. One of these amazing hidden gems is Willow Dining Room in Burleigh Heads. We had the pleasure of being invited down to Willow Dining Room by Ian the Head Chef, to experience their tapas style menu. We have to say a big thank you to Ian and the team who took great care of us and cooked some incredible dishes for us to taste and document.
The venue is stylish, modern and very inviting. The wall art grabbed my eyes from the moment we walked in. The menu consists of tapas style dishes done to a high dining standard, with very healthy portions! We started off with a refreshing pear, goats cheese and pine nut salad. A perfect pallet cleanser before the tasty dishes to come.

This bustling pizzeria is a must do for Italian food fans in Bali. I have to say that the calzone was one of the best I’ve ever had. So good I went back twice. The prices still categorise the restaurant as a cheap eat! The pizzas and calzones are priced between 60-120k (£3-6), so an absolute bargain. My advice is to arrive at 18:30, before the big evening rush arrives. There’s lots of roadside parking for your scooter as well.

Guatemala has been a destination for Americans for at least ten years now, so it was no surprise that Antigua was swarming with them. The colorful colonial town, an hour outside Guatemala City, provides tourists with that authentic Guatemalan feel. The stone buildings are crumbling with age and the cathedrals overpower the plazas with bright yellow and orange facades. We got lucky to visit during one of the Sundays of Lent, when they celebrate Semana Santa before Easter. As we walked to our to favorite authentic breakfast spot, Rincón Típico, we noticed men strolling towards us in purple robes and hoods. We had no idea what was going on. Purple ribbons draped across the old stone protruding windowsills and along the entrance to the church doorways. We started to notice a theme around the city of purple, even the trees showered the sidewalks in purple flowers. It wasn’t until later in the day that we figured it out.

Amed in Bali was one of my favourite locations yet! On the far eastern side of the north coast, it’s the perfect location (as far away from Kuta & Seminyak as possible). The beaches are either black sand, being a volcanic island, or pebbled (quite tricky to master in flip flops). The water is beautifully clear and so warm, perfect for snorkelling or diving. We stayed at Stop Inn, which was ideal for what we needed. It had the mighty Mt Agung starring over us from the left and amazing fields all around, it was quite a spectacular setting.

Another early 6am wake up this morning! After yesterday’s invitation to join Eduardo and Manuel on their adventures in the area of Copan Ruinas, how couldn’t we say yes? The job of these guys is to repair telecommunication towers and even though they’re from El Salvador, they operate also in Guatemala & Honduras. Having them…

The city of Waco, known as the home of the couple of Fixer Upper, favorite spot of mine as the midpoint between home and Austin, also apparently has a National Park site. Twenty-four mammoth bone structures were found after a flash flood, an impressive amount, and only a couple years ago this was made into a National Park.

We spent 10 days in this fantastic city in the Sabah region of Borneo. We mainly used it as a point to transfer on and off the beautiful islands, which you can read about HERE. What I didn’t realise before coming was that Kota Kinabalu has a thriving food scene! There’s a lot of Chinese, Indian and western influence which makes for a great mix. I have put together my top 5 restaurants out of around the 20 or so we went to, they are in no particular order and all offer very tasty dishes.

Langkawi has become one of my favourite places and the food is also of a very high standard. There’s a vast influence here, including Malay, Chinese, Indian and Western cuisine. I have put together our favourite three eats from the Pantai Tengah area on the south west coast of the island.

So the Street Art in Georgetown was AMAZING, we’d definitely recommend doing it!
We decided to go straight out in the morning and go on a little treasure hunt around the streets of Penang. We used the app “Maps.me” which was so handy. You can simply type in which street art you want to see and pin them all to then use offline and follow. There is so many to see but we managed to do a little route which surprisingly didn’t take long – you can do it all in a morning/afternoon. We have put together our best bits with a map, divided up into 5 sections for an easy walk through town.

George Town, Penang has become one of mine and Georgi’s favourite little towns. There’s so much going on; restaurants, street food, diverse ethnicities bringing their culture to separate areas of the town as well as an abundance of street art to keep you wandering for hours on end. Of course my favourite part has been the food scene! You have little India, little China town and of course an array of Malaysian cuisine.

The jaw-dropping size and intricacy of these ancient temples in South India will leave you speechless. Even if you only see them from the outside.
During a short family vacation through Tamil Nadu over Christmas in 2017, we paid a quick visit to two legendary South Indian temples—the 2,000 year-old Meenakshi Amman temple in Madurai, and 1,000 year-old Brihadeeswara temple in Thanjavur (Tanjore). Though we only had time for a quick visit, the size and intricacy of each complex left us gobsmacked!

For North Americans New Years means watching the ball drop, wearing black and gold, drinking champagne, and kissing at midnight. In Ecuador, the New Year comes with many unique traditions that are far different than we are accustomed to. After a conversation with a local, I discovered how Ecuadorians ring in the New Year and…

The ancient city of Petra in Jordan is one of those unique places, full of history, beauty, and culture, that everyone must see at least once in their lives. Just imagine a narrow pathway of red sandstone cliff walls opening up to stunning views of temples and tombs throughout what is rightfully called the Rose City. I saw for myself why Petra is one of the new seven wonders of the world because it’s definitely one of a kind. Trust me, there are hundreds of reasons to add Petra to your bucket list, and I have 10 reasons that will make you want to put it at the top of your list.

As a self-confessed history buff, one of the main attractions of Vietnam for me was the intrigue of its legendary past. Royal Emperors of old, majestic historic monuments, and temple upon temple of colourful photo opportunities… it all sounded rather appealing to my inner nerdy self.

The best thing about the holiday season in Europe is all the German Christmas Markets. I’m from America, so this wasn’t something I was very familiar with when I studied abroad. Every city, big and small, seems to have some type of Christmas market. I studied in Reading, England, but naturally, I made my way to lots of different destinations throughout November and December.

As you all probably know by now, I can blab on about food into the next century. So I thought instead of giving you the ins and outs of everywhere we ate in Laos, I would simply do a run down of our top picks from each place we visited.

Our plane touched ground in Iquitos, Peru and we funneled out the doors down to the black tarmac. The humidity hit us like entering a steam room in heavy clothing. We wore the heavy air like an extra layer of clothing clinging to our skin. Welcome to the Jungle played in the back of my…

After our disappointment of Hoi An Old Town being under water post typhoon, we were extremely glad to see Hoi An back to its bustling self when we arrived on 26th November.

After fleeing the typhoon and flying north to Ha Noi, seeing that it was dry was the biggest relief in the world.
We stayed with our amazing friends Steve and Tamara who teach in the city. They put up with us for 10 days and we had such a crazy time. It was so nice to have some home comforts such as a sofa to chill on, a washing machine to use and most importantly some familiar faces to explore the city with. They showed us some fantastic restaurants, the food scene in Hanoi is up there with the best! They do western food extremely well (especially breakfast) and cater for veggie/vegan needs really well.

Oh Hoi An, you little heart-breaker. It’s been 8 weeks since I left your colourful streets behind and I’m still pining for you.
Where to even begin trying to convey the magical charm and atmosphere of Vietnam’s most beautiful ancient town? From the bright yellow streets and lantern-dotted skies to the bustling food markets and rolling green countryside, every single thing about this historic town is completely mesmerising. I’ve never visited anywhere quite like it and for 4 days, I felt like I’d been transported back into a mystical, ancient fairy-tale land (well, an ancient fairy-tale land with surprisingly exceptional free Wifi everywhere…and I mean EVERYWHERE)

First of all the food is MORE EXPENSIVE than in Thailand, by quite a bit actually. The main reason being that Cambodia has adopted the US Dollar as a currency. So they seem to round everything up to $1 even if it was ever cheaper. But on the flip side, beer is MUCH CHEAPER than in Thailand, with your average beer costing no more than 75c or 50c during happy hours. So you win some you lose some.

If you love cities full of history and culture, landscapes that will take your breath away and clear turquoise water, then Cuba will have something for you. Lawrence and I recently spent time exploring Cuba and were open to whatever it had to offer.

What better day to discuss one of the most haunted places in the world than on Halloween? The Tower of London has played a significant role in England’s history, but has also had numerous reports of paranormal activity throughout the years. I got to visit the Tower of London with a friend during a three-country trip to Europe. We both love paranormal stories and horror movies, so we were obviously excited. While we did not see any ghosts (I don’t think), it was daylight at the time, and honestly, the haunting and chilling atmosphere was good enough for us!

For any wine lover, Mendoza, Argentina falls under destinations to visit for wine tasting. It is the capital of Malbec wine. They are the main grower and exporter of this delicious red wine. So, you would be remiss to not take a wine tour in Mendoza if you love Malbec. Once you finish wine tasting…

What started as a three-week business trip to Bangalore ended up being an adventure I will never forget! Obviously, visiting temples is a must when traveling to India, but how do you know which ones to visit when there are so many to see? And, of course, everyone has their own list of favorites. It would take forever to list all of the incredible temples in India, or even just in the one part of South India that I visited, Bangalore. Luckily, I had local coworkers who were more than happy to show me around, including places that not all tourists get to see. Check out my three favorite temples near Bangalore based on my love of architecture and the amazing experiences I had at each temple.

Welcome to Ayutthaya, a fantastic small village 56 miles north of Bangkok, surrounded by water with loads of sites to see. If you’re travelling in by train from Bangkok like we did (15TBH per person), the easiest way to cross the water is by the river ferry for 5TBH per person .. seriously cheap! But watch you don’t fall in the water with your backpack on (watch the video blog to see what I mean).

I’m always up for a great day of wine tasting. But wine tasting in paradise, in the volcanic vineyard of Santorini? Yes, please! While on a trip to the Greek Islands, I was not going to pass up the opportunity to visit some of Santorini’s best wineries. Since this was my first trip after having scoliosis surgery, I definitely had something to celebrate, and this seemed too good to be true.

Today was the end of Buddhist lent, this meant that even Khaosan Road was quiet! No alcohol is being served until midnight so we decided to take our adventures further into Bangkok and be proper tourists for the day.
We had planned to visit the Grand Palace, but due to the country being in a state of mourning for the late King, only Thai nationals could enter the Palace grounds. Apparently this is the case until 31st October as many posters around the city will tell you.

Ahhh Khaosan Road, what a crazy place to start our travels! It’s pure crazy and open 24 hours a day. Market stalls, street tailors, bars and clubs all keep the street buzzing with people constantly, but I’m going to fill you in on the food! If you don’t know I’m a crazy foodie and love trying new and different things.

Magnificent architecture, imposing fortresses, colourful locals, complex cuisine, and traditional street art… find all this, and more, in Rajasthan—literally, the ‘land of kings’.

The Okanagan is Canada’s answer to Napa Valley. When you think Canada, you don’t necessarily think of wine. Well – they’ve got a wine industrry, and it’s really, really, good. I make a point of visiting the region at least once each year, and whilst I do try and visit new wineries each time, there’s a few staple wineries which I can’t help to go to year after year.

Nk’Mip – Osoyoos

Let’s start in the south, with the quirkiest name. Pronounced “Ink-a-meep,” it is a native winery in beautiful settings just outside the southern border town of Osoyoos. If you’re looking for a great place to stay, this is a sure thing – it hosts one of the largest resorts in the Okanagan region. Reasonably priced and well appointed, it’s a great base, and a great way of not having to worry about who is the designated driver. The wines are fantastic, in particular the Pinot Blanc, which is an easy one to drink too much of. When I visited, we sat at a long table overlooking the lake, enjoyed a phenomenal wine makers dinner, and kept the wine flowing late into the night.

Burrowing Owl, Oliver

By far my favourite stop off in the Okanagan, and for good reason. Not only are all of the wines outstanding, the restaurant is delicious and the views fantastic. I make a point to frequently stop here for lunch or dinner if I can. There are suites available on site, and it’s definitely on my bucket list to stay here sometime. It’s impossible to pick a favourite varietal, they are all that good – but I am sure to keep a bottle of Meritage in my wine collection, and the Pinot Grigio goes down like a charm.

Tinhorn Creek, Oliver

A gem in the Okanagan with a big personality. The winery itself is very homely, but the new restaurant up on the hillside is an ideal spot to stop for a bite. The wine’s are all fairly dry, but that’s what I like about them. The Gewurtztraminer is what they’re best known for. I was fortunate enough to stay on site at the winery for a few days a couple of years ago, and the hospitality was next level. Definitely not a winery to miss. In the summer, look out for the concert series which takes place in the ampitheatre at the winery.

See Ya Later Ranch, Okanagan Falls

See Ya Later is a great little stop off with a unique story. Personally, the wines themselves aren’t my favourite from the region – however, the story is what keeps me coming back time and time again. First, we have a steep winding road to take us up to the winery, which is perched atop a hillside overlooking Okanagan Falls. I’ll leave it to the winery employees to explain the story behind the name, but if you’re a dog lover then you have to make this a stop, as a number of the wines are named after the wine maker’s dogs. We had a wine makers lunch here, and both the setting and the food were home grown and authentic. It was definitely a highlight of the trip.

Summerhill, Kelowna

If you’re after bubbles, this is a great stop. There is something very unique about Summerhill, and the story surrounding it. The winery itself is moderately industrial, however touring the vineyards with the owner (Ezra) was quite a unique experience. I felt a real connection with the wine, as we sampled grapes from the vines and meandered around compost heaps. There was nothing manicured about the vineyards – it was totally real and homely, and that completed the whole experience.

Mission Hill, West Kelowna

Yes, it’s big, and yes, it’s corporate – but Mission Hill remains a great place to stop off. A tour of their wine cellar alone is reason enough to visit, but there’s so much more than that. Be sure to have a bite at the restaurant, and sample some of the extensive line up in the tasting room.

An ancient stone pathway leading through caves and streams. Monkeys sheltering from the rain on a crumbling temple gate. A sage meditating next to a stone companion. And palace ruins dissolving into darkness. These are just some of the magical sights that Hampi has to offer.
We’ve visited Hampi—the ruins of Vijayanagara, the center one of south India’s most powerful medieval kingdoms—three times now, and have always found something new to see (or seen the same thing in a new way).

There is much more to the Nilgiri hills than the famous (and very touristy) Ooty. We found this out during a wonderful getaway in the misty O’Land Plantation, two hours’ drive past Ooty.
For those not in the know, the Nilgiri hills are part of the Western ghats of India, where the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala meet, and whose most famous tourist trap is Ooty (AKA Ootacamund or Udhagamandalam).