Adventuriety
We arrived in Xi’an on our seventh day in China. Even if you have no interest in China you’ve probably heard of Xi’an. No? What about the Terra Cotta Warriors? I thought so. Even my kids knew about the Terra Cotta Warriors and listed them as a reason for visiting China. Obviously, Xi’an is very popular on the Chinese tourist circuit because of the Terra Cotta...
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Adventuriety
For me, being in China was like being on another planet, but a vaguely familiar planet. China is a very complicated place; a lot like an episode of Star Trek Voyager where past, present and future are all tangled together in some sort of Delta Quadrant wormhole. For those of you who are not Trekkies, suffice it to say that Beijing was our first taste...
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Adventuriety
I’m just going to start by saying that this blog drove me crazy and took forever to write and rewrite and rewrite. We chose Kyoto for five days because the overwhelming advice from both friends and guidebooks was to spend our time in Kyoto! There seems to be a consensus that Kyoto is the place to visit and when Japan is the topic, the questions range from, “Have...
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Adventuriety / Inspirietry
After the sensory overload of Tokyo, we were all looking forward to a little nature and a slower pace. The charming town of Nikko was recommended both by friends and guidebooks. It is located a little more than two hours north of Tokyo and offers both the UNESCO World Heritage that includes 103 buildings or structures belonging to two Shinto shrines and one Buddhist temple...
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Adventuriety
Traveling can help you get to know yourself for sure. This “last trip” on our year long adventure was a point of contention. I wanted Iceland, Norway and Ireland, places that sounded good in the hot summer months and all places I had been looking forward to visiting. Besides, I am Norwegian on my father’s side and I wanted to visit Norway. Conversely, my family...
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Adventuriety
I have been behind on my blogging more than usual after this past South America jaunt and have spent days at home catching up on Peru, Galapagos Islands and Aruba. It’s not unusual for me to lag behind, but it has been much worse lately and when I finally caught up to our latest adventure I happily reported to Scott who had been asking me on...
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Inspirietry / Recuperiety
One of the benefits of traveling is that one learns geography and in planning our South America jaunt, Scott was thrilled to realize how closely Aruba and Ecuador are positioned on the globe. While Scott is always on the lookout for trekking opportunities, his true love is the sport of windsurfing and a very dry four years has left his beloved local windsurfing spot looking like...
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Adventuriety
By the time we arrived in Aguas Calientes we had been learning and soaking up Andean history and culture for eleven days and we had seen a lot of Inca ruins, five of the ten “Top 10 Inca Ruins to See (that aren’t Machu Picchu)” according to National Geographic to be exact (we didn’t plan that), and a few others not included on the list....
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Adventuriety
Day three would be all down hill and a much warmer hike, but the treat at the end would be an evening of swimming and soaking in hot springs which we were all looking forward to. The day would end with our last night of sleeping in a tent, which I was looking forward to. We spent another cold night, waking occasionally to the sounds...
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Adventuriety
Despite the woolen layers, gloves, hats, sleeping bags, etc. we froze our asses off and were relieved to peek out of the tent and observe the lightening sky on the second morning of our trek. After a warm breakfast of pancakes and hot coffee we were ready for Day 2 and the Salkantay Pass. We got an early and cold start for the toughest day...
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