Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for international travel
The Dark Sky Island
By Linda Tancs
Less than an hour by sea from Jersey or Guernsey, Sark is the smallest of the four main Channel Islands. But what it lacks in size it makes up for in benefits. For instance, it’s Europe’s first International Dark Sky Community (a moniker bestowed by the International Dark-Sky Association), which means you can gaze at countless stars and admire the Milky Way, particularly when the sun sets early like this time of year. It also evokes a step back in time, being devoid of street lighting and cars (excepts tractors for farming). That means you get to take a charming horse-drawn carriage ride around the island or enjoy a five-mile scenic trek from the visitor center to the village. Garden lovers will adore La Seigneurie Gardens, one of the most enchanting gardens in the islands. Overall, its history and culture (like the old windmill, silver mines and Stonehenge-like Sark Henge) attract some 40,000 visitors each year.
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The Yellowstone of Russia
By Linda Tancs
Second to Yellowstone, Russia’s Valley of the Geysers is one of the largest geyser fields in the world. Located in the Kamchatka Peninsula, it’s the only geyser field in Eurasia. Carved by the Geyser River, the canyon is 5 miles long, over 2 miles wide in places and up to 1,300 feet deep, packed with over 40 geysers as well as boiling springs, hot lakes, mud volcanoes and caldrons, thermal platforms and steam jets. Still appealing to tourists since the landslide in 2007, this steaming, bubbling and boiling force of nature is accessible via helicopter tours.
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World’s End in Sri Lanka
By Linda Tancs
The Horton Plains are located on Sri Lanka’s highest plateau, providing the most extensive area of cloud forest still extant in the country. Designated a wildlife sanctuary in 1969, it became a national park in 1988. The biodiverse environment includes over 50 species of flora, more than 20 species of mammal and nearly 90 species of birds. Visitors ply the six-mile loop for enviable views, including features like the famous World’s End, a thrilling escarpment boasting a 3,700 foot sheer drop that offers fabulous views of the tea estates below. Best time for a visit is in the morning on a weekday. The whole country also basks in sunshine this time of year.
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Drawing the Line in Ecuador
By Linda Tancs
Located about 14 miles north of Quito, Ecuador, Mitad del Mundo commemorates the site where 18th-century French explorer Charles-Marie de La Condamine once calculated the globe’s equatorial line. Of course, that calculation was made without the benefit of modern technology, which sadly reveals that the actual line dividing the planet into a Northern Hemisphere and a Southern Hemisphere is actually 262 yards or so away in the vicinity of the Intiñan Solar Museum. Well, why not make a day out of it and visit both locations. Take an elevator to the top of the trapezoidal monument at Mitad del Mundo for great views of the surrounding countryside and indulge in equator-related science experiments at the museum, where you’ll find a painted red line purportedly indicating the real middle of the world.
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A Match in Sweden
By Linda Tancs
The next time you strike a match, think of Jönköping, Sweden, site of the world’s only matchstick museum. This southern city was a match-producing capital beginning in the 1800s; by 1858 it was churning out 12 million matchboxes a year. The factory-turned-museum explores the history of the matchstick and introduces both the people and the machines that built the industry.
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On the Rocks in Colombia
By Linda Tancs
It’s not unusual for a mansion to be converted into a museum, but they don’t all command jaw-dropping, cliffside views like Tequendama Falls Museum in San Antonio del Tequendama, Colombia. Originally built as the opulent home for a successful architect in the Roaring ’20s, the French-style mansion later became a luxury hotel for a number of years until its abandonment in the ’90s. It reopened in 2013 as a museum celebrating biodiversity and culture, a fitting tribute given the beauty of its natural surroundings.
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An Epic Mountain Trail in Lebanon
By Linda Tancs
The 292-mile-long Lebanon Mountain Trail (LMT) traverses the length of Lebanon. The country’s first long-distance hiking trail, it extends from Andqet in the north to Marjaayoun in the south. Both rugged and pastoral, the trail transects more than 75 towns and villages at altitudes ranging from 1,840 to 6,000 feet above sea level. Among the fields, orchards, forests, waters and fortresses the route traverses some of Lebanon’s best known natural areas, like Al-Shouf Cedar Nature Reserve and the Qadisha Valley. LMT maps can be bought at some of the lodging facilities on the trail and at the LMTA office in Baabda.
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The Bamboo Bridge
By Linda Tancs
Located three hours from Cambodia’s capital, Kampong Cham is arguably an overlooked city along the Mekong River. A bit understated with some French colonial architecture, one of its greatest charms is its bamboo bridge to Koh Pen. As you might suspect, it needs to be rebuilt after each rainy season, so its appearance is only seasonal. In the past, it did accommodate vehicles (bamboo does, after all, possess tremendous tensile strength), but that ceased when the new concrete and steel bridge was built downstream. Now it’s used by pedestrians and bicyclists. Let’s hope there’s enough foot traffic to keep the quaint bridge going.
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Eye Kandy
By Linda Tancs
Kandy is the second largest city in Sri Lanka, so famed for its sacred Buddhist sites that the entire metropolis is designated a Sacred City by UNESCO. The highlight is the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, housing a tooth of Buddha. From that hub springs a feast for the eyes, like man-made Kandy Lake and its breathtaking views from the walking and jogging paths. Also nearby are the Royal Palace, home to the monarch of the Kingdom of Kandy until the early 1800s, Udawattakele Forest Reserve and the famous orchid collection at Royal Botanical Gardens.
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A Taste of Margaret River
By Linda Tancs
The Margaret River region in western Australia is known for its craft breweries, wine and beaches. But don’t neglect its natural wonders, like Cape Naturaliste at the northernmost point. In addition to excellent walking trails, the area features Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse with breathtaking panoramic views of the Indian Ocean, Cape Naturaliste, Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park and the beautiful Geographe Bay coastline. A fully-guided lighthouse tour will regale you with stories of shipwrecks and lighthouse keeping.
