Author Archive
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008
The End of the World
Before we arrived in Ushuaia, Argentina, I knew only that it was the southernmost city on earth–literally, the end of the world–and that Argentine prisoners had once been sent there to maintain Argentina’s hold on the land (presumably because no one else was willing to go). The place didn’t sound particularly promising…
But the town has […]
No Comments » - Posted in Argentina by Shanna
Tuesday, April 1st, 2008
Pucón: Entrance to the Mountains
In the middle of Chile’s lake district, at the foot of the ever-smoldering Villarrica Volcano, lies Pucón, a little town whose primary purpose seems to be to cater to the every whim of the backpackers and other adventurous types who flock there. They arrive in droves every summer and fall1 to sample some of the […]
No Comments » - Posted in Chile by Shanna
Sunday, March 23rd, 2008
El Norte Grande
San Pedro de Atacama is in the southeast corner of the area of Chile known as the “Norte Grande,” or the “Great North.” The moniker seems an apt description for San Pedro, where everything is, indeed, great in size: the desert stretches on for miles, the sky is immense, even the prices are huge. 1 Only […]
3 Comments » - Posted in Chile by Shanna
Saturday, March 8th, 2008
Coming to [the] America[s]
A few days ago, in the middle of our 50-hour, epic journey from Bangkok to Santiago, we had a layover in Detroit. In a way, we felt that we were coming full-circle in this, the middle of our journey: our trip had begun six months before with a flight out of the same airport. After […]
No Comments » - Posted in RTW Travel by Shanna
Sunday, March 2nd, 2008
Luang Prabang: Three Great Memories and One that Worries Me
As the true jewel in Laos’s crown of tourist attractions, Luang Prabang–with a population of only 26,000–is not a big city. Rather, it’s a small town with a lot to offer the ever-increasing number of tourists who come to wander its idyllic streets, dine in its French-influenced cafes and soak up its incredibly contagious relaxed […]
1 Comment » - Posted in Laos by Shanna
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008
A Macabre History Lesson
Our travels thus far have taken us to a number of places marred by the aftermath of politics gone wrong. In no place, however, have the wounds from such wrongs been as raw or as recent as the ones we witnessed during our time in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Cambodia […]
No Comments » - Posted in Cambodia by Shanna
Sunday, February 17th, 2008
Taking a Detour into Leisure
We’ve been traveling for almost six months now and among the many lessons we’ve learned is this: travel can sometimes feel like a full-time job. Okay, like a really good job where we have neither assignments, deadlines nor specific working hours, but all the same, finding places to sleep each night, navigating new places every […]
1 Comment » - Posted in Vietnam, Uncategorized by Shanna
Monday, February 11th, 2008
Good Morning Vietnam!
Our visit to Vietnam would not have been complete without a trip to the demilitarized zone, or DMZ. This strip of land, which is approximately two miles wide, divided North and South Vietnam before and during the Vietnam War (or, as it’s called here, “the American War” or, depending on the speaker, “the War of […]
1 Comment » - Posted in Vietnam by Shanna
Thursday, February 7th, 2008
On the Banks of the Perfume River
After Hanoi, we flew to Hue, a former imperial city on the banks of the enigmatically named Perfume River. We spent a mist-filled afternoon exploring the Citadel, a section of the city that is surrounded both by a moat and by tall, thick walls. These safety precautions did little to defend the area from the […]
1 Comment » - Posted in Vietnam by Shanna
Saturday, February 2nd, 2008
Floating Through the Bay
In the green-gray waters of the Gulf of Tonkin sit the more than 3000 limestone karsts that combine to form the wonder that is Halong Bay. The bay has long been a draw for tourists visiting mainland Vietnam; most of us hop on buses in Hanoi and, after a long ride through rice fields and […]
