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30.12 | The Hottest Place on Earth, Danakil Depression in Pictures

Danakil Depression in Ethiopia turned out to be one of the most colorful, alien, and beautiful landscapes I'd ever seen. There's nothing else quite like it on this earth.

28.12 | Erta Ale, Ethiopia – Looking Into the Bowel of the Earth

Looking into the bowel of Erta Ale lava lake was like staring at the surface of the sun.

26.12 | Tips and Facts on Visiting Danakil Depression in Ethiopia

How and where do I begin to describe the things I saw when I visited Danakil Depression, 'the hottest place on Earth'? "Amazing" or "breath taking" doesn't seem to cut it. It's too pedestrian. "I must be dreaming because I can't quite possibly see what I'm seeing right now" is more like it.

25.12 | Everything That Went Wrong in Ethiopia

One of the most difficulty countries I've traveled to, I have a strong suspicion that Ethiopia wants to get rid of me. Let’s start the story from the very beginning.

22.12 | Thoughts and Tips on Visiting Fez, Morocco

The souks of Fes is what I always imagined Morocco to be: a frontal assault on the nose, the eyes, and the ears. Here are my thoughts and tips for visiting Fes, which I enjoyed so much more than Marrakech.

14.12 | What’s It Like to Stay in a Moroccan Riad?

Staying in a riad is definitely something you have to do when traveling to Morocco. We were so amazed by the beauty of our riad (Riad Al Moussika) and so pampered by the attention that the staff gave us - it will be really hard to go back to staying in hostels.

12.12 | Oh My Hammam! The Time I Was Blind and Naked in Morocco

Took me 2 weeks to gather up the courage to go a hammam (read here if you're not sure what a hammam is) in Morocco. Being naked in public has never been on my "Things I'm Dying to Do in Morocco" list. It was more like on my "Things I Still Might Not Do Even I Ever Got Bored Enough" list.

07.12 | Camel Trekking – A Very Humpy Ride

Going camel trekking in the desert has been something I'd dreamed of doing for many, many years. And finally, here in Morocco, I had a chance to make it happen. It didn't turn out quite how I had imagined. (Most things never do).

05.12 | Camel Trekking – Welcome to the Desert!

I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but after the cramped alleys of Fez, the open desert horizon was disconcerting.

Jack making a makeshift thermal using my scarf on the freezing night bus to Merzouga

29.11 | Photogenic Chefchaouen in Colors

Seriously, Chefchaouen is the most photogenic city we've ever been in. And I'm not saying that only because the houses in Chefchaouen happens to be painted in shades of powder blue which happens to be our favorite color.

27.11 | Ruins of Chellah – Where Cats and Storks Roam Free

The first thing we noticed about the ruins of Chellah in Rabat is not the ruins itself, but the friendly community of resident cats who greeted us on the path towards the ruins. To greet and cuddle every single one of these cats, as one can imagine, makes for a very slow going. But as animal lovers (who miss having cats terribly), how could we not do it? Unless some of the cats in the medina, these ones look like they're well taken care of. That fact alone makes us feel like our 10 Dirham entrance fee is worth it.

25.11 | Easing in into the Madness in Rabat, Morocco

When I think of Morocco, I used to think of the madness and chaous of the souks of Marrakesh and the hassling touts in Fez. Well, Rabat is nothing like that. We surely didn't expect to walk out of the train station to find wide boulevards with palm trees, lined with imposing white buildings. Smartly dressed diplomats (it is Morocco's capital after all) in suites mingle with traditionally clothed men and women on the wide sidewalks.

17.11 | Is it safe to travel to Colombia?

Colombia? The food is not much to talk about. The bus rides will probably kill you. Other than that traveling in Colombia is just as safe as any other countries we went to in South America. Or as dangerous. Depending on how you look at it.

02.11 | Mexico City – All the Fun You Can Have in 10 Hours

Long layover sucks. On the way to New York from South America, we had a 10 hour layover in Mexico City. But getting out of the airport to enjoy a little bit of the city definitely beats moping around at the airport.

31.10 | 3 Reasons to Visit San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

The desert is not for everyone, of course. San Pedro de Atacama desert’s beauty is one of the understated kind with its muted colors under harsh sunlight. Barren landscape dotted with knee length growths – so skinny and naked it’s not right to call it a bush just yet.

26.10 | The Quest for the Best Picanteria in Arequipa

The main reason we came to Arequipa was for the food, typical comida Arequipeña such as 'rocoto relleno', 'chupe de camarones', 'chicharrones' and more. We had never considered ourselves foodies in the slightest bit before we got to Peru. Never before being obsessed with food, I think being away from good food for months in Colombia and Ecuador finally took its toll.

25.10 | How Much Does It Cost to Travel Peru and Other Stats

How much does it cost to travel Peru?

21.10 | Humberstone – A ghost town in Chilean desert

But Humberstone was not anything like that. The reason it was abandoned was something less sinister than a deadly extra terrestrial virus. For awhile it was a prosperous town of 3500 that thrived on nitrate mining for fertilizer. These people had a town complete with a hospital, a public swimming pool, and even a theatre.

14.10 | Getting Scammed at the Peru – Chile border

Tacna, Peru We knew there was something fishy about the $20 ‘tourist card’ fee the collectivo driver demanded from all the gringos in the taxi. There were some signs that should’ve raised a lot more flags than they did that day at Tacna International Bus terminal: – Guy 1 mentioned that it’s only levied for […]

Something fishy in Tacna border crossing

11.10 | How to Survive Cuzco on a Budget

It turned out that Cuzco is not as expensive as we were led to believe either: Our hostal and food cost is not any higher than the average we've been spending in Peru. The thing is: it's easy to spend a lot money in Cuzco.

03.10 | Tripping on San Pedro in Hatun Machay

There are two main groups of people who come to visit Hatun Machay: 1. Climbers 2. Druggies They come here for the same reason: to be among the weirdly-shaped rocks of Hatun Machay.

29.09 | How to See Peru’s Erotic Moche Pottery

When we read that Museo Larco contains a notable collection of pre-Columbian erotic Moche potteries - it got us all curious. This is definitely a museum we'll have to check out.

27.09 | Peruvian Ceviche for the First Time in Lima

We met our host in Lima, Ana, when we were volunteering in Banos, Ecuador. When we finally were making our way to Lima and making plans to meet up with her, we told her that there are 2 things we'd like to do in the 2 days we're in Lima: 1. See the 'erotic pottery' exhibition in Museo Larco 2. Eat yummy Peruvian food And boy, like an awesome host that she is, she fulfilled both of our wishes.

23.09 | The colorful salt ponds of Maras

Cuzco, Peru

01.09 | Eeew, raw fish – Gluttony in Trujillo

Trujillo, Peru Remember that day in Trujillo when we ate nothing but American chain food? Well, it didn’t take for the guilt to sink in and we decided to make it up for our remaining 2 days in Trujillo. Well, the guilt and the price tag, really. Pizza Hut was expensive. Everyone that we’ve met […]

30.08 | Kuelap – The Pre-Inca Ruins of Chachapoyas

As the first city in Peru that we've stayed in, Chachapoyas had the unfortunate responsiblity of giving us a good first impression of this 3rd country in our RTW travel. Fortunately, Chachapoyas had nothing to worry about. Its neat and tidy plaza and white painted buildings brought us back to all of those cute Colombian pueblos that we loved so much. And if you're into ruins, you'll love it even more. This area is not only blessed with dramatic sceneries, but it's dotted with more ruins that you probably have time for.

18.08 | How Much Does It Cost to Travel Ecuador (and other tidbits)

How much does it cost to travel in Ecuador? Not counting Galapagos, Ecuador turned out to be surprisingly cheap. Here's our budget breakdown during our travel in Ecuador.

16.08 | Playing Americans in Trujillo, Peru

Big cities are never quite our things. We've been on the road for 4 months and the number of big cities we can safely say we've explored is very few. There were those 3 days we spent in Medellin. The 1 day spent in Quito. So safe to say that for the 4 months we've been traveling in South America we never had the opportunity to enjoy big city stuff. Things such as concerts, museums, and the hustle bustle of a city life. Things such as shopping malls. Western style shopping malls.

14.08 | Epic Adventures You Can Do in Banos, Ecuador

Baños is known as Ecuador's center of extreme adventure activities. You can do anything here as long as it involves climbing up stuff and falling down stuff. And if it involves water and volcanoes, it's even better. We felt right at home there. Here are some of the things we did that we've survived:

10.08 | Vilcabamba to La Balsa to Chachapoyas – The Long Way to Peru

Vilcabamba, Ecuador – Chachapoyas, Peru “Hope you’re up for an adventure,” I said to Jack. “Not really”, he grimaced. “I just hope it won’t rain. Then it would really suck. Lots of dirt road.” It was 6 am in Vilcabamba. It was the start of a 2 day journey to cross from Ecuador to Peru, […]

08.08 | Where Have All the Hippies Gone?

Apparently they all ended up here in Vilcabamba. I've never seen so many old people and tie dye-clad people - sometimes they're the ones and the same - since... Well, never, actually. Vilcabamba is experiencing some sort of gringo boom, it seems like. It's especially popular with the retired folks. We came to Vilcabamba on our way to Peru from Baños. We didn't really know what to expect - but surely we didn't expect a town overrun with expats and tourists.

Handsome Vilcabamba main square and church

05.08 | Postcard from Baños, Ecuador

Baños is located at the bottom of a still very much active volcano, Tungurahua. So active that it's constantly spewing smokes. It definitely makes life exciting.

04.08 | The Best of Baños

Having stayed in Baños for almost 2 months, both Jack and I have discovered some places that quickly became our favorites. We'd love to share some of them with you.

01.08 | Jumping Off San Francisco Bridge in Banos

When we're not working or partying, we're jumping off bridges. There's this bridge in Banos called San Francisco, which is the longest, tallest bridge in town. Go to the bridge at any given time and you'll find a couple of guys hanging out offering a chance to swing jump off the bridge.

26.07 | Taking A Break From Hostel Living – Come See Our $7 Apartment

We stumbled across this apartment when we were trying to help our friends, Miin and Neil, to find an apartment here in Baños. The guy quoted us $25 per person per week to this 3 br apartment right in the center of the city. (You should've seen the face of the wife when she found out - she knew she could've charged us more.) It comes with cable TV, free WiFi, and hot water. And we even have hot water in the kitchen - the first we've ever had in South America.

22.07 | Volunteering in Baños – 30 Kids and 100 Soda Bottles

What happens when you hand 30 kids soda bottles 3 days in a row? Fun creatures is what happens. All of the stuff below were made during activity time at the Foundation in Baños - where we spent 3 weeks working with local kids and teaching English to adults.

19.07 | Ingapirca, Not Quite Blown Away

In case you're curious, we're still in Baños, Ecuador at the moment. We've been here for 5 weeks. Don't worry, the end of this week we're really, this time for real, going to move on. A couple of weeks ago, I left Jack behind in Baños while a girlfriend and I made a weekend trip to Cuenca. On the agenda: girls-only time and visiting Ingapirca. Unfortunately, for my first Inca ruin ever, Ingapirca turned out to be only mildly entertaining.

15.07 | Postcard from Galapagos

We had a plan to send postcards to our families back home from the places we've visited during our around the world trip. But not until Galapagos did we finally get a chance. It was interestingly hard to come up with something to write about knowing there's no 'Ctrl-Z' button to save us if we make a mistake. We couldn't remember the last time either of us has written so much using pen and paper.

13.07 | The Quirky Museum in Baños: The Dead and the Decaying

We're on our last week here in Baños. It's hard to believe that we've been here a month. It's sad to think that soon we'll be leaving our newfound friends behind and once again we'll be facing the unknowns and the unexpected that our travel will bring. We've spent our month here in Baños wisely, we think. We've volunteered our time working with the kids of Baños (more on this later) and both Jack and I have improved our Spanish by taking private lessons. We now know how to express our confusions in words other than mute blank stares (boo yah!).

05.07 | Our 5 Little Joys of Travels

As we all know, traveling is not without challenges. Especially when you're traveling in a country where you don't speak the language. Especially if you're traveling in a country where you don't speak the language during rainy season.

01.07 | Canyoning Rio Blanco – More fun and less fashionable than expected

With so many waterfalls and rivers around Baños, it's no wonder that every tour agency in town offers some sorts of water related activities, like canyoning. I had my doubt about this whole canyoning thing at first. Rappelling is just a fancy name 'Don't let go of that brake hand or you'll get in serious trouble.'

29.06 | (Willingly) Stuck in Baños – A Personal Update

We've been in here for 2 weeks now. The longest we've ever stayed in a place. And the crazier part? We now have a routine. We have English classes to teach and children to supervise. We have Spanish classes to go to. We've been busy.

27.06 | Stories and Photos from Galapagos – A Photo Collection

We took close to 800 pics during our trip to Galapagos. Which is not that many compared to other people. My seasickness prevented me from being photo-happy like I usually am. Regardless, we'd love to share some of these pictures along with the stories behind them with you guys. Hope you enjoy!

23.06 | Couchsurfing With Llamas and Goat

I have to admit that I hit the 'Couchsurf with me' button as soon as I saw that they keep llamas at the place we were looking to couchsurf in Quito. "Llamas?! How cool! How... South American!" I squealed with delight. Visions of ourselves frolicking on top of llamas in high Andean meadows quickly came to mind.

21.06 | Easily Amused in Galapagos

Puerto Ayora, Galapagos, Ecuador Finding a budget place to eat in Galapagos, especially if you’ve given up on cooking in hostels, was tough. Still reeling from the price tags of the waterfront restaurants of Puerto Ayora, we stumbled across this eating place on a street called Charles Binford, 3 blocks inland. Sharing the cramped eating […]

16.06 | Learning to Appreciate Galapagos

What are the images you see in your mind when you think of Galapagos? Tortoises? Lizards? For me, it's finches. Finches from a poster my third-grade Biology teacher put up on the blackboard of all the different finches that can be found on the islands. You know, Darwin's famous finches? Finches. Birds. Small birds at that. I'm not a small bird person. I guess safe to say I'm not a bird person at all.

14.06 | Surviving Galapagos: From Seasick to Landsick

Quito, Ecuador The first thing that struck me about Galapagos was the distance. The archipelago is a 2 hour flight from mainland Ecuador. But not only that, vast distances separate the islands from each other. On a map, they look all cozy, nestling against each other, but there were nights our luxury cruise trip around […]

Where we are now: Recovering from land-sickness in a Quito hostel

07.06 | Last Minute Everything Galapagos

Galapagos, Ecuador We’re in the Galapagos! *excited giggles* Assuming everything goes smoothly as planned, when this post published we should be in the middle of our Galapagos cruise. Which was not according to plan at all. We weren’t planning to visit the Galapagos this early on our trip, and the original plan was to explore […]

05.06 | Visiting the Otavalo Market, Ecuador

Otavalo, Ecuador Otavalo is known for its artesans market that’s held every Saturday. We got in to Otavalo after a long day of border crossing from Colombia on Friday and we were excited to see the market. With Jack’s love for souvenir shopping and my love for bargaining, we had a feeling that Otavalo’s artesans […]

02.06 | How Much Does it Cost to Travel Colombia, plus our Colombia Itinerary

Colombia, a country that's trying so hard to reinvent its image (and is doing a good job in our opinion). Arriving in Colombia, we didn't know what to expect. The brutal coastal heat in Cartagena drove us south to San Gil and then Medellin where the temperature was cooler and the landscape was greener. That was when things got better.

29.05 | The Wonderful Things We Love About Salento

We stayed in Salento for 10 days, much longer than any other place we went to in Colombia. Salento didn't really have a cute plaza where you can hang out (unlike Jardín), nor did it have the prettiest houses (that's Guatapé). But we ended up staying much longer than we expected for other reasons.

27.05 | Escaping the Time Warp in Jardín

There is something about Jardín that makes you feel like you've entered a time capsule and transported back to a non-descript time in the past. A time when people did nothing much other than hanging out on the main plaza and drinking coffee or tea - was there ever such a time?

24.05 | Beautiful Valle de Cocora – A Photo Collection

You might think, 'Palm trees? I've seen enough palm trees to last me my lifetime.' Well, that's what we thought too. But Valle de Cocora still managed to impress these palm-tree hardened hearts. The photos don't do this place justice.

22.05 | Barichara – Where Is Everybody?

The very first thing we noticed as soon we got off the bus in Barichara was how quiet everything was. Every now and then an old person would walk by. He would stare at us in the same curious way I imagine we were staring at him. Glad to see somebody else is out and about.

20.05 | The Lazy Hikers Guide to Valle de Cocora

it's unfortunate that there seems to be an implication that unless you have 5 hour to spare, you won't be able to see the palm trees at all. A couple of people at the hostel didn't feel like they would be up to such a tough hike and were quite bummed at the fact that they might not be able to see the trees. But see, it doesn't have to be that way.

15.05 | Looking for imperfection in Guatapé

This pueblo in Colombia looks like it's taken straight out of an old Disney movie. The buildings in Guatapé are painted in highly saturated colors. The front side of the walls are decorated with painted reliefs. Different buildings, different motifs.

09.05 | Cueva de La Vaca – From Caving Virgins to Caving Addicts

So when a couple of people from the hostel said they were going caving at a nearby cave, Cueva de La Vaca, with little hesitation I signed up. Then I remember that not only am I not a big fan of the dark, I'm also terrified of being in water where I can't touch the bottom.

05.05 | Eating ‘Hormigas Culonas’ – Colombian Ants With A Large Arse

When I first heard about it, I couldn't wait to try it. I also couldn't wait to try to get Jack to eat it. See, he's somewhat of a finicky eater so it should be fun to try to cajole and bribe him to try it.

03.05 | Colorful Cartagena Barrios – A Photo Collection

We knew that the old city of Cartagena is divided into three districts or barrios: Getsemani, El Centro, and San Diego, but did not realize how different in characteristics they are. Here's a short photographic tour of each of them.

01.05 | Giron – Where The Locals Told Us To Eat Chinese Food

Jack and I looked at each other, 'I can't believe they took us to a Chinese restaurant. Do you think it's because I'm Asian?', I wondered. Jack only shrugged.

27.04 | The Restaurant With An Identity Crisis

"Hold up a sec!", I stopped Jack on his track. "This restaurant was not here before!" See, we would know. We love Indian food, and because we've walked down this street so many times before I would've spotted this Indian restaurant just around the corner from our hostel in Cartagena.

25.04 | My Solo Traveling Moments in Cartagena

I love getting up early in a new place to wander around and take pictures. My early morning walks is my chance to go as slow as I want and make as many photo stops as I want, it’s a taste of selfishness that’s a privilege to solo travelers out there

23.04 | Into the Mouth of A Volcano In Colombia

"It's kinda gross. I don't think I'm going to jump in." That's what I said as I looked down upon the pit of mud filled with mud-covered limbs that are attached to dozens of mud-covered people.

21.04 | Celebrating Small Victories in Cartagena

After a small glitch in the plan, we've finally arrived in beautiful Cartagena in the late afternoon. Not without some small apprehensions. See, Jack and I don't speak much Spanish. We each took a semester of Spanish in college - so we get the general gist of how the language works and know how to craft rudimentary sentences. Only in present tense of course.

06.04 | Climbing SE Cathedral Peak, Yosemite – A Trip Report

We dabbled with trad climbing on our second summer after we got into the whole climbing business. We were inevitably drawn to the beautiful Cathedral Peak

03.04 | Roughing It Out on the Alaskan State Ferry

At $300 per person for the 3 day journey, getting to Alaska by the state ferry is not the cheapest, nor the fastest way to get from the mainland US to the 50th state.

28.03 | The Best Chicken Noodle in Indonesia and A Tutorial

My Indonesian parents' biggest fear is to have guests leave the house hungry and they were concerned that Jack wouldn't be able to find anything to eat during his first visit to Indonesia. What if he can't eat rice everyday? What if everything is too spicy for him?

13.03 | Yogyakarta: Things to do when you only have 24 hours

24 hours in Yogyakarta.

10.03 | Getting Up Close and Personal With Mendenhall Glacier

For a drive-through glacier, you know - the type of glacier where you can simply drive to, park, and gawk at, Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau was still impressive. So when our Couchsurfing host told us about Mendenhall glacier hike - we jumped at the chance.

06.03 | Hiking Mt. Whitney in One Day (and Losing My Pants)

When my co-worker randomly blurted, 'You and Jack should climb Mt. Whitney with my husband!' - I had little idea what I was so enthusiastically agreeing to. But it's just hiking. How bad can it be?

10.02 | Getting Scammed Buying Batiks in Yogyakarta, or Not

Buying batik in Yogyakarta is not as simple as going to a store.

06.02 | Climbing and Visiting Joshua Tree National Park

There's something about camping or hiking in the desert that feels "clean". No dead leaves getting stuck to your shoes, or wet boggy terrain to step on, fewer bugs, no trees that get in the way of sunset viewing...

03.02 | Get Off The Tourist Trail, 10 Favourite Destinations in Java, Indonesia

My family's list of best places to visit in Java. Growing up, my family would go on road trips all over the island, discovering Java's many hidden highlights.

27.01 | Sleeping On A Bed of Straw in Switzerland (and the story of a big pizza)

Even after being warned how expensive everything was in Switzerland (especially for a couple of poor college students that we were), we decided to make a short trip to Switzerland during our Western Europe trip.

10.01 | Ujung Genteng Beach — Java’s Hidden Treasure

Quite possibly the prettiest beach in Java. Despite the bone-jarring 7 hour drive over rutted road, this place stole our hearts.

05.01 | How Much Do Things Cost in Indonesia?

Here are some examples of our expenses during our visits to Indonesia. Hopefully this will give you an idea how much things cost in Indonesia.

02.01 | 7 Endearing Quirks of Indonesia

Let me tell you one embarrassing thing: the first time I used a western bathroom, I didn't close the shower curtain. As you can guess. Water got everywhere! The worst part? Having so used to wet bathrooms, I didn't even know that I did anything wrong and I left without cleaning up, soggy bath mat and all.

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