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I called this post Hoi An Part 1. I should probably have called it Hoi an BCC (Before Camera Class) and the next post  Hoi ACC (After Camera Class). I took an excellent camera class in Hoi An and hopefully you will see a marked improvement in my photography skills in the next post.

Hoi An is a wonderful little city. It has the 3rd largest GDP in VN behind Hanoi and Saigon, and it is almost all based on tourism. The center of the tourist industry is what they call ancient town. Hoi An was spared a

When I first visited Turkey, I did something I won’t be able to do again. I gave the coach driver a 2 million lira tip! Shortly after my visit, the revalued their currency, simply by deleting the word ‘million’. The Turk with the price of a packet of cigarettes in his pocket is no longer a millionaire!

But, we weren’t there to marvel at the currency. Most of the shopkeepers in the resort town of Kusadasi, where our cruise ship called on its tour around the Aegean Sea preferred to take Euros, an

Central America forms a bridge literally between North and South America, which throughout its three million year history has served as a natural biological passageway between the two continents. In the last century, however, much of that corridor has been destroyed by farming and urbanization.

Biologists have determined that biological corridors are one of the most effective methods of conserving biodiversity to maintain genetic fluency between populations of species and prevent against their po

With Burj Khalifa, Dubai became the home of tallest building in the world. Besides Burj Khlaifa, the city also features contemporary architectural structures such as Burj Al Arab and Palm Islands. However, the city is not only about skyscrapers and modern residential complexes there are numerous parks where you can spend some time away from bustling environment. Book Dubai flights and visit the following parks to find another side of the modern city.

Al Mamzar Park

It is not merely a park but

Cold Beers are flowing at Rock & Brews

What do you get when you take a legendary rock star, a successful restaurateur, and a rock promoter and put them together?  You get a micro-pub restaurant like no other.

If you’re like me and grew up as a teenager in the 70s, you most likely attended a Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd or Stones show back in the day. If you find yourself in the confines of Los Angeles and make your way to its south beaches, you can relive your “rock n roll fantasy” and dine on barbequ

Reviews do matter, but what seems to matter more is who writes them, and the question, can they be predicted?
And it seems Airbnb is saying, "yes."

Booking an Airbnb place anywhere can be a 50-50 proposition, but it's the very unpredictability and rich individuality of each place that makes the stays (and the site) so undeniably attractive. 

In a delightful comment, GigaOm, a data science and social web site, says reviews do indeed matter more and more because we are in an age of "Data Darwini

When we visited Jordan in 2002, we ate lunch in one of the lowest restaurants on earth. But, it wasn’t low in the sense of being cheap, or because not very nice people eat there. Jordan’s Dead Sea Spa hotel is 400 metres below sea level, which is as low as you can get on the surface of the Earth. I did hear that, since our visit, another hotel has been built even lower down.

We drove from Amman, the country’s capital to the ancient rock city of Petra, and to Wadi Rum. We had two options ; that of

If Costa Rica's professional surf scene had an A-team, it would look something like this: Carlos Muñoz, Jair Pérez, Noe Mar McGonagle, Gilbert Brown, Anthony Fillingim, Luis Vindas, Leilani McGonagle, Lisbeth Vindas, and Nataly Bernold. The nine top surfers seem to shuffle places between being national champions and taking the top five slots at any given competition, with the odd interloper upsetting the order.

Heading into Costa Rica's 13th annual Grand Final Reef National Surf Championships, se

The line on South Street wrapped around the corner. Once inside the chrome facade it continued to snake around in Disney-ride fashion. Each person mumbling to themselves as they tried to memorize their order. The line moved along one timid customer at a time. Each one blurting out their selection, as if on the soup-nazi episode of Seinfeld. “One, provolone, mushroom with" (The 'with' referring to onions). 

The line bumped forward. This placed reeked with the essence of grilled beef.  Jim's Steakh

The veneer is peeling off and heritage is fighting a losing battle here. But all need not be lost if Kathakali can find new patrons and the Chinese fishing nets came up with some more fish

You see the palm fronds swaying an eager welcome even as you come in to land. Reach by rail or road and the greenery doesn’t wait for you to cross the border before gathering you in a lush embrace. Nature, it would seem, has been taking lessons in haste from the natives.

For a long time nature and natives chart

New Zealand's North Island has long been shadowed by the adventurous South, with its fjords, mountains and dramatic settings, boasting every watersport known to man. But the North is well worth visiting, too – so much so that the Traveling 
Reporter decided to dedicate a series to the forgotten island. This is the first part of New Zealand's Lost Island.

Paihia, Northland, New Zealand — The captain of our tour boat edges the ship up close to the huge cave that nature has carved out of a rock, ris

I have a travel-editor friend whose open enthusiasm for Detroit I’ve always found hard to comprehend. Sure, it’s got a good cultural and arts scene and a vigorous melting pot going for it. But the larger picture overshadowing it all has always seemed to me that notorious blight, the derelict buildings, the stench of what to many is practically a failed city.

But when I found myself having to make a sudden trip to New York with a six-hour layover in Motown courtesy of Spirit Airlines, I decided

One of the most brilliantly beautiful tropical birds is definitely the scarlet macaw (Ara macao). Its loud, raucous squawks carry for miles, so usually you hear them before you see them. When you do sight a Scarlet Macaw in the wild, they are breathtaking – fire engine red bodies with sunshine yellow and royal blue wing feathers tinged with a bit of green, and a distinct stark white patch around both eyes.

An endangered species, scarlet macaws live in tropical forests from Mexico to South America

Bac Ha market

Previously, Bac Ha market took place on a sloping hill, but then this market was bu

Business road warriors have at least this much in common with ET: Calling home while away is their top priority.

But it seems in the 21st century, just hearing a voice on the telephone no longer suffices.

And that means they expect free Internet connections.

The InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) says it very clearly: "being able to connect online with family and friends is now the top priority for travelers." Conversely, not being able to do so, says Hotelmarketing.com  (which reported on the

           Celia featured in a wall mural in Miami's Little Havana

“Ay, no hay que llorar
Que la vida es un carnaval
y es más bello vivir cantando…”

Today marks exactly a decade since the world lost one of its most memorable pop music giants. In the lines above, from one of her signature songs, Carnaval, the late Celia Cruz sang, “No need to cry – life is a carnival, and it’s more beautiful to live singing” (hear it in the video below).  It's this positive philosophy in life that won her milli