This trek combined mountainous agrarian culture and the occasional rumble of volcanic eruptions, with safari style camping and great meals. The Guatemalan Highlands is a place where you can find women dressed in vibrant traditional clothing, churches blasting music on weeknights, and people cultivating impossibly steep terrain, while lava shoots skyward in the background.
Carnaval in Madeira is a colorful combination of dance, humor, and fun, usually with an edge of the taboo. You never know if around the next corner you will run into women in feathered costumes or men in drag dancing with a pig. The festivities were spread out across a couple weeks with a live dance show every night and most of the events were free to the public.
This trek combined agrarian culture and rugged wild beauty with the comfort of a bed and a hot meal at every stop. It is one of those places where you never know when you might find a chicken under the dining room table, have a child eat off your plate, or see a man carrying a grown woman in a basket supported by his forehead.
Kathmandu has vibrant culture and countless beautiful temples, but brittle infrastructure and hazy air. It is a hard place to describe since it is so multi-faceted. Each neighborhood had a personality and specialty of its own. The city was hit hard by the 2015 earthquake and parts of the city are still struggling to rebuild, while others have luxury accommodations.
If you are looking for custom made products, shopping, night life, massages, and lanterns, this is the place.
Hanoi has an incredible energy to it. It is tradition unapologetically melded with city life and flowing chaos.
Cusco is a colorful city with lots of culture and history. It was once the capital on the Incan Empire and today is a huge tourist hub and backpacker haven. Cusco is one of those places where you can find a bed for the night for anywhere from $5 to $300 and a meal to match. Cradled in the mountains, its winding cobblestone street have a new surprise around every turn, and often a view.
Salineras de Maras is an intricate system of terraced salt pans that are dug into the mountain. Salt is water carefully channeled through them so the salt can dry and be collected.
A historic town in the Sacred Valley with lots of character, dazzling festivals, sites, and many hiking options. Also a great place to acclimatize to the altitude.
The costumes may looks a little dark, but the tone is anything but. This festival may have a Christian name, but it has lots of Incan roots and character.