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.
Nepal - Exploring the Real Kathmandu Beyond Thamel
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.
Malaysia - Batu Caves - Exploring the cave temple, a free attraction
Free and easy to get to temple in a mountainside cave, just outside Kuala Lumpur
Thailand - Tiger Cave Temple, Krabi - Dodging monkeys on the climb to the giant Buddha
Mix a little culture, lots of stairs, stunning views, and a whole barrel of monkeys together and you get Tiger Temple.