Category: Hiking
Joshua Tree National Park is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from us - a nice day trip for a hike. Of the 15 National Parks we’ve been to in 6 states, this one ranks smack dab in the middle of my favorite (#1&2 being Zion and Grand Teton). Judging by my list of favorite … Continue reading Joshua Tree National Park
Being in nature makes me happy, and National Parks are a great source of that happiness. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels that way, because the people you meet on hiking trails are in general the nicest and happiest bunch you’ll ever encounter. How can you not be happy when Mother Nature … Continue reading Death Valley National Park – Day 2
Once retired one has nothing but free time. Add a little dose of spontaneity, and you get last minute trips like our Death Valley National Park trip. Thanks to the internet, a quick research can help cobble up a trip in less than 12 hours. And thanks to credit card reward points, one can score … Continue reading Death Valley National Park – Day 1
The site we visited today is a mouthful - Double Dragon Waterfall Rainbow Suspension Bridge (雙龍瀑布七彩吊橋). The Double Dragon refers to the double waterfalls, and the rainbow suspension bridge is the longest in Taiwan. The town that it’s located in is named after the two waterfalls - 雙龍 in Nantou (南投) area, about an hour … Continue reading Double Dragon Waterfall Rainbow Suspension Bridge
My initial expectation of the Xitou Nature Area (溪頭自然區) was that it was going to be a walk in the park, so all I had with me was a small daypack with my sweatshirt, wallet, and passport. I donned my Vans and was ready for a stroll with the parents. Entry fee is 200NT ($7) … Continue reading An Unexpected Hike
After weeks of rain and cold weather, the sun finally came out these last 3 days. We took advantage of the warmer weather to visit the Wulai 烏來 area, which is known for its hot springs, waterfalls, and aborigines. We decided to go to NeiDong 內洞 National Forest with our packed breakfast to enjoy the … Continue reading Wulai 烏來
We’ve been on a roll with respect to traveling to sites via public transportation. Today we took the tram to the Antalya bus terminal to catch the dolmuş to Korkuteli. There are two separate terminals, one is the ilçeler (counties) terminal and the other is the sehirlerarasi (intercities) terminal. Korkuteli bus is at the counties … Continue reading Termessos – Eagle’s Nest
There is no doubt that Turkey has a rich history. Everyday there’s something new and amazing to learn about this country. However, not everything is great and glamorous. One of the darkest days in recent Turkish history has to do with exiling it’s minority Christian citizens (e.g., Armenians, Greeks) after the rise in Turkish Nationalism … Continue reading One More Month To Go
It’s been a while since I’ve slept through the night and not gotten woken up by something before I was ready to wake up. While staying in the city and town centers, we’d invariably get woken up by the muezzin who announces the morning prayers at 5-6AM. We thought our problems would come to an … Continue reading Left Our Thinking Caps At Home
Our time in Istanbul seemed like eons ago, and it was the last time we stayed in one place without moving for more than a week. Since then, we have been changing accommodations every 3-5 days going from one town to another. It felt like a whirlwind of packing/unpacking, riding public transportation, and walking with … Continue reading A Mini Break
After finally getting the rental car, we made our way to Dalyan, an hour drive from Marmaris. The sole purpose of staying a night in Dalyan was to check out the Lycian Tombs, and the Airbnb that I had specially picked out had a full frontal view of the tombs. Airbnb common areas View from … Continue reading The Goat, The Boat, and The Bal
Another morning of hot air balloon viewing from our hotel. Today was quite possibly my favorite day in Turkey, because we got to go on a beautiful hike in Rose Valley via Meskinder Valley. Our initial plan was to hike the Red Valley loop as well, but Joe needed WiFi to get his trading systems … Continue reading Rose Valley Hike
While in Cappadocia, tourists who don’t have cars have the option of joining a tour to see different sights. The two most popular tours are the red and green tours. The red tour covers a lot of sights closer to Göreme, whereas the green tour brings you further out to the Ihlara Valley as well … Continue reading The Nine-Hour Green Tour
Most people are able to take in all the sights of Cappadocia through guided tours in about 2-3 days. Since we have the luxury of time, we opted to explore the majority of it on our own. One of the attractions of Cappadocia is the hiking trails through the various valleys. So we laced up … Continue reading Living Off Mother Earth
