Cheryl
Warm Butts, Cool Sights and Silent Trains: How We Fell in Love with Japan
We feel like contestants on the Amazing Race as we run through the train station in Takayama trying to find the platform for our train....
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The Backpacking Boomers
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Cheryl
Feb 4, 20213 min read
And the Winner Is? Pushkar's legendary camel fair
It’s said Lord Brahma created Pushkar’s sacred lake by dropping a lotus flower into the middle of India’s Thar desert not long after the...
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Cheryl
Jan 22, 20213 min read
You're a Traveller, Not a Pack-Mule! How to Travel Light Even When Hitting Different Climatic Zones
Looking for the road less travelled? Then ditch the rolling suitcase and sideline the expedition pack. Unless you’re in the personal...
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Cheryl
Oct 3, 20203 min read
Holy Cow!
The cow has discerning taste. Ignoring a selection of colourful scarves, carved trinkets and jewelry, it homes in on a bag of potato...
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Cheryl
Sep 17, 20202 min read
Humps and Lumps—Our Camel Safari in an Indian Desert.
Relax, don't hold on so tight, my camel handler advises me. Easier said than done. I’m white-knuckled and stiff as a board; gravity is...
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Cheryl
Aug 16, 20205 min read
Varanasi
Indescribable is rarely a genuine descriptor; unless you’re taking about India’s most holy of cities—Varanasi. Nothing matches the...
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Cheryl
Jul 4, 202011 min read
Phalluses and Fertility in The Land of the Thunder Dragon
My husband has been scrolling through websites for what seems like hours, searching for the right tour company to make our dream a...
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Cheryl
Jul 4, 20202 min read
Trekking to Bhutan's Sacred Tiger's Nest
I'm halfway through my trek and completely out of breath when I see it for the first time—The Tiger's Nest. Clinging to a cliff side 800...
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Cheryl
May 14, 20204 min read
Foggy Recollections of an Armenian Village
I’m wearing every last bit of clothing I packed, and yet, the dampness seeps through, chilling me to the bone. But the Wings of Tatev...
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Cheryl
May 3, 20204 min read
The Disappearing Aral Sea
Hulking, rusting ships, part of a former fishing fleet, lie incongruously in their desert graveyard. We're in Moynaq, Uzbekistan, once a...
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Cheryl
Apr 14, 20204 min read
Life Spills Out into the Streets of Centro Havana
The friendly baker next door shouts ¡Hola, amigos! as we leave our apartment each day. Four weeks into our stay in Centro Havana, we feel...
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Cheryl
Apr 11, 20204 min read
The Daily Hassle of Buying Basic Necessities in Havana
Jostling for space, we peer through the window of a grocery store in Havana, Cuba. Seeing large containers of water we join the growing...
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Cheryl
Apr 8, 20205 min read
Escape From Spain-Yes, I'm a Boomer and Yes, My Kids Were Right-I Should Have Come Home Sooner
It doesn’t sink in until we see that our fellow travellers are wearing Tyvek suits, gloves, masks and face shields—we have waited too...
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Cheryl
Jan 19, 20204 min read
Journey to Lahic, One of the Oldest Human Settlements in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan’s Baku International Bus Terminal, a massive multi-complex packed with stores, is more labyrinth than transit hub. The ticket...
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Cheryl
Jan 3, 20204 min read
Toro Toro, Bolivia
It's 7am, and we're waiting outside the Toro Toro National Park offices in a town of the same name. There are more guides than tourists...
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Cheryl
Dec 26, 20194 min read
Tunisia, North Africa
My heart is racing. It's day two of our trip and already I've lost two daughters and a son-in-law. When planning our trip to Tunisia, I...
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Cheryl
Dec 14, 20193 min read
Baku, Azerbaijan
Baku is lush, verdant, green — and surrounded by desert. Home to 4 million people and a forest of giant trees set amid manicured lawns,...
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Cheryl
Dec 3, 20192 min read
Karni Mata--Temple of Rats
It's festival time and the small Indian town of Deshnok in Rajasthan, India is awash in colour as pilgrims, dressed in their finest saris...
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Cheryl
Aug 17, 20193 min read
Salar de Uyuni (Salt Flats), Bolivia
Our oldest daughter, Shannon, is skeptical as she scans tour agency reviews. “This one is a no-go,” she says. “The driver got drunk,...
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Cheryl
Jul 14, 20192 min read
Madidi National Park
Monsoon rains beat on our roof and flood the streets of Rurrenabaque, a tiny town considered to be the gateway to Bolivia’s rain forest....
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