Category: Culture

Local culture and traditions

The Most Holy City (Destination: Jerusalem)

My friend and I arrived in Tel Aviv airport in the midst of 100’s of birthright kids.  It was weird to hear 100’s of kids saying “like” with their American accents as we waited and waited.  The queueing was a bit ridiculous just for them to take a few seconds to print out a tourist …

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Ramallah, Jericho, Jordan River, Bethlehem (West Bank Tour)

Many have heard of Bethlehem but not all people realize it’s not in Israel – but in Palestine instead.  The same for Jericho and other sites from the bible.  This was my trip to see Palestine for a day… more specifically a West Bank tour. Since we were on a short-ish trip (9 full days …

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How to Spend a Long Layover in Mexico City

On the way back from Cuba, we had a 9 hour long layover in Mexico City.  With this length of layover, it’s very worth a trip into the city. Here are the details on how to spend a long layover in Mexico City. Getting From the Airport to Mexico City It is possible to catch …

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Going Dutch (Destination: Galle)

Galle, Sri Lanka was just a short distance by bus from Mirissa.  It’s a walled Dutch city with some interesting historical sites and definitely worth a stop. After an amazing lunch at the locals market, we walked around the town to see the main sites such as the lighthouse: Mosque that was formerly a church: …

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Life’s a Beach (Destination: Mirissa)

Mirissa was a tourist town on the south end of Sri Lanka.  It had a nice wide beach, nearly a Km long, and lots of guesthouses, hostels, bars, and restaurants along the beach. Both Carl and I decided it wasn’t our scene so we set off on foot to find a better place.  We headed …

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Tea Time (Destination: Haputale)

The town of Ella is THE place for backpackers to stay.  Similarly, Nuwara Eliya is THE place for the package and luxury crowd.  The village of Haputale is half way between, literally and figuratively. Hapatale is situated in the center of lots of tea fields.  Our guesthouse had this view the first morning: There is …

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Sri Lanka Tea Train (Choo Choo with a view view)

One of the famous activities in Sri Lanka is the Sri Lanka Tea Train thru the hill country and tea plantations.  It’s one of the best things to do when touring or backpacking in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lanka Tea Train leaves from this great train station at Peradeniya Junction outside of Kandy. We “splurged” …

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Kandy’s Sweet, Destination: Kandy

Leaving the Cultural Triangle, we made our what thru the spice plantations.  We stopped at one where we got a free tour to see, taste, and smell lots of lovely plants and spices.  And then given a chance to purchase some overpriced spices ourselves. As we continued to Kandy there were some interesting things to …

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Sigiriya & Polonnaruwa (Sri Lanka Cultural Triangle)

The Sri Lanka Cultural Triangle is a must visit on any trip to Sri Lanka.  I was traveling with 3 friends for the first part of the trip so after arrival in Columbo, and a stay in Negombo for the night, we headed off to the the Cultural Triangle the next morning. But before the …

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What to Do in Male Maldives

In researching the Maldives, the general consensus is the skip Male Maldives if you can.  But I think it’s worth spending a little time in the capital city of Maldives.  We were “forced” to spend some time in Male Maldives since our flight from Dharavandhoo to Male was arriving in the morning and our ferry …

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