Santiago Atitlán

  Dates visited: March 30, 2015 Santiago Atitlán, called Tz’ikin Jaay (means Birdhouse) in Tz’utujil, is a rustic Mayan village on the shores of Lago de Atitlán (Lake Atitlán). We got here by a boat from another Mayan village, San Pedro La Laguna. This was a whirlwind trip, across Lake Atitlán, of three Mayan villages…

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San Pedro La Laguna

Dates visited: March 30, 2015 San Pedro La Laguna, called Tz’unun Ya’ (means Place of the Humming Birds) in Tz’utujil, is a rustic Mayan village on the shores of Lago de Atitlán (Lake Atitlán). We got here by a boat from another Mayan village, San Juan La Laguna. This was a whirlwind trip, across…

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San Juan La Laguna

Dates visited: March 30, 2015 San Juan La Laguna, an unspoiled and unsophisticated Mayan village, perches happily on the shores of Lago de Atitlán (Lake Atitlán). We got here by a boat across the lake from Panajachel. This was a whirlwind trip, across the lake, of three Mayan villages (other two…

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Chichicastenango

Dates visited: March 29, 2015 Chichicastenango, 28 miles north of Panajachel, was the highlight of my trip to the Western Highlands of Guatemala to see indigenous Mayans. We timed our day trip to get there during the famous Sunday market (largest and the most colorful in all of Americas) where Mayans not…

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Chiang Mai

Dates visited: January 3, 2015 – January 6, 2015 Chiang Mai (428 miles north of Bangkok) is the second largest city in Thailand but still manages to retain a small city’s charm and vibe. It’s not as terribly busy or densely populated as Bangkok so it’s a lot more fun to walk…

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Ayutthaya

Dates visited: January 3, 2015 Ayutthaya, 53 miles north of Bangkok, used to be the capital of Thailand when the Ayutthaya Kingdom flourished from 1351 until 1767. The city is named after the city of Ayodhya in India, the birthplace of Rama in the Indian epic “Ramayana”. This was a day trip…

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Damnoen Saduak

Dates visited: December 31, 2014 Until this SE Asia vacation, I had no idea about the fascinating world of night markets so I was quite enthralled visiting these markets in Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand…  …the crowd, the food, the energy, the lights, the vibe, the smells, etc. etc.! But then, I…

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Samut Songkhram

Dates visited: December 31, 2014 We came here to see the legendary Maeklong Railway Market—a market through which a train (quite literally) plows through several times a day. The Thai refer to this market as Talad Rom Hoop which means the “Umbrella Pulldown Market”, and that’s exactly what it is. As…

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Hà Nội

Dates visited: December 27, 2014 – December 30, 2014 For me, Hà Nội was synonymous with Hồ Chí Minh and the Vietnam War, but after visiting this city, I learned a lot about Hà Nội’s 1000 plus years of history. We stayed in the Old Quarter that has still preserved the…

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