Kyoto’s geisha district provides the perfect backdrop for playing dress-up for the day. There’s only about 300 bonafide geishas or apprentices in Kyoto, but you wouldn’t know it judging by the number of women in beautiful floral kimonos walking around the city’s historic Gion District on any given day. When two decked-out girls boarded the…
Tokyo’s Tsukiji Market buzzes with activity all day long, but to watch the tuna auction in action, you must get up before the sun rises. This is a first. It’s 3 o’clock in the morning and I’m getting ready to go to visit the local market. It’s not just any market, though. Tokyo’s Tsukiji Fish…
You WILL have to adjust the dial when you travel to Japan. It takes a little time getting used to the culture, food and language, but it’s worth it. I just landed in Tokyo in the last 24 hours and I’m just settling in to the apartment I booked with AirBnB.com. When I first walked…
I learned almost everything I know about India from watching teams battle it out on “The Amazing Race” over the last decade. Over one 12-hour period, we seemed to experience it all — except for a head shaving. 10am: Smooth landing in Calcutta (CCU) only to find out Druk Air had not loaded half our…
At the Kurjey Lakhang, a monastery in Buthang, I am literally stuck between a rock and a hard place. Well, just two rocks. If I can squeeze through the small opening between them, it means I have a purer soul than those who cannot pass. I feel like I am in an Indiana Jones film…
The tour van I’ve called home for the last week comes to a stop and its passengers spill out, thankful to be able to stretch and breathe in the fresh mountain air. After an agressive schedule of traveling from village to village over the last few days, we looked forward to reaching new heights at…
Bhutan is known for its cultural festivals. The Paro Teschu, by far, is the most popular, but there are others that take place throughout the country. We timed our visit around the Ura Yakchoe festival, which can be best described as a church bazaar meets small-town fair, except everyone dresses in their finest threads. We…
Sheila and I are giggling like school girls when we walk past a souvenir shop called Phallus Handicrafts — the exterior walls covered with phallic drawings. I am sure we aren’t the only ones who react that way. I was recently listening to an interview with actor Jason Segel about shooting a nude scene in…
The same man that wrote the lyrics “I’m a lumber jack and I’m okay” introduced me to Bhutan, a tiny Himalayan country the size of Iowa. Comedian Michael Palin of Monty Python fame has gone on to a successful career as a travel presenter for the BBC. The 2004 series “Himalaya with Michael Palin” charted…
Royal wedding fever led to tourism increases in 2011, but not just in the U.K. The Kingdom of Bhutan recorded a an almost 57 percent increase — the highest in the history of the remote Himalayan country — which can be partly attributed to the nuptials between King Jigme Khesar and commoner Jetsun Pema. “The…
