For our last night in Peru and of our 5-week adventure, we stayed at the  Palacio del Inka in Cusco, part of the Sheraton / Liberator Luxury Collection, and a sister…

We were picked up early to catch the first train to Aguas Calientes from Ollantaytambo.   The atmosphere outside of the train station was busy with vendors lining the streets…

After Moray, we headed for our last and final stop: Ollantaytambo. We left Moray, passed through Maras, and drove back down the switchbacks above Urubamba before up the valley. Below…

In Urubamba, we stayed at the Tambo del Inka, a relatively new hotel in the area and part of Starwood Luxury collection. It provided a nice quiet space to relax…

Editor’s note: I realized that I had written, but not posted, a review of the St. Regis Lhasa Resort, Tibet. Without further ado, enjoy! The St. Regis Lhasa Resort is…

We left the salt ponds and headed for the famous Moray, thought to be an ancient agricultural outdoor laboratory. We passed through the actual city of Maras where we stopped…

Editor’s note: more of our travels from July 31st 2013. Enjoy! After a great breakfast at the hotel, Valentin picked us up, and we headed up the switchbacks above Urubamba…

Editor’s note: After a brief hiatus, we hope you enjoy our travels in Peru: After an early 6:30AM start out of Porto Alegre, Brazil with a connection through Lima, we…

The city of Foz do Iguaçu is located where Brazil meets Argentina and Paraguay. The Iguaçu (Iguazu, Iguassu, Iguacu) Falls are the main attraction, with great viewing from both the…

After a 9-1/2 hour trans-Atlantic flight from Johannesburg to Sao Paulo and an hour flight from Sao Paulo, we finally arrived in Rio, 5 time zones away. At the airport,…

Editors note: This is a slimmed down version of the original post for faster viewing. If you want the big photos and can wait a minute or so, pop on…

After an early (4:40AM) 7-1/2 hour flight from Dubai, we arrived in Johannesburg at 10:50AM.   We were met by a Federal Air representative who was there to take us to the…

After an 11PM departure from Malé, and a comfortable 4-hour Emirates flight, we landed in Dubai at a slightly bleary 1:30AM. We added Dubai to our itinerary as a connection…

Originally, we were just going to stay cheap and simple because we were going to be in Dubai for a day–26 hours to be exact–arriving at 2AM on Saturday morning…

A few still photos from yesterday’s falls tour in Brazil.  Needless to say, we got wet.  Very wet. Getting drenched at Iguaçu Falls in Brazil:

With almost 100 resorts sprinkled around the 1,100 islands and atolls of the Maldives (big map), choosing a resort is one of the hardest parts.  July is monsoon season in…

We knew our trip would overlap with the Pope’s visit, but this is pretty impressive. Up above World Youth Day (Jornada Mundial da Juventude) on the Copacabana Beach. Pope expected…

Hi followers! Apologies for the lack of posts. We have gone from tranquil blue waters and lots of down time in the Maldives to 109 degrees, bright lights, big city…

One of the ways to get from Hong Kong to the Maldives on Star Alliance is to route through Singapore on Singapore Airways (SA).   We had never flown SA…

Our flight from Chengdu to Hong Kong was delayed by an hour, arriving into HKG at about 8PM and putting us into Kowloon at 9PM.  Ordinarily, this would not be…

We stayed one night at the Shangri-La in Chengdu.   It is centrally located in Chengdu and stands over the river that runs through the city.  It is 36 floors…

The Golden Flower by Shangri-La is one of two Shangri-La-owned hotels in Xi’An. It is one of the original 4- or 5-star hotels in Xi’An which means that it’s an…

Chengdu was a wet and comfortable 21C (70F) when we landed.  Water was sheeting down the airport windows.  They said it was the 4th straight day of rain.  The news…

The Grand Hyatt Beijing is a modern hotel and the center of Oriental Plaza built in 2001 by Li Ka Shing (richest man in China).  It is conveniently located above a…

Lhasa At almost 12,000 feet above sea level, Lhasa is a very high desert. The air is dry and the temperature is mild.  The weather is highly varied, and thunderstorms…

Hi All, Apologies if we have not replied to Facebook requests or comments, neglected to respond to Tweets, and failed to post any more videos since Japan, but our wireless…

They say that if you want to learn about life in modern China, you should go to Shanghai. If you want to learn about life 500 years ago, go to…

We arrived in Beijing about an hour late, but swiftly passed through Customs to the taxi line. Though cheap (106 RMB = $17.50), the ride takes about 45 minutes, but…

When the mercury hovers around 95 degrees (35C) in China, it’s officially hot, and outside it’s hard to escape the heat. The local women (and a few men) carry reflective…

Our day trip to Nikko started with our guide Miki meeting us at our hotel. She led us to the subway towards Tokyo station. At Tokyo Station we boarded the…

We took Travelience‘s West Tokyo Tour. We were met at the Asakusa Cultural Center by Naoaki (the owner and CEO of Travelience) and our guide for the day, Michiyo. A…

When traveling with a family of four, it’s often difficult to find hotels that can or are willing to accommodate all four in one room. Often the choice is between…

After an early-ish bedtime (8PM) and some jet lag to help, we woke up über-early and left the hotel by 3:30AM (!) to visit the Tsujiki Fish Market auction. We…

In a couple days we will begin our trip and head to our first stop: Japan. My neighbor who has spent time in Tokyo says very few people speak English,…

When visiting the Cusco and Machu Picchu area, there is a lot of ground to cover.  There is the city of Cusco,  the Sacred Valley – home to Moray, a…

…and she dances on the sand of two of the most famous beaches in the world: Copacabana and Ipanema.  Barry Manilow sang about them in his 1978 song Copacabana, The Girl from…

While I’m not new to traveling to and around China, I have not done it on my own and usually have a guide of some sort.   While I vow every…

When traveling internationally, it is important to verify the entry requirements for each country.  Many countries require visas prior to arriving, and these must be obtained from a consulate or…

Once your round the world (RTW) itinerary and dates are finalized and tickets are purchased, it’s time to start planning or finalizing the surface sectors, if you have any. Surface…

For China, we felt like we will need some hand-holding. We don’t speak the language, and we are fish out of water, so we looked into private tours offered by China…