Greetings from Peru

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The Sacred Valley of the Incas


Machu Picchu


Iquitos

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Egypt: The Pyramids and the Sphinx of Giza

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The Great Pyramid of GizaWho said you can’t climb the Great Pyramid? Well, you can go inside the Great Pyramid and climb more than two hundred very narrow steps to see the spot where Khufu, the most powerful ruler of Egypt’s Old Kingdom, was interred for all eternity. I paid an extra 360 EGP for the experience or so I could claim I climbed the Great Pyramid. Seriously, I wanted to make the most of my visit to explore the last surviving wonder of the ancient world.




At 146.5 meters (481 feet), the Great Pyramid remained the tallest man-made structure in the world for nearly 4,000 years. Constructed between c. 2580–2560 BC, it was covered by limestone casing stones. It was impressive to see the beauty of the structure from the outside and to hear our guide talked about the astronomical and engineering principles behind the structure. For example, the sides of the pyramid are precisely aligned to the cardinal points of the compass. The triangular shape entrance, which is no longer accessi…
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Hawaii Adventure Series: Laupahoehoe and Waipi'O Valley

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I’d always assumed that Hawaii was for tourists who just wanted to stay at the beach. After exploring some roads less traveled on the Big Island, I realized how wrong I was. Thanks to 'J' our companion on our Hawaiian adventure. Not only did he drive us around the Big Island, but he did his research and enthusiastically covered miles and miles of road with us, including the drive to Laupahoehoe and Waipio Valley.
Laupahoehoe We suddenly stopped at a lookout off Highway 19. I thought we just stopped to look at the ocean view, but J surprised us by driving the very narrow road to the Laupahoehoe Harbor. He said we’re going to see the memorial village. When we arrived at sea level, we saw a small monument with the names of the school children and teachers killed in the tsunami that hit the island in 1946. The whole area was very scenic with coconut trees and green grass and tall and craggy lava rocks along the shore. It looked very peaceful; the peace was only broken by the sou…
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Hawaii Adventure Series: Waterfalls and Gardens

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WaterfallsI thought I would not be able to appreciate a modest 80 feet waterfall after seeing waterfalls that seemed to have started from the clouds in the Norwegian Fjords weeks before my trip to Hawaii. But I enjoyed the Rainbow Falls as much as I did the many waterfalls I saw in Norway. Perhaps, it was because of its accessibility. The Rainbow Falls are part of the Hawaii State Parks and Wailuku River, the longest river in Hawaii, and flow into a lava cave said to be the home of Hina, a Hawaiian goddess. It’s also called Waianuenue Falls which means “rainbow seen in the water”. It's said that a rainbow can be seen arching across the falls on a sunny morning. It was raining on and off during our visit, so we did not see a rainbow. But it was beautiful nonetheless. 




We planned on hiking the two and a half-mile route from our friend’s house, but because of the rain, we decided to drive and just walked the short trail to the viewpoint facing the waterfalls (there were a big drop …
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