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Greencaviar Travel

To take nothing but photographs, and leave nothing but footprints.

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Ethiopia: Lake Tana & the Blue Nile

Chapter 2: Lake Tana and the Blue Nile - The Source of the Mighty River From Addis, we flew to Bahir Dar, a laid-back city on the shores of Lake Tana, Ethiopia’s largest lake and the source of the Blue Nile River. A boat ride took us across the water to visit Ura Kidane Mehret, a monastic church founded in the 14th century. From the port, our guide — the head of the monastery — led us on a short walk to the church complex. The path was lined with beautifully patterned stones, some newly laid, others carefully repaired. The gentle rustle of leaves, the distant calls of birds, and the soft lapping of the lake against the shore set a serene backdrop for our journey. As we walked, our guide shared stories of the monastery’s history and the lives of the monks who had lived here for generations. Soon, we arrived at the circular church, just as a ceremony for a fasting holiday was underway. I saw vibrant scenes of worship — the rhythmic beating of drums, the haunting melodi...

Ireland's ABC "Another Bloody Castle"

Europe is the birthplace of the castle and the home of the vast majority of the castles in the world. Having traveled to Europe on various occasions, I thought I have seen enough castles. On a recent trip to Ireland, I took part in a tour to the outskirts of Dublin and towns famous for their castles like Kilkenny and Killarney. And many castle ruins came into view as we traveled to the countryside. So, it’s not uncommon to hear the phrase, “ABC - Another Bloody Castle” even from the tourism industry folks. I could not help but notice how the castles in Ireland differed from what I saw in Germany and France. The castles I saw in Ireland were more like castle ruins, damaged by war and had been restored for tourism. I don’t want to minimize the castles historical and cultural significance, but I look more into the aesthetic point of view, such as the architecture from the medieval, stone and elaborate designs like the Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany that inspired Disneyland or the...

Egypt: The Pyramids and the Sphinx of Giza

The Great Pyramid of Giza Who 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...

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Alice Odena

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The Banaue Rice Terraces: A Living Cultural Landscape

My interest in exploring the northern part of the Philippines started from looking at a piece of art at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, California. Among the display of ceramics and pottery engraved with gold and other decorative stuff, a wooden carving of a male figure squatting on a platform with the lower arms on top of each other, resting upon his knees, caught my eye. According to the docent, the wooden sculpture was called "Bului" which literally means "granary guardian" in the "Ifugao" tribe dialect. The carved wooden sculpture was set on a platform on top of another platform, a mortar. Our docent explained the significance of the wooden mortar (which was used with the pestle, to separate the husk from the rice, sort of rice mill) and linked the story to the Rice Terraces in the Cordillera Mountains of the Philippines built 2000 years ago by the “Ifugao” tribe. So two years and three hundred kilometers north of Manila later, we explo...

Transylvania, Romania: The Land of Dracula

When we hear the place Transylvania, we almost always think about Dracula, the bloody vampire, that always makes a good Halloween story. So, when I visited Transylvania early this year, it's hard not to associate the places, like the Bran Castle to the famous novel "Dracula" by Bram Stoker. It’s said that Bram Stoker’s inspiration for the Dracula was a historical character Vlad Tepes or Vlad III, the ruler of Wallachia in the 15th century. During Stoker’s research on the region of Transylvania, he came across the brutal accounts of the atrocities committed by Vlad III, also known as Vlad Dracul, aka Vlad the Impaler. He was known for committing brutal acts of war and was under constant threat of attack from the Ottoman and Hungarian forces. During his infamous retreat from the Ottoman forces, Vlad the Impaler had the bodies of his enemies and his people alike impaled on large spikes in the field surrounding his county. The inspiration for the made-up character ma...

Poland: The Wieliczka Salt Mine

One of the most spectacular UNESCO World Heritage Sites I visited this year was the Wieliczka Salt Mine near Krakow, Poland. It was founded in the 13th century to mine the rich deposit of salt. Salt mining stopped in 1996 when the low price of salt on the world market made it too expensive to mine and the mine was slowly flooding. But miners did more than just extract salt. They left behind them a breathtaking record of their time underground in the shape of statues of mythical, historical and religious figures. Part of the salt mine became an art gallery, chapels, cathedral, and underground lakes. Today, Wieliczka Salt Mine is one of the most visited National Monuments in Poland. For safety reason, less than one percent of the mine is open to visitors, but even that is almost four kilometers in length. There are 20 chambers to visit and 800 steps to climb of which 350 at the beginning take you down into the mine. You can’t just visit and wander around on your own. All of t...

Ethiopia: Lake Tana & the Blue Nile

Chapter 2: Lake Tana and the Blue Nile - The Source of the Mighty River From Addis, we flew to Bahir Dar, a laid-back city on the shores of Lake Tana, Ethiopia’s largest lake and the source of the Blue Nile River. A boat ride took us across the water to visit Ura Kidane Mehret, a monastic church founded in the 14th century. From the port, our guide — the head of the monastery — led us on a short walk to the church complex. The path was lined with beautifully patterned stones, some newly laid, others carefully repaired. The gentle rustle of leaves, the distant calls of birds, and the soft lapping of the lake against the shore set a serene backdrop for our journey. As we walked, our guide shared stories of the monastery’s history and the lives of the monks who had lived here for generations. Soon, we arrived at the circular church, just as a ceremony for a fasting holiday was underway. I saw vibrant scenes of worship — the rhythmic beating of drums, the haunting melodi...

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