A relaxing week in Phuket, Thailand with the gang…
That time Jack and Rose came to Vietnam… #VungTau
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India has been known for its spices as early as 2,000 BCE, with black pepper, cinnamon, turmeric, and cardamom driving the spice trade near and far.
It is said that one sack of pepper (known as "black gold") was worth a man's life.
I found the spice level in India both a blessing and a curse. Saffron and cinnamon gave warm milk a lovely pop but we definitely weren't used to eating spicy curries and gravies for breakfast.
What's the spiciest cuisine you've ever eaten?
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Not knowing much about Indian food going in, I was really taken by all the different Indian flatbreads. Roti, chapati, naan, puri, paratha - all delicious, with so many variations like butter, garlic, and paneer.
I thought Vietnamese baguettes were good, but Indian breads have the definite edge in variety.
What's your all-time favorite bread?
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Animal sightings played a big part of our time in India, from cheeky monkeys to majestic elements.
We also saw pigs roaming about everywhere so were puzzled that we hardly ever saw pork on the menu.
"That's because the pigs eat [poop]", explained our guide. Sigh. So close, yet so far...
Some say the #mojito had its origins in the 16th century as a "medicine" to treat sailors suffering from dysentery and scurvy. ⠀
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Local South American Indians went ashore to Cuba and came back with aguarediente de cana, #mint leaves, and the juices from #sugarcane and #limes to put together a tonic.⠀
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Thanks to the #Bacardi company in the mid 1800s and a personal recommendation from Ernest Hemmingway, the mojito is now one of the most popular modern cocktails. ⠀
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The "pho"-jito however, has a different origin story...
If you find yourself in Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon), Vietnam, once you've had your fill of traditional Vietnamese food, definitely hit up AnAn for some delightful modern twists.⠀
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Grilled rice paper typical of Dalat gets a makeover, topped with smoky cheese and delightfully chewy snails (aka Vietnamese pizza) while banh xeo (sizzling crepe) batter finds new life as crispy taco shells, filled with shrimp in a spicy mayo and peanut sauce as well as tasty bo kho beef stew.
I love #SharkWeek just as much as the next guy, but #swimming with them vs watching them from your sofa is a totally different matter.⠀
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Off the house #reef at Pullman #Maldives Maamutaa in the Gaafu Alifu Atoll, I find myself keeping a close eye on the many black-tip reef #sharks that dart around us, their perfectly compact yet muscled bodies showing remarkable agility. I feel hopelessly clumsy, my mind wondering what else might be conveniently torpedoing out of the deep and into the shallows of the reef, where we are. ⠀
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However, #snorkeling with a #marinebiologist by your side has a way of calming the nerves. If you ever get the chance, I can't recommend it enough! To have someone point out things on the ocean floor you would easily miss and explain the role of each species in the ecosystem as you're watching them swim by is priceless.⠀
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In a few hours, we’ve seen a sleeping leopard #shark, been adopted by a school of bat fish, and observed lots of hawksbill and green #turtles.⠀
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“The Great Barrier Reef is slowly diverse, but here you have such great diversity where the reef can be different from one side of the channel to the other,” says resident marine biologist Amandine Vuylsteke.⠀
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Travel tip: Several resorts in the Maldives have their own marine biologist on staff who know the surrounding waters like the back of their hand. They often network, logging whale shark sightings and discussing best practice to conserve the unique ecology of the Maldives.⠀
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Spotted: Breakfast with a view. ⠀
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#maldives #maldivesislands #visitmaldives #maldivesresorts #ocean #paradise #maldiveslovers #islandlife #beautifulmaldives #maldivestrip #maldivesparadise #beautifuldestinations #maldivesinsider #travelmaldives #luxurytravel #maldivesmania #beach #sea #indianocean #maldivesbeach #sunnysideoflife
#French colonists originally introduced #coffee to #Vietnam more than a hundred years ago. Today, it's the world's fourth largest coffee exporter behind Brazil, Colombia, and Switzerland.⠀
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While Vietnam is famous for its #traditional drip coffee, the glut of #fancy coffee shops has meant some high-end machines have found their way to streetside coffee-on-the-go places serving up #cappuccinos for under $1!⠀
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#Saigon #HoChiMinhCity #Vietnam #travel #welltravelled #travelwriter #wanderlust #travelphotography #instatravel #travelgram #joe #cafes #cuppa #lonelyplanet #ig_mood @igvietnam #igs_asia #visitvietnam #myvietnam #everydayVietnam #foodpic #ilovefood #sogood #foodheaven #foodie
Comprised of three waterfalls (The American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls on the US side, and the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side), Niagara Falls isn’t the world’s tallest. That distinction belongs to Venezuela’s Angel Falls, whose drop of 3,212 feet dwarfs Niagara’s measly 110. ⠀
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It doesn’t have the fastest flow rate at just 85,000 cubic feet per second, compared to the astonishing 910,000 cubic feet per second of Inga Falls in the Democratic Republic of Congo. ⠀
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It’s not even the widest falls. Adding up all three falls, from the American extremity to the Canadian extremity, Niagara measures about 3,500 feet across – a drop in the bucket compared to the 35,376 foot-wide Khone Falls in Laos. ⠀
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Numbers aside, though, there’s simply something simply magical about Niagara Falls that draws up to 28 million visitors a year. ⠀
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What's your favorite touristy spot that you secretly love?⠀
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#travel #welltravelled #travelwriter #wanderlust #travelphotography #instatravel #travelgram #canadalife #canadagram #canadatrip #canadaeh #canadalove #canadatravel @ExploreCanada #ExploreCanada #canada #igerscanada #ohcanada #ig_canada #oh_canada #igcanada #snapshot_canada #tourcanada #enjoycanada #ontario @niagaraparks @niagarafallstourismcanada #NiagaraParks #niagarafalls #niagarafallscanada #waterfalls #niagararegion
Something I wasn't expecting among #Niagara attractions was the gorgeous glass-domed #Butterfly Conservatory. ⠀
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What is it about #butterflies that entrances? Their seemingly #carefree lives flitting from flower to flower? The fact that they started out as unattractive #caterpillars and transformed themselves into raucously #colorful creatures? That they're so delicate, they seem to need our care and protection?⠀
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Opened in 1996 to educate and entertain visitors on the life cycle and habitat of butterflies, I loved the quiet respite that the #conservatory offered, a chance to lose myself amidst beauty -- all part of the value-packed Niagara Falls Adventure Pass!⠀
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#travel #welltravelled #travelwriter #wanderlust #travelphotography #instatravel #travelgram #canadalife #canadagram #canadatrip #canadaeh #canadalove #canadatravel @ExploreCanada #ExploreCanada #canada @niagaraparks @niagarafallstourismcanada #NiagaraParks #niagarafalls #niagarafallscanada #waterfalls #niagararegion #tourcanada #enjoycanada #ontario
To feel the full force of the #NiagaraRiver, we make our way to the base of the Canadian #HorseshoeFalls, following in the footsteps of Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur, a French diplomat who made the first recorded descent in 1785. His journey required six hours of harrowing climbing, scrambling down boulders and sheer cliff, sometimes with the help of Indian ladders – two tree trunks notched by tomahawks. ⠀
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Fortunately for us, our #JourneyBehindtheFalls required nothing more than a rain poncho and an elevator ride 125 feet down. At the bottom, we navigate the narrow 130-year-old #tunnels to viewing portals cut straight through the rock revealing an impenetrable curtain of water, the sound of 681,750 gallons falling per second reverberating in our ears. ⠀
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At the main outdoor observation deck, the awesome totality of the falls is on full display, one-fifth of the world’s fresh water crashing down 13 stories at nearly 68 mph onto the rocks below. So impressive!⠀.
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@niagaraparks @niagarafallstourismcanada #NiagaraParks #niagarafalls #niagarafallscanada #waterfalls #niagararegion #travel #welltravelled #travelwriter #wanderlust #canadalife #canadagram #canadatrip #canadaeh #canadalove #canadatravel @ExploreCanada #ExploreCanada #canada #igerscanada #ohcanada #ig_canada #oh_canada #igcanada #snapshot_canada #tourcanada #enjoycanada #ontario