https://www.travelstorymaker.com/ Travel guides, tutorials, travel stories, quotes and fun facts from Travel Story Maker. en 60 https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/tips-and-tricks-for-traveling https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/tips-and-tricks-for-traveling None of these are clever. They are the habits that experienced travellers do automatically, mostly because at some point they did not, and it cost them a day. Blog Fri, 11 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/responsible-travel https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/responsible-travel Tourism is one of the largest industries on Earth and it is neither inherently good nor inherently bad for the places it lands on. It funds national parks and drains aquifers; it keeps languages and crafts economically alive and prices families out of their own neighbourhoods. Which of those happens depends substantially on decisions individual travellers make. Blog Fri, 11 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/travel-photographs https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/travel-photographs Most travel photographs are never looked at twice. Not because they are badly taken, but because they were taken as a record rather than as a picture - proof of attendance, filed and forgotten. The photographs people return to were taken deliberately, in good light, with something in the frame that gives scale or a human presence. Blog Fri, 11 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/island-hopping https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/island-hopping Island hopping looks like the most relaxed way to travel and is in fact the one that punishes bad planning hardest. Roads can be driven at any hour; boats cannot. Miss the 07:10 and the next one may be tomorrow, or Thursday. The constraints are knowable in advance, and an hour with a timetable before you book is worth several days on the trip. Blog Fri, 11 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/jet-lag https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/jet-lag General information for travellers, not medical advice. Speak to a pharmacist or doctor before taking anything, especially if you take other medication. Jet lag is not tiredness: it is a mismatch between the clock in your head and the clock on the wall, affecting sleep, digestion, concentration and mood independently. Blog Fri, 11 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/desert-travel https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/desert-travel The first thing the desert does is contradict the brochure. It is not uniformly hot: the Sahara at three in the morning is cold enough to wear everything you brought, the Gobi drops below minus thirty, and Antarctica is the largest desert on Earth. The second thing it does is remove the margin for error you are used to. Blog Fri, 11 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/travelling-at-altitude https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/travelling-at-altitude This article is general information for travellers, not medical advice. Altitude illness can be fatal. Speak to a doctor before a high-altitude trip, particularly with any heart or lung condition, and follow local guides. Altitude catches people out because the trigger is invisible and the timing delayed; almost all of it is preventable, and almost none of it is about fitness. Blog Fri, 11 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/eat-where-locals-eat https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/eat-where-locals-eat The gap between the best meal on a trip and the worst is almost never about money. It is about information - specifically whether you ate where people who live there eat, or where people who are leaving in three days eat. These signals work almost everywhere and take about ninety seconds to read. Blog Fri, 11 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/packing-light https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/packing-light Everybody knows they overpack. Almost nobody stops, because the reasoning behind every extra item sounds sensible: it might be cold, it might be smart, it weighs nothing, there is space. The fix is not willpower. It is a system that makes the decision once instead of forty times. Blog Fri, 11 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/shoulder-season https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/shoulder-season Shoulder season is the few weeks either side of peak: late spring before schools break up and early autumn after they return. Prices drop, queues shorten, restaurant owners have time to talk, and the weather does roughly what it did three weeks earlier. For most destinations and travellers, it is straightforwardly the best time to go. Blog Fri, 11 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/crossing-a-continent-by-train https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/crossing-a-continent-by-train There is a threshold around four hours where the train stops being the slow option: no airport transfer, security theatre or baggage carousel, a seat you can leave, a window worth looking out of, and stations in the middle of both cities. Above that threshold, the sleeper train can remove the journey from your waking life entirely. Blog Fri, 11 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/first-solo-trip https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/first-solo-trip The hardest part of a first solo trip is the first seventy-two hours, when you feel conspicuous, meals feel like an exam, and having nobody to say “look at that” to is disorienting. Then a switch flips: nobody is looking, you can change the whole day without negotiating, and you have not compromised on anything since landing. Design the trip so you make it past day three. Blog Fri, 11 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/see-the-northern-lights https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/see-the-northern-lights Most people who go looking for the northern lights come home without them, not because aurora is rare but because four unrelated things must align: enough latitude, darkness, clear sky and active solar wind. Three are predictable, so plan around them. Blog Fri, 11 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.travelstorymaker.com/tutorials/how-to-add-destinations-to-your-travel-route https://www.travelstorymaker.com/tutorials/how-to-add-destinations-to-your-travel-route Destinations - also called stops - are the backbone of your animated travel map. This guide covers the three ways to add them, how to reorder and rename them, and a few tips to keep your route clean and readable. Tutorial Fri, 26 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.travelstorymaker.com/tutorials/how-to-change-vehicles-between-stops https://www.travelstorymaker.com/tutorials/how-to-change-vehicles-between-stops A great travel animation mixes transport modes the way your real trip does - plane to the country, car to the region, bike for the last mile. Travel Story Maker lets you assign a different vehicle to every segment of your route, and renders the transitions for you. Tutorial Fri, 26 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.travelstorymaker.com/tutorials/how-to-customize-vehicle-icons-and-markers https://www.travelstorymaker.com/tutorials/how-to-customize-vehicle-icons-and-markers Markers are the visual signature of your animated travel map. Alongside the moving vehicle, Travel Story Maker lets you change the destination icon used for every stop - so two trips with the same route can still look completely different. Tutorial Fri, 26 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.travelstorymaker.com/tutorials/how-to-customize-your-travel-animation-style https://www.travelstorymaker.com/tutorials/how-to-customize-your-travel-animation-style Beyond the icons, Travel Story Maker exposes every visual lever to fine-tune your animation: map style, route color and thickness, speed, easing, globe projection and watermark. This guide walks through each setting and gives concrete recipes. Tutorial Fri, 26 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.travelstorymaker.com/tutorials/how-to-create-travel-videos-the-ultimate-guide https://www.travelstorymaker.com/tutorials/how-to-create-travel-videos-the-ultimate-guide This is the ultimate, step-by-step guide to creating a travel video with Travel Story Maker. Follow each screenshot below and you will go from a blank map to a finished, share-ready video - a real road trip across the American West, from Los Angeles to Santa Monica via Kingman, the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Yosemite and San Francisco - without installing any software. Tutorial Thu, 18 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/how-to-book-a-cheap-flight https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/how-to-book-a-cheap-flight Flights are usually the biggest line on a travel budget. With a few habits - flexible dates, smart search engines and price alerts - you can cut that line by 20 to 50 % without changing your destination. Blog Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/where-to-stay-while-traveling https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/where-to-stay-while-traveling Hotel, apartment, hostel, guesthouse: the right type of accommodation depends on the length of your stay, the size of your group and the kind of trip you are running. This guide helps you pick the right one and book it at the right price. Blog Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/how-to-rent-a-car-while-traveling https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/how-to-rent-a-car-while-traveling A car is the right tool for road trips, remote regions and trips with a lot of luggage. But it is also the easiest place to lose money on hidden fees. Here is how to book a rental that does not surprise you at the counter. Blog Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/use-your-phone-while-traveling-abroad https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/use-your-phone-while-traveling-abroad A working phone abroad means maps, translation, ride-hailing and the ability to call your accommodation. The good news: you no longer need to buy a physical SIM at the airport. An eSIM does it from your hotel bed in 5 minutes. Blog Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/best-travel-credit-cards https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/best-travel-credit-cards The wrong card abroad costs you 3–5 % on every payment between the exchange rate markup and foreign transaction fees. The right card costs you 0 % and may even give you cashback. Here is what to look for. Blog Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/which-travel-insurance-to-choose https://www.travelstorymaker.com/blog/which-travel-insurance-to-choose Travel insurance is the one line you hope to never use - and the one you absolutely want when you need it. A single emergency medical evacuation can cost 50 000 € out of pocket. Here is how to pick the right plan without overpaying. Blog Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.travelstorymaker.com/tutorials/how-to-plan-your-travel-itinerary https://www.travelstorymaker.com/tutorials/how-to-plan-your-travel-itinerary The Planning page turns your animated route into a real travel itinerary: dates, nights per stop, estimated travel time per segment. Use it before a trip to design a realistic plan, or after a trip to build a polished recap. Tutorial Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.travelstorymaker.com/tutorials/how-to-add-photos-to-your-travel-animation https://www.travelstorymaker.com/tutorials/how-to-add-photos-to-your-travel-animation Adding photos to your animated travel map turns it into a real story. When the vehicle arrives at a stop with photos, the animation automatically pauses for 2 seconds and plays a fullscreen slideshow - no manual timing required. Tutorial Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.travelstorymaker.com/tutorials/how-to-export-your-animated-travel-map https://www.travelstorymaker.com/tutorials/how-to-export-your-animated-travel-map Once your animated travel map looks right, exporting it is a one-click operation. This guide walks through every option on the Export page - format, ratio, quality - and gives recommended settings for each social platform. Tutorial Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.travelstorymaker.com/tutorials/how-travelstorymaker-processes-your-photos https://www.travelstorymaker.com/tutorials/how-travelstorymaker-processes-your-photos Travel Story Maker is privacy-first. This article explains exactly what happens to a photo when you add it to a stop: where it is stored, how it is resized, what metadata is kept and what is stripped. Tutorial Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e1 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:1 Iceland is one of the only inhabited places on Earth with no native mosquito population. The island's freeze-thaw cycles interrupt the insect's life cycle before it can complete. Iceland - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e2 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:2 Our flight was cancelled and every hotel in Reykjavik was full. A barman closing up at two in the morning heard us arguing with an app, shrugged, and let us sleep in the back room on beer crates. He refused money and asked only that we leave the key under the mat. Reykjavik, Iceland - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e3 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:3 The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page. Attributed to Saint Augustine World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e4 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:4 Nearly every home in Reykjavik is heated by geothermal water pumped from volcanic bedrock, which is why the tap water smells faintly of sulphur but the air stays remarkably clean. Reykjavik, Iceland - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_volcanic_eruptions_in_Iceland Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e5 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:5 The cheese slicer was patented in 1925 by Thor Bjorklund, a furniture maker from Lillehammer who adapted a carpenter's plane to slice brown cheese thinly. Norway - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e6 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:6 We missed the last ferry by ninety seconds and watched it pull away in flat grey light. Then a fisherman untied his boat, said one word we did not understand, and pointed at the bow. He dropped us on the island an hour later and vanished before we could thank him. Lofoten, Norway - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e7 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:7 The Laerdal Tunnel runs 24.5 kilometres under Norwegian mountains and is lit with blue and yellow caverns every six kilometres to keep drivers alert. Laerdal, Norway - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laerdal Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e8 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:8 Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness. Mark Twain World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e9 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:9 Nobody in the lakeside sauna spoke English and we spoke no Finnish. For forty minutes we sat in silence, then somebody handed round a bucket of ice and everyone laughed at the same time. It turned out we had been arguing about football using only eyebrows. Savonlinna, Finland - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e10 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:10 Sweden recycles or recovers energy from the vast majority of its household waste, and for years it imported rubbish from neighbouring countries to keep its plants running. Sweden - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweden Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e11 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:11 With roughly three million saunas for 5.5 million people, Finland has more steam rooms than automobiles, including one inside the parliament building. Finland - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finland Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e12 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:12 I stopped in the wrong lane and a woman in a suit rang her bell without slowing. Then she circled back, explained the hand signals, and rode beside me for six blocks until I got it right. She was late for something and never mentioned it. Copenhagen, Denmark - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e13 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:13 Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. Attributed to Mark Twain World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e14 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:14 The Dannebrog has been in continuous use since the 14th century, making it the oldest national flag still flown by an independent state. Denmark - Europe Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e15 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:15 More bicycles than cars cross central Copenhagen every day, and the city installed traffic lights timed to a cyclist's pace of about 20 km/h. Copenhagen, Denmark - Europe Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e16 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:16 A bakery window in Kazimierz opened at midnight and sold the first loaves straight from the oven. There was no sign and no menu, just a queue of taxi drivers and one traveller who had followed the smell for four streets. Krakow, Poland - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e17 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:17 Estonia treats internet access as a social right, runs almost all public services online, and lets citizens vote in national elections from a laptop. Estonia - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e18 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:18 I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move. Robert Louis Stevenson World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e19 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:19 More than half of Latvia is covered in forest, and the total forested area has been expanding for decades as farmland returns to woodland. Latvia - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latvia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e20 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:20 We arrived at the astronomical clock two minutes before the hour and found the square full. A boy on his father's shoulders counted down out loud in Czech, and a hundred strangers joined in without agreeing to. Prague, Czechia - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e21 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:21 The Hill of Crosses near Siauliai holds well over 100,000 crosses left by pilgrims. Soviet authorities bulldozed it repeatedly; locals rebuilt it every time. Siauliai, Lithuania - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithuania Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e22 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:22 Two men played chess in the hot pool at Szechenyi as if the water were an office. When I sat down to watch, one of them turned the board a quarter turn and pointed at a piece. I lost in eleven moves and stayed for three more games. Budapest, Hungary - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e23 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:23 In the Crooked Forest near Gryfino, some 400 pine trees all bend sharply north at the base. Nobody has ever proved why. Gryfino, Poland - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gryfino Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e24 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:24 The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. Marcel Proust World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e25 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:25 A trumpeter plays the Hejnal from St Mary's tower every hour, cutting off abruptly to commemorate a medieval bugler said to have been shot mid-warning. Krakow, Poland - Europe Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e26 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:26 We boarded the wrong regional train and only realised at the fourth stop. The valley it climbed into had a glacier at the end of it and a hut selling apricot dumplings. We told everyone afterwards that we had planned it. Tyrol, Austria - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e27 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:27 Czechs drink more beer per person than any other nation, and the pilsner style itself was born in the Bohemian town of Plzen in 1842. Czechia - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czechia_(disambiguation) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e28 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:28 The traveller sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see. G. K. Chesterton World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e29 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:29 The Orloj has been keeping time since 1410, making it the oldest astronomical clock still operating, complete with a parade of apostles on the hour. Prague, Czechia - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e30 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:30 My ticket was for the wrong day. The conductor examined it for a long moment, looked at the rain outside, punched it anyway, and moved on down the carriage without saying a word. Bern, Switzerland - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e31 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:31 Slovakia counts more than 100 castles and hundreds of manor houses across a country smaller than Denmark, giving it one of the highest castle densities on Earth. Slovakia - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovakia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e32 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:32 A car passed us so fast the mirrors shook. Our host later explained the unwritten rule: the left lane is not a place to live, it is a place to visit. We drove more politely for the rest of the trip. Bavaria, Germany - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e33 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:33 Budapest sits on more than 100 thermal springs, feeding grand bathhouses where locals play chess in steaming water in the middle of winter. Budapest, Hungary - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e34 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:34 Not all those who wander are lost. J. R. R. Tolkien World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e35 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:35 Eisriesenwelt near Werfen stretches 42 kilometres into the Alps and is the largest ice cave in the world, lit only by carbide lamps carried by visitors. Werfen, Austria - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werfen Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e36 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:36 The staircase in our rental was steeper than a ladder. The landlord explained that houses were taxed on width, so everything went up instead of out, and furniture still arrives through the windows on a hoist. Amsterdam, Netherlands - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e37 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:37 Vienna's drinking water arrives by gravity alone through pipelines from Alpine springs more than 100 kilometres away, no pumping required. Vienna, Austria - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e38 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:38 A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Lao Tzu Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e39 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:39 Swiss law long required fallout shelters in new buildings, leaving the country with enough bunker space for its entire population, now often used as wine cellars and hostels. Switzerland - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e40 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:40 It rained for four days without pause. On the fifth we gave up on sightseeing, sat in a cafe for six hours with two waffles and a notebook, and had the best day of the trip. Ghent, Belgium - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e41 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:41 The Matterhorn is so recognisable that its silhouette became the model for the Toblerone chocolate bar, made in Bern since 1908. Zermatt, Switzerland - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zermatt Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e42 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:42 A good traveller has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving. Lao Tzu Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e43 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:43 The entire principality of Liechtenstein was once offered for rent for corporate events, complete with temporary street signs and a night in the village. Liechtenstein - Europe Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e44 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:44 At 00:58 the platform at Chatelet was full of people all pretending not to run. When the train came, a busker got on with an accordion and played the same song for four stops while nobody looked up and everybody listened. Paris, France - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e45 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:45 About half of Germany's autobahn network has no general speed limit, though an advisory 130 km/h applies and trucks are strictly capped. Germany - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limits_in_Germany Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e46 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:46 We arrived at half past eleven and thought we had time. The stallholders were already packing. One olive seller pressed a bag into my hands, refused payment, and said the word for tomorrow twice, pointing at his watch. Provence, France - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e47 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:47 Berlin's rivers and canals are crossed by more than 900 bridges, comfortably outnumbering those in Venice. Berlin, Germany - Europe Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e48 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:48 Wherever you go, go with all your heart. Confucius World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e49 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:49 Roughly a quarter of the Netherlands lies below sea level, and much of the province of Flevoland was seabed until the 20th century. Netherlands - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_Netherlands Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e50 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:50 The bus smelled of oranges because the man behind me had a crate of them. He offered one to every passenger who woke up. By dawn the whole bus smelled like a grove and nobody had slept. Lisbon, Portugal - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e51 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:51 The old centre of Amsterdam rests on millions of wooden piles driven into sand, including the 13,000 that hold up the Royal Palace. Amsterdam, Netherlands - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e52 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:52 It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end. Ursula K. Le Guin World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e53 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:53 Brussels has painted more than fifty giant comic-strip murals across the city, turning blank walls into a free open-air museum of Belgian cartooning. Brussels, Belgium - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Brussels Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e54 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:54 Everyone says tram 28 is unbearable. At seven in the morning it is a commuter service full of people going to work, the windows are cold, and you can hear the wheels complain on every corner. Lisbon, Portugal - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e55 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:55 In 2020 Luxembourg became the first country to make all public transport free nationwide, buses, trams and trains included. Luxembourg - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_Luxembourg Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e56 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:56 The waiter held the bottle above his head and the glass at his hip and poured without looking. He gave me the bottle to try. I hit my own shoe, and he refilled my glass without comment. Asturias, Spain - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e57 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:57 Thanks to overseas territories from Polynesia to the Caribbean, France spans twelve time zones, more than any other country. France - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prefect_(France) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e58 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:58 To move, to breathe, to fly, to float, to gain all while you give, to roam the roads of lands remote. Hans Christian Andersen World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e59 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:59 Beneath Paris lie some 300 kilometres of quarry tunnels, part of which hold the bones of about six million people moved from overflowing cemeteries. Paris, France - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e60 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:60 At noon in August the plaza emptied so completely that pigeons walked down the middle of the street. By eight in the evening the same square held four hundred people and a brass band. Seville, Spain - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e61 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:61 Surveyors remeasure Mont Blanc every two years because its ice cap gains and loses metres, so the official summit height keeps shifting. Chamonix, France - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e62 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:62 Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world. Gustave Flaubert World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e63 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:63 The long midday break is mostly a rural and small-town tradition now; most Spanish office workers take a short lunch and finish late instead. Spain - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e64 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:64 A coffee at the bar cost one euro and took ninety seconds. Sitting at the table cost three times as much. The barman explained this as if it were a law of physics. Naples, Italy - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e65 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:65 The Sagrada Familia has been under construction since 1882, funded almost entirely by donations and ticket sales rather than public money. Barcelona, Spain - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcelona Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e66 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:66 We followed a map for eleven minutes and arrived at a wall of canal with no bridge. A woman leaning out of a window above us laughed, pointed backwards, and held up four fingers. Four turns later we were at the restaurant. Venice, Italy - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e67 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:67 Every August the town of Bunol throws about 150 tonnes of overripe tomatoes in La Tomatina, followed by a hose-down of the whole main street. Bunol, Spain - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e68 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:68 No one realises how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old familiar pillow. Lin Yutang World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e69 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:69 Bertrand in Lisbon's Chiado district has been selling books since 1732 and holds the record as the oldest bookshop still trading. Lisbon, Portugal - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisbon Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e70 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:70 It snowed in Rome for two hours one February morning. The Forum went white, every phone in the city came out at once, and by lunchtime it was gone as if the city had imagined it. Rome, Italy - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e71 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:71 Port wine takes its name from the city, though the grapes grow upriver in the terraced Douro Valley, the world's oldest demarcated wine region. Porto, Portugal - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_Porto Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e72 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:72 Italy holds more UNESCO World Heritage sites than any other country, ranging from Roman ruins to entire mountain villages. Italy - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_Heritage_Sites_in_Italy Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e73 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:73 Travel far enough, you meet yourself. David Mitchell World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e74 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:74 The gorge trail was closed and we sat at the gate feeling defeated. A shepherd walked past with eleven goats, looked at our boots, and gestured for us to follow. His shortcut took two hours and involved no path at all. Crete, Greece - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e75 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:75 Around a million euros in coins is fished out of the Trevi Fountain each year and donated to charity. Rome, Italy - Europe Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e76 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:76 Venice stands on millions of alder logs driven into the lagoon mud. Starved of oxygen, the wood petrified instead of rotting. Venice, Italy - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venice_Lido Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e77 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:77 We slept on the deck under jackets because the cabins were sold out. At four in the morning the engines changed pitch and everyone woke to see an island appear out of the dark, one white line at a time. Cyclades, Greece - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e78 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:78 The gladdest moment in human life is a departure into unknown lands. Richard Francis Burton World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e79 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:79 After more than 250 years of excavation, roughly a third of Pompeii remains buried, deliberately left for future archaeologists with better tools. Pompeii, Italy - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e80 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:80 The bus stopped at a checkpoint that did not appear on any map we had. It took two hours, three stamps and one shared cigarette between drivers before we crossed into a country whose name had changed twice in thirty years. Balkans - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e81 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:81 San Marino claims a continuous republican government since the year 301, making it the world's oldest surviving sovereign republic. San Marino - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_San_Marino Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e82 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:82 At 0.49 square kilometres, the Vatican is smaller than many city parks, yet it has its own post office, pharmacy and railway station. Vatican City - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_City Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e83 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:83 Adventure is worthwhile in itself. Amelia Earhart World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e84 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:84 We asked for directions and were invited for coffee. Halfway through, someone mentioned our host had been mayor for eight years. He was more interested in explaining lake trout than politics. Ohrid, North Macedonia - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e85 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:85 Malta kept left-hand driving from its British era, one of only a handful of European countries to do so alongside Ireland and Cyprus. Malta - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malta Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e86 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:86 Greece has around 6,000 islands and islets, but only about 200 of them are inhabited. Greece - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greece Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e87 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:87 A young man stood on the parapet for eleven minutes collecting coins before he jumped. Someone in the crowd explained that he would not go until the collection reached a certain amount, and that this had been the rule for centuries. Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e88 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:88 Own only what you can carry with you; know language, know countries, know people. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e89 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:89 Santorini's red, black and white beaches come from a single enormous eruption around 1600 BC that blew the island's centre into the sea. Santorini, Greece - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santorini Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e90 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:90 The marathon distance commemorates a messenger's run from the plain of Marathon to Athens, and the modern race was revived at the 1896 Olympics. Athens, Greece - Europe Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e91 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:91 There are scars in the pavement where shells landed, filled with red resin. Nobody points them out. You simply notice one, then another, then you walk more slowly for the rest of the afternoon. Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e92 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:92 The Croatian Adriatic includes over 1,200 islands, islets and reefs, though fewer than fifty have permanent residents. Croatia - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e93 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:93 Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe. Anatole France World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e94 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:94 The road was blocked by a wedding procession. We waited, and then someone knocked on the car window with two glasses of plum brandy and would not take no. We arrived at our guesthouse three hours late and extremely happy. Transylvania, Romania - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e95 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:95 The city walls of Dubrovnik run two kilometres around the old town and were never breached by an invading army in their long history. Dubrovnik, Croatia - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubrovnik Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e96 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:96 More than 58 percent of Slovenia is forested, and brown bears still roam within an hour's drive of the capital. Slovenia - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovenia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e97 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:97 The wine cellars had road names painted on the tunnel walls: Cabernet Street, Feteasca Avenue. Our guide drove an electric buggy and took corners like a taxi driver. Cricova, Moldova - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e98 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:98 Once a year, go someplace you've never been before. Attributed to the Dalai Lama World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e99 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:99 On Lake Bled's only island, visitors climb 99 steps to ring a church bell said to grant a wish to anyone who rings it properly. Bled, Slovenia - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Bled Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories#e100 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:100 The Stari Most in Mostar was destroyed in 1993 and rebuilt stone by stone using original techniques, reopening in 2004. Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosnia_and_Herzegovina Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e101 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:101 The compartment had four bunks and five people, and the fifth was fine with the floor. Tea arrived in glasses with metal holders at six in the morning whether you were awake or not. Ukraine - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e102 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:102 The country's name refers to the dark pine forests of Mount Lovcen, which appear almost black from the coast. Montenegro - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montenegro Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e103 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:103 Live your life, take chances, be crazy. Don't wait, because right now is the oldest you've ever been. Anonymous World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e104 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:104 Private car ownership was effectively forbidden in Albania until 1991, so the country went from almost no cars to full traffic in a single decade. Albania - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albania Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e105 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:105 At Christmas the old town smells of almonds and every second doorway leads to a cellar bar. We got lost twice inside two hundred metres because every street looks like the postcard. Tallinn, Estonia - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e106 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:106 Lake Ohrid is among the oldest lakes on Earth, holding species found nowhere else after two to three million years of isolation. Ohrid, North Macedonia - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resen%2C_North_Macedonia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e107 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:107 I looked up at a stairwell ceiling in Riga and stayed looking for so long that a resident coming home stopped and looked up too, then said something in Latvian that clearly meant yes, it is good, isn't it. Riga, Latvia - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e108 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:108 The word vampire entered western European languages in the 18th century from Serbian folklore reports sent back by Habsburg officials. Serbia - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e109 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:109 Roads were made for journeys, not destinations. Confucius Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e110 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:110 Bulgaria's Rose Valley supplies a large share of the world's rose oil, and it takes roughly 3,000 kilograms of petals to make one kilogram of oil. Kazanlak, Bulgaria - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Valley%2C_Bulgaria Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e111 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:111 Uzupis has a constitution on a wall in forty languages. One article says a dog has the right to be a dog. Another says everyone has the right to be unhappy. Both feel earned. Vilnius, Lithuania - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e112 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:112 The Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest is the heaviest building on Earth, using around a million cubic metres of marble. Bucharest, Romania - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Bucharest Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e113 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:113 It is better to see something once than to hear about it a thousand times. Asian proverb Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e114 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:114 The Carpathian Mountains hold one of Europe's largest brown bear populations outside Russia, along with lynx and wolves. Transylvania, Romania - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistory_of_Transylvania Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e115 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:115 The sun did not set. At half past midnight there was a full football match on the astroturf and a queue for the pitch afterwards. Nobody looked tired. Tromso, Norway - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e116 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:116 The Cricova cellars run for more than 100 kilometres of tunnels with street names, and visitors tour them by electric car. Cricova, Moldova - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricova Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e117 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:117 The world is big and I want to have a good look at it before it gets dark. John Muir World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e118 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:118 A working freight train trims a leafy corridor near Klevan into a perfect green tunnel that has become a pilgrimage for couples. Klevan, Ukraine - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klevan Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e119 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:119 Four nights of cloud, and on the fifth the sky opened for eleven minutes. Nobody in the cabin spoke. Afterwards a Danish couple opened a bottle of something and we drank it out of coffee cups. Abisko, Sweden - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e120 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:120 This forest on the Polish border is the last large remnant of the woodland that once covered the European plain, home to wild European bison. Belovezhskaya Pushcha, Belarus - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belovezhskaya_Pushcha_National_Park Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e121 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:121 The road was blocked by forty reindeer moving at their own pace. The driver turned off the engine, poured coffee from a thermos, and said this was quicker than trying to hurry them. Lapland, Finland - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e122 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:122 A train from Moscow to Vladivostok crosses seven time zones, yet the whole Trans-Siberian timetable was long printed in Moscow time only. Russia - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Russia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e123 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:123 The mountains are calling and I must go. John Muir Americas - The Americas Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e124 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:124 Baikal contains roughly 20 percent of the planet's unfrozen fresh water and is deep enough to swallow several stacked skyscrapers. Lake Baikal, Russia - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e125 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:125 It rained horizontally. In the pub, a man told me there is no bad weather, only the wrong jacket, then bought me a pint because my jacket was clearly wrong. Galway, Ireland - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e126 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:126 Ireland genuinely has no native snakes, not because of St Patrick but because the island separated from Britain before snakes recolonised after the Ice Age. Ireland - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ireland Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e127 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:127 In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks. John Muir Americas - The Americas Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e128 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:128 The Cliffs of Moher rise 214 metres at their highest point and take the full force of Atlantic swells that begin near Newfoundland. County Clare, Ireland - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ireland Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e129 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:129 Twelve passing places in three kilometres, and a sheep asleep in every one. The oncoming driver reversed a quarter of a mile with one hand on the wheel and did not stop talking on the phone. Isle of Skye, Scotland - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e130 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:130 Scotland's national animal is the unicorn, chosen in medieval heraldry as a symbol of purity and untamable strength. Scotland - Europe Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e131 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:131 The bothy had four walls, a fireplace, a visitors' book and no door key. Someone had left dry kindling and half a bag of coffee for whoever came next. We left tea and matches. Highlands, Scotland - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e132 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:132 Edinburgh Castle stands on the plug of an extinct volcano, and Arthur's Seat in the city centre is another part of the same ancient system. Edinburgh, Scotland - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edinburgh Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e133 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:133 Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. John Muir Americas - The Americas Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e134 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:134 Wales counts roughly three sheep for every resident, and its hill farms have shaped the landscape for over a thousand years. Wales - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheep_farming_in_Wales Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e135 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:135 We came down off the ridge nineteen minutes late and the last bus was still there. The driver had seen two head torches on the mountain and decided he was not leaving until they came down. Snowdonia, Wales - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e136 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:136 Llanfairpwllgwyngyll and its full 58-letter version was reportedly extended in the 1860s by a local tailor to attract railway tourists. Anglesey, Wales - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglesey Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e137 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:137 I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in. John Muir Americas - The Americas Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e138 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:138 The Metropolitan Railway opened in 1863, making the London Underground the world's first urban underground railway. London, England - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e139 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:139 Every museum was free and every cafe was full. We spent four hours in one room of the British Museum, ate a sandwich on the steps, and did not see the rest of the city at all. London, England - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e140 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:140 Big Ben is the nickname of the great bell inside the tower. The tower itself was renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012. London, England - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e141 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:141 The causeway appeared out of the sea over about twenty minutes as if someone were slowly drawing it. Everyone stood at the edge with their shoes in their hands waiting for permission from the water. Cornwall, England - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e142 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:142 Some of Stonehenge's bluestones were transported roughly 250 kilometres from the Preseli Hills in Wales more than 4,000 years ago. Wiltshire, England - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_England Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e143 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:143 A good traveller does not know where he is going, and a perfect traveller does not know where he came from. Lin Yutang World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e144 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:144 Around 1.1 million litres of 46-degree water rise through Bath's Roman baths every day, heated deep underground and falling as rain thousands of years ago. Bath, England - Europe Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e145 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:145 We drove through a tunnel and came out in a different weather system. The village on the other side had sun, sheep on the roofs, and a shop that sold both fishing tackle and cake. Faroe Islands - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e146 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:146 Cornish died out as a community language in the 18th century and has since been revived, with road signs and schools bringing it back. Cornwall, England - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornwall_College%2C_England Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e147 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:147 We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next, to find ourselves. Pico Iyer World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e148 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:148 When Street View cars skipped the islands, locals strapped cameras to sheep and mapped the roads themselves in a campaign called Sheep View. Faroe Islands - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faroe_Islands Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e149 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:149 The guide stopped, put a hand out flat, and we all stopped too. Two hundred metres up the slope a brown bear crossed without looking at us once. Nobody took a photograph until it was gone. Carpathians, Romania - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e150 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:150 The Greenland ice sheet averages about 1.5 kilometres thick and presses the island's bedrock down below sea level in places. Greenland - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland_ice_sheet Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e151 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:151 Andorra has no airport or railway station. Everyone arrives by road through the Pyrenees, which is part of the charm. Andorra - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andorra Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e152 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:152 Our guide slid a bank card at a joint in the Inca wall and it would not enter. He did this for tourists twenty times a day, and it still made everyone go quiet. Cusco, Peru - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e153 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:153 Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living. Miriam Beard World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e154 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:154 Monaco covers about two square kilometres, and much of its newest land was reclaimed from the Mediterranean. Monaco - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monaco Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e155 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:155 At six in the morning the Jemaa el-Fnaa is empty except for cats and a man sweeping. By nine it is a market, by seven a food court, by eleven a drum circle. Same square, four cities. Marrakech, Morocco - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e156 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:156 Traffic on Winston Churchill Avenue stops every time a plane lands, because the road runs straight across the airport runway. Gibraltar - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibraltar_International_Airport Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e157 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:157 Derinkuyu descends eighteen levels and could shelter around 20,000 people with livestock, wine presses and ventilation shafts. Derinkuyu, Turkey - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Turkey Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e158 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:158 Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore. Andre Gide World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e159 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:159 Three glasses: the first bitter as life, the second strong as love, the third gentle as death. Our host poured from a great height each time and would not let us leave until all three were drunk. Sahara, Morocco - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e160 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:160 Istanbul is the only major city built across two continents, with commuters crossing between Europe and Asia by ferry every morning. Istanbul, Turkey - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbul Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e161 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:161 Volcanic tuff in Cappadocia is soft when freshly cut and hardens in air, which is why entire churches and hotels are carved into the cliffs. Cappadocia, Turkey - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cappadocia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e162 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:162 Two months after we came home I found Saharan sand in the spine of a paperback. It had crossed a continent inside a book and I could not bring myself to shake it out. Merzouga, Morocco - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e163 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:163 A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for. John A. Shedd World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e164 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:164 Calcium-rich hot springs have built white travertine terraces down the hillside at Pamukkale over thousands of years. Pamukkale, Turkey - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamukkale Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e165 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:165 There are at least nine blues in one alley and the paint is refreshed by hand each spring. A woman repainting her step let me help for two minutes and then politely took the brush back. Chefchaouen, Morocco - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e166 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:166 Nicosia is the last divided capital in Europe, split by a buffer zone patrolled by United Nations peacekeepers since 1974. Nicosia, Cyprus - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicosia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e167 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:167 Sobrino de Botin has served roast suckling pig continuously since 1725 and still uses its original wood-fired oven. Madrid, Spain - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madrid Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e168 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:168 Throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Attributed to Mark Twain World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e169 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:169 I accepted the second price and the seller looked genuinely disappointed. He explained that the negotiation was the point, poured tea, and gave me a better price than I would have got. Cairo, Egypt - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e170 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:170 The Alps grow roughly a millimetre or two a year as Africa pushes into Europe, though erosion removes almost as much. Alps - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alps Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e171 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:171 The Danube touches or crosses ten countries and four capital cities, more than any other river on Earth. Danube - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danube Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e172 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:172 The wind died and our captain tied off the sail, lay down on the deck, and slept for forty minutes. We drifted backwards. When he woke, the wind came back within five minutes as though he had ordered it. Aswan, Egypt - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e173 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:173 Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all. Helen Keller World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e174 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:174 The Samaria Gorge runs sixteen kilometres to the Libyan Sea and narrows to just four metres at the famous Iron Gates. Samaria, Greece - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Greece Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e175 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:175 There is no single Camino. Pilgrims walk from France, Portugal, Seville or their own front door, all converging on Santiago de Compostela. Camino de Santiago - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camino_de_Santiago Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e176 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:176 Twenty balloons went up at once over the Valley of the Kings. From the ground it looked like the sky had been decorated. From the basket it was completely silent except for the burner. Luxor, Egypt - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e177 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:177 Aurora hunting works best between September and March under clear skies far from town lights, and even then patience matters more than equipment. Lapland - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapland Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e178 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:178 The best view comes after the hardest climb. Anonymous World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e179 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:179 The bus left when it was full and not before. Full meant something different than we expected. We made friends with everyone in three rows and arrived eleven hours later knowing four words of Amharic. Ethiopia - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e180 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:180 Above the Arctic Circle the sun stays above the horizon for weeks in summer, and locals often play football at two in the morning. Nordkapp, Norway - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Norway Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e181 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:181 Salt has been mined at Hallstatt for around 7,000 years, and the world's oldest wooden staircase was found preserved in the shafts. Hallstatt, Austria - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallstatt Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e182 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:182 The ceremony took an hour: green beans roasted in the room, ground by hand, brewed and poured three times. Refusing the third round, we were told, is a small insult. We stayed. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e183 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:183 Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time. Conservation motto Americas - The Americas Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e184 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:184 Quinta da Regaleira hides an initiation well, a spiral staircase that descends 27 metres into the earth instead of rising. Sintra, Portugal - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sintra Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e185 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:185 Bruges lost its sea access when its channel silted up in the 1500s, and the resulting poverty accidentally preserved its medieval centre. Bruges, Belgium - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruges Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e186 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:186 A priest unlocked a church cut down into the ground and held up a cross older than most European cathedrals. Then he sat back down on a plastic chair and continued reading his phone. Lalibela, Ethiopia - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e187 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:187 Ghent removed through traffic from its historic core, and shop revenue and cycling both rose in the years afterwards. Ghent, Belgium - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghent Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e188 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:188 Leave it better than you found it. Outdoor ethic World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e189 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:189 Tallinn kept most of its medieval walls and 20 defensive towers, one of the best-preserved Hanseatic centres in northern Europe. Tallinn, Estonia - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tallinn Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e190 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:190 We were told to stay seven metres away. Nobody told the silverback, who walked within an arm's length of my knee without breaking step. The guide's only instruction was to look at the ground. Bwindi, Uganda - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e191 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:191 Around a third of central Riga's buildings are Art Nouveau, the densest concentration of the style anywhere in the world. Riga, Latvia - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riga Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e192 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:192 The sign said equator and a man demonstrated water draining in opposite directions three metres apart. The physics was nonsense and the performance was excellent, and we tipped him anyway. Uganda - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e193 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:193 The artists' quarter of Uzupis declared independence in 1997 and has its own constitution, posted on a wall in dozens of languages. Vilnius, Lithuania - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilnius Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e194 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:194 We are all travellers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend. Robert Louis Stevenson World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e195 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:195 Wolves, lynx and wild horses now thrive in the exclusion zone, where the absence of people outweighs the radiation for many species. Chernobyl, Ukraine - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_exclusion_zone Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e196 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:196 We waited five hours at the river. Then, with no signal we could detect, four thousand wildebeest decided at once and the water turned brown. It lasted eleven minutes. Masai Mara, Kenya - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e197 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:197 Turf roofs insulate Faroese houses against Atlantic wind and rain, and sheep sometimes graze on them. Faroe Islands - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandur%2C_Faroe_Islands Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e198 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:198 Little by little, one travels far. Attributed to J. R. R. Tolkien Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e199 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:199 The Global Seed Vault inside an Arctic mountain holds over a million seed samples as a backup for the planet's food crops. Svalbard, Norway - Europe Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Svalbard Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/2#e200 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:200 Our matatu had a sound system worth more than the vehicle and a hand-painted portrait of a footballer on the back. The conductor hung out of the door collecting fares in traffic and never miscounted once. Nairobi, Kenya - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e201 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:201 Japan is an archipelago of over 6,800 islands, though four of them hold nearly all of the population. Japan - Asia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e202 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:202 Travelling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort. Cesare Pavese World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e203 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:203 Station staff known as oshiya are still employed on the busiest Tokyo lines to help commuters fit inside the doors. Tokyo, Japan - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etiquette_in_Japan Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e204 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:204 The guide said pole pole about four hundred times in five days. On summit night, walking at half the pace felt absurd until we passed the fast group sitting down in the dark. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e205 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:205 With roughly one machine for every 30 people, Japan sells everything from hot corn soup to fresh eggs on the street, day and night. Japan - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e206 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:206 The sea went out nearly a kilometre and the whole village walked out onto the flats with buckets. Children raced the incoming tide back to shore as if it were a game invented that morning. Zanzibar, Tanzania - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e207 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:207 Kyoto was removed from the atomic target list partly because of its cultural importance, which is why 1,600 temples still stand. Kyoto, Japan - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e208 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:208 There are only two kinds of travel: first class and with children. Robert Benchley World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e209 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:209 Japanese weather services publish a sakura front each spring, tracking the bloom as it sweeps north from Okinawa to Hokkaido. Japan - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e210 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:210 He was making a boat with no plans, using a stick with notches as his only measuring tool. His father built the boat next to it. His son was sanding a rudder and complaining about it. Lamu, Kenya - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e211 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:211 The upper slopes of Fuji legally belong to a Shinto shrine, a claim confirmed by Japan's courts. Mount Fuji, Japan - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Fuji Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e212 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:212 A journey is best measured in friends rather than miles. Tim Cahill World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e213 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:213 Okunoshima was once a secret poison gas factory. Today hundreds of feral rabbits hop across the ruins. Okunoshima, Japan - Asia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e214 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:214 The collectors work waist-deep in water saltier than the sea, coated in shea butter to protect their skin. They fill a pirogue by hand and it takes most of a morning. Lac Rose, Senegal - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e215 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:215 About 70 percent of South Korea is mountainous, which is why its cities build upward and its hiking culture is enormous. South Korea - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_South_Korea Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e216 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:216 We asked about the history of the town and got a song instead of a date. It lasted nine minutes, named six generations, and was more accurate than the guidebook. Mali - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e217 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:217 Seoul's metro offers signal in every tunnel, so commuters stream video hundreds of metres underground without a drop. Seoul, South Korea - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seoul Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e218 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:218 Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer. Anonymous World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e219 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:219 Koreans traditionally counted everyone a year old at birth and added a year each New Year, a system officially retired in 2023. South Korea - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aging_of_South_Korea Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e220 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:220 Once a year the whole town replasters the mosque. There are teams, there is a race, and there is a great deal of mud. Being clean that day marks you as a visitor. Djenne, Mali - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e221 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:221 China has built more high-speed track than the rest of the world combined, linking most major cities at 300 km/h. China - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_rail_in_China Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e222 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:222 Collect moments, not things. Anonymous World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e223 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:223 The Great Wall is a network of walls built by different dynasties over 2,000 years, and long stretches are earth rather than stone. China - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wall_of_China Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e224 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:224 Visibility dropped to about four metres. We took shelter in a shop selling only mattresses and phone credit, and the owner made tea for eleven people until it passed. Mauritania - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e225 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:225 Despite spanning the width of five, all of China officially runs on Beijing time, so the sun rises after 10 am in western Xinjiang. China - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_in_China Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e226 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:226 Nobody warns you that the Sahara gets cold. At three in the morning we wore every item of clothing we had brought and still slept badly, then watched a sunrise that made it fine. Sahara - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e227 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:227 The airport maglev covers 30 kilometres in about seven and a half minutes without touching the track. Shanghai, China - Asia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e228 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:228 Jobs fill your pocket, adventures fill your soul. Jaime Lyn Beatty World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e229 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:229 The 8,000 terracotta warriors were originally brightly coloured. Most pigment flakes away within minutes of exposure to dry air. Xi'an, China - Asia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e230 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:230 We took the cable car up into total white. Visibility was eight metres. Then the cloth lifted for ninety seconds, the whole city appeared below, and it closed again like a curtain. Cape Town, South Africa - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e231 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:231 Hong Kong has more buildings over 150 metres than any other city, squeezed onto a narrow strip between mountains and sea. Hong Kong - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e232 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:232 Fill your life with experiences, not things. Have stories to tell, not stuff to show. Anonymous World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e233 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:233 Macau's gaming revenue has repeatedly exceeded that of Las Vegas several times over, on a peninsula smaller than most airports. Macau - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macau Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e234 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:234 African penguins crossed the boardwalk at their own pace and in their own order. A queue of humans waited politely, which felt like the correct arrangement. Boulders Beach, South Africa - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e235 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:235 Taipei 101 hangs a 660-tonne steel pendulum near the top to counteract typhoon sway, and visitors can watch it move. Taipei, Taiwan - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taipei_101 Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e236 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:236 With around two people per square kilometre, Mongolia has the lowest population density of any sovereign nation. Mongolia - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e237 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:237 There is one person at the fire and everyone else offers advice. Nobody touches the tongs. The meat is ready when the person at the fire says it is ready, and not before. Johannesburg, South Africa - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e238 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:238 Blessed are the curious, for they shall have adventures. Lovelle Drachman World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e239 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:239 Average annual temperatures near freezing make Ulaanbaatar the coldest capital city on Earth. Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulaanbaatar Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e240 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:240 The ferry was scheduled for nine. It left at two. In between, someone produced a guitar and someone else produced grilled prawns, and by the time it arrived nobody wanted to board. Mozambique - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e241 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:241 Nepal is the only country with a non-quadrilateral flag, made of two stacked pennants representing the Himalayas. Nepal - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Nepal Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e242 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:242 Everest rises a few millimetres a year and drifts northeast as the Indian plate pushes under Asia. Its official height was revised to 8,848.86 m in 2020. Nepal - Asia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e243 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:243 Because in the end, you won't remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Jack Kerouac World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e244 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:244 Our poler stood at the back and pushed us through reeds taller than the boat. He stopped once, silently, and pointed at an elephant twenty metres away that we would never have seen. Okavango, Botswana - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e245 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:245 Nepal runs on UTC+5:45, one of only a handful of time zones offset by 45 minutes. Nepal - Asia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e246 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:246 Bhutan tracks Gross National Happiness alongside economic figures, surveying wellbeing, culture and environment. Bhutan - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhutan Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e247 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:247 The Milky Way was bright enough to cast a shadow. Our guide named constellations we had never heard of, from a sky map that had nothing to do with Greek myths. Kalahari, Botswana - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e248 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:248 Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life. Jack Kerouac Americas - The Americas Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e249 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:249 Constitutionally required to keep 60 percent forest cover, Bhutan is one of very few carbon-negative countries. Bhutan - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhutan Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e250 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:250 India recognises 22 official languages and counts more than 120 with over 10,000 speakers each. India - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_India Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e251 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:251 The gate opens at dawn and everyone drives too fast to Dune 45. We climbed the ridge in the dark, sat down at the top, and the desert turned from grey to orange in about four minutes. Sossusvlei, Namibia - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e252 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:252 White marble reflects the sky, so the Taj Mahal looks pink at dawn, blinding white at noon and gold under a full moon. Agra, India - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agra Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e253 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:253 Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road. Jack Kerouac Americas - The Americas Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e254 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:254 We drove for two hours and turned the wheel twice. The gravel road went straight to the horizon and then continued. We passed one car and both of us waved. Namibia - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e255 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:255 Indian Railways carries more than 20 million passengers a day across a network of over 68,000 kilometres. India - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e256 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:256 In Kerala's backwaters, public ferries serve as school buses and commuter transport across 900 kilometres of connected waterways. Kerala, India - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerala_Cafe Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e257 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:257 The guide swims first to show it is safe, then holds your ankles while you look over the lip of Victoria Falls. It is entirely safe, allegedly, and my hands shook for ten minutes afterwards. Livingstone, Zambia - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e258 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:258 People don't take trips, trips take people. John Steinbeck World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e259 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:259 Khasi villagers train living fig roots across rivers for decades until they form bridges that get stronger with age. Meghalaya, India - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meghalaya Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e260 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:260 Magnetic Hill near Leh appears to roll cars uphill. It is an optical illusion caused by the surrounding slope. Ladakh, India - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladakh Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e261 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:261 It did not rain, it emptied. Four hours of noise so loud that conversation stopped. Then it ended in about a minute and the forest started making an entirely different set of sounds. Congo Basin - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e262 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:262 Varanasi is among the oldest continuously lived-in cities in the world, with settlement stretching back roughly 3,000 years. Varanasi, India - Asia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e263 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:263 A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it. John Steinbeck World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e264 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:264 We were told not to feed them. One sifaka disagreed with this policy, landed on my shoulder, checked all my pockets in about six seconds and left disappointed. Andasibe, Madagascar - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e265 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:265 True cinnamon comes almost entirely from Sri Lanka, where bark is hand-peeled and rolled into quills that dry into curls. Sri Lanka - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emblem_of_Sri_Lanka Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e266 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:266 Sigiriya's palace sits on a 200-metre granite plug, reached by staircases that pass between the paws of a carved lion. Sigiriya, Sri Lanka - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Sri_Lanka Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e267 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:267 Everyone comes for the sunset photograph. Nobody mentions that afterwards, in the dark, ox carts keep coming down the same road for another hour, and that is the better picture. Morondava, Madagascar - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e268 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:268 The average natural elevation of the Maldives is about 1.5 metres, making it the lowest-lying country on Earth. Maldives - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maldives Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e269 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:269 We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us. John Steinbeck World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e270 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:270 Bioluminescent plankton can turn the shoreline electric blue on dark nights, brightest when the water is disturbed. Vaadhoo, Maldives - Asia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e271 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:271 The whole town smells of curing vanilla. A farmer showed us pods drying on racks and explained the two years between flower and export. Then he asked what we pay for one pod at home and laughed for a long time. Sambava, Madagascar - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e272 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:272 Thailand is the only Southeast Asian nation never taken by a European power, partly through skilled 19th-century diplomacy. Thailand - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Thailand Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e273 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:273 The world is a country which nobody ever yet knew by description; one must travel through it one's self to be acquainted with it. Lord Chesterfield World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e274 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:274 The city's full ceremonial name runs to 168 letters. Locals simply call it Krung Thep. Bangkok, Thailand - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangkok Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e275 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:275 An old technique, mostly gone now, demonstrated for us by a man who clearly enjoyed the audience. He said his grandfather had six birds and knew all their names. Nile Delta, Egypt - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e276 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:276 Songkran began as a gentle blessing with water and has become a nationwide three-day soaking in April, the hottest month. Thailand - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songkran_(Thailand) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e277 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:277 Salt lakes, date palms and a mud fortress melting slowly in the rain that comes once a decade. We swam in a spring at sunset with four boys who had cycled from the village to show off. Siwa, Egypt - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e278 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:278 Vietnam is the largest exporter of processed cashews, and also a leading producer of robusta coffee. Vietnam - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e279 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:279 Travel and change of place impart new vigour to the mind. Seneca World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e280 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:280 In the old quarter a working railway runs within arm's reach of house fronts. Residents pull in their chairs twice a day. Hanoi, Vietnam - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanoi_Train_Street Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e281 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:281 The rule we were given: if a street gets narrower, you are going the wrong way; if it widens, you are heading out. It worked eight times out of nine. Tunis, Tunisia - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e282 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:282 Ha Long Bay's limestone karsts number close to 1,600, most of them uninhabited because the cliffs are too steep. Ha Long Bay, Vietnam - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%E1%BA%A1_Long_Bay Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e283 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:283 Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home. Matsuo Basho Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e284 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:284 Angkor Wat covers about 160 hectares, making it the largest religious structure ever built. Angkor, Cambodia - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e285 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:285 We knocked to ask for water and were served lunch. When we tried to pay, our host looked offended, then wrapped bread for us to take up the pass. Atlas Mountains, Morocco - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e286 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:286 Lidar surveys revealed that medieval Angkor sprawled across roughly 1,000 square kilometres, likely the largest pre-industrial city on Earth. Angkor, Cambodia - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_Cambodia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e287 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:287 Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise; seek what they sought. Matsuo Basho Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e288 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:288 More than two million tonnes of ordnance fell on Laos between 1964 and 1973, and clearance teams still work today. Laos - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laos Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e289 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:289 The shared taxi left when the fourth passenger arrived. By the end there were six of us, a crate of tomatoes and a goat, and the driver charged the same as if it had been four. Ghana - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e290 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:290 Hundreds of monks collect alms in silence at sunrise, a daily ritual that has continued for centuries. Luang Prabang, Laos - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luang_Prabang Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e291 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:291 Music came out of every second doorway and none of it was the same song. A man selling fried plantain kept time with his tongs without appearing to notice. Accra, Ghana - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e292 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:292 More than 2,000 brick temples and stupas still stand on the Bagan plain, survivors of over 10,000 built between the 11th and 13th centuries. Bagan, Myanmar - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagan Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e293 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:293 The months and days are the travellers of eternity. The years that come and go are also voyagers. Matsuo Basho Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e294 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:294 Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world with around 17,500 islands, roughly 6,000 of them inhabited. Indonesia - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e295 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:295 In the workshop stood a coffin shaped like a fish, one like an aeroplane and one like a cocoa pod. Each was a life summarised in wood, and the carpenter explained every choice. Teshie, Ghana - Africa Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e296 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:296 On Nyepi the entire island stops. The airport closes, lights stay off and nobody goes outside for 24 hours. Bali, Indonesia - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bali Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e297 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:297 Travel brings power and love back into your life. Rumi Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e298 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:298 Komodo dragons are found wild only on a few Indonesian islands and can grow past three metres. Komodo, Indonesia - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komodo_dragon Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e299 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:299 The metro stopped and the museums shut. We walked eleven kilometres, ate three lunches and found a rooftop where the Acropolis appeared between two air conditioning units. Athens, Greece - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/3#e300 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:300 The 1883 eruption produced possibly the loudest sound in recorded history, audible in Australia and on Rodrigues Island. Krakatoa, Indonesia - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krakatoa Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e301 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:301 Nets under the trees, sticks in every hand, and a family arguing pleasantly about branch technique. We picked for three hours and were paid in oil, which was a good deal. Peloponnese, Greece - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e302 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:302 The Petronas Towers remain the tallest twin buildings on Earth, joined by a double-decker skybridge at level 41. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuala_Lumpur Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e303 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:303 Don't be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth. Rumi Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e304 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:304 Parts of Borneo's rainforest are estimated at 130 million years old, far older than the Amazon. Borneo - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borneo Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e305 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:305 The nearest streetlight was eleven kilometres away. We ate outside and by nine o'clock the sky had more stars than the guidebook had words. Alentejo, Portugal - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e306 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:306 Singapore has expanded its land area by roughly a quarter since the 1960s through reclamation, importing sand from abroad. Singapore - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore_Airlines Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e307 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:307 As you start to walk on the way, the way appears. Rumi Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e308 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:308 Selling chewing gum has been restricted since 1992, with therapeutic gum available only from pharmacies. Singapore - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewing_gum_sales_ban_in_Singapore Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e309 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:309 We waited eighteen minutes. The driver walked back along the carriages explaining the situation to each one personally, and by the time we moved everybody knew everybody. Andalusia, Spain - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e310 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:310 The Philippine archipelago counts over 7,600 islands, and new surveys keep adding a few more. Philippines - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_islands_of_the_Philippines Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e311 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:311 We arrived in a village for lunch and left at midnight. Nobody told us it was the patron saint's day, and nobody could believe we had turned up by accident. Sardinia, Italy - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e312 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:312 The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River flows more than eight kilometres through a limestone cave straight into the sea. Palawan, Philippines - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palawan Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e313 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:313 There are no foreign lands. It is the traveller only who is foreign. Robert Louis Stevenson World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e314 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:314 Carved into the Cordillera by hand, the Ifugao terraces are still farmed by the descendants of their builders. Banaue, Philippines - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banaue_Rice_Terraces Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e315 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:315 The lighthouse is automatic now, but the cat still patrols as though it has responsibilities. The keeper's grandson runs a cafe next door and tells the story eleven times a day. Brittany, France - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e316 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:316 Kazakhstan covers 2.7 million square kilometres without a coastline, larger than all of Western Europe. Kazakhstan - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline_of_Kazakhstan Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e317 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:317 The world's oldest and largest operational spaceport sits on Kazakh steppe and is leased to Russia. Baikonur, Kazakhstan - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazakhstan Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e318 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:318 To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world. Freya Stark World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e319 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:319 Six people in dressing gowns at eight in the morning in February. They swim for four minutes and drink tea for forty. We were invited on the first morning and did not miss a day. Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e320 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:320 Uzbekistan is one of only two countries surrounded entirely by other landlocked countries, the other being Liechtenstein. Uzbekistan - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uzbekistan Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e321 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:321 Samarkand's Registan square was the commercial and intellectual heart of Timur's empire in the 15th century. Samarkand, Uzbekistan - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samarkand Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e322 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:322 The tram was nearly empty so the driver pointed things out as we passed, in three languages, without slowing down. At the terminus he apologised for talking too much. Porto, Portugal - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e323 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:323 The beckoning counts, and not the clicking latch behind you. Freya Stark World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e324 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:324 A gas field collapse near Darvaza was set alight decades ago and the Door to Hell has been burning ever since. Darvaza, Turkmenistan - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darvaza_gas_crater Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e325 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:325 We walked in fog for two days and saw the same twelve metres of path. Then it lifted on the last morning and Santiago's towers were exactly where they were meant to be. Galicia, Spain - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e326 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:326 Over 90 percent of Kyrgyzstan lies above 1,500 metres, and summer pastures are still reached on horseback. Kyrgyzstan - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyrgyzstan Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e327 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:327 The Pamir Highway crosses the Ak-Baital pass at 4,655 metres, one of the highest paved roads on Earth. Pamir Highway, Tajikistan - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M41_highway Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e328 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:328 Solitude, I have discovered, is not a lack of company but a different kind of it. Freya Stark World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e329 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:329 The guesthouse key was iron and the size of a forearm. The owner said it had opened the same door since the eighteenth century and asked us not to lose it, understandably. Ronda, Spain - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e330 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:330 Band-e Amir's six lakes are dammed by natural travertine walls and glow a deep mineral blue. Band-e Amir, Afghanistan - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Afghanistan Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e331 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:331 Yazd's badgir wind catchers funnel breeze down into homes and over underground water, cooling rooms without electricity. Yazd, Iran - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e332 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:332 There is a correct order: sausage, then gingerbread, then gluhwein, then a second gluhwein. A local corrected our sequence firmly and then bought the second round. Nuremberg, Germany - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e333 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:333 We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. T. S. Eliot World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e334 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:334 The ceremonial capital of the Persian Empire was destroyed by fire in 330 BC, which ironically baked and preserved its clay archives. Persepolis, Iran - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persepolis Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e335 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:335 Uruk and Ur in southern Iraq were among the first true cities, and the world's earliest writing appears there around 3200 BC. Mesopotamia, Iraq - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e336 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:336 He avoided the Grand Canal entirely and took us through back canals where the water was green and the walls were close enough to touch. He sang exactly nothing and it was better. Venice, Italy - Europe Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e337 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:337 The Nabataeans cut Petra's facades directly into sandstone cliffs and engineered a water system that supported thousands in the desert. Petra, Jordan - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petra Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e338 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:338 Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. T. S. Eliot World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e339 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:339 We ran the length of the platform and made it with four seconds to spare. A salaryman already inside held the door with his briefcase, then bowed slightly, and neither of us mentioned it for the next forty minutes. Kyoto, Japan - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e340 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:340 The Dead Sea surface falls around a metre each year as the Jordan River is diverted, exposing sinkholes along the shore. Dead Sea - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Bury_the_Dead Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e341 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:341 A traveller can swim in the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Dead Sea within a single day's drive. Israel - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e342 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:342 Everything closed at eleven and we ate hot corn soup and a boiled egg from a machine on a residential street. It was the least romantic meal of the trip and the one we still talk about. Osaka, Japan - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e343 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:343 Ithaka gave you the marvellous journey. Without her you would not have set out. C. P. Cavafy Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e344 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:344 The walled Old City covers less than one square kilometre yet contains sites central to three world religions. Jerusalem - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e345 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:345 The Cedars of God grove holds trees over a thousand years old, remnants of forests that supplied ancient Egypt and Phoenicia. Lebanon - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Lebanon Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e346 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:346 A local told us you can judge a country by its convenience stores. We ate egg sandwiches from a Tokyo konbini at midnight and understood immediately what she meant. Tokyo, Japan - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e347 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:347 Before the war, Aleppo's covered market ran for roughly 13 kilometres of vaulted alleys, one of the largest in the world. Aleppo, Syria - Asia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e348 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:348 Keep Ithaka always in your mind. Arriving there is what you're destined for. C. P. Cavafy Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e349 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:349 The petals came down with the rain and stuck to everything. Nobody left the park. People simply opened umbrellas over their picnic blankets and carried on. Tokyo, Japan - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e350 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:350 Parts of the Saudi desert frontier remained undefined into the modern era because the sand simply had no landmarks. Saudi Arabia - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saud_of_Saudi_Arabia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e351 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:351 Pumping concrete 600 metres up the Burj Khalifa required specially developed mixes that would not set in the pipe. Dubai, UAE - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e352 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:352 An older man wordlessly demonstrated the whole sequence: stool, bucket, scrub, rinse, then in. Then he nodded once, satisfied, and did not look at me again. Hakone, Japan - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e353 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:353 The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque contains what is considered the largest single hand-knotted carpet in the world. Abu Dhabi, UAE - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Dhabi Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e354 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:354 Hope your road is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery. C. P. Cavafy Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e355 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:355 Building height rules in Muscat keep the skyline low and white, preserving views of the Hajar Mountains. Oman - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oman_TiT Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e356 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:356 The cemetery has two hundred thousand graves under cedar trees. A monk walked past at six in the morning and the only sound in a kilometre of forest was his sandals. Koyasan, Japan - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e357 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:357 Qatar has almost no natural fresh water and produces most of its drinking supply through desalination. Qatar - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e358 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:358 A person susceptible to wanderlust is not so much addicted to movement as committed to transformation. Pico Iyer World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e359 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:359 The name refers to fresh springs bubbling up within the salt sea, once the basis of a famous pearl industry. Bahrain - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahrain Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e360 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:360 Eight seats, one man, no menu in English and a paper form with boxes to tick. He looked at my form, changed one box, and handed back the pen. He was right. Fukuoka, Japan - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e361 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:361 Shibam's tower houses of sun-dried mud rise up to eleven storeys and date from the 16th century. Shibam, Yemen - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shibam Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e362 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:362 Seventy kilometres over six bridges between islands, with a blue line painted on the road the whole way. You cannot get lost, which leaves you free to look at the sea. Setouchi, Japan - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e363 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:363 A third of Socotra's plant species exist nowhere else, including the umbrella-shaped dragon's blood tree. Socotra, Yemen - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socotra Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e364 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:364 Travel is like love, mostly because it's a heightened state of awareness. Pico Iyer World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e365 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:365 Pakistan holds five of the world's fourteen highest mountains, including K2, widely considered the hardest to climb. Pakistan - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e366 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:366 A woman scrubbed me with a mitt until I questioned several life decisions, and I emerged feeling like a new person and slightly smaller. Busan, South Korea - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e367 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:367 The Khunjerab Pass between Pakistan and China sits at 4,693 metres and closes with the first heavy snow. Khunjerab Pass - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khunjerab_Pass Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e368 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:368 In an age of speed, nothing could be more invigorating than going slow. Pico Iyer World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e369 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:369 The Sundarbans span roughly 10,000 square kilometres of tidal forest shared with India, and shelter Bengal tigers. Sundarbans, Bangladesh - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundarbans Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e370 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:370 The city does not really stop. At four we ate fried chicken with people finishing work and people starting it, and nobody could tell which was which. Seoul, South Korea - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e371 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:371 Hundreds of rivers cross Bangladesh, and some shift course by kilometres in a single monsoon season. Bangladesh - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e372 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:372 We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfilment. Hilaire Belloc World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e373 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:373 Juche years count from 1912, the birth year of Kim Il-sung, and appear alongside Gregorian dates. North Korea - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_family_(North_Korea) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e374 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:374 The most surreal part was not the soldiers, it was the gift shop. We bought a fridge magnet at the edge of the world's most fortified border. Korean Peninsula - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e375 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:375 Oymyakon has recorded temperatures near minus 68 degrees Celsius, the coldest for a permanently inhabited place. Oymyakon, Russia - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oymyakon Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e376 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:376 We took a wrong turn into a courtyard and were handed sunflower seeds by three grandmothers who wanted to know our ages and marital status in that order. Beijing, China - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e377 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:377 Moscow to Vladivostok is 9,289 kilometres and takes about seven days without stops, crossing 87 cities. Trans-Siberian Railway - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Siberian_Railway Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e378 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:378 The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one's own country as a foreign land. G. K. Chesterton World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e379 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:379 The Gobi can drop below minus 30 degrees in winter and sometimes gets snow on its dunes. Gobi Desert - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gobi_Desert Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e380 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:380 We started at five to be alone. For two hours the only people on that section of wall were us and a woman selling water who had walked up ahead of us and was not out of breath. Jinshanling, China - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e381 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:381 Ammonite fossils found near Everest prove the range was once seabed before India collided with Asia. Himalayas - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himalayas Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e382 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:382 An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. G. K. Chesterton World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e383 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:383 Both the highest land on Earth, Everest, and the lowest exposed land, the Dead Sea shore, sit on the same continent. Asia - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical%3A_Asia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e384 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:384 Six bunks, thermos flasks of hot water, and a card game we did not understand but were dealt into anyway. By morning we had lost imaginary money and gained four contacts. China - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e385 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:385 From Turkish cay to Hindi chai and Russian chai, most of Asia uses a version of the same word, carried overland from China. Asia - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia_(Asia_album) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e386 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:386 The old caravan route is a hiking trail now. In one village a man was still pressing tea into cakes by hand with a stone and a cloth, exactly as the museum described. Yunnan, China - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e387 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:387 The word monsoon comes from the Arabic mausim, meaning season, used by sailors who timed voyages to the reversing winds. Indian Ocean - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_North_Indian_Ocean_cyclone_season Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e388 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:388 How you climb a mountain is more important than reaching the top. Yvon Chouinard Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e389 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:389 Some bamboo species grow up to 90 centimetres in 24 hours, which is why it is used for scaffolding across Asia. Southeast Asia - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Asia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e390 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:390 In February the terraces fill with water and the whole mountainside becomes a mirror in fifteen hundred pieces. Then the rice grows and it is just a hillside again. Yuanyang, China - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e391 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:391 The Mekong supports one of the world's largest inland fisheries, and Cambodia's Tonle Sap reverses direction every year. Mekong River - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_dolphin Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e392 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:392 It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves. Edmund Hillary Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e393 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:393 The Japanese tea ceremony can take four hours and is judged less on the tea than on attention, hosting and restraint. Japan - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e394 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:394 We took the Mid-Levels escalator up through the city and looked into offices, kitchens and living rooms. It is public transport that is also a documentary. Hong Kong - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e395 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:395 More than half of the world's cities over ten million people are in Asia, led by Tokyo, Delhi and Shanghai. Asia - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Asia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e396 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:396 Pick the stall with the longest queue of people who are not holding cameras. It worked five nights out of five. Taipei, Taiwan - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e397 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:397 Africa is the only continent crossed by both the equator and the two tropics, so it touches all four hemispheres. Africa - Africa Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e398 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:398 Well, George, we knocked the bastard off. Edmund Hillary Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e399 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:399 At roughly 9.2 million square kilometres, the Sahara is about the size of the United States and larger than Australia. Sahara - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Sahara Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/4#e400 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:400 The stove goes out at three in the morning and someone gets up to feed it. On our second night it was my turn, and I got it wrong, and the family were extremely polite about it. Mongolia - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e401 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:401 Winds carry millions of tonnes of phosphorus-rich Saharan dust across the Atlantic each year, feeding Amazon soils. Sahara - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahara Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e402 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:402 The White Nile rises near Lake Victoria and the Blue Nile at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. They meet in Khartoum. Nile - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nile Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e403 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:403 Because it's there. George Mallory Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e404 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:404 The bird weighed six kilos and he held it out one-handed for twenty minutes without a tremble. Then he handed it to me and I lasted eleven seconds. Bayan-Olgii, Mongolia - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e405 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:405 The Great Pyramid was already old when the last woolly mammoths died out on Wrangel Island around 1650 BC. Giza, Egypt - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giza Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e406 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:406 Cleopatra's lifetime is nearer to the invention of the iPhone than to the building of the Great Pyramid. Egypt - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e407 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:407 We flew from sea level to three and a half thousand metres and thought we felt fine. Walking up one flight of stairs corrected that opinion within thirty seconds. Leh, India - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e408 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:408 What we get by achieving our goals is not as important as what we become by achieving them. Attributed to Henry David Thoreau World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e409 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:409 Abu Simbel was cut into more than 1,000 blocks and reassembled 65 metres higher to escape the rising Aswan reservoir. Abu Simbel, Egypt - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Simbel Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e410 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:410 The bus stopped where there was nothing except a man with a kettle. Twenty-eight people got off, drank tea from clay cups, smashed the cups on the ground, and got back on. Rajasthan, India - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e411 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:411 The famous library declined over centuries through several fires, funding cuts and political upheaval rather than one dramatic blaze. Alexandria, Egypt - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Alexandria Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e412 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:412 The Nubian kingdom of Kush built over 200 steep-sided pyramids at Meroe, roughly twice Egypt's total. Meroe, Sudan - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Sudan Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e413 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:413 I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life. Henry David Thoreau Americas - The Americas Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e414 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:414 Half the carriage was a wedding party travelling to the ceremony. By hour three, they had taught us a dance and by hour five we were invited, sincerely, and we still regret not going. India - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e415 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:415 Ethiopia runs a 13-month calendar about seven years behind the Gregorian one, and the day starts at sunrise. Ethiopia - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e416 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:416 The eleven churches of Lalibela were cut down into solid rock in the 12th century, roofs level with the ground. Lalibela, Ethiopia - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lalibela Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e417 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:417 The boat pushed off in the dark and the ghats woke up in stages: bathers, then bells, then flowers on the water, then the sun straight up out of the far bank. Varanasi, India - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e418 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:418 In wildness is the preservation of the world. Henry David Thoreau Americas - The Americas Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e419 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:419 Wild Coffea arabica still grows in Ethiopian forests, and the country's coffee ceremony can take well over an hour. Ethiopia - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e420 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:420 Average yearly temperatures above 34 degrees make the Danakil Depression among the hottest inhabited regions on Earth. Danakil, Ethiopia - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e421 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:421 The public ferry cost less than a coffee and served as the school bus. Children got off at their own gardens, one by one, waving at the boat. Kerala, India - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e422 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:422 Asmara holds one of the world's best-preserved collections of 1930s modernist architecture, including a petrol station shaped like a plane. Asmara, Eritrea - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asmara Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e423 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:423 Not till we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves. Henry David Thoreau Americas - The Americas Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e424 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:424 It takes fifteen years to grow a bridge and about six hundred steps down a valley to reach one. The man who showed us said his grandfather started the one we crossed. Meghalaya, India - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e425 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:425 Lake Assal is about ten times saltier than the ocean and sits 155 metres below sea level. Lake Assal, Djibouti - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypersaline_lake Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e426 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:426 Somalia's coastline runs roughly 3,300 kilometres along the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden. Somalia - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e427 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:427 There are lanes painted on the road and everyone treats them as a suggestion. After a week, crossing the street stops feeling like courage and starts feeling like grammar. Delhi, India - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e428 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:428 Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit. Henry David Thoreau Americas - The Americas Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e429 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:429 The East African Rift is slowly tearing Africa apart, and in millions of years a new ocean may fill the gap. Great Rift Valley, Kenya - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Rift_Valley Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e430 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:430 Around two million wildebeest, zebra and gazelle circle continuously between Tanzania and Kenya following the rains. Serengeti and Masai Mara - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maasai_Mara Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e431 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:431 Doors open, feet out, tea plantations for four hours. Somebody's grandmother told me to move back from the door, in Sinhala, and I understood every word. Sri Lanka - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e432 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:432 Africa's highest mountain is made of Kibo, Mawenzi and Shira. Kibo is dormant rather than extinct. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilimanjaro_Region Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e433 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:433 The question is not what you look at, but what you see. Henry David Thoreau Americas - The Americas Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e434 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:434 The Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896 lasted under 45 minutes, the shortest recorded war in history. Zanzibar, Tanzania - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Zanzibar_War Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e435 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:435 The men on poles now pose more than they fish, and they say so themselves. One of them told us the technique started during a wartime fuel shortage in the 1940s. Galle, Sri Lanka - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e436 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:436 The crater is a caldera 20 kilometres wide, home to around 25,000 large animals that rarely need to leave. Ngorongoro, Tanzania - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ngorongoro_Crater_plants Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e437 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:437 Every full moon day is a public holiday and the bars close. We ended up at a temple at nine in the evening with a thousand people holding oil lamps, which was a better night out. Sri Lanka - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e438 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:438 Bwindi Impenetrable Forest shelters roughly half the remaining mountain gorillas, whose numbers have slowly risen. Bwindi, Uganda - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Uganda Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e439 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:439 He who would travel happily must travel light. Antoine de Saint-Exupery World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e440 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:440 Africa's largest lake is shared by Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, and supports tens of millions of people. Lake Victoria - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Newman Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e441 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:441 He named a price, I halved it, he laughed, we settled in the middle and then he took me to his cousin's suit shop anyway. The suit was actually quite good. Bangkok, Thailand - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e442 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:442 Rwanda outlawed non-biodegradable plastic bags in 2008, and bags are confiscated from arriving travellers. Rwanda - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwanda Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e443 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:443 If you want to build a ship, teach people to long for the endless immensity of the sea. Antoine de Saint-Exupery World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e444 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:444 On Umuganda, the last Saturday of each month, communities across Rwanda close shops and work together on public projects. Rwanda - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwanda Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e445 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:445 We stepped out of the guesthouse dry and were soaked within nine metres by a five-year-old with a bucket and no remorse. It was 39 degrees. We thanked her. Chiang Mai, Thailand - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e446 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:446 The royal drummers of Burundi perform with drums carved from single tree trunks, a tradition recognised as intangible heritage. Burundi - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Burundi Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e447 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:447 Two hundred monks in silence, and one tourist with a flash. A local woman kneeling with rice glared at him with such force that he put the camera away for good. Luang Prabang, Laos - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e448 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:448 The Congo reaches depths over 220 metres, deep enough that fish in the same river have evolved in isolation. Congo River - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congo_River Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e449 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:449 A goal without a plan is just a wish. Antoine de Saint-Exupery World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e450 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:450 The Congo Basin holds the world's second largest tropical rainforest after the Amazon and absorbs enormous amounts of carbon. Congo Basin - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congo_Basin Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e451 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:451 Two days on wooden benches with a boat full of strangers and one guitar. By the second afternoon everybody knew everybody's story and nobody knew anybody's surname. Laos - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e452 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:452 Close to 88 percent of Gabon is forested, and the country set aside 13 national parks in a single decree in 2002. Gabon - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabon Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e453 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:453 It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. Antoine de Saint-Exupery World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e454 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:454 Africa's second smallest country is two volcanic islands where cocoa once made it the world's leading exporter. Sao Tome and Principe - Africa Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e455 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:455 The craters are green now and farmers plough around them. Our guide explained the colour code for unexploded ordnance markers in the same tone you would explain a bus timetable. Xieng Khouang, Laos - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e456 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:456 Cameroon packs desert, mountains, rainforest and coast into one country, which is why it earned the nickname. Cameroon - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cameroon Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e457 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:457 The earth teaches us more about ourselves than all the books, because it resists us. Antoine de Saint-Exupery World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e458 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:458 In 1986 a sudden release of carbon dioxide from the lake suffocated nearby villages. Degassing pipes now vent it safely. Lake Nyos, Cameroon - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Nyos Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e459 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:459 Three thousand people waited for the sunrise photograph at the front pond. We walked ten minutes to the east side and had a nine-hundred-year-old temple entirely to ourselves. Siem Reap, Cambodia - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e460 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:460 More than one in six Africans is Nigerian, and Lagos is one of the fastest-growing cities on Earth. Nigeria - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigeria Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e461 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:461 He sold noodles in the morning and taught English in the afternoon and refused to charge us for a bowl once he learned we were teachers too. We came back three times to argue about it. Battambang, Cambodia - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e462 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:462 Nigeria's film industry releases thousands of titles a year, second only to India in volume. Nigeria - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigeria Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e463 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:463 Travelling tends to magnify all human emotions. Peter Hoeg World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e464 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:464 Modern Ghana took its name from the medieval Ghana Empire, though that state was located further northwest. Ghana - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghana_Empire Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e465 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:465 The advice for crossing the road was to walk slowly and never stop. It is terrifying for two days and completely obvious on the third. Hanoi, Vietnam - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e466 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:466 Ga carpenters build coffins shaped like fish, aeroplanes or cocoa pods to reflect the life of the person inside. Teshie, Ghana - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teshie Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e467 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:467 To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries. Aldous Huxley World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e468 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:468 The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace is the largest church building in the world by floor area. Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivory_Coast Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e469 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:469 We drank iced tea sixty centimetres from a railway line. Twice an hour everyone stood, moved the chairs, and sat back down as the train passed. Hanoi, Vietnam - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e470 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:470 Salt-loving algae turn Lake Retba pink in strong sun, and collectors coat their skin in shea butter before wading in. Lac Rose, Senegal - Africa Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e471 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:471 Sleeper buses have three rows of reclining pods and a strict no-shoes policy. I slept for six hours and woke in fog with rice terraces underneath it. Vietnam - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e472 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:472 The House of Slaves on Goree stands as a memorial to the transatlantic trade and is visited by heads of state. Goree, Senegal - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Slaves Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e473 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:473 Experience is not what happens to you; it's what you do with what happens to you. Aldous Huxley World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e474 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:474 The Great Mosque of Djenne is the largest mud-brick building on Earth and is replastered each year by the whole town. Djenne, Mali - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Mali Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e475 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:475 The stall opened at eleven and sold out by one. On the third day the owner recognised us and put extra herbs on the plate without a word. Hanoi, Vietnam - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e476 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:476 Timbuktu's private libraries preserved hundreds of thousands of manuscripts on astronomy, law and medicine. Timbuktu, Mali - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timbuktu Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e477 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:477 Tourists don't know where they've been, travellers don't know where they're going. Paul Theroux World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e478 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:478 The name was chosen in 1984, combining words from two local languages to replace the colonial name Upper Volta. Burkina Faso - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burkina_Faso Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e479 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:479 We had booked for the view and got two days of white. Then on the last morning it burned off in about fifteen minutes and sixteen hundred islands appeared at once. Ha Long Bay, Vietnam - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e480 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:480 The Tenere desert has yielded some of Africa's richest dinosaur fossil beds, including giant sauropods. Tenere, Niger - Africa Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e481 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:481 For twenty-four hours the airport closes, the lights go off and nobody leaves the house. At night the sky over Bali is the darkest it gets all year, and everybody looks up. Bali, Indonesia - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e482 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:482 Lake Chad has lost most of its surface area since the 1960s due to drought and irrigation, affecting millions. Lake Chad - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Chad Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e483 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:483 Travel is glamorous only in retrospect. Paul Theroux World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e484 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:484 The Great Man-Made River pumps fossil groundwater from beneath the Sahara through thousands of kilometres of pipe. Libya - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Libya Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e485 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:485 Two in the morning, a gas mask, and miners carrying ninety kilos of sulphur up the same path in flip-flops. Nobody in our group complained again about anything. Ijen, Indonesia - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e486 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:486 Underground Berber homes in Matmata were used as film locations and are still lived in and rented to travellers. Matmata, Tunisia - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matmata%2C_Tunisia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e487 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:487 Carthage was one of the Mediterranean's great powers until Rome destroyed it in 146 BC, then rebuilt it as a Roman city. Carthage, Tunisia - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Carthage Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e488 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:488 The wish to travel seems to me characteristically human: the desire to move, to satisfy your curiosity. Paul Theroux World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e489 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:489 The ranger carried a forked stick, which seemed insufficient. The dragon was entirely uninterested and we walked around it feeling both relieved and slightly insulted. Komodo, Indonesia - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e490 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:490 Algeria covers 2.38 million square kilometres, most of it Sahara, and became the continent's biggest country after Sudan split. Algeria - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algeria Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e491 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:491 Rock paintings in Tassili show swimmers, cattle and hippos, proof the desert was green within the last 10,000 years. Tassili n'Ajjer, Algeria - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tassili_n'Ajjer Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e492 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:492 There is an entire economy in a traffic jam: water, snacks, phone chargers, umbrellas. We bought lunch through a car window without stopping. Jakarta, Indonesia - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e493 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:493 Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better. Samuel Beckett World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e494 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:494 Chefchaouen's lanes are painted in dozens of blue shades, a tradition variously credited to Jewish refugees and to repelling insects. Chefchaouen, Morocco - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chefchaouen Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e495 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:495 The guide switched off the engine and we drifted. The forest was louder than the boat had been. Something large moved in the water and nobody asked what it was. Kinabatangan, Malaysia - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e496 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:496 Fes el Bali is one of the largest car-free urban areas in the world, where goods still move by donkey. Fes, Morocco - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fes_el_Bali Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e497 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:497 The Noor complex uses mirrors to concentrate sunlight and can store heat in molten salt to generate power after sunset. Ouarzazate, Morocco - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouarzazate_Solar_Power_Station Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e498 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:498 The best journeys answer questions that in the beginning you didn't even think to ask. Jeff Johnson World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e499 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:499 A packet of tissues on a table means the table is taken. This is not a rule anyone writes down, and breaking it once is enough to learn it. Singapore - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/5#e500 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:500 In southwest Morocco goats climb argan trees for the fruit, a sight that has become a roadside attraction. Souss, Morocco - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Souss-Massa Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e501 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:501 One of the longest trains in the world hauls iron ore over 700 kilometres across the Sahara, and travellers ride it free on the ore cars. Mauritania - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_Mauritania Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e502 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:502 It rained at four in the afternoon for five days in a row, for exactly twenty-five minutes each time. By day three we planned our coffee around it. Singapore - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e503 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:503 Travel isn't always pretty. It isn't always comfortable. But that's okay. The journey changes you. Anthony Bourdain World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e504 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:504 All ten Cape Verdean islands are volcanic, and Fogo's cone still has villages farming on its crater floor. Cape Verde - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Verde Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e505 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:505 The Bijagos archipelago has around 88 islands, most uninhabited, and is a UNESCO biosphere reserve. Bijagos, Guinea-Bissau - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinea-Bissau Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e506 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:506 Routes are painted on the side and fares are passed forward hand to hand from the back. Nobody loses a coin. Nobody keeps the change. Manila, Philippines - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e507 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:507 Liberia was established in the 1820s as a settlement for freed African Americans and declared independence in 1847. Liberia - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Liberia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e508 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:508 If you're twenty-two, physically fit, hungry to learn and be better, I urge you to travel as far and as widely as possible. Anthony Bourdain World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e509 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:509 The boat stopped at a beach with a hut and a barrel of diesel. The refuelling took twenty minutes and the swimming took the rest of the afternoon. Palawan, Philippines - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e510 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:510 Portuguese sailors named the peninsula for mountains whose thunderstorms sounded like roaring lions. Sierra Leone - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Leone Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e511 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:511 Togo is only about 110 kilometres wide but stretches 550 kilometres inland from the Gulf of Guinea. Togo - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Togo Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e512 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:512 The ferries stopped for four days. We ended up in a fishing village with four other stranded travellers, learned to play a local card game badly, and were sad to leave. Philippines - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e513 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:513 It seems that the more places I see and experience, the bigger I realise the world to be. Anthony Bourdain World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e514 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:514 Around 20,000 people live in Ganvie entirely on stilts above Lake Nokoue, moving by pirogue. Ganvie, Benin - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganvie Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e515 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:515 The Kalandula Falls drop about 105 metres across a 400-metre curtain and see a fraction of Victoria Falls' visitors. Kalandula, Angola - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalandula_Falls Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e516 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:516 There are two thousand temples and no rule about which one to climb. We picked one at random, sat on warm brick, and watched the light change for an hour. Bagan, Myanmar - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e517 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:517 Namibia was the first African country to write environmental protection into its constitution, and its entire coastline is now protected. Skeleton Coast, Namibia - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Namibia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e518 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:518 Travel changes you. As you move through this life you leave marks behind, however small. Anthony Bourdain World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e519 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:519 Dunes here reach over 300 metres, coloured deep red by iron oxide that has been oxidising for millions of years. Sossusvlei, Namibia - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sossusvlei Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e520 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:520 Every teahouse on the trek kept a paper ledger, and the prices went up predictably with altitude because everything had been carried on someone's back. Kathmandu, Nepal - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e521 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:521 The camelthorn trees died around 900 years ago but the air is too dry for decomposition, so they still stand black against white clay. Deadvlei, Namibia - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadvlei Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e522 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:522 The mountain is not the hard part. The hard part is the fourteenth consecutive dinner of dal bhat and the discovery that you would happily eat a fifteenth. Everest region, Nepal - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e523 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:523 The Hoba meteorite weighs about 60 tonnes and has never been moved from where it landed roughly 80,000 years ago. Hoba, Namibia - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geology_of_Namibia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e524 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:524 Don't tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you have travelled. Attributed to Prophet Muhammad World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e525 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:525 The Okavango River never reaches the sea. It spreads into the Kalahari and evaporates, creating a vast seasonal wetland. Okavango, Botswana - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okavango_Delta Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e526 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:526 He carried thirty-two kilos with a strap across his forehead and overtook us on every climb. At lunch he asked, politely, whether our bags were really that heavy. Annapurna, Nepal - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e527 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:527 Around a third of Africa's savanna elephants live in Botswana, concentrated in the Chobe region. Botswana - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botswana Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e528 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:528 Travel, in the younger sort, is a part of education; in the elder, a part of experience. Francis Bacon World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e529 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:529 These salt pans are the bed of a superlake that dried up thousands of years ago, and they are visible from orbit. Makgadikgadi, Botswana - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Makgadikgadi Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e530 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:530 The idea is that the wind carries the prayer, so a faded flag has done more work than a bright one. Nobody takes the old ones down. Ladakh, India - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e531 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:531 Victoria Falls is neither the tallest nor the widest, but its combined height and width create the largest sheet of falling water. Victoria Falls - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iguazu_Falls Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e532 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:532 They installed one once and took it out because people preferred the policeman. He directs traffic like a conductor and clearly enjoys it. Thimphu, Bhutan - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e533 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:533 When the river is low, a natural rock lip forms Devil's Pool, where swimmers sit metres from a 100-metre drop. Livingstone, Zambia - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livingstone%2C_Zambia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e534 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:534 He that travelleth into a country before he hath some entrance into the language, goeth to school and not to travel. Francis Bacon World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e535 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:535 Great Zimbabwe's walls were built from fitted granite blocks with no mortar and gave the modern country its name. Great Zimbabwe - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Zimbabwe Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e536 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:536 We crossed at 4,655 metres in a shared jeep with a cracked windscreen. The driver stopped at the top, got out, tied a ribbon to a pole and got back in without explanation. Pamir Highway, Tajikistan - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e537 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:537 Lake Malawi contains more fish species than any other lake, with hundreds of cichlids found nowhere else. Lake Malawi - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Malawi Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e538 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:538 Let your memory be your travel bag. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e539 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:539 Mozambique is the only country whose flag features a modern assault rifle, alongside a hoe and a book. Mozambique - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Mozambique Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e540 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:540 The tiles are a blue that photographs badly and looks unreal in person. An old man selling bread at the gate told us to come back at six, and he was right. Samarkand, Uzbekistan - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e541 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:541 Madagascar separated from other landmasses around 88 million years ago, so roughly 90 percent of its wildlife is unique. Madagascar - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madagascar Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e542 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:542 Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the journey. Babs Hoffman World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e543 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:543 A large baobab can hold well over 100,000 litres of water in its trunk to survive the dry season. Madagascar - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madagascar Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e544 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:544 Non is never placed upside down and never cut with a knife. Our host corrected all three of us in the first ten minutes and then fed us for two days. Uzbekistan - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e545 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:545 The dodo went from first European sighting to extinction in under 100 years, mostly through introduced rats and pigs. Mauritius - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islets_of_Mauritius Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e546 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:546 We arrived to find the family moving camp for summer pasture. They fed us anyway, from a stove already half packed, and then rode away. Kyrgyzstan - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e547 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:547 The coco de mer palm produces the largest and heaviest seed in the plant kingdom, weighing up to 25 kilograms. Praslin, Seychelles - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Seychelles Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e548 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:548 Life begins at the end of your comfort zone. Neale Donald Walsch World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e549 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:549 Piton de la Fournaise erupts every year or two, and roads are built to be rebuilt after lava crosses them. Reunion - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reunion Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e550 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:550 Kumis is offered with both hands and refusing is rude. It tastes like sour yoghurt that has had opinions. I drank two cups and got better at hiding my face. Kyrgyzstan - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e551 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:551 The Comoros supply a large share of the world's ylang-ylang essence, a key note in classic French perfumes. Comoros - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comoros Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e552 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:552 Do one thing every day that scares you. Attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e553 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:553 Pretoria is administrative, Cape Town legislative and Bloemfontein judicial, a compromise dating from 1910. South Africa - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provinces_of_South_Africa Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e554 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:554 We stood under a badgir on a 42-degree day and felt actual cold air coming down. It was built in the fifteenth century and has never needed electricity. Yazd, Iran - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e555 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:555 A flat cloud called the tablecloth pours over Table Mountain when southeast winds push moist air up the slope. Cape Town, South Africa - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Verde Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e556 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:556 We were invited home for dinner by strangers three separate times in one week. Refusing politely is a whole art form and we never learned it. Iran - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e557 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:557 Table Mountain alone hosts more plant species than the entire United Kingdom, part of the tiny Cape Floral Kingdom. Cape Town, South Africa - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Town Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e558 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:558 The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly for newer and richer experience. Eleanor Roosevelt World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e559 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:559 Caves northwest of Johannesburg have produced some of the richest early hominin fossil finds anywhere. Gauteng, South Africa - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauteng Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e560 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:560 There is the main path and there is the back trail with eight hundred steps. Take the steps at seven in the morning and the Monastery is empty when you arrive. Petra, Jordan - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e561 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:561 Lesotho is the only country whose entire territory sits above 1,000 metres, and it gets snow most winters. Lesotho - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesotho Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e562 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:562 Travel far enough and you will find that the strangest thing about strangers is how quickly they stop being strange. Anonymous World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e563 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:563 Swaziland officially became Eswatini in 2018, meaning land of the Swazis, partly to avoid confusion with Switzerland. Eswatini - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eswatini Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e564 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:564 You cannot swim, only float, and you must not get it in your eyes. I got it in my eyes within ninety seconds. A stranger walked me to the shower. Dead Sea, Jordan - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e565 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:565 The Kalahari receives enough rain to support grass and trees, so technically it is a semi-arid savanna. Kalahari - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalahari_Desert Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e566 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:566 After the generator went off there was no sound at all. Not wind, not insects, nothing. Six people sat in the dark for an hour and nobody spoke. Wadi Rum, Jordan - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e567 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:567 Estimates put the number of living African languages between 1,500 and 2,000, roughly a third of the world's total. Africa - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Africa Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e568 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:568 Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference. Robert Frost Americas - The Americas Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e569 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:569 Swahili grew along the Indian Ocean coast blending Bantu grammar with Arabic vocabulary from centuries of trade. East Africa - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Africa Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e570 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:570 We crossed between quarters six times in an afternoon and the smell, the language and the music changed each time inside two hundred metres. Jerusalem - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e571 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:571 The Mercator projection shrinks Africa. In reality the United States, China, India and most of Europe would fit inside it. Africa - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa%E2%80%93China_relations Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e572 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:572 Some rift lakes are so alkaline they can burn skin, yet flamingos thrive on the algae that grow there. Kenya and Tanzania - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Rift_Valley%2C_Kenya Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e573 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:573 The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep. Robert Frost Americas - The Americas Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e574 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:574 Fishermen, joggers, families, and a man with a coffee cart doing better business than any cafe. At sunset the whole city seemed to be walking in the same direction. Beirut, Lebanon - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e575 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:575 Sankore in Timbuktu was a centre of learning in the 15th century with thousands of students in residence. Timbuktu, Mali - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Timbuktu Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e576 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:576 Salt slabs are still cut in the desert and carried by camel caravan, though trucks now do most of the work. Taoudenni, Mali - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoudenni Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e577 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:577 We asked for a shop and were escorted personally for ten minutes through covered alleys by a man who then refused to be thanked and disappeared. Aleppo, Syria - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e578 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:578 In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on. Robert Frost World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e579 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:579 Researchers found wild dog packs decide when to hunt by sneezing, with more sneezes meaning stronger consensus. Southern Africa - Africa Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e580 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:580 A hundred and fifty balloons launched in twenty minutes. From the ground it was chaos. From above it was completely still and you could hear other baskets' burners. Cappadocia, Turkey - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e581 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:581 Meerkat sentries rotate duty and give different alarm calls for aerial and ground predators. Kalahari - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalahari_Desert Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e582 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:582 Sociable weavers build communal nests weighing a tonne that house over a hundred birds for generations. Namibia - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namibia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e583 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:583 The road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began. J. R. R. Tolkien World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e584 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:584 Twenty minutes, a glass of tea, seagulls following the boat for bread, and you have changed continents on a commuter ticket. Istanbul, Turkey - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e585 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:585 North Africa has ski resorts. Oukaimeden near Marrakech sits above 2,600 metres and opens most winters. Atlas Mountains, Morocco - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morocco Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e586 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:586 Balogun and its surrounding markets sprawl for blocks, and navigating them without a guide is close to impossible. Lagos, Nigeria - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Lagos Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e587 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:587 We ordered breakfast for two and eleven small plates arrived. Then bread. Then eggs. We did not eat again until nine that night. Turkey - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e588 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:588 It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and there's no knowing where you might be swept off to. J. R. R. Tolkien World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e589 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:589 Ostriches sprint at 70 km/h and their kick can be lethal, which is why farm handlers keep to their side. Africa - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.africa Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e590 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:590 Hippos are responsible for far more human deaths in Africa than big cats, especially near riverside paths at night. Africa - Africa Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.africa Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e591 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:591 The attendant showed me the grey rolls coming off my arm with visible pride, as though we had achieved something together, which I suppose we had. Istanbul, Turkey - Asia Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e592 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:592 Canada's coastline runs over 200,000 kilometres, longer than the next ten countries combined thanks to its Arctic islands. Canada - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e593 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:593 Home is behind, the world ahead, and there are many paths to tread. J. R. R. Tolkien World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e594 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:594 The golf course had a local rule about kangaroos on the fairway. There were fourteen of them and none of them moved for anyone. Australia - Oceania & the Pacific Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e595 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:595 Canada contains more lake area than the rest of the world put together, with over two million lakes. Canada - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e596 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:596 Newfoundland runs half an hour ahead of Atlantic time, a 30-minute offset kept since 1935. Newfoundland, Canada - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newfoundland_English Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e597 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:597 Ninety miles straight, no curve at all. We passed four road trains and one cyclist who waved with an energy that suggested he had not seen anyone for a while. Australia - Oceania & the Pacific Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e598 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:598 One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things. Henry Miller World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e599 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:599 Bears gather near Churchill each autumn waiting for Hudson Bay to freeze, and the town leaves cars unlocked as bear shelters. Churchill, Canada - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churchill%2C_Manitoba Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/6#e600 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:600 Quebec's language laws protect French in commerce and signage, and it is the only province where French is the sole official language. Quebec, Canada - The Americas Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e601 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:601 The signs say dangerous. Then one walks out of the rainforest two metres in front of the car and you understand the signs completely. Queensland, Australia - Oceania & the Pacific Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e602 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:602 Two figure-eight tunnels were bored into the mountains in 1909 to reduce a dangerously steep railway grade. Kicking Horse Pass, Canada - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kicking_Horse_Pass Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e603 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:603 The full use of your powers along lines of excellence is the definition of happiness, and travel stretches them. Anonymous World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e604 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:604 Wood Buffalo National Park covers about 44,800 square kilometres, larger than Switzerland. Wood Buffalo, Canada - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_Buffalo_National_Park Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e605 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:605 The coastal walk at six in the morning was full of runners, swimmers and one man doing tai chi on a rock. Nobody had a phone out. Sydney, Australia - Oceania & the Pacific Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e606 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:606 Alaska crosses the 180th meridian, making it both the westernmost and easternmost state in the United States. Alaska, USA - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Alaska_USA Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e607 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:607 Everybody goes at sunset. We went at eleven in the morning in 38 degrees, saw four people, and the rock was a colour nobody photographs. Uluru, Australia - Oceania & the Pacific Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e608 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:608 Measured from its own base, Denali rises higher than Everest does above the Tibetan plateau. Denali, USA - The Americas Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e609 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:609 I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list. Susan Sontag World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e610 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:610 Yellowstone's caldera is roughly 55 by 72 kilometres, and its heat drives more than half the world's geysers. Yellowstone, USA - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_Caldera Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e611 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:611 We drove the whole road in one day, which is a mistake. Someone at a bakery in Apollo Bay told us to take three, and she was right. Victoria, Australia - Oceania & the Pacific Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e612 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:612 Established in 1872, Yellowstone is generally recognised as the first national park anywhere in the world. Yellowstone, USA - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_National_Park Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e613 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:613 To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time. Bill Bryson World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e614 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:614 Rock at the canyon floor is nearly two billion years old, roughly half the age of the Earth. Grand Canyon, USA - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e615 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:615 We stood at Cape Grim in wind that had crossed the Southern Ocean untouched. It smelled like nothing at all, which is apparently the point. Tasmania, Australia - Oceania & the Pacific Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e616 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:616 A reading of 56.7 degrees Celsius in 1913 remains the highest reliably recorded air temperature on Earth. Death Valley, USA - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Valley_pupfish Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e617 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:617 I can't think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything. Bill Bryson World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e618 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:618 Stones leave long trails across the playa, pushed by thin ice sheets breaking up in light wind. Racetrack Playa, USA - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racetrack_Playa Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e619 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:619 Everyone hopes for sun. Locals told us to hope for rain, because that is when a thousand temporary waterfalls appear on the cliffs. They were right within an hour. Milford Sound, New Zealand - Oceania & the Pacific Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e620 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:620 Route 66 was decommissioned in 1985, but much of it survives as Historic Route 66 signed by individual states. Route 66, USA - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Route_66 Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e621 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:621 Nineteen kilometres, four weather systems and a lake the colour of antifreeze. Somebody in shorts passed us going the other way at a run. New Zealand - Oceania & the Pacific Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e622 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:622 Researchers have identified over 700 languages spoken in New York, making it the most linguistically diverse city ever recorded. New York, USA - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e623 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:623 Life is short and the world is wide. Simon Raven World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e624 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:624 France gave the statue, which arrived in 350 pieces packed in 214 crates and was assembled on site. New York, USA - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e625 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:625 We waited eleven minutes and got picked up by a shearer who talked about sheep for two hours and dropped us forty kilometres past his own turnoff. New Zealand - Oceania & the Pacific Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e626 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:626 Every hill, lake and outcrop arrangement in Central Park was landscaped. Almost nothing there is natural. New York, USA - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e627 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:627 Travel is rebellion in its purest form. Anonymous World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e628 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:628 Engineers reversed the flow of the Chicago River in 1900 so sewage would drain away from Lake Michigan. Chicago, USA - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_River Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e629 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:629 The boat went silent and the guide pulled us along a rope in the dark. The ceiling looked like a star map and was in fact several thousand hungry larvae. Waitomo, New Zealand - Oceania & the Pacific Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e630 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:630 Locals call the summer fog Karl, and it has its own devoted social media following. San Francisco, USA - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e631 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:631 Food cooked in a pit with hot stones for four hours. The steam when they opened it was worth the entire wait and the whole meal tasted faintly of earth. Rotorua, New Zealand - Oceania & the Pacific Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e632 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:632 Kilauea keeps adding land to the Big Island, and a new seamount is forming offshore for a future island. Hawaii, USA - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e633 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:633 Wanderlust: a strong desire to travel, from the German for a lust to wander. German origin Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e634 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:634 The Big Island contains most of the world's recognised climate zones, from tropical beach to alpine tundra. Hawaii, USA - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Hawaii Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e635 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:635 The boat was due at ten. It came at half past twelve. Everyone we asked said Fiji time with a smile and we eventually stopped asking. Fiji - Oceania & the Pacific Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e636 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:636 Measured from the seafloor, Mauna Kea rises over 10,000 metres, taller than Everest above sea level. Mauna Kea, USA - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauna_Loa Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e637 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:637 Fernweh: a longing for far-off places, the opposite of homesickness. German word Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e638 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:638 Louisiana is the only state divided into parishes rather than counties, a leftover from its French and Spanish past. Louisiana, USA - The Americas Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e639 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:639 You clap once, take the cup, drink it in one, clap three times. Your tongue goes numb and the conversation slows down and improves. Fiji - Oceania & the Pacific Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e640 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:640 High groundwater made underground burial impractical, so the city built tombs above ground in walled cemeteries. New Orleans, USA - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e641 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:641 The tower is built from vines and branches with no nails. The divers aim to touch the ground with their shoulders. The mothers watch from a distance and do not look away. Vanuatu - Oceania & the Pacific Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e642 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:642 The United States paid Russia 7.2 million dollars for Alaska in 1867, mocked at the time as Seward's Folly. Alaska, USA - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Alaska_USA Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e643 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:643 Resfeber: the restless race of a traveller's heart before the journey begins. Swedish word Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e644 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:644 Built on a drained lakebed, Mexico City sinks several centimetres a year as groundwater is pumped out. Mexico City, Mexico - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico_City_Metropolitan_Cathedral Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e645 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:645 Two days out of sight of land and then a line of palms appears that is only three metres above the water. You understand navigation differently after that. Tuamotus, French Polynesia - Oceania & the Pacific Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e646 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:646 Alongside Spanish, Mexico officially recognises 68 indigenous languages with hundreds of variants. Mexico - The Americas Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e647 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:647 Sonder: the realisation that every passer-by is living a life as vivid and complex as your own. Coined by John Koenig World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e648 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:648 At the equinoxes, shadows on the pyramid's staircase form a serpent that appears to slide down to the ground. Chichen Itza, Mexico - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chichen_Itza Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e649 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:649 There are two buses: clockwise and anticlockwise. You cannot get lost, and if you miss yours the other one arrives eventually going the long way. Rarotonga, Cook Islands - Oceania & the Pacific Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e650 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:650 Thousands of cenotes dot the Yucatan, formed along a ring of fractures linked to the asteroid impact that ended the dinosaurs. Yucatan, Mexico - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yucat%C3%A1n%2C_Mexico Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e651 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:651 Cacao was drunk bitter and spiced by the Maya and Aztecs long before Europeans added sugar and milk. Mexico - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e652 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:652 They arrive silently and are far larger than anything in the briefing prepared you for. Our guide held up nine fingers, meaning nine metres of wingspan, and then just watched. Palau - Oceania & the Pacific Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e653 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:653 Hygge: the warmth of a small, well-lit room while the weather outside does its worst. Danish word Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e654 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:654 Monarchs fly from Canada to a few Mexican mountain forests, and no single butterfly completes the round trip. Michoacan, Mexico - The Americas Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e655 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:655 The ship comes every few weeks and the whole island knows the day. Everything changes when it arrives: the shop, the menu, the mood. Kiribati - Oceania & the Pacific Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e656 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:656 Atitlan fills a caldera left by a colossal eruption 84,000 years ago and is ringed by three volcanoes. Lake Atitlan, Guatemala - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Atitl%C3%A1n Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e657 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:657 The Belize Barrier Reef is the largest in the northern hemisphere and includes the famous Great Blue Hole. Belize - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belize_Barrier_Reef Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e658 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:658 Dolce far niente: the sweetness of doing nothing, best practised on a terrace after lunch. Italian phrase Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e659 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:659 Nothing is open and everything is quiet, until the churches start. We sat outside on the grass and listened to four-part harmony coming through open windows for an hour. Samoa - Oceania & the Pacific Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e660 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:660 Copan's hieroglyphic stairway carries the longest known Maya text, over 2,000 glyphs on 63 steps. Copan, Honduras - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honduras Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e661 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:661 Punta Roca near La Libertad delivers one of Central America's most consistent right-hand point breaks. El Tunco, El Salvador - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Salvador Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e662 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:662 The skipper said the reef changes every year now. He had been diving the same site for twenty-three years and pointed out exactly where the colour had gone. Great Barrier Reef, Australia - Oceania & the Pacific Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e663 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:663 Sobremesa: the conversation that keeps you at the table long after the food is gone. Spanish word Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e664 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:664 Ometepe sits in a freshwater lake and is formed by two volcanoes joined by a low isthmus. Ometepe, Nicaragua - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ometepe Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e665 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:665 We knelt on the sand with torches pointed up. Plankton gathered in the light and the mantas came to eat, rolling over us, close enough to feel the water move. Kona, Hawaii - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e666 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:666 Costa Rica dissolved its military in 1948 and redirected the budget to education and health. Costa Rica - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Costa_Rica Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e667 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:667 For years Costa Rica has generated close to 99 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, mostly hydro and geothermal. Costa Rica - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_in_Costa_Rica Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e668 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:668 Saudade: the presence of an absence, a longing for something that may never return. Portuguese word Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e669 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:669 The road ended in black rock that had not been there two years before. A sign asked us not to take any lava home, which is apparently both disrespectful and unlucky. Big Island, Hawaii - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e670 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:670 Every ship transit releases millions of litres of fresh lake water to the sea, which is why droughts slow the canal. Panama - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e671 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:671 Because of the isthmus's S-shape, you can watch the sun rise over the Pacific and set over the Atlantic in Panama. Panama City, Panama - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_City Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e672 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:672 It snowed in June. We pulled into a viewpoint, three other cars did the same, and six strangers stood in a line watching a glacier disappear behind cloud without saying anything. Alberta, Canada - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e673 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:673 Ikigai: the reason you get up in the morning, worth searching for at home and abroad. Japanese concept Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e674 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:674 Colombia is the only South American country with coastlines on both the Caribbean and the Pacific. Colombia - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Colombia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e675 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:675 Colombian mines have long supplied the majority of the world's fine emeralds, prized for their deep green. Boyaca, Colombia - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Colombia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e676 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:676 We were told to make noise. After two hours of singing badly we stopped, and thirty seconds later a black bear crossed the trail ahead. We resumed singing immediately. British Columbia, Canada - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e677 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:677 Ciclovia shuts over 100 kilometres of road to cars every Sunday, and hundreds of thousands of people cycle and skate. Bogota, Colombia - The Americas Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e678 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:678 Shinrin-yoku: forest bathing, the practice of walking slowly among trees with no goal at all. Japanese practice Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e679 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:679 We walked on the sea floor in the morning and kayaked over the same spot after lunch. Sixteen metres of water arrived while we ate. Bay of Fundy, Canada - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e680 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:680 An aquatic plant turns Cano Cristales red for a few months a year, mixing with green moss and yellow sand. Cano Cristales, Colombia - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ca%C3%B1o_Cristales Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e681 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:681 Angel Falls drops 979 metres, so far that much of the water becomes mist before reaching the bottom. Angel Falls, Venezuela - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_Falls Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e682 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:682 Minus twenty outside and a queue out the door. The man in front of us explained that the cheese must squeak, and that anything else is not poutine but a tragedy. Montreal, Canada - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e683 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:683 Wabi-sabi: finding beauty in what is imperfect, weathered and temporary. Japanese aesthetic Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e684 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:684 Where the Catatumbo River meets Lake Maracaibo, storms produce lightning on around 300 nights a year. Catatumbo, Venezuela - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catatumbo_lightning Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e685 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:685 Kaieteur Falls plunges 226 metres in one drop, roughly five times the height of Niagara, with almost no crowds. Kaieteur, Guyana - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaieteur_Falls Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e686 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:686 The driver pulled over without warning and turned off the headlights. Green went across the whole sky in about four seconds and then rearranged itself for an hour. Yukon, Canada - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e687 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:687 Suriname is the only South American country with Dutch as its official language, a legacy of colonial rule. Suriname - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suriname Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e688 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:688 Meraki: doing something with soul, creativity and love, leaving a piece of yourself in the work. Greek word Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e689 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:689 Ecuador is the only country named for a line of latitude, and the true equator sits slightly off the famous monument. Ecuador - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecuador Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e690 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:690 The state ferry takes three days and you sleep in a tent taped to the deck. It costs less than a flight and you see four hundred kilometres of coastline nobody photographs. Alaska, USA - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e691 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:691 Because the Earth bulges at the equator, Chimborazo's summit is the furthest point from the planet's centre. Chimborazo, Ecuador - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Ecuador Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e692 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:692 We drove to the North Rim by accident, found eleven cars in the car park instead of a thousand, and had a viewpoint to ourselves for forty minutes. Arizona, USA - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e693 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:693 Darwin's finches, each with a beak suited to different food, helped shape the theory of natural selection. Galapagos, Ecuador - The Americas Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e694 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:694 Ubuntu: I am because we are. Southern African philosophy Africa - Africa Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e695 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:695 Quito sits almost exactly on the equator at 2,850 metres, giving it spring-like weather all year. Quito, Ecuador - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quito Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e696 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:696 Everyone warns you that going down is easy. On the way back up, in the last mile, a ranger handed out salt tablets and said the same sentence to every single person. Grand Canyon, USA - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e697 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:697 Peru cultivates over 3,000 potato varieties, and the potato was domesticated in the Andes around 8,000 years ago. Peru - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peru Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e698 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:698 Hakuna matata: there are no worries. Swahili phrase Africa - Africa Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e699 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:699 The Spanish never located Machu Picchu, which is why its stonework and terraces survived largely intact. Machu Picchu, Peru - The Americas Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/7#e700 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:700 The waitress topped up the cup four times without being asked and called everyone honey. The pie was better than any restaurant we ate at that month. Nevada, USA - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e701 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:701 Inca masonry fits without mortar and is designed to shift and resettle during earthquakes rather than crack. Cusco, Peru - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cusco Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e702 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:702 Pole pole: slowly, slowly. The pace that gets you up Kilimanjaro. Swahili phrase Africa - Africa Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e703 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:703 Some Nazca figures stretch 370 metres and were only fully appreciated once aircraft flew over the desert. Nazca, Peru - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazca_lines Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e704 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:704 The sign said population 11. The bar was open, the man behind it was also the postmaster, and he knew exactly where we were headed before we said it. Nevada, USA - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e705 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:705 The striped mineral colours of Vinicunca were revealed only recently as the glacier covering it retreated. Vinicunca, Peru - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinicunca Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e706 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:706 Half the towns on the old road are closed and half are museums about being closed. One motel owner has been repainting the same neon sign for thirty years. Arizona, USA - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e707 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:707 Sucre is the constitutional capital while La Paz holds the government, making La Paz the highest seat of government on Earth. Bolivia - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Bolivia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e708 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:708 Inshallah: if it is meant to be. A useful attitude when the bus is four hours late. Arabic phrase Africa - Africa Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e709 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:709 When a thin layer of water covers the salt flat, it reflects the sky so precisely the horizon disappears. Uyuni, Bolivia - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salar_de_Uyuni Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e710 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:710 We hiked out under a full moon without torches because the granite reflected enough light. A ranger told us afterwards that this was either wonderful or irresponsible. California, USA - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e711 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:711 Beneath the Uyuni salt flat lies one of the largest lithium deposits on the planet. Uyuni, Bolivia - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mining_in_Bolivia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e712 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:712 Mañana does not always mean tomorrow. Sometimes it just means not today. Spanish saying Americas - The Americas Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e713 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:713 The Uros build and maintain islands from layered totora reeds, adding fresh reeds every few weeks. Titicaca, Peru and Bolivia - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Titicaca Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e714 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:714 It came over the hill like water going down a drain in reverse. Ten minutes later the bridge was gone and it was ten degrees colder. San Francisco, USA - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e715 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:715 Chile stretches from desert to glacier over 4,300 kilometres but averages only about 180 kilometres wide. Chile - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chile Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e716 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:716 We got out at 125th instead of 116th and ended up eating the best food of the trip while waiting for the next train, which we deliberately missed twice. New York, USA - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e717 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:717 Some Atacama weather stations have never recorded rain, and NASA tests Mars equipment there. Atacama, Chile - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atacama_Desert Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e718 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:718 Tranquilo: relax, it will happen, and worrying will not speed it up. Latin American saying Americas - The Americas Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e719 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:719 Dry air and high altitude make the Atacama the best place on Earth for optical astronomy, hosting major observatories. Atacama, Chile - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atacama_Desert Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e720 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:720 Four people, four instruments, no sheet music and no audience except us and a dog. It went on for two hours and nobody announced a single song title. Appalachia, USA - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e721 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:721 Excavations showed the famous moai heads sit on full buried torsos covered in carvings. Rapa Nui, Chile - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapa_Nui_people Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e722 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:722 Jugaad: a clever improvised fix made from whatever is at hand. Hindi word Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e723 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:723 Only Antarctica and Greenland hold more ice than the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. Patagonia - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patagonia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e724 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:724 A brass band came down the street on a Sunday afternoon and the crowd behind it grew from twelve to two hundred in four blocks. We never found out what it was for. New Orleans, USA - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e725 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:725 This glacier is one of the few in the world that is broadly stable, periodically damming a lake until the ice arch collapses. Perito Moreno, Argentina - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perito_Moreno_Glacier Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e726 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:726 The hotel put tape on the windows and everyone stocked up on ice. It missed us by ninety kilometres and the next morning the beach was covered in shells nobody had ever seen. Florida, USA - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e727 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:727 Avenida 9 de Julio spans about 110 metres, and crossing it can take more than one traffic light. Buenos Aires, Argentina - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buenos_Aires Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e728 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:728 Mai pen rai: never mind, it's fine. The most useful phrase in Thailand. Thai phrase Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e729 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:729 Tango emerged in the working-class port neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires and Montevideo in the late 19th century. Buenos Aires, Argentina - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buenos_Aires Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e730 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:730 Two hours in a queue of stationary cars with men selling churros between the lanes. By the time we crossed, we had eaten dinner without leaving the vehicle. Mexico and USA - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e731 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:731 At 6,961 metres, Aconcagua is the tallest mountain in both the Southern and Western hemispheres. Aconcagua, Argentina - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconcagua Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e732 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:732 Kaizen: small continuous improvements. Pack a little lighter every trip. Japanese concept Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e733 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:733 The Iguazu system comprises up to 275 waterfalls spread nearly three kilometres along the border. Iguazu, Argentina and Brazil - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iguazu_Falls Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e734 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:734 The cemeteries were full of families with candles, food and folding chairs, staying all night. A woman explained, kindly, that this was a reunion and not a haunting. Oaxaca, Mexico - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e735 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:735 Brazil occupies about 47 percent of the continent and borders every South American country except Chile and Ecuador. Brazil - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Region%2C_Brazil Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e736 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:736 No bridge crosses the main Amazon River. Communities rely on ferries and boats along thousands of kilometres. Amazon River - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_River Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e737 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:737 Thirty ingredients, three days, and an argument with a neighbour about whether the chocolate goes in early or late. We were asked to judge and refused sensibly. Oaxaca, Mexico - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e738 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:738 Nunchi: the art of reading the room without a word being spoken. Korean concept Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e739 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:739 Different temperatures and speeds keep the dark Rio Negro and sandy Solimoes flowing side by side for kilometres. Manaus, Brazil - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manaus Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e740 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:740 The water was so clear that the boat above looked like it was floating in air. Fifteen metres down, tree roots came through the rock looking for it. Yucatan, Mexico - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e741 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:741 Brasilia was planned and constructed in about four years and inaugurated in 1960, laid out in the shape of an aeroplane. Brasilia, Brazil - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_in_Brazil Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e742 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:742 The statue is hit regularly, and spare soapstone from the original quarry is kept for repairs. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_de_Janeiro Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e743 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:743 Guanxi: the network of relationships that makes things possible. Chinese concept Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e744 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:744 Clap once at the base of the pyramid and the echo comes back sounding like a bird. Our guide said the Maya designed it that way and then let three hundred people clap at once. Chichen Itza, Mexico - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e745 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:745 Brazil has been the largest coffee producer for more than 150 years, mostly arabica from Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo. Brazil - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_production_in_Brazil Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e746 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:746 Uruguay's small population and long coast mean entire stretches of beach stay empty even in high summer. Uruguay - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguay Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e747 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:747 Reclining seats, a blanket, a film with no subtitles and a driver who took the mountain road at a speed we chose not to think about. We arrived rested. Mexico - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e748 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:748 Lagom: not too little, not too much. Just the right amount, including in your backpack. Swedish word Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e749 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:749 Guarani is co-official with Spanish and is spoken by a majority of the population, unusual in the Americas. Paraguay - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Paraguay Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e750 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:750 A 1959 import ban froze Havana's fleet, so mechanics kept 1950s American cars running with improvised parts. Havana, Cuba - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Havana_Cuba Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e751 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:751 You climb a black cone for an hour carrying a plank and then sit on it and go down. Everyone lies about their speed at the bottom. Leon, Nicaragua - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e752 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:752 Reggae developed in Kingston in the late 1960s and is recognised by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage. Jamaica - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e753 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:753 Sisu: stubborn determination in the face of hardship, especially cold and dark. Finnish word Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e754 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:754 The road was blocked for six minutes by a sloth in no hurry whatsoever. A park worker eventually carried it across and it looked mildly annoyed. Costa Rica - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e755 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:755 Hispaniola is one of very few Caribbean islands divided between two sovereign states. Hispaniola - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispaniola Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e756 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:756 Dominica has a boiling lake, 365 rivers by local count, and a 184-kilometre hiking trail down its spine. Dominica - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominica Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e757 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:757 The guide said don't brake, just glide. Halfway across a valley in cloud forest we understood why nobody talks on the way over. Monteverde, Costa Rica - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e758 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:758 Friluftsliv: open-air living, the belief that being outdoors is a fundamental part of being well. Norwegian word Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e759 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:759 The flying fish is a national symbol, and cou-cou with flying fish is the country's national dish. Barbados - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbados Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e760 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:760 Pitch Lake holds the largest natural deposit of asphalt in the world and refills itself as it is dug out. Trinidad and Tobago - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinidad_and_Tobago Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e761 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:761 Our boat shared a lock with a container ship the size of a street. The water rose nine metres in eight minutes and the crew above us waved down. Panama - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e762 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:762 Feral pigs on Big Major Cay swim out to meet boats, a habit that turned into an unlikely tourist attraction. Exuma, Bahamas - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_the_Bahamas Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e763 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:763 Allemansratten: the right to roam. In Sweden the countryside belongs to everyone who respects it. Swedish law Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e764 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:764 Every panel is hand stitched in reverse applique and takes weeks. The woman selling them explained the design was her grandmother's and then quoted a price that felt like theft on our side. Guna Yala, Panama - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e765 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:765 Puerto Rico has three bioluminescent bays, more than anywhere else, with Mosquito Bay the brightest recorded. Puerto Rico - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fajardo%2C_Puerto_Rico Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e766 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:766 Saba's airstrip is around 400 metres with cliffs at both ends, flown only by small aircraft and specially certified pilots. Saba - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saba_(island) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e767 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:767 We walked the walls at three in the afternoon like idiots. At seven, the same walls were full of people, music and lemonade sellers, and we understood the schedule. Cartagena, Colombia - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e768 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:768 Geographically Greenland sits on the North American plate although politically it is tied to Denmark. Greenland - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland_shark Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e769 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:769 Gezellig: cosy, convivial, the feeling of a Dutch cafe on a rainy afternoon. Dutch word Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e770 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:770 The Pan-American Highway runs from Alaska to Argentina except for about 100 kilometres of roadless jungle in the Darien. Darien Gap - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dari%C3%A9n_Gap Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e771 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:771 The farmer showed us how much a hand-picked kilo earns him and then what a cup costs in London. He wasn't angry about it, which somehow made it worse. Salento, Colombia - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e772 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:772 The Andes run about 7,000 kilometres along South America's spine through seven countries. Andes - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andes Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e773 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:773 Craic: good conversation, good company and good fun, usually in that order. Irish word Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e774 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:774 All 360-plus hummingbird species are native exclusively to the Americas, with the greatest diversity in Ecuador and Colombia. Americas - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shield_of_the_Americas Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e775 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:775 A hundred kilometres of road closed to cars. Families, racers, a man with a parrot on his handlebars, and free bike repair stands every few kilometres. Bogota, Colombia - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e776 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:776 Before horses arrived, llamas were the sole large pack animal in the Andes, which shaped how the Inca built roads. Andes - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andes Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e777 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:777 Four days, seven river crossings and 1,200 mossy steps at the end. The guide's family had lived there for generations and he gave the tour partly in his own language. Sierra Nevada, Colombia - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e778 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:778 Quebec maintains a global strategic maple syrup reserve to stabilise prices between good and bad harvests. Quebec, Canada - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e779 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:779 Slainte: to your health, the only Gaelic word you truly need in a pub. Irish and Scottish toast Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e780 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:780 Together the five Great Lakes contain about 21 percent of the world's surface fresh water. Great Lakes - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Lakes Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e781 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:781 Three hours upriver, then the engine off, then paddling into a channel too narrow for the motor. The moment the noise stopped, the forest turned out to be extremely loud. Amazon, Peru - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e782 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:782 In 1969 engineers diverted the American Falls to study rock erosion, leaving the cliff temporarily dry. Niagara Falls - The Americas Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e783 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:783 Ciao serves as both hello and goodbye, from a Venetian phrase meaning I am your servant. Italian word Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e784 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:784 Antarctica receives so little precipitation that it qualifies as the largest desert on Earth. Antarctica - The Poles Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctica Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e785 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:785 We caught four and ate three. They are mostly bones and the guide clearly finds the whole tourist ritual funny, but he cooked them properly. Amazon, Brazil - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e786 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:786 Research stations use the time zone of their supply country, so neighbours can be hours apart. Antarctica - The Poles Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_in_Antarctica Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e787 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:787 Bon voyage: a good crossing. The phrase is older than the aeroplane by centuries. French phrase Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e788 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:788 Around 70 percent of the world's fresh water is locked in the Antarctic ice sheet, up to four kilometres thick. Antarctica - The Poles Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctica Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e789 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:789 Two rivers ran side by side for six kilometres without mixing. You can put a hand in each and feel the temperature difference. Manaus, Brazil - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e790 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:790 Australia measures about 4,000 kilometres east to west, wider than the Moon's 3,475-kilometre diameter. Australia - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e791 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:791 The famous parade costs a lot of money. Two streets away, a neighbourhood bloco with a hundred drummers went past for free and nobody was filming it. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e792 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:792 Visiting a different Australian beach every day would take about 27 years to see them all. Australia - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e793 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:793 Buen camino: the greeting pilgrims exchange on the road to Santiago. Spanish phrase Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e794 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:794 Stretching over 2,300 kilometres, the reef is the largest structure built by living organisms. Queensland, Australia - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monuments_of_Australia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e795 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:795 The whole beach applauds when the sun goes behind the hill. Nobody organises it and nobody explains it and it happens every clear evening. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e796 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:796 The visible rock is the tip of a formation that continues several kilometres below the desert surface. Uluru, Australia - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uluru Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e797 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:797 Namaste: the light in me honours the light in you. Sanskrit greeting Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e798 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:798 Lake Hillier stays bubblegum pink even in a bottle, thanks to salt-loving microorganisms. Lake Hillier, Australia - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Hillier Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e799 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:799 The boat drives you into the falls on purpose. Everything you own gets soaked and the guide films your face while it happens. Iguazu, Argentina - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/8#e800 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:800 Air measured at Cape Grim after crossing the Southern Ocean is among the cleanest on Earth. Tasmania, Australia - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasmania Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e801 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:801 The parrilla had four items and a chalkboard. The waiter asked how we wanted it, disagreed with the answer, and served it his way. He was correct. Buenos Aires, Argentina - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e802 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:802 The Dingo Fence stretches further than the distance from Berlin to Kabul, built to protect sheep country. Dingo Fence, Australia - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dingo_Fence Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e803 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:803 Shalom and salaam come from the same root and both mean peace. Semitic languages Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e804 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:804 Once service alleys, Melbourne's laneways now hold legal street art walls, tiny bars and coffee counters. Melbourne, Australia - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbourne Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e805 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:805 Two people in their seventies danced on paving stones in San Telmo with a portable speaker. A crowd formed, and nobody who watched was under any illusion about who was best. Buenos Aires, Argentina - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e806 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:806 Just over one million self-cleaning Swedish tiles cover the shells, in two subtly different finishes. Sydney, Australia - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Opera_House Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e807 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:807 Aloha means hello, goodbye and love, and locals will tell you it is a way of behaving, not a greeting. Hawaiian word Oceania - Oceania & the Pacific Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e808 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:808 Feral dromedaries introduced in the 1800s now number in the hundreds of thousands across the outback. Australia - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e809 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:809 The wind blew constantly for four days from the same direction. On the fifth it stopped and everyone in the hostel came outside to check that something was not wrong. Patagonia, Argentina - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e810 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:810 Their tail and leg structure prevents reverse movement, which is partly why the kangaroo appears on the coat of arms. Australia - Oceania & the Pacific Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e811 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:811 Four seasons before lunch on every single day. Nobody bothered changing clothes for the rain because it would be sunny again in twenty minutes. Torres del Paine, Chile - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e812 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:812 Wombats produce cube-shaped droppings thanks to uneven intestinal walls, so the pellets do not roll off rocks. Australia - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e813 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:813 Mana: spiritual power and presence, carried by people and by places. Polynesian concept Oceania - Oceania & the Pacific Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e814 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:814 The ratio has fallen from twenty to one in the 1980s to around five to one today, still comfortably ahead. New Zealand - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_New_Zealand Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e815 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:815 The guide switched off the last light and asked us to wait ten minutes for our eyes. The Milky Way arrived as if someone had turned it on. Atacama, Chile - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e816 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:816 Before humans arrived the only native land mammals were bats, so birds filled almost every ecological role. New Zealand - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e817 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:817 Polynesian navigators reached Aotearoa around 1300 AD, making it one of the last large landmasses humans settled. New Zealand - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e818 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:818 Kaitiakitanga: guardianship of the land, on the understanding that you are only borrowing it. Maori concept Oceania - Oceania & the Pacific Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e819 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:819 Everyone takes the same forced-perspective photo and everyone thinks they invented it. Our driver had a box of props and a practised routine and enjoyed it more than we did. Uyuni, Bolivia - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e820 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:820 Carved by glaciers rather than a river, Milford is technically a fiord, and it gets over six metres of rain a year. Milford Sound, New Zealand - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milford_Sound Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e821 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:821 In 2017 the Whanganui River was granted legal personhood, with guardians appointed to speak for it. Whanganui, New Zealand - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACT_New_Zealand Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e822 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:822 Sixty-four kilometres downhill with a drop on one side. The guide said the brakes were the only thing worth checking and then checked them four times. Yungas Road, Bolivia - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e823 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:823 Turangawaewae: a place to stand, the ground where you feel connected and empowered. Maori concept Oceania - Oceania & the Pacific Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e824 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:824 Geothermal activity vents hydrogen sulphide across the town, earning it the nickname Sulphur City. Rotorua, New Zealand - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_city_and_town_nicknames_in_New_Zealand Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e825 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:825 The world's biggest urban cable car network is public transport, not a ride. We commuted across the city over rooftops for the price of a bus fare. La Paz, Bolivia - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e826 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:826 The first commercial bungee site opened at the Kawarau Bridge in 1988, inspired by Vanuatu land diving. Queenstown, New Zealand - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queenstown%2C_New_Zealand Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e827 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:827 Naghol divers leap from wooden towers with vines tied to their ankles, a harvest ritual centuries older than bungee. Pentecost, Vanuatu - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanuatu Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e828 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:828 Songlines: routes across the land recorded in song, a map you can sing rather than fold. Aboriginal Australian tradition Oceania - Oceania & the Pacific Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e829 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:829 The ground moves under your feet like a mattress. They add fresh reeds every fortnight and the whole island is rebuilt from underneath over about thirty years. Lake Titicaca, Peru - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e830 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:830 Fiji comprises around 330 islands, of which about a third are permanently inhabited. Fiji - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiji Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e831 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:831 In 2011 Samoa jumped the international date line for trade reasons, and 30 December simply never happened. Samoa - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Samoa Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e832 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:832 The best cevicherias close in the afternoon because the fish is from that morning. Anyone serving ceviche at eight in the evening, our host said, is telling you something. Lima, Peru - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e833 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:833 Walkabout: a journey undertaken on foot to reconnect with country and self. Australian usage Oceania - Oceania & the Pacific Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e834 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:834 Tonga is the only Pacific nation never formally colonised, retaining its monarchy throughout. Tonga - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonga Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e835 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:835 Kiribati's scattered atolls cross both the equator and the date line, giving it an enormous ocean territory. Kiribati - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiribati Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e836 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:836 Five thousand metres, three hundred people and a queue for the summit photograph. Twenty minutes along the ridge there was nobody at all and the same view. Vinicunca, Peru - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e837 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:837 Licensing the .tv internet domain has provided a meaningful share of Tuvalu's national revenue. Tuvalu - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuvalu Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e838 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:838 A guest brings good fortune with him. Albanian proverb Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e839 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:839 Nothing runs away. A sea lion slept on a bench, a bird walked over my boot, and a marine iguana sneezed salt at me without moving. Galapagos, Ecuador - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e840 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:840 Phosphate mining briefly made Nauru extraordinarily wealthy before the deposits ran out in the 1990s. Nauru - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nauru Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e841 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:841 Palau restricted reef-toxic sunscreen ingredients in 2020 to protect its coral, one of the first nations to do so. Palau - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palau Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e842 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:842 The animal market starts at six and finishes by nine. Everything else is for tourists and the sellers say so themselves, cheerfully. Otavalo, Ecuador - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e843 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:843 Atithi Devo Bhava: the guest is equivalent to God. Sanskrit proverb Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e844 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:844 With over 800 living languages, Papua New Guinea is the most linguistically diverse country on Earth. Papua New Guinea - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Papua_New_Guinea Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e845 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:845 Navigators read ocean swells using stick charts, memorising wave patterns rather than carrying the charts to sea. Marshall Islands - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Islands Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e846 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:846 We stopped on a mountain road at two in the morning. The driver, the conductor and six passengers changed the wheel by phone torch in eleven minutes. Ecuador - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e847 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:847 Wayfinders crossed thousands of kilometres of open Pacific reading stars, swell direction, cloud shapes and bird flight. Polynesia - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polynesia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e848 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:848 East, west, home is best. English proverb Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e849 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:849 Somebody was playing dominoes on the pavement, somebody was fixing a car, somebody was singing. All three had been doing it since before we arrived and continued after. Havana, Cuba - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e850 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:850 The central peaks are the remains of a volcano slowly subsiding inside its own coral ring. Bora Bora, French Polynesia - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bora_Bora Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e851 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:851 Volcanic basalt ground down by waves gives many Tahitian beaches their dark colour. Tahiti, French Polynesia - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tahiti Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e852 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:852 He had made a part for a 1955 Chevrolet out of a Russian tractor component. He showed it to us the way other people show photographs of their children. Havana, Cuba - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e853 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:853 A naturally heart-shaped clearing in the mangroves of Voh became famous through aerial photography. New Caledonia - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_of_New_Caledonia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e854 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:854 He who does not travel does not know the value of men. Moorish proverb Africa - Africa Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e855 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:855 The Pacific covers about a third of the planet's surface and contains roughly half of its free water. Pacific Ocean - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Ocean_Park Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e856 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:856 The volume was not negotiable. A grandmother two rows up conducted with one hand and the driver adjusted the bass on her instruction. Jamaica - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e857 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:857 Challenger Deep reaches about 10,900 metres, more than two kilometres deeper than Everest is high. Mariana Trench - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariana_Trench Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e858 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:858 Do not follow the path. Go where there is no path and begin the trail. African proverb Africa - Africa Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e859 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:859 The nearest humans to Point Nemo are often astronauts on the space station passing overhead. Point Nemo, Pacific - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gina_Nemo Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e860 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:860 Every house had them and nobody used them that week. The shop owner said you fit them in May and forget them, and that forgetting is the whole point. Caribbean - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e861 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:861 Reefs occupy less than one percent of the ocean floor but support around a quarter of all marine species. Oceans - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceans_Seven Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e862 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:862 From the boat it is a dark circle in turquoise. From the water it is a wall going down into nothing and your brain refuses to process the scale. Belize - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e863 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:863 We have better high-resolution maps of Mars than of our own seabed, though mapping projects are closing the gap. Oceans - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceans_Seven Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e864 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:864 If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. African proverb Africa - Africa Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e865 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:865 The North Pole sits on drifting sea ice while the South Pole rests on a continent under kilometres of ice. Poles - The Poles Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e866 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:866 No moon, no lights, no cameras allowed. Every paddle stroke lit up and fish left trails like sparks under the kayak. Vieques, Puerto Rico - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e867 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:867 Blood Falls is stained by iron-rich brine that has been sealed beneath the ice for over a million years. Taylor Glacier, Antarctica - The Poles Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_Glacier Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e868 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:868 A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor. English proverb Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e869 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:869 Katabatic winds strip the McMurdo Dry Valleys bare, and some have not seen rain for around two million years. McMurdo, Antarctica - The Poles Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMurdo_Dry_Valleys Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e870 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:870 We took the wrong ferry and spent a day on an island with one road, one bar and eleven residents who found the whole thing very funny. Bahamas - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e871 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:871 Emperors incubate eggs on their feet through the polar night at temperatures below minus 40 degrees. Antarctica - The Poles Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctica Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e872 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:872 The sea is common to all. Latin proverb Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e873 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:873 Residents leaving town are legally advised to carry a rifle because of the bear population. Svalbard, Norway - The Poles Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svalbard Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e874 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:874 Afternoon thunderstorms arrive almost daily in summer. A ranger said the rule is simple: summit by noon, and if you cannot, do not summit. Rockies, USA - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e875 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:875 Permafrost prevents decomposition, so burials in the town cemetery stopped decades ago. Longyearbyen, Svalbard - The Poles Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longyearbyen Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e876 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:876 A stranger had left a cooler of cold drinks at a road crossing with a note. Nobody took more than one, and somebody had refilled the ice that morning. Appalachian Trail, USA - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e877 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:877 Above the Arctic Circle the sun does not set for weeks, and blackout curtains are standard equipment. Arctic - The Poles Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e878 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:878 All roads lead to Rome. Medieval European proverb Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e879 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:879 Icebergs calve from land glaciers, so despite floating in the sea they are made of compressed fresh snow. Poles - The Poles Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e880 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:880 We drove twenty minutes from the town and the difference was absurd. A ranger explained dark sky certification and then turned off her own torch to prove the point. Utah, USA - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e881 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:881 Roughly 90 percent of an iceberg's mass sits below the waterline, which is where the metaphor comes from. Poles - The Poles Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e882 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:882 When in Rome, do as the Romans do. European proverb Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e883 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:883 The modern passport with a photo and standard booklet emerged from a 1920 League of Nations conference. World - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_(disambiguation) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e884 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:884 The guide checks the forecast for the whole watershed, not just the canyon. A storm eighty kilometres away can fill a slot canyon in minutes and there is nowhere to go. Arizona, USA - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e885 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:885 Before railways every town kept its own solar time. Standard time zones were adopted to make timetables possible. World - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_(disambiguation) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e886 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:886 Nine nationalities, one pot of soup, minus twenty-eight outside. Somebody's grandmother's recipe was reconstructed by committee and it was excellent. Quebec, Canada - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e887 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:887 The international date line bends around island groups so countries are not split across two calendar days. Pacific - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Ocean Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e888 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:888 A shared journey is half as long. Dutch proverb Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e889 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:889 The body finds it easier to lengthen a day than shorten one, so westward flights usually feel gentler. World - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_(disambiguation) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e890 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:890 Freight has priority, so passenger trains wait on sidings. We were eleven hours late and the dining car simply kept serving as if it were a hotel with wheels. Canada - The Americas Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e891 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:891 The small bleed hole in a cabin window equalises pressure so the outer pane bears the load. World - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_(disambiguation) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e892 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:892 The lighter the load, the longer the road. Nepali saying Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e893 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:893 Relative humidity on a long-haul flight often drops below 20 percent, which is why you feel thirsty. World - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_(disambiguation) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e894 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:894 There is a hierarchy: carpet beats tile, chairs without armrests beat carpet, and a bench near a plug beats everything. This knowledge is earned. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e895 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:895 Low pressure and dry air dull sweet and salty perception, so airline meals are seasoned more heavily. World - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_(disambiguation) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e896 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:896 My phone died in a city where I could not read the alphabet. A teenager at a bus stop looked up my hotel, wrote the address in her language, and walked me to the right stop. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e897 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:897 Flight recorders are painted bright orange with reflective tape so search teams can spot them. World - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_(disambiguation) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e898 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:898 Slowly, slowly the egg walks on legs. Indian proverb Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e899 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:899 Chicago O'Hare uses ORD from its old name Orchard Field, long after the orchard disappeared. World - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_(disambiguation) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/9#e900 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:900 The consulate staff had clearly done this a thousand times. She asked three questions, made two calls, and told me it would be four days and to go and enjoy the city. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e901 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:901 The hop between Westray and Papa Westray takes about a minute and a half in fair wind. Orkney, Scotland - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orkney Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e902 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:902 Ultra-long-haul routes such as Singapore to New York run close to 19 hours nonstop. World - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World's_longest_domestic_flight Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e903 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:903 The frog in the well knows nothing of the great ocean. Japanese proverb Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e904 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:904 Three days without luggage taught me that I had packed twice as much as I needed and that laundries exist in every country on Earth. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e905 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:905 Contrails form when hot humid exhaust meets cold air and freezes, which is why they appear only at altitude. World - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_(disambiguation) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e906 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:906 Wings are tested to flex far beyond anything turbulence produces. The discomfort is real, the danger mostly is not. World - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_(disambiguation) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e907 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:907 We missed by eleven minutes and were rebooked for the next morning. The forced overnight became the best city we visited that year, and we had never planned to go. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e908 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:908 Fall seven times, stand up eight. Japanese proverb Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e909 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:909 The first duty-free shop opened at Shannon Airport in 1947 to serve transatlantic refuelling stops. Shannon, Ireland - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shannon_Airport Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e910 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:910 Four strangers at an airport at one in the morning splitting a fare into town. Two of them are still in a group chat with me eight years later. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e911 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:911 Wheeled luggage was only patented in 1970, and the upright rolling case with a long handle arrived in 1987. World - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_(disambiguation) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e912 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:912 Magnetic stripe keycards were introduced to solve the expensive problem of guests walking off with metal keys. World - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_(disambiguation) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e913 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:913 Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without one. Chinese proverb Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e914 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:914 A ball, a wall and six children. Nobody needed to explain the rules and nobody kept score properly. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e915 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:915 Some hotels skip or renumber room 420 because the sign disappears so often. World - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_(disambiguation) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e916 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:916 Superstition means a large share of tall buildings label the 13th floor as 14, especially in North America. World - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_(disambiguation) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e917 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:917 Hello, please, thank you, sorry, yes, no, how much, where is, delicious and goodbye. Ten words changed every single interaction of the trip. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e918 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:918 Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere. Chinese proverb Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e919 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:919 In Chinese, Japanese and Korean the word for four sounds like death, so floors and room numbers often omit it. East Asia - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Asia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e920 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:920 Tipping is expected in the United States, unusual in Japan where it can cause offence, and rounded up in much of Europe. World - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_(disambiguation) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e921 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:921 Three days without a signal in a mountain hut. By the second evening, everyone had stopped checking their pockets and started playing cards. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e922 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:922 In Bulgaria and parts of Greece a head shake can mean yes and a nod can mean no. Bulgaria - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgaria Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e923 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:923 A book is a garden carried in the pocket. Arabic proverb Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e924 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:924 The first time is awkward. By the fourth you bring a notebook, sit at the bar, and end up talking to the chef. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e925 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:925 The thumbs-up gesture is offensive in several countries, so travellers are safer with words. Middle East and West Africa - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_and_North_Africa Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e926 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:926 Orderly single-file queuing is a strong norm in Britain and Japan but far looser in many other countries. World - Around the World Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e927 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:927 Go where the traders eat, at the hour they eat, and order what is already on the counter. It has never once failed. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e928 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:928 Trust in God, but tie up your camel. Arabic proverb Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e929 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:929 About 35 percent of the world's population drives on the left, mostly in former British territories. World - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e930 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:930 Around 17 countries, mostly desert or small island states, have no permanent natural rivers. Saudi Arabia and others - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e931 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:931 We found one in a hostel with four years of notes in three handwritings. We added ours and left it on the shelf for the next person. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e932 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:932 Both microstates import essentially all their food, having no agricultural land at all. Europe - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe_(Europe_album) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e933 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:933 In the desert, the only thing you own is what you can carry. Tuareg saying Africa - Africa Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e934 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:934 The United States, Liberia and Myanmar are the main holdouts from full metric adoption. World - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_(disambiguation) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e935 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:935 Write one to your own address from each country. They arrive weeks later, out of order, when you have almost forgotten the day you wrote them. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e936 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:936 Nepal's double pennant is the famous exception, while Switzerland and the Vatican use squares. World - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_(disambiguation) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e937 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:937 Twenty-four exposures for a two-week trip forces you to look before you press. Half of them were terrible and four of them are framed. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e938 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:938 Border towns sometimes straddle a time zone line, so neighbours legally live an hour apart. World - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_(disambiguation) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e939 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:939 The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now. Chinese proverb Asia - Asia Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e940 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:940 The line passes through thirteen nations, including Ecuador, Kenya, Indonesia and Brazil. Equator - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equator Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e941 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:941 Pick a direction, walk for ninety minutes, then turn around. You will find more than any list of top ten sights. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e942 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:942 GPS uses a reference meridian about 100 metres east of the brass line at Greenwich, due to a different geodetic model. Greenwich, England - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_meridian_(Greenwich) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e943 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:943 He who has no destination will never have a favourable wind. After Seneca Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e944 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:944 Around 44 countries have no sea access, and two of them are surrounded entirely by other landlocked states. World - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_(disambiguation) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e945 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:945 Sit on the same bench for an hour. A neighbourhood reveals its schedule: school, deliveries, lunch, dogs, old men, then children again. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e946 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:946 In Baarle the border weaves through houses and cafes, with tiles marking which country your table is in. Baarle, Belgium and Netherlands - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baarle Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e947 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:947 Every good trip has a place where you stayed one night too few. The fix is a rule: if you say maybe on the first evening, book the extra night. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e948 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:948 The Arbez hotel sits on the France-Switzerland border, with the line running through rooms and a staircase. Haute-Savoie, France - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haute-Savoie Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e949 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:949 Every exit is an entry somewhere else. Tom Stoppard World - Around the World Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e950 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:950 Runners in the Istanbul Marathon cross from Asia into Europe partway through the race. Istanbul, Turkey - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbul Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e951 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:951 We met on a bus and travelled together for nine days. Neither of us suggested it and neither of us mentioned when it would end. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e952 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:952 Mill Ends Park measures about 60 centimetres across and is officially recognised as the smallest city park. Portland, USA - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e953 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:953 Not I, nor anyone else can travel that road for you. You must travel it by yourself. Walt Whitman Americas - The Americas Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e954 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:954 Taumata whakatangihanga koauau and its full 85-letter form is the longest official place name in an English-speaking country. Hawke's Bay, New Zealand - Oceania & the Pacific Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawke's_Bay Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e955 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:955 Do not plan the last day. Go back to the one place you liked most and do exactly the same thing again. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e956 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:956 Giethoorn's centre is reached only by canal or footbridge, with over 170 small bridges. Giethoorn, Netherlands - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giethoorn Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e957 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:957 Afoot and light-hearted, I take to the open road, healthy, free, the world before me. Walt Whitman Americas - The Americas Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e958 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:958 Venetian addresses use a sestiere and a number that can run into the thousands, which is why locals navigate by landmark. Venice, Italy - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_in_Italy Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e959 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:959 The strangest part is the supermarket. Forty kinds of bread and nobody making eye contact, and you standing there wondering why it feels rude. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e960 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:960 Most Japanese addresses describe blocks rather than streets, working from ward down to building number. Japan - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e961 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:961 Not the carving or the magnet. A bus ticket with a date on it, found in a coat pocket in February, worth more than everything on the shelf. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e962 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:962 Washington, Canberra, Brasilia, Ottawa and Ankara were all chosen over larger rivals to settle regional disputes. World - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_(disambiguation) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e963 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:963 Now I see the secret of making the best person: it is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth. Walt Whitman Americas - The Americas Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e964 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:964 Bangkok's ceremonial name holds the Guinness record for the longest place name in the world. Bangkok, Thailand - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e965 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:965 We asked for the recipe and were given a list of ingredients with no quantities. It took eleven attempts and it still is not right, which is the correct outcome. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e966 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:966 Despite that number, a small handful of hubs handle a disproportionate share of global connections. World - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_(disambiguation) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e967 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:967 Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground. Theodore Roosevelt Americas - The Americas Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e968 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:968 On city-centre to city-centre journeys under about four hours, high-speed rail usually wins on total travel time. Europe - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe_(Europe_album) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e969 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:969 The best moment of the trip has no picture. Everyone was holding something, or eating, or laughing, and by the time anyone thought of a camera it was over. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e970 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:970 Global ferry travel accounts for billions of passenger journeys a year, more than commercial aviation in some regions. World - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_(disambiguation) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e971 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:971 The cafe was a phone shop and the owner had moved to another city. The view from the bridge was exactly the same and that was somehow enough. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e972 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:972 In the 1960s a double-decker ran from London to Calcutta, a journey of about 50 days. Europe to Asia - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India%E2%80%93United_Kingdom_bus_routes Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e973 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:973 Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. Theodore Roosevelt Americas - The Americas Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e974 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:974 A handful of freighter lines sell cabins to travellers who prefer weeks at sea to hours in the air. World - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_(disambiguation) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e975 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:975 Slower days, earlier dinners, more sitting down. We saw about a third as much and remember roughly twice as clearly. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e976 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:976 Recreational camping was popularised in the early 1900s by Thomas Hiram Holding, who wrote the first camper's handbook. United Kingdom - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e977 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:977 Far better it is to dare mighty things than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much. Theodore Roosevelt Americas - The Americas Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e978 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:978 Karl Baedeker began publishing travel handbooks in the 1830s, inventing the star rating for sights. Europe - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe_(Europe_album) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e979 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:979 Three days of feeling conspicuous, then a switch flips and you realise nobody is looking, and you can do absolutely anything you like. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e980 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:980 The first official postcard appeared in Austria in 1869 with no picture. Illustrations came later and took over. Austria - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austria Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e981 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:981 Half the price, a third of the people, and the weather does what it likes. Two out of three is a very good trade. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e982 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:982 The word souvenir comes from the French for to remember, which is a better standard than whether it fits in the bag. World - Around the World Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e983 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:983 There is nothing like a dream to create the future. Victor Hugo Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e984 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:984 Novel experiences create denser memories, which is why a week somewhere new can feel longer than a month at home. World - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_(disambiguation) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e985 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:985 Late September on a Mediterranean island: warm sea, empty beaches and every restaurant owner has time to talk. Nobody tells you this because they want to keep it. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e986 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:986 Petrichor is the smell of rain on dry ground, caused by plant oils and a soil bacterium compound called geosmin that the human nose detects at extraordinarily low concentrations. World - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_(disambiguation) Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e987 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:987 Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan has been run by the same family since the year 705, making it the oldest continuously operating hotel on record. Yamanashi, Japan - Asia Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamanashi_Prefecture Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e988 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:988 He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind. Leonardo da Vinci Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e989 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:989 A host who fed us for a week refused payment and asked only that we send a photograph when we got home. We did, and she printed it. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e990 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:990 Some dunes boom, hum or sing when sand avalanches down their faces, producing a low note that can be heard several kilometres away. Sahara and Gobi - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahara Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e991 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:991 Look through the keyhole on the Aventine Hill and you see a garden in Italy, a dome in Vatican City and an avenue owned by the Order of Malta. Rome, Italy - Europe Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e992 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:992 In some places, arriving on time is what is rude. It took a fortnight to unlearn a lifetime of arriving nine minutes early. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e993 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:993 Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. Attributed to Leonardo da Vinci Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e994 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:994 At around minus 40 degrees, throwing boiling water into the air turns it into a cloud of ice crystals almost instantly, because the hot droplets are tiny and evaporate fast. Siberia and the Arctic - The Poles Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siberia Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e995 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:995 Better than any app. Four streets, one landmark, an arrow and a name to say at the door. It worked perfectly and we kept the napkin. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e996 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:996 Researchers identify individual whale sharks by their spot patterns using software originally written to map stars in the night sky. Indian Ocean - Around the World Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Ocean Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e997 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:997 Great Basin bristlecone pines in the White Mountains have been growing for more than 4,800 years, predating the earliest known written records. California, USA - The Americas Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California Fun fact https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e998 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:998 Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Pack accordingly. Attributed to Leonardo da Vinci Europe - Europe Quote https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e999 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:999 Not for the photographs and not for the list. For the twenty minutes on a bench in a place you cannot pronounce, when nobody in the world knows exactly where you are. World - Around the World Story https://www.travelstorymaker.com/travelstories/page/10#e1000 urn:travelstorymaker:entry:1000 At high latitudes the sun meets the horizon at a shallow angle, so twilight can stretch for hours instead of minutes. Poles - The Poles Fun fact