Inspirational Travel Stories
Every year in January, the village of Bo Sang in Chiang Mai Province holds the Bo Sang Umbrella Festival, one of the most interesting festivals in Thailand, which celebrates the making and selling of gorgeous hand-made, hand-painted paper umbrellas. This year s celebration was the best I ve ever seen. From workshops that allowed participants to make ... Read more The post Bo Sang Umbrella Festival…
It poured almost every day I was in India. When it wasn’t raining, fog blanketed everything. It was, after all, the rainy season, but I wasn’t about to let the monsoon season deter me from visiting the many interesting things to see and do in Dharamshala and McLeod Ganj, India. I had come to Dharamshala ... Read more The post Worthwhile Things to See and Do in Dharamshala and McLeod Ganj, India…
I arrived in Dharamsala, India, a couple of days before the Dalai Lama s 90th birthday celebration and Long Life Ceremony. With total knee replacement surgery only six months in my rear view mirror, I needed to make sure I could manage the steps and find somewhere to sit during the events. On my first morning ... Read more The post Serendipity in Dharamsala, India appeared first on Hole in the…
I travel to see geological sites, to attend festivals, and to experience culture. But one of my favorite reasons to travel is to see unique animals in the wild. In 2024, I added one of the cutest animals ever to my list – the Quokkas of Rottnest Island, located off the southwest coast of Australia. ... Read more The post The Quokkas of Rottnest Island, Australia Cuteness Overload! appeared first…
Perth may be Australia’s fourth largest city, but it is better known as one of the most isolated big cities in the world. It’s not true, of course. Perth’s location on the coast of Western Australia puts it more than 1,300 miles from it’s closest major Australian city, Adelaide. But Honolulu, Hawaii, located almost 2,400 ... Read more The post Perth: Australia’s Wild West is Worth a Visit appeared…
Geologists and scientists can’t agree on how The Pinnacles in Western Australia were formed. But they do agree on one thing: these astonishing stone spires that pierce the golden-red sands in Nambung National Park are mysterious and stunning. Tourists also agree. They flock to see them in droves, making The Pinnacles the most visited attraction ... Read more The post The Pinnacles in Western…
“Lake” isn’t an accurate description of Lake Ballard in Western Australia. They say there’s water in it, somewhere in the far distance. But the shoreline where I stood was a long expanse of caked red mud that morphed into brilliant white salt flats at the horizon. Where red met white, a cone shaped island rose. ... Read more The post The Naked Truth about Lake Ballard in Western Australia appeared…
I squinted in the pre-dawn grayness, searching for signs of the tropical pink water lilies that carpet the surface of Nong Han Lake every winter. A few minutes earlier, my friend Anne and I had gingerly climbed into a tippy flat-bottomed wooden boat for our ride to the center of the lake. There, the lily ... Read more The post The Magnificent Red Lotus Lake in Udon Thani, Thailand appeared first…
Picture thousands of people dressed up as monsters, roaming the streets of a tiny village in northeastern Thailand. Giant ears, huge hooked noses, and foot-long spiked teeth sprout from their masks. Their chin-to-toe costumes are sewn from scraps of cloth into a kaleidoscopic patchwork of colors. Many carry wooden truncheons shaped into phallic symbols. Others ... Read more The post Phi ta Khon…
There s no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic was a scourge on the earth, however for me there were a few silver linings amongst the lockdowns and quarantines. One of those silver linings was simply being in Thailand, where the cases were very low and the deaths even lower. To date, with a population of about ... Read more The post Sukhothai and Si Satchanalai, Thailand My COVID Silver Linings…
Thai society erupted in controversy last month when the government approved a proposal to change the official name of Thailand’s capital from Bangkok to Krung Thep Maha Nakhon. While this might seem slightly bizarre to most Westerners, Thais have always referred to their capital city as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon. In everyday conversation, they shorten the ... Read more The post Bangkok What’s in a…
March answered her phone, even though it was from an unknown caller. Maybe it would be her lucky day. Perhaps it would be someone asking to see one of the properties she’d listed in Bangkok. The woman on the other end of the line apologized. “You don’t know me, but are you the sister of ... Read more The post I Want to Go Out With a Bang Literally appeared first on Hole in the Donut Cultural…
A couple of months ago I struck up a conversation with a young man at Cozy Coffee and Bistro, my home away from home in Chiang Mai. He was surprised to learn that after 18 years of visiting Thailand and more than four years of living here, I still didn’t have a Thai nickname. Chuu ... Read more The post Fighting the Blues with Blossoms appeared first on Hole in the Donut Cultural Travel .
There s a new attraction north of Chiang Mai that only locals seem to know about. Fortunately, I am blessed to have wonderful Thai friends who invite me along on day trips around northern Thailand. Most recently they introduced me to Dantewada Land of Angels Waterfall Park, a man made attraction with two massive waterfalls, caves, ... Read more The post Dantewada Land of Angels Waterfall Park, the…
Most people barely give Krabi Town a second glance. If they visit at all, they stay overnight on their way to Railay Beach, Koh Lanta, or the Phi Phi Islands. But during a recent visit to Railay Beach, I decided to stop over in the town of Krabi for three days and was pleasantly surprised ... Read more The post Krabi Town, Thailand Like an Outdoor Art Gallery appeared first on Hole in the Donut…
Every spring, when farmers burn their fields, a thick blanket of smoke descends upon my home in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Most years, I m traveling at this time, but this year COVID-19 put a crimp in my normal schedule. I could leave, but if I did, I couldn t come home. I thought I could tough it ... Read more The post Railay Beach in Krabi, Thailand A Great Escape from Smoke Season in Chiang Mai…
The first time I saw the Dton Yaang Naa trees I was transfixed. I was returning from a press trip to learn about the care of Elephants in the Kingdom of Thailand, when our van driver turned down Chiang Mai-Lamphun Road. Twin rows of behemoth trees flanked the narrow, twisting road as far as I ... Read more The post The Ordained Dton Yaang Naa Spirit Trees of Thailand appeared first on Hole in the…
Here’s something new and fun and (for me) very exciting. A few days ago I received an email from Leslie Parsons (@montrealsketcher), an artist from Montreal. “I have a strange request for you,” he said. “A popular urban sketcher from Malaysia found an image on Pinterest that he wanted all the other urban sketchers (everywhere, ... Read more The post Artists from Around the World Sketch my Photo of…
Most people have seen gorgeous photos of the cherry tree blossoms in Japan and Washington D.C. Far fewer have heard about the flowering cherry trees in Thailand. I was among the ignorant, until a year of not being able to travel internationally due to COVID-19 forced me to explore more of my adopted home here ... Read more The post The Cherry Tree Blossoms of Thailand appeared first on Hole in the…
It may have been nearly 14 months since I ve been able to travel internationally, but that doesn t mean I ve been sitting at home here in Chiang Mai. I ve taken advantage of COVID travel restrictions to do something that s long been on my to-do list: delve more deeply into Buddhism. Even though I embraced Buddhism as ... Read more The post Celebrating Makha Bucha Day in Chiang Mai, Thailand…
I ve always heard it said that when I don t know what to do, I should do nothing. Though it may sound simplistic, that idea has always worked for me, and the past year has been a prime example. I returned home to Chiang Mai, Thailand, from a trip to Antarctica, Argentina, Chile, and Easter Island ... Read more The post A Fresh New Look for Hole in the Donut Cultural Travel appeared first on Hole…
Not long ago, if anyone had asked me if I believe it is acceptable to ride elephants, my answer would have been a resounding “NO!” My point of view was challenged this past November, when the Tourist Authority of Thailand (TAT) invited me on a press trip to learn more about the care of elephants ... Read more The post Elephant Tourism To Ride or Not to Ride, That is the Question appeared first on…
They say timing is everything. Certainly, timing was my main consideration when visiting Armenia. Truthfully, the three countries that make up the Caucasus region in far eastern Europe were on my radar for one reason. I’d read several stories by travel writers who were totally smitten by the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, but otherwise I ... Read more The post Visiting Armenia, An Unexpectedly…
Khor Virap. The name refers to the famous monastery in Armenia that is the number one pilgrimage site in the country. But the name has a deeper, hidden meaning. The church stands on a low hillock, built over a deep vault carved out of solid rock. Saint Gregory the Illuminator was imprisoned within this pit ... Read more The post PHOTO: Khor Virap Monastery in Armenia, Dwarfed by Mount Ararat…
In the dim light of Saint Astvatsatsin chapel at Khor Virap Monastery in Armenia, I carefully picked my way over the uneven stone floor. I was concentrating so hard on where to put my feet that I didn t look up until I reached the center of the candlelit cavern. Having visited pilgrimage sites all over ... Read more The post PHOTO: Pilgrim Lights a Candle at Khor Virap Monastery in Armenia…
There was no escaping the imposing presence of Mt. Ararat as I traveled around Armenia. The mountain was always visible, whether driving through the lush green countryside or walking around the capital city of Yerevan. My first sight of Mt Ararat came at dawn, as my train from Tbilisi, Georgia was nearing Yeravan. Bleary-eyed from ... Read more The post PHOTO: Lush Armenian Countryside with Mt.…
From the moment I set foot in Baku, I knew there was something very different about Azerbaijan’s capital city. Mirror-clad skyscrapers and modern shopping centers stood juxtaposed against the 700-year old stone walls of the Old City. Elegantly dressed women in high heels negotiated crazy patchwork stone streets. Delicious cooking smells mingled with an unpleasant ... Read more The post Baku,…
Mtskheta, the original capital of Georgia, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and the place where the country first adopted Christianity in 334. Today, not only is it the headquarters of the Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church, it is home to Jvari Monastery and Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, two important religious sites ... Read more The post The Historical UNESCO…
I just finished watching day three of the Democratic National Convention. One sentence in Nancy Pelosi s speech caught my attention. Speaking about women, she said, Our diversity is our strength. Our unity is our power. This month, as America marks the centennial of women, finally, women winning the right to vote, we do so with ... Read more The post Homage to Seneca Falls, NY Birthplace of…
For the past few years, my fellow travel writers have been waxing poetic about Tbilisi, the capital of the of country of Georgia. This tiny nation, hampered with a name that is often confused with the State of Georgia in the U.S., was suddenly being added to everyone s wish list. For decades, Georgia was virtually ... Read more The post Tbilisi, Georgia I Was Unimpressed appeared first on Hole in…