Salta | Folklore Movement | [⛪️] 
Salta’s old town center has rich history and a living folk culture. Colonial facades, neo-classical architecture, ch

town - Fernwayer Travel Stories & Experiences

Argentina

[⛪️] 
Salta’s old town center has rich history and a living folk culture. Colonial facades, neo-classical architecture, church with bell tower and crowds of happy people meeting up with friends before dinner. 

[🎤] 
My night ends at a peña (music/social club) where local musicians perform songs and the audience sings and dances along.

[💃] 
There’s the chacarera, a lively partner dance with much stomping. During zamba, couples circle each other, waving white handkerchiefs. Finally in the cherished malambo, a male gaucho performs his best steps to show off his strength and boldness to upstage other competitors. Then the dancers go around the room looking for partners from among the audience, and it’s fascinating to see the eagerness of the crowd to join in. 

[🍷] 
There’s a lot of Fernet-and-Coke - or the local Torrontés - on the tables to go along, and soon everyone is singing to the chorus. Their spirit is infectious.

Folklore Movement

United States

China

The charming, well-preserved streetscapes of the heritage town in Old Lijiang Is perfect for getting lost  The winding streets lure you in - and shops selling Tiquanyin tea, handmade paper, musical drums, souvenirs and food vie for the attention of tourists. 

The Naxi people of Lijiang are proud, artistic and musically talented. It's a matriarchal society, one that I relate well to, and I enjoyed my interactions with the wise women I meet.

In the market square in Lijiang Old Town, groups of Naxi women get together to perform a few dances. There is no clear structure for their activity, and the women seem to be on their own schedule - some leave after a couple of dances, others hang around. Besides their traditional costume, what is common among them is their energy and zest for life.

Lost in Old Lijiang

Colombia

Guatapé, after￼￼￼ a long time without leaving our homes, the breeze, the nature around and the hiking up the majestic “piedra del Peñol” give you a sense of freedom and greatness! The trees, plants, grass mixing up with the green of the dam, leave a mark! 
The colorful tiny houses and murals around this little but warming town, are the top ingredient to complete your joy while walking throughout the passages and sharing stories with the locals around!

Colorful tiny town

The Coffee Triangle - which includes the pueblo towns of Salento and Filandia - has its own culture, diversity, food and of course, coffee. 
[☕️]
I was told that I would find the best cup of coffee in the world in Colombia’s Zona Cafetera. I found some of the tastiest beans in little vintage cafes with vintage coffee machines. The coffee plantations nearby offered tasting sessions too. Part of the fun Is to climb on the back of a colorful Jeep to get to the plantations.

On the Coffee Road, in the colorful town of Salento, the biggest attraction - besides the coffee and the arepas - is its traditional architecture of one- and two-story buildings, with walls painted white, and doors and window frames in the brightest of candy colors.

Coffee Culture

Georgia

Juta Valley is a wonderful area in Georgia near the
 Stepantsminda town. 
This picture was taken on the way to the mountain lake and it's absolutely breathtaking! I had a feeling that Iam in the movie "The lord of rings".
Must visit if you are in this area.
By the way my hobby is Film photography and this picture was made by olimpus om10, Kodak Portra 160

Juta Valley

Greece

Each evening, we wait for sunset to happen ... in fact the whole town stops whatever they are doing and gathers near the edges of the cliffs In Oia. 

It’s a ritual that we quickly make our own. We time our dinner, walks and activities so that we can get a prime seat to watch the performance. On the odd day that we miss it ... being on the wrong side of the caldera ... we feel we’ve missed a significant event in our day.

🌅 | 🌆 | 🌄

Each evening, the sun obliges and puts in a grand performance. 

The setting sun can look rather different in a cloudless sky. Santorini rarely has a cloud. Maybe one every two days ... making the sunset even more glorious. Flaws build character.

Cloudless Sunset

Guatemala

Smoke spewing volcano 🌋 that one can climb, tree blanketed mountains, pastel buildings, cobbled streets and quintessential garden courtyards with fountains give picture postcard views on every corner we turn.

The town Is made for walking with stone arches In bold colors, baroque architecture, churches from Spain and vibrant markets bursting with colorful woven garments like ponchos, hats & table cloth and handicrafts.

It’s the birthplace of chocolate 🍫 and there are several museums that teach how the Mayans made ‘the food of the gods’. Adjoining chocolate cafes serve decadent treats and chocolate liqueur.

The coffee ☕️ is divine too and apart from sampling the local shops, we visited a local plantation to learn about coffee making.

Antigua is one of our favorite Central American cities.

Colorful Markets

‘Lake Como surrounded by volcanoes’ is how Aldous Huxley described Lake Atitlan. 

The lake is surrounded by 11 ethnic towns and villages and we rented kayaks to explore the villages. We passed several fisherman in their cayucos and saw some birds but peacefulness was the prevailing sentiment.

We met an 82 year old woman weaver and her daughter in San Juan village who use only natural dyes for weaving their huipiles. While we caught only one word in four, we enjoyed a vigorous conversation on which animal and plant dyes they use to create color.

San Pedro village had very happening cafes and bars. Guatemalan coffee is as good as the best we have had with its high elevation and warm humid climate creating a well balanced coffee.

The Tzumen ‘Ya’ Museum was interesting to learn about the culture and lake formation.

Village Hop on Kayaks

Italy

Driving from Salerno on Autostrada A3 and picking up SS163 at Vietri sul Mareon, we catch our first sweeping views of Amalfi Coast with its cliff-edged promontory. “The road with 1,001 turns” is a vertigo-inducing experience. 

🚗

We keep asking - Is the ocean supposed to be this blue? New skill: we can now pick out the color Amalfi Blue in a set of paints.

There are lemons everywhere, and the locals claim their lemons are ‘as large as watermelons’. When life gives you giant lemons, you make Limoncello. 

🍋 

Amalfi town is perfectly positioned right on the water - food, beach and gelato - all at convenient walking distance to each other. We hop over to quieter towns (Ravello) and more stylish ones that levitate over the ocean (Positano), but Amalfi has the perfect sense of place. 

⛱

The Sirens in Homer’s Odyssey lured sailors to their doom on a rocky island that lies just off the Amalfi Coast. Watching the sun set over the town of Maiori … we embrace la dolce far niente.

Amalfi Town Hopping

Svalbard & Jan Mayen

On a rainy day, at 78°N, M/S Polar Girl sets out from Longyearbyen to Pyramiden. Even in dreary weather, there is joy in watching the puffins swimming alongside the boat.

Then we step on to the most surreal of ghost towns, Pyramiden, a Russian mining settlement with the northern-most statue of Lenin. 

The decision to abandon in the 90s was sudden. People were given just hours to leave. Signs of a hasty departure are everywhere. Dried up plants. Rusted playground swings. Utensils and stoves left in disarray. Hand-drawn artwork taped on the walls. 

The guide points out the men’s and women’s dorm buildings, euphemistically called London and Paris. Everything is trapped in a 1970s time-warp. A blast from the Soviet past. 

Trust Arktikugol (Arctic Coal), a Russian state owned coal mining company, continues to run this, now as a tourist destination. Perfect for filming a James Bond movie.

Back on the boat, we have views of the glacier and freshly barbequed burgers to cheer us up.

Mining the Past

I have traveled to Moab, Utah on more than one occasion and every time it has been an absolute blast! This small, more local town is home to some amazing things that you can’t find anywhere else. 

There is a place there that I travel to every time called Mill Creek Canyon. It is a short hike to a watering hole that supplies the river you will have to cross more than once. Once you reach the watering hole, you will find an amazing view and usually many friendly people depending on what time you go. 

Now, it can get pretty hot in Utah so don’t forget the water and the sunblock, as well as a swimming suit!

The main attraction there is the cliff jumping! You can climb up the small waterfall and there will be a small ledge where you can jump from into the freezing water below. Let me tell you, it’s an absolute blast that you will never forget! 

I highly recommend this location to all people, even if you’re just passing through

Hope to see you in Moab!

Argentina

Salta Province

Folklore Movement

China

Yunnan

Lost in Old Lijiang

Colombia

Antioquia

Colorful tiny town

Quindio

Coffee Culture

Georgia

Mtskheta-Mtianeti

Juta Valley

Greece

Decentralized Administration of the Aegean

Cloudless Sunset

Guatemala

Sacatepéquez Department

Colorful Markets

Sololá Department

Village Hop on Kayaks

Italy

Campania

Amalfi Town Hopping

Svalbard & Jan Mayen

Svalbard

Mining the Past

United States

Utah

Living it up in Moab