Paro | Hope, Faith and Happiness | I am completely fascinated by Buddhist prayer wheels. Our guide tells us that we should walk clockwise, turning the

walking - Fernwayer Travel Stories & Experiences

Bhutan

I am completely fascinated by Buddhist prayer wheels. Our guide tells us that we should walk clockwise, turning the wheel and chanting, “Om Mani Padme Hum”. “Will that give me extra strength to climb up to the Tiger’s Nest monastery tomorrow?”, I ask him. “Absolutely”, he says earnestly. Well, at least one of us has faith, I think to myself.

Paro Taktsang - or Tiger’s Nest monastery - hangs off a cliff at a dizzying 10,240 feet over the Paro Valley. It’s a 5 hour climb, punctuated with lunch. Not too tough, as it turns out. I must be fitter than I think. But the guide reminds me - “See, I told you so”. 

The hike (including getting to the trailhead) takes about 6-7 hours, depending on how much time you spend at the monastery. 4 miles round trip on a wide dirt trail. At the halfway point is a cafeteria - and for most people, getting to this point is the toughest part of the hike. Beyond this, both the scenery and the difficulty of the climb are in your favor.

Hope, Faith and Happiness

United States

Botswana

“But in the Kalahari, it's always Tuesday, or Thursday if you like. Or Sunday. No clocks or calendars tell you to do this or that.” - The Gods Must be Crazy

Walking with the Zu/’hoasi Bushmen of the Makgadikgadi Plains in the Central Kalahari, quintessential hunter-gatherers, I learned several things that I hope never to have to use - how to pronounce first names that are laden with clicks, collect plants for medicinal recipes, dig for scorpions, and make a fire with twigs and leaves.

Makgadikgadi means 'dry, dry', but the bush men and women know how to live in harmony with the land. Family and cultural ties are strong.

Thanks to Jack’s Camp for organizing this visit, they have longstanding connections with the local people.

Walking with Zu/’hoasi

Chile

San Pedro de Atacama is an oasis within the driest desert in the world at the very north of Chile. At more than 8000 feet above sea level, it sits in the center of a ring of volcanoes, the most famous of them being Licancabur. A couple of them still spew smoke. 
🌋 | 🌋 | 🌋 
Volcano climbing, consequently, is a very popular activity here ('why climb the volcanoes?’ - I ask. ‘Because you can!’- says the guide) and we are quickly put on a 4-day program to acclimatize ourselves to the altitude - with progressively higher altitude hikes to prepare us for the final climb. My favorite part of the hikes is the opportunity to capture the colors of the altiplano! That and the thrill of walking through the Mars like topography of the Atacama desert. 
🧗‍♀️ 
Climb Licancabur if you are an experienced climber, Toco or Corona for one day climbs. And you will have bragging rights forever for having climbed a volcano!

Volcano Climbing

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

Ethiopia

In Lalibela, I am moved by the devotion and faith of pilgrims who have walked for weeks, and hundreds of miles across the country, to celebrate Genna - Ethiopia’s Christmas - on January 7. Here, the year is 2011, since Ethiopia still observes a pre-Julian calendar. I am immediately taken in by the idea of being 7 years younger, albeit for a fleeting moment.

Pilgrims arrive early - between midnight to 5 am -  to get a prized standing spot inside the tiny but iconic Biete Gyorgis. As I watch pilgrims read from their bibles, often from inside their shroud, using a candle or torch, I realize I’ve never seen such fervor in worship. 

☦️
By 6:30 am, Biete Giyorgis, the iconic rock-hewn church of Lalibela, has no more standing space, so these pilgrims huddle outside and around trees and pray from their copies of the Bible, guided by the chanting from the church, that fills the air with spirituality. It’s poetic and beautiful.

Faith

Greece

The perfect way to view the red pumice layers of Santorini is to walk from Oia to Ammoudi. Just 214 steps down, the going down part was easy since the reward is a meal at one of Ammoudi’s legendary fish tavernas by the sea. 

🐙,| 🦑 | 🐡 

We buy fresh seafood by weight - the classic order of octopus and calamari along with some fish -  and it’s grilled right then and there. The sights and smells of the sea are so familiar and similar - whether in this hidden Santorini cove or at home in San Francisco.

[🧗]

The walk back up to Oia is challenging on a more than full stomach. As we reach the top, we see the setting sun and that makes it all worthwhile.

Fish Tavernas

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

The spectacular Mayan ruins of Tikal overrun by miles of  unspoiled jungle are extraordinarily rich in wildlife incl. the elusive jaguar. 🐆 

It’s one of the few UNESCO World Heritage sites that combines both cultural and natural richness and the 500+ sq km contains numerous remains of the Mayan civilization scattered across wetlands, savannah and tropical jungles teaming with birds and monkeys.

It was a thrilling experience to wander in a place that was one of the great cities of the world around 700 AD and wonder how people lived at that time. 

We went late afternoon to take advantage of the magical light falling on the structures and our guide, Daveed, was very helpful in highlighting the important sites and the life at that time. We enjoyed watching the sunset from the top of Temple IV. A perfect filming location for Yavin 4 in Star Wars.

After the sunset, we walked in the fading light to the spectacular Grand Plaza, relieved in Daveed’s assurance that the 🐆 is shy of humans.

Pyramids of Tikal

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

Iceland

I love Iceland for many reasons. The road trips are magical - and so is the light - perfect for photography. These are my recommendations for a drive from Reykjavik to the South of Iceland. 

1. Þingvellir National Park: Go to the Visitor’s Center for a great view, and get a driving map, or suggestions from there. Find Almannagjá – the space between the North American and Eurasian continental plates. I love the little church. Lots of easy walking paths.

2. From Þingvellir to Dyrhólaey: Stop at Seljalandsfoss (easy stairs to climb behind the waterfall), Skógafoss (set your tripod in the water to take an iconic waterfall photo, then climb up to the start of the lava from the Eyjafjallajökull eruption), Sólheimasandur (for haunting pictures of the airplane that crashed on the black sand beach, there’s no sign but the coordinates are 63 27.546-19 21.887).

Part 2 coming soon.

Icelandic Road Trip - Part 1

United Kingdom

Continuing my recommendations for a stunning drive to the South of Iceland -

1. From Dyrhólaey to Vik: Stop at Dyrhólaey for its sea arch and basalt blocks - turn from the Ring Road to the right to road 218, and drive that road to an end, you should see puffins at Reynisfjall cliffs, at Arnardrangur "Eagle rock” (very picturesque with Reynisdrangar and Reynisfjara in the background), at low tide, you can walk along the black beach and discover little caves and rock formations, and finally, the little village of Vik with its stunning black sand beach and sea stacks, worth visiting both at sunset and sunrise.

2.  From Vik to Stokksnes Headland. You will want to stop for pictures of the moss-filled lava flows on the sides of the highway. Go to Skaftafell Glacier National Park for a glacier walk. Then pause at Fjallsárlón glacial lagoon, a nice precursor to Jökulsárlón. I’ve always found sitting on the lagoon and watching the icebergs (barely) floating by absolutely therapeutic.

Icelandic Road Trip - Part 2

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

A slow-paced night photo walk. On foot over odd shaped cobblestones. 

It does not start well as it starts raining even as we take a cab to Pantheon to meet our local photographer and lose a wallet in the cab. We miraculously get It back (another story) and we start our walk .. lethargic, in deference to summer, but still aware of art and life.

We walk from the Pantheon through Piazza Navona to Ponte Vittorio Emmanuel for views over to the Vatican.  The streets are wet, and Piazza Navona is teeming with Romans doing la passeggiata, an evening ritual I wish we could reapply in other cities. 

Later, joining the locals in their celebration of Summer along River Tiber (Lungo il Tivera Roma) well into midnight, it is easy to forget all about work and settle more definitively into a vacation frame-of-mind. 

Afterwards, a stroll to Campidoglio for priceless views of the illuminated Roman Forum, seems like just the thing to do.

To Rome, With Love

On a sunrise photo-walk, we are at Piazza San Marco. At 5AM, it’s empty, other than for a few pigeons, and a photo enthusiast like ourselves. And we run across - with tripods - to get to the Canal looking out towards San Giorgio Maggiore Island.

Our objective? To watch and photograph gondolas swaying in the canals of Venice. It’s perfect for long exposure shots. The gondolas and docks are lit up by street lights and the sky has the perfect blend of dark and light.

We then rush over to the vaporetto stand near Europa & Regina Hotel overlooking Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute, for another Gondola scene (pictured) while the light is still good.

So, how many gondolas can you get into one frame?

We head out down the Grand Canal to the Rialto Fish Market. Some sellers are packing up after a good morning, but we’re able to get some great shots of everyday life. 

We walk back over Rialto bridge (great for photos of activity on the Canal) back to the hotel for breakfast.

How Many Gondolas?

Our plan: To walk through the magnificent Quiraing and climb to the base of the Needle, a 120 ft jagged pinnacle, for views of the Outer Hebrides.  

Weather forecast? Fair, says Harry, the winds will blow away the clouds and midges.

Highlights from the photo-hike: ☀️Awe-inspiring view of Loch Cleat (above). 💦 Scrambling over the steep cliffs on springy heather. 🐾 Checking out the structures that have been named — The Needle, The Prison, The Table — and naming those that haven’t. ⚡️Noting the exact moment when the weather turns on us. ❄️ Getting shrouded in mist and fog, and unwittingly playing hide-and-seek at the top of the ridge (this is, after all, where locals hid their sheep from raiding Vikings). 💨 Howling winds over 50 mph trying to gust us off the slopes. 💧Rain coming down in full force. ☁️ Feeling my spine tingle as clouds swirl around me in this unreal landscape.

Cinematic Drama

Staying at the Inn at Death Valley, we thought we would be able to get up just before sunrise and make a dash over to Zabriskie Point. In hind sight, we should have woken up a good 60 minutes earlier, since the viewpoint was packed with people as we got there. 


The stunning views of the badlands slowly fill up with yellow, orange, purple and brown colors - and every hue in between - as the sun comes up, totally makes up for the early rise. Once the sun has finished painting the badlands, it reaches out to color in the Panamint Range across the valley with gorgeous pinks and purples. If you want to avoid the crowds, do the 2.5 mile Badlands Loop hike. Right after the walk, you can drive the short 3 mile Twenty Mule Team Canyon loop drive before returning to Stovepipe Wells for breakfast. 

We had been told that the Death Valley National Park is all about extremes - and the Zabriskie Point is a visual representation of that.

Bhutan

Paro

Hope, Faith and Happiness

Botswana

Central District

Walking with Zu/’hoasi

Chile

Antofagasta

Volcano Climbing

Colombia

Antioquia

Colorful tiny town

Ethiopia

Amhara

Faith

Greece

Decentralized Administration of the Aegean

Fish Tavernas

Cloudless Sunset

Guatemala

Petén Department

Pyramids of Tikal

Sacatepéquez Department

Colorful Markets

Iceland

Southern Region

Icelandic Road Trip - Part 1

Icelandic Road Trip - Part 2

Italy

Campania

Amalfi Town Hopping

Lazio

To Rome, With Love

Veneto

How Many Gondolas?

United Kingdom

Scotland

Cinematic Drama

United States

California

Painting with Light