High Speed Rail With our convoluted tickets booked, we boarded the high speed train from Taichung to Taipei. The trip only took an hour for the 165km journey. At one point the display read 283km per hour. We were all…
Circling the Sun, Moon and Encouraging Elders: Sun Moon Lake
Guest post by Jonathan Baggs Sun Moon Lake Sun Moon Lake is one of the most popular destinations in Taiwan for visitors and locals. The lake is the largest in the country at just under 8 square kms and is…
A Gorge-ous View: Hiking and Camping in Toroko in the Rain
One of the top destinations to visit in Taiwan is Taroko Gorge in Taroko National Park. The gorge runs between steep mountains, up to 3000m high, with a small river running through it. While doing our research, we realized the…
Dark Days in Jiufen
Up early as we were still on Canadian time, we had a leisurely breakfast from 7/11 (actually really good coffee including lattes for about $2, which would quickly become a staple), we walked to the main train station in Taipei…
Chapada Diamantina National Park
Guest post by Jonathan Baggs One of the places I was really interested in visiting in Brazil was Chapada Diamantina National Park. The park is known for its steep, rock face cliffs leading to deep valleys and there are lots…
Dunes & Donkeys in Jericoacoara
After three weeks travelling around the states of Rio and Minas Gerais, we headed north for the second leg of our trip through Brazil.
Ilha Grande- Penal Colony turned Island Paradise
It wasn’t easy to leave behind our beautiful apartment in Rio for the prospect of four nights of camping, but we knew Ilha Grande would be worth it. A formal penal colony, it was now a tropical paradise accessible from…
Steep Streets and Steeples in Ouro Preto
Guest post by Jonathan Baggs Escaping the Rain with our First Acai We arrived in Ouro Preto from Belo Horizonte in the mid afternoon heat. The Rodoviaria (bus station) was on the edge of town and we planned to go…
Petropolis: a Summer Retreat for Cariocas
After camping in Paraty, we were all excited to move in for three nights to a spacious three bedroom apartment in Petropolis. About two hours north of Rio, Petropolis has long been a summer escape for wealthier Cariocas (people from…
Hiking Mt. Kenya
After another night in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, and walking to the airport from the hostel, I arrived in Nairobi at night and grabbed a taxi to my hotel in a very sketchy (but convenient) neighbourhood near all…