hackwriters.com - Hacktreks World Travel Pages 2011 - Backpackers and Weekenders abroad - Adventure Travel and Personal Journeys worldwide
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The International Writers Magazine: Travellers Across the Globe
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I have just returned from an incredible musical experience, a 10-day music cruise on the Baltic Sea with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
For 15 years it was my home. I have lived in England for over four years now and my image of Latvia has been put into a perspective.
‘Sahara’ is the Arabic word for desert and in Tunisia there are three different parts: sand, stones and salt
My Fabulous Expatriate Life
Oooooh, you're an expatriate. That must be so exciting!
Its a relief to leave Karditsa in Thessaly, central Greece, a dry, inland area, and head for Naxos, the largest island in the Cyclades.
I took a deep breath, couldn’t decide where to finally rest my amazed eyes
Six-year old Mariame and two of her brothers would soon leave their mud brick home to walk the dusty road to my house. Our lives crossed 20 years ago in the West African country of Côte dIvoire
Bohemian Rhapsody or Bozo Nightmare? Alchemy and Apparatchik Chic in Prague
Michaela Abrera in Berlin
Complacency tends to sneak up on you. What was once a place of awe and wonder becomes a banal aspect of your everyday life.
Poland - A Country of Doubts - David Russell
My invitation to the UNFCCC conference on Climate Change in Bonn in early April had me scuttling around for my visa at the last minute.
This was my second trip to Bonn and this time round, the UNFCCC outdid itself by housing us in the fabulous heritage Hotel Loreley, on the banks of the river Rhine
Fish Eye Was More Than Just A Lens
To make things worse, I dont have any euros, and whats left of my Czech money I need to last till Friday. So any form of public transport is out of the question. That leaves me with just one option - hitch hiking
The barman is staring at me. The intensity of his gaze is unnerving and I look away.
when looking to get far away from busy cities but not into a deep country, to get exposed to extreme culture & art while being close to nature  it was Denmark that ticked all the boxes.
The Azores, Portugal consists of nine major islands. They are actually the tops of some of the tallest mountains on the planet. Located in the Atlantic 1500 Km from Lisbon, this area is also known as the Autonomous Region of the Azores
Another Travel Guide Riga - Una Meistere, Daiga Rudzate, & Kirils Kirasirov an insiders’ look at unknown, mysterious or romantic places in and around Riga
The apartment itself smelled like old pickles upon first entering - tantalizing, I know
Firenze, or as we know it as Florence, was the city where Michaelangelo the famous Italian artist, sculptor was born.
Robert Cottingham goes to Europe
The holiday started at the Madrid International Airport. The two came from Amman and Rome with their planes touching down a couple of hours from each other
From the black and white cranes of Estonia to the endangered lammergeyers of northern Spain birds have always held a fascination for travel writer Brendan Harding
An 18th century watch in Jaipur
No other city of Morocco can compare to that of Fes
The City of Dreams, with its grandiosity and high ceiling buildings recalling great palaces, has received over 6 million visitors since the beginning of this year.
The more we explored this parched land, the more we were greeted with surprises.
On the 18th July I and my teammate Freya Liiv left Goodwood in a bid to drive nearly 10,000 miles to the capital of Mongolia.
Alicia Hunt in Japan
When the doors open brace yourself...
We clamber onto the traditional longtail boat and head for a turquoise-blue waterway, en route to one of Thailands tranquil islands, Koh Yao Noi
Kodai Hill Country Resort
With an audible plop a large yellow leaf fell off the African Tulip tree just outside our balcony window, while I sat sipping my coffee.
It is 4.30am, total solar eclipse day Huangshan - China- The residents of the Bei Hai hotel have been shouting and moving outside for over an hour to jostle with each other to find a good spot to see the sun rise.
A Lesson Within the City Walls - Beth A. Prazenica
When I travel, I make a point of doing what the locals do as much as possible, you know, be a traveler not a tourist. But sometimes youre better off just being a tourist.
Jon W Wick
Im going to let you in on a little secret. I know the source of those tourist ad campaigns where a sweeping shot of the most beautiful beach imaginable is shown
Slowly and deliberately, she lowered her face to her hands as they dropped scoops of water over her head.
After a hiatus of five years, we decided to hit the road and do Ooty (Ootacamund) and Coonoor for three days.
Our mission was to discover the Beypore lighthouse. So we set out on a nice bright day our hearts singing with joy and overflowing with enthusiasm
I have always been interested in Cambodia and so was excited at the chance of seeing it, in going on an adventure
From Saigon to Angkor by bike - Jeff Fitzgibbon
Its hot, its flat and its straight as a rail, but for all that, cycling in Cambodia is an exhilarating multi-dimensional experience if just for a moment, the piglets stopped their squealing.
"You dont know anything about my life," my friend Enrique tells me. Were sitting on the floor in the Huembes bus station, watching the tortilla vendors and shoe shiners amble by. I think about Enriques words. The fact is, hes right.
"Well stop here", whispered our driver, Meiza. Here, being the side of a dirt road late one afternoon while returning to camp from an afternoon game drive on the Serengeti.
Riding Elephants in Nepal
At Chitwan National Park in Bharatpur, Nepal on Lumbini Airlines our planned highlight was to take jungle photos of Leopards or Tigers from up high on the haunch of an elephant.
Loan Words in a unique language
As darkness fell, we walked out into the water on concrete jetties covered in small, scuttling crabs
Running Marathons in Thailand
Think you are tough? Try the Pattaya Marathon in the heat.
Steven Tizzard in Shiraz, Iran
Visitors soon realise that the only fanatical thing in Iran is the hospitality. The only thing you have to fear is repaying this hospitality one day.
Located in the foot hills of the Himalaya, this holy city was internationally made famous by The Beatles back in late sixties.
We decided to take a drive down to Chikmagalur, to The Serai Hotel and Spa.
Dinh promised me that I would get a taste of the real Vietnam, en route to the floating market in Can Tho
It’s summertime and the living is easy, it’s time to head out of town. So we decided to head to Turtle Bay in Kundapura, which is on the coast of Karnataka in India.
Founded by the British in 1812. It is still comparatively unspoilt and a veritable Shangri-la
Bird of Paradise(HomeStay)
We began our journey in Shanghai’s Old Town, whose history goes back for at least one thousand years.
“You are mad!” Ken, my Kenyan housemate, concurred. “Why do you want to go there? Turkana is nothing but desert and bandits. Nobody goes there!”
Horatio Quiroga's San Ignacio:
Cloak & dagger Cuba
“The Most Spectacular Train Trip in the World” as the Rocky Mountaineer Railway is billed, begins with a taxi ride through the deserted streets of Calgary at 5 o’clock in the morning.
J E Biggar
There was one place where I was allowed to be a child and that was during our annual vacations to Prince Edward Island.
We sailed 1,800 miles and made 7 ports-of-call, in total on the classy Sea Cloud II.
piece of paradise on earth rich in nature and archeology
Ben Hill in California
I came for Point Mugu State Park, the five-mile stretch of raw land between Malibu and Oxnard where Pacific Coast Highway runs free
When I first came to the Northwest at the age of twenty I was introduced to lots of animals and plants that I had never seen. Marmots, mountain goats, skunk cabbage
There were no cowboys at Calgary Airport. A small observation, but important to travellers like us, whose total experience of Canada was gleaned from books in which the Mountie always got his man.
We drove to Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, to see the graves of a few famous writers completely unprepared for what we found there.
Catch a ride to Whistler
Whistler is definitely the place for making tracks -now you can get there on The Whistler Mountaineer
It was of Vermont in winter that the poet Robert Frost once mused: "The woods are lovely, dark and deep But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep..."
This lush 180 kilometer strip of shoreline, sandwiched between Pacific waves and coastal peaks, receives around 2,400 hours of annual sun.
Being a Vancouverite, Ive always had a soft spot for North Americas favourite playground
Glancing Back from Guayaquil - Tyrel Nelson
The state of North Dakota is rather boring until you get to Devils Lake
We left Jasper National Park at 0600 hoping to find a bear early in the morning.
North To Alaska - Part 9
Headed toward Homer, Alaska, a 180 mile run.
I saw a trail up Pompey Peak on a topographic map. It looked like it started at an elevation of 1000' just east of Randall
Marthas Vineyard, popularly known as an exclusive summer spot for the wealthy and well-known, is, in actuality, a vacation locale where thousands of visitors pour ashore each year.
Ask a half dozen people in Acapulco, what the most important attraction was in their city. Everyone without hesitation answered "the Cliff Divers at La Quebrada. You must see them"
Lydia, my youngest daughter, has spent most of her life on the tiny island of Oahu. I arranged for Lydia and I to take a journey together to some unfamiliar territory where she could practice her Spanish.
We drove on the Côte de Beaupré following one of the oldest thoroughfares in North America on our way from Quebec City to Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré.
Nobody tells you that visiting Las Vegas will make you fitter, but it does... you’re going to do a lot of walking.
The Puertos of Patagonia
In shades of grey rather than clear black and white - that is how many people imagine dolphins to appear
Visit the Rose Farm of Eastern Quebec
Rose dechamps - learn the history of Roses here
Imagine, a road that runs from Alaska all the way down to Tierra del Fuego inspiring wanderlust along the way. The Pan-American Highway is just that
Much to see - bring a camera
Morocco: Europe meets Middle East
Guatemalan delights and fevered brows
You can see us, in filthy dog-eared trousers or a bedraggled t-shirt which is three sizes too big and falls past our grotty knees
C Andrew Beck
Dine with Ghosts in St Charles
Vet Your Travel Agency
Prof G M Prabhu
Avoid getting ripped off on your way to India
Nothing could prepare in advance for my arrival to Leopold Serigne Senghor airport in Senegal, West Africa.
J. D. Riso in Majuro Atoll
Kwajalein. Ailinglaplap. Jaluit. Bikini. Their names dance across my mind like an ancient incantation.
I felt the cool, salty water soaking my pant legs and the level was rising rapidly. Soon it would be up to my waist, and there was nothing I could do about it
When I was invited for the Third Pole Project: Covering Climate Change in the Himalayas from August 28th to September 2nd, 2009, I jumped at the chance as it was a project close to my heart.
Half way up Kilimanjaro I found myself abandoned, first by the fleet-footed porters, then by my guide, and finally by my own mother. The trek had begun several days before under highly questionable circumstances
We arrived late, tired and dishevelled at the Prince of Wales Backpackers in Bundaberg. Enquiries like So how is it here? were met with muted derision and raised eyebrows
A journey into the largest city in Africa, without mention of the Pyramids
Tehran is a very large and beautifully picturesque city with many hidden worlds within worlds to discover, which runs downhill from the foothills of the Alborz Mountains in the north all the way down to the edges of the Dasht Kavir desert in the south.
As we plunge through the cottony clouds, we get a breathtaking view of the snow-capped Pyrennees.
We headed to Arta Beach in an effort to see the worlds largest fish, the whale shark. And we were not only going to see whale sharks, we were going to swim with them.
Slingshots in Asia
Vietnam language skills
I smelled it in the air, a distant yet vaguely familiar scent that called to me as much as it repulsed me. The compound was full of children, orphans every one yet happy to be in school - to be given any small chance in life.
Ilana Levi in Belize
Everyone but Martha put on their diving masks and snorkels. She had dreaded this moment
History seen through a community The history of Africa is written in the faces of the people who live it through their daily struggle
Shuffling out of town along the coastal road, it occurred to me how easily the spell of civilization is broken, and how easily this void is filled. In Taghazoute a few yards walk suffice to carry you away, the hustle of a weekend market immediately fading to cactus strewn hills...
The wipers clear the fresh cache of snow from our windshield. "Whats with this?" I say to my husband whos sitting in the drivers seat of our rented Chevy. "I thought wed be escaping this white stuff."
Of all the travelling I have done with my husband, January's Caribbean cruise must rank as one of the more bizarre experiences, bringing out the worst in me
Eli was one of a kind, his unbounded chutzpah took us places we’d never find on our own
The Alternative Trans-Siberian Railway
The lesser known Baikalo-Amurskaya Magistral (Baikal-Amur Mainline or BAM) runs for 3400 km through beautifully bleak Siberian landscape.
As the plane banked into Nairobi I wondered if I was imagining it. The skies seemed bluer and the cloud formation breathtakingly dramatic.
John and his ex friend Sue went to communist Central Europe to czech it out, and find out the hard way that private nightclubs mean much more than dancing
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