100 Travel Stories
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“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.” – Norman Vincent Peale
It is the time for Christmas – a time for joy, celebration and reflection, a time to look back to the year that has passed and prepare for the year ahead.
Looking back many years, the Christmas caught me in some unusual places such as in a deserted lounge of the Lagos airport, near the bridge over the river Kwai in Thailand, on the top of Carpathian Mountains or at a cabaret show in Havana.
“The mother art is architecture. Without an architecture of our own we have no soul of our own civilization.” – Frank Lloyd Wright
Kyoto Station 京都駅
Kyoto Station is one of the largest railway stations in the world. It opened in 1997 commemorating Kyoto’s 1,200th anniversary. The architecture is stunning, mixing a futurist style with traditional Japanese elements.
Modern Toilet
Eating from a toilet bowl may not be your idea of fine dining, but it is certainly a one-of-a-kind experience.
Enter the bizarre world of toilet-themed dining at the Modern Toilet Restaurant in Taipei’s Ximending district!
Welcome to Geneva, Switzerland! Geneva is a beautiful and culturally rich city located on the shores of Lake Geneva. It is known for its international organizations, stunning scenery, and vibrant cultural scene.
Also, Geneva is the most expensive city in Europe and the 5th most expensive city in the world*.
Spending four days in Geneva was enough to visit the city and to take one day trip to the nearby Chamonix resort, in France, for a touch of Mont Blanc, at Aiguille du Midi. Here’s a short travel guide accompanied by photos.
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The Piercing Ritual
One of the highlights of the Navaratri Hindu Festival are the religious rituals, such as the piercing of body parts.
Apparently the devotees experience no pain and they do not bleed from their piercings.
At the Navaratri festival in Bangkok I witnessed the cheeks piercing of a Hindu devout with a metal spear. View the piercing ritual step-by-step.
Navaratri is a festival dedicated to the worship of the Hindu deity Durga. The word Navaratri means ‘nine nights’ in Sanskrit, nava meaning nine and ratri meaning nights. During these nine nights and ten days, nine forms of Devi are worshipped. (Wikipedia)
In Bangkok the Navaratri Hindu Festival is celebrated every year during the ninth month of the lunar calendar mainly around the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple on Silom Road.
The roads around the temple are closed, making space for thousands of worshippers to pray and make offerings alongside hundreds of makeshift altars and stalls with flowers, food and souvenirs.
Aiguille du Midi (3,842 m), Mont Blanc
One day trip from Geneva, Switzerland, to Chamonix in France. Chamonix is one of the oldest ski resorts in France and the site where the first Winter Olympics took place in 1924.
One of the main attractions is the spectacular cable car trip from Chamonix to Aiguille du Midi 3,842 m (12,605 ft) – the highest vertical ascent cable car in the world. There is a change of cabin at 2,317 m. From here, the ascent is steep and directly, without any support pillar for a length of 2,867 m. (data from Wikipedia).