I flew from New York to London, dropped my bags off at the hostel, and hopped the first train to Salisbury.

It had been a long flight, but I was excited to reach one of the most popular sites in the world.

After about 2 hours, we pulled into Salisbury station. There’s a bus that picks up from the station, but I grabbed a cab since I was a little short on time and energy.

Soon, I was standing in front of Stonehenge!

While it was a little disappointing to see the Disney-esque path wrapping around Stonehenge, instead of walking up a pathless English countryside hill far from the road as I imagined, Stonehenge was a beautiful sight!

The texture of the stones and the colors aside the English countryside seemed to fit. The high rising blocks seemed totally natural.

The hills around Stonehenge rolled gently, and looked quite different than the busy city life of London.

How did they get the stones there? My taxi driver explained the theories to me, but I still don’t know what to think.

It was cold, the wind was strong, but I had reached my destination!

Sheep were on the other side of the path around Stonehenge. They seemed to be quite warm.

The best view of Stonehenge is from the last corner where it looks natural.

The sun began to set, and I headed back to my taxi for the train station.

It was a great daytrip from London!

My image of Mongolia was always that of endless rolling hills, wild horses, and a population wrapped in exotic national costumes from a past world forgotten by most. This past spring, I was able to see what it was like with my own eyes.

I wanted to visit Mongolia after seeing a photo of a monastery on Wikipedia from Gorkhi-Terelj National Park with one of the most majestic views ever.

We arrived on a bitterly cold April day with blue skies and remnants of snow still on the ground. Nobody was in sight, and we started the trek up the mountain towards the monastery.

We climbed the steps, turned around, and there it was- the view I had traveled thousands of miles to see:

The wind was so cold, and snow covered the leafless trees on the mountains in the distance. From my travels, I’ve seen that mountains look differently in each country, and a lot of the architectural designs of a country reflect the natural surroundings. Mongolian mountains roll smoothly on the bottom and are jagged at the top. It’s quite distinctive.

Above the front door of the monastery was a sign stating the name: The Aryapala Initiation and Meditation Center. As it turns out, the Internet was slightly wrong- it wasn’t quite a monastery!

A man was sitting on the steps near the top, who turned out to be the keeper of the center. He was friendly and easy to communicate with even though he spoke no English. We were invited inside and covered our shoes with cloth to keep from trekking outside elements into the beauty inside:

The colors were majestic. The light shined through the many windows and gleamed off the surfaces throughout the center.

At the head of the building were statues and a area to make offerings. You can see the shawls of traditional buddhist colors around, representing different feelings and wishes as well.

All the way around, there are paintings of what appear to be Buddhas and spirits along with an inscription about them or something involving them to teach the reader.

They were quite elaborate and beautiful to look at and read.

At the bottom of them, on the ledge, once could find what appeared to be salt.

You can see writing on this pillar. It appears to be Tibetan.

While the inside of the center was full of color and pageantry, the view outside stood to remind you that the center was one of the rare places in life where it is just as beautiful inside as it is outside:

We headed outside and discovered the elaborately painted symbols and stories created on the side and roof of the center. The ice reminds you of the temperature!

There was a railing encircling the center, and on each post one can see a tiny Stupa.

I love this photo as it captures all of my favorite elements of the center: the colors, the prayer wheels, the elaborate railing, the stupas, and the epic view! It’s hard to believe I was actually here:

Here you can see me on the steps of the center- it was so cold that I was wearing about five layers of clothing!

We stopped on our way back, and I snapped a shot of the Aryapala center in the way distance. If you put your cursor in the center of the photo and move it slightly to the right, you can catch a glimpse of it. It goes to show the scale of the endless nature and wide open spaces of Gorkhi-Terelj National Park!

And so continued my journey in Mongolia!

I only spent a day in Auckland, New Zealand, so I had to make the most of it. One of the best ways to see a city and it’s surrounding landscape is to head to the highest point. In Auckland, that is the Sky Tower!

You can see it when you look at the skyline from all views surrounding the city.

It’s centrally located right in the middle of Auckland.

I was there two days before Christmas, so it was fun to walk inside and see all the Christmas decorations even though it was warm summertime outside.

They had a giant christmas tree decorated with endless ornaments.

Once you reach the top, you are greeted with a great view of the city. These are the docks and the Auckland Harbour Bridge.

This picture shows the volcanic landscape of New Zealand, including Rangitoto Island in the distance.

I love the glass floors in towers like this, they always scare the heck out of you but then don’t give quite the same effect later in photos!

A rooftop pool in Auckland.

Looking out to the rest of the city of Auckland. My hotel, the City Lodge, was located in this area.

On the way out, I was able to catch somebody doing the Skyjump at the tower! They jump off the top and are brought down at full speed while attached to a harness. Unlike bungee, it slows towards the bottom and you don’t go bouncing back up. I would have loved to do it, but couldn’t afford it at the time.

My first time Scuba diving was off of Mana Island in the Mamanucas Islands of Fiji.

I stayed at Ratu Kini Dive Resort and went out each day with my instructor, Pedro, to complete the dives for my PADI open water diver license. We would gear up and head out into the clear blue Fiji waters to see a new diving sight.

On the final day of my dives, I was finally able to bring my underwater camera to snap some shots of the ridiculous colors I could see on the ocean floor. The coral and fish were brilliant bright colors, but didn’t come out so well in my photos. After a bit of research, I realized that it’s hard to get color in shots underwater without being very up close or using a flash. I know what to do next time!

We saw many things, including this sea cucumber.

Here you can see coral on the bottom of the ocean floor along with a striped fish. I think it might be a Barrier Reef Anemonefish (Amphiprion akindynos).

Above we saw what appears to be a Longfin Bannerfish (Heniochus acuminatus).

Pedro in his full scuba gear leading the way!

Not only was it my first time scuba diving, but it was my first time wearing (and using) flippers!

Shark! We were lucky enough to spot a few grey reef sharks below!

Bubbles rising as I breathe out from my scuba gear.

A school of small grey fish.

More Longfin Bannerfish swimming around the coral.

I took this picture of the coral a little closer and you can kind of see some of the detail and colors.

As we go higher and higher, the camera was able to pick up more color as there was more light.

Finally! You can see some of the red colored coral, even though it’s not so saturated. This color was common even in the other shots, although unable to be seen in the photos.

Here you can see how happy I was in Mana Island, Fiji! It was the weekend after Christmas and I had escaped the cold weather of Tokyo to enjoy paradise!

I visited The Great Wall of China at Simatai in March of 2008. It was epic!

It’s an easy day trip from Beijing in Miyun county, although really not so close to the city. It’s a great opportunity though to get a glimpse outside of the big city and see some rural settings of China.

You can see the mountains in the distance as you get closer and closer, and finally can begin to see details of the wall itself. It can give you goosebumps!

After buying your ticket, you head through some traditional looking buildings to begin the walk up to the wall. It doesn’t take too long and gives you time to build your anticipation!

A river splits the great wall- you can go left and cross a bridge for western Simatai or Jinshanling (another section of the Great Wall). Going to the right allows you to climb the steep east Simatai!

As you begin to climb Simatai, you can see a beautiful view behind you of the western side of the wall.

Terraced farms dot the mountains.

Simatai is great because it is largely untouched. Unlike other sections of the Great Wall of China, it has not been completely refurbished. It’s not so crowded and feels quite natural. It’s not a difficult hike up the wall, but it’s not totally easy either. You can feel fairly large temperature and wind changes on the climb up, and it’s easy to get exhausted if you are not used to climbing lots of slopes and stairs!

There are many towers that dot the wall as you climb up. They are empty inside, but often have interesting detail or stonework on both the outside and the inside. They are a nice place to escape the sometimes strong winds!

This was one of my favorite views down as I climbed Simatai. You could really feel how high up you were, and could see how the wall appeared to go on forever.

The 14th tower is the highest you can go on the eastern side of Simatai. Past this tower, the wall becomes much more difficult and dangerous, and the authorities decided to close this section to the public a few years ago. From this tower, you can see the first difficult section: the Heavenly Ladder. Past, you would encounter the Fairy Tower (17), the infamous Sky Bridge,  and then the highest of them all: Wang Jing Tower.

I dream of someday making it to the top!

As you head back down the wall, you can’t but be overwhelmed by the beauty of the wall, bricks, and the landscapes in the distance.

When you get to the river, you have a choice. You can either walk down or strap on to a zip line and careen down to the base of Simatai!

We chose the zip line- and it was incredibly exciting!

Simatai is a great place to see the Great Wall of China in it’s natural state!

On my recent trip to Australia I visited Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock. It’s a giant red colored rock in the middle of the Australian outback at the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.

It’s a fantastic place, 348 m high, with literally nothing around it for as far as the eye can see.

There are two ways to get to Uluru / Ayers Rock.

You can fly into Alice Springs and take a bus across the outback. This is the cheaper option.

You can otherwise use Qantas Airlines to fly right into the small Ayers Rock Airport. I chose this option as I was pressed for time.

If you look out the window of the airplane as you approach, the colors below are amazing. It feels like you are above another planet!

Once you arrive at the Ayers Rock Airport, you can easily transfer to the Ayers Rock Resort in Yulara by a free shuttle bus. The Ayers Rock Resort is the only place to stay near Ayers Rock.

The weather is unbelievably hot! I am from Florida, but I’ve never experienced heat like when I walked off of the airplane! It was past 40 degrees celsius outside.

The resort itself is a nice place- there are free shuttle busses that take you around and a “town center” with a pretty large supermarket. However, there aren’t so many choices when it comes to finding lunch!

There are several hotels to choose from at the Ayers Rock resort- most are expensive- but the budget choice is the Outback Pioneer Lodge:

For less than $50 a night, you can grab a bed in an air conditioned large or small dormitory. They also offer private accommodations, but they are quite expensive. The grounds are beautifully kept and it’s really an experience to stay there in itself:

It’s actually a pretty interesting hotel- there is a great barbeque restaruant where you buy your choice of meat (including kangaroo or crocodile) and cook it by yourself on the grill!

But you don’t come to Ayers Rock for the accommodation, you come to see the rock itself!

The Outback Pioneer Lodge has a great viewing platform just a few steps from the hotel rooms. You start off climbing a little bit of a hill:

When you get to the top, you can see what you came for:

Hello Uluru!

From the Pioneer Lodge, I booked a van with Uluru Express to take me to Uluru for sunset and then back to the hotel.

It took us up close first where we could snap some pictures:

We then settled back and watched as Uluru magically changed color as the sun fell from the sky:

The color soon began to change:

Then it became brilliant:

It wasn’t the most red that it gets, but the colors were still amazing!

For me though, it was at the end of sunset that was the most magnificent:

The combination of colors was breathtaking- not just with Uluru- but with the area surrounding and the clouds and the sky:

We then got back into the van and it took us back to the hotel.

But we saw one more thrill- Kata Tjuta / The Olgas appeared in the distance:

What a beautiful adventure in the center of Australia!

Are you afraid of heights? I am!

But I decided to go bungee jumping anyway at Macau Tower during my visit to Macau. You have to face your fears sometime to get over them, right?

After arriving at the port via hour long ferry from Hong Kong, we took a local bus to the foot of Macau Tower. Several bus routes go there, so you won’t have trouble finding it:

The tower is massive! You can easily see it on the Macau skyline and from nearly every unobstructed view in the city. From below, it stands tall:

The bungee jump happens 233m (746ft) up the tower at AJ Hackett Macau. They have a beautiful operation and offer many different experiences at the tower and in other locations.

After taking my information, I was fitted with a harness and safety equipment:

Then they weighed me to know which bungee cord to use. And a few tourists decided to ask for pictures!

It was time to head outside and get the last touches of gear on:

Finally, it was time to walk the plank!. At this point, I was definitely nervous! But there was no turning back. It was time to jump!

5, 4, 3, 2, 1, go! Because of the safety gear (and my trembling legs from the incredible height) it was impossible to actually jump. Instead, you basically fall forward.

And for a split second after you know there’s no turning back, and you realize you just literally jumped off a building:

It was amazing! I felt totally calm after the initial shock. The fall felt so natural- not as fast as I thought it would feel (but still exhilarating!)- and it was smooth:

At the end of the first fall, the bungee cord pulls you back up and down for a few more vertical movements. There is a small latch you can pull that allows you to sit hanging upright instead of upside down by just your legs.

When all is finished, you stop pretty much in the middle of the tower, between the ground and peak of the tower. They gently lower you down towards the ground, where you are unhooked and can head back up to the top to collect your photos and souvenirs:

On your journey down, you can see an unbelievable view of Macau and it’s waterways.

And you can reflect on how you just survived the World’s Highest Bungee Jump!

The Tian Tan Buddha on Lantau Island in Hong Kong is a majestic sight!

The Tian Tan Buddha Statue is the world’s largest, seated, outdoor, bronze Big Buddha statue.

The adventure starts at the Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car terminal. You can get to the Cable Car by local train from Hong Kong or Kowloon. You can also reach the Tian Tan Buddha by bus, but it doesn’t offer the spectacular views that the cable car does!

Once aboard your cable car, you head off towards the mountains over a beautiful body of water:

The cable car climbs higher and higher, with a pure nature in front, and a view of the Hong Kong International Airport and runways behind:

As you rise over the tall mountain, something special appears in the distance:

The Tian Tan Buddha! It’s a truly epic approach. It’s size and placement on the mountains are enough to easily give you goosebumps:

The end of the cable car leads to a small community. There are souvenir shops, restaurants, and even a neighborhood Starbucks, for your Iced Chai Latte fix!

If Starbucks isn’t your style, you can get a quick drink or snack at the 7-Eleven:

Follow the road to get to the foot of the stairs leading up to the Buddha. It is then that you first see the full size and splendor from head on:

The face of the Buddha up close:

He enjoys a beautiful view of Lantau Island in Hong Kong, including nature and the Po Lin monastery:

Several statues face the Buddha offering gifts:

The beautiful views aren’t so far from the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong and Kowloon- and it’s a fantastic experience to see first hand!

The night markets of Dongdaemun in Seoul, South Korea bustle all through the night

I arrived in Seoul, South Korea late in the evening and headed towards my hotel at the Dongdaemun Stadium subway stop.

As I got off the train and emerged from the station, I was greeted by many lights and sounds

In the other direction, I noticed many stalls in the distance. As I got closer I realized they were night markets, stretching as far as the eye could see.

People were shopping in the middle of the night!

The stands had a variety of items- shirts, pants, sunglasses, wallets, and much more. The vast majority of items were popular world fashion brands, but quite clearly weren’t authentic. For example, “designer” sunglasses were priced below 20000 won, or about $20 usd.

There were a few stalls with men’s clothing and accessories, but the vast majority were for women. For the most part, prices were not clearly marked. Calculators were on hand though to bridge the language gap for haggling!

The bright neon lights of Seoul were amazing. These neon colors were a different shade compared to the signs in Japan and China. Seoul has it’s own palette.

Near the stall markets there were many large multistory buildings full of even more clothes and accessories. Some stayed open through the night, some were only open during the day.

The Dongdaemun Shopping Complex closed early in the night

This bridge was in between the Dongdaemun and Dongdaemun Stadium subway stops.

I headed towards my hotel at about 2:00am. The streets were still buzzing for the most part, although some stalls had begun to shut down for the night.

Seoul stays up quite late!

We left the tiny domestic airport in Kathmandu via Buddha Air on our way to the eastern Nepal city of Bhadrapur.

As we approached for the landing, it was clear that Bhadrapur was different than Kathmandu:

The mountains were gone!

The plane landed on the runway, turned around, and taxied on the same runway back to the yellow Chandragadhi Airport. We got off the plane, and instantly felt the heat!

We found a taxi van to take us to Kakarvitta, where you can cross the Mechi River Bridge to get into India:

The palm trees had coconuts:

And the water buffalo sought water to cool down:

But we finally made it to Kakarvitta in one piece:

A sign outside the immigration building read:

Kakarvitta is on the Nepal-India border at the eastern end of the 922-km long East-West Highway. It is a 610-km drive (13 hrs.) from here to Kathmandu. The Mechi river bridge marks the boundary between Nepal and India. On the Indian side, Gangtok the capital of Sikkim is 146 km (a four-hour drive) and Darjeeling is 113km (three hours). Kakarvitta marks the eastern end of Mechinagar Municipality.

We got our passports stamped and paid a man to take us across the bridge via rickshaw. It seemed a little dangerous to cross via foot between the heat, traffic, and the fact that nobody else seemed to be crossing by foot!

One man seemed to be pushing an impossible load:

On the other side of the bridge, we got off the rickshaw and I tipped the driver well.

We got our passports stamped at Indian immigration, and were on our way in a shared jeep to Siliguri with 8 other people:

The jeep had apparently seen some action in it’s day. It constantly stalled out on gear changes and had what appeared to be either a patched rock or bullet hole in the windshield:

We passed beautiful landscapes and beautifully decorated trucks:

We finally arrived in Siliguri, a large town near the border, but were only passing through. Our ultimate destination was Darjeeling!