The Maya medicine woman smeared a handful of green, aromatic mud onto my forehead, binding it with a strip of cloth, as she had done on the soles of my feet and the palms of my hands. I looked like a mummy in mid-wrap. The "mud" was actually a poultice of ground cacao beans and nine medicinal herbs. … [Read More...]
Barkerville Celebrates its Chinese Heritage
The glow from hundreds of candle-lit paper lanterns provided the only light as we paraded up the dirt street into Canada's oldest Chinatown. I was marching in the ninth annual Mid-Autumn Festival in the historic town of Barkerville, British Columbia. One of the most important holidays of the … [Read More...]
10 Must-See Sacred Spaces in Peru that are Not Machu Picchu
The old saying about the journey being more important than the destination was never more appropriate than when I went … [Read More...]
Cave Art, Architecture And Ghosts Near The Grand Canyon
We bounced along a deeply-rutted dirt road from the Indian cave with its 3,000 year old petroglyphs and pictographs. We … [Read More...]
Aramu Muru’s Portal: Inter-Dimensional Doorway at Lake Titicaca
Aramu Muru Portal Aramu Muru’s Portal was not on the itinerary of our “Sacred Mysteries of Peru” tour, so visiting it … [Read More...]
Spirits Of Slain Enemies Protect Borneo Headhunter Village
KOTA KINABALU, MALAYSIA - Nine generations after a Kadazan warrior named Monsopiad became a headhunter, the spirits of … [Read More...]
Walking With Ghosts In Vancouver’s Haunted Gastown
I'd walked past the place hundreds of times without knowing that so many people had been killed there. A block south of … [Read More...]
Durian: the World’s Most Repulsive Fruit Moves Upscale
KUALA LUMPUR - “No Durians Allowed” has long been the rule in hotels, taxis, tour buses and airplanes throughout … [Read More...]
Hunting Tigers in India
The man with the sickle was passing sheaves of long grass to the thatcher on the roof, but the dozen tourists on the … [Read More...]
Kosrae, Pacific Island of Mystery
"The Mysterious Paradise Island" said the sign above the airport terminal door. I had just landed on Kosrae, one of the … [Read More...]
Earth’s Three Most Powerful Places
When people find out I’m a travel writer who focuses on pilgrimages to places of power, they frequently ask me, “What … [Read More...]
Ancient Stone Sculptures in Mamallapuram, India
The stone seemed alive with elephants, snakes, gods, goddesses, cats, mice and hundreds more fascinating creatures from … [Read More...]
Green Luxury in a Belize Rainforest
Was an enormous lion howling outside my thatched cottage? It sounded more like a T-Rex. I might have been worried if I … [Read More...]
Haunted Hopi Pottery in Arizona
It’s an awesome feeling to spot a piece of broken pottery among the weeds, pick it up and realize it was made nearly … [Read More...]