tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43167915323863649692024-03-19T07:58:12.448-05:00Adam Smith AdventuresA travel blog devoted to helping and inspiring others to get out and see the world.Adam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907165268583977683noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316791532386364969.post-73441034757642047642019-04-05T15:37:00.001-05:002019-04-05T15:38:25.259-05:00A Photographic Journey Through South Dakota<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOBliCfiqAMVs0F8-ZTTeu5uOmj-Fhb5j4z4-eGLeLNWmoxsz731lj16kQU46FY1SCNBAS-o5u1oOEiqtJy_YWoYzBxOrEwM_cEwgZZtWNCMaa7GW88J-fgHOKXifxRlenYTsRm0vgDq8/s1600/Badlands_sunset-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOBliCfiqAMVs0F8-ZTTeu5uOmj-Fhb5j4z4-eGLeLNWmoxsz731lj16kQU46FY1SCNBAS-o5u1oOEiqtJy_YWoYzBxOrEwM_cEwgZZtWNCMaa7GW88J-fgHOKXifxRlenYTsRm0vgDq8/s400/Badlands_sunset-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thunderstorms in the distance helped paint this incredible sunset <br />
from the Pinnacles overlook at the Badlands</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2KPGPhsDHHH8WBRfI5aZDluV9Ys4E2ytH2hUFD0L8VHKtjvlCs4fL-slySQ47NRD7rkfIPsGvqIgqe4f0LBi0svI824h_PmrwqMniQ2p6TKWszmN5B4pjk0P4MQ4jb2YyT4e0rhgIKpc/s1600/badlands_national_park_sky-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2KPGPhsDHHH8WBRfI5aZDluV9Ys4E2ytH2hUFD0L8VHKtjvlCs4fL-slySQ47NRD7rkfIPsGvqIgqe4f0LBi0svI824h_PmrwqMniQ2p6TKWszmN5B4pjk0P4MQ4jb2YyT4e0rhgIKpc/s320/badlands_national_park_sky-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The further west you head through the park, the better the views get. <br />
This spot was just spectacular. It's almost impossible to get a bad photo here!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6SYu0RuX-g2gOz7s6e024FMrZYZWzOtbRd4ToER1Ygufd9x11ZV5BAbyfPhjLdrndcvh8CHIx5Vywlh_E8Aihh2scbOUqiTidMIvGj67fHMougkU1Hb5po41w-kX7jhqV3rUqBJgoheg/s1600/South_Dakota_roadtrip-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6SYu0RuX-g2gOz7s6e024FMrZYZWzOtbRd4ToER1Ygufd9x11ZV5BAbyfPhjLdrndcvh8CHIx5Vywlh_E8Aihh2scbOUqiTidMIvGj67fHMougkU1Hb5po41w-kX7jhqV3rUqBJgoheg/s320/South_Dakota_roadtrip-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Got a shot of my wife while we were hiking through the unique terrain</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The entrance to D-09 - a decommissioned missile silo not far from the entrance to the Badlands and part of a National Historic Site itself</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Near The Notch trailhead</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This ladder was one of the main reasons I wanted to hike The Notch, it isn't quite as steep as it looks <br />
but was still a fun part of a great trail</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the views from The Notch lookout</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFcvBcD23k8pn5ibVMCDfb7TkeVgBvc0E5pBLlzfue9imJg3-FtgNS4yJCAqgr9BVdN5HbdLiTl9Qt-lDJ_tLBXx35AVrrxVQ7ZmT43HFwEQbAfFXgCs3Gtf_f8NXmK9AAlOrXWASKxw0/s1600/South_Dakota_roadtrip-9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFcvBcD23k8pn5ibVMCDfb7TkeVgBvc0E5pBLlzfue9imJg3-FtgNS4yJCAqgr9BVdN5HbdLiTl9Qt-lDJ_tLBXx35AVrrxVQ7ZmT43HFwEQbAfFXgCs3Gtf_f8NXmK9AAlOrXWASKxw0/s320/South_Dakota_roadtrip-9.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The colors at this view were just so vibrant. <br />
Would have loved to be here a little later with some better light</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ3g4A_9gzSXRxmsKeP5RuDEfYwfr9IH5L80cEF3ATv-DtffU59yF_cPlO-xXXjd-hDYuEpOu5RfxHk3rttUWp4bNKhQIEzHrhBDBkfhAdPjG6iM2hFBkOxyUV8fD-dqgi9-_z5_4FJC4/s1600/South_Dakota_roadtrip-13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ3g4A_9gzSXRxmsKeP5RuDEfYwfr9IH5L80cEF3ATv-DtffU59yF_cPlO-xXXjd-hDYuEpOu5RfxHk3rttUWp4bNKhQIEzHrhBDBkfhAdPjG6iM2hFBkOxyUV8fD-dqgi9-_z5_4FJC4/s320/South_Dakota_roadtrip-13.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset + Thunderstorms + Badlands = a great way to end an incredible day</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzM0IVv_KLg5NVkHywSIciOJAWxmmOBVmODF2IylT9Y5YKKSLPkD6KSrtxsBA24o9j02tDg09Xm4muDJeEZbQvGfditsH_KAaTj9xOTW2FbbvHJdsqnn3wOLZvHd9TvYHzPBABCa_eoPE/s1600/South_Dakota_roadtrip-12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzM0IVv_KLg5NVkHywSIciOJAWxmmOBVmODF2IylT9Y5YKKSLPkD6KSrtxsBA24o9j02tDg09Xm4muDJeEZbQvGfditsH_KAaTj9xOTW2FbbvHJdsqnn3wOLZvHd9TvYHzPBABCa_eoPE/s400/South_Dakota_roadtrip-12.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's not a South Dakota roadtrip without spotting at least a few buffalo. Loved the look of this one with the setting sun glistening off of him.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With the sun rapidly fading, the colors changed equally as fast.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Custer State Park,on the trail towards Black Elk Peak</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdU1IRaVg8XybgCPKcx9RrkJlAaOtgrgOCFk-aBK7F2Nz4ThUSxK9UTs_-I4FSHXVKrKpnKda6L3DZMXDeXGyndBcC15mQI1vLdGaCUK4jr69lw_3_AVdBG8_m8n3bXa1wbn8dDNqfszU/s1600/South_Dakota_roadtrip-16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdU1IRaVg8XybgCPKcx9RrkJlAaOtgrgOCFk-aBK7F2Nz4ThUSxK9UTs_-I4FSHXVKrKpnKda6L3DZMXDeXGyndBcC15mQI1vLdGaCUK4jr69lw_3_AVdBG8_m8n3bXa1wbn8dDNqfszU/s320/South_Dakota_roadtrip-16.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Note even to the top yet, but the views were already huge. All of the haze was from wildfires hundreds of miles away</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyrZUy6x-fs45NBA-mjvH0iXhHtXjRwF8X1ju6SkVRFPjAB3nPaOvptS3iEtPnnLu0QtGoEW-c6AQoGSuu4E3wL7Dxg9NpWTP5nORzAI77v73i7rrwozN6YrSH58CBkkEhbVmrl5i4ztw/s1600/South_Dakota_roadtrip-17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="363" data-original-width="1600" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyrZUy6x-fs45NBA-mjvH0iXhHtXjRwF8X1ju6SkVRFPjAB3nPaOvptS3iEtPnnLu0QtGoEW-c6AQoGSuu4E3wL7Dxg9NpWTP5nORzAI77v73i7rrwozN6YrSH58CBkkEhbVmrl5i4ztw/s640/South_Dakota_roadtrip-17.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panoramic view from the summit. The highest Mountain east of the Rockies in the US.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXoVjn1R-ohufV91LrgFSs473l7rVIeCafpmpuiGyT4KNuo-LI12x7W4Cj1twXR6Mt3u8eb4KScPXhnJslgvbZoWL37wXFXacTDB4klIJXzh6QaKeWDJnqcePKahJLfjKaYVCWrgEr7dw/s1600/South_Dakota_roadtrip-19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXoVjn1R-ohufV91LrgFSs473l7rVIeCafpmpuiGyT4KNuo-LI12x7W4Cj1twXR6Mt3u8eb4KScPXhnJslgvbZoWL37wXFXacTDB4klIJXzh6QaKeWDJnqcePKahJLfjKaYVCWrgEr7dw/s320/South_Dakota_roadtrip-19.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the Presidential Trail just below Mount Rushmore there is a large boulder that is almost like a cave with a hole in the top which perfectly frames Washington for an epic portrait. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFuALm1cu7jEtZQLO7DViCFtzqwEqVfrYpf7UuwJCIEI-RBOLH4p6nVbW3-2NQOLaig7BC0az_-osXNSmzmokCUNTblicW3RmSeH8nnpp4aD39POCnmp43htvIWr4cJUE2ALT8iqv64yI/s1600/South_Dakota_roadtrip-23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFuALm1cu7jEtZQLO7DViCFtzqwEqVfrYpf7UuwJCIEI-RBOLH4p6nVbW3-2NQOLaig7BC0az_-osXNSmzmokCUNTblicW3RmSeH8nnpp4aD39POCnmp43htvIWr4cJUE2ALT8iqv64yI/s320/South_Dakota_roadtrip-23.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The lighting ceremony at Mount Rushmore was full of patriotic fanfare in a stunning location <br />
at the foot of the epic landmark. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Downtown Deadwood, one of the most historic western towns outside of Tombstone where some legends like Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane once spent their time.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quiet morning in Deadwood</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There are a few waterfalls in Spearfish Canyon, this is Roughlock Falls and my favorite of the ones we had time to see. This place is nothing short of serene. </td></tr>
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For more of my travel photos, give me a follow on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/adamsmithphotographywi/" target="_blank">Instagram</a> or check out my <a href="http://www.adamsmithphotographywi.com/" target="_blank">photography page</a>.<br />
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<br />Adam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907165268583977683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316791532386364969.post-48805369563050914802019-01-18T10:45:00.005-06:002019-01-18T13:10:17.577-06:00A Thailand Day Trip to the Ruins of Ayutthaya<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVWf1a4s9gItD-FlG2lF6x6GvZv9gMnXHYT1Vd0k2fwnrkzo2KaF0uHQm0DwVPj1BA3DVdmWi_gpm04Nss6qtCwFcJydMs_sdClL4dNH5pvyO8p0vNbQ8Lm83SmRmu_3pdfaNJXI3OxnU/s1600/Ayyuthaya_ruins_photos-10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVWf1a4s9gItD-FlG2lF6x6GvZv9gMnXHYT1Vd0k2fwnrkzo2KaF0uHQm0DwVPj1BA3DVdmWi_gpm04Nss6qtCwFcJydMs_sdClL4dNH5pvyO8p0vNbQ8Lm83SmRmu_3pdfaNJXI3OxnU/s320/Ayyuthaya_ruins_photos-10.jpg" width="320" /></a>Ayutthaya was once the biggest city in the world before it was taken over and mostly destroyed suddenly in the 1700s. What remains from this magnificent old city is scattered around the new Ayyuthaya, which has been built up around the old temples and structures. This is a fantastic day trip from Bangkok and doesn't have to cost much at all, in fact a day up in Ayyuthaya is probably going to be less than you'd spend in Bangkok, all the while being a nice change of pace allowing you to see some of the Thai countryside and take in some fascinating history. There are a handful of blogs that I gathered information from before embarking on our journey to Ayyuthaya, below is my take on the best and easiest way to see these ruins.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Vh5sG90WL4kXD1Bda_BV-CeEwF159EJPYckqa0hGl-Hf4rIGLKl87meCHhl2xAcGTAxSUyK4I02qcQBxZr2i0U9K4G29YLxqBzwH-MLrcl25RVB33yGyuwWt_Wck-bh9rNi3XJ639_8/s1600/Ayyuthaya_ruins_photos-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Vh5sG90WL4kXD1Bda_BV-CeEwF159EJPYckqa0hGl-Hf4rIGLKl87meCHhl2xAcGTAxSUyK4I02qcQBxZr2i0U9K4G29YLxqBzwH-MLrcl25RVB33yGyuwWt_Wck-bh9rNi3XJ639_8/s320/Ayyuthaya_ruins_photos-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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First off, you've just got to find a way there. You can take a variety of different modes of transport to Ayyuthaya, but I'm only covering what I did and what I believe is the best way to go for backpackers. If you like trains, you're in luck because that is the best way to travel to Ayyuthaya and can be as cheap as 15 baht, which is about .50 each way. That's right, a dollar can get you a round trip. Some of the 'quicker' trains might cost 35-50 baht, but they'll save you a half hour at most probably. From Bangkok, you need to get to the Hualomphong train station. We took a Grab (the Uber of southeast Asia) but a local taxi would work as well or, if you're really feeling ambitious, try to find a local bus but I'd rather take this the quickest and easiest way with cabs and Grabs being so cheap in the capital. Once you're in the train station just go up to any of the counters and tell them Ayyuthaya (pronounced like EYE-YOU-TIE-UH more or less!) Trains leave basically hourly throughout the day, so you should not have to wait long once you get your tickets. There aren't a ton of platforms so you will have no issue finding you train. Get a seat, slide the window down and relax. These trains make lots of random stops and being late is common so don't worry if you randomly stop for 10 minutes somewhere.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiILyoTYD0PmVvqt5fZET974KIRrh7z4xQmwQKsfGC2RPtAu6Z6E4c28Q7Ou5OthcGE3S2tvYJcuiLbn_dZxdFieXgqqM4VQBwfugtYT1UU3JqFYSFWM8q8Ww-4tRyFDayTvHOsa81ra6M/s1600/Ayyuthaya_ruins_photos-9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifYhh-XeE75crynepmkB0VeC-doxIlFHOQ-YbTWf3TH7NQnqWECaVVkIIbBq0dqhgjlBJ6TbtcfTkHCAjZ9xdBrlDtA7rIgVzJ1Z633MwZjXQCoWWEOnIOCimwJJ0TSHabf1-HRdcN_7w/s1600/Ayyuthaya_ruins_photos-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifYhh-XeE75crynepmkB0VeC-doxIlFHOQ-YbTWf3TH7NQnqWECaVVkIIbBq0dqhgjlBJ6TbtcfTkHCAjZ9xdBrlDtA7rIgVzJ1Z633MwZjXQCoWWEOnIOCimwJJ0TSHabf1-HRdcN_7w/s200/Ayyuthaya_ruins_photos-7.jpg" width="200" /></a><img border="0" data-original-height="1121" data-original-width="1600" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiILyoTYD0PmVvqt5fZET974KIRrh7z4xQmwQKsfGC2RPtAu6Z6E4c28Q7Ou5OthcGE3S2tvYJcuiLbn_dZxdFieXgqqM4VQBwfugtYT1UU3JqFYSFWM8q8Ww-4tRyFDayTvHOsa81ra6M/s320/Ayyuthaya_ruins_photos-9.jpg" width="320" /><br />
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Once you arrive in Ayyuthaya and exit the train station, you'll probably find some people offering maps and tourist info. The maps should be free so pick one up if you don't already have one, otherwise you can most likely get one from your bicycle shop. Ignore all the tuk tuk drivers and head straight out from the station towards the river. There's a long road, more like an alley, that goes all the way to the water. There are some shops here where you can rent a bike if you desire, otherwise wait until you cross the river and get one over there. At the end of this alley, you can get tickets for the ferry. It's like 5 baht/person and takes you across to the island part of Ayyuthaya where most all of the ruins are. Once you're on the island, use your phone's GPS and search for Tour with Thai, they've got decent bikes to rent for the day for 2 dollars. Nothing fancy, but you don't need anything extravagant here either. The lady working there spoke good English and helped us plot a solid route on the map and we were on our way. The traffic here is pretty crazy, but felt kind of like Bangkok light. You'll be fine as long as you pay attention and just try to stick to the side of the roads. Drivers were pretty courteous and I never once felt in any danger on the roads. To the contrary, biking around a foreign country halfway around the world is an exhilarating experience and truly adds a layer to the memories of what will surely be a great day on your trip.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfaX5ziWG4TNI4CThDAc0zL24798FZ8Wam82I9F8fkCCPQQjpXyfGglG1s-UZJoQQUudjuzdLW3P1TjCvwibizAYzrsjtTlmVpq4aRANLF5C5WEE0rDeVjKUq-69PjYftgv9tkdnSrCxw/s1600/Ayyuthaya_ruins_photos-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfaX5ziWG4TNI4CThDAc0zL24798FZ8Wam82I9F8fkCCPQQjpXyfGglG1s-UZJoQQUudjuzdLW3P1TjCvwibizAYzrsjtTlmVpq4aRANLF5C5WEE0rDeVjKUq-69PjYftgv9tkdnSrCxw/s320/Ayyuthaya_ruins_photos-5.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
Now to the reason you're in Ayyuthaya - the ruins. Most of the sights worth seeing cost to get into. They are about 50 baht/person/site. They also have an option to get a 6 ruin pass for something like 200 baht (about 6 USD) which is the best deal and will save you money if you follow the typical biker's route as it covers all of the main stops. It also will save you time, so you can just get it stamped and walk right on in rather than buying an entrance pass at each place.<br />
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Just to be thorough, these are the temples that I consider to be must sees within biking distance on a one day trip (there are other further out of the city that either require more time or a tuk tuk):<br />
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<li>Wat Chai Wattanaram (river side peaceful setting, impressive ruins)</li>
<li>Wat Mahathat (buddha head in tree)</li>
<li>Wat Ratchaburana</li>
<li>Wat Phra Si Sanphet</li>
<li>Wat Lokayasutharam (the huge reclining Buddha here is pretty cool)</li>
<li>Wat Phra Ram </li>
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We spent about 5-6 hours total with our bikes exploring these sites. That includes the 30ish minute cool down break we took at a cafe about halfway through and a picnic supper. You could allow yourself more time if you want to go slower, but you could probably also save time if you take a few less pictures than we did (mainly just me)! We were there in mid June and the weather was fine other than the intense heat and ridiculous humidity which you just have to accept and deal with in this part of the world. Once you get further away from the city center, it becomes harder to find food or snacks so you may want to load up before venturing too far so you can refuel your body midway through the afternoon.<br />
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The crowds were not bad at all, in fact some of the sites we had entirely to ourselves which was great for photo taking. We ran into a lot of people at Wat Mahathat around the buddha head in the tree(which, for the record, is one of the most photographed spots in all of Thailand...they still don't know exactly how the head got into the tree like this!) but everyone got their turns posing in the famous spot. Rumor has it that in the high season there are more crowds and it can be better to arrive early in Ayyuthaya to avoid some of the tour buses, but I can't speak to that as we didn't deal with that at all!<br />
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We visited Wat Chai Wattanaram (pictured above) last in the day and it was perhaps the most spectacular of all. On the way in, we stopped at a 7/11 (they are everywhere in Thailand!) and grabbed some food to make our own little picnic at the ruins. It was a great experience and was nice to slow down and absorb the awesome, tranquil riverside setting. From here, it was a 20-30 minute ride back to the store to drop our bikes off and catch the ferry back off the island to the train station. Note that this time you pay when getting off the ferry rather than before you board. Once you depart on your train, just relax and enjoy the sun setting over the Thai countryside while reflecting on the unforgettable experiences you just had. You can be back in Bangkok in time to grab a snack, drink or a massage for your worn out body or maybe all of the above!<br />
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<br />Adam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907165268583977683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316791532386364969.post-43359977982639369252018-08-08T01:33:00.000-05:002018-08-08T01:37:23.451-05:00A Day of Waterfalls in Northern Wisconsin and Minnesota<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjA0XySphTpLIegel6Lqv7_mujdxqKC6B7Y77tKKiBEhi3giTjm3216EJlOmo3Dbwz9FFWajl9Rm5vCIkq4-ZsmfSGLaxYw4i3CHOq-7IngdkFBrlfwLJg2A_o12jIkB0KrDE-qCUdosQ/s1600/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjA0XySphTpLIegel6Lqv7_mujdxqKC6B7Y77tKKiBEhi3giTjm3216EJlOmo3Dbwz9FFWajl9Rm5vCIkq4-ZsmfSGLaxYw4i3CHOq-7IngdkFBrlfwLJg2A_o12jIkB0KrDE-qCUdosQ/s400/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-20.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heading down further into the Gorge at Chester Park<br /> the falls got bigger and the views better</td></tr>
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In between bigger trips, I love going on unplanned excursions on a more local scale to check out some more localized treasures. It partially satisfies my incurable case of wanderlust and it's a perfect way to spend one of our precious few remaining summer days outside in the north woods. This spur of the moment adventure was to <a href="https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/amnicon/" target="_blank">Amnicon Falls State Park</a> in extreme northern Wisconsin. It's a tiny state park, but picturesque around nearly every turn. The Amnicon River, along with some other streams form a small island in the middle of beautiful forest. There's a half dozen or more waterfalls on this little island and plenty of places to jump in for a cool down swim if that's your thing. Side note, if you're there at the right time you can also check out Now and Then Falls, which is called as such because sometimes it's there, and others it's not. We were there on one of those not there times (dry summer I guess).<br />
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Our second stop, Chester Park, was recommended to us by someone we were chatting with in Amnicon. Chester Park is about a half hour away, crossing into Minnesota and up in the hills of Duluth. It's a large park for being in the middle of a city, but has miles of hiking trails and some beautiful waterfalls in a little gorge steps away from the parking lot. If you're a Midwesterner reading this, go check out these places sometime and, if you're really feeling adventurous, tag on a couple extra days to see even more waterfalls (and bigger ones at that) within a couple hours drive in just about any direction. If you're from elsewhere in the US or abroad, make the trip anyways! There's just something about the north woods, even if it's just a couple of hours away, it feels like another world.<br />
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With all that being said, here are some of the highlights from our afternoon exploring the North. Enjoy the photos and make sure to give me a follow on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/adamsmithphotographywi/" target="_blank">Instagram</a> or <a href="http://www.facebook.com/photographybyadamsmith" target="_blank">Facebook</a> for more.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeCojjz61RaV5YTTtBfqfRV_2FFgT_IJ1y1m4dcz7ZXsTY300P0qLawBJQLMaT_uoamDB2wNl0qHtlg26zNLsc_y7AIQe5IviSUSiR5KInaLrHgl0B5PI6FmGr1kTEgAx-jTtXyi-ykqc/s1600/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeCojjz61RaV5YTTtBfqfRV_2FFgT_IJ1y1m4dcz7ZXsTY300P0qLawBJQLMaT_uoamDB2wNl0qHtlg26zNLsc_y7AIQe5IviSUSiR5KInaLrHgl0B5PI6FmGr1kTEgAx-jTtXyi-ykqc/s320/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-5.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Starting off at Upper Falls <br />
@ Amnicon Falls State Park</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA5PC5Hj0aTZAxwuFrx_x_ZVjCgUvtFeYYuD6Cg6uCvNaXAdKw-N7Ps3Yfkz4PZh1ADh3qxZWH3moryZsVLcUP4tpIABFlhw9_rby81-0Jpx3eUnO8hOs1xHCHv02d3vj8WpNRauNQLBw/s320/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Side view of Upper Falls </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lower Falls from the cliff side at Amnicon Falls State Park</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSo6BwWaqQd5EsABzvEoVetwtc8BrHRO2jTZj5wDJ8UQhX1a1GAlF3-lf8iKQwOVR6Ktpwf-P_vYgxyf73zIyMioBugGXSLt0vT8dDJ_oxGGltH-BVxIvtGKZQM56QYCr_4V2_KllKcck/s1600/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSo6BwWaqQd5EsABzvEoVetwtc8BrHRO2jTZj5wDJ8UQhX1a1GAlF3-lf8iKQwOVR6Ktpwf-P_vYgxyf73zIyMioBugGXSLt0vT8dDJ_oxGGltH-BVxIvtGKZQM56QYCr_4V2_KllKcck/s320/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-7.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lower Falls in Color</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXVHe3lw0ASEBI1j9LHdmlwbKCHJb1X2vMek6NF86UMU_EOGhgWM6IqLb2YV680FOEjiM2Q4ALdsl49J-QPU_wIdYOY2UWBQT0XXj0NZ9E7jEZaITtOwBv6PJzaqsfTRE3s6xoN9gB-M8/s1600/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXVHe3lw0ASEBI1j9LHdmlwbKCHJb1X2vMek6NF86UMU_EOGhgWM6IqLb2YV680FOEjiM2Q4ALdsl49J-QPU_wIdYOY2UWBQT0XXj0NZ9E7jEZaITtOwBv6PJzaqsfTRE3s6xoN9gB-M8/s320/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-8.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Climbing on some rocks <br />
towards Snake Pit Falls</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_jFsqSshyphenhyphenWfixwTRc-C2-C9IqdLpLTpJsM7oA81RgjhoLxMQW2NsCa1bkL-ZPvX8vdjNPsNnTdZApuzgv5wrX-ZQPvEd1LpVEy2oEc6PrJDm8OHVj7ApC3U5Te53n0QmOoM1wBwzg_34/s1600/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_jFsqSshyphenhyphenWfixwTRc-C2-C9IqdLpLTpJsM7oA81RgjhoLxMQW2NsCa1bkL-ZPvX8vdjNPsNnTdZApuzgv5wrX-ZQPvEd1LpVEy2oEc6PrJDm8OHVj7ApC3U5Te53n0QmOoM1wBwzg_34/s320/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-9.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I loved the canyon walls here full of colorful moss! </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjeF9wjw3Pye9LZuwTivcji70DsSOv-56aSkDCNUZzm0-Rg_IVBiRQC77ecps7C2Aa4XboUGXinBda_UxWLoEmxtOnBogvePfoVrtsO5ESSRCohQmAWWzbK9i8GYGF_cMOK_8JHvMgCZU/s1600/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1100" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjeF9wjw3Pye9LZuwTivcji70DsSOv-56aSkDCNUZzm0-Rg_IVBiRQC77ecps7C2Aa4XboUGXinBda_UxWLoEmxtOnBogvePfoVrtsO5ESSRCohQmAWWzbK9i8GYGF_cMOK_8JHvMgCZU/s320/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-11.jpg" width="220" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snake Pit Falls from above. <br />
I was actually perched on a small ledge which was quite a challenge to get my tripod to balance on!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI-U9PdnNOVlwiUyiDXMuXaIqfU0EghHpOBAHKmRK1WouyJc_NQPezWl1SWWbohvj50fVuKJispVAeEy8dsJsJGQcRaMgm-mw3NDe3l580fK5Xms-9SEiJGAQ89OglWdgLwbAnGX00kmw/s1600/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI-U9PdnNOVlwiUyiDXMuXaIqfU0EghHpOBAHKmRK1WouyJc_NQPezWl1SWWbohvj50fVuKJispVAeEy8dsJsJGQcRaMgm-mw3NDe3l580fK5Xms-9SEiJGAQ89OglWdgLwbAnGX00kmw/s400/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-12.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was a great spot. The water was gently flowing down the rocks, no bugs within eye or ear shot <br />
and just perfect weather. One can forget about the hassles of life quickly here.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAGGzIjBj7AqL0HgtudfN4ucDxGhvnTUd39kl7hJ54xrnU6cJbs3XV9sq_GNXPtuklHZt-XORjmGUeK_f1oGmqB4wyqBCMQ5fE5eeuw6RhStsYqM6znkz6HLXLX4oV5rUDBeqA9Os8H9Q/s1600/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAGGzIjBj7AqL0HgtudfN4ucDxGhvnTUd39kl7hJ54xrnU6cJbs3XV9sq_GNXPtuklHZt-XORjmGUeK_f1oGmqB4wyqBCMQ5fE5eeuw6RhStsYqM6znkz6HLXLX4oV5rUDBeqA9Os8H9Q/s400/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-15.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photography captures a moment in time forever, but long exposure photography<br />
captures multiple moments, or a period of time, and expresses it as one single moment.<br />
It's almost like a summary of time itself in the form of an image.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption">Just hiking up the stream, had to snap a shot here. <br />
The pebbles in the bottom right really caught my eye.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6v-Yc7IaKwEh2JeNiIBV3QfClNbRKPA5N6UXBI8mRyH1ELYwJrK3KeMWmABF8hIjhW5Li5FZCqf1Uf4GtR3u47tSJ-c6XCE0jWXytorCRenqGtd3kArWaGs3q65jM2JeuzlUD4ni_kjw/s1600/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6v-Yc7IaKwEh2JeNiIBV3QfClNbRKPA5N6UXBI8mRyH1ELYwJrK3KeMWmABF8hIjhW5Li5FZCqf1Uf4GtR3u47tSJ-c6XCE0jWXytorCRenqGtd3kArWaGs3q65jM2JeuzlUD4ni_kjw/s320/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-17.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Duluth is a great city...not everywhere can have so much industry <br />
and be only feet away from places like this.<br />
This park is basically right in town and very easy to access. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEk_p2Fy85_IcoxMkT-q0mwUz6_HOFdcPA5cEvBk0Daw7woW0zEpu2C6kgfJZGFyfCy_t7Kqv2zXmfd0Zphr5W14P3yXwn2Tc6ZcHz8LHYfjPUN-OQL_udS-YvDIMehdsdvXIQG_qts9Q/s1600/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEk_p2Fy85_IcoxMkT-q0mwUz6_HOFdcPA5cEvBk0Daw7woW0zEpu2C6kgfJZGFyfCy_t7Kqv2zXmfd0Zphr5W14P3yXwn2Tc6ZcHz8LHYfjPUN-OQL_udS-YvDIMehdsdvXIQG_qts9Q/s320/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-19.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Something peaceful about this in B&W</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2EsyK7clwS-HUz0eAGGx0dz0hyXWEJKcFyFg_jISvlPE_YQ5UAom56esVyvxO13OJ1yDtbStPNm0lDHSbeD2AsER8xmVIGzjZhB_zQJWAU02KVLzS5BJOfBFbYzgJZWeNt1GqAOuqIsU/s1600/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2EsyK7clwS-HUz0eAGGx0dz0hyXWEJKcFyFg_jISvlPE_YQ5UAom56esVyvxO13OJ1yDtbStPNm0lDHSbeD2AsER8xmVIGzjZhB_zQJWAU02KVLzS5BJOfBFbYzgJZWeNt1GqAOuqIsU/s400/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-23.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8kS-s7TQPBVkOt88W0Nppfg1SpOhs-Cv2Bv6FR54ZWSMvbGDXF1AZJI3Ot3tur3usezasu3goLikMR9n34RY1Tl_sqqFA5sfV2ptOn1jKqYaDgwZZ_91IhHTG4DqslPpukDqfi_ttZGE/s1600/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1146" data-original-width="1600" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8kS-s7TQPBVkOt88W0Nppfg1SpOhs-Cv2Bv6FR54ZWSMvbGDXF1AZJI3Ot3tur3usezasu3goLikMR9n34RY1Tl_sqqFA5sfV2ptOn1jKqYaDgwZZ_91IhHTG4DqslPpukDqfi_ttZGE/s200/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-22.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrEDd-RhRi9AyLL95zRY9VOept9D0p4CUefmlxY0yjD-tGfoMckFEsVIvkittWlEnNjA0eP7D-e5S3ZOE4FMgVMnBmIeBprhMoFJlNRjsR7OxUoepFl48Bo4qxH8UK8aweCKUT5isPG18/s1600/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1115" data-original-width="1600" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrEDd-RhRi9AyLL95zRY9VOept9D0p4CUefmlxY0yjD-tGfoMckFEsVIvkittWlEnNjA0eP7D-e5S3ZOE4FMgVMnBmIeBprhMoFJlNRjsR7OxUoepFl48Bo4qxH8UK8aweCKUT5isPG18/s640/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-26.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All the way at the bottom, or at least as far as we made it before nightfall. We were sitting on a dead tree taking in the views and I set my tripod up along side to get a few more shots. <br />
Gorillapods are amazing for stuff like this.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEo7WQdGj-VZNbD4SiX4K5Gk9iFUxtsmO1PUV0yZeS0wBwmOpbnZhX1yqM2DxBuDslya_k2WfrJs9F6UC3F2HQ9UZlu1zPn47vOiOb_F-kOQvYuo5-JU-8V9-RQqDuDGUL4-6x4crtsVM/s1600/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEo7WQdGj-VZNbD4SiX4K5Gk9iFUxtsmO1PUV0yZeS0wBwmOpbnZhX1yqM2DxBuDslya_k2WfrJs9F6UC3F2HQ9UZlu1zPn47vOiOb_F-kOQvYuo5-JU-8V9-RQqDuDGUL4-6x4crtsVM/s320/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-28.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just about the same composition as the above shot, but I warmed up the temp a bit which gave it a different look. <br />
Not sure which I like more, so I included both rather than making a decision ;)<br />
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<img height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTBEEMcQGjZclNyXEey80NTtLG6VO2u2SgGquwAvvVcFoyeDT7BaJ88lhMu8NOI05opmLnsejWqNMvCfuvA-DayhxND8HjaI5ArPSncxc4ciG9me10dF2WlC4ygq4XYUrVhltS-Lt3D50/s400/Northwoods_waterfalls_Amnicon_Chester_Park-30.jpg" width="333" /></td></tr>
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<br />Adam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907165268583977683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316791532386364969.post-41675492026077518002018-04-24T15:38:00.000-05:002018-04-24T15:38:06.830-05:00Who Wants to Get Paid to Travel All Summer?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOqxhpy0WTPAez1xCbDFzXWlwJO6s_8742Kaj3S91m5lXokA3xud-FSvtj7w_oGwFaRvu5-_58mgVfy1I-5T1XjfqvLBxMRWDNSD5hidKgqr_woe9QYJGJFaIT6dglpoGsmvQwW3zgIIk/s1600/Iceland_Road_Trip-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOqxhpy0WTPAez1xCbDFzXWlwJO6s_8742Kaj3S91m5lXokA3xud-FSvtj7w_oGwFaRvu5-_58mgVfy1I-5T1XjfqvLBxMRWDNSD5hidKgqr_woe9QYJGJFaIT6dglpoGsmvQwW3zgIIk/s400/Iceland_Road_Trip-8.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roadside stream and waterfall along the Ring Road</td></tr>
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I don't usually blog about other people's content or business stuff like this, but this is an absolute dream contest I ran across from WOW Air. Basically, if you win you and a friend will get paid to move to Reykjavik on June 1st and then spend the summer traveling to whatever WOW Air destinations you choose and writing/vloging about them from your base camp back in Iceland. <br />
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It sounds like an absolute dream of a summer, and to have a chance at landing this sweet gig all you need to do is upload a travel vlog about your hometown and then hope and pray. All the details can be found <a href="https://travelguide.wowair.com/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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Again, I'm not affiliated with WOW in any way, but just wanted to pass this awesome opportunity along. There's only a couple weeks to enter, so go get at it!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm93QOHGU6eBhAvPwycDvRqtddc5vJkUpnwG6jR7NRzEKnuaGjJuEMAlDqhi9Sh5ovNsIAUf0bs1hfCCYSUG_YA7PM_nWiyY9FpMWGvKkTQWlcM04fmMYLsIQxIEhnYdmtkRo7xu8-2F4/s1600/Iceland_Road_Trip-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm93QOHGU6eBhAvPwycDvRqtddc5vJkUpnwG6jR7NRzEKnuaGjJuEMAlDqhi9Sh5ovNsIAUf0bs1hfCCYSUG_YA7PM_nWiyY9FpMWGvKkTQWlcM04fmMYLsIQxIEhnYdmtkRo7xu8-2F4/s400/Iceland_Road_Trip-7.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Basalt columns on the black sand beach</td></tr>
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Adam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907165268583977683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316791532386364969.post-22801255951270380622018-04-10T19:46:00.001-05:002018-04-10T19:46:26.234-05:00Traveling to Punta Cana as a Backpacker<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgCCWpc8H-UDv3WDiPl-hXkPqXEt6_fpqBDynSuSXEwK1SHVfdAr13SXARF9U_Q-0Ncc1Ef6TQZo5vo-pEjfE2SjTYzeb9cGeLowE9020BM1jKUnTIhJNJRixB5Yhfm1yP5M5x6vUGRzo/s1600/Sunrise_Punta_Cana-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgCCWpc8H-UDv3WDiPl-hXkPqXEt6_fpqBDynSuSXEwK1SHVfdAr13SXARF9U_Q-0Ncc1Ef6TQZo5vo-pEjfE2SjTYzeb9cGeLowE9020BM1jKUnTIhJNJRixB5Yhfm1yP5M5x6vUGRzo/s320/Sunrise_Punta_Cana-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An ocean sunrise in Punta Cana</td></tr>
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The Dominican Republic is a tropical paradise often associated with huge and lavish all-inclusive resorts along with tourist trap like prices in a country where, in theory, dollars and euros should go pretty far. Most people come here for the beaches which are numerous and gorgeous. However outside of the beaches there is so much to see in this country...Much more than we had the time for on our little spring break adventure. There is some fantastic history to explore in Santo Domingo's Zona Colonial, there are waterfalls, there are jungles and so much more. For this article, I'll focus primarily on what we did and how you can have some great beach time and go on some epic adventures the way of the backpacker.<br />
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If you know me at all, you'd realize that I go out of my way to avoid the all-inclusive resort style accommodations because I think they detract from the cultural experience of traveling. Sure, there is a time and a place to be pampered and have everything at your finger tips. It's all a matter of personal preference. When I go somewhere, I want to explore and get a taste of local life which is why I'm a backpacker at heart. You don't really get that true cultural flare behind the walls (or fences) of an all-inclusive resort. They basically become their own subculture, catering to rich westerners (and costing a small fortune to boot). While the resorts in the Dominican are semi affordable compared to some other beach destinations, they aren't backpacker prices unless you've got a bunch of people to split the costs. Regardless, I'd still rather do things on my own as much as possible and explore the country than the confines of a resort. To that end, let's discuss accommodations in Punta Cana.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqFpcMsgMf2czWRjyTnccX5Dtq-jRQQIgm2I-hMyFS9LkN4gAUmNsCBOfmCjrYUBbYwNO__3G7UZ-5eWXS9impVZQeDtR0OVKvAH6CuhsnTq9DJ6K9BO1O31morRwfKXdWs0DkpCq0hfs/s1600/Dominican_Republic-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1078" data-original-width="1600" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqFpcMsgMf2czWRjyTnccX5Dtq-jRQQIgm2I-hMyFS9LkN4gAUmNsCBOfmCjrYUBbYwNO__3G7UZ-5eWXS9impVZQeDtR0OVKvAH6CuhsnTq9DJ6K9BO1O31morRwfKXdWs0DkpCq0hfs/s320/Dominican_Republic-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walking to the Ocean from our guesthouse</td></tr>
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<b>Accommodations</b><br />
After stumbling on some pretty cheap flights to Punta Cana, I began researching accommodations and found that there are an overwhelming amount of options at just about every price point. I find it almost annoying when there are literally page after page of listings in my price range and rating level to sort through but this is a good problem to have.<br />
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If you're willing to be a bit away from the beach, one could easily stay for $20-30/person a night in any of a number of nice accommodations a mile or so inland from the beaches. Some of these places even have free shuttles to take you down to the beach running during daylight hours. We only had a few days for this trip and wanted to get the most out of it, so we decided that staying on the beach was a priority. It's only a few more bucks to split, and waking up to the sound of the ocean is something you really can't put a price on anyways.<br />
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I found a handful of highly rated hotels and guesthouses within meters of the beach that were all under $80 a night. You can even go the AirBnB route, but I decided against it here. We chose to stay at Tako Beach Rooms which is literally a stones throw from the ocean in a quiet spot nestled between a bunch of big all inclusive resorts and pretty close to a bunch of nice restaurants. It's a cute place and relatively comfortable. During off peak times, it looks like a room can go for as little as $40 a night. It's centrally located and I'd definitely stay there again if the opportunity presented itself! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgszCvv2SRL9qeY6EVyospiprA6RMtlJzL8fpLCs0MGrpJzbFbx6I5PFuQTo0ESx6_GdwB1VZUI_HWdd37GnsKEtO9Klle-LyXIzXdTR4-xg0trG2yJDUmnWYMPO7-mxiXEC6GVy5heJsI/s1600/Paradise_Isla_Saona_Dominican_Republic-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgszCvv2SRL9qeY6EVyospiprA6RMtlJzL8fpLCs0MGrpJzbFbx6I5PFuQTo0ESx6_GdwB1VZUI_HWdd37GnsKEtO9Klle-LyXIzXdTR4-xg0trG2yJDUmnWYMPO7-mxiXEC6GVy5heJsI/s400/Paradise_Isla_Saona_Dominican_Republic-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The beautiful Canto de la Playa on Isla Saona</td></tr>
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<b>What else is there to do?</b><br />
Outside of the beaches, there isn't a lot in the Punta Cana/Bavaro area to see or do other than eat - which is ok, because beaches are probably why you flew thousands of miles down to this part of the world anyways! If you're like me though, you'll need to get out and explore or at least see some different beaches than the one you woke up on! There are an abundance of day trip excursions from Punta Cana with destinations all over the country. There's probably something for everyone's taste and budget. I highly recommend booking a day trip to Isla Saona. This beautiful island is part of a national park and only reachable by boat. There are probably hundreds of tour operators offering what sounds to be almost the same excursion to Saona, which can be confusing and overwhelming if you don't know what to look for. I researched a ton of these companies before picking out a tour and here's a couple of tips I found useful and can attest to after my own experiences. Depending on the company you go with, prices can range from $55-120 bucks.<br />
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While every Saona tour guarantees a certain amount of time on a beach on the island, not all Saona beaches are created equal. Some of them are full of lounge chairs and scores of boats constantly dropping people off, which kind of ruins the whole remote tropical paradise thing that this island is supposed to offer. If I'm going to a remote tropical island, I want it to actually feel remote. Look for a tour that visits Playa Canto de la Playa. This basically translates to singing beach in English and it is nothing short of amazing. This is the furthest beach to reach and the most virgin on the island. Most of the tours won't go this far, but I highly advise you to find one that does. Canto de la playa is beautiful - it's the postcard worthy paradise many people only dream of with soft golden sand, beautiful coconut palms and a perfect sea breeze blowing to keep you comfortable. I could easily run out of superlatives for this beach and it is one of the best, if not the top beach I've ever visited. The sound of the rustling palm leaves and the birds singing in the trees coupled with water so colorful that it looks like a pool of jewels is and idyllic experience far better than anything the crowded beaches of Punta Cana/Bavaro offer in my opinion.<br />
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My wife and I used <a href="https://www.saona-tours.com/" target="_blank">Capitan Gringo</a> for our excursion and were very pleased. It cost us $65 USD a person, far better than many other tour companies that don't even take you out to Canto de la Playa. After spending a couple hours on the beach, we went to Mano Juan, a small fishing settlement on the island where we ate lunch and wandered around. It's a cool little place where only a handful of people live and some colorful houses and shops lining one short little street.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzOrV3FmtD_3YmQw5GtgJ0dvYP6DYwhrxrRYfO_cq_OGTXDL6MPmetm3GCIDKuVmciL6IsaBMNExSfcygrqYGLqiuqsyqaLHhw2zFL2aqbxUVhmhoHXQU0X29wrv4AHFXlJG7UVlYYdJI/s1600/mano_juan_Isla_Saona-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzOrV3FmtD_3YmQw5GtgJ0dvYP6DYwhrxrRYfO_cq_OGTXDL6MPmetm3GCIDKuVmciL6IsaBMNExSfcygrqYGLqiuqsyqaLHhw2zFL2aqbxUVhmhoHXQU0X29wrv4AHFXlJG7UVlYYdJI/s320/mano_juan_Isla_Saona-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Welcome to the fishing village of Mano Juan</td></tr>
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Aside from Saona, we also got to stop in a shallow natural pool in the ocean loaded with starfish and then go miles away to the mouth of the beautiful Chavon river and catch a glimpse of the Italian village replica the Altos de Chavon. The ride there was insane with our captain dodging big waves and blasting through narrow lines between large ocean swells. It was intense and a lot of fun!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju7Ovv2lrWaNI9kbwozFhMyjVXGuf3thezaOaU6Dp_ACuCkzQFerebMXet1avhxLBFYuJfIRCBppao2Fa95atP-H4viddB33W2-E4smLmasRXZiUNaLXtXm1AdR0umdGfYpNp1H7gRdGM/s1600/Dominican_Republic-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1144" data-original-width="1600" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju7Ovv2lrWaNI9kbwozFhMyjVXGuf3thezaOaU6Dp_ACuCkzQFerebMXet1avhxLBFYuJfIRCBppao2Fa95atP-H4viddB33W2-E4smLmasRXZiUNaLXtXm1AdR0umdGfYpNp1H7gRdGM/s320/Dominican_Republic-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An old, lonely boat on the beach in Punta Cana</td></tr>
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Another trip from Punta Cana worth embarking on is a visit to the less traveled Playa Macao. It's a 20-25 minute taxi ride that the drivers will try and charge $40-45 for which is a total robbery if you ask me. I was able to talk our driver down to 30 bucks, which is still far from cheap but tolerable especially if you can split the cost. There are apparently some local buses that you can use to get there, taking one to Friusa and then changing to another line that goes to Macao. We didn't have the time or motivation to figure out the buses which run irregularly with no set schedule so just opted for the taxi.<br />
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Macao is a surfers beach, with a camp there offering lessons if you're interested. The waves are much bigger than anywhere in Punta Cana/Bavaro so be prepared for that. It's a gorgeous beach though and has a much more local feel. You won't find nearly as many tourists here, which is actually quite refreshing. If you're hungry or thirsty, the food and drinks in Macao are definitely cheaper than in PC/Bavaro.<br />
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If you walk all the way down to the far right end of the beach, there's an unassuming yet fantastic restaurant that I highly recommend. It's known as D'Bale's or La almendra. You don't get a menu here, the waiter will take you to some big coolers and let you pick out the type of fresh ocean fish you want and then they'll cook it your way, either grilled or fried. My wife doesn't eat fish, so they cooked her up some chicken. We both absolutely loved our food here, it was an awesome local experience and our waiter, Acero, was as friendly and cool as they come. He even helped get us a taxi back to Bavaro. The prices here are definitely lower than the touristville Punta Cana area.<br />
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Pro tip, right by the restaurant there is a small hill with an unassuming hiking path that goes along a ridge overlooking the ocean and leads to a couple of quiet beaches with gorgeous rocky back drops. You definitely want to check these out! If you continue further along the path, presumably there are some great panoramic views of the area but we chose to save our burning bodies from any additional sun after checking out the hidden beaches. All in all, Macao is definitely worth an afternoon of your time and even longer if you wish to take a surfing lesson.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz0zBxgFwbWiX04EVrOtWyWW03mHQhxoWwkgBjmKel5nNsXQsieVDJJuxCau5CyCJlUM55ylpjoVc-c9XNVKtEKmnRT8lh3WbNQrrJl43m3SvF8E1X0ykvDY79lDwK25FekeXMAowm0Ug/s1600/Playa_Macao_Dominican_republic-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz0zBxgFwbWiX04EVrOtWyWW03mHQhxoWwkgBjmKel5nNsXQsieVDJJuxCau5CyCJlUM55ylpjoVc-c9XNVKtEKmnRT8lh3WbNQrrJl43m3SvF8E1X0ykvDY79lDwK25FekeXMAowm0Ug/s400/Playa_Macao_Dominican_republic-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Away from the crowds on the golden sands of Playa Macao</td></tr>
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If you've got time, take a break from the beach and catch a bus to Santo Domingo. It leaves a few times daily from the Bavaro Express station near Friusa and can drop you close to the Colonial Zone where you can explore some of the oldest settlements in the new world. If you like history and old school architecture, you'll most likely love this. We didn't have enough time to work out a day to go, but this would be a priority for me on a return trip. The bus costs about $10 USD each way, tickets can only be purchased at the station and not more in advance. This is definitely the cheapest way to go. There are many tour companies offering a day trip there with a tight schedule but will ring you close to 100 bucks a person. If you're backpacking Punta Cana, you're taking the bus!<br />
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Next time I visit the Dominican Republic, I'd love to stay in the Samana peninsula, perhaps somewhere around Las Terrenas. This is a completely different area than PC and close to some awesome waterfalls like the Salto del limon that I would love to hike to someday!<br />
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<b>What to Keep in Mind</b><br />
Some other general tips to make your trip easier and more backpacker friendly, you should always confirm the price of a taxi ride before entering the vehicle. Prices are expensive, especially in the Punta Cana area. You do have some wiggle room to negotiate with some drivers. If they say no, you can try walking away and they might chase you down and agree to your rate!<br />
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There are local buses going up and down the main streets and they do pass in front of many of the hotels and resorts, but figuring out which one you need is somewhat challenging. They're dirt cheap though and you can save you a ton of money if you're willing to put in the time to figure out the system. Note that there aren't bus stops per se, if you see a bus that you want to ride, you'll probably have to flag it down.<br />
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Unless you're staying by one of the banks or in one of the bigger resorts, chances are you'll have to walk quite a ways to find an ATM. To that end, I'd bring more USD to keep it simple. Most everything in Punta Cana will take pesos or dollars. It's much easier to exchange money than it is to find an ATM (strange right!?).<br />
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You might get a better deal in some restaurants or shops if you use pesos. Don't change USD (or any currency) for pesos in the airport, the rates are AWFUL. Some resorts have change counters but you'll also find various places walking around that will buy your dollars/euros\pounds for a decent rate.<br />
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If you want to save money on food, the grocery stores are a cheaper alternative to the restaurants. You can load up on ingredients and cook your own food, assuming your accommodation offers some form of a kitchen!<br />
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Drink some mama juana. It's basically like an earthy tasting shot of fireball and is apparently healthy for you too. Some even say it has aphrodisiac qualities, but regardless, it's a strong and nice tasting local beverage you should definitely try once or twice. If you're looking for recs on what/where to eat or drink leave me a comment and I'd be happy to share a few of the places we stopped at and enjoyed!<br />
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Side note, many of the resorts and places to stay are actually in Bavaro, but the area is typically referred to as Punta Cana which is kind of confusing at first but will make sense to you after a while!<br />
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All in all, if you play your cards right, you can backpack the Punta Cana area and beyond on a pretty tight budget. The cheapest you could individually do it while being safe and comfortable would cost no more than 40 bucks a day for lodging, food and a drink or two. Obviously doing any extra excursions will cost more, but if you just want to chill on a beach with a couple drinks and read your favorite book, write your travel blog or simply watch the waves crashing all day the Dominican Republic is an affordable, albeit not cheap, destination.<br />
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Make sure to follow me on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/adamsmithphotographywi/" target="_blank">instagram </a>for more travel photos!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqMsV34m46ka9IsRYXx8DGxA20EF69EINiiiu7WNO-kcLqBvIAt2xQE_NLXO8LSEeB-_iK5EiRWIX4h3Yn183yORWfVa7s7hSU-EFFR4bLSzvuGkwS_xOoh3VWK3NNdk4pRcRGwtWgSK0/s1600/Tropical_Silhouettes-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqMsV34m46ka9IsRYXx8DGxA20EF69EINiiiu7WNO-kcLqBvIAt2xQE_NLXO8LSEeB-_iK5EiRWIX4h3Yn183yORWfVa7s7hSU-EFFR4bLSzvuGkwS_xOoh3VWK3NNdk4pRcRGwtWgSK0/s320/Tropical_Silhouettes-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset walk on Bavaro Beach</td></tr>
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<br />Adam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907165268583977683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316791532386364969.post-84050100845137718412018-02-24T13:38:00.000-06:002018-02-24T13:39:13.316-06:00A Photographic Journey Through the Canadian RockiesIn June 2017, my wife and I took advantage of Canada's Discovery Pass and visited four national parks in the Canadian Rockies while they were free. We hiked miles and miles through the mountains and forests to beautiful lakes and amazing vistas that give a literal meaning to the age old expression of taking your breath away.<br />
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It's been a long, cold winter and this is about the time when major wanderlust starts setting in. Here's a photographic journey of some of my favorite spots in Banff, Jasper, Yoho and Kootenay National Parks to perhaps inspire your next adventure, or at the very least, feed the extremely contagious wanderlust bug :)<br />
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For more travel photos, follow my photography on <a href="http://facebook.com/photographybyadamsmith" target="_blank">Facebook </a>or check out my <a href="http://www.adamsmithphotographywi.com/" target="_blank">website</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYL2m6I8U1-ZKqvR1VYzP3oxfBqsi68mTnT1O9IGoBNImc4EUAys5jJjdL4KAblp5JlsPMKMZvS6-XIgcyo-iMDEjnd9xr7lyN4ZfSJuRMnCwz5bVuaYDrJmIw5TExgAUquk7qYn08MSM/s1600/Moraine_Lake_Banff-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYL2m6I8U1-ZKqvR1VYzP3oxfBqsi68mTnT1O9IGoBNImc4EUAys5jJjdL4KAblp5JlsPMKMZvS6-XIgcyo-iMDEjnd9xr7lyN4ZfSJuRMnCwz5bVuaYDrJmIw5TExgAUquk7qYn08MSM/s400/Moraine_Lake_Banff-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of Moraine Lake from the Rock Pile. <br />
One of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgawvbdC7-DFkCrVbBCG_heDGi0Q44vLUtkJRMLkGVXfFf6mRbDoxWKTVjXm14ebH-In-RkZhXDDnUpRjsnXNLfyQNhSZpIxhvlJ-qRkNN_Sf6ezfWSZexNUGlMFo4d4SAACxa4_MjtjaI/s1600/ten_peaks_Banff_Larch_Valley-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="363" data-original-width="1600" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgawvbdC7-DFkCrVbBCG_heDGi0Q44vLUtkJRMLkGVXfFf6mRbDoxWKTVjXm14ebH-In-RkZhXDDnUpRjsnXNLfyQNhSZpIxhvlJ-qRkNN_Sf6ezfWSZexNUGlMFo4d4SAACxa4_MjtjaI/s640/ten_peaks_Banff_Larch_Valley-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hiking through Larch Valley, surrounded by the ten majestic peaks far above Moraine Lake<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgF6AS47IYzHcemccTwp9ay8Yqglk4Ku1fjUo1UguWWRGgWlI2fUAEtFp-XVsPOmPUQIt3ClgyU1ROz3lU2P7XB3teeZp8JkgnhgZfd9ovvYvRDexGgIj9iGv8h1TQras14-q9q8T3VXc/s1600/Banff_Part_1-134.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgF6AS47IYzHcemccTwp9ay8Yqglk4Ku1fjUo1UguWWRGgWlI2fUAEtFp-XVsPOmPUQIt3ClgyU1ROz3lU2P7XB3teeZp8JkgnhgZfd9ovvYvRDexGgIj9iGv8h1TQras14-q9q8T3VXc/s400/Banff_Part_1-134.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sun setting on this beautiful mountain stream heading down <br />
from Larch Valley towards Moraine Lake</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixE03FlwH5JPvXh3wzFCulKyQJHrPoC7WvP8_pp8m82cQIf1oIgfOZV9QkP87OoCro3qBrsnm30pyPsenBjlJ1USMvdExfh4825mAEQN7j3IHd5hjoSQxeed8WLIUBdw5PB4xxXRbOQOw/s1600/Banff_Lake_Louise-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixE03FlwH5JPvXh3wzFCulKyQJHrPoC7WvP8_pp8m82cQIf1oIgfOZV9QkP87OoCro3qBrsnm30pyPsenBjlJ1USMvdExfh4825mAEQN7j3IHd5hjoSQxeed8WLIUBdw5PB4xxXRbOQOw/s400/Banff_Lake_Louise-4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hiking along Lake Louise in Banff National Park <br />
when an amazing hole in the clouds opened directly above the lake. </td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIA2Oe81slOtefAwrcLidfz5qAv8TEtSrsqcm_rYnwy-lvvFcmw-sKoEvaUZ9US0-s9nvznUSUUbFMgA6Ft6Hi3OXlnOWkeb5Ar0DdbSMv4aYLANvNIlg1RH1b_EbakzlMXknaRf-xJhU/s1600/Banff_Part_2-80.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIA2Oe81slOtefAwrcLidfz5qAv8TEtSrsqcm_rYnwy-lvvFcmw-sKoEvaUZ9US0-s9nvznUSUUbFMgA6Ft6Hi3OXlnOWkeb5Ar0DdbSMv4aYLANvNIlg1RH1b_EbakzlMXknaRf-xJhU/s320/Banff_Part_2-80.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Morant's Curve, just outside of Lake Louise</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_LEaqW5wnQY7AfWZlDTxmjHCXLXp-2_xuSGEcYvyTCiSwqT9G1YMqgyHDCpb9nzo2ZPUvn-fBgf11Ya5Wg0IsSdzFUeKbsrmPgbMrF-WtocyqAPFRbb_SGqtLLUXFVvzqdrgImgSgvY8/s1600/Banff_National_Park-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_LEaqW5wnQY7AfWZlDTxmjHCXLXp-2_xuSGEcYvyTCiSwqT9G1YMqgyHDCpb9nzo2ZPUvn-fBgf11Ya5Wg0IsSdzFUeKbsrmPgbMrF-WtocyqAPFRbb_SGqtLLUXFVvzqdrgImgSgvY8/s320/Banff_National_Park-1.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doing some extremely primitive hiking in Sunshine Meadows, part of Banff National Park</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOXzZiaSV8T3WK1Am44ItEJWy_y-AgiWUXMR8qROXZe-OAnznrKktFbVVwPTtzWi1hEsMoN5sim8fGF4-X17Z1-ZYqLuwRg9YAHc8ran2DIJOLImjrAko4DG_hIQPLiY7d163yGKBipGo/s1600/Banff_Part_1-76.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOXzZiaSV8T3WK1Am44ItEJWy_y-AgiWUXMR8qROXZe-OAnznrKktFbVVwPTtzWi1hEsMoN5sim8fGF4-X17Z1-ZYqLuwRg9YAHc8ran2DIJOLImjrAko4DG_hIQPLiY7d163yGKBipGo/s320/Banff_Part_1-76.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Off the trail in Johnston Canyon</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5FepcndiKppW7VB1iTinWoNwIhS4RgbSDQWBU4b9sWXP__Sqv6KQ2nkrNym6xasd1P28K1uhetYYWUdwzKWtoBPzGGMjtGoEfe-0W1O7jhr4el9Iq1b3KT1UoclJpJQnfUbVdTsR7ZN0/s1600/Banff_Part_1-71.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5FepcndiKppW7VB1iTinWoNwIhS4RgbSDQWBU4b9sWXP__Sqv6KQ2nkrNym6xasd1P28K1uhetYYWUdwzKWtoBPzGGMjtGoEfe-0W1O7jhr4el9Iq1b3KT1UoclJpJQnfUbVdTsR7ZN0/s320/Banff_Part_1-71.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Upper Falls in Johnston Canyon, Banff National Park</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJOCxBdEBXuyuVzAXiMn3EV569-X00MiR2CdVDqFx0KzOgvNCHdj7c4KY6yhH_r0vG5pYZZ0E7fzqa5NsYmOntPRaFmHvngwMY8naSCVN6HX4svBRUZ8LOY2nmPWl-xSLJAJVElKDEBMo/s1600/Banff_Part_2-20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJOCxBdEBXuyuVzAXiMn3EV569-X00MiR2CdVDqFx0KzOgvNCHdj7c4KY6yhH_r0vG5pYZZ0E7fzqa5NsYmOntPRaFmHvngwMY8naSCVN6HX4svBRUZ8LOY2nmPWl-xSLJAJVElKDEBMo/s320/Banff_Part_2-20.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hiking through an avalanche field <br />
on the Plane of Six Glaciers trail.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ArYHGGj7R3_HSRil84Cx_wsB0nsOrzw_MlTcVBBTt1G98urOre7xQhU4VVsWXyQLNtV1xq8XaRNiLtM9NmSr5PA3c_6n-WjhTrBHxdTEqa_etN8_Lvdps2dz4nRadkhyTrpDjoUxIjY/s1600/Banff_Part_2-27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ArYHGGj7R3_HSRil84Cx_wsB0nsOrzw_MlTcVBBTt1G98urOre7xQhU4VVsWXyQLNtV1xq8XaRNiLtM9NmSr5PA3c_6n-WjhTrBHxdTEqa_etN8_Lvdps2dz4nRadkhyTrpDjoUxIjY/s400/Banff_Part_2-27.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Plane of Six Glaciers tea house. A couple miles up in to the mountains. <br />
Great food and hot tea was a welcome sight and a much needed break. There was just something cool about eating here in this incredible remote location<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7UXt-gRSOFvw2bHS7I8W0tQHHPz8AczNNhljQHXv6zomf4ZdfqhM102zi5YrpSzwvlA3sg-wNvOWy2oQi5mTrocFgvHQSNmVXGhEKKWR26dE6rQHZ29vKD71Ifu4lPP4LnGIymZMfp1Q/s1600/Banff_Part_2-64.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7UXt-gRSOFvw2bHS7I8W0tQHHPz8AczNNhljQHXv6zomf4ZdfqhM102zi5YrpSzwvlA3sg-wNvOWy2oQi5mTrocFgvHQSNmVXGhEKKWR26dE6rQHZ29vKD71Ifu4lPP4LnGIymZMfp1Q/s320/Banff_Part_2-64.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">On the way to Consolation Lake in Banff.<br />
Surrounded by pristine majestic scenery in all directions. </td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ62kBV3jD9Zh545nGq1HVEJWWK2ehtHFA6vYWbhiyiLHTtVkqujG3T6pWuuFEl1ETyXH8H_WcUYBIbGr0PVALeGtFuKKDLP4ZBYKDDXD93MkRYoGId31Z012pUNcgg1mCpWfNes1lJng/s1600/Banff_Part_2-105.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ62kBV3jD9Zh545nGq1HVEJWWK2ehtHFA6vYWbhiyiLHTtVkqujG3T6pWuuFEl1ETyXH8H_WcUYBIbGr0PVALeGtFuKKDLP4ZBYKDDXD93MkRYoGId31Z012pUNcgg1mCpWfNes1lJng/s200/Banff_Part_2-105.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">A viewpoint far above Peyto Lake.<br />
One of the many stops on the Icefield Parkway<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ymUIVKRzVwokoL1hKuHP272fjX9YQ1P-MD6RsJxQ5iJp2PCvGl8VF3kJKlIlDlPEW7LxGKcUOZRbCzL67yXjnCe1Vpu4PHym_teU1fzwoBlUaUdLfHxNJRMh1s2vEht2nbmLehds9Xg/s1600/Banff_Part_2-123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ymUIVKRzVwokoL1hKuHP272fjX9YQ1P-MD6RsJxQ5iJp2PCvGl8VF3kJKlIlDlPEW7LxGKcUOZRbCzL67yXjnCe1Vpu4PHym_teU1fzwoBlUaUdLfHxNJRMh1s2vEht2nbmLehds9Xg/s200/Banff_Part_2-123.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Near Cirque Lake and miles away from civilization</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqo3prY2iMafgOnWXfd_AHm1km_SNLsUqhXQPMFR-XG8zsjd4Ox73upIsn4ZtVeeOXd7IOh-B-1Udj8QQfuSMASjW-JvPSFYbrcvZs1JwndOGBj4NBD3Y6TmdTbiAbFuQ93Kr1VpW8wZo/s1600/Jasper_National_Park-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqo3prY2iMafgOnWXfd_AHm1km_SNLsUqhXQPMFR-XG8zsjd4Ox73upIsn4ZtVeeOXd7IOh-B-1Udj8QQfuSMASjW-JvPSFYbrcvZs1JwndOGBj4NBD3Y6TmdTbiAbFuQ93Kr1VpW8wZo/s320/Jasper_National_Park-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Valley of the Five Lakes. A simply stunning hike in Jasper National Park</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcXjP9uedYRQqL2MjQuFfmXR_WxhyKHutZzF4Qben5vlqTjgMBnjOMTdbfIV_KWDxF7uEMAw69xc4ScfTbqnPAjsFkSFeUAQ-xxfQnY28gT1qCHqGARuPRgIqdvFdVUA58exdEpPsdLIw/s1600/Spirit_Island-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcXjP9uedYRQqL2MjQuFfmXR_WxhyKHutZzF4Qben5vlqTjgMBnjOMTdbfIV_KWDxF7uEMAw69xc4ScfTbqnPAjsFkSFeUAQ-xxfQnY28gT1qCHqGARuPRgIqdvFdVUA58exdEpPsdLIw/s320/Spirit_Island-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spirit Island on Jasper's Maligne Lake. <br />
One of the most photographed places in all of Canada.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5RbzNOGaFSzWwEHUYRStJpWSQrfj3QcHZZDc3gEXoTEsdj6nSijCyPqveim3SetgYRusRHpyKSKnw8Px8j28JZYwwL-NRyBRT0t8APxqGjdz5gBulvxhh9K4K3A0F-v4CuyimDmtILYI/s1600/Jasper-19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5RbzNOGaFSzWwEHUYRStJpWSQrfj3QcHZZDc3gEXoTEsdj6nSijCyPqveim3SetgYRusRHpyKSKnw8Px8j28JZYwwL-NRyBRT0t8APxqGjdz5gBulvxhh9K4K3A0F-v4CuyimDmtILYI/s320/Jasper-19.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Athabasca Falls, Jasper NP</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeT2g3-fkFPmK-tsyGAYg-_ZC_lL560dlpJZ8yCgNURvPSZRJ_NW6ivmS4v7MKCzVcjWxtKRDVsb1hGo_IPaQHwOZcX_xFFJZmcEJ2cU8yZ5c8iYlsm9whaHkgKlMqip0tdkxy_0Bmsec/s1600/Jasper-21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeT2g3-fkFPmK-tsyGAYg-_ZC_lL560dlpJZ8yCgNURvPSZRJ_NW6ivmS4v7MKCzVcjWxtKRDVsb1hGo_IPaQHwOZcX_xFFJZmcEJ2cU8yZ5c8iYlsm9whaHkgKlMqip0tdkxy_0Bmsec/s320/Jasper-21.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This little slot canyon was formed where the river once rushed through and molded the rocks. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjygB_iHT3lkKw0VVq9SoWJsjOtRntfwAUVmT-ArhEUaw9-7m7e9tZ9Eh4Y3B_QOUz5-qElTLu2HU6fG14FRfwbXV-CVa7b5X_oI5Uv9AjKf9Iq2Zn-u6RVzfOdHUn78Gn3o9OVTLHVlCk/s1600/Jasper-23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjygB_iHT3lkKw0VVq9SoWJsjOtRntfwAUVmT-ArhEUaw9-7m7e9tZ9Eh4Y3B_QOUz5-qElTLu2HU6fG14FRfwbXV-CVa7b5X_oI5Uv9AjKf9Iq2Zn-u6RVzfOdHUn78Gn3o9OVTLHVlCk/s320/Jasper-23.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A glacially fed river. This viewpoint was a few minutes hike from Athabasca Falls</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg0wMM6PRP9OKAdzTPsicAtZDD4gOsK-_36t6xjAVCaAxNn_R03CRMt4FipMrnTBVGEJQzK7pof0TW5bLjsxZ1CEBa4fhRGw24BetMO4LDio0JBXLcOd5M29tr0s4IfvNKHjroWA6z1RU/s1600/Jasper-25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg0wMM6PRP9OKAdzTPsicAtZDD4gOsK-_36t6xjAVCaAxNn_R03CRMt4FipMrnTBVGEJQzK7pof0TW5bLjsxZ1CEBa4fhRGw24BetMO4LDio0JBXLcOd5M29tr0s4IfvNKHjroWA6z1RU/s320/Jasper-25.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Valley of the Five Lakes, minutes after a thunderstorm rolled through</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoTjq7oacNVHdhWmCLfGGqXu_zej2hcwg8HhbFMnbHSfDdJgSsqNFUl671dzHi1nAuCrad9e0b4KVhUHUlE2uF14Rswm2Yc_QFzORp90_e6qmuakoixOZNg6lFtDy_KB_SZ4Lu-UzXvp4/s1600/Jasper-35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoTjq7oacNVHdhWmCLfGGqXu_zej2hcwg8HhbFMnbHSfDdJgSsqNFUl671dzHi1nAuCrad9e0b4KVhUHUlE2uF14Rswm2Yc_QFzORp90_e6qmuakoixOZNg6lFtDy_KB_SZ4Lu-UzXvp4/s400/Jasper-35.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The red chairs are placed in some of the most scenic places in the national parks. <br />
It's always a treat discovering them!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAE7EDex-ZX-XJKBL0b3yOskbduWa_lh2Q0t96YPd4-2IcknfM1ZYMS1feY8GG4SW6SaNxSZ1VpX76lv1l2nFz92Fs5kpemRnlAj7Z2S_CI78X4wRHrFDtaOTzXcJPthCDUdmYvamo5S8/s1600/Jasper-71.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAE7EDex-ZX-XJKBL0b3yOskbduWa_lh2Q0t96YPd4-2IcknfM1ZYMS1feY8GG4SW6SaNxSZ1VpX76lv1l2nFz92Fs5kpemRnlAj7Z2S_CI78X4wRHrFDtaOTzXcJPthCDUdmYvamo5S8/s200/Jasper-71.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Huge bull elk outside of Jasper just feet off the road.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghVYWsaTX9uolzoyFKVhAVWGt0rV1WLktPHARJr09-1xf_e3UCcnXH75BYJ457XpHqiC0FqShPKQZdYDSYc4hc_fl2Aw2tAER9ExiC5JEcuW1jI52VtEL3DAbe2AxXduHk8Mkj7it2vcc/s1600/Jasper-175.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghVYWsaTX9uolzoyFKVhAVWGt0rV1WLktPHARJr09-1xf_e3UCcnXH75BYJ457XpHqiC0FqShPKQZdYDSYc4hc_fl2Aw2tAER9ExiC5JEcuW1jI52VtEL3DAbe2AxXduHk8Mkj7it2vcc/s320/Jasper-175.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hiking up to Wilcox Pass. Nice viewpoint of the Athabasca Glacier</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMLsKv9heXp8GJe6Z56JFzamzj7YjGHwSpZDCPGTE69XBXgG02_gdN7fnKGwDvz6WQBpAsF9TKb6Yeel-LH0Ac7pdxv3gbG4nF137edcsriXv3vW0PKt13IzpzSmfkYMGt8XbznvfSknQ/s1600/Jasper-177.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMLsKv9heXp8GJe6Z56JFzamzj7YjGHwSpZDCPGTE69XBXgG02_gdN7fnKGwDvz6WQBpAsF9TKb6Yeel-LH0Ac7pdxv3gbG4nF137edcsriXv3vW0PKt13IzpzSmfkYMGt8XbznvfSknQ/s320/Jasper-177.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's like another world. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhKveT0dVwLWVJfQ-tNPu-78dJynA39haDVxA3XLv_JDNfzgXdDss3vwmYBDqhRcMJieTU7yiRCzsDr8WjpU3elSvF3j1QO14T-wEG7cFgOwyTXDaV0PcP-CtckFVDdzTopj6WizpIYJU/s1600/Jasper-190.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhKveT0dVwLWVJfQ-tNPu-78dJynA39haDVxA3XLv_JDNfzgXdDss3vwmYBDqhRcMJieTU7yiRCzsDr8WjpU3elSvF3j1QO14T-wEG7cFgOwyTXDaV0PcP-CtckFVDdzTopj6WizpIYJU/s200/Jasper-190.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from Wilcox Pass</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTAbFK8ThayYEE2pJNqgmZ85xnFZluOZRd8wRyPIICYUTCvAHnhKXb1F79rxGYDf9PNoG6db9E_i2eat8Xzs_BzjkGEbkEYD5kCffoGkA0A_lF8UHmUE_UXbQjFsLZmj9Z8yopK77cP7M/s1600/Jasper_best_shots-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTAbFK8ThayYEE2pJNqgmZ85xnFZluOZRd8wRyPIICYUTCvAHnhKXb1F79rxGYDf9PNoG6db9E_i2eat8Xzs_BzjkGEbkEYD5kCffoGkA0A_lF8UHmUE_UXbQjFsLZmj9Z8yopK77cP7M/s320/Jasper_best_shots-4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting up close and personal with the local wildlife in Jasper. <br />
This is right by Medicine Lake</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLhFs_gdcNwO-J6YHmWk0RcSGm7PUrhSlS6VqewrRXSCvShstv6fTzeaz02DuALdzdtDKZuAHcZmBg-FHpWURV__40_sUAua3ZRqDJH6Hw_7NKlSM0h_AlD_9o_h3jHOTRAx-4NmGjN_I/s1600/Mount_Robson-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="865" data-original-width="1600" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLhFs_gdcNwO-J6YHmWk0RcSGm7PUrhSlS6VqewrRXSCvShstv6fTzeaz02DuALdzdtDKZuAHcZmBg-FHpWURV__40_sUAua3ZRqDJH6Hw_7NKlSM0h_AlD_9o_h3jHOTRAx-4NmGjN_I/s400/Mount_Robson-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mount Robson Provincial Park. <br />
This is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies and a stunning day trip from Jasper</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpbidT2RkbIJIDfKPd8i2Qhi2TrgVoRSdvbz4h4TI5cVfIeCNX8fr-TeaifcKa1jFbnH6krUz9y02zl7mAig00ZcFkZuGzyycE3CJnu68-96w2fCruQQv46lCoWMfqigm23TFb0g6tvW4/s1600/Mount_Robson_Best_shots_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpbidT2RkbIJIDfKPd8i2Qhi2TrgVoRSdvbz4h4TI5cVfIeCNX8fr-TeaifcKa1jFbnH6krUz9y02zl7mAig00ZcFkZuGzyycE3CJnu68-96w2fCruQQv46lCoWMfqigm23TFb0g6tvW4/s400/Mount_Robson_Best_shots_1.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the trail head below Mount Robson</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marble Canyon in Kootenay National Park</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmO62AcI9Cfd4znExtA5Q3Fe2mEaJ8EjDDjTYCqLaGNjTyWf1pqRaDoU_bt1zWwkwjktlrDRIZY6TCNnN3PYyWH6w7VfVk6ogZbtZUFcJo8SU7ma6FWpMpYu21s4nIaFjvE-SMa3_AMYo/s1600/Kootenay_National_Park-1-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmO62AcI9Cfd4znExtA5Q3Fe2mEaJ8EjDDjTYCqLaGNjTyWf1pqRaDoU_bt1zWwkwjktlrDRIZY6TCNnN3PYyWH6w7VfVk6ogZbtZUFcJo8SU7ma6FWpMpYu21s4nIaFjvE-SMa3_AMYo/s200/Kootenay_National_Park-1-2.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amazing colors in Kootenay's Marble Canyon<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Remnants of a major forest fire in Kootenay National Park</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghlLMyHPUpd81r3PI_1VCvf_D-BsLD8iBWfIE2r4qE3zr0pN562afegZHvH55lmWWZ8EtEIJD0fEX_zSHa_ANX1TExv2uMKlo6SvFL1xttazpNurVrN59cj2HGjq2JwAXWADogODy9d5E/s1600/Kootenay_National_Park-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br /></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghlLMyHPUpd81r3PI_1VCvf_D-BsLD8iBWfIE2r4qE3zr0pN562afegZHvH55lmWWZ8EtEIJD0fEX_zSHa_ANX1TExv2uMKlo6SvFL1xttazpNurVrN59cj2HGjq2JwAXWADogODy9d5E/s1600/Kootenay_National_Park-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0dELxKaHcXQsrL_6a-cyKQgc1wiaO4HixNCxs0XREjSHY8NOVKcEx6v1fgFGGaW56XptVnUsRJub7ctX1UQeBSslyh9-B8_FtIzTq4uUCPd1vC8Sqo9MX0OO_wNXKvXDQxYCixc9Rv_0/s1600/Yoho_National_Park_2017-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0dELxKaHcXQsrL_6a-cyKQgc1wiaO4HixNCxs0XREjSHY8NOVKcEx6v1fgFGGaW56XptVnUsRJub7ctX1UQeBSslyh9-B8_FtIzTq4uUCPd1vC8Sqo9MX0OO_wNXKvXDQxYCixc9Rv_0/s320/Yoho_National_Park_2017-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Emerald Lake with a peak of blue sky</td></tr>
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If it were up to my, these chairs would have been facing the epic Takakkaw Falls</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hiking towards the base of Takakkaw Falls</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just below Takakkaw Falls in Yoho</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset from the Yoho Valley Road</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Natural Bridge in Yoho National Park</td></tr>
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Adam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907165268583977683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316791532386364969.post-72769244929529048232017-12-19T23:12:00.001-06:002017-12-19T23:12:17.662-06:00Pro Tips for a Perfect Weekend in Door County <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2uMjjaEEAioHYpiKMdqr3tHWJEqvTEoyKOuM8wcfJZC_Jk847pxIIKbm_V5mhflOv2UaRs7P7I0SMU_46J6oa4XWLMe8UQEdRHki7hETBEAWYPPSa9GKjnIUDpxv2Z4cKp78j2OkRiD8/s1600/Door_County_Blog_Photos_Summer-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2uMjjaEEAioHYpiKMdqr3tHWJEqvTEoyKOuM8wcfJZC_Jk847pxIIKbm_V5mhflOv2UaRs7P7I0SMU_46J6oa4XWLMe8UQEdRHki7hETBEAWYPPSa9GKjnIUDpxv2Z4cKp78j2OkRiD8/s320/Door_County_Blog_Photos_Summer-4.jpg" width="320" /></a>As a Wisconsinite, every once in a while I have to enjoy the local treasures that my state offers. Door County is one of those places. Located on a peninsula over Lake Michigan and just a short drive from Green Bay, Door County is a quaint and unique traveling experience with beautiful views of the lake, extensive hiking options and some fantastic spots to appease your culinary interests. There's hardly a chain restaurant or store anywhere. It's all local here with Ma and Pop style shops and eateries filling the clean little villages that make up Door County. There's something in this county for travelers of all types, whether you want a chill weekend itinerary of drinking wine with friends or exploring remote islands and touring lighthouses.<br />
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<b>When to go?</b><br />
My wife and I visited in early June, which is basically the shoulder season with things just starting to heat up - both in terms of temperature and tourist activity. Prices are marginally cheaper and it's not quite as packed as it will be in just a few weeks. The busiest time of year to visit is in early fall when the colors typically peak. You'll be hard pressed to find affordable lodging during this time if you haven't reserved it weeks or months in advance. Winter activities will be limited, but photographers will have a blast searching for icy scenes on the rocky shores of the lake.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjz9vdE5SGfum4q36qOrbNmDaoxvBBNSzvzcp5Bs_HTx0xMZja7Mmpbfq39t8qhHiATliqP-1QlOO5cUh_z9ygzbPv4G8cBQNHuCBp1baVjE6EMywc1DmlxJ6VmogVoXY3Rpo8EeFtMjw/s320/Door_County_Blog_Photos_Summer-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The marina in Sister Bay. </td></tr>
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<b>My favorite villages</b><br />
I call them villages because, outside of Sturgeon Bay, they really aren't cities or even towns. They are tiny communities with sparse populations outside of the throngs of tourists spending time there. Despite their limits in size, a handful of these quaint little places are full of restaurants, lodging and shopping. During our weekend in Door County, we passed through most of the key locales and I was quickly able to identify the places I'd be willing to stay at or spend more time in during following visits.<br />
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Sister Bay is where we had chosen to stay, and it was a beautiful village with a park right along the marina where visitors and locals alike all seem to gather in the evening. It's a great spot to chill with some ice cream and watch the sunset over the lake. There's a really good Swedish restaurant right across to the street too with grass on the roof. If you're there at the right time, you might even see goats mowing the roof! Everything in Sister Bay is in walking distance and taking a stroll down the main street by moonlight is pretty enjoyable.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fisherman at Sister Bay on a calm evening</td></tr>
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<a href="http://visitfishcreek.com/" target="_blank"></a><br /><a href="http://visitfishcreek.com/" target="_blank"></a>
<a href="http://visitfishcreek.com/" target="_blank">Fish Creek</a> was another favorite. It's small, but loaded with good eateries and right next to Peninsula State Park. I'd definitely consider staying here in the future. Eat at the White Gull Inn...they're stuffed French toast is exquisite and famous.<br />
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<b>Where to stay?</b><br />
At first glance, finding lodging seems like a headache. If you search the main hotel booking websites, you won't find many options, and if you do, they're probably fully booked anyways. Don't worry though as there are dozens and dozens of privately owned motels, guest houses and even fancier resorts all over the county. You just need to know where and what to look for. I find <a href="https://midwestweekends.com/plan_a_trip/regions/door_county/best_motels_resorts_door_county.html" target="_blank">this page</a> very helpful for finding lodging all across the county.<br />
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<b>Get out and explore</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cana Island lighthouse</td></tr>
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Some people travel from far and wide to just relax in Door County with great food and drink. While I enjoy that as much as the next guy, you have to balance gluttony with adventure. There are a handful of state parks in Door County that you absolutely should try and visit. You probably won't have time to do all of them in one weekend, but my recommendation is to hit both Peninsula State Park and Whitefish Dunes. Right next to Whitefish is Cave Point County Park which you can easily hit on the same stop (they're even connected via a nice hiking trail).<br />
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One adventure I highly recommend taking is the Cana Island Lighthouse. You have to cross a small stretch of shallow Lake Michigan water to get to the pristine little island. During normal hours they have some type of trailer ferry you across to keep your feet dry. But walking across is pretty exciting too, especially on a day when the water is pretty rough. The island is a popular spot for night photographers to get an epic shot of pitch black skies with the lighthouse in the foreground. Explore the small island a bit and you'll find some good views, and a beach full of seashells.<br />
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<b>Washington Island</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stavkirke Church on Washington Island<br />
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Ready to leave the peninsula and explore a quaint and beautiful remote island? Drive north and pick up a ferry ticket to Washington Island. You can even bring your car on the boat if you want. During shoulder and high season, the ferries run frequently during daylight hours. Bikes are also available to rent on the island if you have the time. There are a lot of rural roads with the main sights spread out fairly far apart. This means you'll need most of an entire day with a bike, or a half day or so with your vehicle. It feels almost like being in a different country out on the island. Washington Island actually lays claim to one of the biggest Icelandic settlements outside of Iceland itself. You can kind of see the influence too.<br />
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There are some fun shops, bakeries and restaurants scattered around. I loved the Danish Mill, but just heard that it burned down over the summer which is a huge bummer! Hopefully they can rebuild because their pastries were ridiculous. Beyond Washington Island, you have the ability to catch on to an additional ferry which goes go the even more remote Rock Island State Park but you'll need more time to do this.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A beach entirely composed of seashells on Cana Island </td></tr>
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<br />Adam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907165268583977683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316791532386364969.post-13367143011142543862017-11-28T19:40:00.000-06:002017-11-28T19:40:04.221-06:00Credit Cards Can Discount the Price of Traveling <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Let's face it, traveling isn't always cheap. Money is probably the biggest hold up for many to actually buy a flight somewhere or to pack up the car and go travel the world. There are ways to help lessen the sting and keep more money in your pocket after taking a dream trip. Today, we're going to look at how credit cards can help - specifically with sign up bonuses and 0% interest promo periods.<br />
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Both of these have helped me in the past make trips that someone on a college budget with a part time job normally can't make. Just to be clear, I'm not talking about cards that offer reward points or miles for money spent - those are nice too, but generally take longer to accrue any rewards big enough to truly make a difference.<br />
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I should also add that I am not being paid by any credit card to post this info, so you can trust that I'm not being swayed in anyway and these ideas are legit. A second disclaimer, credit cards are awesome if - and only if - you know how to use your money. Going into debt is never a good idea if you don't have a plan or the means to get out. With that said, if you're a good steward of your money, the right credit card can make a dream trip a reality. Let's look a little deeper.<br />
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<b>Signup Bonuses</b></div>
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There are a number of cards that offer a bonus reward if you spend a certain amount of money in the first couple months of opening the card. Sometimes the bonus is pretty significant too. The best I've ever had was about 600 bucks from a <a href="https://www.chase.com/" target="_blank">Chase</a> Sapphire card. All we had to do was spend about $3,000 in 3 months - an easy task when you're planning a wedding - and then bingo! Points galore. It was enough to purchase one of our round trip tickets to Iceland. Even if you're not planning on a wedding, it's easy to meet these thresholds if you use the card for all of your spending and bills in a given period. Also, if you time it properly you can get the card when you know a big purchase is on the horizon (think boring stuff like appliances, home improvements etc...) and you'll have your bonus mark hit in no time.<br />
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One of the best offers now is the <a href="https://www.americanexpress.com/us/credit-cards/card/premier-rewards-gold/" target="_blank">American Express Gold Rewards</a> card. We just picked it up and will use it to take about $500 off one of our airfares to Thailand. Which means one of the tickets for my wife and I will only be a setback of about $130 bucks. Dirt cheap for a flight to the other side of the planet. There are others out there, obviously, and I don't have the time or space to critique all of the credit card offers available at this moment!<br />
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What if your normal expenses won't reach the bonus threshold for a given card in time for you to book your trip? You can typically use the credit card for booking all of your flights and accommodations and then use the reward points as a statement credit when you get back. They don't always give you the best transfer rate if you use them as a statement credit, but it's free money and can help a lot!<br />
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One side note, some of these cards with the best signup bonuses do charge an annual fee but most of them waive it for the first year. You can take full advantage of the signup bonus and then cancel it 12 months later before your renewal charge. </div>
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<b>Zero Interest Promos</b></div>
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This is another tactic that can be slightly more risky, but still effective for giving you extra spending power for traveling. Credit card companies offer a number of no interest promos to get you to sign up for their card. These range from 6 months to as many as 24 - meaning that whatever you purchase during that intro period does not need to be paid off in full until the end of the promo period. You've gotta have a plan here and at least know that you'll be able to make payments for the coming months or it's not worth getting into. You'll only have to make minimum payments each month to keep the interest from accruing. Minimum payments are usually just 25-40 bucks, but I always pay more if I can. This type of promo helps a lot if you want to go on a trip, but can't completely empty your bank account. Think of it like a smallish loan that won't gain any interest if you pay it back on time.<br />
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Buy your flight and pay it off slowly for a half of a year or two - whatever your promo period is. I've done this a number of times, especially right out of college, when I couldn't afford to spend a month and a half in Europe. Heck, I could hardly afford two weeks there without going broke. I charged my flights and most of the lodging on my card, letting me use my savings/checking accounts for smaller purchases like food and entry fees.<br />
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I've never paid a cent of interest on any trip I've taken, so I consider these no interest cards a huge benefit for those with wanderlust but who do not necessarily possess the financial means to travel. </div>
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Credit cards are a blessing and a curse. If you know how to manage money, using a card for traveling can be a huge benefit. It has also helped me to build pretty solid credit by making all of my monthly payments.<br />
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Credit cards offer other little benefits to travelers as well. Things like rental car insurance can be nice to have. This means that if you use that card to pay for a rental abroad, it will most likely give you at least some level of insurance as long as you decline whatever the rental company offers. Definitely look at your specific card to see what is covered though, because they all do different things. There are a number of other benefits that certain cards offer, including access to VIP lounges in airports and even reimbursement of some fees charged by airlines (eg. for extra baggage or early boarding). </div>
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If you need some more help or guidance in choosing a card that works, I'd be happy to assist. Just leave a comment here and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. </div>
Adam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907165268583977683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316791532386364969.post-33698722761358661322017-11-16T00:36:00.003-06:002017-11-16T00:36:59.507-06:00New Content UpdateIt may seem like I haven't been doing much here over the past year, but that's because I've also been writing about some of my recent experiences for <a href="https://www.theflightdeal.com/" target="_blank">The Flight Deal</a>, which has given me a huge platform to share some of my travel stories and advice to readers around the world. I've also been busy with all types of photography related projects. Check out <a href="http://www.adamsmithphotographywi.com/">www.adamsmithphotographywi.com</a> for some of my new photographic work.<br />
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I'll be adding more content here soon, but in the meantime check out my three travel tip articles over at The Flight Deal if you've got any interest in these spots (or just to satisfy your wanderlust craving by looking at some cool pictures):<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9NXTIA4tWAhfcdTbsFYNo9fuvCtKtsVBcjS1Xm6965I6LmHBrFkWdT8KqdVVoG5pbFVFfRSoum5BsxSdNb0g9yABNEgPJpIxX3E_eH4y_R95szTwkHVkfYMsZEd74Sje8vaoOEfQ-GDE/s1600/Cinque_Terre-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9NXTIA4tWAhfcdTbsFYNo9fuvCtKtsVBcjS1Xm6965I6LmHBrFkWdT8KqdVVoG5pbFVFfRSoum5BsxSdNb0g9yABNEgPJpIxX3E_eH4y_R95szTwkHVkfYMsZEd74Sje8vaoOEfQ-GDE/s320/Cinque_Terre-1.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="http://www.theflightdeal.com/2016/12/16/practical-travel-tips-cinque-terre-italy/" target="_blank">Cinque Terre, Italy </a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLzt-BMAHufPoAWz17bKLZy8dLkfx8w3fYd1um4Ohs5aBX1z66xh4Qnl2XjEuyQ7veAb-wmQmnebNgnhjUCQSiqczZv7JcHvFyIH4rOD090bbTve2bo9DNGcJNiBBHhbdxZAbzmmn1L7I/s1600/Cuba-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLzt-BMAHufPoAWz17bKLZy8dLkfx8w3fYd1um4Ohs5aBX1z66xh4Qnl2XjEuyQ7veAb-wmQmnebNgnhjUCQSiqczZv7JcHvFyIH4rOD090bbTve2bo9DNGcJNiBBHhbdxZAbzmmn1L7I/s320/Cuba-1.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="http://www.theflightdeal.com/2017/06/30/practical-travel-tips-havana-cuba/" target="_blank">Havana, Cuba</a><br />
<a href="http://www.theflightdeal.com/2017/02/03/practical-travel-tips-santorini-greece/" target="_blank"><br /></a>
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<a href="http://www.theflightdeal.com/2017/02/03/practical-travel-tips-santorini-greece/" target="_blank">Santorini, Greece</a><br />
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Make sure to check back here soon because I am cooking up some new content which will be live very shortly!<br />
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Adam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907165268583977683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316791532386364969.post-65718213887859414082017-08-13T13:41:00.002-05:002017-08-13T13:41:37.852-05:00Overlooked and Awe Inspiring - Yoho National Park <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP_qDBGNm3uPv8gfAF0LlXGt1TTlU-I1J38yyJW2EN8z1BbezZXnI_sreHtaUzhOQWbGVOazYp0-NAh_sonr7SsaFeA5aRXDPeMxFOR5ualcZ3-OWLm8etpu3CPR-Ck2n3IELo9JFGTA0/s1600/Yoho_National_Park_2017-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP_qDBGNm3uPv8gfAF0LlXGt1TTlU-I1J38yyJW2EN8z1BbezZXnI_sreHtaUzhOQWbGVOazYp0-NAh_sonr7SsaFeA5aRXDPeMxFOR5ualcZ3-OWLm8etpu3CPR-Ck2n3IELo9JFGTA0/s320/Yoho_National_Park_2017-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emerald Lake. Photo by <a href="http://adamsmithphotographywi.com/">adamsmithphotographywi.com</a></td></tr>
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With all of the hype that Banff and Jasper get (deservedly so too) Yoho National Park often gets overlooked or left out altogether from traveler's itineraries. The park is so close to Banff (only about a half hour from Lake Louise) that it is very easy to fit in for a half day if you've got a vehicle at your disposal. Some of the highlights that I was able to see are in the sections below, but I also recommend trying to get to the remote Lake O'Hara - more on that soon. Yoho is a place that would definitely fit in my Most Photogenic Places on Earth series...but then again, so would almost every square mile of the Canadian Rockies. Check out some of my highlights, tips and recommendations below and, as always, drop me a comment with any questions or ideas of your own to add.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Near the base of Takakkaw Falls. Photo by <a href="http://adamsmithphotographywi.com/" style="font-size: 12.8px;">adamsmithphotographywi.com</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwLamquPWyif8B9-TBgqTvtF1B3LVZHBxVfrh7564agIb-AvMIq1Vyy1KjZ9AXd1XZRnLGKk16MVseuHOsqVV5URuWzeB2AS-6HRUw1NZuizY-Y7B_6NINd3W7I0krTD6VpFSDWGbXtlI/s1600/Yoho_National_Park_2017-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwLamquPWyif8B9-TBgqTvtF1B3LVZHBxVfrh7564agIb-AvMIq1Vyy1KjZ9AXd1XZRnLGKk16MVseuHOsqVV5URuWzeB2AS-6HRUw1NZuizY-Y7B_6NINd3W7I0krTD6VpFSDWGbXtlI/s200/Yoho_National_Park_2017-8.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close to Takakkaw Falls with a rainbow created by the mist. Photo by <a href="http://adamsmithphotographywi.com/" style="font-size: 12.8px;">adamsmithphotographywi.com</a></td></tr>
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<b>Yoho Valley Road/Takakkaw Falls</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVjdlSWB_QrBR3tQRtN7Gq_be_jLZcUXU5tt8EknADJilyKfi6EWw_gR68FfHnQsSJStvKauHLhLQd0pzwc2uuxexDHCH5KMtQCYnioK3g4nQpIcXS5NWv0N09cbdXMI6Ap7tjnKAbhys/s1600/Yoho_National_Park_2017-9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVjdlSWB_QrBR3tQRtN7Gq_be_jLZcUXU5tt8EknADJilyKfi6EWw_gR68FfHnQsSJStvKauHLhLQd0pzwc2uuxexDHCH5KMtQCYnioK3g4nQpIcXS5NWv0N09cbdXMI6Ap7tjnKAbhys/s320/Yoho_National_Park_2017-9.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Takakkaw Falls. Photo by <a href="http://adamsmithphotographywi.com/" style="font-size: 12.8px;">adamsmithphotographywi.com</a></td></tr>
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Much easier to get to, the Yoho Valley Road is a beautiful drive through mountain forest with a number of spots worth pulling off and snapping a few pictures. The road typically opens in late June after the snow melts and will stay open until it starts to snow again a few months later. There's a steep section at the beginning with a series of switchbacks that is a blast to drive on! You would absolutely not make it up the switchbacks with any amount of snow covering the road. After a few kilometers of scenic driving you'll arrive at Takakkaw Falls - a strikingly beautiful fall that drops nearly 1,000 feet. It's signed very well from the road so you can't miss it. You can park nearish to the falls, stop at the iconic red chairs with a view of the falls, hike across a bridge and then scurry up some rocks to the very base of the falls if you so choose. There's just something amazing about standing that close to a huge waterfall. The fall is at it's biggest and most powerful during the summer meltdown and shrinks to a small strand of water in the late fall/winter.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emerald Lake. Photo by <a href="http://adamsmithphotographywi.com/" style="font-size: 12.8px;">adamsmithphotographywi.com</a></td></tr>
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<b>Emerald Lake and Natural Bridge</b><br />
About a half hour from the Yoho Valley Road is another road leading to a couple of Yoho's signature sights - the Natural Bridge and Emerald Lake. Neither of these take much effort to see as you can park just a few paces away. Emerald Lake is probably one of the most underrated lakes in the region, with more well known spots like Lake Louise or Moraine Lake getting most of the attention over in Banff National Park. Emerald Lake, however, is quiet and has a serene beauty without the tour buses full of people constantly streaming in and out. It's called Emerald Lake for a reason, the color is absolutely astounding and with a number of mountains surrounding the lake, it is a photographer's dream spot. The glacial runoff full of ground up rocks is what causes this color in various shades in almost every river, stream and lake in the area. Bring a snack and just chill by the calm water for a while before heading on to your next stop. The Natural Bridge is a neat spot to walk around and only about ten minutes away on the same road you came in on. Here you see first hand and up close the incredible power that water has whittling down rock over thousands of years and, of course, snap a few photos.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJc8QPk_T5P_kKVQ1Z5mqIAvceDKs1QBB7tWdzTi8bElQEFoJvIJY-68PMyqJ45U407d0I37BxflrjW6wIsgkRyBYKC-WlaC5Dbnhj_wg5OB7GfecSSdDaIqN6geIZz_6S7U3mIo7FqVo/s1600/Yoho_National_Park_2017-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJc8QPk_T5P_kKVQ1Z5mqIAvceDKs1QBB7tWdzTi8bElQEFoJvIJY-68PMyqJ45U407d0I37BxflrjW6wIsgkRyBYKC-WlaC5Dbnhj_wg5OB7GfecSSdDaIqN6geIZz_6S7U3mIo7FqVo/s320/Yoho_National_Park_2017-4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Natural Bridge. Photo by <a href="http://adamsmithphotographywi.com/" style="font-size: 12.8px;">adamsmithphotographywi.com</a></td></tr>
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<b>Lake O'Hara</b><br />
Now, back to the aforementioned Lake O'Hara . This lake, which many claim to be one of the most beautiful in the region - quite an accolade to have considering some of its neighbors - is only reachable by bus or or through walking up an 11km service road. There is absolutely no vehicular traffic allowed outside of the park's shuttle bus. The bus only runs a handful of times each day during the peak season to limit the amount of people in Lake O'Hara's fragile environment. I tried to get tickets, but the entire year booked up in literally minutes when the sale went live online. Apparently, you can show up and wait in line to see if some people cancel, otherwise you're simply out of luck unless you have the time to hike the 11km (6ish mile) road to the lake. There are some world class hikes starting around the lake which would definitely be worth adding a day to your trip if you can manage to get there!<br />
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<b>Other attractions</b><br />
Nearby is the town of Field, a small settlement built around the railway which has some cute houses and a number of cafes and restaurants. If you've got the time (or need a bite to eat) it'd be worth passing through as it is only a few minutes out out from Yoho's best attractions. You can also take a guided trip to the Burgess Shale fossil beds if you've got some more time. One can also check out the engineering marvel of the Spiral Tunnels from one of the easily accessible viewpoints, or a little further out visit the smaller but powerful <a href="http://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/bc/yoho/activ/places#wapta" target="_blank">Wapta Falls</a>.<br />
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Yoho has some amazing sights without the crowds of other spots nearby in Banff or Jasper. It's easy to hit these highlights in an afternoon if you've got your own transportation and they should not be missed on your Canadian adventure. Remember, there is still time to visit all of Canada's national parks for free this year with the <a href="http://www.commandesparcs-parksorders.ca/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=22953&urlLangId=-1&productId=524528" target="_blank">Discovery Pass</a>!<br />
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Adam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907165268583977683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316791532386364969.post-43830957432935841472017-04-16T23:43:00.000-05:002017-04-16T23:43:04.813-05:00Cuban Visa and Entry Requirements Explained<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A quiet morning near Havana's cathedral.</td></tr>
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Having just completed a trip to Cuba and doing quite a bit of research beforehand, I've decided to simplify and share what I learned. If you search for Cuban entry requirements or anything about Cuban visas, you're likely to get hundreds of results all saying mostly the same thing with some slight variations. Some articles were written 12 years ago and are hardly applicable now. This article should save you the hassle of visiting 25 different websites to compile the information you'd need to feel comfortable booking a trip. In the following sections, I'll summarize exactly what citizens of the USA need to know before making the journey to Cuba.<br />
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<strong>Pick a Reason</strong><br />
Before you can get to Cuba, you'll need to have an 'official' reason to visit the island nation. You'll actually be asked for your reason of visit when you begin the process of purchasing your airfare. The US government has come up with a <a href="https://cu.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/local-resources-of-u-s-citizens/traveling-to-cuba/" target="_blank">list of 12 reasons</a> that will allow you to visit Cuba legally. You'll notice that tourism isn't one of the options. No worries, though - it's completely fine! No one in Cuba will care about why you're there. These 12 reasons are solely required by the American government and seem far more intimidating than they actually are. Education or support of the Cuban people are safe choices which no one will really question.<br />
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<strong>Tourist Card</strong><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exploring El Morro, a beautiful fortress in Havana Bay</td></tr>
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In addition to having a reason to visit the country to appease the American bureaucrats, Cuba also requires visitors to have a tourist card. It's not a visa per se. It's just a sheet of paper that isn't attached to your passport. One part of it will get stamped upon arrival, and the other on departure. These tourist cards can typically be purchased through the airline that you're flying with and range in price from $50-100. I recommend purchasing in advance, rather than at the gate, as this will most likely save you a bit of cash. Guard this paper like you would your passport - do NOT lose it. The card is good for 30 days, but can be extended once if necessary.<br />
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As a side note, don't be afraid to let the Cuban immigration people stamp your passport - in the past Americans opted to have them stamp the tourist card instead but with the new rules, a Cuban stamp in your passport is not only legal, but pretty cool to have. Finally, there is NOT any additional departure tax charged to you at the airport (despite what you may read on the web) as this was dropped a couple years ago now. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A view from the cathedral's bell tower.</td></tr>
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<strong>Health Insurance</strong><br />
The Cuban government requires all travelers to have health insurance while in the country. Since they don't recognize American insurance carriers yet, you'll need to have a form of Cuban health insurance. Seems like a big deal, but it's quite simple and cheap and some of the US airlines flying to Havana even include the insurance in your ticket price (look at the price breakdown to be sure). Spirit Air tagged on 25 bucks/person for health insurance for our four day trip. They gave us a small leaflet as documentation that we were covered by insurance, otherwise just take a screen shot on your phone of something indicating that you have proper insurance. You can also pick up some insurance at the airport in Havana for just a few dollars a day, however, be advised that you do not need to purchase any additional insurance if you have it through your airline no matter what anyone says to you at the aeropuerto. <br />
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<b>Prepare for Lines</b><br />
A final word of advice, the lines to go through immigration at arrival or departure from Havana can range from a breeze of a walk-through to a labyrinth of chaos when a half dozen international flights are coming or going at the same time so be like a Boy Scout and be prepared! Especially when leaving the country, arrive a bit earlier than you would normally, just in case. I'm not recommending showing up and camping at the airport for 6+ hours, but I'd definitely leave close to three hours just to remain on the safe side.<br />
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That's really it. It is THAT simple. Any questions? Feel free to ask. Cuba is so close to the lower 48 and is still pretty cheap to get to. Go while you can, as some airlines are already cutting back their service to Havana or canceling it altogether. As of writing this, Spirit Air is <a href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-bz-spirit-nixes-lauderdale-havana-route-20170414-story.html" target="_blank">canceling their service</a> entirely June 1 of 2017 but other carriers will continue service on a more limited basis. </div>
Adam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907165268583977683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316791532386364969.post-51761503124631009322017-04-04T11:48:00.000-05:002017-04-04T11:48:11.018-05:00A Traveler's Guide to Cuba's Dual Currency System<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The old streets of Cuba offer a unique beauty<br /> even in their various states of disrepair</td></tr>
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Something that all travelers must understand before getting to Cuba is their unique currency situation. They have not one, but two currencies you'll need to get a grasp on before you even think about changing money at a cadeca (what they call their money changing stations). Initially, it seems like a much bigger ordeal than it actually is - but with a little preparation and knowledge, exchanging and using money in Cuba can be stress free and enjoyable. The following sections will give you all of the info necessary to successfully navigate Cuba's somewhat bizarre currency situation.<br />
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Before we get into the dual currency issue, it's important to note that if you have a credit or debit card tied to a bank in the USA, it will <i>not </i>work anywhere in Cuba. You don't even need to bring it or bother trying because, until further notice, they are no bueno. Even if you're from outside of the states, but your card is tied to an American parent company, it still won't function. This means you need to come up with a tentative budget and bring cash - potentially a lot of it too - because ATMs are out of the question.<br />
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Now back to the currencies - the most important one and what you'll be using primarily is the Cuban Convertible Peso or the CUC. The value is essentially on par with the US dollar (as of Mar 2017 it took about $1.03 to get 1CUC). Most restaurants, buses and museums require payment in this currency so you'll want to have plenty of it on hand. The other currency is simply the Cuban Peso or CUP. You can find some peso food stalls around Havana and some shared cabs apparently take the CUP as well. The exchange rate on the CUP is extremely favorable - you'll get about 24 CUP for just 1USD at the cadecas. If you want a cheap meal, find a place that takes pesos and you can get two personal sized pizzas and a couple cans of soda for the equivalent of 3USD total. It's amazing really, and not even that bad of food. There's a fantastic ice cream shop named Coppelia where you can pay one CUP per scoop. It's beyond cheap and insanely delicious, especially after walking around in the near tropical heat all day. There's also some good fresh juice bars where you can get a glass full of goodness for 10 CUP - which isn't even 50 cents! You don't need to take out a ton of CUP, but you should have 200-300 on hand.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just another beautiful classic car sitting on the side of the road</td></tr>
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I advise everyone going to Cuba to look at pictures of both currencies to help familiarize yourself with them in order to protect yourself from scams. The CUC bills all will say convertible somewhere on the bill. Most of the CUP monies have an image of Cuban patriot on them and the coins typically have a star on one side as well. Count your change and check to make sure it's in the correct currency because the difference between the two is staggering.<br />
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Finally, when you're at the cadeca to exchange money, it's required to have a passport. Set your passport on the desk of the worker when you get called in along with the money you want exchanged. It helps if you tell them how much you're giving them, and they will typically recount it in front of you to confirm the amount. If you don't know how to say it in Spanish, just say whatever amount that you handed them in English and they may still understand. They will then exchange your money for CUC. If they don't count it in front of you - make sure you do before leaving the building to be certain it all appears right. At this point, if you want to get some CUP, hand the worker a 10 or 20 CUC bill and ask for 'moneda nacional'. 10CUC will get you 240CUP. They'll hand you another stack of money, this time in CUP. You should use common sense and keep these in separate pockets or different wallets so you don't accidentally confuse the two after having a few mojitos at the Bodeguita del medio.<br />
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There are cadecas scattered throughout Havana. Even some in the older, more tourist heavy parts of town. Personally, I would only exchange enough money for a day or two at a time, and keep the rest of your cash locked up in your accommodation so as to not put all of your eggs in one basket. As is the case anywhere else in the world, you can opt to exchange money at the airport (and you may need to if you're picking up a taxi) but the rates are slightly worse there then at the cadecas in town. Money exchange sites can be found outside of Havana as well. Basically anywhere a tourist goes, one can most likely stumble on a cadeca.<br />
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<b>What currency should I bring and how much?</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In front of the Museo de la Revolucion</td></tr>
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My last word of advice is to avoid bringing USD if you can help it. Anywhere you exchange them, there is a 10% fee and oftentimes an additional 3% tapped on top of that. For those of you who don't want to do the math in your head, it means that for each 100USD that you exchange, $13 of it will be lost to fees. I bought Canadian dollars through my bank before leaving the states and used only CAD while in Cuba to avoid the harsh fees imposed on USD exchanges.<br />
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As far as how much you should bring - this entirely depends on the length of your trip and what kind of itinerary you've got planned out. As a point of reference, here's what my wife and I did: We were in Cuba for about 4 days. We had already paid for our AirBnB online beforehand so our biggest single expense was already taken care of. We brought along about 550 Canadian dollars total for the two of us and used it for everything from food and tips to museums and taxis. We had a couple of meals at cheap peso stalls and a few at higher end CUC places. We came home with about 75 CAD left - but it is always preferable to bring too much than to run out of cash before you head home.<br />
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Understanding the currency in Cuba will go a long ways in making sure that your trip to this beautiful island is rewarding and financially reasonable. At first glance, their currency situation is overwhelming and confusing, but there's no reason to let this be a deterrence from visiting the country. I hope this guide has helped you get a better grasp on the Cuban dual currency situation, but please feel free to post any lingering questions or comments below and I'll do my best to respond. </div>
Adam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907165268583977683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316791532386364969.post-73949566739653350432017-02-07T00:58:00.001-06:002017-02-07T00:58:26.938-06:00Wisconsin Ice Caves Update<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside a gorgeous ice cave. <a href="http://www.adamsmithphotographywi.com/">www.adamsmithphotographywi.com</a></td></tr>
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Those of you holding your breath that the beautiful caves on the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore will open this winter will have to continue holding on for the foreseeable future. Warmer than normal temperatures and strong winds have combined to seriously limit the development of ice on Lake Superior - which means the ice caves are currently unreachable. There is still a chance that a lengthy cold stretch could help give us a brief window to access the caves, but the long term weather models coupled with the fact that the days are getting longer with more direct sunlight do not bode well for the chance of major ice development. The window hasn't closed, but it is getting increasingly smaller as the days go by. You can keep your eyes posted to the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/apostleislandsnationallakeshore/" target="_blank">Apostle Islands Facebook page</a> for frequent updates to the condition of the ice (or lack thereof) but be prepared to wait another year for a chance at visiting one of the Northwood's most unique and beautiful attractions. I will post a further update if the caves do indeed open this winter.</div>
Adam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907165268583977683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316791532386364969.post-29666178013380677882017-01-22T13:33:00.002-06:002017-01-22T13:36:27.391-06:00It's the Year to Discover Canada<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The pass can be displayed in your vehicle and <br />grants anyone inside free entry</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For those of you who haven't heard, Canada is celebrating its 150th birthday and they are offering an amazing gift to the world for anyone interested in visiting ANY of their National Parks and Historic Sites. The gift comes in the form of a <a href="http://www.commandesparcs-parksorders.ca/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=22953&urlLangId=-1&productId=524527&urlRequestType=Base&langId=-1&catalogId=53407" target="_blank">Discovery Pass</a> - which gives you free entrance to any park or site for the entire year of 2017. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is open to anyone - not just Canadians. To get the pass, simply visit the website linked above and add one to your cart. It's 100% free to order and it will be delivered directly to your home. Mine took a good month and a half to arrive, so planning ahead will be essential. Speaking of planning ahead, the Discovery Pass has already exploded in popularity, and accommodations in and around the iconic parks of Canada are booking up incredibly fast for the summer's high season. If you want to go, start booking your lodging as soon as possible. For a two week trip, this pass could feasibly save you a couple hundred dollars. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Additionally, Parks Canada is running a contest granting the winner an unforgettable 7 day trip to western Newfoundland. Enter it <a href="http://www.parkscanadacontest.ca/discovercanada/go" target="_blank">here</a>, because you can't win if you don't try! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Banff National Park has been on my travel bucketlist for years and this pass is the excuse I needed to book a trip up north. In addition to Banff, I'll be visiting Kootenay, Yoho and Japser with my wife this summer. Where will the Discovery Pass take you?</span></div>
Adam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907165268583977683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316791532386364969.post-42734644165353457762016-11-01T00:39:00.001-05:002016-11-01T00:39:12.906-05:00Living Out Dreams on Iceland's Ring Road<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A road trip on one of the most beautiful countries on earth.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My dream of going to Iceland began a few year ago when I first started seeing it pop up on the internet as a traveling hot spot. The photos made it look like a surreal country full of mystique, adventure and wonder. It was a place I just had to get to and see with my owns eyes. Was the hype real? Were these pictures floating around on the internets truly telling the truth? Well, the answer to these questions is a resounding 'yes'.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I began researching a future trip to the land of Vikings, knowing that one day I'd get there. I had a huge list of potential sights to see and places to stay and just put it on the back burner waiting for the right moment. The time finally came this past summer as Iceland was the first stop on my honeymoon. It took a little bit of convincing to get my soon to be wife to agree to spending six days in Iceland. I told her she will have to trust me and that it will be worth every second. She did, and fell in love with with country just as fast as i did. We landed there just about 24 hours after tying the knot.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Around every corner of this amazing land lies a surprise waiting to take your breath away. There are some places in the world so mesmerizingly gorgeous that a camera simply can't capture it in it's fullest glory. You just have to be there and see it, and smell it and touch it for yourself. Iceland is one of those places. Everything in Iceland is like an untamed adventure. One of the most beautiful things is that it's so unguarded and wild. The national parks are seemingly without barriers and rules - especially by American standards. This lets Iceland become nature's huge playground. People are trusted to act like adults and simply enjoy the sights and experiences. Hopefully no one screws this amazing freedom to explore - walking within inches of pounding waterfalls and exploding geysers is surreal. In this post, we'll take a look at some of the highlights and a few recommendations to help plan your perfect trip to the land of the midnight sun.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Just minutes from the Keflavik airport and the village where of Monsters and Men came from</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This trip took place in June, right before the summer solstice. This means it never got fully dark from the moment we landed in Reykjavik until we left. It was pretty cool driving around at midnight under the sun's light! It didn't really impact sleeping, most places had decent blackout curtains that made it feel like night time at least - that and we were usually flat out exhausted after a day of epic hiking and driving around the country.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">First off, the basics - you absolutely need to rent a car in Iceland. Yes, you can get around with buses or expensive tour groups, but the best way is to go at your own pace. With so many (more like endless) things to see, being restricted to a tour's timeline means you're going to miss out on a lot. I researched for quite a while on the best car rental companies and what insurances to accept or decline and ended up going with Budget/Avis right from the KEF airport. We paid less than 40 USD a day for a Suzuki Swift. It got decent gas mileage but was not 4WD. We didn't really need 4 wheel, being that it was June and we didn't plan on going far into the interior of the country. Had we went in March, it would have been a different story. You'll also need 4WD if you plan on heading further into the interior of the country on rough and potentially dangerous F roads. (F roads basically mean you shouldn't attempt to drive on them without a 4WD, they're easily labeled and identified on maps or while out driving around.)</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The First Day</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After getting situated in our vehicle and stopping at a grocery store for some much needed snacks and beverages we were off. Day one involved the Golden Circle - a relatively quick drive from the capital to some of the country's most popular destinations. At Thingvellir National Park we were able to stand where the North American and European tectonic plates are separating. You can literally stand with one foot on either continent. There's also some cool Viking history and other beautiful views in the park.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Strokkur at the moment it is starting its eruption</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A short drive later and we were at Geysir - the geyser for which all geysers were named. (Geysir doesn't erupt too much anymore, but Strokkur does and it's only a couple hundred feet away.) Hike up on the hill above the geysers for some beautiful vistas and a great perspective of the exploding geysers. A half hour or so later, we were at Gulfoss - a massive waterfall sending mist hundreds of feet up into the air. I just about ruined my camera running around next to the falls, but I don't regret one single second of it. The last stop of the day before checking into our guesthouse in Selfoss was to visit the Kerid Crater. It's a picturesque volcanic crater lake where you can either walk around the rim or down to the lake itself. It's a nice quick stop, but one of the only natural attractions in all of Iceland that we had to pay to get in to. We had a fantastic dinner in Selfoss before cashing in for the night. Speaking of cash, this meal for two cost us about 80 bucks!</span><br />
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<b>The Lowdown on Food</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">While we're on the topic of eating, let's talk about how expensive it was. If you've read anything about Iceland, you've probably heard this already, but food was priced at almost ludicrous levels across the country. Everything we ate was good and seemed to be of very high quality, but you'll quickly spend (or overspend) your budget if you eat out every day. Icelandic cuisine makes eating out in London seem like a real bargain.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you want to save money - eat at gas stations. It doesn't sound luxurious, but we survived off of some pretty good Icelandic hot dogs in gas stations all over the country. That and a bag of chips with a bottle of Orka made for a solid meal and wasn't too expensive. There are also some cheaper (by Icelandic standards) supermarkets like Bonus where you can load up on some snack food or even meals if you plan on cooking at your guesthouse or hotel.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Day 2</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Day two was loaded. Our itinerary had us making stops all over south Iceland. We hiked in front, behind and above Seljalandsfoss and then got up close to the beautiful Skogafoss. Both of which are waterfalls you just can't miss. Just down the road we stopped to make the surprisingly long trek out to the mysterious <span style="color: #545454; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Sólheimasandur </span>plane crash. The hike seemed like it took forever, and it passes through some of the most flat and least pretty parts of the country, but the crash itself is very cool and definitely worth exploring if you have the time. Be prepared to take 90 minutes or more for this. The plane is in a major state of disrepair and with the amount of tourists climbing through it, I can't imagine it being safe to play around in after a couple more years goes by.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After getting back to our car, about a mile away we noticed a road leading up to a glacier, so naturally that was where we went. It was a short hike but the scenery seemed like another planet. Also, because it's Iceland and they are awesome, you can hike right up to and on the glacier - exploring to your heart's content. About this point we were getting very hungry, but still had a lot to see! We headed towards Vik and took a side road up to Dyrholaey which is an incredible rock arch in the sea. From the viewpoint, you are far above the massive expanse of Iceland's black sand beach and have some truly jaw dropping views. The drive up was intense. The road was narrow, full of ruts and on the side of a cliff. Meeting another car going the opposite direction was just another thrill to add to an already awesome day.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reynisdrangar beach</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After stopping for a quick hot dog in Vik, we headed to <span style="background-color: #f1f1f1; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reynisdrangar, a black sand beach famous for its basalt columns stacked up on top of each other right along the ocean. I've wanted to see these columns for years, and getting up close to them - even climbing up them was a moment I'll never forget. After the beach, it was about 10pm and we were still enjoying bright daylight, however, we had a guesthouse to get to near Hofn (about two hours away) and had to hit the road. The views along the way were mesmerizing, even with our time pinch we had to stop numerous times for pictures of roadside waterfalls, glaciers or mountains. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9sYM44H_E4mOQeAK1bK5vT9HtofC5o_hCeojawx6TxgKSGaysQE-32b3qabH-7yWhr9xdGhnKv5Jtd0VdoB3Zm0tjHxAcy6NOxuC8mHxhhZjSruLmrT2_aFaPFCyRCKIY_0xTpIho0ew/s1600/Iceland_Road_Trip-8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9sYM44H_E4mOQeAK1bK5vT9HtofC5o_hCeojawx6TxgKSGaysQE-32b3qabH-7yWhr9xdGhnKv5Jtd0VdoB3Zm0tjHxAcy6NOxuC8mHxhhZjSruLmrT2_aFaPFCyRCKIY_0xTpIho0ew/s320/Iceland_Road_Trip-8.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTf37ZZEzT2IEOVbSZlynBQcHrwCbhksxYlDJU7SH952cwgUmWSWcM-lnpkQO3CYMg3Uzme2-MwmQdxyGpIC03uPht5g4dwDJ59wXCfkvXQb-sgZFjx0tukimR6xPH7rMfmt33IsyrRlw/s1600/Iceland_Road_Trip-4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTf37ZZEzT2IEOVbSZlynBQcHrwCbhksxYlDJU7SH952cwgUmWSWcM-lnpkQO3CYMg3Uzme2-MwmQdxyGpIC03uPht5g4dwDJ59wXCfkvXQb-sgZFjx0tukimR6xPH7rMfmt33IsyrRlw/s320/Iceland_Road_Trip-4.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f1f1f1; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Day 3</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="background-color: #f1f1f1; white-space: pre-wrap;">After resting up, it was time to hit the road once more and explore the </span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon. Words don't really do this lagoon justice, nor pictures for that matter. The lagoon itself was beautiful, but following the huge icebergs down to the ocean where many crash-land on the beach was a sight to behold. There's not many places in the world where you can take in a view quite like that.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA1hpdZa6RZhTmYEbb6w_AKQ9zrm8Ofhj2Yndi4Uyhgd9Hiesx2w8V8neL7fOxB7MjGDPV3r39H34VPOoOv3tVyzB8i3bpjcKX6RyQIDmX4fjjP0EvYb8kg_vlBgSeqQhNbvJ-11wYCQ8/s1600/Iceland_Road_Trip-9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA1hpdZa6RZhTmYEbb6w_AKQ9zrm8Ofhj2Yndi4Uyhgd9Hiesx2w8V8neL7fOxB7MjGDPV3r39H34VPOoOv3tVyzB8i3bpjcKX6RyQIDmX4fjjP0EvYb8kg_vlBgSeqQhNbvJ-11wYCQ8/s400/Iceland_Road_Trip-9.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trekking around the glacial lagoon</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">Next on the agenda, and we had to backtrack down the ring road a little for this, was to hike through Skaftafell National Park. Even in June, some of the trails were still closed. However, we took a great hike to see Svartifoss and then into the highlands for a mesmerizing lookout over the glacier. We then drove through the east fjords, came a little closer than we would have liked to running out of gas and finally stayed at a little <a href="http://www.sireksstadir.is/" target="_blank">farmhouse </a>in what truly felt like the middle of nowhere. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGaCJUEyZnd2GmtOXdiqEVHgqFRhVuY-tZr8VmJ99DiZrwHBF952suAxbjbHNqUXZZ77D2LTO0sTkHG2SbDHBXafbtakZija6rz85cNfjq7jkC5HKi9jFekR-V-IvhePIv8iwHHa60QVI/s1600/Iceland_Road_Trip-12.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGaCJUEyZnd2GmtOXdiqEVHgqFRhVuY-tZr8VmJ99DiZrwHBF952suAxbjbHNqUXZZ77D2LTO0sTkHG2SbDHBXafbtakZija6rz85cNfjq7jkC5HKi9jFekR-V-IvhePIv8iwHHa60QVI/s320/Iceland_Road_Trip-12.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Part of Selfoss</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Day 4</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The following morning, after breakfast, we headed back to the Ring Road and visited Dettifoss, Selfoss and Asbyrgi Canyon. We had to go off roading to get to some of these places - 30 miles of blasting through gravel roads in Iceland is intense! Our little Suzuki was more than up for the challenge though. Also, somehow or another - no matter how far away from civilization that we got in Iceland, I still had cell phone service. Having access to my phone's GPS on this trip was such a huge blessing and made everything infinitely easier. I highly recommend either picking up a sim card there, or bringing a phone on Google's <a href="https://fi.google.com/account" target="_blank">Project Fi</a> like I did (no extra charge for international data). We spent the latter part of the day exploring the Krefla Lava Fields and the geothermal area of N</span></span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">amafjall near Lake Myvatn - both of which were like being on another planet and not to be missed. We ended the day at our <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/" target="_blank">AirBnB</a>, got to tour their farm and rested up for day five's adventures.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTCrnJdDhmdEmH449rkk8evBsowLL_A1UlOu1ZVtDAKtN0lGkkFZ9XlbC1NXRpPcIopiklQKOMTnlCWHs4B3cp1O-iqNYPVbfvUyM4Mb6ihH5plsmDvNwn9JEZ0AmVO-G2r_qgMoD_YUo/s1600/Iceland_Road_Trip-13.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTCrnJdDhmdEmH449rkk8evBsowLL_A1UlOu1ZVtDAKtN0lGkkFZ9XlbC1NXRpPcIopiklQKOMTnlCWHs4B3cp1O-iqNYPVbfvUyM4Mb6ihH5plsmDvNwn9JEZ0AmVO-G2r_qgMoD_YUo/s320/Iceland_Road_Trip-13.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Near the Krefla Lava Fields. Like another beautiful planet.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">The area around Lake Myvatn is overloaded with things to see and do. There's something worth stopping for every few tenths of a mile which makes for a fantastic day of exploring. I don't have the time or space to explain everything in detail in this post - but I'd absolutely recommend seeing these four sights:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hike the extinct volcano Vindbelgjarfjall</span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for unreal views over the lake and surrounding area</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Take a stroll through Dimmuborgir</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> National Park, famous for its strange lava formations </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hike up to the rim of the Hverfell Volcano Crater</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline;">Visit Godafoss</span><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></li>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgEbiBmsO029whn66wyxIxZxXfGZPYbxsQYSQzO2uSJgbmincdLt24YmgI2PNyI268Nfp-0VsWleWcTsm1GtpLNvofIen3p_L7okH7fTn6shgcR6WZDU6VmWgwsBw6_1pGgnR26-bREp0/s1600/Iceland_Road_Trip-15.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgEbiBmsO029whn66wyxIxZxXfGZPYbxsQYSQzO2uSJgbmincdLt24YmgI2PNyI268Nfp-0VsWleWcTsm1GtpLNvofIen3p_L7okH7fTn6shgcR6WZDU6VmWgwsBw6_1pGgnR26-bREp0/s320/Iceland_Road_Trip-15.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Godafoss. </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">We were able to accomplish all of these and then some, all the while still having time to get to </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://goo.gl/maps/30LbE" style="text-decoration: none;">Akureyri</a>, check in to our AirBnB, get dinner and hop on our whale watching tour. We followed a humpback whale around the fjord for 90 minutes, it was pretty amazing.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2XgKnWSqXZ4RkdPBMx-w_leAw25ULnCIFc9T8WaWNFiecpO5pjI2Zv8_UowcnJIVETClg7sPBtsCs4aUf-SzAO1lwX5igdbjgQUHgZ9DFGh8Tg48aj54cY9W9S73pMhHKT8NGJn4ALGc/s1600/Iceland_Road_Trip-11.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2XgKnWSqXZ4RkdPBMx-w_leAw25ULnCIFc9T8WaWNFiecpO5pjI2Zv8_UowcnJIVETClg7sPBtsCs4aUf-SzAO1lwX5igdbjgQUHgZ9DFGh8Tg48aj54cY9W9S73pMhHKT8NGJn4ALGc/s320/Iceland_Road_Trip-11.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the majestic Icelandic horses</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Sixth and Final Day</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before either of us knew it, our sixth and last day in Iceland had arrived. We had only a few things left on the itinerary and I still had to cross off eating Hakarl from my Icelandic bucket list. We loaded up with some some snacks and hit the road, heading south down the ring road back towards the capital. We decided on making the day's main activity hiking at Glymur (I would have liked to also spend time on the </span></span><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">Snæfellsnes peninsula, but time did not allow for it)</span><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The hike meandered through caves, across a river and up steep slopes before arriving at a picturesque 600 foot waterfall dropping into a canyon so gorgeous you'd think it wasn't even real. This was one of the best hikes I've ever done anywhere, rivaling Angel's Landing in Utah as a personal favorite. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">A word of advice for all soon to be Iceland travelers - don't stop in the middle of the road to take pictures. </span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">I saw a handful of tourists put their flashers on and leave their vehicle smack in the middle of the lane to run off and take a picture somewhere.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"> It's just foolish. People are distracted enough looking for herds of reindeer or checking out huge glaciers in the distance that needing to avoid stopped cars on a small road is just unnecessary. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's dangerous for everyone and I can only imagine that the locals hate it! The road engineers of the ring road planned ahead and put in more than ample spots to safely pull off for pictures or a quick break from the road. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Worth every single penny</b></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">We packed 7 or 8 days (or more) worth of stuff into our six day adventure around Iceland. It was fantastic and every type of superlative I could think of. As much as we were able to see, there is still so much more that I'd love to go back for like the Ice Caves or the famous L</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white;">augavegur Trek. </span><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">Visiting Iceland was a dream come true, and living that dream for 6 straight days in the midnight sun is a trip I strongly encourage everyone to take. </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Now, after everything has settled in, I might dare to say that Iceland was my favorite country visited to date.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you have any questions about planning a trip to Iceland, please let me know in the comments and I'll do my best to help out! </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">To see more photos from Iceland or my other adventures around the world, check out my photography page at <a href="http://www.adamsmithphotographywi.com/" target="_blank">www.adamsmithphotographywi.com </a></span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZIcv3KVMt_6pXbSzdozdjN8OPRtJoyTVx86AmsAYfJSDxuiBhcOqEMyNC-rQan0Th8bJGx9aHPuR6sPfF5VxzLkMMKiJYGeB9q9HukcyLa2tsolwYsM90kR_86tSBs3E7HZZPq5MPN0o/s1600/Iceland_Road_Trip-14.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZIcv3KVMt_6pXbSzdozdjN8OPRtJoyTVx86AmsAYfJSDxuiBhcOqEMyNC-rQan0Th8bJGx9aHPuR6sPfF5VxzLkMMKiJYGeB9q9HukcyLa2tsolwYsM90kR_86tSBs3E7HZZPq5MPN0o/s320/Iceland_Road_Trip-14.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">View from the summit of Vindbelgjarfjall</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_4l3N_b4pHCDxNPrBkDR8v61lmBHW5ZW3zv19Sed3di57nqQFs2QTcnEAsft9ddYbnZlyJaIU8DMBl8iDYDA51jApc8t_JtJaqGkOoIpIQZOQU5Ng7b1dS3XBupMrTbhGLQrEqf1lGZE/s1600/Iceland_Road_Trip-10.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_4l3N_b4pHCDxNPrBkDR8v61lmBHW5ZW3zv19Sed3di57nqQFs2QTcnEAsft9ddYbnZlyJaIU8DMBl8iDYDA51jApc8t_JtJaqGkOoIpIQZOQU5Ng7b1dS3XBupMrTbhGLQrEqf1lGZE/s200/Iceland_Road_Trip-10.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Skaftafell National Park</td></tr>
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Adam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907165268583977683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316791532386364969.post-33118651872873617802016-04-21T13:44:00.000-05:002016-04-21T13:44:40.700-05:00Hanging Out in Washington DC<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl8fwkcB-LtlSSc-ZEWSXpU_QbR14Ji-s-QGTAAdvprcytlemDozXj7LT6SmxB0uR58aFDZFIdwU_Gqj6VsaBiPMBhcs1UfsP-C8BnarCo1D0dCHP2XfK2NHdelm-F8UYwceK0dL6M9WA/s1600/washington_dc-1-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl8fwkcB-LtlSSc-ZEWSXpU_QbR14Ji-s-QGTAAdvprcytlemDozXj7LT6SmxB0uR58aFDZFIdwU_Gqj6VsaBiPMBhcs1UfsP-C8BnarCo1D0dCHP2XfK2NHdelm-F8UYwceK0dL6M9WA/s320/washington_dc-1-2.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">I've done a lot of traveling around the world in the last 6ish years, having seen many of the great capital cities in the world, however I've skipped my own country's capital for the lure of more exotic places on other continents. With that said, my fiancee and I had a little break and wanted to go get out and travel so we decided Washington DC was a perfect choice for a little spring break adventure.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The US capital and surrounding area is absolutely loaded with things to do for tourists of all types and we found that four full days was really not even close to enough to do everything that in the area. Throughout the following sections, I'll show you what we did and offer some tips so you can plan a perfect DC getaway.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">First off, Washington has three airports - so if you're booking a flight pay close attention to which one you're flying in to. Reagan National is a great choice as it's only a few miles from the heart of the city and is easily connected by a couple of metro lines as well as a rental car center in one of its terminals.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">DC is a huge metropolis, and while it is linked very well through six different metro lines, we quickly found that everything you want to see is very spread out and requires a LOT of walking. Even the National Mall, which has dozens of sights worth seeing, takes hours to go from one end to the other, especially if you're stopping at the landmarks and museums along the way. Bring good shoes, and even then, be prepared for some blisters and tired feet! I can't emphasize this enough - we heard so many people complaining of sore feet in just 4 days. Speaking of the National Mall, it is basically a must to see the landmarks/building at least once by day, and again by night for a completely different perspective. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Plan out any of the tours you'd like in advance - way in advance if possible. For the White House and Capitol Building tours, you'll have to go through the office of one of your local senators. Get in contact with them months in advance. We allowed more than three months and were still denied a tour of the White House and it was only by the help of a friendly staffer that we were able to get a tour of the Capitol. The same can be said for the Washington Monument - get your tickets online in advance (they're free) or plan on waiting in line at 7AM outside the lodge to even have a chance of getting a trip up to the top. You can also take a tour of the Ford Theater where Lincoln was shot and the building across the street where he died. We opted not to take the tours and just pass by for lack of time. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLE0WVxkJXl7kmXmrq-tQq5ABE2SKaXQJaMu6jBcB85nKUCTbscxkWhk8FRGPvaSZesgFSMz-Z_1JnYg3M7JXrYFDDGfqiIM3BoG1GNz9173kk4Y90UtCzip6FX-GV12p72oAbRJ0Z75E/s1600/washington_dc-2-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLE0WVxkJXl7kmXmrq-tQq5ABE2SKaXQJaMu6jBcB85nKUCTbscxkWhk8FRGPvaSZesgFSMz-Z_1JnYg3M7JXrYFDDGfqiIM3BoG1GNz9173kk4Y90UtCzip6FX-GV12p72oAbRJ0Z75E/s320/washington_dc-2-2.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;">One of the highlights for me was getting to see the cherry blossoms in full bloom around the tidal basin. I was so blessed and fortunate to be there for this and cross it off my bucket list. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Z-B7OCTsk0ItmZYlz1jLjkjt36YhzA5Psq8msHB4Z9zIy348R3RNnU7uMuMM5ln20uylgS7Q93DTTSxkshnSRo9f9q2VfghtR9INbmnlkLW8efZe8NklmCFgFC1hl_doir7xwJp7QFc/s1600/cherry-blossoms-dc-1-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Z-B7OCTsk0ItmZYlz1jLjkjt36YhzA5Psq8msHB4Z9zIy348R3RNnU7uMuMM5ln20uylgS7Q93DTTSxkshnSRo9f9q2VfghtR9INbmnlkLW8efZe8NklmCFgFC1hl_doir7xwJp7QFc/s320/cherry-blossoms-dc-1-2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq5nWJUdDmS6EVmYKqY7w5dga_qUnC6ZkGpnKr9GwTBcOVH1UB8AvMfv5rQtGw4fA20Y7E5klvvqZZ0VR09KMF7KjMXp4ENeRT-25qjHwfMXak-KsNpvTr6E4YfZSX0aEtyTzWI4G8dx0/s1600/washington_dc-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq5nWJUdDmS6EVmYKqY7w5dga_qUnC6ZkGpnKr9GwTBcOVH1UB8AvMfv5rQtGw4fA20Y7E5klvvqZZ0VR09KMF7KjMXp4ENeRT-25qjHwfMXak-KsNpvTr6E4YfZSX0aEtyTzWI4G8dx0/s320/washington_dc-1.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">The museums are cool, but I felt that they were targeted more at younger kids. That and I've decided I'm just not a huge museum guy to begin with. There was some cool stuff in the National Air and Space Museum, but not quite what I was expecting. The Museum of Natural History has dinosaurs, the Hope Diamond and a decent butterfly garden. Don't get me wrong, they're worth stops, but you don't need half a day for these places. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">While DC itself has many fantastic sights, some of the must do things while in the area require a bit more of a trek. I highly recommend making it to Mount Vernon - the old home of George Washington. It's just a ways out from the beautiful colonial city of Alexandria and can be reached by a combo of bus/metro or by renting a car (which is what we did). By your tickets <a href="http://www.mountvernon.org/" target="_blank">online </a>to skip the lines and enjoy the beautifully preserved history of one of America's most influential men. Allow yourself a couple hours to really enjoy the premises and take it all in.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1V6-vi8g1BEPeaNFNLnt4aIFGBigCGCKi-RMrlbrpNKteN_gEpbe7uhny4eoBxuhOiojDEWJO6yowDSVnGVEN2944KfrM30X0jLzqYEH8YhTACLaWvb2aBTg1r3Ca4FghDY0RaetOo4g/s1600/Gettysburg-national-park-38.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1V6-vi8g1BEPeaNFNLnt4aIFGBigCGCKi-RMrlbrpNKteN_gEpbe7uhny4eoBxuhOiojDEWJO6yowDSVnGVEN2944KfrM30X0jLzqYEH8YhTACLaWvb2aBTg1r3Ca4FghDY0RaetOo4g/s320/Gettysburg-national-park-38.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">If you have a vehicle, I highly recommend making the 90 minute trip to Gettysburg. This was easily one of the most special places I've been to Stateside. You can do the auto tour of the battle fields in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysburg_National_Military_Park" target="_blank">National Military Park</a> for free in 2-4 hours and really get launched back into history. It's a special place and truly hallowed ground. You can even stand where Abe Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address, which is located in a cemetery not too far from where Picket's charge went down.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">If you plan it out right, you can easily do Mt. Vernon, Gettysburg and throw in a brief stop at Great Falls National Park in one long but unforgettable day. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Washington DC is a culturally loaded with fun ethnic restaurants and just a buzzing energy both day and night. Experiencing the historical significance of the landmarks, all the while being only minutes away from breathtaking natural beauty put America's capital in a rather unique spot that should be on every traveler's list. DC has more to do than you probably have time for which makes researching in advance important. Have a good idea what you want to see and do, so as to not waste your precious minutes in the city.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Want any more tips or have any questions? Let me know in the comments. For more photos from the trip follow my photography website at www.adamsmithphotographywi.com </span><br />
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Adam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907165268583977683noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316791532386364969.post-76192442578906254012015-12-08T19:45:00.002-06:002015-12-08T19:45:33.821-06:00Traveling Peru in Two Weeks or Less<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Machu Picchu is just as amazing as you would think...and then some.</td></tr>
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I recently got back from a completely packed ten day trip through Peru and while this was one of the shorter international trips of my life, it was absolutely worth it. Many travelers will argue that you need a minimum of three weeks to really experience Peru - I'm going to go ahead and disagree. Yes, Peru is HUGE (it really takes forever to get around the country due to its geography) and if you want to experience what both the north and south have to offer, you will need more time than I had. However, my schedule worked out to give me a ten day trip which actually meant only eight days on the ground in the country. During these unreal 8 days I was able to cross things off my bucket list and experience Andean culture in some of the most beautiful and unique settings in the world. This is neither a full summary of what I did or an itinerary to follow, but it should serve as something to create and inspire ideas for your own journey to the old home of the Incas. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Above the ruins in Ollantaytambo looking into the <br />Sacred Valley of the Incas</td></tr>
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The key to traveling Peru - which I quickly found out while researching - was to keep your focus rather narrow. Don't try and fit in <i>too </i>much or it just won't work. What are the most important cities and sights for you to see? My girlfriend and I came up with a list of what we wanted to see and then checked to see if it was really feasible with our time frame. There were things we had to leave off, but that gave us the time and ability to truly enjoy the places we did go to. I would have loved to visit Arequipa or do one of the multi-day hikes through the Andes, but some things had to be pushed aside.<br />
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Machu Picchu was our absolute must see (as it should be for just about everyone visiting the country) so we made that our focus and worked in as many other sites of interest as possible. Thankfully, Cusco and the Sacred Valley (which are pretty dang close to Machu Picchu) are loaded with enough amazingness to keep anyone intrigued for days (or weeks). Speaking of Cusco, don't drink the water there - period. No matter what anyone says, just don't do it! Anyways, we landed in Lima and caught an immediate connecting flight to Cusco and began our adventure from there. The flights from Lima to Cusco are cheap and frequent (I recommend using Star Peru). Two days in Cusco was what we did, and is probably more than enough. We then caught a collectivo for just a few bucks to head into the Sacred Valley. There are a few options as far as a final destination in the valley, and opinions across the interwebs varied greatly on where to go. We chose Ollantaytambo and absolutely loved it. It's also cheaper to get train tickets to Machu Pichhu from there, which was an added plus. The ruins there are spectacular, the setting around the city is breathtaking and it's still close enough to get to other sites like the Salineras and Moray by bus or taxi. In Olla, stay at Mama Simona's. It's cheap and awesome. You won't regret it. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Take that, bucket list. </td></tr>
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I'm not going to take up a lot of space writing about Machu Picchu because it is just as incredible as you think it will be - and then some. The day we were there was cold and rainy but it didn't take away anything from seeing one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. It's so special, you just have to see it yourself. Word to the wise though, Aguas Calientes (aka Machu Picchu Pueblo aka a dump) is the entryway into the site of the ruins and is, honestly, a joke of a town. You might have to spend a night there unless you hike into Machu Picchu, but get out of there as soon as you can. It's one of the worst tourist traps I've ever seen where even the backpacking prices are twice as much (or more) than anywhere else in the country. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cruising around the Peruvian highlands</td></tr>
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After Machu Picchu and recovering from getting sick again it was back to Cusco to catch a flight to Lima. This time, we arrived in the morning and, after checking in to our hostel, spent the entire afternoon and evening exploring the streets of the Peruvian capital. If you ask me, this was more than enough time to see everything we wanted to see. A couple things, the metro bus system is amazing (and cheap) and allows you to get around to the various points of interest quickly. The food in Lima is awesome. I highly recommend eating at El Sillar where I had one of the best restaurant experiences of my life. Finally, at night you MUST visit the water fountain circuit and see one of the shows for a few soles. Never seen anything like it before, truly awesome. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lima's water fountains by night - an amazing experience!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">My f<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 19.84px; text-align: left;">iancée and I along with our <br />duny buggy driver in Huacachina</span></span></td></tr>
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After Lima, we took a bus to Huacachina - another little town that was high on my list. This little oasis in the middle of a beautiful desert with enormous sand dunes is super chill and going on a dune buggy tour is a once in a lifetime experience. I felt like I was on a different planet racing up and down sand dunes that were hundreds of feet tall. While you're there, make sure to hike up to the top of the big dune above town, watch the sunset and finally sprint back down from the steepest part of the dune. It is SO fun.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset on top of the sand dunes above Huacachina</td></tr>
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I'm not saying this is how you <i>need</i> to do Peru because the possible ways to enjoy this country are nearly endless. One could easily spend 8-10 days exploring the Amazon basin and enjoying the wildlife and wilderness of Colca Canyon or checking out Puno, Lake Titicaca and the floating islands or just exploring the old architecture of Arequipa or Trujillo. There really is <i>so </i>much to see in this country and the people are so fantastic it's worth coming back a second time. My advice? Just go to Peru. See what you can. If you can't do it all in one trip - go back.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Salineras (Incan salt mines)</td></tr>
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Adam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907165268583977683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316791532386364969.post-25800283871426267072015-05-12T19:09:00.001-05:002015-05-12T19:09:08.307-05:00I Need YOUR Help!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello Everyone!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">I recently wrote a travel itinerary for a new website and it was selected as one of 4 finalists in a competition for the best outdoor itinerary and I can win up to $1,000 if it finishes in first place! Please go to </span><a href="https://himarco.wufoo.com/forms/vote-for-your-favorite-nyc-outdoor-itineraries/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; line-height: 19.3199996948242px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">this page</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"> and select whatever itinerary you want for NYC and then A Week in Utah's National Parks as the outdoor itinerary. All you need to do is enter your email address which also gives you a chance to win 50 bucks! If you like and/or share this with your friends I'll owe you some serious gratitude! Thanks for helping me out! You can check out my itinerary which is up for the contest <a href="http://himarco.squarespace.com/a-week-in-utahs-national-parks" target="_blank">here</a>. </span></span></div>
Adam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907165268583977683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316791532386364969.post-69207389498600227552015-04-28T11:24:00.001-05:002015-04-28T11:24:34.464-05:00Three Days in the Amazon<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Ever since I was a little kid, visiting the Amazon rain forest was something I wanted to do.<br />
<a name='more'></a> Images of the rain forest's destruction always stuck with me and I wanted to see this amazing place before humans found a way to really screw it up. Luckily, the World Cup was in Brazil this past summer which gave me the opportunity to fulfill one of my life's many dreams.<div>
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<br />I would have loved to take a week or more and go deeper to the truly remote parts of the jungle, but as fate had it, I had 3 available days in the Manaus area before seeing the USA take on Portugal in their group match of the World Cup. Three days was perfect for a short adventure into the jungle - unfortunately everyone else had the same idea. The tour I booked with my friends was so full that the adventure I knew was coming only grew even greater. All of the issues of overbooking every aspect of this tour could have ruined it, but I was stuck with some of the coolest people on the planet and we turned minor adversities into adventures and triumphs in one of the coolest places in the world.<br />
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<b>Day 1</b><br />
It was windy and storming when we left the port in Manaus and the river was already extremely high. We had seen a lot of flooding from the air before landing in Manaus a day earlier. We were getting on small boats about to cross a raging river before we could head up the Amazon to our jungle lodge. We blasted through wave after wave and started slowing down, I peeled back the tarp which was set up to cover the boat and acted as a makeshift roof and windows. We were now stopped completely and in a clearly flooded area, taking shelter next to a handful of trees and bushes that were just poking out of the water. The wind was swirling even more now, and the pilot of our boat said the waves had gotten so big that we wouldn't make it across the river. Our adventure hadn't even truly started, but our lives were already at risk. I knew right at this moment that these three days were going to give me stories to last a life time...and I was right.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This where we were bunkered down waiting for the storm to ease.</td></tr>
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The storm eventually subsided enough that we were able to head back out and cross the river. When we finally hit the other side, we boarded a group of shuttle vans that drove us away from civilization into the beginnings of the jungle. The road ahead suddenly looked washed out and our vans stopped, thankfully there was a boat waiting for us and this is where we headed up the Amazon to the lodge which was supposed to be our base camp.<br />
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We had only been away for a few hours, but I was already making friends from all over the world. There was an incredibly diverse and ridiculously entertaining group of us headed into the mysteries of the Amazon. We were ready for whatever it brought us.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We called this place home for a night. </td></tr>
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After landing at the lodge and having lunch, which included freshly caught piranha, we all realized that there were about 40 too many people for this little lodge in the middle of the jungle. Some were going to be forced to sleep on the boat with hammocks, others sent off to other places in the jungle and the rest of us shared little rooms with strangers. Those of us who stayed at the lodge were about to go out on a canoe journey down the river. I was ridiculously excited for this, however, we had WAY too many people for these dinky little canoes that were waiting for us. I'd say that they safely would have held 8-10 people on a good day, we packed 14-16 souls on each of the boats and set off down the river!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sinking or not, we were having a blast.</td></tr>
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The sounds of the jungle were incredible. We could see a few monkeys swinging in the treetops, but there was so much more going on that we couldn't see. We stopped and just listened to the jungle. It was fascinating - an experience that you truly need to have to understand. We continued down the river, seeing some of the famous Amazon River dolphins, before realizing that the boat I was on was gradually taking on water. Yikes! Being in the middle of the Amazon where half of the indigenous species can kill you is not where you want to be when your boat is falling apart at the seams. The gradual flow of water suddenly grew into a continuous stream, filling the bottom of our boat with 4 or 5 inches of water and wasn't stopping. We told our guide what was happening, to which he nonchalantly replied "We will not sink!" That didn't prove to be too comforting to those of us who were watching the water come in. One of the other boats had a little bucket they were using to scoop out the rain water, and we told them about our little issue so they pulled up along side of us to give us their bucket so we could start bailing ourselves out. Unfortunately, someone had the brilliant idea of throwing the bucket to us which came up about 5 feet short and immediately turned over and sunk to the bottom. Or did it? The bucket resurfaced a few seconds later and yet another canoe snagged it from the water and hand delivered it to us. This time we were able to get to work and continue our adventure while ensuring that we didn't sink into the piranha, anaconda and caiman infested river.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My turn to bail us out!</td></tr>
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All of this, and the sun still had not set on day one in the Amazon. That same night after dinner, we were herded onto boats once again (I made sure to stay far, far away from the sinking canoe from earlier) and headed back out to catch some wild caimans. Our guides spotted a few and grabbed them, but for me the real highlight was seeing the night sky on the middle of the Amazon - hours away from civilization or any form of light pollution. I've never seen so many stars so clearly. It was an unforgettable breathtaking sight.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taking my turn with the surprisingly friendly caiman!</td></tr>
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<b>Day 2</b><br />
The adventures kept on coming during our second day. We started the morning with a hike through the jungle, which involved trekking a hundred or so feet through the water where the trail had been flooded out. People screaming and nervously watching for anacondas was the norm. It was a blast and I kept rolling with the punches. We were getting the full Amazon experience - minus actually seeing an anaconda.<br />
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After lunch, we received news that more tourists were headed to the lodge and there wasn't room for us anymore. The powers that be decided to send us a few hours further down the river to an extremely remote area where we would set up hammocks and sleep in the jungle for the night. This wasn't how the day was supposed to go (if I remember right, we were supposed to go piranha fishing!) but the idea of sleeping in the Amazon rain forest made me feel more alive and excited than I could have imagined.<br />
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We all boarded a big, slow boat and headed further down the river. It was an indescribably beautiful day. Dolphins were jumping out the water near us and flocks of white birds frequently filled the sky. A few hours later we had arrived at our final destination, and just as the trend had been - there were too many of us once again. We had to get ridiculously creative just to fit our hammocks under a little overhang or people would be sleeping out in the open. It all worked out.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjYtrKG8yo8vn_Eux4GSWupbfZE25pR89pQHUpauczrwtF99MB-mWHYrPTaQ-q86s4Ja_na6yVILOcdzcsokSsEspFn9AytXshAdRNKPqP8RUa-1Es7WLyxKhOqp4r1gJ6RVIJDJ9AjOU/s1600/1376edit.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjYtrKG8yo8vn_Eux4GSWupbfZE25pR89pQHUpauczrwtF99MB-mWHYrPTaQ-q86s4Ja_na6yVILOcdzcsokSsEspFn9AytXshAdRNKPqP8RUa-1Es7WLyxKhOqp4r1gJ6RVIJDJ9AjOU/s1600/1376edit.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heading further down the river to our second night's home. </td></tr>
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We ended up starting a fire and cooking dinner in the jungle. When it was getting time to sleep, I was out wandering around our camp when I heard some screams coming from the hammock area. I ran back to see what the fuss was all about to find everyone staring at a HUGE spider. This thing was massive and right above where we were going to sleep. I wouldn't have even closed my eyes if that thing was still there, luckily two slightly under the influence friends of ours took the initiative and ended that poor spider's life. We all owe them a huge debt of gratitude. As we were getting ready to bunker down for the night we could hear thunder rolling in the distance. I've always loved storms, but the idea of sleeping in a hammock in the Amazon with a thunderstorm rolling through made me overly excited. The storm ended up missing us, but resting in my hammock to the foreign sounds of the jungle and thunder was an experience I will truly never forget.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN-gZSd70lGVF7Gc0WpbSLwFnazhYl33fX_88VEJtVDDl15btRTMWt1UoFLAs5rLTNz8vml8Emee7_HrfaLmILTNv7xCQZ3R60d8HaoaCqml9UzXRhgPvWpAtgee1bM7aID_icaZJSMZw/s1600/1383.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN-gZSd70lGVF7Gc0WpbSLwFnazhYl33fX_88VEJtVDDl15btRTMWt1UoFLAs5rLTNz8vml8Emee7_HrfaLmILTNv7xCQZ3R60d8HaoaCqml9UzXRhgPvWpAtgee1bM7aID_icaZJSMZw/s1600/1383.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is where we tried to fit about 40 people in hammocks...<br />time to get cozy</td></tr>
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<b>Day 3</b><br />
Our final day was basically spent packing up and heading back up the river towards Manaus. We enjoyed half a day on the river, soaking in the scenery one last time before we returned to the big city and got ready for game day. On our way back, we stopped at a small indigenous family's farm and got to meet them. These were some of the most genuinely nice and awesome people. Only saw this family for a few minutes, but I'll never forget them.<br />
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This adventure was more than I ever could have asked for. Despite our tour being essentially thrown out the door due to overbooking, I still got so much more out of this adventure than the couple hundred bucks I spent to take it. I met people I will never forget and went places most people only dream of. With all that we saw and went through for these three days, many of us bonded pretty quickly, and maybe one day we will all get together and take on another wilderness adventure together.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn3gkiA07ePvkmIBK4drwDBl-GvjXhLeV7QI2sY4e5_f3mn4Kb5cBYlQW8oMOR05zZCA1WH71ruLJEZmPXAa-Rl4GGc_wzu8VEQLseqBzRvqBsJ0lnkKniiuGgZDxf6QHqJxKKklfmDrI/s1600/1421.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn3gkiA07ePvkmIBK4drwDBl-GvjXhLeV7QI2sY4e5_f3mn4Kb5cBYlQW8oMOR05zZCA1WH71ruLJEZmPXAa-Rl4GGc_wzu8VEQLseqBzRvqBsJ0lnkKniiuGgZDxf6QHqJxKKklfmDrI/s1600/1421.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The water was smooth as glass</td></tr>
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One final thought, and my only real complaint from the Amazon - where were the dang anacondas!?<br />
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Adam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907165268583977683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316791532386364969.post-89217260274677888532015-04-07T11:41:00.000-05:002015-04-07T11:41:07.881-05:00Why Do I Travel?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With a bunch of friends, both new and old<br /> after a World Cup game in Brazil</td></tr>
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Why do I travel? Well, the simple answer now is I that I just can’t stop. I have an addiction. The only treatment is more traveling which, in the end, only feeds the addiction. It wasn't always like that though. I started exploring the world extensively about five years ago with a curiosity for the unknown – I wanted to see what life was like for others. What makes us different? Who are we really, anyways? What else is out there? These are the types of questions that only traveling brings answers to. This is why<em> </em>I travel.<u></u><u></u><br />
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When you step out of your comfort bubble for the first time, it’s going to be weird – maybe even difficult or downright scary at first – but your eyes will open wider and begin to see things in a completely different light. The first time I went abroad was for a semester in Spain and it threw me for a huge loop. Initially, there was a rush of exhilaration realizing that I was in Europe for the first time, but then it settled in that I was a long ways from home and not going to see most of my family or friends for half a year. For lack of a better description, I felt like a fish out of water. “What did I get myself into?” I asked myself. I did everything I could to maintain an open mind, and after a couple of days, everything I missed from home started to be replaced with a sense of awe and curiosity. My eyes were starting to open. The exhilaration of exploration was setting in...and I liked it.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Holding a wild caiman at a lodge in the middle of the Amazon!</td></tr>
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When one finally starts to see just how grand and how spectacularly interesting the world around them can be, it only sparks their passion for exploring and seeing the world. I appreciate the little things more than I ever did before; I do, however, also realize that whatever way of life you are used to - which may seem like <i>the</i> way to do things - isn't always the best way. I've grown envious of the subtle differences other cultures offer and do everything in my power to try and bring a taste of that back into my own circle back home. These are the types of things that make us richer as human beings. Buying physical stuff was always exciting (and it still is, albeit to a lesser extent) but the memories, experiences and people you meet along a traveler’s journey are truly priceless.</div>
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I wouldn’t trade any of stamps on my passport or the experiences associated with them for any monetary item.<u></u><u></u><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbEY2g4QqiLsptuQDHzPM0oJ2GaxoHv8nOTwWrWphNFjyCivG5jbmNraSY37AumNBW31P81YL7QvYQLMCBZ_rSmCSG6W9H4v6omn6fyByLTmPvDihRIgMaivl92LeyMXTk10Vhj-OimTM/s1600/137edit.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbEY2g4QqiLsptuQDHzPM0oJ2GaxoHv8nOTwWrWphNFjyCivG5jbmNraSY37AumNBW31P81YL7QvYQLMCBZ_rSmCSG6W9H4v6omn6fyByLTmPvDihRIgMaivl92LeyMXTk10Vhj-OimTM/s1600/137edit.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sometimes you don't even need to get on a plane <br />to discover something amazing</td></tr>
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Now that I have experienced the thrill traveling, nothing else seems to quite do it. I’m not even saying that you have fly 15,000 miles and sleep on the side of the Himalayas, but just get out and explore beyond the confines of your backyard. Try something different – live, learn and explore. You’re never too old (or too young) to get something out of traveling. There’s something unspeakably cool about sitting in a café in a foreign land, with a tasty snack or drink that you've never tried before and just watching the world go by. Those of you who have done it, know exactly what I’m talking about! This is why I travel – I’d love to hear your stories too. <u></u><u></u></div>
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Adam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907165268583977683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316791532386364969.post-87870669827983776152015-03-24T19:23:00.002-05:002015-03-24T19:23:44.326-05:00My Favorite Beaches in the World<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA5kFtTfKPAYNK5kPpVTsEUZ-KQMIUVoGPVI4lRiPq8_txDAa9FhE1naPi08z8zCUfLbMJx_jlM257bwAWXwwZEY_4tJmkUAHWr4sYtafBBP2MMewQn8UshlJuFi8fBVf2lq4fPk2HQ18/s1600/DSC02260edit.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA5kFtTfKPAYNK5kPpVTsEUZ-KQMIUVoGPVI4lRiPq8_txDAa9FhE1naPi08z8zCUfLbMJx_jlM257bwAWXwwZEY_4tJmkUAHWr4sYtafBBP2MMewQn8UshlJuFi8fBVf2lq4fPk2HQ18/s1600/DSC02260edit.JPG" height="200" width="132" /></a>I've seen a fair amount of beaches during my time traveling. To steal a cheesy line from Corona, I'm always trying to "find my beach". It's a task that will probably never end - let's face it, there are a LOT of amazing beaches out there - but I have came across a few stretches of sand and palm trees where I instantly knew that I had found it.<br />
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Here's a list of my favorites (so far) and a couple that are high on my list that you may or may not even have known existed.<br />
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<strong>Manuel Antonio</strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOfL7SDb3Ert4n-gzqo7MBLoezyTORzwnX329uQN7rM6bPek6EoFNRDwczYFyc0YgdLCt9G0M6bRNhPTkKt3ZBdCJgHymANF7PSoqQ28sdYIfcsZqwRegdQ1yS4yOlyhpdJEnUPSwuSbg/s1600/DSC02339edit.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOfL7SDb3Ert4n-gzqo7MBLoezyTORzwnX329uQN7rM6bPek6EoFNRDwczYFyc0YgdLCt9G0M6bRNhPTkKt3ZBdCJgHymANF7PSoqQ28sdYIfcsZqwRegdQ1yS4yOlyhpdJEnUPSwuSbg/s1600/DSC02339edit.JPG" height="132" width="200" /></a>Whether you chose to visit the Pacific or Caribbean side, Costa Rica is a land full of beautiful coastlines and famous beach towns. The beaches in Manuel Antonio National Park are nothing short of idyllic, postcard worthy material. Walking onto Playa Espadilla in the park was one of those moments where instantly knew that I found my beach. Surrounded by a rain forest filled with monkeys and sloths, I knew this was paradise. Playa gemelas, also within the park was a smaller, more remote beach, but incredibly beautiful in its own right. I also was nearly robbed by a couple of angry monkeys here which only adds to the story.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ipanema Beach </td></tr>
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<strong>Beaches of Rio</strong><br />
I don't want to pick two beaches from Rio de Janeiro, although I easily could. Copacabana is a huge beach and while beautiful, I felt that <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g303506-d312071-Reviews-Ipanema_Beach-Rio_de_Janeiro_State_of_Rio_de_Janeiro.html" target="_blank">Ipanema</a> was slightly more spectacular nestled in between Rio's iconic mountains. It's a massive expanse of sand, populated with thousands of tourists and locals at nearly every hour of the day. It's also right next to Arpoador, which is probably the coolest place in Rio to watch a sunset. (Seriously, it's so good the locals even gather on the rocks here, so take a seat with them and enjoy the show with a caipirinha in hand!) If you're looking for a peaceful beach, this isn't it. Ipanema is full of the life and energy that Rio has become famous for. I loved walking the boardwalk with a fresh coconut water in hand, taking in every little thing that made this place so unique.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exploring the rocks of Arpoador before sunset</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hanging out on Praia do Sono</td></tr>
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<strong>Praia do Sono</strong><br />
I have to include another Brazilian entry just because of the setting. This beach requires you to hike about an hour through a fairly primitive trail in the rain forest to an extremely remote beach community where just a handful of people live. Not only does the little beach community transport you back in time, but this place is a little slice of heaven completely cut off from the rest of Brazil. The adventure getting there, along with the peacefulness of the location and the big waves crashing in make this an unforgettable place. <br />
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<strong>La Arena on the Canary Islands</strong><br />
I wanted to include one black sand beach, but narrowing it down was tough. There were a couple of gorgeous ones on Santorini, but I'm going with Tenerife's Playa la Arena. It was only about as big as a football field, but found itself nestled in a quaint little cove. The waves were decent and it was just beautiful in a different way. I also nearly roasted my feet off on the volcanic sand...this stuff gets insanely hot after absorbing sunlight all day! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5yRXgMOxR5LD0_T2RlgzGDXXpEvV9Pl_zn3xrCRHdN-HkZRRzshZUJ5ni0Aik7xQqqTUhjfRsMs1p-XKIdBXGAuXBhrHrVtKsB1EkOvXUj5RDyLDarB3bhS_DS4hmPyTgRzsKixpfn8w/s1600/DSC01502edit.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5yRXgMOxR5LD0_T2RlgzGDXXpEvV9Pl_zn3xrCRHdN-HkZRRzshZUJ5ni0Aik7xQqqTUhjfRsMs1p-XKIdBXGAuXBhrHrVtKsB1EkOvXUj5RDyLDarB3bhS_DS4hmPyTgRzsKixpfn8w/s1600/DSC01502edit.JPG" height="264" width="400" /></a><strong>Playa Maderas</strong><br />
In Nicaragua, the area around San Juan del Sur is a beach lover's paradise. The one in the middle of town was pretty but nothing spectacular. 15 minutes outside of town, however, is the truly photogenic and spectacular Playa Maderas. It's not my absolute favorite in the world, but it's one of those beaches where you just want to go for a long walk and just forget about the world. <br />
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<strong>Honorable mention: Playa delfin</strong><br />
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I try to avoid tourist traps, but Playa Delfin in Cancun's hotel zone is a truly beautiful beach no matter how you slice it. It's huge, but not necessarily overly crowded and the water is in multiple shades of beautiful blues, contrasting with the gorgeous white sand. I'm not recommending going to Cancun, but this is one pretty beach. <br />
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<strong><br /></strong><strong>Next on my list</strong><br />
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<strong>Cies Islands</strong><br />
A little while back, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%ADes_Islands" target="_blank">Islas Cies</a>, off the coast of Spain, won an award for having the best beach in the world (specifically on the island of Rodas). The best part? It's essentially a wilderness - no skyscrapers, only a handful of tourists and just a few shops/restaurants. It's mostly foot traffic and camping here. This just might be the coolest place in Spain that no one goes to. It's so pristine, you can't even throw away trash on the island, it has to be taken back to the mainland with you! It might be a little primitive for some - I, for one, can't wait to cross this off my bucket list.<br />
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<strong>Reynisdrangar Rock Beach in Iceland</strong><br />
This is one I want to see for the scenery more than soaking up the rays. Located in Iceland, this unique beach is home to some of the <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=Reynisdrangar&biw=1536&bih=753&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=HUEHVYu7No-NsQTcwIGYDA&ved=0CCUQsAQ&dpr=1" target="_blank">strangest rock formations</a> one will ever come across. It's famous for a section of odd basalt pillars stacked up on top of each other right along the beach. I'd love to explore here for a while. Oh, Iceland how I can't wait to meet you...</div>
Adam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907165268583977683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316791532386364969.post-14384043628715597292015-03-03T18:55:00.000-06:002015-03-04T01:42:39.934-06:00Travel Three Weeks in Central America for under $1,200<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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If you want to travel but don't because you think that you'll need an exorbitant sum of money to have a good trip - think again. <br />
<a name='more'></a>Traveling on a budget is a fun challenge and, while it definitely takes some extra labor, it's well worth the reward. Central America is one of the best destinations for a travel enthusiast looking to stretch their dollars or euros as far as possible. From the history of a quaint colonial town like Antigua or sledding down an active volcano in Nicaragua to the beautiful beaches of Costa Rica, there's a near endless amount of memories to be made in this part of the world. The amount of exploring and fun you can have is only limited by how creative you get with your planning. I've taken two separate trips that were both just short of three weeks a piece through Central America for less than $1,200 each time - and that includes the flight! Here's how I did it:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enjoying some fresh lobster on the beach in San Juan del Sur</td></tr>
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<strong>Food and drinks</strong><br />
To answer the inevitable question, no we weren't starving the whole time either. In fact, we ate very well. Most Central American countries have favorable exchange rates for the USD or Euro, which means your money can go a lot further down here. You'll find exquisite local cuisine for just a few bucks a meal. One of my favorites was 'splurging' in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua on lobster cocktail in a nice restaurant right on the beach. It set me back about 9 bucks for the best and freshest lobster I've ever had. <br />
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Even with restaurant prices so cheap, it's still more cost effective to cook your own meals here and there. Staying in hostels with a full kitchen is an added money saving benefit. We'd cook our own dinners or lunches occasionally - usually some type of pasta and sauce for just a dollar or two per person. Pick up some fresh fruit juice and you have yourself a meal.<br />
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On a similar note, don't overdo it on alcohol if you're on a budget despite the glaring temptations with ridiculously cheap drink prices (especially in Nicaragua). I'm not saying that you shouldn't drink, because God knows I sure had my share of mojitos in Granada and tropical drinks on the beaches of Costa Rica, but you should limit yourself because - even with cheap prices - it adds up fast and this is an expense you have full control over.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Blue Lagoon in Tenorio National Park, Costa Rica</td></tr>
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<b>Getting around</b><br />
Traveling through Central America is easy. If you avoid the tourist shuttles and unnecessary flights you'll save a lot of money and still get where you need to go. Sure, there occasionally are some cheap flights between countries, but it's usually much cheaper (and a crazy fun experience) to take a local bus.<br />
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For example, one trip I flew into Guatemala City, took buses and vans around the whole country and then another from northern Guatemala into Belize, where buses are so cheap it's almost ridiculous! We found a bus from Belize up into Mexico and then continued on from there, flying home from Cancun. I was able to pull this off from doing a good bit of research before hand, as well as checking with locals on the best way to get from A to B if I had any remaining questions while down there. Basically, if you can make an itinerary that is linked by buses or cheap shuttle vans you'll save hundreds.<br />
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That brings me to my next point, I've found that having a multi-city flight itinerary can bring you the cheapest flights down in Central America. That is, fly into one city and return home from another. Figure out the places you want to go and then start plugging in destinations in your multicity flight search. You might be surprised with what you get. I've noticed that San Jose in Costa Rica, Managua in Nicarauga, Guatemala City in Guatemala and Panama City, Panama are often cheap sites to fly in and out of - try those for starters! Cheap flights to Central America abound - do NOT bite the bullet on an expensive flight. Budget in 500-650 bucks for a flight, and use the rest of your money for exploring and having fun!<br />
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<b>Where to stay?</b><br />
Don't be afraid of hostels. There's some fantastic options all throughout Central America. Many mid-range hostels are better than a cheap hotel! I've covered most of this in my <a href="http://www.adamsmithadventures.com/2014/03/how-to-find-right-hostel.html" target="_blank">How to Find the Right Hostel</a> article a while back. You can expect to spend anywhere between $5-$20 a night in most locations!<br />
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<strong>Tours</strong><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taking in the epic view of the Arenal volcano<br />
just outside of La Fortuna, CR</td></tr>
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Here's another one that will save you piles of cash. Tour operators will always try and get you to sign up for tours, they're everywhere too. My advice? Do everything you can without signing up for a guided tour! It will take a bit more time and planning, but going without a guide is far cheaper and gives you so much more flexibility as you can do things on your own schedule! You'll just have to research more, finding local bus routes and be adventurous! Speaking even a little bit of Spanish will help immensely with this. I find it incredibly satisfying making my own day trip a success, especially when it saves 50-100 bucks a person. <br />
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Tours just usually just aren't worth it. Yes, there are some places you can't get to without a guide - like climbing a volcano, for example - so if that's on your list of things to do (and it should be) find a reputable tour group. I usually use <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/" target="_blank">Trip Advisor</a> to check up on a operator before signing up for anything. Most of the time, however, I wing it - and it's awesome!<br />
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<b>Souvenirs and Markets</b><br />
Many souvenir shops and essentially all markets I've visited in Central America are flexible on prices. They want your business and will usually negotiate a fair price with you! It's actually kinda fun and oddly rewarding negotiating a discount with a vendor in a foreign country - give it a shot!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love the sunsets in Costa Rica. <br />
This one was taken on the beach in Tamarindo</td></tr>
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Adam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907165268583977683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316791532386364969.post-18910293531866435912015-02-26T12:31:00.002-06:002015-02-26T12:31:22.332-06:00Wisconsin Ice Caves Set to Re-open Saturday (2/28)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz-m2eonlJ84KLM6TuDpax4NqGXwRLAF_82jgVFYQeHdTtWNcEaMHBtQiHphDEmSRFS6U-X0ecklGQmJyEoT2jhjaU9B7rJh7y4CyOkObevglx02ESQO5WqC1L_mTJ1JMLPP87JGO-NrQ/s1600/152edit.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz-m2eonlJ84KLM6TuDpax4NqGXwRLAF_82jgVFYQeHdTtWNcEaMHBtQiHphDEmSRFS6U-X0ecklGQmJyEoT2jhjaU9B7rJh7y4CyOkObevglx02ESQO5WqC1L_mTJ1JMLPP87JGO-NrQ/s1600/152edit.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a>For all my fellow Wisconsinites who have been waiting patiently, it looks like our time has finally come. <br />
<a name='more'></a>According to the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Facebook page, the ice is finally ready for heavy foot traffic, although the trek is said to be much more difficult than last year with large areas of exposed, bare ice on the 1.5 mile hike out to the caves. Wear spikes if you have them, otherwise be ready to slip 'n slide a bit! Here's a link to <a href="http://www.adamsmithadventures.com/2014/02/the-amazing-ice-caves-of-lake-superior.html" target="_blank">last year's post</a> with everything you need to know about the ice caves.<br />
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New for this year: word has it that the NPS will be charging 5 dollars to get in this time around. Don't let that deter you, these caves are amazing. </div>
Adam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907165268583977683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316791532386364969.post-77848993092878310512015-02-23T14:32:00.001-06:002015-02-23T17:42:27.856-06:00My 6 Biggest Traveling Pet Peeves<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Always surround yourself with awesome people traveling!</td></tr>
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Traveling is my favorite thing to do in life. It brings me more joy than anything, but no matter how awesome it is, there are still a few things that creep up on most trips that can start to make my blood boil. We all have them, so without further ado, here's the list of my biggest pet peeves while traveling:<br />
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<strong>#1 Random <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql66pp0iq_4" target="_blank">Snoring</a> Guy</strong><br />
I just can't sleep when there's snoring going on in the same room, and after a few minutes of listening to it, I'd be more comfortable with someone's fingers on a chalkboard. I have some amazing horror stories about this too. One of which involved an old, drunk American who kept an entire hostel awake with an atrocious snoring that sounded like an AK47 firing off rounds from an endless magazine and the girl in a bunk next to mine hitting him repeatedly with an umbrella until he finally woke up out of his drunk stupor and apologized before immediately passing out and starting all over again. To this day, I don't understand how someone can breathe and snore like that at the same time...it just doesn't make sense. I can't help but smile about it now, but it's times like these that make spending that extra money on a private room seem really appealing.<br />
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<strong>#2 The Smelly Shoe Person</strong><br />
Ok, let's face it - we've all been guilty of this at one point or another, but that doesn't mean I can't complain about it either. It's so annoying crashing in a hostel after a long day and someone in a bed near you has feet/shoes/socks that smell like they have soaked up a gallon of fish guts from the local market. Every trip I take, either someone I'm rolling with or meet at a hostel is this person! Don't leave those shoes under my bed, bro! Clean those things up, por favor. <br />
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<strong>#3 The Late Night Bag Zipper Upper</strong><br />
If you've ever stayed in a hostel, you know this person. They get up at a God awful hour when everyone else is sleeping and decide that they should pack up at 5:15 in the bloody morning. They have the courtesy of leaving the lights off, which is nice except they bump into everything within an 8 foot radius of them. I know sometimes these things are unavoidable, but when I have to check out before the birds start singing I'll at least pack everything I can <em>before</em> everyone hits the sack. But seriously, how many times do you need to unzip your bag?!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great travel partners can make all the difference in the world. <br />
This is my buddy eating paella in Barcelona<br />
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<b>#4 The "I only eat American food guy"</b><br />
I hate seeing people do everything they can to stick in their comfort zone while traveling. Yes, congrats you got out of the country and are seeing new stuff but you've gotta be willing to live a little bit. Try something new - you can eat McDs any day of the week. Try something other than a burger, dive into some <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinkpicturegalleries/9997605/20-strange-foods-to-try-before-you-die.html?frame=2537559" target="_blank">weird local cuisine</a> and experience what other people enjoy in their corner of the world. Otherwise why travel in the first place? You don't even have to put an entire prawn (or whatever that is) in your mouth like my friend above. By the way, traveling has turned me into a squid eater. Go figure.<br />
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<strong>#5</strong> <strong>The "hey look I can sleep anywhere" guy</strong><br />
The only reason this is a pet peeve of mine is because I just cannot do it. I can't. No matter how hard I try. Part of it is because I'm a good bit north of 6 feet tall and just don't fit in those short people seats without eating my kneecaps. But here's to that guy who falls asleep before departure and wakes up 5 hours later when we get wherever we're going - you suck.<br />
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<strong>#6 The "come to my restaurant" people</strong><br />
First off, I know they're just doing their jobs, but it gets really annoying walking through downtown Granada and having someone step out from 13 consecutive restaurants and ask us to take a seat or show us a menu. Yes, I know you have open tables - I can see them with my own two eyes. When I'm hungry, you won't even need to ask! Otherwise, I clearly have something else that I would rather be doing, thank you very much.<br />
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What's on your list that makes your gears grind? Let's hear it.<br />
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Adam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907165268583977683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316791532386364969.post-77740195873724432682015-02-16T00:11:00.003-06:002015-03-04T19:43:17.798-06:00The Most Photogenic Places on Earth Part II - Antelope Canyon<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Everyone knows about the Grand Canyon. It's fantastic, and well worth the millions of visitors it gets each year. What most of those people don't realize, however, is that there is a true gem of a natural wonder only a few short hours from the Grand Canyon/Flagstaff area in northern Arizona. <br />
<a name='more'></a>There are a few places in the world that look so good in photos you just assume they're fake over over-manipulated images. Antelope Canyon is one of those places. It's so cool, it's almost surreal. In fact, the<a href="http://time.com/3628565/most-expensive-photo-peter-lik/#3628565/most-expensive-photo-peter-lik/" target="_blank"> most expensive photo</a> ever taken was captured here not too long ago. It's a good pic, but 6.5 million - seriously? I should have taken more black and whites down there, I guess. Anyways, here is everything you need to know about traveling to Antelope Canyon, including a few tips for snapping some postcard worthy photos which may or may not land you millions. <br />
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<strong>Where is it?</strong><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antelope_Canyon" target="_blank">Antelope Canyon</a> is located just outside of Page. If you are traveling through Arizona, it really helps to have your own rental car - and they're cheap, especially in Phoenix. Highway 89 will take you right into Page, and from there your GPS can navigate you through the handful of turns you must take before arriving in the big parking lot - just look for the huge power plant sending smoke and steam billowing into the air. The lower canyon parking lot is essentially right underneath the plant. If you are touring through Utah's national parks, Page is only a twoish hour drive from Zion National Park. <br />
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<strong>Upper or lower canyon?</strong><br />
Visiting the canyon is easy, but most people have a lot of questions as to which part of the canyon to visit and which tour group to select. Yes, you do need to pay for a tour - there really is no way around this as the land is part of the <a href="http://navajonationparks.org/htm/antelopecanyon.htm" target="_blank">Navajo nation</a> and it's also quite dangerous to visit the canyon due to a serious risk of flash flooding which has killed a number of tourists in the past. Tours will range anywhere between 25 and 80 bucks, depending on what you want to do and when you go. If you have to spend much more than 30 bucks for a 90 minute tour, you're probably getting stiffed - so watch out for that. If you pick up your tour from one of the companies in either canyon's parking lot, you should be safe.<br />
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The upper canyon is the more popular of the two, although I'm not entirely sure why - probably because it is a little easier to walk into. The lower canyon, often preferred by photographers, requires descending a few flights of steep flights of stairs into the canyon - all part of the adventure and well worth it, if you're physically able! My recommendation is to visit the lower and leave it at that. You can do the upper, but I've heard too many stories about having huge tour groups and being rushed through the canyon to make it worth spending another 30 bucks. It's also going to be much harder to get photos free of people standing around, so take that into consideration.<br />
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You may or may not need a reservation for your tour - I made one just in case, and it ended up being only myself and two others on the tour along with a really cool guide who pointed out some of the best spots to take photos. I seriously learned a lot, not only about the canyon but about photography and even the abilities of my own camera.<br />
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If you're on a tight schedule, make a reservation just to cover yourself but tours do run all day and you shouldn't have an issue showing up and getting in on a group within a half hour or so. For what it's worth, I used <a href="http://lowerantelope.com/" target="_blank">Ken's Tours</a> and absolutely loved my experience.<br />
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<strong>Photography</strong><br />
In addition to the standard guided tours, some operators also offer photographer passes which cost about twice as much as the normal fee, but you get left on your own to take time with your tripod and camera inside the canyon for about two hours. Might be worth it for a handful of you, but in my opinion. it's unnecessary for all but the most serious photographers.<br />
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A few tips for those seriously interested in taking the best photos - play with your white balance - try out your incandescent setting and watch how it plays with the already amazing colors, pulling on the staggering differences between the shadow areas and the rocks glowing from the sunlight. If you're in search of the famous light rays, go anytime between late spring and early fall and make sure to take a tour between mid-morning and mid-afternoon as these are the only times the sun gets high enough to create these beautiful beams of light. Take multiple pictures with different exposures as well. Most of my HDR photos turned out better than flat images due to the crazy variance of light in the canyon.<br />
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<strong>More to do in Page</strong><br />
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Since Antelope Canyon only takes at most two hours to visit, you'll have the better part of the day to hit some of the other sights in the area. I highly recommend visiting Horseshoe Bend for some fantastic views (it's a great spot to watch the sun go down as well). Also, Glen Canyon Dam is just a couple minutes from downtown Page and is part of a beautiful National Recreation Area. For 5 USD you can take a really interesting tour hundreds of feet down to the bottom of the dam. If you have a little more time, try and hit "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wave,_Arizona" target="_blank">The Wave</a>" if you can land a permit.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hanging out at Horseshoe Bend at the end <br />
of an unforgettable day</td></tr>
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Adam Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907165268583977683noreply@blogger.com0