Travel Blog

The Cotton-Candy Beauty of Pamukkale, Turkey

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By Suzie Rodriguez. Even 10 miles distant, this bleached-limestone plateau is a dazzling sight, rising an abrupt 400 feet from a flat and dry valley. Beautiful but incongruous, it seems to float on a hazy edge of reality until…

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Egg Hopper breakfast in Sri Lanka

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By Jim Shubin. In Sri Lanka, Egg Hoppers make a quick and delicious breakfast: First warm the specially shaped bowl, then pour in just the right amount of the rice flour batter. It may take some practice to get the right amount. Swirl the batter…

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Aer Lingus News Changes my Travel Plans

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  Dave Cooney and Helen Maguire chat with me about about Aer Lingus’ new daily nonstop service from San Francisco to Dublin, Ireland. We also chat about comfy lie-flat seats in business class, vacation packages, and—news to me—an expedited reentry arrangement with U.S. Customs. That means on my way home I can clear U.S. Customs in […]

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Mendocino County: Days of Wine and Rhodies, part 1

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If the recession has you planning a “staycation” this year, Mendocino County may be just the ticket. Best known for its rugged coastline, award-winning wineries, and native rhododendron groves, Mendocino offers active fun like kayaking, horseback riding, golf, hiking, and biking. You can also enjoy a wide variety of rejuvenating activities such as theater, music […]

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Mendocino County: Days of Wine and Rhodies, part 2

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“This plant is having sex 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 3 or 4 months; it’s very strenuous!” Jim Celeri is showing me a gorgeous rhododendron that is in full bloom, and explaining the plant’s need for water. While I’d prefer a less thirsty specimen for my garden, I have fallen in […]

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Full Moon Festival in Sri Lanka

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The Esala Perahera  (Festival of the August Full Moon) in Sri Lanka’s last Royal citadel of Kandy is something not to miss in August, says our Sri Lanka correspondent Lakshman Ratnapala. According to ancient Royal customs, the Diya-wadana Nilame (the Custodian of the Dalada Maligawa — the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic), Nilanga Dela Bandara, along with the Basnayake Nilames (Chiefs of the surrounding Temples), officially presented […]

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Clips & Pics from Bay Area Travel Writers

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Clips & Pics is now available from Bay Area Travel Writers! The 98-page full color magazine-style publication features articles and photos by the organization’s members, who are professional travel writers and photographers. There’s a great mix: surf and mountains, gourmet golf and polka-dot bikinis, big-city touring and small-town fun, ghosts and graffiti, Beaujolais and burros, silence […]

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Road-Tripping in British Columbia — Part 1

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by Margo Pfeiff We’ve all seen them on highways and rural byways, massive roadside attractions that elicit a gasp or a guffaw — buffalo as big as locomotives, a helicopter-sized mosquito or a cowboy boot that would fit King Kong. Everybody loves a road trip and these kitschy, small-town landmarks are part of the fun. While they […]

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Kayaking in Alaska

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Kayaking can be dangerous and thrilling—or calm and magical. On a recent trip to southeast Alaska, Destination Insights publisher Jim Shubin enjoyed kayaking’s quite side: absorbing nature, feeling deep serenity, and viewing wildlife. “Joining Island Spirit, a small 30-passenger vessel, I noticed a number of brightly colored, plastic kayaks on the aft end of the boat. The […]

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Low Man on the Totem Pole

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The 107-acre Sitka National Historic Park  Known as “Totem Park” by locals, it preserves and interprets the site of a Tlingit Indian Fort and the battle fought between the Russians and the Tlingits in 1804. A beautiful collection of Haida and Tlingit totem poles stands along a pathway that meanders through the rainforest. The museum contains […]

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