Category: Culture

Adventure / Culture / Laid-back / USA

New Orleans, pre-Mardi Gras

It was an accident of timing that I visited New Orleans two weeks before the start of Mardi Gras. But I can now definitively say that’s the best possible time to go. The French Quarter is a ghost town. You get none of the drunks, vomiting, crime, or other unseemly...

Christmas Trees in Adrian, MI

Culture / Off-the-beaten-path / Sedate / USA

Adrian, Michigan Christmas Trees

The small town of Adrian, Michigan very briefly held the world’s record for largest number of decorated Christmas trees on public display all in one place. Within a few hours, another town took the record. But seeing these trees was still quite a sight, even for someone who hardly cares...

Art / Culture / Off-the-beaten-path / South America / Tropics / Wandering

Trujillo College of Medicine

While out wandering around Trujillo, Perú I stumbled across the campus of the Trujillo College of Medicine. Like many places here, the college is surrounded by walls. However these walls are covered in amazing mosaic artwork. Spanning several blocks, these giant and elaborate masterpieces stand as public showpieces.

Culture / Guided Tours / South America

All-natural shampoo

While touring the ancient Nasca aqueducts and spiral wells, my guide Arturo also shared a great deal about the history, geology and botany of the region. During our own exploration, we happened upon a tree whose fresh leaves were “ground up” and the sap rubbed on the skin as a...

Culture / History / Off-the-beaten-path / South America

Other archaeological relics of the Nasca culture

Aside from their world-famous geoliths in the desert, the Nasca people did leave a few other legacies behind. They built a few small pyramids, some burial mounds, stone living structures, and a complex aqueduct system. It is this aqueduct system that is perhaps most impressive. In the 1980s, a powerful...

Active / Activities / Bucket List / Culture / History / South America

Ancient Aliens: Nasca Lines in Perú

Most everyone is familiar with them, even if you didn’t know what they were called or know much about them. The Lineas de Nasca are a bunch of lines and shapes out in the high deserts of southern Perú. If you were walking on the ground and came across one...