Travels with Tricia

Category: Outdoors

  • The Beguiling Backwaters of Kerala, India

    Kerala’s backwaters are beguiling. Life moves at a slower pace on these famous waterways and there’s a distinct sense that dreams can effortlessly be born and nurtured there.   The quiet lagoons and lakes are about 45 minutes from the pleasant tourist town of Fort Kochi, making them the perfect spot to escape the hustle and…

  • A Butterfly Fashion Show at the Penang Butterfly Farm

    As a young girl, I was the epitome of a tomboy. I’d spend hours in my childhood home’s back yard in the Midwestern United States. I’d hunt for critters large and small, tend to my open air clubhouse, and maintain the ravine’s trails as if I were a park ranger. Because of this past, it’s…

  • Basket Boats, Chinese Fishing Nets & Non La Hats: A Thu Bon River Boat Ride From Hoi An, Vietnam

    Along Hoi An, Vietnam’s riverside, numerous boat owners offer to rent their wooden vessels for journeys of an hour or more. Since Hoi An’s coastal position afforded it such a great trading fortune in centuries past, we were eager to explore the Mekong’s waters by boat. With a rate negotiated, we hopped onto the watercraft. The…

  • Stairway to Heaven: Hiking Through the Batad Rice Terraces in the Philippines

    The Ifugao people carved the Batad Rice Terraces out of the Cordillera Mountains more than 2,000 years ago. Often cloaked in a mysterious fog, these magnificent rice paddies are located on the Philippine island of Luzon, about 470 km (290 miles) from Manila. Thanks to their grand scale and their amphitheater-like appearance, the terraces have…

  • A couple, standing in front of the Ta Prohm Temple in Cambodia, which is overgrown by trees.

    A Return to Angkor: The Tree-Adorned Temple of Ta Prohm

    Regarded as one of Angkor’s most atmospheric temples, Ta Prohm is perhaps best known as the location in which the movie Tomb Raider was filmed (admittedly, I have not seen it). The circa 12th century temple’s gnarly, towering trees are at times indistinguishable from the stone walls, pillars, and foundations that they are devouring. And the setting…

  • The remnants of two smiling faces adorn the Bayon Temple in Angkor Thom, Cambodia.

    A Return to Angkor: Exploring Breathtaking Bayon Temple

    As you wander through Bayon Temple’s wedding cake-like levels, it’s likely you’ll feel as though you’re being watched — and indeed you are — by the 216 immense faces that adorn the 54 towers of this Angkorian jewel. Built in the late 12th century, Bayon was established as the temple for King Jayavarman VII. It is…