By Teresa Bitler Just outside Quartzite, Arizona, not far from the California border, a massive bonfire crackles and occasionally pops, sending sparks into the dimming sky. Basketball-sized boulders circle the flames, and about three feet wider, smaller rocks ring the boulders to keep anyone from getting too close to the fire. Double that distance again…
By John Gottberg Anderson At first light each day, a couple of hundred monks depart Luang Prabang’s ancient Xieng Thong temple on a sunrise stroll. Carrying nothing but the saffron robes draped over their shoulders and alms bowls for receiving daily food and other offerings, this barefoot assemblage exits the wat grounds in single file.…
On the afternoon of June 25, 1876, high atop the bluffs over Montana’s Little Bighorn River, General George Armstrong Custer, clad in frontier buckskins, lead 210 men of the U.S. 7th Cavalry down a ravine in pursuit of rebellious Sioux Indians. Two days later, a relief force curious as to his whereabouts arrived and found a gruesome sight. Scattered over a wide area on several hills were all 210 of Custer’s men… each man lying in the sun, scalped, stripped naked, and often mutilated. One victim had 105 arrows stuck in him…
By Nancy Wigston Three nights in Tokyo Japanese winters are fairly mild with rare snowfalls, apart from the Hokkaido ski slopes. This makes winter a perfect time to see Tokyo and other Japanese cities without the tourist crowds of spring and summer. Tokyo has a population of 37 million. Despite its size, the world’s largest…
By Barbara Noe Kennedy High above Salzburg’s Alstadt (Old Town), the stark, impregnable, 11th-century stronghold of Fortress Hohensalzburg looms over a city long ruled by mighty prince-archbishops—Catholic prelates who wielded both spiritual authority and secular power within the Holy Roman Empire, which lasted from 800 to 1806. Below, amid glittering domes and ornate courtyards, visitors…
By Sharon McDonnell UNESCO has called the Mogao Caves the “largest, most richly endowed and longest-used treasure house of Buddhist art” in the world. The caves are located outside Dunhuang, an oasis city in northwest China at the edge of the Gobi Desert in Gansu province. Filled with vivid murals and statues depicting Buddha and…
By Mimi Slawoff In the Swiss alpine village of Lauterbrunnen, the snow-capped peaks of Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau rise dramatically above the Lauterbrunnen Valley. And depending on the lunar cycle, the towering, jagged peaks can cradle a bright full moon, as they did during my summer visit. Mountains in Switzerland’s Jungfrau Region are reachable via…
By John Gottberg Anderson Seven-year-old Goku Alexander stood on one leg, like a stork, raising his right knee to waist level. His gloved fists hovered just above his eyes as he peered intently at his taller opponent, a Thai boy named Pingkong. Anticipating one another’s every move, the pair began cautiously, trading light jabs. Then…
By RC Staab On the eve of America’s 250th birthday, this country can sometimes feel like it is coming apart at the seams. Voices shout past each other to beg the question whether this grand experiment in democracy can hold. So, in the spirit of both escape and inquiry, I decided to step into a…
By Beth Reiber February 22 was a beautiful Sunday morning for our drive around Lake Patzcuaro in the Mexican state of Michoacán. But just as my three friends and I exited our rental car in Erongaricuaro, one of many artisan towns ringing the lake, we heard a loud boom just on the other side of…