Barbara Weibel’s Cultural Travel

Barbara Weibel After years of working 70 hours a week at jobs that paid the bills but brought no joy, I felt like the proverbial "hole in the donut" - solid on the outside, but empty on the inside. In early 2007, searching for meaning in my life, I set out to pursue my true passions of travel, writing, and photography. My stories feature the destinations I visit and the people I meet, with an emphasis on cultural travel and traveling in a manner that benefits and deeply interacts with locals. Read more about Hole in the Donut Cultural Travel here....
  • Eiffel Tower, Paris, France
  • Angkor Wat Cambodia
    Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia
  • Hill Tribe Chief Northern Thailand
    Hill Tribe Chief, Thailand
  • Machu Picchu Peru
    Machu Picchu, Peru
  • Franz Josef Glacier New Zealand
    Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand
  • Olympic National Park Washington State
    Olympic Peninsula, Washington
  • Damnoen Saduak Floating Market Thailand
    Damnoen Saduak Floating Market, Thailand
  • Maasai Tribe Ngorongoro Tanzania
    Maasai Warriors, Ngorongoro, Tanzania
  • Lion Serengeti National Park Tanzania
    Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
  • Chichen Itza Yucatan Mexico
    Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico
  • Wat Xieng Thong
    Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang, Laos
  • Feast Central India
    Traditional Feast, Central India
  • China Shangahi Skyline Pudong
    Pudong Skyline, Shanghai, China
  • Honeymoon Beach Florida
    Honeymoon Beach, Florida
  • Great Wallof China Jinshanling Beijing
    Great Wall, Jinshanling, China
  • Lake Louise Banff National Park Canada
    Lake Louise, Banff National Park, Canada
  • pura ulun danu temple batur bali
    Lake Temple, Central Bali
  • Galapagos Islands Ecuador
    Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Most of my travel is done independently. I research the places I visit and make all my own arrangements for transportation, accommodations and sightseeing. Once in a while, however, I’m offered the opportunity to take a tour, where I travel with a group and stick to a set itinerary. I have always recognized the benefits of these trips, especially for those who are uncomfortable with solo travel, but I usually turn these offers down because I fear I will be dragged around to one tourist trap after another or have to endure the “cattle herding” that often defines packaged tours.

A few months back Tauck invited me to try one of their Tauck Events. I read up on the company, which bills itself as “the 88-year-old leader in premium quality guided travel” and browsed their events on offer. One in particular, the Tauck Jazz Event, piqued my interest. Not only did it include five days of exclusive events and access to experts in the field of jazz that would be impossible for me to arrange, the event was also curated by Ken Burns, the filmmaker responsible for the PBS documentary Jazz. I eagerly accepted their offer.

Private concert by Donald Harrison for Tauck Jazz Event

Private concert by Donald Harrison for Tauck Jazz Event

As the date of the event grew nearer, I began receiving literature about the event. A few things immediately caught my attention. Accommodations would be at the Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans, a posh, historic hotel in the French Quarter. Although the event could accommodate up to 210 guests, the entire group would be together only for the major musical performances. The rest of the time we would separate into breakout groups of no more than 35, each of which would be on separate sightseeing tracks from other groups, ensuring that we would not be tripping over one another. Continue reading

Experts disagree how Paris came to be known as the “City of Light.” According to the official City of Paris website, the nickname was originally bestowed upon the city “because it was a vast center of education and ideas during the Age of Enlightenment.” Other sources state Paris was dubbed City of Light in 1828 when it began lighting the Champs-Elysées with gas lamps, the first European city to do so. Still others claim the moniker came into fashion when Emperor Napoleon III tore down whole quarters of houses dating back to the Middle Ages in order to make way for large avenues that let light pour into the former Medieval city. Whichever story is correct, there is no doubt that the name is apropos; today Paris has no less than 242 illuminated hotels, churches, statues, fountains and national buildings.

I definitely wanted to see the city by night, but where to start? Even in broad daylight, touring a new city can be challenging, but by night it’s a daunting proposition. Fortunately, I had a home-grown tour guide. My friend Jérôme Gobin, who had recently returned to France after traveling the world for a year, was eager to show me how to get around Paris. We met up at the Arc de Triomphe (#1 -refer to map at bottom of article) at dusk and ducked beneath the immense arch to shelter from the persistent drizzle.

France-Paris-Arc-de-Triomphe

Arc de Triomphe on a chilly, drizzly fall evening

As darkness descended, reflections from the eternal flame of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier flickered on the cold stone walls, engraved with names of French war victories and generals. Beyond the memorial lay the Champs Elysee (#2), Paris’ famous upscale shopping street, with storefronts representing the world’s most famous merchants. We wandered along the rain-slicked pavement, past stately horse chestnut trees, peering into the windows of Cartier, Louis Vuitton and the largest Adidas store in the world. Continue reading

Train Station in Tours, France

Streets of Tours, France at night

This entry is part 14 of 18 in the series Ecuador

In 1999, the volcano that towers over the small mountain town of Baños de Agua Santa in central Ecuador again began living up to its name. Seventy-four years after its last eruption, Tungurahua, which means “Throat of Fire” in the indigenous Quichua language, roared to life with a vengeance that required a complete evacuation of Baños for more than a year. Since then it has erupted more or less regularly (see some stunning images of activity in recent years here), but when I arrived last November it had been quiet since April 2011. I gazed up at the 16,000+ foot summit, trying to imagine molten rocks and large clouds of gas and ash spewing from its maw, but its verdant green flanks seemed more gentle giant than sleeping giant.

Luna Runtun Resort, located near the summit of Tunguruhua, lies in the path of the current lava flows

Luna Runtun Resort, located near the summit of Tunguruhua, lies in the path of the current lava flows

Ironically, this “Throat of Fire” spawns magnificent waterfalls that are yin to its yang. In the absence of displays of molten fireworks, I boarded a double-decker bus for a tour of the spectacular Route of Waterfalls, many of which cascaded off cliffs in torrents that made me believe they had extinguished the fire breathing dragon:

Can’t view the above YouTube video of the Route of Waterfalls in Baños, Ecuador? Click here.

On November 26, 2011, the day after I left Ecuador, Tungurahua awoke from its brief slumber and began belching molten lava down its flanks and spewing ash into the air. Today the volcano remains in an almost permanent state of activity, with daily incandescent flows and violent explosions. Ash fall has covered the the streets, parks, terraces and roofs of buildings in the greater Baños area, forcing the closure of schools and businesses; ten explosions and 48 emission tremors were reported on December 7th alone. As if they could forget, Tungurahua continues to remind Baños residents that not even their prolific waterfalls can quench the Throat of Fire.

 

Can’t view the above YouTube video about the waterfalls of Baños, Ecuador? Click here.

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