"Daytraveling"

The act of "daydreaming" you are traveling.

[daytraveling]

Swimming pigs of Big Major Cay - Bahamas

Paradise living, It is said these pigs were left behind by passing sailors about 2 decades ago and for some reason never came back for them, they live in an inhabited island in the Bahamas, if you take a tour boat make sure you bring them food, they will swim to the boat to feed, they are now raising their family there, not a bad life at all.

Check out the whole set of pictures from echeng on flickr.

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Sorry everyone for the lack of posts, moving to a new place, no internet still, will resume very soon.

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Norway and it's amazing Fjords

Hello all, it has been a while since my last post, I have been very busy and neglected the blog for a while, hopefully I'll have time to post more often.

This post is dedicated to the Fjords in Norway, it is a country I have been longing to visit, my mom lives there and I haven't been able to visit yet, she is always talking about how gorgeous the scenery is, North, South, East, West, it doesn't matter where you go, you will find beauty everywhere and I can totally see by the pictures she shares with me, there are many places worth having their own post, that's why I wanted to focus on the Fjords this time.

So what are they? Fjords are deep, long and narrow inlets that have been carved by glacier movement during the ice age, once the glacier retreats the floor is filled with sea water, they are u shaped, are not connected to rivers or streams but can be several miles long. Norway is the country with most Fjords in the world, Iceland, Alaska, Greenland, Chile and New Zealand also have notable Fjords.

The most known Fjords in Norway are Romsdalsfjord and Nordfjord in the North; Geirangerfjord and Lysefjord in the South West; Sognefjord, Nærøyfjord and Aurlandsfjord in the South and Hardangerfjord in the West close to Bergen with the most popular tourist locations being Kjeragbolten (a round rock wedged solidly in a mountain fissure) and Preikestolen or better known as The Pulpit Rock ( a flat mountain plateau).

Enjoy the pictures.

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Since we are now in Olympic mode, do you remember 4 years ago at Beijing this famous building? It was the site for all the aquatic sports competing in the 2008 Olympics, The Beijing National Aquatics Center or better known as The Water Cube was transformed into a water park, with jelly fish suspended from the ceiling, fluorescent slides, water rides, a wave pool, 40ft vertical tube and spa areas, it will for sure make you feel like you stepped into a fantasy water world. Safety rules say you have to be between 1.4 and 1.9 meters tall to be able to use the rides, sorry Michael Phelps! not this time around...

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We love your blog :) It's awesome, It's one of our favorite travel blogs.

Thank you! that's very kind :)

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Iceland

Pictures speak better than words, simply amazing...

All pictures by shchukin

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Knock! Knock! is breakfast ready?

Giraffe Manor - Nairobi, Kenya

Today I'm daytraveling to this hotel, I dream I could be there, surrounded by giraffes, seeing them poke their long necks through the windows greeting me, how lovely would it be to have this kind of visitor while staying in a gorgeous manor in Kenya? sharing breakfast with these beautiful giraffes would make my day, of course it comes with a steep price, but it is for a good cause, their main goal is the conservation of these endangered species.

Photos by Robin Moore

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"The Door to Hell" - Turkmenistan

Back in 1971 a group of geologist drilled the ground looking for gas, the floor collapsed leaving a hole of 70 meters in diameter, to avoid poisonous gas discharge they ignited it hoping to burn it off, 41 years later the gas is still burning.

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Want to go inside a volcano? you are in luck! Thrihnukagigur Volcano - Iceland amazing.

You can check more about the tours here http://www.insidethevolcano.com/

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Tianmen Mountain - China

With an elevation of 1,500 meters above sea level, Tianmen Mountain is regarded as the symbol and soul of Zhangjiajie. 

The mountain is named after the Tianmen Cave (gate to heaven), one of the main attractions. It is a natural water-eroded cave (or hole to be exact) with the highest elevation in the world, a height of 131.5 meters, to reach the cave you have to climb a long flight of stairs, 999 steps, this is known as the 'Heaven Reaching Ladder' and to get to the base you can drive first then take a bus or use a cable car, this cable-way is claimed as the longest passenger cable-way of high mountains in the world with a total length of 7,455 meters and ascent of 1,279 meters.

There are also kilometers of paths built onto the cliff face at the top of the mountain, including sections with glass floors where tourists can walk on.

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Cave of Crystals - Naica, Mexico

980 ft below the surface lie some of the largest natural crystals ever found, these giant selenite crystals were formed above a magma chamber, the magma below heated the ground water which became saturated with minerals, including large quantities of gypsum. The hollow space of the cave was filled with this mineral-rich hot water and remained filled for about 500,000 years; during this time, the temperature of the water remained very stable at over 50 °C. This allowed crystals to form and grow to immense sizes.

 The cave is extremely hot with air temperatures reaching up to 58 °C (136 °F) with 90 to 99 percent humidity. The cave is relatively unexplored due to these factors. Without proper protection people can only endure approximately ten minutes of exposure at a time.

Below is a video from a BBC TV show about these amazing formations.

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Tham Phraya Nakhon - Thailand

Located in Sam Roi Yot in Prachuap Khiri Khan. It is probably the most photographed cave in Thailand.  The cave is made up of two large sinkholes which collapsed and now let in the sunlight giving it a very ethereal feel. In the middle of the cave is a Thai-style pavilion built for a visit by King Rama V in 1896. The cave was named for Phraya Nakhon, ruler of the city-state of Nakhon Si Thammarat.

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Ashikaga Flower Park - Japan

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Chocolate Hills - Bohol, Philippines

This spectacular landscape are The Chocolate Hills, they are limestone domes covered in grass which in the summer turns chocolate brown, the similarity to Hershey's Kisses is how they got their name. There are about 1268-1776 of these hills spread around an area of 20 sq mi, they are the most famous tourist attraction in Bohol.

There are many explanations as to the reason for their specific shape, different legends and theories on their origin, the most acceptable of the theories is that they were the result of thousands of years of weathering of marine limestone.

On a clear day they seem never ending.

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Cartagena - Colombia

Cartagena de Indias, the 5th largest city in Colombia founded in 1533 by Pedro de Heredia, situated on the northern coast and facing the Caribbean Sea with 500 hundred years of history since the colonization by Spain, it's a coastal city full of charm and romance, it's fortresses (Castillo de San Felipe-the largest in the Americas), the cobblestone streets surrounded by houses with balconies and colorful flowers hanging from them, it makes you feel like you stepped into the 16th century.

Cartagena's port, fortresses and monuments were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984.

Several festivals are held every year like the Cartagena International Film Festival which is held every march and is the oldest film festival in Latin America.

Cartagena also consists of modern neighborhoods like Bocagrande, El Laguito and Castillogrande with hotel towers and condos, fancy restaurants, art galleries, malls and nightclubs.

The colonial town is surrounded by the fortified wall which gives the city the nick name of "La Ciudad Amurallada" (The Walled City), it was build to help the town withstand the attacks from pirates.

There are plenty of colonial churches, cathedrals, monuments and museums to see, the Cathedral of San Pedro Claver, el Palacio de la Inquisicion (Palace of Inquisition), the monument to India Catalina are a few examples.

There are several beaches and islands a few minutes away from Cartagena, Playa Blanca, Islas del Rosario attract tourists looking for white sand beaches and clear blue water.

I went here as a little kid, all the memories are still fresh in my mind, the people are warm and welcoming, the food is amazing, the architecture takes you to another era, hopefully I get to go back one day.

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Prague - Czech Republic

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Beautiful Croatia

Today is the day for Croatia, I have to admit I had no idea there were so many amazing places in this country, and to be really honest I didn't know much about it at all, since last year I started looking it up due to a show I watched on T.V, the scenery is breath taking, the clear lakes, the cliffs, the coastal towns, the islands, everything about it has me "daytraveling" big time today, just look at the pictures to get an idea of what I mean and you too will wish you could book a plain ticket right at this moment.