HI Travel Tales

Two travelers who seek to explore the world. Recommended travel and tourist destinations, insider traveling tips, and product reviews. Stories, art, photos, advice, wine, a teddy bear or two, and a healthy dose of humor.

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It's an adventure getting dressed for Antarctica. ;-)

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Durga Puja in Bengal – A once in a lifetime experience !

What Christmas is to the world, the hundreds of Indian festivals are to India ! Not even one loses it significance because of the presence of so many others. Each one is celebrated with great pomp …

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(via Louvre Museum: Historic meets modern in Paris)

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Peaceful evening in Old Sacramento on the river

Old Sacramento is a classic gem graced by the Sacramento River flowing beside it. You really don’t know here to look next with all the history and beauty..

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Thai Park Berlin a feast for eyes and tummies seeking yum Thai food

Berlin Germany offers every international food imaginable, in restaurants, street markets or, at Thai Park for the most delicious Thai food in Berlin.

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Mallory Square sunset celebration captured in bright colors

A Mallory Square sunset event is fun Key West kitsch at its best with a boisterous street fair atmosphere and an amazing sunset with colors that seem unreal.

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(via Swiss Carnival parade a clean version just for kids)

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(via What to do in Lijiang, China – 3 insider travel tips) As Lijiang, China continues its inexorable march toward embracing commerce at the expense of culture, there is magic and wonder to be found if you know where to look and what to expect.

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(via Whiskey and color inspires artwork in old town Lijiang, China) Drawn and painted on my iPad using Procreate and an Apple Pencil.

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Great carnival parades in Europe: Think small (Updated February 2017)

You don’t have to head to the crowd-filled streets of big towns in Germany, France or Switzerland to experience great carnival parades in Europe.

Small towns in Europe can have fantastic carnival parades and celebrations – with a more intimate and friendly atmosphere. Forget pushing and shoving or waiting long hours in the cold to see the carnival parade floats or eccentricities. Just walk right up and celebrate elbow-to-elbow with the town folk!

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(via Teddy Bear Wisdom: Travel with your best friend)

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(via Pray for Peace: Riot of colorful prayer flags) -  Shangri-la, formerly Zhongdian, is a village in the north of the Yunnan Province in China. Tibetan in culture and people, it is known as Gyalthang in Tibetan. For marketing reasons, the name was changed to Shangri-la in 2001, but it still remains unvisited by many.

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Winter sunbathing at Peter and Paul Fortress, St. Petersburg, 1984

Passing near the river and looking across at the stone walls of Peter and Paul Fortress, I spied all these semi-naked people. What the heck were they doing?

Living in Germany for nearly two years, I was considering heading home in Spring 1984 when the opportunity to go to then-Soviet Union on a student trip came up. I leaped at the chance. OK, so it would be early March — thus a likely cold, icy transitional season – but to take in then-Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) and Moscow was on my bucket list.

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Supreme Dr. Ho Shi Xiu holds court in Baisha Village near Lijiang

Dr. Ho Shi Xiu has turned himself into a Baisha Village destination. He still works as a medicine man and herbalist, but he's more into talking with visitors.

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(via Discovering San Francisco secret gardens and secluded public open spaces)

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(via Kirkenes, Norway – Arctic light becomes artist’s delight)

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(via Roros Norway – A charming historic mining town)