cohenzone
Old Member
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
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I used to hate flying. Now I can’t get enough and it’s liberating. European travel is fun, Rome is my favorite city but I’ve only been there once.
But my three stand out trips were not to Europe. Number one is China which I did just this November. We did a private 4 person tour that included Beijing and the Great Wall, Xi’an (pronounced Shahn) with the Terra Cotta Warriors and Shanghai which has spectacularly designed skyscrapers. The tour company is called chinatours.com and it’s terrific. The Terra Cotta Warriors are the most amazing man made thing I’ve ever seen. We were in China for a wedding and separately for that were in the gorgeous city Hangzhou and then to Taiwan and Taipei which also has interesting skyscrapers. During that trip we had to take 3 flights (good airlines) that carried from an hour forty five to an hour ten and, drum roll, even the shortest included a hot meal in coach. US carriers going cross country you might get to buy a cheese tray. We also had a 4 and a half hour bullet train ride covering 850 miles and the darn thing didn’t bounce once. Puts US rail to shame.
The other two countries are Peru with 3 places not to be missed. Macho Piccu, totally spectacular, Lake Titticaca with its reed island villages at 12000 feet, and the Amazon River rain forests. Then Israel with its amazing religion history and Jerusalem, the real center of the Israeli-Palestinian issues.
In the US, apart from cities, the national parks out west are worth a visit. Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Zion, Monument Valley and Joshua Tree, Rushmore are great but my personal favorite is Bryce Canyon. The vast area of strange hoodoo formations is like nothing else. If you haven’t been there, go if you have the chance.
We also have come to like European river cruising but it’s becoming pretty expensive compared to 10 years ago. I like it much better than ocean cruising. It’s at a human scale, good food and interesting places to visit including many that aren’t just tourist souvenir stops. More sometime or other on that and our favorite European trips.
But my three stand out trips were not to Europe. Number one is China which I did just this November. We did a private 4 person tour that included Beijing and the Great Wall, Xi’an (pronounced Shahn) with the Terra Cotta Warriors and Shanghai which has spectacularly designed skyscrapers. The tour company is called chinatours.com and it’s terrific. The Terra Cotta Warriors are the most amazing man made thing I’ve ever seen. We were in China for a wedding and separately for that were in the gorgeous city Hangzhou and then to Taiwan and Taipei which also has interesting skyscrapers. During that trip we had to take 3 flights (good airlines) that carried from an hour forty five to an hour ten and, drum roll, even the shortest included a hot meal in coach. US carriers going cross country you might get to buy a cheese tray. We also had a 4 and a half hour bullet train ride covering 850 miles and the darn thing didn’t bounce once. Puts US rail to shame.
The other two countries are Peru with 3 places not to be missed. Macho Piccu, totally spectacular, Lake Titticaca with its reed island villages at 12000 feet, and the Amazon River rain forests. Then Israel with its amazing religion history and Jerusalem, the real center of the Israeli-Palestinian issues.
In the US, apart from cities, the national parks out west are worth a visit. Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Zion, Monument Valley and Joshua Tree, Rushmore are great but my personal favorite is Bryce Canyon. The vast area of strange hoodoo formations is like nothing else. If you haven’t been there, go if you have the chance.
We also have come to like European river cruising but it’s becoming pretty expensive compared to 10 years ago. I like it much better than ocean cruising. It’s at a human scale, good food and interesting places to visit including many that aren’t just tourist souvenir stops. More sometime or other on that and our favorite European trips.
