“GT” Culture

Here are all the “GT” Travel posts that focus on the people or cul­ture of a des­tin­a­tion more than its nat­ur­al envir­on­ment. Posts that explore the cul­ture and nature of a place evenly appear both here and in “GT” Nature.

Planning a trip to Colombia? Here’s why you should visit the coffee region

September 29, 2022

The wax palms of Cocora Valley in the Colombian Andes. Image by Makalu (CC0) via Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/photos/colombia-palm-trees-3631740/

The vari­ous regions of Colom­bia are vastly dif­fer­ent from each oth­er.  Trav­el­lers look­ing to avoid ‘over­tour­ism’ and embrace ‘authen­ti­city’ should con­sider explor­ing the nation’s cof­fee-grow­ing region in the Andes Moun­tains.  Dur­ing my two and a half weeks in Colom­bia, August 2022, I vis­ited that region, as well as the cit­ies of Medel­lin and Cart­agena.  Here are […]

Read More Planning a trip to Colombia? Here’s why you should visit the coffee region
Posted in "GT" Travel in Colombia, "GT" Travel in South America, "GT" Travel World
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Wonders of the unexpected: Pleasant surprises in Azerbaijan & Saudi Arabia

September 1, 2022

Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia

I star­ted trav­el­ling at an early age.  When I was barely three years old my par­ents took me on my very first trip to the US, Mex­ico, and the Carib­bean.  I have nev­er really stopped trav­el­ling since.  Dec­ades later I made a pact with a friend to travel to 100 coun­tries; some­thing I was meant to achieve […]

Read More Wonders of the unexpected: Pleasant surprises in Azerbaijan & Saudi Arabia
Posted in "GT" Travel World, "GT" Travel in Asia, "GT" Travel in Azerbaijan, "GT" Travel in Europe & the UK, "GT" Travel in Saudi Arabia
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Where wine was born and the local cheeses are prized: Alaverdi, Georgia

August 11, 2022

A montage. Alaverdi Monatery across the top two thirds of the image. Four square image run across the bottom: A qvevri abandoned above ground; a lady standing next to a 350-year-old grape vine; a local cheese; and some traditional cuisine

In 2017, the US’ Nation­al Academy of Sci­ences con­clus­ively determ­ined that wine ori­gin­ated some 8,000 years ago in Geor­gia.  I was already work­ing in Geor­gia and was invited to vis­it the tiny vil­lage of Alaverdi in the heart of Georgia’s Alazani River val­ley, a vast wine­mak­ing area.  With a pop­u­la­tion of few­er than 200, Alaverdi is […]

Read More Where wine was born and the local cheeses are prized: Alaverdi, Georgia
Posted in "GT" Travel World, "GT" Travel in Europe & the UK, "GT" Travel in Georgia
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Reflections on the ‘best small city in the world’: San Miguel de Allende

April 7, 2022

Overlooking San Miguel de Allende. By Steven Buchanan (CC0) via Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/photos/mexico-san-miguel-de-allende-dusk-5756222/

A recent “Good Tour­ism” Insight about ‘jouis­sance’ promp­ted me to reappraise the con­cepts of sen­sa­tion and per­cep­tion and the pur­suit of pleas­ure.  It triggered memor­ies of San Miguel de Allende, a magic­al UNESCO World Her­­it­age-lis­ted colo­ni­al town in cent­ral Mex­ico.  The story begins with an artist and one of Canada’s former fig­ure skat­ing cham­pi­ons, the […]

Read More Reflections on the ‘best small city in the world’: San Miguel de Allende
Posted in "GT" Travel World, "GT" Travel in Mexico, "GT" Travel in North America
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Memories of Jordan (and celebrating the ‘bucket list’)

February 17, 2022

Memories of Petra and Jordan by Melanie Kay Smith

I was at a tour­ism industry con­fer­ence a few months ago listen­ing to a talk on the dev­ast­at­ing effects of COV­­ID-related travel bans on her­it­age des­tin­a­tions.  Pro­fess­or Mike Robin­son, the speak­er, cited Jordan as a prime example.  Amidst my sym­pathy for the des­tin­a­tion and its people, my ‘buck­et list’ quest react­iv­ated instantly in my mind.  It […]

Read More Memories of Jordan (and celebrating the ‘bucket list’)
Posted in "GT" Travel World, "GT" Travel in Asia, "GT" Travel in Jordan
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Find five-star dining in surprising Mae Sot

October 21, 2021

Instruction in the kitchen at HCTC's The Passport restaurant in Mae Sot, Thailand

The city of Mae Sot in west­ern Thai­l­and dis­plays most of the hall­marks of a small bor­der cross­ing hub. Rich in trade, the quiet little town is a fas­cin­at­ing melt­ing pot of people.  Over dec­ades, influxes of refugees flee­ing neigh­bour­ing Myan­mar, many from the per­se­cuted Kar­en tribe, have shaped the city and earned it the nick­name of […]

Read More Find five-star dining in surprising Mae Sot
Posted in "GT" Travel in Thailand, "GT" Travel in Asia, "GT" Travel World
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