A Hike for Coffee: Men’s Talk

Part 5 of 5 After finally sipping that delicious coffee, I chose to hang out with these men of Waerebo. Some of them were with me on the hike the day before and really know how beaten I was. Then I just tell them that the coffee I just had was all worth the hike….

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A Hike for Coffee: Waerebo Girl

Part 4 of 5 One of my favorite moment from the visit. This sweet little girl played with my friend’s phone and learnt how to take picture with it. She enthusiastically showed me the picture she just took; the picture of her own beloved village and also her very first shot! I really enjoyed taking…

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A Hike for Coffee: Mama Bertha

Part 3 of 5 I talked to Mama Bertha that morning when she was just finished roasting coffee beans (trust me that’s one of the most heavenly aroma I smelled in months) and ground them. We talked a lot; about coffee, home, family and also food! She gave me a chance to help her ground…

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A Hike for Coffee: Morning Routine

Part 2 of 5 As the morning broke, the ladies of Waerebo starting to get busy with their coffee-making routine. I spent the night there and as I woke up I walked out of the home and started to mingle and tried to give a hand (and also taking some photos, of course). I just…

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A Hike for Coffee: Waerebo

Part 1 of 5 I visited Waerebo village last year and it was one of the most fascinating journeys I have ever had. I fell for the warmth of the people, the serene natural beauty surrounding the village and also … its delicious coffee. On the hike, just a few hundred meters after this turn…

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Suddenly Sahara

The moment I arrived in the Sahara, the vast nothingness completed me. Other than our camp, there were only sand dunes, occasional desert vegetation and unseen-but-existed animals. In one glance, there was only sand. That was the beauty of it. “What makes the desert beautiful,’ said The Little Prince, ‘is that somewhere it hides a…

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2015 Best Travel Moments: The Day I was in Machu Picchu

10 August 2015, 7:30 AM, there I was: Sweating and panting after climbing the stairs, finally the classic postcard view of Machu Picchu was real before me. I burst in tears of joy!  I nailed it! I was in Machu Picchu, Peru! I felt on top of the world! Yeah, I kinda abuse exclamation marks…

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2015 Best Travel Moments: Gozleme and Snowfall in Goreme

Note: As 2015 had just ended, I decided to pick my most favourite travel moments of the year and write them down in “2015 Best Travel Moments” series. They will be in no particular order of some sort, as they are equally beautiful to me. Enjoy! — Goreme, Turkey – February 2015 Goreme was freezing cold…

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The Journey from Cusco to Machu Picchu Pueblo

August 9th, 2015 I was still a bit sleepy that morning. It was only my second day in Peru. Arrived the previous morning, I spent the whole afternoon and evening exploring Lima Centro’s area. Absolutely jet-lagged, I rushed  to Lima’s Jorge Chavez International Airport catching an early morning flight to Cusco. Little did I know…

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Photo Tale: Salineras de Maras

This ain’t sea-side, folks. This is ancient salt mine located in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Yep, the salt has been harvested from these ponds for generations since pre Incas time on 3,400 meters above sea level. Where does the salt come from? The salt is harvested from the evaporation of super-saline ground water….

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The Many Faces of Peru: The Celestinos

I would never know how to eat boiled potato with clay sauce if it was not for them. Yes, I tasted boiled potato dipped in grayish clay sauce and it was actually quite good! Folks, meet The Celestinos. Pictured above is Senora Celestino with 4 of her 5 Children. The absent little boy was so…

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The Many Faces of Peru: The Girls of Urubamba

I met these two beautiful young girls when they were out herding the livestock in the stunningly beautiful Urubamba Valley. I was on the way back to Cusco from Moray archaeological site that day. In the van I kept on observing the magnificent landscape of the Sacred Valley. Then I saw a quite large group…

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