Photo of the Week: The Eiffel Tower

This week's photo is a throwback to my first trip outside of the United States, to Europe. My trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower happened to coincide with not only France's Presidency of the Council of the European Union (which rotates between member states every six months), but also on Fête Nationale — or Bastille Day — the day the French celebrate their independence.

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Photo of the Week: Petra

Petra is a historic and archaeological city (named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1985) that was established some time around the 6th century BC. The site, nicknamed "The Rose-Red City" was unknown to the Western World until 1812, when it was rediscovered by a Swiss explorer.

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Photo of the Week: Ir David in Jerusalem

Ir David — or the City of David — is Jerusalem's oldest settled neighborhood and a major archaeological site that runs from the South of Temple Mount.

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Photo of the Week: Bangkok Burning

May 19 saw the worst violence Thailand has seen in nearly two decades as the Royal Thai Government handed down orders to crackdown on the red shirt anti-government protesters that have been occupying the city since mid-March. I watched the day’s events unfold from a safe distance in a friend’s apartment-cum-expatriate refugee camp not far from mine, which offers an iconic view of the Bangkok city skyline.

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Photo of the Week: Mui Ne Sand Dunes

Mui Ne is a sleepy little beachside town on the southern coast of Vietnam. Quiet and relaxing, there’s not much else to do besides lounge poolside and work on your tan.

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Photo of the Week: DMZ Zones

While in Hué, I opted to take a day out of the city and on multiple long bus rides to various demilitarized zones throughout Vietnam. Hué and the neighboring villages were some of the most heavily bombed areas during the Vietnam War because of the proximity of the North/South border.

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Photo of the Week: Karen Village in Chiang Mai

In most of the jungle treks that leave from Chiang Mai, a night stop to one of the hill tribe villages high in the mountains is included. During my trek with eight other travelers and our Thai guide, Reang, we stopped for an evening with one of the Karen tribes. According to our guide, there are four distinct types of Karen groups that combined make up the largest hill tribe in Thailand, nearly half of all hill-tribe people.

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Photo of the Week: Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

Yesterday we took a day trip out of Bangkok and hopped a two-hour bus to Damnoen Saduak to get up early for the floating market. We decided to get there the night before so we could wake up early to see the real action before the hoardes from Bangkok came in. On a boat by 7 a.m. and finished with the market around 9, we were sad to learn that business didn't actually pick up until toward the end of our ride around the market. It's become highly gentrified and commercial, with more tourist souvenirs than women in straw hats selling fruits and veggies. This shot above, was the closest I found to the images seen in postcards.

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Photo of the Week: Packing Nightmares

Since we haven't officially left yet, and Andrea and I are both in our respective New England locations of Vermont and Connecticut, I'm going to offer up my first (and maybe only) "Photo of the week" post. Andrea and I have been on and off the phone nonstop for the past week packing and unpacking our 70L backpacks. We've finished all major shopping necessary and now it's just a matter of organization.

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