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2)My visit six years ago to the Panama Canal was equally fascinating. We traveled aboard one of the Princess Line’s cruise ships. I couldn’t believe how close the ship’s sides came to the edge of the locks, and didn’t even collide with the walls. This work of humans was a tribute to their incredible ability to overcome all odds, and build a canal that is the water highway from East to West.

3) Our visit to Australia produced many surprises. We held a Koala Bear. I always thought they had very soft hair, instead it was rather wiry and stiff. Sidney was a beautiful City, but the land on the way to Cambara was very dry and looked like the semi-desert outside of Los Angeles.

4) I sat one warm evening on a beach near our Hotel in Tahiti. The sunset sky turned a light pink, then a deep orange-red finally pink again while tapering off in a light golden tint framed by darkening coconut palms.

5) A visit to my childhood home many years after I moved away. The setting was an old ranch house up Villa Creek canyon near Cayucos, California. I was amazed at how small the rooms in the house were. As a child every thing looked so big. There were memories in every corner of the old house, but I knew they were long gone, and this visit was only a renewal of a time that no longer existed. The swallows were still there and the bee hive near the house still hummed with activity, but the house looked lonely without any children there.

In no particular order:

1. Climbing Yr Wyddfa (Mount Snowdon), Snowdonia, North Wales: When I was a child, my family would frequently go on camping holidays to North Wales, which was not far from where we lived. Many fond memories of treking in Snowdonia, and especially the first time we scaled Yr Wyddfa.

2. Annapurna Circuit, Nepal: Treking for 21 days, reaching 5500M, and some of the most stunning places I’ve ever had the privilege of visiting. Amazing experience.

3. Hampi, India: Fascinating Geology and Archaeology - may long walks alone, stumbling upon incredible temple comlexes, with no other visitors around. I could easily imagine how the pioneers of Archaeology felt when first discovering temples and cities uninhabited, and untouched for centuries.

4. Buddhist Pilgrimage, North India: Bodhgaya (including a 2 day Puja lead by the four heads of the four primary schools of Tibetan Buddhism), Sarnath, and finishing with the public teachings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, in McLeod Ganj - an incredible place in itself.

5. Angkor Wat, Cambodia: Turning the corner which revealed Angkor Wat to me for the first time, and realizing a dream come true, brought me to the verge of tears. For as long as I can remember, the vast Angkor complex has been a dream destination for me. Seven days was nowhere near enough time to explore the fascinating complexes, but every day was an incredible experience.

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