We employed for two days a tourist agency run by a local guy; he had a one room office in the central plaza of the village. First day we had a rafting down Urubamba river, that flows all the way from Titicaca lake to Amazon river. We shared the boat with another couple. It was a challenging ride with one, two, even class three rapids.

The final destination was a fall at 3800 meters (12,460 ft) altitude. The last segment we had to do it on foot, we left the horses behind in a meadow, tied by a tree. The trail was adventurous; not more that 3 meters (10 ft) wide, it had the mountain on one side, steep like a wall, and an abyss on the other. At one point the trail narrowed to at about 0.5 m (2 ft) because the rain washed it. We crossed that distance tied with ropes, but we made it, twice. 

​Machu Picchu is one of the wonders of the word. From Wikipedia: “Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was constructed as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472).”

​My wife and I crossed the strait of Gibraltar from Spain to Morocco, city of Tangier, in a ferry, one day in 2003. And that was a lot of what happened that day. It was a guided tour; our Moroccan guide was waiting for us at the port. We were about 20 people.
We were advised that locals will try aggressively to sell their stuff, and if you want to buy, you should negotiate. The guide said that buying without negotiating might be considered offensive (sic!).  

Only 20 meters away a camel owner asked 10 dollars to let me climb on his animal and take a picture. Since I was there, why not? I tried that experience too; I was busy with the operation and did not notice when another guy put a red cap on my head. When I was down on earth again, he said, “Now the cap is yours, 10 dollars.” The reader can imagine that I wanted quickly out of that plaza and I paid.  

​One more little story before I go. Walking those narrow and spaghetti-like streets you may lose the group, even more so when you have a wife interested in staying a little bit more in the shops. But that was no problem. An unknown guy, always the same, saved us every time “your group is on that street” and he stretched his hand in a certain direction, “then take the second on the right.” When we were back to the ferry that fellow was around and I saw some other tourists in the group tipping him. I contributed with two dollars as well.

​We visited the pyramids, and our Guide showed his skills, asked us for ten dollars bill he spent to gain access in a pyramid under revision, with two tombs inside. After we were out, he said: “I liked that you did not touch anything. There are tourists around here, mostly Russians, that scratch the walls to take home souvenirs.”

​He was not the only guide that did not like the Russian tourists. Our guide in Sinai Peninsula told us that if you go in the desert and turn a stone, you will find a Russian tourist.
 
In Sinai Peninsula we visited the Moses mountain, that is the place where Moses got the ten Commandments from God. We followed the tradition of the place and started the journey at 2 AM to catch the sunrise from the top of the mountain. By the way, there is no place saying here on this spot God gave the 10 Commandments to Moses, or something like that.

​The rule is that any group should have an accompanying Bedouin from the local tribe to go up on Moses mountain, our guide was not allowed to come with us. So, we had Mohammad, the Bedouin, coming with us.  I did not expect to be so cold, and Mohammad offered me his coat.

​At the base of the mountain is the famous St Catharine monastery, Christian Orthodox faith. It was never attacked by the Muslims since inside the walls it is a mosque as well. That mosque never had a prayer inside, but it served its purpose saving the monastery from attack. Some bones of Saint Catherine are in a room inside the church where only Christian Orthodox are allowed, and you need to have a proof of some sort, you cannot fool the monks. We have dual citizenship and my wife used her Romanian passport as a proof, Romanians are considered Orthodox in that church, so, she saw the bones.

​And within the walls of the monastery it is the burning bush, where Moses met God. From Wikipedia: “ According to the narrative, the bush was on fire, but was not consumed by the flames, hence the name. In the biblical narrative, the burning bush is the location at which Moses was appointed by Adonai (God) to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into Canaan.”

Jerusalem should be on the list of every tourist that respect vacationing around the world. We visited the city in 2008. History is on many levels, hundreds and thousands of years of traces of different civilizations that lived those places. And, of course the city breathes religion, it is the heart of all three monotheist faiths… the most important place for Judaism and Christianity and one of the most important for Islam. The feeling you are in the middle of it… is special.
And the city itself is unique; there is a law on the Jewish side of Jerusalem that states that all houses must be made of white stones, so that Jerusalem is so different. In the picture is the most famous cemetery in the world, those buried there will be the first to go to heaven when the Final Judgement will come (so they say).

But there were drawbacks.
We paid for a guided tour. It included the road of the cross, and my feeling was that the guide was not very interested in the story, he was bored, besides the place looked like a tourist trap attraction rather then something Holly. Also the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, hosting the two most holy places in Christianity, seemed too commercial for me.   

I could feel the tension among inhabitants of different groups. The holiest place for Judaism is the ruins of the Solomon Temple, only the west wall still standing. And that temple must have been huge before the Romans destroyed it. Just in the middle of that temple it is the Mosque of Al Aqsa, the third holiest place for Islam. The Jewish people would like to rebuild the temple, that implies the destruction of the Mosque, or maybe moving it, and that is unacceptable for the Islam world. There are articles suggesting that this situation can generate a devastating war. 

I have a little story to tell when I visited the west wall of the Solomon Temple. Men on one side, women on the other, the checking to get closer to the wall was like the checking to board a plane. OK, I was in. A rabbi approached and said in English “Do you want to have a good life on Earth?” I could say nothing else but “Of course.” The rabbi stretched his right hand toward me, palm up “Twenty dollars.” I checked my pockets and found a $20 bill and placed in the rabbi’s hand. Pleased, the rabbi said: ”Come with me.” I followed him through a corridor until we reached a library. Outside the library, on a table, a huge book, I assumed it was the Torah, was opened somewhere in the middle. “Put your hand on the page of the right,” ordered the rabbi. I obeyed. He put his right hand over mine, and with the left hand he followed some lines on the page on the left reading in Yiddish (I assume) for about 30 sec. When he finished he released my hand, ”From now on you will have a nice life on Earth” and he directed me back to the court outside. Did it worth the twenty dollars? I say YES, most of my friends hearing the story liked it, some made funny remarks, but surprisingly, very few said it was a waste of money.

​The tour included a visit to Holocaust museum. The Holocaust is a tragedy that should be remembered for ever; I remembered seeing movies or reading books about one-two individual tragedies, and that took away my sleep for the night, and multiply this by millions… it was a catastrophe that words can hardly describe; still I did not want to see the museum, I was not in the mood, but I could not go around it. So, I visited it. There were pictures, videos and explicative panels about the Jewish people sufferings across Europe during WWII. But I saw a historical mistake inside. On one of the panel it was stated that because the Romanians sided with the Nazis Germany they got half of Transylvania as reward. Well, that was false, Transylvania belonged to Romania since the first World War, and lost half of it during the Second War for Hungary benefit, that also joined Germany. That division of Transylvania lasted only as long as the war, but how many tourists really cares who benefited from the Transylvania split during WWII, Hungary or Romania? But history should be recorded as it was. Maybe the mistake on the panel was corrected, my visit was in 2008.
 
With all the problems the city has because of ethnic tensions, still, I think it is a must go tourist destination.

​We were on a vacation in Canary Islands, year 2006,  and decided to split our time between Tenerife and Gran Canaria. Canary Islands belong to Spain and are located at about 100 Km (63 miles) west of Morocco.

​First was Gran Canaria. Our resort had good sand, imported all the way from Caribbean islands; local sand is mostly dark and not good for a beach. 

​One day we rented a car and visited the village of Fataga, the place has a historical resonance; many of the final battles between the local population, the Guanches, and the Spaniards, in the 16th century, took place around this village.

​Next island was Tenerife, that is dominated by Mount Teide, right in the middle of it, 3,718-metre (12,198 ft), the summit is the highest point in Spain and the highest point above sea level for all the islands of the Atlantic. The resort where we spent few days was decent, clean, had reasonable good food; many evenings a live band was playing; there was room for dancing too, and we enjoyed it. The resort was in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and the city itself has restaurants where tourists can enjoy good food, music and dancing. 

​We ware very lucky with the weather, early September 2004, a week of sunny days. The cruise started in Vancouver for the two of us, me and my wife. We visited three cities in Alaska: Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka and stooped for few hours at Hubbard glacier.

​In Ketchikan we did snorkeling, yes, snorkeling in Alaska. The water was 16 Celsius (about 60 F), but our guides provided sponge costumes and hang some weights on us, enough to keep us few inches under the water, but still floating, the snorkelling pipe above the waterline. The idea was that after 2-3 minutes, if the body is submerged all times, the water in the costume will raise to body temperature and stay that way as long as the body does not float above sea level. 

​​Sitka was beautiful, clean.  The ocean with small islands around the city was breathtaking.
A touristic city where modern small shops and history combined beautifully. In the afternoon we saw a show, a group of ladies, performing Russian and local dance, very dynamic and  nice choreography.

​​And here is a little story. On our way down, before reaching Juneau, we saw a tiny church on a hill. We entered. The priest was inside, a short and very welcoming aboriginal guy, all smiles. Our Romanian accent drew his attention. “What accent is that?”
What revelation waits for me now? I thought. Many times in our trips when we spoke our first language there were surprises. “Romanian.”
 
Always smiling, the priest pointed to a small painting on the wall. “Check that one.”
I approached and saw a picture of a beautiful crafted church with twisted towers that seemed familiar. “Seems familiar.”
“Well,” said the priest, “turn it and read on the back.”
On the back of the picture was written in Romanian, With love, Maria from Targoviste. And I remembered, it was a picture of one of the most famous church in Romania, Curtea de Arges.
I was impressed, but my first reaction was to ask about Maria. “Where is Maria?”
The priest was amused of my surprise. “I’ll show you.” And he made me a sign to join him at a window on the east side.
Both me and my wife approached. “You see,“ said the priest pointing a house on the opposite hill, “that red house is Maria’s house.”
“What is she doing in Juneau?”
The priest expected the question since he answered before I finished the question. “English teacher.”

​All right. Our trip in Alaska was a wonder, and I encourage my readers to take it. Beautiful.