Spice shops — home of the fragrant, the tactile, the vivid, the rich — are some of our favorite places to visit on our travels. And no less so this one in downtown Amman, Jordan.
From dates to dried artichokes, from cardamom to coffee beans. Dried, crushed, powdered and shaved. You name it, this place seemed to have it.
If only we could communicate the beauty of the aroma of the air. That would be a supreme technical achievement. But for now, you’ll just have to open up this panorama and trust us. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Jordan, Panorama by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
16 Comments | 28 February 2011
So you think Indian food is just chicken tikka masala and palak paneer? Think again.
Recently, I’ve settled into a familiar morning routine: a masala dosa and sweet milk coffee in a simple canteen just down the street. Attendants make their rounds with metal pails full of sambar and colorful wet chutneys, ensuring that all customers have ample supply, more than enough to eat.
The activity, the flow, the smell and most certainly the taste all make me feel at home. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Food, India by: Audrey Scott
33 Comments | 25 February 2011
This is a story about a haircut, some bad news, life in Kuala Lumpur, and crocodile poop.
Before I set off for my first trip abroad to India many years ago, I harbored visions — visions of mystical women in colorful saris who would place their hands upon the crown of my youthful head and say, “I see great things in your future.” Through osmosis, I would absorb their wisdom and they would enlighten me with the path I might take to achieve such great things.
Instead, 14 years later, as I sat in a barber’s chair in Kuala Lumpur, a man named Deepak, a Gujarati Indian barber from Mumbai decked out in too-tight jeans and a checkered shirt, placed his hand upon the front of my head and told me I was going bald.
Where did I go wrong? Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Humor, Malaysia, Southeast Asia, Travel by: Daniel Noll
26 Comments | 23 February 2011
Every morning and every evening, just down the block from our guest house in Kuala Lumpur, the local Hindu temple comes alive with the daily puja (prayer). Worshippers line up to break coconuts, families gather to share blessed meals, Hindu priests prepare to dress Ganesh, and the sadhu attempts to sell 3-D calendars sporting likenesses of Hindu gods.
Each time we pass, we are drawn in by it all. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Panorama by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
6 Comments | 21 February 2011
Petra, Wadi Rum, the Dead Sea. Jordan.
In a twist of schedules, we’re headed there in just over a week to experience it all for ourselves.
Ancient City of Petra
Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Jordan, Middle East, Travel by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
56 Comments | 16 February 2011
With Valentine’s Day upon us we hoped to create a special panorama to celebrate the day. We figured why not make fools of ourselves in the process at one of Kuala Lumpur’s biggest tourist sights, the Petronas Towers.
How did we do this? Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Panorama by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
15 Comments | 14 February 2011
Have you ever wondered what you would find on a visit to Argentina? We thought you might, so we share a slideshow of favorite photos we took while crossing the country four months overland — from Iguazu Falls in the north to Ushuaia on the very southern tip, and back north again to the windswept Calchaquíe Valleys.
Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Argentina, South America, Travel by: Audrey Scott
16 Comments | 10 February 2011
Have you ever temporarily settled down somewhere only to find out that when it comes time to leave, you are left to squeeze in the nearby sights in your final days?
In our version of this story, we took our motorbike all the way around Koh Samui island last weekend to catch some new sights. Along our way, we found Budai, the Laughing Buddha. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Panorama by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
10 Comments | 7 February 2011
Oh, Thai cuisine: complexity in flavor, simplicity in process. The flavors are so vast and so varied that the thought of cooking something so rich, so in-the-mouth dazzling is daunting, to some insurmountable.
It doesn’t need to be. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Food, Southeast Asia, Thailand, Travel, Videos by: Daniel Noll
25 Comments | 3 February 2011
