Popularly known as the Periya Koil (Big Temple), this marvellous piece of Tamil architecture is the world’s first complete granite temple. It is located in Thanjavur (Tanjore) in Tamil Nadu and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This photo was taken by Shivani Suresh who is a Third Culture Kid (Born in India, Brought up in Rwanda). She is currently on her gap year and keeps her passion for travelling, culture, writing, and photography alive through her blog.

It never sounds like all that much danger when you plan some new hair-brained scheme with your friends in a pub. Someone has already done it before, someone knows a guy who can fix things, someone talks you out of any worries. So when someone suggested that we hang out at the dumpsters on a Saturday night and watch the wild bears come down from the mountains, we all agreed that it was a great idea.

We were in Braşov, a small city in Transylvania nestled among the Carpathian Mountains. There are very few bears left in Europe, but the Carpathians are one of the few places where you’ve got a really good chance of encountering one. European bears, or Eurasian brown bears, are generally smaller than their North American kin, and considerably less dangerous. There are very few attacks on humans, and the bear population in Europe has dwindled to the extent that the few surviving bears are wisely reluctant to come into any contact with humans. They do, however, like our waste food. Our Romanian friend, who lived on the outskirts of town right at the foot of the mountain, assured us that you were more or less guaranteed a sighting if you loitered by the huge apartment block bins.

And so that’s where we were when a mother bear and two cubs, each the size of a large Labrador, emerged from the darkness. Their eyes reflected the light, glowing in the darkness, and you could just make out their dark brown fur that had matted on their rumps as they lolled around the perimeter of the apartment block. The mother led the way, her two cubs hanging back a little, nervous of the human landscape. An experienced scavenger, she quickly turned her attention to the waste, well practised at dealing with plastic bags, and began to pull scraps from the piles of rubbish. A crowd of spectators had joined us and gathered to watch these surprisingly graceful beasts as they padded around the large metal bins.

Suddenly the crowd to my left started shouting, and I turned to discover that a group of young men were trying to get one of the cubs into their car. These guys didn’t seem to be too worried about any possible danger, and I had the sickening realisation that they were here to profit from the cruelty so often inflicted on these beautiful, wild creatures. But the protests from the crowd grew louder, and the men shouted back even more loudly (my Romanian wasn’t up to translating, but I’m guessing that they weren’t too polite), and the mother bear heard the commotion and trundled over, giving off a low growl. The men stepped back from the cub and it ran over to its mother, who continued to growl at the men but backed away with her cub. It was a lucky escape.

My British friend and I had been transfixed by these happenings, and had somehow been unaware that the other cub had quietly approached us, apparently out of a simple, child-like curiosity. She and I looked at it, uncertain. By now it was only about two feet away. We just stood there, motionless, each of us regarding the other. The cub took a step forward and did something I never would have expected in a million years. It got hold of the arm of my friend’s sweater, which was wrapped around her waist, and tugged on it.

‘Oh my god, ohmygodohmygod, what do I do?’ she whispered to me. I stood with my eyes wide open, barely able to breathe. What do you do when a bear literally has a hold on you? We both knew that the bear was unlikely to seriously harm us, but we really didn’t want to take our chances with the mother, who was already growling unhappily at the human presence. I looked up and saw an elderly man watching us with unveiled bemusement. With a broad grin, he walked over and gave the cub a swift tap on the head. It let go of the sweater in surprise and trotted away. The moment it had let go, she and I had run as fast as possible to the door to the apartment block, preferring to watch from the safety of the door’s window pane. The young bear ambled back to its mother’s side. For a second, I caught the eye of the old man who had rescued us and he gave me a knowing smile. Whether he was laughing at our foreign inexperience, or glad to see the bear return to the wild, I cannot say.

Megan Palmer is an Oxford based writer with an interest in history, wildlife, the great outdoors and general travel. In recent years she has been fortunate enough to summit the Torres del Paine in Patagonia, discover wild gorillas in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, scale the walls of Constantinople in Turkey, cruise the (not so blue) Danube in Budapest and explore some of Rajasthan’s most spectacular Jain temples and ancient pilgrimage routes. Travel is her passion, and she is always seeking out new adventures and experiences. You can check out a selection of her travel writing and fiction on her blog.

I have pretty much wanted to go to Madagascar since I fell in love with traveling a decade ago. I’m not sure where the fascination came from but it definitely had something to do with lemurs. So, when my husband and I were looking for an African adventure, we decided to seek out a lesser-visited country in search of adventure.

Getting there: We flew in and out of Antananarivo, the capital city, which, thankfully, is referred to as “Tana”. Air service is quite limited but carriers like Air France can get you there from Europe. There are no direct flights from North America.

Getting around: Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world so getting around will likely require air travel or long car rides. Since the roads can be bumpy, using the local Air Madagascar carrier, can help you get from one side of the island to the other in no time at all.

What to do: In my 9 days on the island, I spent all my time exploring the northern part of Madagascar. I would recommend including the following sites in your holiday:

• Nosy Be – this island located off the coast of Madagascar in the Mozambique Channel boasts beautiful beaches and picturesque blue water. There are opportunities to snorkel and scuba dive and you are also able to visit Lemur Island (known locally as Nosy Komba). Here, you can interact with semi-wild lemurs.
• La Montagne d’Ambre – This park, which translates to “Amber Mountain” is a beautiful national park which has several waterfalls and a fantastic crater lake you can hike to.
• Great Tsingy at Ankarana National Park – Check out the amazing limestone formations in this national park. As you hike to the Great Tsingy, you’ll cross through the jungle where you might even spot a lemur!

Dining: Madagascar is a French colony so you’ll notice that influence in their meals. There is also an abundance of seafood and Italian food. If you’re a vegetarian, you can easily get by on pastas and salads. For meat eaters, there is a local animal, very similar to a cow, called a zebu which is served at most restaurants.

Language: French and Malagasy are the local languages but English is spoken, especially in hotels and restaurants.

Thinking about going? G Adventures and Peregrine Adventures only offer tours to the southern region but it’s quite easy to arrange a flight into the north to explore on your own. If you’d like to visit the north, I recommend Mora Travel which can be contacted by email at moratraveltnr@moratravel.co. They also have a website but it is in French. If you hire a guide to accompany you, I recommend asking for Fano who is a wonderful, fun guide!

Written by DIWYY’s Kristina Wegscheider who traveled to Madagascar in December 2011.

The train grinds to a screeching, unscheduled stop. From the window to my left, the ground falls away sharply and only a nineteenth century stone bridge separates our dilapidated carriage from the murky Keralan estuary that sweeps away into the distance. To my right I can see across the stifling carriage, through the glassless windows, to verdant paddy fields that have been the typical view for hours. We’re only two hours into the journey that I know is meant to take eight. Despite the characteristically optimistic name, Alleppey Express, the train’s journey has been faltering and slow, and my heart has already begun to sink. My fellow passengers seem entirely unconcerned by our unscheduled stop, the shouting snack wallahs or the lingering stench from the bathroom. I wonder to myself whether I’ll ever really get used to India’s railways.

India’s trains are the stuff of legend even among the most hardy of travellers. Parts of the national railway network even hold UNESCO world heritage status — but they are still workaday trains, not just tourist destinations. Historic, they are, but speedy, they are not. Nonetheless, without a doubt they’re one of the best ways to travel through India – thanks to government subsidies, you can travel hundreds of miles for a few dollars, and long distance journeys are rarely busy. I’ve always found second class seats perfectly comfortable and as a solo female traveller I’ve never felt unsafe – you can usually find a severe-looking elderly matriarch to sit near to, and no man in India is willing to misbehave around one of these highly respected women.

There are few better feelings in the world during the occasional energetic bursts, when the train picks up speed and races through the Indian countryside. In southern India, where I picked up this train, there’s no need for windows. The outside air provides far more effective cooling as it rushes through the carriage than the ancient overhead fans. The Keralan landscape offers uninterrupted vistas of vibrant patchworks of paddy fields and glimmering waterways, dotted with the occasional colourful flash of a fuchsia sari or white dhoti as men and women harvest the fields by hand. Bending palm trees line the water’s edge, where you might see a flash of blue and orange as a kingfisher dives into the water.

But when the train grinds to a halt, as it had now, the carriage air quickly becomes thick with heat and the smells of chilli bajis that are hoisted up and down the train by fast talking wallahs. Even on an eight hour journey I wasn’t willing to brave the train toilets. I could already smell them from my seat, and that was deterrent enough. For this journey I’m sitting in a sleeper carriage. The main difference, as far as I can tell, is that above my normal-height seat there are two levels of fold down beds, on which the more spritely passengers can scramble up and take a nap. My earlier journey had been on an ordinary second class carriage – in those, passengers simply climb straight onto the luggage rack if they want to sleep.

While we waited, a pair of Hare Krishna men had joined the train, strolling up and down with doctrinal books for sale. My fellow passengers, many dressed in religious robes with foreheads thumbed red and paan stains on their teeth, silently ignored them. Later the orange-robed men were replaced by a plucky boy of about twelve, who dumped a stack of Hindi children’s books on the lap of a middle-aged man opposite me, hoping to make a sale. The boy is one of India’s many children who work all day, selling schoolbooks when other children are in school. The man made no reaction at all. Eventually the boy took the books away, unsold.

Now, after half an hour of motionless waiting, finally, inexplicably, the driver sounds his horn and the train begins to slowly pull away. I watch the men who had disembarked for a cigarette or a toilet stop leisurely climb aboard the slow moving train. The young boy stands on the embankment, watching the train depart. A rush of cool air sweeps through the carriage and I see women watching the train from the distant water’s edge. Everything is finally set in motion, and we continue on our journey.

Megan Palmer is an Oxford based writer with an interest in history, wildlife, the great outdoors and general travel. In recent years she has been fortunate enough to summit the Torres del Paine in Patagonia, discover wild gorillas in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, scale the walls of Constantinople in Turkey, cruise the (not so blue) Danube in Budapest and explore some of Rajasthan’s most spectacular Jain temples and ancient pilgrimage routes. Travel is her passion, and she is always seeking out new adventures and experiences. You can check out a selection of her travel writing and fiction on her blog.

New Zealand’s natural beauty is undeniable. Its “pretty as a picture” reputation has been made famous by big blockbuster hits such as the Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong, luring adventure tourists to its shores like Frodo to the ring.  Therefore, most people don’t think to visit New Zealand for its bright lights and big cities. What a shame since Wellington, New Zealand’s capitol, is an eclectic mix of sophistication and rock and roll, sure to satisfy any city girls needs.

Compared to other funky towns such as San Francisco and Melbourne, this ultra hip city is packed with op-shops (vintage clothing stores), cafes and lively pubs. Lonely Planets Best in Travel 2011 has even named Wellington “The Coolest Little Capitol in the World”. There’s something for everyone in Wellywood, the cities new nickname referring to its movie biz boom thanks to Wellingtonian Director Sir Peter Jackson. The only question is: What type of traveler are you?

The Cultural Sponge

The Cambridge Hotel is well suited for those wanting to stay down the street from Wellington’s cultural attractions. This affordable and newly restored heritage building is a great place to rest your head after a long day of sightseeing. First stop: Te Papa, the countries premier museum. Te Papa is a great place to learn about New Zealand’s indigenous Polynesian culture, wildlife and unique geology. Checking out the giant squid and earthquake simulator is a must. If you have access to a car, drive to Miramar and visit the World War II gun emplacements nuzzled into the green hills that surround the city and its coast. Be prepared to be taken aback by brilliant views of the area – make sure to remember your camera. Hungry? Grab a mince and cheese pie at a Courtney Place bakery then catch an NZ flick at the historical Embassy Theater where you can order a delicious glass of New Zealand’s Sauvignon Blanc at their café… bring it into the theater! Finally, make your way back to the Cambridge Hotel and sip on a Tui, one of the countries native brews, and watch a rugby game at its downstairs pub.

The Rock and Roll Traveler

Head back in time to Cuba Street where everyone looks like an extra from Almost Famous, wearing bright lipstick and vintage frocks. Grab a flat white coffee at a café and watch the passerby’s. It’s the perfect place to browse used bookstores, designer op-shops, art galleries and eccentric boutiques. College students sit across from eateries and play hits on their guitars from old rock legends. Grab lunch at Fidel’s Café, themed, you guessed it, everything Cuba! Check out the Under the Radar website for gig listings at hole in the wall clubs like San Francisco Bath House and Mighty Mighty. El Horno, meaning ‘the furnace’, is a lively hole in the wall that serves jugs of sangria and plays classic rock and roll jams till six in the morning. Where to stay the night? If you’re a true rock and roller you have no time for sleep!

The Laid Back Traveler   

On a beautiful day Wellington sparkles and everyone comes out of the woodwork to enjoy time in the sun. If it’s the summer season, take advantage of the weather and enjoy all that the waterfront has to offer. Wellingtons Underground Market is open on Saturdays and perfect for browsing jewelry, designer fashion, local food stands, gifts and crafts. Stroll to one of the cities waterfront eateries such as Fox Glove or Dockside for some yummy seafood and nibbles. Head to Oriental Bay and catch some rays on the beach. Although, beware; because of Wellington’s unique position on the Cook Straight, it’s known to be one of the windiest cities. Its reputation holds true leaving its female residence no choice but to sport leggings and tights under billowing dresses and skirts, not only because it’s fashionable, because it’s sensible – pack with this in mind! Grab some grub in the evening and enjoy the chill atmosphere at Beach Babylon, located across from Oriental Bay. If the Wellington Ukulele Orchestra is in town be sure to hit up one of their shows and enjoy an evening of comedic uke covers. After a long day of sun, surf and ukulele tunes head back to the Base Backpackers, conveniently located near the waterfront, to catch some Zzzs.

Wellington is the perfect pit stop between the North and South Island. Too many travelers pass through Wellington without exploring the city properly. Take a break from bungee jumping and river rafting and enjoy one of New Zealand’s best-kept secrets.

Lauren Koste traded in her three-piece suit for hiking boots to live and work abroad in New Zealand for a few months. A few months turned into over a year and now she’s extending her travels with her Kiwi boyfriend to Australia to plan the trip of a lifetime: spending a year travelling from the Arctic to Antarctica.

I rode Tram 21, the “tourist tram,” up to Prague Castle, but instead of getting off at the castle with the rest of the tourists I decided I wanted to see where the tram ended. The journey stopped in what seemed to be the suburbs of Prague. I had to catch another tram going back down the hill.  It was just me and the local woman with the blond hair in front of me.  She was staring out the window wistfully and I thought it looked like a cool picture.   I took a few pictures and she looked behind at me to see where the noise of my camera was coming from.  Soon thereafter, we returned to the castle and the tourists got on the tram to ride back down the hill and the quiet moment on the tram was gone.

Just over the Charles Bridge toward the Prague Castle site is a long road filled with shops and restaurants.  The buildings are a myriad of pastel colors, here the buildings were Easter egg pink, blue and yellow. But then there’s the old gray and brown, medieval bridge alongside the buildings. I thought it was a cool juxtaposition of old and new.

The Jewish cemetery, located in Prague’s Jewish quarter was so fascinating to me.  There’s an estimated 100,000 bodies buried here in about 11 layers of graves. The Jewish belief is that bodies cannot be moved from their original resting place. So since there was no more room in the area they just put layer on top of layer.  Now there are about 12,000 visible gravestones.

Some clever entrepreneurial Czechs offer tours of Prague in these cool classic convertibles.  Even though it was about 40˚F in the sunshine, every car I saw pass me by was filled with tourists. Too be honest, if I had the money I would’ve done it too!

This small bread store was just a little carved out hole in the wall and it was packed.  The powerful aroma of fresh baked bread was all it took to draw in the crowds who grabbed baskets and filled them with an assortment of breads.

There were many stores in the old city of Prague with touristy items to take home to those who weren’t so fortunate to visit the city. But none were as cool this marionette store which was filled to the brim with every kind of character you could imagine from ballerinas to clowns.  I loved this old marionette couple hanging in the entryway.

With all the tourists walking around, it was difficult to catch a good picture of the trams. I especially loved this shot because, as you can see if you look in the background, that the tram came through a small tunnel built into a building. The tram only came through every 10 minutes and I wanted a picture of the tram coming through the tunnel without any people walking by.  After about 45 minutes, the crowds were finally beginning to disperse  and the tram came through. Right as it came through a couple walked right out in front of me as I was taking the picture. Luckily, they were walking quickly and I managed to get a shot of the tram as it came toward me.

Jerri Stephenson is the co-founder of DIWYY. She recently toured Amsterdam, Berlin and Prague, and loved them all, but Prague was definitely her favorite.

Today’s featured photo is the Drum Tower in downtown Xi’an, China.  Sequestered between bustling streets and hidden behind trees, it holds great mystery for the Chinese and tourists alike because of the swallows that soar around it day and night. This image was taken by Bethany West who is a 20-year-old student with a passion for traveling that started when she went to Ireland in 2003 with her mom and siblings.  Her experiences traveling abroad and in the U.S. have boosted her self confidence and taught her to believe that there is goodness in the world in the form of a friendly face and a helpful point in the right direction.  She savors every trip, no matter how small, and hopes to inspire others to travel to places unmemorialized in touristy guidebooks.