Many of the world's great cities were built along rivers, making them easily accessible for trade and exploration. Today, riverboat cruises remain as one of the most alluring and efficient ways to tour them. Like ocean liners, riverboats represents floating hotels but riverboats rarely hold more than 150 passengers, and they sail past fishing villages and vineyards to dock right in the heart of medieval cities.
In Europe, the Rhine and Danube are the hottest waterways for touring. Tauck organizes a 24-day Grand European Cruise through nine countries to the Black Sea.
The new eight-night Epicurean Adventurer Program from Uniworld starts in Marseille and goes through seven cities, ending in Lyon with a short trip to a Valrhona chocolate factory.
Sea Cloud - the Ritz Carlton of riverboats, with a Michelin-starred chef on board - traverses some of the same waterways but in a different style.
On the 10-night Classic Rhine Golf cruise, passengers schedule tee times all along the riverboats. The 7-night Johnson Strauss Waltz Music on the Danube cruise allows passengers to travel in the company of the famous composer's great-grandnephew, with stopovers for private concerts in opera houses along the way, as well as wine tastings at private chateaus owned by dukes and princesses.
AMA Waterways sails along the Volga-Baltic from Moscow to St. Petersburg.
Pandaw has a new cruise in the works; after years of negotiations with India, the company's boats will in September begin heading down the holy Ganges for 14 nights, just in time for the Festival of Lights that marks the Hindu New Year.
In Portugal, Douro Azul explores the port wine country along the Douro River Valley. Passengers can sit in lounge chairs on the deck of the boat, listening to history lectures as they sail through three UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Don't you try to wait for some time before trying these cruises. ^_^
The world's national parks offer fresh air, wildlife, scenic vistas and breathtaking topographic formations. And that is why so many of them—from Yosemite to England's Lake District to Thailand's Khao Yai—are mobbed in peak season. But there are parks that have somehow slid beneath the radar of the photo-snapping masses. For travelers looking to really get away—far, far away—from it all, these are well worth the trip.
Located on the Seward Peninsula and named after the land link between North America and Asia, Alaska's Bering Land Bridge National Preserve is home to more than 100 species of birds. Situated on 1.1 million hectares, the preserve also hosts caribou, arctic fox, moose and, along the coast, humpback whales and seals. Part of what puts Bering Land Bridge off the tourist map is its inaccessibility: no roads lead there. Visitors can arrive only via boat or small plane departing Nome, or by snowmobile or dog sled during the winter months.
The National Park of American Samoa is just as remote. Distributed across three South Pacific islands created by extinct volcanoes, the park features unspoiled beaches and coral reefs perfect for snorkeling and diving, as well as flying foxes, fruit bats and sea turtles.
Panama's Darien National Park is the largest national park in Central America. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it's filled with swamps, beaches, mountains and dense jungle. It's also home to the only missing stretch of the Pan-American Highway that goes from Chile to Alaska. Brimming with wildlife, this 579,000-hectare rainforest is the natural habitat for jaguar, harpy eagles and parrots. Because of its challenging terrain, most visitors choose to hire a guide or join a tour operated out of the region's main city, La Palma.
Wildlife lovers heading to Africa for game viewing can beat the crowds in Kenya by going to neighboring Ethiopia's Nechisar National Park, located some 500 kilometers south of Addis Ababa. Named after the white grass covering the region's plains, this park features diverse terrain, including thick bushland, the Amaro Mountains, hot springs and acacia trees. Visitors can see bush pigs, zebra, flamingos, crocodiles, monkeys and baboons in their natural habitat.
Even well-traveled Italy is home to a relatively unpopulated park: Pollino National Park, in the country's south. Hikers in the 193-hectare expanse can walk amid Grecian laurel and silver fir trees, along mule tracks and through rolling pastures, to catch glimpses of golden eagles and European otters. The park also features some of the highest mountains in southern Italy, including the 2,000 meter Serra Dolcederme. Straddling the provinces of Calabria and Basilicata, the parkland is peppered with small towns and Albanian-speaking villages, providing visitors with a range of interesting culinary options.
India's Kanha National Park, located in the state of Madhya Pradesh, inspired Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book," and is one of the best places in India to spot tigers in their natural habitat—as well as leopards, monkeys, hyenas, porcupines and bison. Kanha was 
originally designed in 1955 as a wildlife preserve to safely house several endangered species.
The Sinharaja Forest Reserve in Sri Lanka is a World Heritage Site and a World Biosphere Reserve. Though relatively small—it's situated on under 19,000 hectares of rainforest—the park features dense vegetation and an amazing diversity of flora and fauna, including elephants, leopards and tree frogs, as well as native birds like the Sri Lanka blue magpie. Not many people will have a snapshot of that in their photo albums.
WALKING!
The decaying building near Escolta, the El Hogar Filipino, built in 1914, was a financial powerhouse in its day. The stunning architectural details are still intact despite its sad state. You can make like a 1930s number cruncher in a crisp white suit here.
If you were a man of taste, you went to Escolta, parked your Studebaker on the curb, and checked out Heacock's for hats or canes pr any of your gentleman's sartorial needs.
You'd watch a movie at Capitol, your suit cutting a dashing silhouette on the art deco facade.
Loitering at Escolta, amd ending up in the streets of Binondo, two days before the Chinese New Year.
Backpedaling to Chinatown, looking for the estero that served the best cheap chow in town. Turning back and walking on until reaching Quiapo Church. At the Feast of the Black Nazarene, no space would be available here, only waves of people.
