The Big Thrills
What keeps me ticking are the big
ticket attractions in the world, which I call the Big Thrills.
These are usually so famous that you worry that you may be disappointed
when you actually see it. And then you get there and are still blown
away. You cannot prepare for them. You get shivers, your
blood races, your bones go cold, your jaw drops (sometimes swearing
under your breath), and your face emits a blank stare that somehow
ignores everything else in the world outside except the magnificence of
the spectacle in front of you. Eyes wide open, time stops running
and you don't feel your bodily functions and aches at all. I have
become jaded and addicted to the Big Thrills. Sometimes
unfortunately to the point where smaller attractions may not interest
me. My entire trip is routed so as not to miss any of the Big
Thrills, and here are the ones that I've visited so far on this trip.
Guanajuato, Mexico
Palenque ruins, Mexico
Tikal ruins, Guatemala
Copan ruins, Honduras
Semuc Champey, Guatemala
Antigua, Guatemala
Granada, Nicaragua
Las Tablas Carnaval, Panama
Cartagena, Colombia
Salar de Uyuni region, Bolivia
Iguazu Falls, Argentina/Brazil
Minas Gerais colonial cities (Ouro Preto, Diamantina, San Joao del Rei,
Tiradentes, Mariana), Brazil
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Valparaiso, Chile
Lago Llanquihue volcanoes, Chile
Arrallanes National Park, Argentina
Torres del Paine, Chile
Mt Fitzroy, Argentina
Rapa Nui, Chile
Mo'orea, French Polynesia
Kilauea lava flows, USA
Tongariro Volcano, New Zealand
Milford Sound, New Zealand
Pura Besakih, Indonesia
Borobudur, Indonesia
Melaka, Malaysia
Batad rice terraces, Philippines
Ko Phi Phi & Phang Nga Bay, Thailand
Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar
Bagan, Myanmar
Inle Lake, Myanmar
Angkor, Cambodia
Hue Imperial city and tombs, Vietnam
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