Huaraz is an Andean city in Peru’s Áncash Region, situated in the Callejón de Huaylas between the Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Negra. At more than 3,000 meters above sea level, it is an important regional center and a principal base for exploring the mountains, lakes, and valleys of the surrounding highlands. The city combines a busy central area with traditional neighborhoods, markets, restaurants, and views toward the snow-covered peaks of the Cordillera Blanca.

Nyungwe Forest National Park, in southwestern Rwanda, is one of Africa’s oldest rainforests and a sanctuary of biodiversity. Spanning more than 1,000 square kilometers, the park shelters a wealth of wildlife, including over 300 bird species, 1,000 plant species, and an impressive 13 primate species.

Norfolk Island may be small but it carries a story that spans centuries. Located in the South Pacific between Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia, the island is a fascinating blend of Polynesian roots, British convict history, and Pitcairn Island culture. Today, visitors can walk through one of the best-preserved penal settlements in the world at Kingston, where stone ruins and restored Georgian buildings stand against a backdrop of green hills and the open sea.

Kaohsiung sits on Taiwan’s southern coast and rises from one of the island’s busiest harbors into a city that rewards slow exploration and lively discovery. History and local belief surface at the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas beside Lotus Pond in Zuoying District. These twin pagodas that are connected to the shore by a zigzag bridge, invite visitors to walk through the dragon’s mouth and out the tiger’s, a practice locals associate with turning bad luck into good fortune.

Adiyaman makes a good base from which to visit Nemrut Dagi National Park. On the summit of Nemrut Daagi (Mount Nemrut), at an altitude of 2,150 meters- the highest mountain in northern mesopotamia - sits the gigantic funerary sunctuary erected in the first century B.C. by King Antiochos I of Commagene. The engineering involved in creating the artificial tumulus- flanked by terraces on which rest the colossal statues of Apollo, Zeus, Heracles, Tyche and Antiochus - continue to amaze visitors.