Welcome to the ArcticMy second time on the Arctic Circle! Rovaniemi, in Northern Finland, sells hard on Santa and the northern lights. I came for the Northern Lights, the Ice Hotel, to ride one of the most northerly train routes, cross the Arctic Circle again and Santa Claus (in that order), and discovered that beneath the Christmas branding, there is a real Lapland hub for winter and summer activities, warm people, and experiences I’d never had before. But no lights. Backstory: Timber, Fire, and ReinventionPeople have lived around present‑day Rovaniemi since the Stone Age, but…
solo travel
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Cape Town: Beautiful and Complicated
I came to Cape Town hoping to like it and ended up loving it. I want to encourage other visitors to look beyond the surface here. It’s a complex and fascinating place. Introducing the City The road from the modern Cape Town airport passes through the sprawling townships of Langa, Nyanga, and Gugulethu, dense settlements of shacks with varying degrees of access to electricity and water, and unemployment rates over 50%. Literally around the corner are the well-lit, well-patrolled suburbs of Sea Point and Camps Bay, where mind-bogglingly priced sea-view homes cling to the slopes…
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