thailand

It may surprise you to learn that eggplant is not what it seems: this native Indian plant is actually a fruit! Eggplant has had many uses throughout history; for example, women in ancient China created a dye out of eggplant skins to polish their teeth to a shiny gray. As more than just a tooth dye, however, this fruit is used in recipes all over the world. Here are four delicious examples.

Communities around the world come together to celebrate animals in these fun festivals. Pied Piper Duch Show Sydney, AustraliaDolled-up ducks waddle down the runway in Sydney during the Pied Piper Duck Show. These ducks, dressed from head to toe in haute couture, are a tribute to the stylish Abigail and Amelia from Disney’s Aristocats. Local farmer Brian Harrington has been working with professional dressmakers to outfit lucky ducks and geese for over 30 years, creating a unique event that parallels New York Fashion Week.www.webarchive.org/ Velas Turtle Festival Maharashtra, IndiaThe most important day of a turtle’s life is the day that it hatches and crawls toward the sea. At the Velas Turtle Festival, spectators gather to watch tiny turtles emerge from their eggs and make their trek to the ocean. The festival is a celebration of the once-endangered olive ridley turtle. Those who wish to attend this festival are advised to spend several days on the beach so they can be sure to witness the hatching process.traveltriangle.com/ Woolly Worm Festival North Carolina, USA Picture of a woolly bear caterpillar (woolly worm). The furry black and orange caterpillar is the larval stage of the Isabella Tiger moth.You might be familiar with Punxsutawney Phil, the weather-forecasting wonder of a groundhog, but have you ever heard about the meteorological abilities of woolly worms? When the woolly worm’s back is mostly brown, the winter will be mild. When the worm’s back is mostly black, the upcoming winter is predicted to be harsh. During the festival, worms participate in races. The owner of the fastest worm wins the honor of their woolly worm predicting the state of the upcoming winter.www.woollyworm.com Alpabfahrt Lucerne, SwitzerlandEach September, Switzerland is flooded with clopping hooves as 380,000 cows descend from the Alps and take to the streets in preparation for winter. Adorned with flower crowns and clanging cowbells, they parade in front of tourists and locals. The cows begin their trek at the top of the mountains at dawn. Along their path, local vendors sell goods and parade-goers celebrate with music and dance. At the end of the day the cows take a well-deserved rest in the local stables.www.swissclubnsw.com/ Monkey Buffet Lopburi, ThailandOnce a year in Thailand, residents throw a feast for an unlikely population: monkeys. In the days leading up to the festival, locals distribute party invitations (complete with a cashew treat) to the monkeys. On the day of the celebration, performers don monkey costumes and lure the macaques out of the forests with a dance. The monkeys are met with several tons of food on banquet tables inside the ruins of a thirteenth-century templewww.ripleys.com/ Festival de Aves Viña del Mar, Chile If you want to see a beautiful array of tropical birds, look no further than the Pacific coast of Chile. Each fall, professional birdwatchers and novices alike gather in Viña del Mar to catch a glimpse of more than 140 breeds of birds in their natural environment. Festival attendees can embark on guided excursions, attend lectures given by ornithologists, or set off on their own to see what birds they can find.festivaldeaves.cl/—Sarah Helzer

Imagine walking down the streets of Thailand enjoying the magical beauty of your surroundings. You see the ornate temples and hear the birds chirping overhead while you bask in the warm sunlight. And then, all of a sudden, the peacefulness of your moment is shattered—you are drenched in water, head to toe! This is Songkran, also known as Thailand’s Water Festival, and it is a splash that will stay with you for a lifetime.

“You have to taste a culture to understand it,” according to travel writer Deborah Cater, and she’s quite right. After all, what is travel without experiencing new tantalizing tastes? What is a visit to Philadelphia without a Philly cheesesteak? Or to Maryland without crab cakes? Internationally, one simply must taste gyros in Greece, Peking duck in China, and massaman curry in Thailand.

Amazing beaches, delicious food, and affordable prices; Bangkok, Thailand has everything you want and more at an affordable price. Some people travel off as little as $30 ($1 converts to about 30 to 35 THB) per day.

There’s nothing better than limes to pack a tangy punch. While you may not be adventurous enough to eat a lime on its own, this member of the citrus family complements a wide range of ingredients. From a cold, creamy drink to a savory soup, these four recipes highlight the way limes are used around the world.

Rejuvenation

The tourist attractions in Chiang Mai, Thailand, are often touted as must-sees. If you know anyone who’s been to northern Thailand, you’ve probably heard tales of zip-lining, tiger-petting, and elephant-riding. In the city, ardent tuk-tuk drivers rumble through the busy streets, honking their horns in search of vacationers to whisk away to tourist destinations like Doi Suthep, Tiger Kingdom, or Walking Street. Many travelers come to Chiang Mai to see these things but leave without experiencing the charm and beauty tucked away in the village countryside.

In 2008, Jodi Ettenberg of Montreal, Canada, made the drastic decision to take a year off of working as a lawyer in New York City to travel the world—an adventure that has yet to end. Five years later, she is still traveling and documenting her stories on her popular travel website (legalnomads.com). Ettenberg’s experiences and writing have allowed her to rethink what happiness means to her and to pursue a career as a travel writer. She has even published a book, The Food Traveler’s Handbook, on how to eat safe, inexpensive, tasty food while traveling. Stowaway caught up with Ettenberg between locations in India and Bangkok.

The camera spans across the bank of the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok, Thailand, where locals gather to lift softly glowing lanterns into the dark autumn sky. Small green and purple boats made of leaves and Styrofoam carry flowers and candles out across the water, symbolically carrying away the griefs of the past year. It’s the 2011 celebration of Loi Krathong, the annual festival of the “Floating Crown,” and in the wake of major flooding across Bangkok, the small boats are weighed with more grief than usual.

For westerners who consider an eight-ounce bloody slab of cow muscle to be mouth-wateringly delicious, a crispy fried grasshopper or mealworm should pose no problem. But let’s face it, it does. And the whole “facing it” issue may be the problem. If our food has eyes and a mouth and looks back at us, it causes a gut reaction—literally. But here are five ideas to consider about insect consumption that might help you overcome your squeamishness should you be offered something six-legged to eat during your travels.

With 12 other college students from the United States and Canada, I took a leap of faith. We each signed our names on a contract committing us to a trip across the globe to Thailand. We each spent six months preparing to travel overseas and raising the money to fund the trip. And we each stepped onto the same plane to start an experience we would never forget.

When you first meet Tim Olsen, he seems like your average neighbor. He dresses in button-up shirts and jeans, leaves early in the morning for school, comes back home around dinnertime, and mows the lawn on Saturdays.

Ruth Baptista considers herself a citizen of the world. She was born in Angola, moved to Portugal when she was two, spent time in England, and now lives in the United States. While growing up, she attended a boarding school that took her to various parts of the world; living in Europe also allowed her to travel to many different countries. But living in and visiting various countries are not the only reasons she feels like a world citizen.

Rice is just one of those foods. You can find it in the cuisine of almost every country, from Asia to Africa to North America. But just about everyone has a different—and delicious—way of preparing it. Get to know some of your fellow rice connoisseurs by trying these international recipes.