Category: Topside culture
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Exploring Mayan ruins of Tikal in Guatemala
Tikal was a major political and economic center of Maya civilization inhabited between 600BC and 900AD. The urban zone of Tikal is 400 hectares and has palaces, temples, ceremonial squares and various other structures. Tikal national park is part of Maya Biosphere reserve covering more than 21 thousand square kilometers or one fifth of Guatemala.…
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Exploring island town of Flores and Mayan Ruins of Yaxha in Guatemala
Small town of Flores is a popular base for exploring Tikal and many other sites in Peten region of Guatemala. The old part of town is located on a tiny island which is connected by a short causeway to the coast and the main Flores city. There is plenty of accommodation and many restaurants with…
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Antigua – impressive old capital of Guatemala surrounded by volcanoes
Antigua was a capital of colonial Guatemala, which included all of Central America and Mexican Chiapas, from 1543 through 1773. A major administrative, business and religious center it had many palaces, grand houses, churches and convents. Antigua sits in a beautiful valley surrounded by 3 volcanoes, one of which – Fuego, has been continuously erupting…
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Exploring Mayan Ruins and Mountain Pine Ridge Reserve in Belize
Before and after our dive trip in Belize we explored the top side covering most major Mayan ruins in the country. Belize has impressive history and ruins from Maya period. Unlike Mexico, the sites were not crowded at all, sometimes we had a site to ourselves. One can also climb many of the pyramids still.…
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Diving cenotes and visiting Mayan ruins near Tulum, Mexico
We dove in two cenotes and explored several Mayan ruins around Tulum in Mexico, after doing some diving in Cozumel in August 2023. Cenotes are sinkholes resulting from the collapse of the limestone bedrock. It is estimated that there are 10,000 cenotes around Yucatan peninsula. Some forming vast underground systems – a big draw for…
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Around Muscat and a day trip to Wadi Shab
While diving in Oman in November 2019 we also did some top side exploration around Muscat and a day trip to Wadi Shab. It took a while to write this up with the pandemic dampening the mood. Muscat is the capital city of Oman. The city is wedged between the mountains and the sea. Distances…
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Lalibela churches and monasteries, Ethiopia
Lalibela is a town in Ethiopia famous for its medieval rock-cut monolithic churches. Cut from solid rock some of the churches are more than 10 meters tall. It is hard to imagine how much effort it required to excavate these churches and decorate them. No wonder a legend says that the churches were built with…
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Lake Tana Monasteries, Ethiopia
Lake Tana is the largest lake in Ethiopia and the source of Blue Nile. The city of Bahir Dar on the shore of lake Tana is a nice base to explore the lake with its wild life, islands with monasteries and to visit Blue Nile falls. There are about 20 monasteries scattered around the southern…
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Exploring Palau beautiful nature on top side
Having two days in Koror waiting to get on our liveaboard we decided to rent a car and explore the big island of Babelboab. We used a local car rental info for which we got from the hotel (DW Motel). Conveniently car rental guys dropped and picked up the car from the hotel. We ended up with…