Author: Ms. R.

Bangkok is a huge city—more than 10 million people with countless more coming in each day from neighboring provinces for work. The result, as you might expect, is a vast sprawl of bumper-to-bumper traffic: street cars, trucks, and motorcycles, sidewalks teeming with pedestrians, even canals full of boats. The Thai capital’s infrastructure is part of the reason for the intense gridlock, since the city grew rapidly, with little land use or transportation planning. Its road surface area accounts for……

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Dating back to the early 19th century, Jalan Kubor Cemetery is the oldest Muslim burial ground in Singapore. The grounds began as three distinct plots serving Malays, Indian Muslim Singaporeans, and the descendants of sultans separately, but as the cemeteries became more crowded, they merged, forming the collective grounds now known as Jalan Kubor.  The sultans’ burial ground was reserved for members of the royal Johor-Riau family, whose palace was located close by in the Kampong Gelam quarter of……

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Going underground is one way to understand the hardships endured by enslaved people seeking freedom with the help of the loose network known as the Underground Railroad. The Milton House Museum offers a tour of a rare, preserved underground tunnel that was used by these freedom seekers on their way to Canada. Milton House was founded by Joseph Goodrich, a leading abolitionist in Wisconsin, the founder of the now-closed Milton College and a member of the Seventh Day Baptist……

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Fossoli Camp, near Modena in Northern Italy, was originally established in 1942 by the fascist regime as a prisoner-of-war camp. It housed more than 1,800 prisoners, largely British, South African and New Zealand military personnel captured during previous military operations in North Africa. After the surrender of Italy in September 1943, the military prisoners were moved to Germany and the camp was enlarged and transformed into a massive concentration camp. It was meant to act as a transit camp,……

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Parilissia Iera, the Shrines by Ilissos, was an area with a quite high density of temples and shrines at the edge of ancient Athens, next to the waters of its most important river. In Roman times, the Temple of Olympian Zeus was erected beside it. Today, with the course of River Ilissos covered everywhere except here, it marks one of the city’s most beautiful spots—a site of history, mythology, and wonder, hiding in plain sight, steps from some of……

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The small mountain town of Latronico, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata, hosts the little-known hot springs called Terme Lucane. The spas are located near the small hamlet of Calda, a town whose name literally means “hot,” in reference to the high-temperature springs that can be found here. The thermal district is located among the mountains of the Pollino National Park, one of the most pristine areas of all of Italy. The properties of the local waters are……

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Originally opened in 1947 by the prospecting Callison Brothers and their families, the Lodge has only had a few owners since, most recently Darrel Stevens and Matthew Roy. After a life traveling Western Canada and working in the oil, mining, and logging, the best friends came across the Toad River Lodge in British Columbia, at mile 422, during a family trip along the Alaska Highway. In 1999 they became the new owners. A regular breakfast stop for fishermen and……

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Archaeological remains are often closer than you might think—down the street, just next door, right under your feet. But even the sites beneath you are often easier to see from higher up. That’s why numerous recent finds—burial mounds, farms, quarries, and more—have been made by volunteers since stay-at-home orders were released in response to the coronavirus. Sequestered in their houses for months now, some folks have gladly volunteered to help local archaeological efforts. Archaeology from above has been with……

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