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Five Dishes That Show India’s Range
No list of five dishes can explain Indian food. The country is too large, the regional traditions too distinct, and the differences…
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Varanasi Does Not Need to Be Explained Away
Varanasi is often described with the kind of language travel writing reaches for when the writer has run out of nerve: mystical,…
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The Taj Mahal Is Better Without the Sales Pitch
You do not need help understanding that the Taj Mahal is beautiful. The building has had centuries of practice, millions of photographs…
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How to Arrive at Machu Picchu With Some Context
Machu Picchu does not need help being dramatic. It sits at 2,430 meters in the Peruvian Andes, stone terraces folding into green…
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Rajasthan in Pink and Blue
Jaipur and Jodhpur are regularly reduced to colors. Jaipur is pink. Jodhpur is blue. The labels are useful on a map and…
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The Colosseum Beyond the Gladiators
The Colosseum is so familiar that arriving can feel like meeting somebody you have seen in photographs for years. The shape is…
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Wadi Rum Is More Than Mars on Earth
Wadi Rum is often introduced as “Mars on Earth,” partly because filmmakers have repeatedly used its red desert to stand in for…
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Angkor Is Bigger Than Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat is the image everyone knows: towers reflected in water, often with a sunrise behind them. It is also only one…
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Giza Is More Than Three Pyramids and a Sphinx
The Pyramids of Giza are so familiar that seeing them in person can feel strangely unreal. They have been flattened into logos,…
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The Treasury Is Only the Beginning of Petra
Petra’s most famous reveal is almost unfairly good. You walk through the Siq, a narrow corridor of stone, and the Treasury appears…