We had only one long day in Mexico City, landing at 5.30 am and leaving at 8 pm, so we decided to do an half day visit to Teotihuacan and spend the rest of the day in Mexico City.

To make things easier, we rented a driver for picking up at the airport (at 6.30am) and bring us to the site, and then back to the city at around noon. We used this car service, which I find reliable, for around 140USD just driver, and 160 USD with the “guide”: just take the car, you can find guides on the site, which I strongly recommend you.

Once we arrived on the site, the sky was full of hot air balloons, and the sun was rising behind them, truly a beautiful sights. We didn’t do it, but it looks amazing to view sunrise on Teotihuacan!

The Pyramid of the Sun is connected to the Pyramid of the Moon by a huge avenue, called avenue of the Dead. This is an aerial shot of the pyramid of the sun, which I truly love:

You can actually climb up to the top and see all the site:

And taking selfies with a super extra long selfie stick (a new gadget I bought for the occasion, even if my long hatred against selfie stick…)

From the sky you can see the huge avenue crossing though the site:

You can’t climb up the pyramid of the moon, just getting to a mid-way platform, which faces the avenue of the dead.

As you can see from the shots, the sky was full of hot air balloons, making the place even more magical.

Next to the pyramid of the moon, and on the way to the exit of the site, you can’t miss the Palace of Quetzalpapálotl, which still has colors and painting of over 2000 years old!

Next to it, there are some underground excavations where you can spot the original colors of the whole archeological site.

Back in Mexico City, we had just time for devouring tacos and see the main spots, which are all round Plaza de la Constitucion/ Zocalo. Here you can visit the Templo Mayor, an amazing archeological site which has been buried for centuries below the new city of the Spanish, built on top of the ancient one. There is a parte above ground, with wall built by hundreds of skulls:

And a beautiful museum where the best pieces are preserved:

Last the National Palace (free entrance, quite a long line), where you can see the amazing murals of artist Diego Rivera (also husband of Frida Kahlo), that shows the history of Mexico, with also the slaughtering of local population at the time of the spanish conquistadors.

Palacio Nacional Diego Rivera mural Enrico Pescantini travel photographer 2

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I would recommend 2-3 nights here, as it is a city to live best in the night, thanks to amazing bars and clubs, often placed in the rooftops of skyscrapers.

During the day, the best sightseeing spot are Chinatown and Little India. The first one has also an excellent choice of budget and mid-range hotels, and it is close and well connected to most of the attractions. In Chinatown you can do cheap-shopping and sightseeing like the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple.

Little India is nice to see for the colorful houses and, if you are a fan, for indian food. Both the districts  should not take more than 1 day of your time.

In the night, you can find beautiful bars from where you can spot the city landscape, like for example the Altitude, on a rooftop near Chinatown, and the Lantern, overlooking the bay.

However, in my opinion, the best and unique part of Singapore is the area of Marina Bay, dominated by the astonishing building of the luxury hotel Marina Bay Sands and from the beautiful Gardens of the Bay.

The Gardens are one of the top 10 botanical gardens of the world, and they are beautiful by day and by night. As attractions, there are few where you can spend the day: you can visit the Cloud Forest Dome, which contains the highest indoor waterfall of the world and a sample of cloud forest:

You can then walk up to small bridges around the waterfall, making you feel like you are walking in a true forest.

Just next to the Cloud Forest, there is the beautiful Flower Dome, which contains hundreds of species of flowers. Both should not take more than 2-3 hours to visit.

In the center of the park, you will find the symbol of the gardens, the Supertree Glove, a group of artificial towers, shaped as trees, and covered by vegetation. It is beautiful by day and by night to visit!

It is true that during the night, the lighted trees create a magical atmosphere, especially if you walk on the suspended bridges among them on the OBSC Skyway!

One the symbols of Singapore is the architecture marvel of the Marina Bay Sands hotel, which 3-towers building stands over Marina Bay, and, especially at night, creates the unique cityline of this city.

Inside Marina Bay Sands you can find endless shops and restaurants, a lot of them signed by famous chefs around the world. My favorite was anyway the DC Superheroes Café, a must-see for every nerd out there! Where else you can eat a delicious Batman Burger?

If you are willing to invest some money, sleeping in the hotel gives you access to one of the most scenographic, iconic and photographed pools of the world, The Infinity Pool, which will let you swim on the edge of an astonishing panorama of the city.

The pool is open until 11pm, so I suggest you to take a dip also in the evening, where the panorama gets even better! From a beautiful sunset:

To a stunning lighted skyline of the city in the night!

Next to the swimming pools there is the C’est la Vie bar-club which grant you the view while sipping a cocktail.

3 days and 3 nights will make you the most of your visit to Singapore, even if I have to admit that I stayed most the time in the Marina Bay area, which left me truly breathless!

And this is a short video that will give you an idea of the show!

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Let’s start with the beaches, the most famous ones are Copacabana (more touristic – common people) and Ipanema (more fancy one), and crowd is always present from sunrise to the stunning sunsets. On the point between the two beaches, there are rocks where you can sit, sip a freshly made cocktail and enjoy the sunset.

The best is to rent an Airbnb or an hotel just in front of the beach, so you can wake up early and enjoy a beautiful sunrise on the beach:

Rio de Janeiro is more about experience than visit, but there are some things you can’t miss. First one is obviously a visit up to the statue of Christ the Redeemer, which is done by a railway. It is always particularly crowded, but the scenery is breathtaking.

Exactly on the opposite side of the beautiful landscape, stands the hill Pan de Azucar, or Sugar Loaf, on top of which you can reach using a cablecar quite scenic.

Once you reach the top, you can walk around and find different views of Rio de Janeiro, Ipanema and Copacabana beaches.

Copacabana Beach

If you wait up until the sunset, you will enjoy a beautiful one, with Christ the Redeemer just in front of you.

Downtown Rio de Janeiro is worth visiting for the famous Escadaria Selarón, a famous stairway painted by Chilean artist Jorge Selarón. They connect the neighborhoods of Lapa and Santa Teresa: it does not look like a safe area, so visit during the day and be careful of your belongings.

Look around the steps for different quotes from different countries, here’s one of italian 50s actor Totò:

The area around is full of interesting wall paintings – graffiti – which often criticizes the government and the state of poverty of the population.

Last but not least, you can’t visit Rio de Janeiro and not experience and see the life in the favelas. It is not someting you can do alone, so join one of the many NGO that organizes guided visit to them. We visited the favelas of Rocinha, Brazil’s biggest favela, with Favelatour.org.

You will hop off the bus only in specific points, and you won’t walk inside the favelas. There are tours that do that, but it will take almost a day to dedicate to this experience.

Rio de Janeiro is full of viewpoint, if you find a good driver it is worth to dedicate half a day to drive around the nearby jungle, uphill, and discover new prospective to view this beautiful city.

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The most photographed area of Cape Town is Bo-Kaap, a former township of all people from Malaysia, located in the city center. The streets of this area are formed by colorful little houses, with the Table Mountain as background.

As you can see, this place is amazing for photography, from the standard selfie to model shots.

Locals are quite used to this, and they are quite willing to pose for some nice shot.

Once you are in the area, I suggest you to go up for dinner to a traditional malasian restaurant, like Bo-Kaap Kombuis and enjoy the sunset on the Table Mountain.

Whether if you are a surfer of not, a surfing lesson on the famous Muizenberg Beach, a paradise for surfers and not. This huge beach, is crowded with families and surfers alike, and you fill find plenty of surfing schools where to book a lesson. Beware that we are in South Africa, and so sharks are locals here: a system of flag will tell you what is the situation, and in case of a shark danger, an helpful siren will tell you to run out of the water, like it happened to me. Quite an experience!

If you are hungry after your surfing lesson, you should head to the famous and fancy fish restaurant Harbour House – Kalk Bay, 10 minutes by car from Muizenberg. While you are in the harbor, it is amazing to see it populated by seals, swimming and also hopping on the side walk! They are quite huge animals! Take as many photos as you want but, despite their friendly and playful look, don’t get too close to them!

They seems quite harmless, but just take a look at these shots to get an idea of their little “tiny” teeth:

Keep going south on the Cape Peninsula and you will get to Boulders Beach, a massive African Penguin colony, where you can spot this beautiful animals. The access is very easy, just park the car and get the ticket entrance to the “park” to observe the beach from a very very close range. There are 3 spots to watch them, the northern one is the more crowded one, where most of the tourists stops; if after the entrance you take the right you get to another viewing platform, with usually less people, and a more intimate view. Last one is at the actual “boulders beach”, where you could actually take a swim and enjoy the clean cold water while watching the penguins, that are protected by a net that separates the “human” beach from the penguins’ one.

At the extreme point of the peninsula, you can visit the Cape Point National Park, with the cape of Good Hope, a beautiful scenario of rocks and oceans. It is not as believed the actual most south point of Africa, which is Cape Agulha, that divides the Atlantic Ocean from the Indian one.

At sunset, you can’t miss a visit to Signal Hill, a panoramic point that overview over Cape Town. Hundreds of people gather here to have a drink or enjoying a BBQ with family and friends, and the show is quite spectacular.

If you are brave enough, Cape Town is one of the few places on earth where you can experience the White Shark Cage Diving. Basically, you will get into a cage, on a side of a boat, and wait floating in the water to spot the great white shark.  No particular experience is needed, you will just float in this cage and when the crew will spot a shark approaching you will go down and try to spot it underwater.

Observing the great white sharks it is truly an unforgettable experience, and not scaring as it may seems. The sharks will just swim close to the cage, so they will not attack you or try to open the cage like a tuna can.

I got some great video footage, stay tuned for the next article on South African safari!

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Shiraz is often seen as just the starting point for visiting Persepolis, but it actually deserves 2 days for visiting it. The most magnificent place is without any doubt the Pink Mosque (Nasir ol Molk Mosque), famous for the stunning pink light that comes from the many colored windows of the Mosque.

For seeing such effect, you have to go in the early morning, and the guard told me that during winter time (since the sun light is lower) the effect is even more magnificent.

Also the external courtyard presents some quite unique decorations, with the recurrent depiction of roses, symbol of Shiraz.

For Muslims, Shiraz is sacred due to the sanctuary of Shah Cheragh, the brother of Imam Reza (one of the 12 Imam of Islam), which instead is buried in Mashhad. Dress properly for the entrance, where you will be accompanied by a free guide.

You can visit the internal courtyards and have a peak at the flashy tomb, which is truly a spectacular sight.

I strongly recommend you to pay a visit also in the evening-night, it is always open, and the architecture is lighted quite well, ideal for photography.

From Shiraz let’s move to south-east Iran, just below Kerman. Bam was one of the world-famous attractions of Iran and the world largest “mud-brick” building, a beautiful fortress with an higher citadel.

I said was because unfortunately in 2003 a massive earthquake nearly destroyed Bam, and in the past 13 years a very slow reconstruction is trying to restore it. Is it still worth to visit? I believe absolutely yes.

To have an idea on how the mud-brick citadel should have looked like, you can visit the Rayen Castel, 100 km close to Kerman. Perfectly preserved, it has been ignored for years, shadowed by the Bam citadel.

After the earthquake, Rayen survived Bam, and it is a very fascinating site for spending one hour of sightseeing, and it can be a stop on your way back from Bam.

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It is an ancient and very religious tradition, and the Holy Week in Malaga is supposed to be one of the best. Antonio Banderas often visits his hometown Malaga during this period, joining his brothers in the processions.

If you love photography, you will go crazy following the processions and taking hundreds of pictures, I can assure you that!

Each member of the brotherhood (or fraternity) gets the honor of carrying these massive wood “pasos” along the city, along with priests and religious music bands. This structure are adorned and sculptured by local artists, and they are truly piece of art.

The partecipants wear a “nazareno”, a penitent robe, and often involves a hood that covers the face.

Usually, the best looking men are in the front line, while the.. “less handsome” are hidden in the back lines. Usually.

Everybody participates, even kids and children.

I have followed this little kid in the procession for more than half an hour, it was definitely the cutest thing out there!

Just to give you an idea of the effort of these men, the “paso” could weight between 1 and 2 tonnes, and are carried by a group of 25-40 men. That means that each of them carry on their shoulders a weight of 40-50 kg. For several hours.

It was quite impressive to see these huge wooden chariots being transported in the narrows of the city centre, turning around each corner, without bump into walls and windows!

Besides the processions, this Andalusian city offer quite a lovely city centre, with a scenographic cathedral, especially at night. Plus there is the Picasso Museum.

The Holy Week procession in Granada was a little bit less scenographic in my opinion, but on the other hand, I got a privileged view from the balcony of my hotel’s room.

As you can see, different brotherhoods has different colors and robes, to distinguish themselves.

But the true gem of Granada is the fabulous complex of the Alhambra (in Arabic «qa’lat al-Hamra’» means Red Castle).

Built in the end of the IX century A.D., it is after the 1300 DC that become a royal palace, under the muslim Nasrid dynasty.

It represents one of the finest example of muslim art and architecture I have ever seen, and you can spend a whole day visiting it. I recommend though the night visit, which gives an extra touch of magic to your tour.

But consider that during night visit, tripod is not allowed, so taking pictures is a little bit more challenging.

The Mexuar

The best part of the palace, for which you will have a very short and limited time, is the Nasrid Palace.

Court of the Myrtles

Granada Alhambra Palace of the Lions

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To visit Persepolis and the surroundings it is going to take from half to a full day, and it is one hour from Shiraz (well connected to the rest of Iran).

In Persepolis, the Last Shah of Persia held the ultra-glamorous celebrations for the 2’500 year of the Persian Empire, inviting dignitaries from all over the world. It has been considered one of the most expensive party every, and it shocked the population of Iran, which often was very poor. This has been on the sparks of the Iranian Revolution against the King of Iran, which called itself also “King of Kings”.

The entrance to Persepolis is through the magnificent Gate of All Nations, also called Gate of Xerxes, where everyone entering Persepolis was passing by. From here, the guests could be received in the King Palace or go in the Army quartier. Didn’t have my drone with me (bringing a flying camera to Iran didn’t seem to me a good idea), but you can get a view from the satellite thanks to Google Earth .

The worst part of this is all the vandalism graffiti left on the wall. If we think that graffiti is a recent phenomenon, well, here you can spot names and dates of tourists (because we can’t call them travellers) during the centuries.

In the road after the gate, on the right side, you can spot a perfect statue of Gryphon (or Griffon or Griffin), a mythological creature with the head of an eagle and the body of a lion. The origin is ancient, and there are trace of this beast both in ancient greece, india and egypt.

Gryphon

For those who have seen the Hollywood movie “300”, in the film Xerxes was attacking the Spartans with ferocious warriors called Immortals. They actually existed, not as deformed men like pictured in the movie, but as highly-trained soldiers, picked as a children to be the elite guard of the Persian army. They were 10’000 men, and if one died it was immediately replaced, thus the nickname “Immortals”

Immortals warrior

Immortals warriors

Another peculiar symbol seen all over Persepolis, and in Iran, is the Lion attacking the Bull. The Lion is a symbol of power and strength, and the symbol of the Persian Empire itself. Another interpretation is that it shows the spring celebration, where the sun (Lion) attacks the Earth (Bull.)

The lion attacking the bull

The few surviving statues reveals beautiful details: the ones best preserved are the one found covered by sand, that protected them by vandalism and weather

Lion symbol of Persia

Sculpture

Xerxes on a throne

In the day trip to Persepolis, there are 2 other unmissable sight: the first one is in Pasagardae, and it is the Tomb of Cyrus the Great. The historical importance of this 2’500 years old monument is impressive, and while you are paying visit to the King of Asia and the founder of the Persian Empire, remember that people have been doing the same in the past two thousands years.

Pasagardae, Tomb of Cyrus the Great

The second site is the necropolis of Naqsh-e Rajab, where there are the tombs of Darius the Great and Xerxes. If you have been to the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, you will not a striking resemblance between the two sites.

Naqsh-e Rustam

Just on the left to the necropolis there is the site of Naqsh-e Rajab, which are carvings of the Assanid era.

Naqsh-e Rajab

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In a clear morning, I suggest you to go up the Tokyo Skytree: if you are lucky, like I was, you will clearly see the Mount Fuji!

And you can also spot the infamous Golden Poop!

Golden turd from above

The Golden Poop (or golden turd) is actually called the Golden Flame, and it is locate in the Asahi Beer Hall, a famous building designed by famous french architect Philippe Starck. And it is pretty clear what it looks like! You can view it in Asakusa, on the Sumida river.

Asahi Flame Asakusa and Golden Turd

Asahi Flame Asakusa and Golden Turd 2

One the most interesting neighbourhood is Akihabara, where you can basically find all the manga, collectibles and also electronics that Tokyo has to offer. If you don’t know manga, you will find it quite interesting: weird kids, huge billboards with sexy cartoons and so on. If you have grown up instead with Japanese cartoons, well, you can definitely spend one whole day here, you will find everything you have ever dreamed.

Akihabara Sega

Akihabara billboard

Don’t miss to go for a coffee or a lunch in a Maid Cafe… don’t worry, nothing erotic here, just a very unique experience of being served by young japanese girls dressed up like cartoon-like french maids… and the food often comes shaped in bears of pandas…unmissable!

Akihabara Maid Cafe 2

Did I mention that you can find and buy all kind of weird collectibles here? And these are most “normal” ones!

For a more old-style culture, you should visit Asakusa, where most of the temples of the capital are located. One of the most interesting one is the Senso-ji, where you will find a huge sandal, said to belong to Buddha himself.

Asakusa Sensoji Temple

Asakusa Sensoji Temple Sandal of Buddha

If during the day you find Tokyo fascinating, it is during the night that you find in love with it! Best places to be in the evening (and also to find an accommodation) are Shinjuku and the famous Shibuya, heart of the nightlife of Tokyo.

Back to the sightseeing spots, you can’t miss the “japanese Tour Eiffel”, the Tokyo Tower. Best seen from the observation deck in the Roppongi Hills, the Tokyo City View.

While you are walking around the city, keep an eye open, because you most probably see around very very weird things. I can’t describe them, so better to show you:

Tokyo, Japan – kimono dogs

Tokyo, Japan – kimono dogs 2

On a very early morning (not later that 6.30 am – 7.00 am) go to the Tokyo Fish Market, where the precious fishes for all japanese sushi are traded. If your stomach allows it, get in line for the best value-for-money sushi in Tokyo, but beware the waiting line, that could be of 1-2 hours.

And this is about 20% of the things you can do in Tokyo, I stayed a week, and it was definately not enough!

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It is called the city of windcatchers (Shahr-e Badgirha), also called wind towers. They are an ancient Persian system of ventilation for the houses, and in persian are called Badgir.  They are basically towers that catches the wind and direct it inside the house, a natural and sustainable air conditioning system (here a detailed explanation)

Windcatcher towers

Windcatcher towers 2

Yazd is also famous for the Zoroastrianism, a pre-islamic religion, which nowaday survives only in Iran, mainly in Zayd, and in India, in the city of Mumbai. The sightseeings regarding this religion are mainly two. The first one is the fire temple, which, besides a nice facade, it was a let down. Inside you can spot a fire which is said to burn continuously from centuries.

Zoroastrian Fire Temple

On the front, you can spot one of the main symbol of Zoroastrianism, and also of Persia itself, the Farvahar. It represents a sort of guardian angel, and it is very common in Iran.

Yazd Zoroastrian Fire Temple Faravahar

But the most astonishing sightseeing of Zoroastrianism in Yazd, are the Towers of Silence, located just outside of the city. They are burial site, but the particularity of this religion is that the dead were not buried, or burnt, but brought to this place, on the top of the towers, and left there for the birds and animal, to feed on them. In this way, the dead bodies were not polluting the earth, or the sky, but they were used as food for other living beings.

Other notable sightseeings in Yazd are the Jame Mosque, which entrance is one of the tallest of Iran. Appreciate the tileworks both on the entrance and in the main hall, they are exquisite.

Behind the Jame Mosque, you can start a walk among the small alleys of the historical centre of Yazd, with the unique houses made of mud. It is a spectacular walk, not to be done in the midday, the hot is unbearable! That’s why I have no shots of this, you will have to discover it yourself!

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The blue town is so called because, well, it is completely blue! all walls and building are painted of an amazing shade of blue.

It is possible to get here from Fez, which it will take more or less 4 hours by private car. If you leave early morning, you could spend there 3-4 hours, having a lunch in one of the many rooftop restaurants and then leave at mid-afternoon. You can ask your hotel to organize this daytrip for you.

It has a strong spanish influence, since it was part of Spanish Morocco around the 1920s.

There are different legends about why all the city if blue. Some says that the Jews painted it blue when the migrated here during the Holocaust, others that is a way to repel insect. Well, it does not matter so much, it is a pure joy for the eyes.

Morocco Chefchaouen blue stairs

Morocco Chefchaouen blue powder

Morocco Chefchaouen blue powder

I often wonder how my favorite photographer, the master Steve McCurry, finds the location for his amazing shots. Well, the blue city is actually one of those places, and even if you are not a professional photographer, here you will feel like it!

Here I took one of my favorite “World Pescart Photos”, which is an homage to him: the title is “Running from Steve McCurry”.

Morocco Chefchaouen – Running from Steve McCurry

There are several artisan shops also, where you could relax after several hundreds of shots. To visit the town one hour would be enough, but trust me, you will spend at least 3 hours just looking around.

Morocco Chefchaouen blue shops

And you will enjoy also some encounters with local wildlife.

Morocco Chefchaouen blue cat

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