Sometimes I think in a world of selfies, hashtags, reviews and ‘FOMO’, it can be easy to forget there can be a deeper meaning when it comes to Travel. Travel can gift us with not just pretty pictures, or a great tan, but a sense of wonder and discovery. To my mind, travel reaches all our senses. Over the years I have had some truly wondrous moments of awe, inspiration, realisation and growth.

To me travel is about experience, and the new and exciting things which we can find. Not just for a pretty picture (although great sights do feature in this post!) But rather, how travel can offer a wondrous and life enhancing moment.

Travel Reaches All Our Senses

I asked my fellow bloggers to tell me about a time travel scratched not just the surface, but really etched itself into their senses, and left them with a truly memorable experience.

Sound

• Maire from Temples and Treehouses

When we arrived at the temple in Ubud, Bali, we had no idea what to expect. We were there to see a Kecak and fire trance dancing performance. Someone outside Ubud Palace had convinced us to buy tickets earlier in the day. To be honest, I was expecting fire juggling and perhaps some circus tricks. The audience sat down in a circle around a pillar of burning candles, watching the flames.

Suddenly we were hit with a wall of sound like I’ve never heard before. A group of men with bare chests filed down the staircase, sat cross-legged in a circle facing the flames, and chanted. But it wasn’t exactly chanting, or singing, or shouting — it was a fast, percussive, dominant beat of voices, setting a rhythm, drawing the audience in so we all shared the same heartbeat. It’s hard to describe the sound that rose from the ground, and the way it reverberated in my chest.

The dancers, when they picked their way down the stairs and glided within the circle, were beautiful, expressive, precise. Their costumes bright and glinting. But it was the sound that held it together and it was the chanting voices that drove the dance.

You can check out Maire’s Pinterest here.

• James from This Travel Guide

Before I started travelling, I always thought of travel as something that was visual, and I never really thought much about how much sound would be a part of travel.

Sound is a big part of travel, though. Whether it’s the sound of the plane taking off, the dialogue of car horns on busy streets in Vietnam, or the unwanted sounds that you experience when you stay in a hostel with paper-thin walls, you’re always coming into contact with new sounds when you’re on the road.

One of the most memorable sounds from my travels has to be the sound of the gecko somewhere in the room of the house that I stayed at in Koh Lanta, Thailand.

The noise, which is captured in this Youtube video, sounds like a bird, and that’s what I initially assumed it was. It wasn’t until I started looking up the sound online, and I came across other people who had heard it, that I realised it was actually a gecko.

Although not all types of geckos are nocturnal, it seems this particular type was. He would make the noise sporadically from around midnight until dawn, ensuring that I definitely got to enjoy how sound can be a part of your travel experience.

• Roxanna from Gypsy With A Day Job

No where in the world have I been impacted by sound more than Niagara Falls. The roar of the water is the first thing that hit us upon arrival, and in a way, it was awesome in itself.  The sound relayed such power. But it was also a guide we followed, leading us to the falls, and we met many other people using this same means of finding the incredible wonder they had come to see.

When we were finally before the falls, the sound wafted around us. And as we became acquainted, experienced the falls from every vantage, the sound became a comfort.  We heard it everywhere in the city, and it soothed us to know Niagara was always there, part of the spirit of the place, fierce and beautiful.

Throughout our stay in the city, the sound of the roaring Niagara became a companion.  We were anxious to get outside when we woke, to hear it, and to stay outside into the night.  And when we left, it’s absence was as loud as the crashing waters themselves. We missed it when we were gone, as much as missing any friend we have had to leave behind.

Find more from Gypsy With A Day Job on Facebook here!

Sight

• Andra from Our World to Wander

A journey to India will no doubt spoil all of your senses. But do be prepared to get some of the most chromatic sights and views in your life. Everything in India is colorful, starting with food and buildings, and ending with the women’s saris that will make you turn your head. And yes, India even boasts with entire cities that will visually enchant you through their colors. One of them is Jodhpur, India’s Blue City in Rajasthan.

For me, Jodhpur was love at first blue sight. I was shocked to see the sheer number of buildings painted in various colors of blue. Walking in the Jodhpur’s old city at dawn was my favorite pastime. With the impressive Mehrangarh Fort watching over, the blue houses and their intricate architectural details will steal your attention, and you can easily get lost wandering around the narrow alleys.

They say blue is a peaceful color. However, the Indians used it in Jodhpur to keep mosquitoes away from their houses and also to indicate the Brahmins’ homes, India’s priestly caste associated with the blue color. No matter the reason for using this color, it is sure a magnificent and mesmerizing sight.

See more from Our World to Wander’s on Facebook here.

• Jub from Tiki Touring Kiwi

I was feeling a bit frustrated about not being able to see any domestic football matches after my first month in Turkey. The Turkish have a strong football culture, with Istanbul at the epicenter of it all. Fortunately, I did get lucky and was able to attend an International Friendly, Turkey versus Albania.

The atmosphere around the stadium was fun, but also a little tense with the heavy security presence. It wasn’t until I passed through the concourse to take my seat when I was wowed with a flag-draped of the every single on of the 32000+ seats. They weren’t small flags either so when everyone started waving their flags all at once just before kickoff the enter stadium became a sea of red. As a kiwi I’m always excited to see the New Zealand flag, but this sight showed me how the flag can bring everyone closer to achieving a common goal (winning a football match).

• Megan and David from Half This World Away

I don’t think anyone will ever forget the first time they lay eyes on the gothic grandeur of Prague. Known as the city of spires, this fairytale like city is so unlike anywhere we’ve ever seen before. Although stunning from the ground, it’s the view of Prague’s rooftops which are truly spectacular. Spires everywhere which reach into the sky and looking out across the expanse of Prague, feels like looking onto a medieval city. Prague was said to be so beautiful that Hitler decided to spare it during WW2, and its really not difficult to understand why, it’s a cite which needs to be seen to be believed.

You can find Half This World Away’s Facebook page here.

• Eric and Lisa from Penguin and Pia

Taste

• Kavita from Kavey Eats

Have you heard of wagyu? This exceptional Japanese beef is known for the extensive marbling of fat through tender, full-flavoured meat, and is highly prized throughout Japan. There are several Wagyu brands, of which Kobe is the best known outside Japan, and the beef of each brand is graded on quality.

Our first Taste was of grade 3 Hida-gyu, a brand produced in Gifu Prefecture in Chūbu, central Japan. We visited a yakiniku restaurant attached to a specialist butchers shop, a style of cooking that came to Japan via Korea. A round barbeque plate is set into the table, allowing customers to grill meat and vegetables themselves and eat at their own pace.

The experience is one that delights several senses, first the sizzling sound of the beef as it hits the hot grill, followed by the intense aroma as the surface of the meat starts to brown. Best cooked only briefly, the purest joy comes from the taste sensation as you eat the first piece! The marbling of fat makes the meat almost melt on the tongue, and the burst of juiciness and intense umami (savoury) flavour is astonishing.

For more on Kavey’s foodie exploits check out her piece about Yakiniku restaurants.

• Josh from The Lost Passport

Eating spicy foods while traveling in Thailand is definitely one of the way to get your taste buds going. In fact, eating the level of spice that Thai’s tend to add to food takes the whole experience of eating food to a new level.

The addition of chili gives food as much a feeling as it does a taste. The feeling where the entire inside of your mouth burns, but in a different way than drinking boiling hot water or a really hot deep fried chicken wing straight out of the oil.

The level of burn depends on the level of spice. I’ve personally had a plate of somtam pet pet extra spicy papaya salad which left me feeling like I was breathing fire for over one hour! That was on the intense side of things.

While spicy Thai food may be initially overwhelming, many quickly build up a tolerance. Just take it bit-by-bit, not jumping straight to the lava hot stage. Eventually you may even start thinking food without a bit of chili and its burning sensation is just bland. I know I did.

Find more from The Lost Passport on Facebook.

• Halef from The Round The World Guys

• Claudia from My Adventures Across The World

Stellenbosch is one of the must visit places in South Africa.

This is the heart of the Wine Country, and while visiting certainly implies tasting a lot of wine, the experience is hardly mundane. Wine tourism in Stellenbosch has been taken to the next level, and it involves a lot of nature walks, and getting to know the history and culture of the region and of the wine estates.

A visit to a wine estate is an all-senses experience, whereby visitors remain mesmerized at the sight of the surroundings to begin with. Once they move to the tasting room, and the wine tasting experience per se starts, the sensorial experience continues, in a sequence of sight (observing the color of the wine); smell (taking in the fragrance of it) and finally taste, at last sipping a glass of Shiraz, Pinotage, Merlot or the perfect blend.

Find more from My Adventures Across The World on Instagram!

Smell

• Rachel from Rachel On Route (this is my own contribution!)

In Rotorua, New Zealand the smell is pervasive. It clings to your clothes, and when the wind gusts in a certain way you get a particularly strong waft of the eggy sulphuric smell for which it is known. I found the wonderful little town of Rotorua – smelly as it is – to be a fascinating and enchanting discovery.

With the city built in a region of geothermal activity, Rotorua is also nicknamed Sulphur City, as it has high levels of hydrogen sulphide emissions – giving the city its ‘rotten egg’ smell. The town features mud pools, hot pools in which you can dip your feet (like a spa!) and nearby geysers which are awesome to watch. On top of that the history of the town and its lost white and pink terrace is pretty fascinating.

I found the geothermal activity was a humbling experience, and an awareness of the ever changing and active world we live on, and how un-tameable natural forces can be.

• Talek from Travels with Talek

The smell of monkey enclosures in a zoo immediately hurls me back in time. My mother took me to the zoo in Havana when I was a child. I reached towards a caged monkey to offer a piece of fruit. The monkey grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the cage until my face was against the bars. My mother reached into the cage and grabbed the monkey yelling “let her go, let her go!” In the midst of this panic and chaos, the monkey let me go but not before he scratched my hand badly.

We then rushed around the zoo with my bloody hand looking for medical attention. At a little first aid station someone poured a cool liquid on my hand and I watched white foam form on my scratches and then subside. That memory is still fresh after all those years and is always triggered by monkey smells in zoos. I still like monkeys, though.      

Check out Talek’s Facebook page here. 

• Andra from Our World To Wander

The moment you get off the plane in India, you will know you have entered a whole new world. One that will captivate you and will seal some unforgettable experiences. And they will all be forged around a predominant feature – the smell of Indian spices.

I felt my nose stinging even in some parts of the airport. Not being so familiar with spices, I had no idea what was that smell and why was it invading me. But then walking around the city streets and getting lost in the Indian bazaars, solved the puzzle. It was all coming from the spices, the key ingredients used in the Indian cuisine. Their curries not only spoiled my buds, but they also hypnotized me with their intense aromas.

After a couple of months spent in India, I quickly started to recognize the different spices. The sweet flavor of cardamom, the sharp aroma of cloves, the stingy smell of chili, the rich easily recognizable nutmeg and the pepper mixed with onions that would bring me to tears.

The spices of India are just one of the so many things that made me fall in love with India. And now, each time I sense a somewhat spicy aroma, I instantly get vivid memories of this fascinating country running through my mind.

You can also check out Our World to Wander’s Facebook page here.

• Veronika from Travel Geekery

I remember the smell from my childhood. The smelly cheese you’d either love or hate. The tvarůžky, also known as syrečky, is a ripened soft cheese coming from Olomouc, Czech Republic.

The smell is off putting, even for those used to smelly cheeses. But many swear by its taste. It is said that once you overcome the bad smell, the taste is delicious. I’m not a big fan, though. I’ve tried the syrečky when I was little and didn’t fall for it.

Needless to say, Olomouc establishments get quite creative in incorporating the cheese into their meals. It can be added to soups or even into desserts! As a matter of fact, there’s even a tvarůžky confectionery in Olomouc.

The tvarůžky factory is located in a village called Loštice near Olomouc, but it has become what Olomouc is known for, at least among Czechs. Fortunately, Olomouc is not smelly at all and it’s a lovely town to visit!

You can also find more on Travel Geekery on Facebook here.

• Dhara from It’s Not About The Miles

If you visit the Andalusian city of Córdoba in the spring, the sweet scent of citrus blossom will follow you everywhere you go in the historic center. We visited Córdoba in April, and as soon as we got off the train and walked on to the cobblestone roads of the old city, we started sniffing, trying to figure out where the sweet scent assailing our nostrils was coming from. The waxy white blossoms are small, but they emit a really powerful aroma. We realized that the fragrance was wafting down from the blossoms on the trees that lined the streets!

Citrus trees are everywhere in the historic center of Córdoba: on the sides of the streets, in the courtyards and gardens of monuments, in hotel gardens, and in the patios of homes and buildings. So when the trees are in peak bloom in the spring, the city is soaked in the sweet scent. It is an amazing time to visit this beautiful city.

I will always associate the fragrance of citrus blossom with romantic Córdoba!

You can also find Dhara on Instagram here!

Feeling/Touch

• Suzy from Suzy Stories

Many times on my travels I’ve felt the power of the Earth around us, but never quite as much as my first day in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was a calm and quiet summer’s day, when out of nowhere a jolting sensation rumbled through the room. I soon realised I was experiencing my first earthquake!

The feeling of shaking beneath your very feet is disconcerting, both as to its intensity and duration. Inside, the windows rattled and the furniture jumped, it seemed as though I was the only thing staying in one place. Once outside, the aftershocks began making the ground below seem alive as street lamps swayed, and a deep growl reverberated all around.

The time between movements was enough to settle nerves and feel at peace again, however with each new aftershock came more unexpected trembles that moved through the whole body. Over the next few days the quaking began to simmer down, but the occasional judder reminded me that this was a small window into what nature can do, and that we are powerless against the might and unpredictability of Earth.

Find more from Suzy’s Twitter over here!

• Campbell & Alya from Stingy Nomads

Last year during our 2 months road trip through Namibia we went to Sesriem park, the only dune part of the Namib desert that is accessible for tourists. We started very early in order to get to the top of Dune 7 before sunrise. Due to chilly nights in the desert in the morning temperature is still comfortable, it’s nice and cool.

I left our car wearing shorts, T-shirt and flip-flops. After watching sunrise from the dune we went to Sossusvlei, a white salt pan that used to be a lake surrounded by big reddish sand dunes. It was still early when we started walking up the dune, the view over the area was stunning and we decided to continue walking around (on the shadow side of the dune), it took us about 2 hours.

By the time we went down to the pan temperature went up to 40°C and sand became very hot. There was no shadow to hide anymore, walking 2km back to our car in flip-flops was a real torcher for me, I was worried they would melt from being in contact with burning sand. Needless to say my legs and arms were burning as well. It was a good lesson for me never to walk around in the desert in flip-flops and T-shirt. Now every time we are at the beach and sand gets hot I think about that day in the Namib.

• Faye from Travel With Little Ones