From time to time, our Instagram gets taken over by photos from our good friend Richard. Many of you may have worked with Richard at some point during his time at Global Basecamps. When he recently decided to take time off to experience his own round-the-world adventure, we were torn between missing him greatly, and looking forward to all his great pictures and stories! He's been bouncing around from Thailand, to Vietnam, to Cambodia... and he recently arrived in Myanmar.

Global Basecamps plans a ton of African safari tours. So every time a traveler tells us they have two weeks to see four different countries on the continent, we know we have some explaining to do. Regardless of travel experience, we find that even veteran travelers have a difficult time grasping exactly how big the continent of Africa actually is. There seems to be an assumption that Africa is roughly the size of the United States and Canada… This might be thanks to this:

Everyone likes seeing a friendly face while traveling. Our Instagram followers definitely understand that. This week, this beautiful picture from Cambodia was your favorite of the bunch. The Bayon Temples are the marquee attraction of this region once populated by the Khmer people. Built during the 12th and 13th century by King Jayavaram VII, this temple served as the center of Angkor Thom, the capital city of Khmer. Built nearly 100 years after Angkor Wat, it shows a century's worth of evolution in artistic styles within the Buddhist faith. While Buddhism was the main motivator for construction of the temple, a variety of local deities can be found evidenced in the temples carvings and bas reliefs.

For many of our travelers, Southeast Asia is synonymous with tropical beaches. Our custom Vietnam tours often include a few days on a beach. But which beach is the best for you?

Our Instagram fans were dreaming about an afternoon ride through colorful Marrakesh this week. The Old Quarter of this Moroccan city is a maze of alleyways and narrow streets, populated entirely with vendors, small restaurants, and street performers. The cardinal directions lose all authority here, and travelers often get gleefully lost. This is a good thing.