Kyoto's 1,600 Buddhist temples and 400 Shinto shrines are not solely responsible for the city’s year-round allure.  Kyoto tours will have you learning about Zen Buddhism while sipping matcha during a chanoyu (tea ceremony) and browsing the mile-long Nishiki food market for ingredients to cook in the kitchen of a traditional machiya (wooden town house).  You can try sake tasting, calligraphy, martial arts, or roketsu (wax-resist) dyeing, and each season offers a unique bouquet of matsuri (local festivals) to top it all off.

The only place on Earth inhabited by highly endangered mountain gorillas is the Albertine Rift Montane Forest of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.  The densely forested slopes are home to the planet's 786 rarest primates, who cannot survive in captivity.   The mountain gorillas' long, dark hair reflects the chilly high-altitude habitat that distinguishes them from their lowland cousins.

All-inclusive Morocco tours are an excellent way to achieve a comprehensive encounter with the multifaceted country in a timely fashion. However, curiosity and time to spare make it well worth the effort to seek out certain less-toured novelties that reign extraordinary even in a country where idiosyncrasy is the norm.  Whether you've already been on a highlights tour of Morocco or you’re just eager to take the bull by the horns from the get-go, you can easily book a day tour to make the most out of these five expectedly unexpected experiences.

The ancient Nubian language continues to thrive in Egypt's Upper Nile Valley, and Egyptians who inhabit the coast of the Red Sea still speak in their native tongue, Beja. Furthermore, Indo-Aryan Domari can be heard daily on the streets of Luxor and in parts of Cairo. In light of such a densely convoluted history, it is no surprise that these three languages exemplify only a small portion of the many that are spoken across the distinct territories and diverse cultures united by Egypt's borders.

Chances are that if you're reading this, you're up for an adventure. You already know that Brazil is nearly the size of the contiguous United States with vast expanses of wilderness in the absence of first-
world infrastructure. It follows that you've given up hope on one-click purchasing a "Brazil in 14 Days"
tour package because, let's face it, Brazil will never be an all-inclusive destination. Brazil embodies
neither cohesion nor interconnectedness; instead, its beauty lies in the contrast of distinct cultures,
histories, climates and geographies. And, as any well-traveled soul can attest, an authentic encounter
with such complexity is well worth the extra research and time required to tap it.