What can be a more enticing invitation to travel than a good place name?
At age 19, an American wanderer in India, I drifted from Rishikesh to Shimla to Dharamsala on the current of fantasy those storied names wove inside me. Often, the reality of ramshackle hotels and tourist trinkets was a letdown. But Shimla! Ah, the beautiful dreams that name stirred up were worth whatever disappointments it later delivered.
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KEYWORDS
Nagano,
Mount Fuji,
cycling,
Benedictine monastery,
Idogiri Jomon site,
mountain biking,
paragliding,
Jomon Period,
fujimi,
Yatsugatake,
japan alps
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