Indian Step Wells (August, 2000)

While You Are There: Bring a book and hang out for a few hours in the cool escape from a hot day. Play with the local children. Imagine the women in their brightly colored saris lounging and chatting. Soak up the history.

Why It’s On My List: I had never read about or heard of such a thing until I saw my first step well in Ahmedabad. The university I attended was in Gujarat, where there is a large concentration of these wells, or vav as they are know. Some of them are fantastically intricate and beautiful. They are all mysterious to me.

For this year’s A-Z Blog Challenge, I’ve decided to showcase 26 of my favorite places in the world. I’ve only been to 22 of the 196 countries, so I’ve got some more travelling to do, but these places are well worth a visit.