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Religious retreats: Head to the Catskills (AP)

Hojin Kimmel is seen during breakfast at Zen Mountain Monastery in Mt. Tremper, N.Y., Thursday, March 20, 2008. Dozens of religious retreats are nestled in the Catskill Mountains and Hudson Valley of upstate New York, many open to visitors seeking quiet getaways and personal enlightenment. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)AP - At the former Shaker village, where the Taconic Mountains roll into the Berkshires and New York touches Massachusetts, Yaqin Aubert read aloud Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Zoroastrian, Judaic, Christian and Islamic texts during the Sunday service at the Sufi religious retreat.

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Campground restrooms becoming ecologically correct (AP)

AP - When nature calls, campers at Michigan’s Grand Haven State Park can now go “green” at a new, environmentally friendly toilet-shower building that is the first of its kind in the state park system.

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Buddhist festival: Sri Lankan answer to Mardi Gras (AP)

Traditional drummers and dancers perform during the annual Kandy festival in Kandy, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2007. A centuries-old celebration of Sri Lankan Buddhism, the annual festival is a parade of whirling dancers, elaborately costumed elephants, stilt walkers and fire throwers. (AP Photo/Chamila Karunaratna)AP - A cannon booms and the crack of a dozen whips pierce the warm night. The colorful, pulsating Esala Perahera procession has begun.

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Budget Bangkok: 15-cent trains, $1 meals (AP)

In this  March 8, 2006 file photo, a food vendor moves through heavy tourist traffic on Khao San Road in Bangkok, Thailand. (AP Photo/David Longstreath, File)AP - From 15-cent train rides to excellent, one-dollar meals, Thailand’s tropical capital is teeming with budget options for the penny-pinching traveler. Where else in the world can you get a free vasectomy?

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Campground restrooms becoming ecologically correct (AP)

Designers Ryan Brouwer and Randy Pease pose in front of the building they designed for Integrated Architecture in Michigan at Grand Haven State Park on Monday, June 23, 2008. The new 'green' environmentally friendly toilet-shower building  is the first of its kind in the state park system. (AP Photo/Adam Bird)AP - When nature calls, campers at Michigan’s Grand Haven State Park can now go “green” at a new, environmentally friendly toilet-shower building that is the first of its kind in the state park system.

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Public tours resume at Arkansas hydro-electric plant (AP)

This photo released by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers shows visitors view Bull Shoals Dam in Bull Shoals, Ark. on April 12, 2008. (AP Photo/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)AP - Public tours at one of the largest dams in the southeastern United States have resumed ? but on a limited basis because of continuing security concerns after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

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Many upstate NY religious retreats open to guests (AP)

Hojin Kimmel is seen during breakfast at Zen Mountain Monastery in Mt. Tremper, N.Y., Thursday, March 20, 2008. Dozens of religious retreats are nestled in the Catskill Mountains and Hudson Valley of upstate New York, many open to visitors seeking quiet getaways and personal enlightenment. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)AP - At the former Shaker village, where the Taconic Mountains roll into the Berkshires and New York touches Massachusetts, Yaqin Aubert read aloud Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Zoroastrian, Judaic, Christian and Islamic texts during the Sunday service at the Sufi religious retreat.

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Buddhist festival parades are Sri Lanka's answer to Mardi Gras (AP)

Elephants participate in the annual Kandy festival in Kandy, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2007. A centuries-old celebration of Sri Lankan Buddhism, the annual festival is a parade of whirling dancers, elaborately costumed elephants, stilt walkers and fire throwers. (AP Photo/Chamila Karunaratna)AP - A cannon booms and the crack of a dozen whips pierce the warm night. The colorful, pulsating Esala Perahera procession has begun.

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Canyon de Chelly, Ariz.: Sandstone and stories (AP)

Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Arizona is shown on March 14, 2008. The majestic canyon, replete with thousands of ruins, carvings and paintings on stone, is revered by the Navajo people, who consider it sacred and it is classified as a living monument by the National Parks Service. (AP Photo/Paul Foy)AP - This majestic canyon is lined with towering red sandstones. But the physical landscape is only part of the draw.

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Problems at Robben Island, Mandela jail site (AP)

Tourist listen to a tour guide, right, as he talks about Nelson Mandela's time in Robben Island, South Africa, Tuesday, July 1, 2008. The former prison on Robben Island where Nelson Mandela spent 18 years is an international tourist icon. But the site is plagued by a host of troubles, including alleged mismanagement, a budget crisis, and storms that sometimes keeps ferries and thousands of would-be visitors away. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)AP - The former prison on Robben Island where Nelson Mandela spent 18 years is an international tourist icon. But the site is plagued by a host of troubles, including alleged mismanagement, a budget crisis, and stormy weather that sometimes keeps ferries and thousands of would-be visitors away.