Tokushima is the capital of Tokushima Prefecture on the eastern side of Shikoku, where several rivers meet the sea and mountains rise beyond the urban area. The city is closely identified with Awa Odori, a traditional dance that fills streets with performers and musicians during its annual festival. Tokushima also serves as a useful base for exploring the wider prefecture, including the Naruto Strait, the Iya Valley, and sections of the Shikoku pilgrimage.

Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, sits at the foot of the Ala-Too Mountains and serves as the country’s political, cultural, and economic center. The city is known for its wide tree-lined streets, Soviet-era architecture, and public squares.

Kansas City is a major city in western Missouri, located where the Missouri and Kansas rivers meet near the Kansas state line. Its landscape includes rolling hills, broad river valleys, wooded parks, and a network of distinctive neighborhoods. The city developed as a transportation and commercial center, with railroads, livestock markets, manufacturing, and river trade shaping its growth.

Mount Hood National Forest covers a large area of the Cascade Range east of Portland, centered on Mount Hood, Oregon’s highest peak. The forest contains volcanic mountains, deep river valleys, alpine meadows, dense conifer forests, and numerous lakes and streams. Mount Hood itself dominates the landscape, rising above surrounding foothills and visible from many parts of the region.

The Coromandel Peninsula on New Zealand’s North Island is a place where coastline and culture come alive in ways that stay with visitors long after they’ve left. Stretching for about 110 kilometers between the Hauraki Gulf and the Bay of Plenty, this region has deep roots that go back to the arrival of Māori long before Europeans stepped ashore.