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If Las Vegas dealt in baklavas instead of money, it would look like Jasmatiyah Street in Damascus.

Everything is big and flashy. Nut-filled pastries are stack higher than people. Rolls of pistachios in vermicelli dough thicker than a forearm beckon stares of disbelief.

In one of many shops, bakers in ethnic headdress prepare halawat with ashta cream. A giant LCD screen above him plays a making-of-sweets promotional reel.

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Across the street, another store competes with human numbers. Counters with trays filled with evert kind of dessert spill onto the sidewalk, each manned my large, bearded, jolly men. They each offer passersby a free sample. It’s all delicious.

And in the middle of it all is one shop that stands quietly with the dignity of its name. “That’s Daoud Brothers,” our host told us. “They make the best sweets in Syria.” The interior decor alone should earn it UNESCO World Heritage status.

Dieters and diabetics: you have been warned.

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The inside of Daoud Brothers sweet shop on Jasmatiyah Street.

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In the town of Koh Kong, near the border with Thailand, there’s a Buddhist spiritual retreat with a bizarre collection of sculptures by its riverfront.

In the photos below you’ll see sadistic-looking sculptures killing people with the heads of animals. You’ll see a man being sawed in half while being pecked by a garuda, a bird of Buddhist mythology.

Ask different people about them and you’ll get different answers: it was made by the Khmer Rouge to turn people away from religion. No, it was meant to scare people to tell the truth.

This article says it’s a depiction of Buddhist hell – what happens when people stray from the moral path.

It’s difficult to get a straight answer, since the Khmer Rouge abolished so much knowledge and culture during its four-year reign of terror. So we are left with our imaginations, to which these statues leave plenty of space.

Click thumbnails to see full pictures. Click on arrows below photos to advance.

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Cairns isn’t just for the Great Barrier Reef. Just tow hours north is a rainforest with deadly crocodiles, virginal beaches, refreshing creeks and at least one bat.

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La Candelária

If the cobblestone streets and brightly-colored colonial homes don’t charm you, the ambling artists in this bohemian neighborhood will. Just pop inside any of the tiny art studios along the streets and have a riveting chat with the owner about his style, his influences and his messages.

This is also where you will find the impressive Botero museum housing the the most famous works of Colombia’s best-known lover of the obese. Just next door is a museum devoted to the minting of coins.

A few minutes away is the Gabriel García Márquez cultural centre, a gorgeously built complex devoted to the magic realism master, and where artworks from around the Americas can be found.

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Monserrate

The cable-car doesn’t shy from letting visitors know how high they’re going and how fast they’re getting up there. The buildings and monuments at street level rapidly shrink as you approach the mountaintop chapel with one of the most breathtaking views of a city from above.

Gregorian chants trickle from speakers hidden among beautifully manicured gardens, creating a Catholic Zen oasis. And this is where you see the Colombian zeal for their green areas, as the mountain serves as a partition between chaotic city and pristine protected forests.

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The salt cathedral in Zipaquirá

You learn that salt miners in this suburb of Bogotá demanded a place they could worship during the day. And you learn that the city pulled a miraculous engineering feat building an underground temple made entirely of salt.

The dark forms, lit only by green and blue lights, create an eerie, ethereal, and utterly serene enclosure.

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Zona T

As you move north along the vibrant Carrera 13, you’ll notice your surroundings get a little more posh. Plain coffee stops become cafés. The clothes look more expensive. Then you see a mall with Prada and Zegna stores. That’s when you know you’re approaching the epicenter of Bogotá’s nightlife.

Zona T, at the intersection of Cra 13 and Calle 82, is a pedestrian-only cluster of bars, restaurants and nightclubs where the city’s chic come to play. You’ll find everything here, form salsa clubs to fancy pizzas, even an Irish pub. A mandatory stop for the party-inclined or simply to see how the locals cut loose.

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Museo de Oro

The Spaniards pretty much robbed Colombia of every last pre-Columbian gold they could find. But all the gold they did not find, treasured buried in lost tombs, are housed in this fantastic museum.

Using clever smelting and molding techniques, the primitive peoples of Colombia expressed their mythologies through complex gold ornaments, jewelry and statues. The top floor exhibit was my favorite: an homage to all the people of the Americas and a plea for conservation through videos, dioramas, and ecological exhibits.

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La Macarena

Relax, no one does cheesy synchronized dancing in this pleasant neighborhood full of great restaurants, cafes and bookstores. Originally an enclave for the poor, it has gentrified and become popular among left-leaning intellectuals.

Among the delightfully original restaurants is La Juguetria (see photo), where table are mini carousels and the ceiling is covered in creepily burned dolls.

And nearby is Bogotá’s best-known bullring, where, if you’re lucky (and not morally opposed to it) you can catch a bullfight.