The first-person account: I was traveling with my son, daughter-in-law, grandson (10 years old), and granddaughter (8). We flew into Kathmandu, where my passport was stamped. We spent several days touring sights in Kathmandu, including the Monkey Temple, the pilgrimage site Pashupatinath, a Bakhtapur, and Patan. We then drove overland to the Chitwan Jungle, where we went on safari on elephant back and saw rhinos that looked like they were armor plated. The highlight of the trip was riding the elephants bareback into the river and bathing them. We also got a bath, as they continually used their trunks to spray us. The kids still talk about it!

The stamp: Brazil

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE We asked readers of Budget Travel.com to show off a little and send us photos of their exotic passport stamps. Here's a slide show of our favorites, plus the stories behind them. (Note: Photos have been edited to black out some information, such as visa numbers and names.) • Launch the slide show

The backstory: Chelsea Wald of Silver Spring, Md., visited Brazil when she was a Fulbright Fellow in Chile in 2001.

The first-person account: The Brazil Fulbright Commission decided to invite all the South American Fulbrighters to Brazil for a conference in the spring of 2001. But they didn't seem to realize what a hassle (not to mention expense) it would be for us to get visas! In the end, I went to the Brazilian consulate in Chile to apply for the visa, and I was granted one.

The Fulbright conference was in Brasília, the capital city. From what I understand, it's a planned city that was basically hacked out of the jungle in order not to favor any of Brazil's other cities with the seat of government. The architecture there is phenomenal--everything is larger-than-life and utterly symbolic. But my biggest impression of the place was that it was empty. No one was walking down the streets (in fact, the sidewalks were falling into disrepair), the restaurants were lonely, and, in some cases, those monumental buildings were kept company only by our small group.

The stamp: Bangladesh

The backstory: Chelsea Wald was invited along with her husband, to join their close Bangladeshi friends from Baltimore as they visited their families in Dhaka in the fall of 2006.

The first-person account: It was a once-in-a-lifetime invitation, so we dropped everything and went. But the logistics of the trip weren't easy. Besides getting many vaccinations (ouch!), we had to apply (and pay handsomely) for tourist visas. It still boggles my mind that a country that desperately wants tourists would want to put up such a barrier to tourism, but I suppose it's only fair, since we require Bangladeshis to jump through hoops to visit our country. But everything went smoothly, perhaps in part because the official at the embassy had grown up in the same middle-class neighborhood as our friend, and he could hardly believe that it was our destination.

Highlights of the trip? There were so many! The greatest privilege was getting to stay in the home of our friend's family. We became close with the four children of the house and their cousins and friends, playing the Bangladeshi version of Sorry for many hours and waging dozens of thumb wars (a game we taught them, to their delight).

We also visited the beach resort of Cox's Bazar, staying in the finest hotel there for the price of a Motel 6 and eating frequently in what's possibly our favorite restaurant in the world--the Angel Drop, which stands bravely but precariously on stilts over the surf and provides diners with both total privacy and an expansive view of the Bay of Bengal.

Our other favorite destination was Srimangal, in the region of Sylhet, which is the heart of tea country. Tea is one of Bangladesh's largest exports, and the landscape where it's grown is magical. The tea plants are chest high and lush, and they're interspersed with shade trees that extend their branches to offer just the right amount of shade to the tea plants. Not so great are the conditions under which many of the tea pickers work--it's a hard job, and I understand that the pay is abysmal. For an outsider, however, the region looks simply idyllic. What's more, there are no tourists as far as the eye can see.

The stamp: Suriname

The backstory: Richard J. Pazara of Arlington, Tex., visited Suriname in 2004.

The first-person account: Since it is the only country in South America to require an advance visa for Americans, Suriname is not highly visited. So it's very laid-back, and because of its history, it is a mix of cultures. I really got a sense of getting along and tolerance there. For example, the mosque and the synagogue are right next door in Paramaribo, and they don't even have a fence between them. I really enjoyed my time there.

The stamp: Mozambique

The backstory: Richard J. Pazara visited Mozambique in 2004.

The first-person account: I flew into Maputo, spent two nights, then took an eight-hour bus ride to Pretoria, South Africa, where I rented a car to see a Durban, Swaziland, Lesotho, and Johannesburg before flying to see Victoria Falls. A visa was required, and I obtained it at the airport on arrival.

Maputo is a normal developing city with a few nice hotels and lots of grungy seen-better-days areas. I spent the second day flying to Inhaca Island and back. Since I had no bags, I took the local jitney, which stops a block from the airport--you know the deal Taxis from the big hotel costs US $20 and the local transportation costs 20¢.

On the return jitney ride, I jumped out 10 or so blocks from my hotel to do a little walking and happened upon a beautiful new building, which really stood out from the surrounding seediness. I quickly saw that it was a mosque, and knowing that non-Muslims are not allowed in some parts of the world, I just peered thru the fence. It was Friday and about time for the main prayer service, so mosque atendees filed past. One greeted me (in English) and invited me in, where he presented me to the imam. The imam was dour and certainly looked the part with his robes and beard.

He asked me what I wanted and I thought What have I gotten into? I told him the building was quite impressive, so he asked if I wanted a tour and assigned his son, who was about 20, to show me around. The son spoke very good English and spent 15 minutes explaining the mosque's history and the recent building program, funded mainly by the Muslim community in South Africa. He asked about me and had no reaction to my being from Texas. He spent another 15 minutes showing me the school and then begged off since the prayer service was about to start. I left totally impressed and uplifted at the hospitality and lack of hostility.

The stamp: Port Lockroy, British Antarctic Territory

The backstory: Billy Hancock of St. Petersburg, Fla., visited Antarctica with his wife in January and February of 2005 as part of a Grand Circle Travel group.

The first-person account: Getting to Antarctica is difficult, so we traveled in stages--first to Buenos Aires by plane, then flew to Ushuaia, Argentina, then across the Drake Passage by ship to the Antarctic Peninsula (600 miles from Cape Horn). We spent a week in Antarctic waters and made a total of 11 landings by boat. One of places we landed was Port Lockroy, a British research station that mainly monitors penguin colonies. The station, as a courtesy to visitors, will stamp their passports. There are no towns or commercial airports in Antarctica.

Antarctica in different from any other place on the planet because of its remoteness and isolation. We enjoyed the spectacular ice formations, the wonderful wildlife--penguins, seals, and whales--and the temporary isolation from civilization.