June 26, 2006
One Oaxacan Migrant Family
Yesterday I went to Tule...a small town of about 15,000 near Oaxaca City. What a charming place. Most of the men are gone up north, my driver said (as a...Read this update
June 11, 2006
Mexican Salsa Dancing
I had forgotten how much fun it is to dance to Mexican music! I think I am a Mexican trapped in a gringo body! Last Friday, Gerardo and his mom,...Read this update
April 15, 2006
Emails From Leila
WOW what a city. BANGKOK is alive. It is New year for them amd they celebrate with water. The streets are alive with people walking arround with water pistols and...Read this update
Sangkren Water Festival
Day before yesterday was New Years in Lao. Yesterday was New Years in Thailand, although the celebration continues for several days in these countries. We get it again! Leila took...Read this update
April 13, 2006
Sabaidee Pi Mai Lao!
Lao New Year is a time to encourage young people to absorb the spirit of cleaning their temples, houses, stupas of their ancestors and apparently the bodies of anyone, especially...Read this update
March 29, 2006
Tha Ton
Supuat drove me to Tha Tan...right on the Thai-Burma border directly north of Chiang Mai to see several minority groups, Lisu, Lahu, Akha and Longnecks, that live there. Last...Read this update
March 10, 2006
Reverent Inquiry
In spite of my petty but honest day-to-day frustration with bureaucratic silliness while traveling in most developing countries, I treasure the lives of the people who ironically seem to have...Read this update
March 04, 2006
The World A Playground?
A friend recently emailed me asking what it is like to have all the world as my "playground." This was my very brief answer: Well, the best thing about traveling...Read this update
February 25, 2006
International Night
We're back on Samui and I have rented a brand new furnished one bedroom house for $12.00 a night at "Solitude Resort" on a mountainside about a mile from Doug...Read this update
February 03, 2006
Eurotrash
I have learned a new ethnic slur..."eurotrash"...which apparently refers to the white Europeans who come to third world countries claiming to be somebody big back home but selfishly feeding off...Read this update
January 31, 2006
Riaproy
Some friends that spent a year in Thailand with the Peace Corps have said there is an additional Thai value that is called "riaproy." "It means polite and well-mannered; neat....Read this update
January 19, 2006
Teach The Children What?
On National Children's Day in Thailand, it is a tradition for the Prime Minister to deliver a positive "motto." This year the wealthy PM Thaksin who owns Thai Air and...Read this update
December 05, 2005
Babies Take Manhattan
Nanny's pushing babies in strollers are everywhere in Brooklyn, we noticed soon after arriving here, so it was no surprise when the New York Times ran a story December 1...Read this update
November 01, 2005
Odetta
We had been years since we saw Odetta so when Bob read that she would be performing in a Village club we jumped at the chance to get tickets. She...Read this update
October 24, 2005
New York Style
Most everyone in New York is interested in looking stylish. The definition is different, however depending on the neighborhood you are in...whether on the affluent Upper West Side or on...Read this update
Strangers in the "hood"
I've never been in a city that has such diverse but tight little neighborhoods. The first question asked by anyone you meet, after what do you do, is where do...Read this update
October 23, 2005
The New York Attitude
The New York attitude is a lot more complicated than simple rudeness. According to a local, it's a mixture of being tough, brave, on your toes, jaded, overworked and intensely...Read this update
October 17, 2005
Third Culture Kids
Third Culture Kids are children of expatriate families who live for a significant proportion of their lives in a culture other than their own, where they travel to many countries...Read this update
July 17, 2005
Thainess And The West
The July 2005 edition of the slick upscale magazine for English-speaking foreigners called The Big Chilli ran an article with interviews of prominent Bangkok residents to get their views of...Read this update
June 18, 2005
A Harley in Viet Nam
June 10, 2004 While I was in Bangkok Bob flew to Vietnam. He wrote to say he had difficulties accessing the web today and spent most of the day...Read this update
April 28, 2005
Inconsistent Values
After nearly a dozen visits and about six months time in the city, over the last several years, we have gotten to know Bangkok a little. In this city with...Read this update
April 02, 2005
Trekking Northern Thailand
As soon as we returned to Bangkok from Bali Bob took a train to Chiang Mai for a trek in northern Thailand near Mae Son Hong. I stayed in...Read this update
March 31, 2005
Sights And Ceremonies
The Balinese are Hindu...but a Hinduism that is overlaid by ancient animist beliefs...a world away from the Hinduism as practised in India. To the Balinese, spirits are everywhere and offerings...Read this update
December 08, 2004
Miao Village In Guizhou
In Shanghai, exploring the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree web site, I noticed a query from a young woman from Kaili in Guizhou Province who was offering to arrange a...Read this update
December 06, 2004
Yangshau
Currently in a delightful city (Yangshau) that is on the Yangtze River about 100 miles north of Shanghai. China's autumn has been fantastic, the people interesting (and challanging) and...Read this update
November 14, 2004
Tai Shan Sacred Mountain
Located midway between Beijing and Shanghai, "Tai Shan" is probably the most famous of the five sacred mountains of China. According to legend Tai Shan represents the head of...Read this update
October 31, 2004
Lao Shan Mountain Climb
Spent 3 days in Quin Dao...one in new part of town, one in old town and one on a mountain north of town called Lao Shan--subsequently took train to...Read this update
October 30, 2004
Kindred Spirits
Walking by the Foreign Language Bookstore in Quindao, just up the street from my comfy clean hotel room that a tout from the railroad station led me to...80 yuan...Read this update
October 24, 2004
Overnight Train to Xuindao
Xuindao is also spelled Quindao From Beijing, I take an overnight train alone to Xuindap. Quindao is a weekend getaway for well-to-do Communist party cadres and the train is...Read this update
October 23, 2004
Coffee Taxis & New Friends
I take a taxi to the upscale Lufthansa shopping centerin Beijing to see if a bookstore had the Lonely Planet "Shanghai." They didn't of course...there were a few Lonely...Read this update
October 14, 2004
Last Leg Through Mongolia
Out of the train window, just before departure from Ulaan Bataar to Beijing on the last leg of our trans-siberian train trip, we watch about 30 Mongolians...brothers, sisters, aunts,...Read this update
October 09, 2004
Message from Ulaan Bataar
Greetings- Have been in Mongolia for the past week--initial few days in a ger bordering on a national park--lazy, relaxing days with hiking and Mongolian pony riding (when on...Read this update
October 02, 2004
Lingering Images of Russia
Siberian countryside with endless kilometers of grassland and golden pine and white birch trees... small wooden, weathered, unpainted, picturesque, single story bungalows throughout Sibera with blue painted shutters-the banya...Read this update
September 29, 2004
Queuing In Russia
Back in Irkutsk we watch women walking swiftly always carrying a plastic shopping sack or two (ovoiska from the Russian 'ovois' meaning 'just in case') of varying brands that...Read this update
September 26, 2004
Hanging Out Feels Great
After hanging out a couple days...glad to be off the train...Gregory, a former University teacher of German, drove Bob and I, three Germans and a Pole on a half-day...Read this update
September 24, 2004
Irkutsk..."Paris of the East"
Off the train again, we dump our luggage at Nadia's, our homestay and look for a cafe where there just might be an English menu. We find one...not too...Read this update
September 18, 2004
To Siberia & Lake Baikal
We boarded our a Moscow train at midnight. We are headed across Russia on the trans-siberian train system. However we will be breaking up the trip by getting off...Read this update
September 05, 2004
Traki, Karaites & Kibini Pastry
Trakai, on the outskirts of Vilnius, Lithuania, is a small settlement placed in the middle of five large lakes that is home to about 350 members of the Keraites, a...Read this update
Life Becomes More of Adventure
Old Town Vilnius is now on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sights. Some graffiti seems significant in this country where a staggering 91% of the 64% of the population...Read this update
September 01, 2004
Bob & The Europeans
There is something in the European demeaner/attitude that brings out my anti-establishment posturing. On the flight from the U.S. to Frankfurt (Lufthansa Air) my seat was broken. "No problem," said...Read this update
August 24, 2004
Krakow
We are out of the unusually hot and humid Czech Republic. After an all night train we are in cool Krakow Poland. We accept an offer by a young...Read this update
August 06, 2004
Former East Berlin
When I was in Berlin in 1965 it had been 18 years since the end of WWII and Europe was still digging itself out of the ashes. Nearly 40 later, Europe is transformed and on it's way, through the European Union, to providing a balance of power to the United States.Read this update
January 05, 2003
Email From Paul
Before we left Chongquing Jana and I got an email from Paul, one of the Ruili kids. Jana and I were both very touched that these kids considered spending...Read this update
December 31, 2002
Perspective On China
China is big. The population is staggering with a billion and a half people. It's a matter of getting perspective. Our home state of Oregon only has about 1.5 million...Read this update
December 28, 2002
Bob's Thai Village Visit
While Jana and I were playing with Chinese teenagers in Ruili in the south of Yunnan, Bob spent some time in an ethnic village in the mountains in Issan Province...Read this update
December 16, 2002
Chinese Mysteries
The Chinese have incredible confidence in themselves...and consider themselves unquestionably the most superior people in the world...mostly due to their long history. We Westerners are the barbarians. (So we don't...Read this update
December 14, 2002
Conversations In The Gorge
Wednesday Dec 11 In Old Town Lijiang, Bob joined us for breakfast at our hotel at 9am; met Li at her hotel at 10:30 for minibus trip up the...Read this update
December 10, 2002
Echo & Li...Competitors
Monday Dec 9 2002 In Old Town Lijiang, we are woken up by a knock at the hotel door at 8am. Two couples from Taiwan were on their way...Read this update
December 09, 2002
Naxi Old Town-Lijiang
Lijiang has been designated a World Cultural Heritage Site by the United Nations. There are two kinds of Naxi dwellings built with wood, clay tiles, earth bricks and hard...Read this update
December 08, 2002
The Wonderful Naxi People
Once in Lijiang, we dumped our luggage at the Shangira Hotel (Y80 or about $10 for a double) that was recommended by Echo. I suspect she was getting a...Read this update
December 06, 2002
Zhondian to Baishuitai
Friday Dec 6 2002 There were no street lights so we walked the equivalent of several blocks to the Zhongdian bus station in the dark to catch the 7:50am...Read this update
November 23, 2002
Adoptions
In Guangshou we moved to Shamian Dao Island and stayed in the Shamian Hotel...right across the street from the White Swan Hotel where Communist dignitaries used to stay. Of...Read this update
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November 21, 2002
Westerners Go In The Back
Thursday November 21 2002 Reading “The Coming Collapse of China,” a book written by a Chinese American economist...a dissenting opinion...he gives China five years to get their banking system...Read this update
August 28, 2002
Repression & The People
Next door to the restaurant in Taunggyi I struck up a conversation with a young university student who was tending a a small bookstore. “Can everyone speak (out) in...Read this update
July 31, 2002
Rickshaw Driving Lesson
After dinner, Bob entertains the nearby date sellers by dickering aggressively with another rickshaw driver who makes the mistake of saying to Bob “You are rich man-why can’t you give...Read this update
July 30, 2002
Surface Culture
India’s spirituality is strong and is seemingly integrated with it’s culture. So this is the first country we have been in that has resisted becoming westernized...at least on the surface...no...Read this update
July 22, 2002
Jaipur
July 22-26 The next day we discover we are the only guests in the Hotel Meghniwas and we have breakfast in the quiet restaurant downstairs. The night before Bob had...Read this update
July 18, 2002
Migrants & Beggars
Continuing our taxi tour with Asane, he takes us to a part of Mumbai where we will see many migrants and beggars...and the red light district. As is happening all...Read this update
Asane's Taxi Tour
In Mumbai, we took a three-hour government sponsored tour in an Indian-made Ambassador car with “Indian A/C” which is a fan that sits on the dashboard. While we were waiting...Read this update
June 27, 2002
Hout Bay Township Tour
Just outside Cape Town we visited a squatter’s camp where poor people including immigrants from Zimbabwe and Algeria, who were not allowed to live in Cape Town prior to apartheid,...Read this update
June 08, 2002
Swakopmund
June 6-8, 2002 How are you today mommi? George and James do a pretty good job looking after me-making sure I’m happy so I don’t unglue on this trip...Read this update
May 31, 2002
Diamonds And Plastic
On the way back to Maun Botswana in the Safari truck, Rod explains that the area around Maun is in the fastest growing area in the southern hemisphere because...Read this update
May 29, 2002
AIDS & The Ocavango Delta
Wed May 29-30 , 2002 Can’t stop in Maun to check email because nothing opens until 10am. Gary takes us into the Delta on his Safari wagon with two...Read this update
May 28, 2002
Maun & Sitatunga Camp
Tues May 28,2002 To Sitatunga Camp near Maun Botswana Up at 5:30 again. Had wieners, eggy bread (French Bread) with honey and canned spaghetti for breakfast. James is doing...Read this update
May 20, 2002
Yellow Chicken Camp
May 20, 2002 Then to Yellow Chicken Campsite and dinner in the dark. The charming camp, in the middle of a huge 40 year-old German farm, is run by...Read this update
On The Road To Zambia
May 20, 2002 Up 5 am and out 6:30. Most of the day is spent traveling to Zambia. A bridge is out on the road south so we have...Read this update
May 19, 2002
Time, Walking, Women
Time, Walking, Women, Waiting, Matatus and Plastic In Africa these things work together in a synchronous whole. Rattle-trap matatus-minibuses that serve as public transportation-all seats and the space in between...Read this update
Malawi Village Walk
Sun May 19th 2002 Village Walk Africa does not really exist. Africa is a geographical name for a continent. Africa is made up of countries but people, especially in...Read this update
May 17, 2002
Muzungu At The Malawi Border
We stop at a small town for supplies and “toilet stop” near the Malawi border and to spend the rest of our Tanzania shillings...scores of young boys in dirty...Read this update
May 15, 2002
Zanzibari Feasting
Zanzibar's native cuisine brazenly drenches seafood in local aromatic spices. At night, locals gather at Forodhani Gardens, a strip of park on the waterfront right outside the House of...Read this update
Poli Poli In Tanzania
Tanzania Walking around Poli Poli means “slowly, slowly” in Swahili. That is how we are learning to do everything like the others here in this hot humid equatorial country....Read this update
Beach Boys In Zanzibar
Beach Boy Answer to Poverty Beach Boys are a pain in the arse. They don’t want to work because they can get more money wearing flip-flops. smoking hash and...Read this update
May 14, 2002
Overland To Dar es Salaam
Virtually no cars on the road; only trucks and buses and a few vans. The people seem like they don't see many overlanders; some-mostly women and little children wave-sometimes...Read this update
May 08, 2002
Maasai Warrior Tribe
Beautiful tall Masaii men and women still maintain their tribal lifestyle and religion-wearing red to keep the lions away from their cows. They live in southern Kenya and northern...Read this update
May 07, 2002
To the Sarangeti
A week before picking Bob and me and another 3 people up in Nairobi, the WorldWide Adventure Company had taken about 15 others across the Masi Mara into Rwanda...Read this update
May 06, 2002
Arusha
In Arusha the truck parked for an hour outside an internet cafe so we all climbed down the five-step vertical ladder to a hundred outstretched hands. Saw a westerner (Brit)...Read this update
April 30, 2002
Search For Truth In Egypt
Cafes and Food You can have what Bob calls "mystery meat," which in Egypt is called kebab-lamb or chicken sliced from a vertical spit-very good in pita bread. Kofta is...Read this update
A Felluca Ride Up The Nile
In Aswan, a felluca, an ancient sailboat of the Nile, is a common means of transport up and down the Nile River. It has a broad canvas sail and...Read this update
April 28, 2002
Driving & Cueing in Egypt
Drivers have immense patience with each other-each car gives way to the others like a million fish in a school swimming this way and that...narrowly missing one another but gracefully...Read this update
Diplomacy Egyptian Style
As westerners we are not used to the constant demands for "baksheesh" (tipping) that make you want to blow your stack...and then they want you to be happy about it!...Read this update
April 12, 2002
Santorini & Sifnos
As the ferry approached the island through the caldera you see a red-brown black and pumice grey terraced cliff face that looms hundreds of feet above the water with...Read this update
March 28, 2002
Avignon France
Took the train from Barcelona to Avignon in the Provence area in the south of France. Stayed at Hotel Mignon on rue Joseph-Vernet. Cute little French hotel room but...Read this update
March 23, 2002
The New Young Brits
In the train, before crawling into my compartment, I stood out in the hall and had a great conversation with a bright energetic young Brit (Richard) attending Cambridge. He had...Read this update
9/11 & Two Muslims
The next day, we spent the day in Marrakech waiting for our favorite night train back to Tangiers. I spent all afternoon at the Ali Hotel Internet Cafe while Bob...Read this update
March 09, 2002
European Popular Culture
Most days in Europe you would see at least once a wonderful display of affection between two young people-playful and sensuous-mostly kissing-but never offensive. And then they walk on as...Read this update
Lisbon
Roosters are symbols of Portuguese culture so we felt that it was appropriate that after staying one night in a boring part of Lisbon, Portugal in a hotel room...Read this update
March 08, 2002
Spanish Trains
Spanish trains have compartments with room for six people. Luckily ours had two young Swiss girls that we recruited, a young guy from Japan that was studying Spanish in Salamanca...Read this update
March 02, 2002
Through Others' Eyes
In the hotel in Paris at breakfast one morning. I struck up a conversation with a woman that wasn´t speaking French to the waiter and she had avoided talking to...Read this update