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Cuba Libre
We finally made it to Cuba. We had been wanting to go for a while, ever since I became a Canadian citizen. (It is easier for Americans to go to Cuba than most realize, but not as easy as it is when you can travel with a different passport.) I didn’t really know what to… — read more
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The Meaning of Vietnam
For American males of my generation-a lot of us anyway-when we hear the word “Vietnam” what we think of first is the war that took place in that country, rather than the country itself. The geographical names we learned were those connected with events: the “Gulf of Tonkin incident”, “the mining of Haiphong Harbor”, “the… — read more
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The Trail of Tours
We arrived in Hanoi on New Year’s Eve, the end of January. Alert readers will be asking, “Isn’t that your third New Year’s in the past month?” Why yes, yes it is. The Vietnamese New Year, called Tet, makes all other New Year’s celebrations look like just a lame excuse to get drunk, with a… — read more
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Going with the Flow
For the past 10 days or so we’ve been working our way back towards civilization down the Ou River (Nam Ou), from the quiet and rustic boat landing of Hat Sa to the busy tourist mecca of Luang Prabang. In between we found a spot that was just right– beautiful scenery, good restaurants…and unexploded American… — read more
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A Long and Winding Road
When you get on a bus and see that the only amenity is complementary barf bags, you know you are probably in for an interesting ride, and quite likely an uncomfortable one. It seems like you can’t have the first without at least some of the second. The key is the ratio of interesting to… — read more
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Too Much of a Good Thing
Comfort corrupts the righteous traveler. In measured doses it can be a good thing, but after too much pretty soon it all starts seeming normal. You become accustomed to a new standard, which makes it difficult to return to the kind of travel that takes you interesting places, places where there is the possibility of… — read more
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Some Time in Thailand
When we left home a week ago there was a blanket of snow on the ground, with more snow in the forecast. It was cold and calm. When we landed in Bangkok almost 24 hours later it was quite the opposite–hot and hectic. Within a few minutes I couldn’t even remember what cold felt like.… — read more
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A Useful Expression
There is a curious phrase in Guatemalan Spanish: fíjase que.. (FEE-heh-say kay). A sentence that begins with Fíjase que…never ends well. You know you are about to hear some disappointing news. In the three days it took for our luggage to catch up with us it was a phrase I heard several times. It is… — read more
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Out of India
As I write this we are sitting in the Frankfurt, Germany, airport, the first stop on our way home. Already India is receding in my rear view mirror. Before it gets too distant I wanted to write about some general impressions I had. In preparation for the trip we talked to people who had been… — read more
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A Colorful Finish
We’ve wrapped up our trip with two of India’s most iconic monuments, a festival so colorful and crazy that it is hard to describe, and a goofy ceremony. If there is one place that is identified with India more than any other it is the Taj Mahal, in Agra. It was built by Shah Jahan… — read more