The tongue caught me by surprise
The man in the van didn’t seem to like what I was telling him. Then again, I didn’t like having to say it. “Ja, zeker dat ik graag naar de hotel zou gaan,… Continue reading
Category Archive: travel
6 Comments
My myriad mosquital maladies
Malaria is easy. Everybody gets malaria. And zika, that’s assumed now too after all the press coverage. Then if you’ve traveled you’ve heard of dengue, and probably chikungunya too, even if you’re not… Continue reading
Moving into 2018
Yesterday, fifth of the thirteen flights I am or was booked on in these couple weeks, had a three year old named Noah across the aisle. He was wearing a pilot’s hat and… Continue reading
Christmas Eve in Vietnam
The food vendors stood out. But they’re a salient part of Vietnamese streets and downtown districts every other day of the year too. The piles of bright strawberries or tart green mangos, heaps… Continue reading
Working man’s Buddha
The street was the kind of dark you can’t find in America. But this was Ninh Binh, Vietnam, and the only thing to compete with the single tangerine street lamp were the blue… Continue reading
The Grumps don’t win
The Venetians built a church specially-designed for Vivaldi. A pair of 14 year old twins can increase my hope for the future. And the reason cows wear bells is because their horns don’t… Continue reading
I love travel. Right up to the moment I hate it.
The guy behind the counter was smirking. “Why weren’t you here at 7:10?” he asked, taunted, and I wanted to punch right through the glass to smear away that smirk with the smashed… Continue reading
Everybody loves Manali
The voices were unanimous. “Go to Manali!” all said, then half added “And bring us back some hash!” But I was less interested in the sticky brown stuff than I was in the… Continue reading
Everybody hates Shimla
The expats and wealthier Indians I talked to were unanimous. From a bewildered “Shimla? Why are you going there? Just on your way to someplace better, right?” to the more succinct “Shimla sucks”… Continue reading
He didn’t really need to kick that yak in the jaw
I opened my eyes this morning to clouds on the forested slopes of the lower Himalaya across the river valley from my balcony. India has been what they promised, a swirl of mango… Continue reading
