How on earth do you cover one billion people and more than five thousand years of history in one short article? I am afraid I won't be able to answer that question in regard to writing something about India. I can do no more than give you my week's worth of roaming about in northern India, a country which I found as diverse as it is huge and old. Just to get primed for the speed at which life proceeds in much of this country, our train to … [Read more...]
Morocco: Where is my crown of olives?
There is far more to Morocco, Al Maghreb, as it is known among its citizens, than I can describe in just a short little blurb. Other than the intrusions of various cultures into this part of the african continent, the geography plays a large role in shaping Morocco as well. First and foremost, the High Atlas mountain range dominates the heart of the land. Eclipsed only by Kenya's volcanic Mt. Kilimanjaro, the High Atlas rise to a maximum … [Read more...]
Bicycling Baja California
La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico January 06, 2003 Baja 1000 and more Finally!! The Tropic of Cancer (23.5 degrees north latitude, the start of the tropics) is almost upon us after a twelve hundred mile chase down the spine of Baja California, Mexico. From Orange County, California I joined my German pal Bernhard Koch, whom I had met while cycling in Alaska in 2001, to ride our bicycles down the 'Carreterra Transpeninsular', the Mexican … [Read more...]
Alaska & Canada Bicycle Trip Part III
Alaska and Canada Bicycle Trip First Leg -- Anchorage, Alaska July 3, 2001 I finally found a computer that I can use to send an update from Alaska. We just arrived in Anchorage after riding a four hundred mile loop through Alaska's Kenai Peninsula. So far, the riding has been absolutely epic with vast expanses of spruce and hemlock forest, fast flowing rivers, snowcapped mountains, hug ice fields, and glaciers. Surprisingly, the weather has … [Read more...]
Alaska & Canada Bicycle Trip Part II
Portland, Oregon - September 02, 2001 Victoria and the lower Forty Eight The planned few days off in Victoria turned into two weeks, thanks to the relentless hospitality of my friends Gil and Lynne Blair, both of whom I met on a cycling trip two years ago in Washington State. I am greatly indebted to them for providing me with thousands of calories, electric light, this thing that spews hot water (they call it a 'shower'), and teaching me … [Read more...]
Fjord Water isn’t Salty….Impressions of Scandanavia
I hadn't been in Sweden for one hour and I found myself sitting in the back of a police van, bicycle and all. Now, I am normally not that much of an outlaw but this time I had decided to buck all Swedish rules against riding on the freeway, when I got picked up by one of the cops. It turned out that Stockholm's international airport was a good forty five kilometers from the city itself, a perfect distance to put my airplane cramped legs to good … [Read more...]
Smoke the Revolution
Havana, Cuba March 25, 2003 Dear Friends, Greetings from Cuba!! Just a couple of weeks before my departure to Havana, I could not have imagined soaking up the warm and humid trade winds here on this beautiful Caribbean Island. Instead I was entertaining thoughts of attending a Spanish course in Guatemala, when my old pal Jimmy Bentley called out of the blue to tell me he was looking for a nutcase to join him in defying the US embargo of … [Read more...]
Finland has no Fjords
October 17, 2002 The advantage of freezing weather is that foods like milk, cheese, and meats don't go bad when they're stuffed in the panniers (the saddlebags) of a bicycle. It also seems to slow the rotting of fruits and vegetables. And drinking water is always refreshingly cold. The disadvantages, however, are that the bicycle chain seems stiffer and more resistant to pedaling no matter how much lubrication it gets. The camera's film … [Read more...]
Under the Cobalt
Africa greets you with immediate attention. You just barely exit the boat ramp before many men, who we kindly call hustlers, but who call themselves "guides," greet you, offering you their local expertise for a price. I ignored all eyes and comments as a way to say I was uninterested, but it was more difficult than that. We managed to make our way to the more honest taxi stands and request a ride to the bus station. We had decided to go directly … [Read more...]
Backpackers and Billionaires
It used to be that backpacking trips to Fiji involved a bus ride from Nadi to Suva, then a ferry to somewhere like Ovalau, Savusavu, Taveuni or Kadavu. No more. These days young budget travelers are lining up to go to the Yasawa Islands, a chain of 16 large volcanic islands and dozens of smaller ones roughly 35 km off the west coast of Viti Levu. The dazzling white beaches, clear warm waters, colorful coral reefs, and sunny dry climate make … [Read more...]
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