An American backpacker treats Sumatra, Indonesia’s “Lake Toba”--filled with crunchy Elysian entrepots --as a writers’ retreat where backing off comes with the territory “Characters are just like black marks on paper. . . --William Gass, Fiction and the Right of Life I arrive by high-speed hydrofoil across the Malacca Straits to Medan, the ersatz capital of Sumatra, during Ramadan. I was, of course, on my way to flop down and relax at the … [Read more...]
Lisa Niver: RTW Traveler
I first met Lisa a number of years ago at an event in Los Angeles. Her unbridled enthusiasm for International travel is truly contagious. Few people are lucky to go on one Round the World Trip (RTW) in a lifetime; Lisa has been privileged to experience two RTW trips and in fact at the time of this original interview, was currently in the midst of her 2nd RTW trip. The circumstances around receiving this interview were somewhat convoluted (as … [Read more...]
Ketut and me: An encounter with Bali’s medicine man
"You so pretty, your lips like sugar." The 98 year old frail man let go of my palm and made me turn around so he can read my neck and pronounced with a toothless smile that I would have great sex at midnight. Good to know. "Um Ketut, so what about my career?" Ketut coughed a bit, and said he had to go take a pee and got up to go inside. I smiled accommodatingly and looked at my friends patiently waiting their turn to speak to the most … [Read more...]
Possible Himalayan Trek to Sikkim
I've been to India several times already; earlier this year I secured a 10 year multiple entry visa, for more exploring within this amazing country. We visited Chennai in July for my sister's wedding - as expected, the weather was hot and humid - frequent dips in the pool made the weather more bearable. It was nice to visit Southern India for the first time - although we were missing the mountains. A few years ago we got to experience the … [Read more...]
What defines royalty for Jaipur?
We all have heard that the Indian city Jaipur pours the definition of royalty. But the question is what makes the city royal? What is that one thing that completely entitles that circle of rich heritage of PinkCity? The travelers visiting Jaipur are amazed by the beauty of this city and then at the end of the journey, we title the city as synonym of royalty. But what makes it a royal place? The answer is "History of Jaipur". The founder of Jaipur … [Read more...]
Exploring Bucharest
After a quick glimpse and walk around old town at 7am in the morning - this part of Bucharest seems to be old world meets construction zone. Apparently this part of Bucharest is seeing a revitalization of sorts - not sure where the money is coming from for this but there are a number of major projects in this part of town including businesses remodeling their own buildings in the middle of the old city. As someone I met last night mentioned, … [Read more...]
The Elephanta Suite
The Elephanta Suite by Paul Theroux Mr. Theroux brings to life three separate short stories - involving travelers, all of which are set in real life India. The first story features a long time married couple seeking relaxation at a spa and both husband and wife seek relationships with other individuals. The second involves a "middle of the road" lawyer from America who follows his lust in the seedy slums of Mumbai. The third story involves a … [Read more...]
Top 10 Best Street Food Cities
When asked what your favorite street food, is your first thought of crepes or pretzels? No! Any world traveler worth half their passport stamps can tell you that street food is not just a simple snack - in many countries, it is a storied tradition and a celebration of a collective national heritage. From Bangkok to Brussels, we've collected the best cities for street food, with both the "target rich" spots for hawkers and the local delicacies … [Read more...]
Jetting from Chennai to Bangkok
We jumped on our Air Asia flight last night from MAA-BKK. The route opened up earlier this year and we immediately seized the opportunity to buy severely discounted tickets during Air Asia's promotional period. We paid £89 per person for the round trip ticket - about 3.5 hours each way! Course with Air Asia you get a basic flight - no food or drink, seats that are agonizingly tight for tall people and most of the time a middle or window seat … [Read more...]
Wedding Celebration, Chennai India
After a busy few days spent shopping for clothing for the event - sari's, shoes, long colorful flowing robes etc - we now have our appropriate Southern Indian wedding ceremony attire. The celebration went off without a hitch - one of India's most famous violinists (T. N. Krishnan) and his daughter took the stage for over an hour with hypnotizing music. Hundreds of people came to celebrate the joyous occasion! … [Read more...]
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