Duqm

Oman

January 25, 2015

Dear Fellow Drivers,

On the road from Salalah to Duqm, across mostly flat and nondescript desert, I encounter a canyon of inspiring beauty and grandeur.    

In Duqm, Abdullah, my host at the Duqm City Hotel, recommends I make a day trip along the coast to Ras Madrakah.  Ras-Al-Madrakah – a wondrous combination of jagged rocks, rough seas and vigilant sea birds.

So, fill up your tank.  Travel with me across the desert and through the mountains to the sea.

Jan

The Souk

Sinaw

Oman

January 29, 2015

On my drive to the north coast of Oman, I stop in the city of Sinaw.   The guidebook lists the population at about 10,000, but on this Thursday Market Day, the city explodes into a multi-colored array of buyers and sellers from around the region.

Unlike the Nizwa Goat Market where the participants are all men and boys dressed in the traditional white dishdasha,  the souk here in Sinaw is crowded with both men and boys and women and girls. 

Sohar

Sultanate of Oman

January 30, 2015

As I drive through the mountains on my way to the north coast beach resort  of Sohar, I visit two castles and a market.

The castles are described in my guidebook and clearly marked on my map.  I find the market (souk) by “accident.”   It is the best site of the day.

Bangkok
Thailand
February 16, 2015

Dear Friends,

It seems that the only time I travel to a local attraction is when I have a visitor and he makes a suggestion.  I suppose that I am so busy planning my next international journey that I forget that my own locale around Bangkok offers many rewarding adventures.   (I think I am not alone in this contradictory situation.)

The latest case: My old family friend, David L. made a stopover in Bangkok after he completed his work in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  He had read about Ko Kret.* We decided to visit.

Koh Chang

Thailand

February 27, 2015

Greetings from the beach!

My Bronx high school classmate and friend Joe F. is visiting from Los Angeles. We decided to fly down to the southern island of Koh Chang and spend a few days at the Koh Chang Kacha Resort and Spa. *

Before we left Bangkok, I phoned my friend Tu who works at an optical shop at White Sand Beach. On her day off, we three took a ride through the mountains to Bang Bao on the southern tip of the island. We wandered down the shop-filled pier and had a delicious seafood lunch at the Buddha View Restaurant. I chose a dish of fresh fish in a hearty ginger sauce along with a watermelon shake. **

Martapura
South Kalimantan
Borneo
Indonesia

March 8, 2015

Frankly, I don’t know what to expect.

Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world.  And my sense is that in the remote areas of the archipelago, Islam tends to be practiced in a more conservative manner than in the areas near Jakarta, the capital.  

For example, the area of Aceh on the tip of the western island of Sumatra has a reputation for strict Islam.   Sulawesi, far to the east has the same reputation.  So, what will I find here in remote Kalimantan, the Indonesian area on the island of Borneo?