Helsinki: Summer Sun

Posted December 1, 2014 by admin
Finland

Helsinki

Finland

August 12, 2014

Hei,

Many years ago I had an American-Hungarian friend.  She insisted that Hungarian was “different” and resembled no other language in Europe.  Since I was a young man who thought he already knew everything, I doubted my friend’s characterization of her language.

Hungary lies in the middle of Central Europe.  Certainly the language is in some way similar to her neighbors’.   Surely Hungarian is related to Slovakian Slavic, or Romanian Romance, or Austrian Germanic?

Well I was dead wrong!

Helsinki: The Jewish Community

Posted December 1, 2014 by Jan
Finland

So here’s what happened.

Another series of “accidents”?

After my flight from Bangkok to Helsinki, I take the bus to the downtown station and walk towards my hotel.  I finally arrive at the proper street but do I turn right or left?  I stop a man and ask directions and he points to the right.  I notice he is wearing a Star of David so we chat a bit and he points out that the Helsinki Synagogue stands just down the street to the left. **

Bingzhongluo: Stuck in the Mud

Posted December 1, 2014 by admin
China: Yunnan

Stuck in the Mud!

 

Bingzhongluo

Gongshan County

Nu Jiang Liuku Autonomous Prefecture

Yunnan Province

China

June 13, 2014

 

Stuck in the mud!  Is that ever a good thing?

Despite the gloomy weather and the potentially muddy country roads, my guide Ilian and I decide to visit a Tibet style temple and to explore the mountain villages above Bingzhongluo here in the upper and remote reaches of Yunnan Province.  We hire a local man with a four-wheel drive vehicle.

Nu Jiang: The Angry River

Posted December 1, 2014 by admin
China: Yunnan

Bingzhongluo

Gongshan County

Nu Jiang Liuku Autonomous Prefecture

Yunnan Province

China

June 11, 2014

My Dear Fellow Travelers, and anyone who yearns for adventure,

In the early morning hours, from my hotel window in Bingzhongluo, I gaze in amazement at the cloud-covered valley of “The Angry River.” “The Furious River.”  “The River of Rage.”  The Nu Jiang.    怒江

Amazed?  Sure.  I am feeling so fortunate to be here.

Pianma: The Flying Tigers

Posted December 1, 2014 by admin
China: Yunnan

Pianma

Yunnan Province

China

June 9, 2014 

At the height of the Japanese military power during World War II, their armed forces occupied large areas of China, blockaded the ports, and closed almost all of the roads.  “The Burma Road”  -the one open route that snaked through the mountains from India, through Burma to western China - was bombed by Japanese fighter planes.   Eventually, trucks ceased to transport goods to the Chinese Nationalist Army fighting the Japanese.

“The Hump” became the vital lifeline. 

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