Haukadalur,
Southwest Iceland
September 11, 2015
“Fire and Ice”
“Fire” refers to hot geothermal streams and the Geysir (Geyser) that erupts frequently sending boiling water up to about 70 meters into the cool air. (230ft)
“Ice” refers to glacial remains and an ice-clogged river at Hjallanes.
Iceland is a country of extremes – boiling rivers to frozen rivers ….
Bandung
West Java
May 17, 2005
Salamat Malam,
At 7:00pm, the North Sea Bar was dead. Except for Evert, a smiling Dutchman, 54, enjoying his tall green Heineken.
Evert has a business in Holland and lives with his twenty-seven year old girlfriend in Bandung. Soon to be married. (Where have I heard that one before?)
We chatted for an hour; I ordered some chicken fried rice. He asked me if I would like to meet his girlfriend's girlfriend. Era arrived quickly. And quickly we decided that we were compatible.
We decided that the next day we would hire a taxi for a drive to Tangkuban Prahu - The "Overturned Volcano" crater 30km north of Bandung.
Southeast of Aktau
Mangystau Region
Kazakhstan
October 16, 2018
Hello,
What a day! What a beginning for my journey in Mangystau!
My driver Vladimir picks me up at my hotel and off we go, out of town. We detour for a bit of shopping at the “last stop” before the desert.
Always the desert!
But what a desert!
Rodney Bay
December 28, 2017
Hello,
My flight from Miami yesterday arrived safely and without incident. (To be honest I was surprised, shocked is a better word, that on a four-hour international flight, American Airlines charges $25.00 for the first checked bag and charges for food!)
Captain Bill met me at the Hewanorra Airport at Vieux Fort and we drove for about two hours to Rodney Bay Marina where I boarded his boat, the SV Cajucito. After Bill provided a brief orientation to the yacht accommodations, we enjoyed a delicious Italian dinner at Elena’s Café at the marina.
Today we took a long drive through the mountains and down to a major attraction on the island: The Pitons: Gros Piton and Petit Piton. In French, “piton” is an alternate word for “peak.”
Arequipa, Peru
November 24, 2003
Dear Family and Friends,
Let me describe The Perfect Lunch: shall we say, “a perfectly civilized lunch.”
I am ambling about the Plaza de Armas, the central square of Arequipa, the "altiplano"city in southern Peru.
A young and smiling and attractive Vanessa persuades me to enter The Terrace Restaurant.
Samosir Island
Lake Toba
North Sumatra
Indonesia
July 1, 2008
To the Editor
Condé Nast Traveler
New York, New York
Dear Editor,
(cc: Family and Friends)
I have attached my photographic submissions for the "Room with a View" section of your magazine, Condé Nast Traveler.
The view is from Room 50 on the second floor of the comfortable Toledo Hotel on Samosir Island on Lake Toba, the second largest lake in Southeast Asia.
Samosir Island is almost as large as Singapore but there are no high-rise office buildings or traffic signals here. Small Batak villages, hotels, restaurants and shops are sprinkled around the landscape. The friendly people live in traditional homes. They cook great food.
Up the road from the Toledo Hotel we found the Horas Restaurant. (In Batak, horas means hello and welcome.) For dinner we enjoyed a clear soup with fresh, crunchy local vegetables along with juicy grilled fish from the lake. Hot chili sauce is served on request.
