Travel Letters

Stabroek Market, Georgetown, Guyana:

Posted April 4, 2018 by Jan
Guyana

Georgetown (pop 235,000)

Co-operative Republic of Guyana (pop 773,000)

Saturday

January 20, 2018

 

“Let’s take a photo with the white guy!”

Just outside the Stabroek Market, a group of taxi drivers are curious about me.   I approach them with my usual big smile, and one of them hollers, “Hey, let’s take a photo with the white guy.”  We all have a good laugh as we pose together.

The guidebooks caution against visiting the large and complex Stabroek Market.  Dodgy characters, beggars, pickpockets, unpleasant sights and treacherous walkways, etc.  White guys are a rarity.  Naturally it is my first stop.  Is there a market anywhere in the world sans dodgy characters?

Tbilisi: An Accident?

Posted October 1, 2012 by Jan
Georgia

Tbilisi

Georgia

October 1, 2012

Monday 

Dear Rabbi Kantor, My Family and My Friends,

What happened today, was it an accident?

After yesterday's tiring journey from Bangkok to Tbilisi, after a late breakfast today, after several telephone conversations with two hotels, after a period of indecision and finally a decision, after waiting for an appointment who never showed up, finally, at about 11:30 in the morning, I begin my stroll in Tbilisi.

I walk down a hill high above the Mtkvari River, cross the river on a modern footbridge, and make a left turn up a cobbled street lined with restaurants and souvenir shops.  Then I choose a right turn up a main thoroughfare.  I stop to buy a hat.  I continue my stroll while looking for a "second cup of coffee."  

The sign says "Electric Cafe" so I take a right turn down a narrow side street.  The cafe is there but just opposite the cafe is a large building.  A synagogue! 

The Yangtze: Three Gorges Passage

Posted June 25, 2010 by Jan
China: Provinces

Yichang
Hubei Province
People's Republic of China

June 25, 2010

My Dear Cruise Aficionados,

After the Nile and the Amazon, the Yangtze is the third longest river in the world.

The Yangtze or Chang Jiang is also the longest river in Asia. That really is saying something when you consider that the Yellow River #2 is 5464 km (3395 mi), the Mekong #3 is 4909 km (3035 mi), and the Indus #9 and Brahmaputra #10 are each 2909 km (1808 mi). Numbers 4-8 are rivers in Russia that run from south to north in Siberia and flow into the Arctic Ocean.

The Yangtze rises in the west from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau and empties into the East China Sea  The river flows 6300 kilometers (3915 miles) while draining eleven provinces from Qinghai to Shanghai.

Folks Chatter

Posted March 18, 2018 by Jan
Grenada

Grand Anse

Grenada

January 17, 2018

 

One of the best features of Grenada is that people love to chat and joke, even if the chatter is self-deprecating.  Quite different from my experience in Asia where amusing insult, irony and sarcasm are unknown.  Here I can have a good laugh with everyone I meet.

(The local brew and funny cigarettes surely contribute to the easy chatter.)

Grand Anse Tours

Posted March 25, 2018 by Jan
Grenada

Grand Anse

Grenada

Windward Islands

West Indies

January 15, 2018

 

Greetings,

On this perennially warm, hilly, flora drenched island, dotted with lakes and surrounded by lovely beaches, where relaxation is the national pastime, can anyone please explain why everyone drives so fast?  

Furiously fast?  Surprising and frightening.

Mardi Gras

Posted February 13, 2018 by Jan
Trinidad-Tobago

Carnival

St. James District

Port of Spain

Trinidad and Tobago (pop 1.4 million)

West Indies

February 13, 2018

Tuesday - Mardi Gras

 

My guest house called Heart of Carnival is a taxi ride to most of the important Carnival events.  (Unless you count hanging out with the party-goers at the local restaurants and pubs.)

Today, Heart of Carnival is the appropriate name.  Hundreds of marchers and the fleet of trucks with their cargo of enormous sound equipment pass just up the street in this otherwise quiet residential neighborhood.

Barrel-chested men and bikini-clad, feather-festooned, half naked women strut their stuff as they keep pace with the beat of the ever-present piercing music.  

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