Hong Kong 香港
Special Administrative Region
April 13, 2009
Dear Family and Friends,
Their answers were always the same.
Whenever I asked other tourists what they liked best about Hong Kong, they responded heartily:
"Hong Kong is safe and clean. Transportation is excellent. Service is efficient. Shopping is supreme. The streets are buzzing. The food is good. The sights are impressive."
As one Aussie couple explained, "Hong Kong is lovely."
Hong Kong
April 16, 2009
Dear Family and Friends,
It's about an hour's ferry ride from Central Ferry Pier to Lantau Island, the largest of all of the Hong Kong islands. The ferry is filled with pilgrims to Tian Tan Buddha.
The impressive Giant Buddha, the world's largest seated outdoor bronze Buddha is 30m (98 ft) tall and weighs 250 tons. To reach the terraces surrounding the Buddha, there's a climb of 260 steps. And the stairs are crowded. Everyone and every group poses for a photo or two. Or three.
Udon Thani
Thailand
March 8, 2005
Dear Family and Friends,
I got tired of just sitting around at The Honey Inn so after a few days of R&R I hit the road again, this time heading to northeast Thailand.
It was a short but "monumental" ten day trip. Even a little bizarre.
Chaiyaphun. I thought was going to see a silk-weaving village outside of town but in the searing heat and under the penetrating and debilitating sun I lost my patience. (Another couple I met later in the day had the same problem. On the way out of town, on the bus, we saw the sign, facing the "wrong" direction.)
Jaipur to Bikaner
Rajasthan, India
February 24, 2007
Dear Family and Friends,
The phrase "Horn Please" is emblazoned in huge, colorful and artistic boldfaced letters on the rear end of every powerful, solid, steel-framed intercity truck. Or "Sound Horn" appears. Or "Blow Horn." My favorite is "Blow Horn." India is a nation of one billion horn blowers.
It is good form. Everyone is encouraged to sound his horn to alert the truck driver ahead that his rig is about to be overtaken. And, (and this is a big "and") every driver of every type of vehicle alerts everyone else of his presence and his insistence to proceed unimpeded according to some preordained universal master transport plan known only to himself.
Amber
Rajasthan,
India
February 23, 2007
Dear Family and Friends,
It just keeps getting better!
"The magnificent delicate-pink, fort palace of Amber (pronounced Amer), a beautiful, ethereal example of Rajput architecture, rises from a rocky mountainside about 11km north of Jaipur." [*]
As Adit and I drive into Amber, the walls and the towers, more golden than pink, sit high and imposing on the mountains to my left.
Jaipur, Rajasthan
India
February 23, 2007
Dear Family and Friends,
Noise and dust pierce the senses. Construction cranes pierce the sky. Jaipur is crowded. Jaipur is "developing."
My gracious hosts at the Govind Niwas Guest House, Admiral and Mrs. Madhvendra Singh recall earlier days when in the evening they would relax on their veranda or in the spacious garden in front of their home
Now, the avenue is just too busy. My friends are resigned to the inevitable yet they continue to enjoy the beauty of their city.
How many travelers have I met who focus only on Jaipur, dusty and "developing?" Like my hosts, I seek out Jaipur, pink and attractive and "developed."
