Tashkent, Uzbekistan
May 22, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

Now here's a delightful stroll:

The broad, shady walkways around Independence Park are lined with university halls, government buildings, flower gardens and rose bushes. A statue of Marx has been replaced by a suitably patriotic statue of Amir Timur on horseback. At Independence Square, the new senate building is guarded by a tall gate with good-luck pelicans at the top. Near the gate, Lenin gave way to a large statue of a seated Uzbek woman gazing into the eyes of her infant child.

At the far side of the park is another woman, The Crying Mother Monument. The monument was built in 1999 to honor the four hundred thousand Uzbek soldiers who died fighting for The Soviet Union in World War II. In front of the statue is an eternal flame. *

The names of the fallen soldiers are engraved on brass plaques that swing like pages of a book. Many, many books. These books of the dead are attached to the walls of two parallel arcades. The Crying Mother cannot bear to face these pages...

Nakhon Ratchasima (Khorat) 

Thailand

December 4, 2004

Dear Family and Friends,

I have had a very happy two weeks.

On 22 November, after departing Bangkok by train at 05:45 I arrive four hours later at Nakhon Ratchasima, also known as Khorat.  After a brief nap at the impressive Khorat Hotel ( A/C, TV, king-size bed, huge bathtub -- all for $14.25 per night -- a little expensive for this area),I had a buffet lunch of a variety of chicken and fish dishes and coffee and dessert (watermelon, pineapple, ice cream - not! -- for $2.25 -- also a bit expensive).  I met yet another ex-serviceman and his Asian wife . . . everybody is happy.

After lunch I hired a motorbike taxi and visited three Wats (Buddhist temples) nestled into quiet corners of this otherwise bustling city in the Northeast -- an area called Isaan.

Issan Part 2.

Khao Yai National Park

Thailand

November 25, 2004

Dear Family and Friends,

Yesterday I was in the jungle.

I left the Isaan Plateau and headed southwest to the mountain chain which forms the border between Thailand and Cambodia. 05:15 - 05:30...Motorbike taxi to bus station. 06:00 - 07:00...Bus to Pak Chong. 07:15 - 07:30...Khao Yai Garden Lodge picked me up.

Nang Rong, Buriram

Thailand

November 30, 2004

Dear Family and Friends,

When I mention to Thai people that I plan to visit Isaan, they all smile. Now the Thai smile can have many meanings: Genuine friendship, well-mannered politeness, slightly restrained affection, short-lived tolerance, and perhaps, "I smile because I know what you don't know." Take your pick.

Kanchanaburi

Thailand

December 5, 2004

Dear Family and Friends,

I am resting on a chaise lounge, on a raft, after a brief and breathless swim in the swift, churning currents of The River Kwai. Life vests courtesy of the hotel.

To my right the sun is disappearing behind the hills across The River.

At this point on its journey from Burma to The Gulf of Siam, the narrow River Kwai is slicing through the steep green and brown hillsides (it's winter now), exposing several black and gold vertical stone outcrops.

So, if the hills are so steep, where exactly is this hotel? On The River, my friends, on...the...river.