Inspiring you on your own journey . . .
Arriving by train in the small, but pretty Japanese city of Nara, you begin your walk toward the verdant green hilltop you see in the distance. Passing by quaint little pickle shops and stores selling local items, you make a beeline for the trees that lie ahead of you. Your path begins to take an […]
Your rusty rental bicycle creaks and complains under the cranking of your feet on the pedals. Powerful sunshine beats down on your neck in the humid Laotian afternoon. As your bike strains to move along the pitted road, you sweat out the laab and sticky rice that you ate for lunch at the roadside café. […]
While Chinese temples do vary, many tend to maintain a basic formula in regard to their layout. The iconography is always in-keeping with the traditional style and the same figures can usually be found in each of the halls. The generic temple is the main style that you find throughout China and in other countries […]
The boat steadily chugs along the Chao Phraya River while you cling to the handrail to counteract the rocking and reeling. It noisily shudders along the ancient waterway that acts as the main artery of Bangkok. The sputtering engine wheezes its way through the black water past swimming boys that seem not to care about […]
Your journey from the KOMTAR tower in central George Town is relatively uneventful. The clean efficient Malaysian bus sets a benchmark that all future public buses you take will fail to equal. The sleek modern bus glides effortlessly along the spotless smooth roads. Arriving at the suburban town of Air Itam, you are surrounded by Chinese […]
Walking amid the smells of freshly baked nang bread in the ancient city of Kaifeng, it is hard to imagine that it was once the capital of China. Its newly refitted city walls enclose the hustle and bustle of the old city that was oddly positioned on an almost indefensible piece of land. The city […]
The bus full of tourists cruises along the Southern Vietnamese highway. You, along with the others, are being kept entertained by the hilarious antics of the tour guide from Saigon who is leading your journey. Two Hanoian ladies on the bus with no spoken English are the butt of his anti-communist jokes. They are rich […]
The horse sleepily drags your cart along the dusty road out through the temple studded plain. You have been heading north from the ancient town of Old Bagan for some time now toward the small town of Nyaung U. The crimson splatters of betel juice from local chewers marks the places on the road where […]
The jungle road shakes your body and jangles your nerves while you putter along in your hired tuk-tuk. Foliage flies past your eyes as you zip by ancient trees that swallowed a once powerful city. The amok you ate for lunch churns around in your belly every time you hit a divot in the well […]
The sky seethes in a tumultuous vortex of greys. The air is thick and you could cut through it with a kris. The writhing pregnant clouds threaten to drop their payload on you as your car zooms down the uneven dirt road. The atmosphere in the car is far lighter than outside and the jolly […]
