Archives
So soon. The routine. Did that other thing really happen? Did I really do that? Go around the world. Was it a long time ago? No? A few days ago you say…I’m already forgetting. I did. Go around the world. It was—in today’s vernacular—awesome. Actually it was just plain awesome. But when I started to catch up on diary entries for those days and weeks away they had already slipped into past tense,… Read More
Travel is like this. Wake up weary. Still a day to go before the last push to Country #100. Then Home. Weary. But this is today. A little homemade (Nescafe and the hot water tap) coffee and the slow walk to breakfast. Not so much enthusiasm for this day. Is it gray because of being overcast generally or what percentage is smog? I’ll think most is overcast from real clouds and that… Read More
Home now. Happy to be here. Happy to have been a traveler for the last six weeks. Fell behind on my ‘reporting’ because of lack of internet access for the last couple of weeks. I’ll catch up this evening and over the next day or two with photo albums from Beijing, ferry to Seoul, Seoul and (maybe) a disjointed rant, “Delta Done” before I actually feel DONE. But now…back to Beijing. By… Read More
Since I was Google-less in China (Have I complained enough about that now?) and couldn’t post pictures, here’s an album from the Great Wall and Ming Tomb Day. That perfect sunny day in and around Beijing, China. What are the odds, me who likes rain so much, actually getting to see the views from the Great Wall…which is indeed GREAT. Wow. As I said in a post somewhere it makes me want… Read More
Contrary to popular perception—at least my previous perception—Beijing is not a smog-choked city of soul-less gray buildings. I’m sure there are days and streets that would fit that description but today is certainly was not one of them. As on this whole trip the weather continues to be the sunny perfection of late summer/early fall in temperate climates. The occasional chill and rain has intruded but ever so seldom. In fact the… Read More
There are two kinds of visas, yes? Both essential to travelers. First there’s the kind that comes in the form of a card enabling you to travel without money—a travel accoutrement of great value—and more than a little stress when you return! Then there’s the other kind of visa which is simply a stamp in your passport saying that the government of said country has authorized you to cross their borders and… Read More
My trans-Siberian rail route for August 2015 ends in Beijing so China is on my mind. What I have been thinking about today is my one previous visit to China. Back in the day. When it was still a bad and scary Communist place. Now it’s a rich and successful Capitalist/Communist place and I hear there are two cars for every previous bicycle. That earlier trip was to Hong Kong with son… Read More