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I wish I could/would have begun these big fat six-week trips earlier in life. Sometimes focusing on a world ‘neighborhood’ of multiple countries, sometimes one country in greater depth…like I’m doing these last years. Not that I regret the many dance festival jaunts or art/dance focused meetings, conferences, gatherings, viewings in so many intriguing locations all around the world. Grants often covered much of the cost, I was usually surrounded by lively… Read More
Actually at this very moment I’m not anywhere near the site of the above photo (Halong Bay, Vietnam). I am sitting in my room in the sweetest hotel on the trip so far. Luang Prabang, Laos. It’s been a perfect day in many respects: Elephant rides, a Buddha-residing cave, whiskey village (for 10 minutes—just long enough to take one sip of Lao Rice Wine), a forest-shaped/guided/rimmed waterfall, and in some ways, the… Read More
I left Vietnam a few days ago and don’t imagine I’ll have time in this life to return to a most magical of places. It filled my life through books and Ken Burns “The Vietnam War” for several weeks before the visit and will linger with me in memories and photos for a very long time. Now in Laos, tomorrow to Yangon, Myanmar. Time for a last photo album or two. Ho… Read More
Teresa and I spent many hours here, even given our short time in Hanoi. Enjoy.
It’s early Sunday morning, November 5th, in Luang Prabang. Once during every extended journey I must get sick. I’m sure there’s a moral here—shorter trips or building a healthier me. This cold/flu thing started yesterday morning in Hanoi and is clinging to me as I move on to Laos. Go away, I say. But all the penicillin and zinc and Emergen-C I can hold aren’t quite doing the trick. And I have little… Read More
November 3, 2017 in Hanoi…6:30pm.Teresa, also known as Lace, my travel pal/buddy/assistant/record keeper/guide/soulmate just left for the airport. I admit to being sad. Very sad to be honest. Over the approximately 23 years we’ve been traveling together, there have been more than a few changes—once I watched over her every move, afraid to let the lovely child out of my sight for a moment. Now she is handling much of the planning,… Read More
Yesterday: Hoi An, tourist village extraordinaire…Let’s see…where were we? I know…yesterday evening in Hoi An. We are street walkers in a quaint village brimming over with tourists, that nevertheless manages to retain a low-key pleasantness that’s hard to match. Vietnamese people have a dignity about them that’s apparent in stores and restaurants and crowds—it’s something about the upright way they hold themselves and a politeness that’s half friendliness and half maintaining a… Read More
Back to yesterday in Ho Chi Minh City for another few paragraphs and more photos before traveling on: Up in the morning. Hit the streets by 7am with our bright young motorbike guides. That unplanned Sydney stopover sucked up some of our already-brief HCMC (also known as Saigon) hours but focus conquers time…we hope. I usually think China and/or India will run the world by sometime in the not-too-distant future. But then our… Read More
Later in Hoi An, Vietnam: Rainy day Writing Time. Teresa wanted sun and, as a kind and generous granny, I wanted sun for her, but now I accept that it’s raining because deep down I wanted a warm rainy day even more…sorry Lace, that was bad of me. Therefore I am looking forward to a day of reading and writing and Lace is doing a Vietnamese cooking class with a group of Israelis…. Read More
It’s 4am Monday in Hoi An, Vietnam; 3pm Sunday in Albuquerque. Thick warm air with a smoky overlay wafts in through the window by my bed. Rain moving in. The 36 or so hours since we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (which most people here still call Saigon) have been rich, dense, sensual…kind of exhausting…in a good way. First though there’s a travel side-story in the road here from Wellington, one… Read More