Yalla yalla is Arabic for “come on, let’s go!” and we did. Twenty miles north of Aswan, our falucca docked (maybe more like beached on a sand bar) and we boarded a van for the five hour drive north to Luxor, which provided a quick study of the communities and geography along the Nile. Continue reading
My dancing roomie, Emma, at Abu Simbel
On Saturday, I met my tour group in downtown Cairo. I am not crazy about organized tours partly because when 15 usually white English speakers get out of a van, it’s hard to blend in.
My fight from Athens to Cairo signaled a change in cultures and provided a lesson in how deeply ingrained our prejudices can be. Continue reading
The Erechteion at the Acropolis
Eleutheromania is Greek for “an intense desire for freedom.” The concept of freedom is a very big topic for a very long list of very big names. Continue reading
Oakland parking lot
Street art has become a kind of big deal in some cities. It is an early stage experiment in some places, like Bangkok, and an integral part of the architectural landscape in others, like San Francisco’s Mission District.
Bangkok street food.
There is one crazy thing I forgot to mention that I learned in Kanchanaburi. Are you sitting down? On January 25, 1942, Thailand declared war on the United States!!! Who knew? And also, huh?
Sawadee ka from Hua Hin, a beach town about three hours south of Bangkok on the Gulf of Thailand.
Did you ever wish you could hang out with elephants for a day? I don’t mean ride one or give one a banana from the other side of a fence. I mean hang out.
Camino Milagro 