January 28, 2005
The day-long boat ride down the Ayeyarwady River from Mandalay to Bagan...smooth, picturesque, uneventful.
Except for one stop along the way at Pakokku. Local women selling large, bright, hand woven cotton cloth. As the boat began to back away from the dock, the women became more agitated and started tossing their beautiful weavings to the passengers at the railing of the boat.
Wilton Manors, Florida, USA
October 31, 2008
My dear trick or treaters,
Halloween is a big thing in Miami.
Sure, kids get dressed up and collect their mountains of sweets.
What I mean is that Halloween is a big thing for adults. Bars and clubs in Miami are crammed with costumed revelers.
What I really mean is that Halloween is a big thing for gay adults.
From Key West to Fort Lauderdale, thousands of gussied-up gay men and women parade the streets in creative, colorful, comely outfits.
Barksdale Air Force Base
Bossier City, Louisiana
October 29, 2008
One of my favorite television programs is "The West Wing." In one episode the President has been shot and the senior military advisors are worried that a foreign enemy might try to take advantage of the moment. When the military men ask the White House Chief of Staff what message the United States government should send out, the actor, the late John Spenser thinks for a second and says, "Don't mess with us tonight."
"Don't mess with us" was just what I was thinking when I visited the museum at Barksdale Air Force Base. East of Bossier City, Barksdale is the home of the Eighth Air Force. The slogan of the museum is "Come see the Might in the Mighty Eighth."
New Delhi
India
February 12, 2007
Each morning my driver Suresh and I agree on an itinerary.
Suresh negotiates his way through the traffic to a stop at Lakshmi Naravan, an unusual Hindu temple . . . unusual for its tones of yellow and red- brown. Another stop at Rajghat, a beautiful park with a simple square platform of black marble that marks the spot where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated following his assassination in 1948. A host of schoolchildren smile and wave to me.
Bharatpur, Rajasthan
India
February 17, 2007
Dear Friends and Fellow Bird Watchers,
One chilly, shivering evening last week at the open-air rooftop restaurant of my hotel, the Hotel Sri Nanak Continental (don't let the name fool you), smack in the middle of the incessantly beeping - beeping - honking - honking - beeping - honking - beeping - beeping - beeping and barking! automotive parts supply shop district of New Delhi, I met Penny and John, travelers from England who were pleased to sell me their guidebook Special Places To Stay - India.
My next destination is Bharatpur, just west of Agra. My first "special" choice, The Laxmi Vilas Palace, is fully booked. So here I am at The Bagh.
The guidebook reports:
