Vientiane, Laos
January 12-16, 2009
Dear Family and Friends,
Sabai Dee,
Here's a good one:
"The reason I didn't recognize you, Jan, is because when we met six years ago, you were fat. Now you are slim and younger looking."
So said my friend Kia, a lovely Laotian woman, who with her husband Wisai, runs a small restaurant in Vientiane.
So what am I doing in Vientiane?
{C}
Hong Kong 香港
Special Administrative Region
April 13, 2009
Dear Family and Friends,
Their answers were always the same.
Whenever I asked other tourists what they liked best about Hong Kong, they responded heartily:
"Hong Kong is safe and clean. Transportation is excellent. Service is efficient. Shopping is supreme. The streets are buzzing. The food is good. The sights are impressive."
As one Aussie couple explained, "Hong Kong is lovely."
Macau 澳門
SAR
April 16, 2009
Dear Family and Friends,
I know what you are wondering. And the answer is "Não!"
I resisted the temptation to enter one of those grotesque monuments to avarice and addiction.
Don’t get me wrong. I'm no prude. I adore a hand of Blackjack. I savor the action of Craps. But with limited time, and a retiree’s budget, I just said "No!".
{C}
Hong Kong
April 16, 2009
Dear Family and Friends,
It's about an hour's ferry ride from Central Ferry Pier to Lantau Island, the largest of all of the Hong Kong islands. The ferry is filled with pilgrims to Tian Tan Buddha.
The impressive Giant Buddha, the world's largest seated outdoor bronze Buddha is 30m (98 ft) tall and weighs 250 tons. To reach the terraces surrounding the Buddha, there's a climb of 260 steps. And the stairs are crowded. Everyone and every group poses for a photo or two. Or three.
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.
Udon Thani
Thailand
March 8, 2005
Dear Family and Friends,
I got tired of just sitting around at The Honey Inn so after a few days of R&R I hit the road again, this time heading to northeast Thailand.
It was a short but "monumental" ten day trip. Even a little bizarre.
Chaiyaphun. I thought was going to see a silk-weaving village outside of town but in the searing heat and under the penetrating and debilitating sun I lost my patience. (Another couple I met later in the day had the same problem. On the way out of town, on the bus, we saw the sign, facing the "wrong" direction.)
