One of the greatest things about growing up in California has been my physical proximity to Yosemite National Park. I first visited Yosemite, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, at age nine with my sister and parents. I was hooked for life by the enormity, the sheer magnitude of its beauty. I was hooked for life! […]
TODAY IS EARTH DAY! Updated: April 22, 2019 For 49 years on April 22, more than one billion people take part in Earth Day. Earth Day now includes events in more than 193 countries, which are now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network. Individuals, communities, organizations, and governments acknowledge the amazing planet we call […]
Part XI of the My Month in Burma Series Authors note: A sincere thank you to all the readers who have wished me well as I heal from my accident. Your words have lifted my heart and given me many a smile these last few weeks. As an update, last week I had the […]
PART X: TREKKING BURMA’S SHAN STATE An uneventful, but long bus ride up a very curvy mountain road ends with a late afternoon arrival in Kalaw. I check into the Golden Lily Guest House where I find a basic single for US $7.00. They have some better rooms at a higher price but I pass […]
A Review of my Recent Cooking Class in Chiang Mai, Thailand As a chef, as well as a long-term traveler, I have tried several cooking classes in my global wanderings. So it was only natural that I would investigate the numerous cooking classes available here in Chiang Mai. I digested (no pun intended) around a […]
PART IX: THE ‘ANCIENT’ TEMPLES OF BAGAN Preface: From approximately 1050 to 1290 A.D., Bagan’s kings commissioned over 4,000 temples. Over the millennia looting, erosion and earthquakes took their tool . A massive earthquake in 1975 destroyed most of what was left. What you see, and it is impressive, has been rebuilt. UNESCO refused to certify Bagan as […]
PART VIII: THE BIG BAGO TOUR MAKES THREE FOR THREE 1/29/13–Hpa-An: Amazingly, Snowy wakes me up at 6:30 am. I have not slept well as I have woke coughing several times during the night. I decide to rest and send them on the monastery summit hike. I hate to miss it but it’s the right choice. […]
PART VII: HPA-AN, LAND OF LIMESTONE AND ANCIENT CAVE TEMPLES Big tour day: Seven stops. 10 hours. Two tuk tuks. Sore butt, lots of bouncing on dirt roads. Way fun! I have said it before and I will say it again, I do not go in for packaged tours as a rule. Both […]
PART VI: LIMESTONE CAVES AND THE FAST BOAT TO HPA-AN We are up early. After packing and enjoying a final breakfast from the Breeze’ veranda, we are picked up at 7:30 am and tuk-tuked to the ferry dock across town. I am a bit sorry to leave lovely mellow Mawlawyine but it is time […]
PART V: GO SOUTH YOUNG MAN! with apologies to Horace Greeley Leaving the tourist trail– Mawlamyine Bound– Dateline: 1/23/13–Yangon, Myanmar I have been in Yangon three days now. It seems longer mainly because I have mostly run out of things to do. It is taking me all this time to get my bearings in Myanmar […]