UAE: Hard Rock Cafe, Dubai
Festival City, Dubai. May 2016 bar reviews As I have mentioned in the past, I came to know about Hard Rock Cafe in Kuala Lumpur [see:...
New Zealand: Milford Sound
January 1993 After our exhilarating (and scary) flight to little Milford Sound Airstrip [see: flight to Milford Sound], we were...
Zimbabwe: baobob tree
Victoria Falls area. July 1998 The first baobab grew next to a small lake. Taller and taller it grew until it started noticing the other...
Malaysia: Han Jiang Ancestral Temple, Penang
Lebuh Chulia, Georgetown, Penang. December 2005 Who are the Teochew? You cannot miss the building. Nestled among rows of old Indian...
Laos: cruising on the Mekong
Pak Ou Caves Pak Ou Caves Village Traditional house Hotel 1 - best thing was the view Hotel 2 The ferry across to Thailand Arrival in...
UAE: four days in Dubai
Ibn Battuta Mall - Chinese court Ibn Battuta Mall - Egyptian Entrance Ibn Battuta Mall - Persian Lobby. October 2019 [from FB posts:...
Vietnam: Cham Museum, Danang
December 2007 the Cham The Champa Kingdom occupied most of central and southern Vietnam. They were an international powerhouse at their peak and controlled most of the trade between China and India and the West for centuries. With the Viets to their north, the Khmers to their West, and the Javanese to the south, they relentlessly fought wars of attrition until they were finally absorbed into modern day Vietnam. They left behind temples and sculptures scattered all over mo
Qatar: Calligraphy on the Corniche
Doha. March 2015 The Corniche is the best place to stroll in Doha on a lovely day. I walked it up and down a few times during my short...
UAE: nation building
Al Fahidi Fort was built in several phases. The oldest tower was built around 1787, and is believed to be the oldest building in Dubai...
Malaysia: Penang Clan House
Khoo Kongsi, Cannon Square, Georgetown, Penang. December 1985 your local chamber of commerce The system of kongsi was utilized by...
USA & Canada: Alaska and Yukon - planes, ferries, buses, and trains
July-August, 1993 Upon reflection, if there was one ongoing source of travel inspiration for me, especially in my younger days, it was...
Canada: Rockies
Lake Moraine. July 1993 you can never go back Before we started our big Alaska Adventure [see: Alaska and Yukon - planes, ferries,...
Czech Republic: České Budějovice
Solnice Restaurant July 2019 another beer hajj From Prague I wanted to travel to a "real" Czech city. České Budějovice was an obvious...
Slovakia: Bratislava
Old Town Castle. July 2019 Bratislava or Preßburg is a little corner of Central Europe that I ended up visiting twice (three times if...
Mexico: Cabo San Lucas
October 2011 Hotel California On the cruise from San Diego to Puerto Vallarta, we ended up in Cabo San Lucas longer than expected due to...
West Bank: Banksy
West Bank/Israel Border Wall Iconic Banksy near Bethlehem. June 2018 I actually never heard of Banksy until I travelled to Israel. I...
Italy: Baia
December 2018 After visiting Lake Avernus [see: Lago d'Averno], one of the traditional entrances to Hades for the Romans, I took the...
Beirut: buildings and turmoil
Ottoman era French colonial hasty bomb repair War aftermath. June 2019 Beirut is old. Referred to in ancient Egyptian tablets dating to...
Portugal: Padrão dos Descobrimentos, Belém
August 2017 The monument was conceived in 1939 by Portuguese architect José Ângelo Cottinelli Telmo, and sculptor Leopoldo de Almeida, as...
Vienna: Schloss Belvedere
front back. April 2019 On my several trips to Vienna while I worked in Duhok, I stayed at the Ibis hotel close to the main train station. On the first trip I realized that a slight detour through the Belvedere Palace grounds would deliver me downtown - avoiding walking through city streets while enjoying the glory of a Hapsburg palace garden. The Belvedere Palace Garden became one of my favorite walks in the city. On my first visit to the city plagued by rain, I ended up
