Much of the historical information in this blog is taken from the Lonely Planet Guide Book I used while traveling.
Children in Moikinieba clamoring to see the Western visitors... check out the ones peeking through the partially opened door.
Ousmane dressed up for the Ramadan celebration, Gbereire, Dubreka, Guinea
Painter in Bagia, a small village near Gbereire, Guinea
No indoor plumbing, water is carried from the springs to the house in large tubs by women
Palm kernels freshly harvested from the tops of palm trees. The child on the left is carrying the tool they use to shimmy up palm trees over his right shoulder.
Children in Moikinieba clamoring to see the Western visitors... check out the ones peeking through the partially opened door.
Ousmane dressed up for the Ramadan celebration, Gbereire, Dubreka, Guinea
Painter in Bagia, a small village near Gbereire, Guinea
No indoor plumbing, water is carried from the springs to the house in large tubs by women
Palm kernels freshly harvested from the tops of palm trees. The child on the left is carrying the tool they use to shimmy up palm trees over his right shoulder.Work video:
Below is a video of Malinke men threshing rice. Click on the arrow below the picture to start this video. Check your volume first... They chant while they work!
The famous all mud mosque in historic Djenne, Mali
A great seleciton of colorful fabric in the open market, Djenne, Mali
Small mud mosque in a small Dogon village
Hunters hut in Dogon Country, Mali
BOAT RIDE (THREE DAYS, TWO NIGHTS) FROM MOPTI TO TIMBUKTU, MALI
This was a 35 meter long 6 tonne cargo boat that leaves each Tuesday for Timbuktu, during the rainy season (6 months), carrying rice and millet to Timbuktu, and returning to Mopti with salt that has been transported from the Central Sahara by camel to Timbuktu (mostly by Tuareg camel caravans). We left Tuesday midday, spent Tuesday night and Wednesday night sleeping on top of rice and millet sacks with a mosquito net suspended over us and arrived Thursday early morning in Timbuktu. We were not the only passengers, there were probably 25 others, including the 3 Dutch girls we had met on the way to Djenne, we kept crossing paths with them. The boat ride was beautiful, but by Thursday morning, I was very happy to arrive in Timbuktu, realizing that another day of sitting on rice sacks in that cargo boat could have caused damage to my psyche. The toilet on the boat was a hole in the floor of a small room at the front of the boat. You could see the water rushing by through the hole. The kitchen was in the center of the boat and the smoke from the fire caused irritation to the lungs during meal preparation times. Our space was small and it was difficult to move around due to the low ceiling. Our $30.00 per person cost for the two night trip included three meals each day.
A very friendly Tuareg nomad named Salime, in blue flowing robe and turban, started walking with us, then invited us to his tent to have tea. He was genuinely nice and a few of his friends dropped in to join us, then after tea, very politely showed us some jewelry, wood carvings, and Tuareg knives that were for sale. We politely bargained some reasonable prices for a few items, and took some photos before leaving. During the 45 minutes or so that we were there, a woman sat over in one corner looking at the wall for the duration. Salime told me his wife was just following the Tuareg tradition of not joining into conversation with mixed company. He allowed us to ask any questions we wanted and to take pictures. I took a photo of his wife, obediently facing the wall while her grandchild was frolicin on the mat in front of her. Salime was truly friendly and invited us to join his family for dinner that night. We accepted the invitation and had rice and meat sauce for dinner, with camel cheese appetizers on a sand dune covered with some mats under the full moon on the edge of the Sahara Desert. Salime always smiles, is a real gentleman, and never gets upset. We later heard from others that he is called "jamais fache' ", in English, "never angry".
Yoff is very conservative, the majority of the population belongs to a particularly conservative, but not extremist, sect of Islam. There are no bars in Yoff, and even though there is a beach, the people do not wear skimpy bathing suits. It is rare to see any local women on the beach unless they are fully covered. One neighborhood or district within Yoff is home to the mausoleum of a famous Marabout. The whole district is considered to be a shrine to this Marabout and they follow a strict set of rules that visitors, including foreigners are expected to respect. As one enters the district wherein lies the mausoleum of this famous marabout, there are signs warning that indecent clothing is forbidden. Then it says that women cannot wear pants or mini-skirts. Finally it warns that smoking is forbidden in this district.
Yoff is also known for its healers, people come from all over West Africa to find cures for illnesses and physical problems. According to the Lonely Planet Guide book, the healing ceremonies are not unlike some forms of voodoo
Yoff village beach near Dakar Senegal
Yoff village fishing pirogues
Goree island, now a memorial to the slaves that were kept imprisoned here before being shipped to Western countries
Hassan Mosque
Moroccan cuisine... Tajines
DAR M Palace Marrakech
The main plaza, Djemaa el Fna, in Marrakech is like a carnival, there are dancers, drummers, snake charmers, contortionists, herbalists, medicine men/women, singers and guitar players all around the plaza. The tourists are trying to snap photos or take film footage without being caught by the entertainers who then chase them down to get a tip for the photo or film footage taken. I have fun just watching this ordeal. The tourist tries to snap the photo unseen, but there is always a member of the entertainment group keeping a sharp eye out for cameras. After the photo is taken the “watchman” comes with a hat and demands a tip. If one dirham (10 cents) is offered, he scoffs and demands 10 or 20. They are relentless and don’t let up until they get some money. I watched one woman get right up in the face of a dancer and take almost a minute of film footage, then try to leave. She was followed for as far as I could see, the whole time she was trying to avoid payment. I’m not sure what the outcome was. It’s a constant battle, entertainers trying to earn a living, and tourists trying to take pictures without giving a ‘tip’.
Musicians in Djemaa el Fna
Below is a video of Malinke men threshing rice. Click on the arrow below the picture to start this video. Check your volume first... They chant while they work!
MALI, WEST AFRICA
DJENNE
The famous all mud mosque in historic Djenne, Mali
A great seleciton of colorful fabric in the open market, Djenne, Mali
Village elder, Djenne, Mali
MALI, DOGON COUNTRY:
While in Timbuktu, we had arranged for a guide to take us into Dogon country, just east of Mopti. The homeland of the Dogon people is the huge escarpment known as the Bandiagara escarpment or Falaise de Bandiagara, that extends some 150 km through the Sahel east of Mopti. The landscape is stunning, and the Dogon people are noted for their complex and elaborate culture, their art forms, their unique houses and granaries- - some clinging to the bare rock face of the escarpment, and their unique vegetable plots perched on ledges in the cliffs. We started hiking on Monday and visited several villages, some beautiful waterfalls, and climbed the cliffs to visit the abandoned granaries and buildings perched high above the inhabited towns. The Dogon people migrated to the Falaise de Bandiagara from the surrounding plains in around 1300 AD, taking refuge from various other groups who were expanding into the area and introducing Islam. Today, most Dogon follow their traditional religion, although about 35% are Muslim and a smaller minority are Christian. It's not unusual for people in the same village to follow different religions, intermarriage between faiths being quite common. Tolerance is just one of the Dogon's many admirable characteristics.
Before the Dogon inhabited the escarpment, it was inhabited by the Tellem people. The origins of the Tellem are unclear, Dogon tradition describe them as small and red-skinned, and none remain today, but their houses and cave dwellings built high on the escarpment can still be seen. The vertical cliff is several hundred meters high (overhanging in some places), yet the Tellem managed to build houses and granaries in the most inaccessible places (see photos). Most cannot be reached today, and the Dogon believe the Tellem could fly, or maybe used long ropes to lower themselves from the top of the escarpment. Another theory suggests that the wetter climjate of the previous millennium allowed vines and creepers to cover the cliff, providing natural ladders for the early inhabitants. The Tellem also used the caves in the cliffs to bury their dead, and many are still full of ancient human bones.
Before the Dogon inhabited the escarpment, it was inhabited by the Tellem people. The origins of the Tellem are unclear, Dogon tradition describe them as small and red-skinned, and none remain today, but their houses and cave dwellings built high on the escarpment can still be seen. The vertical cliff is several hundred meters high (overhanging in some places), yet the Tellem managed to build houses and granaries in the most inaccessible places (see photos). Most cannot be reached today, and the Dogon believe the Tellem could fly, or maybe used long ropes to lower themselves from the top of the escarpment. Another theory suggests that the wetter climjate of the previous millennium allowed vines and creepers to cover the cliff, providing natural ladders for the early inhabitants. The Tellem also used the caves in the cliffs to bury their dead, and many are still full of ancient human bones.
Small mud mosque in a small Dogon village
Hunters hut in Dogon Country, Mali
BOAT RIDE (THREE DAYS, TWO NIGHTS) FROM MOPTI TO TIMBUKTU, MALI
MALI, TIMBUKTU (TOMBOUCTOU)
Inside a Touareg nomad's hut, drinking tea:
A very friendly Tuareg nomad named Salime, in blue flowing robe and turban, started walking with us, then invited us to his tent to have tea. He was genuinely nice and a few of his friends dropped in to join us, then after tea, very politely showed us some jewelry, wood carvings, and Tuareg knives that were for sale. We politely bargained some reasonable prices for a few items, and took some photos before leaving. During the 45 minutes or so that we were there, a woman sat over in one corner looking at the wall for the duration. Salime told me his wife was just following the Tuareg tradition of not joining into conversation with mixed company. He allowed us to ask any questions we wanted and to take pictures. I took a photo of his wife, obediently facing the wall while her grandchild was frolicin on the mat in front of her. Salime was truly friendly and invited us to join his family for dinner that night. We accepted the invitation and had rice and meat sauce for dinner, with camel cheese appetizers on a sand dune covered with some mats under the full moon on the edge of the Sahara Desert. Salime always smiles, is a real gentleman, and never gets upset. We later heard from others that he is called "jamais fache' ", in English, "never angry".
Street scene, Timbuktu
Sahara desert camel ride
Sahara desert camel rideSENEGAL, WEST AFRICA
After one night in downtown Dakar, I moved toYoff, a suburban fishing/beach town near the international airport. It is known for being quite calm and very safe.
Yoff is very conservative, the majority of the population belongs to a particularly conservative, but not extremist, sect of Islam. There are no bars in Yoff, and even though there is a beach, the people do not wear skimpy bathing suits. It is rare to see any local women on the beach unless they are fully covered. One neighborhood or district within Yoff is home to the mausoleum of a famous Marabout. The whole district is considered to be a shrine to this Marabout and they follow a strict set of rules that visitors, including foreigners are expected to respect. As one enters the district wherein lies the mausoleum of this famous marabout, there are signs warning that indecent clothing is forbidden. Then it says that women cannot wear pants or mini-skirts. Finally it warns that smoking is forbidden in this district.
Yoff is also known for its healers, people come from all over West Africa to find cures for illnesses and physical problems. According to the Lonely Planet Guide book, the healing ceremonies are not unlike some forms of voodoo
Yoff village beach near Dakar Senegal
Yoff village fishing piroguesDAKAR
Goree island, now a memorial to the slaves that were kept imprisoned here before being shipped to Western countries
MOROCCO
CASABLANCA
Hassan Mosque
Inside the Hassan Mosque
FES, MOROCCO
FES, EL BALI
Tanning and dyein vats, Fes, Morocco
Yellow dye
Yellow dye
Moroccan cuisine... Tajines
DAR M Palace MarrakechThe main plaza, Djemaa el Fna, in Marrakech is like a carnival, there are dancers, drummers, snake charmers, contortionists, herbalists, medicine men/women, singers and guitar players all around the plaza. The tourists are trying to snap photos or take film footage without being caught by the entertainers who then chase them down to get a tip for the photo or film footage taken. I have fun just watching this ordeal. The tourist tries to snap the photo unseen, but there is always a member of the entertainment group keeping a sharp eye out for cameras. After the photo is taken the “watchman” comes with a hat and demands a tip. If one dirham (10 cents) is offered, he scoffs and demands 10 or 20. They are relentless and don’t let up until they get some money. I watched one woman get right up in the face of a dancer and take almost a minute of film footage, then try to leave. She was followed for as far as I could see, the whole time she was trying to avoid payment. I’m not sure what the outcome was. It’s a constant battle, entertainers trying to earn a living, and tourists trying to take pictures without giving a ‘tip’.
Musicians in Djemaa el FnaMEKNES, MOROCCO
Olive store in Madina market
By now, I have found that passing time in the Madinas, the old part of the cities, is a favored pastime. The brick paved streets of the Medina, which are usually blocked off to any automobile traffic, but not mopeds and scooters, which occasionally weave their way through the pedestrian traffic, are not too crowded during the daytime, and the sights and sounds are muted. Many of the streets in the Madinas are barely wide enough for several people to pass each other and are flanked by shops that sell EVERYTHING! There are restaurants, phone centers, electronic shops, CD shops, jewelry stores and barber shops. Some shops specialize in clothing, shoes, fabric, accessories, formal wear, leather goods, traditional goods, or sports wear, while others carry all of the above. There are also shops that sell fruit, yogurt, and pastries that can be eaten at small tables crammed up against the walls of the tiny storefronts, or which spill out into the walkway blocking pedestrian traffic when there are a lot of people. The ice cream shops display 15 to 20 flavors of ice cream in glass cases… these are really difficult to resist. Other stores sell coffee beans, white beans, chickpeas, brown beans, and other bean-like things I cannot identify. Then there are the stores that sell red, yellow, brown, white, grey, and green powdery spices, coffee beans and nuts (walnuts, peanuts, almonds of different sizes and quantities) figs, and dates, all available in bulk and sold by the kilo. There are stores that sell brassware, silver tea pots, silver trays, other stores that sell toys, and others with pottery. I have only described a small section of the Madina. Each new area has the same thing, but in a different order. There are several mosques along these routes, and here and there, just some small tiled spaces for stopping and praying. Down the little side alleys there are cheap hotels and residences. During the day, things are a bit on the calm side, not a lot of pedestrian traffic, But by night, the place takes on another life.
At night, in addition to all of the permanent stores accessible during the day, there are temporary street vendors who have set up temporary shop (in the middle of the already too narrow walkways) selling toys, clothing, shoes, lamps, tools, dishes, and candy bars spread out on blankets. This makes it extremely difficult to maneuver through the narrow passageways. There are also mobile salespeople who walk around selling the goods that they carry in their arms or on their head. Food vendors set up outdoor grills at night and the smells of charcoal grilled meat, fish, and sausage now fill the air, mixed with the exotic odor of Moroccan spices that are used in the cooking and the odor of coffee beans being custom roasted in the permanent shops, now almost invisible due to the street vendors. Some food vendors are also mobile, with bags and baskets attached to their bicycles which they pedal up and down the streets, stopping periodically to make a sale. Vendors are shouting out, in Arabic, the descriptions of the items they are selling and the prices. There is the odor of spiced boiling escargot in large vats and people standing beside the vat eating the snails out of small cups and drinking the broth. In the background and above the din of Arabic shouted descriptions of wares, is the sound of music, Western, Arabic traditional, Arabic religious, and Modern Arabic along with my favorite, Arabic rap! To walk in the market in the evening (especially Saturday evening) is to be constantly pushed, bumped into, touched, and jostled, and overwhelmed by sounds and odors, both pleasant and unpleasant. It is not really uncomfortable, nobody seems aggressive. There is a high level of tolerance for crowds of people being squeezed into tight spaces, a part of the experience of shopping in the Madina market.
Olive store in Madina marketBy now, I have found that passing time in the Madinas, the old part of the cities, is a favored pastime. The brick paved streets of the Medina, which are usually blocked off to any automobile traffic, but not mopeds and scooters, which occasionally weave their way through the pedestrian traffic, are not too crowded during the daytime, and the sights and sounds are muted. Many of the streets in the Madinas are barely wide enough for several people to pass each other and are flanked by shops that sell EVERYTHING! There are restaurants, phone centers, electronic shops, CD shops, jewelry stores and barber shops. Some shops specialize in clothing, shoes, fabric, accessories, formal wear, leather goods, traditional goods, or sports wear, while others carry all of the above. There are also shops that sell fruit, yogurt, and pastries that can be eaten at small tables crammed up against the walls of the tiny storefronts, or which spill out into the walkway blocking pedestrian traffic when there are a lot of people. The ice cream shops display 15 to 20 flavors of ice cream in glass cases… these are really difficult to resist. Other stores sell coffee beans, white beans, chickpeas, brown beans, and other bean-like things I cannot identify. Then there are the stores that sell red, yellow, brown, white, grey, and green powdery spices, coffee beans and nuts (walnuts, peanuts, almonds of different sizes and quantities) figs, and dates, all available in bulk and sold by the kilo. There are stores that sell brassware, silver tea pots, silver trays, other stores that sell toys, and others with pottery. I have only described a small section of the Madina. Each new area has the same thing, but in a different order. There are several mosques along these routes, and here and there, just some small tiled spaces for stopping and praying. Down the little side alleys there are cheap hotels and residences. During the day, things are a bit on the calm side, not a lot of pedestrian traffic, But by night, the place takes on another life.
At night, in addition to all of the permanent stores accessible during the day, there are temporary street vendors who have set up temporary shop (in the middle of the already too narrow walkways) selling toys, clothing, shoes, lamps, tools, dishes, and candy bars spread out on blankets. This makes it extremely difficult to maneuver through the narrow passageways. There are also mobile salespeople who walk around selling the goods that they carry in their arms or on their head. Food vendors set up outdoor grills at night and the smells of charcoal grilled meat, fish, and sausage now fill the air, mixed with the exotic odor of Moroccan spices that are used in the cooking and the odor of coffee beans being custom roasted in the permanent shops, now almost invisible due to the street vendors. Some food vendors are also mobile, with bags and baskets attached to their bicycles which they pedal up and down the streets, stopping periodically to make a sale. Vendors are shouting out, in Arabic, the descriptions of the items they are selling and the prices. There is the odor of spiced boiling escargot in large vats and people standing beside the vat eating the snails out of small cups and drinking the broth. In the background and above the din of Arabic shouted descriptions of wares, is the sound of music, Western, Arabic traditional, Arabic religious, and Modern Arabic along with my favorite, Arabic rap! To walk in the market in the evening (especially Saturday evening) is to be constantly pushed, bumped into, touched, and jostled, and overwhelmed by sounds and odors, both pleasant and unpleasant. It is not really uncomfortable, nobody seems aggressive. There is a high level of tolerance for crowds of people being squeezed into tight spaces, a part of the experience of shopping in the Madina market.
Looking out a window of a student's room in a Medersa, or Koranic school, (no longer used) next to the Grand Mosque in Fes, to see the fine tile work (zellij), woodwork (screens in carved cedar) and carved stucco.
MOROCCO, MIDDLE ATLAS
I met a Peace Corps volunteer while travelling in the Middle-Atlas mountains in North-Central Morocco and he invited me to his ‘site’ next to a national forest in the mountains near the town of Taza. It was a beautiful drive up a winding road out of the dry foothills into the more verdant oak and cork forested mountains. On the way up we passed olive, almond, and cherry groves and tumbling waterfalls coming from a prolific spring about halfway up to the national forest. We were on a paved road the whole way up (over 27 km) then the taxi dropped us at the dirt road to his village, Aïn Bechar. We walked a couple of kilometres across a fertile depression past shepherds managing their herds of sheep and along a valley to his small village of about 200 inhabitants. I met his host family consisting of the Elderly Berber grandfather (in his eighties) who still worked with the sheep daily in the hills, his Berber wife and their three sons. One of the sons has an Arab wife and he lives in the same house along with his wife and four kids. Berber and Arabic are spoken here.
The yard around the rock and mud brick house built into the side of the hill had flowering fruit trees in a small fenced area (apples, pears, and cherries), a vegetable garden, and a menagerie of animals; cows, sheep, turkeys, chickens, and goats that graze during the day, and then are penned up during the night. They also grow wheat in the low-lying irrigated area a few hundred meters from the house. Jeff, the volunteer who stays here, tells me they get 95% of their food needs met from the garden and the animals. We had couscous with goats milk for dinner and coffee with goats milk for breakfast. There is a spring coming out of the side of the mountain that fills up a cistern where they draw drinking water and it also feeds the irrigation system to irrigate the wheat fields and individual gardens.
I met a Peace Corps volunteer while travelling in the Middle-Atlas mountains in North-Central Morocco and he invited me to his ‘site’ next to a national forest in the mountains near the town of Taza. It was a beautiful drive up a winding road out of the dry foothills into the more verdant oak and cork forested mountains. On the way up we passed olive, almond, and cherry groves and tumbling waterfalls coming from a prolific spring about halfway up to the national forest. We were on a paved road the whole way up (over 27 km) then the taxi dropped us at the dirt road to his village, Aïn Bechar. We walked a couple of kilometres across a fertile depression past shepherds managing their herds of sheep and along a valley to his small village of about 200 inhabitants. I met his host family consisting of the Elderly Berber grandfather (in his eighties) who still worked with the sheep daily in the hills, his Berber wife and their three sons. One of the sons has an Arab wife and he lives in the same house along with his wife and four kids. Berber and Arabic are spoken here.
The yard around the rock and mud brick house built into the side of the hill had flowering fruit trees in a small fenced area (apples, pears, and cherries), a vegetable garden, and a menagerie of animals; cows, sheep, turkeys, chickens, and goats that graze during the day, and then are penned up during the night. They also grow wheat in the low-lying irrigated area a few hundred meters from the house. Jeff, the volunteer who stays here, tells me they get 95% of their food needs met from the garden and the animals. We had couscous with goats milk for dinner and coffee with goats milk for breakfast. There is a spring coming out of the side of the mountain that fills up a cistern where they draw drinking water and it also feeds the irrigation system to irrigate the wheat fields and individual gardens. MOROCCO, RABAT
The ancient Challah fortress on the edge of the city of Rabat, capital of Morocco
These 'water sellers' carry leather bags of water and serve it to paying tourists in brass bowls
The ancient Challah fortress on the edge of the city of Rabat, capital of Morocco
These 'water sellers' carry leather bags of water and serve it to paying tourists in brass bowlsEGYPT
CAIRO
Arrival and clearing customs in Cairo at just after midnight June 2, 2006 was painless. I had made arrangements in advance by internet to have a local hotel send a car for me. I was greeted by a wild-eyed Egyptian taxi driver who took only 30 minutes to get from the airport to downtown Cairo in a 30 year old Peugeot that was in top condition. He raced through red lights, weaved in between slower moving taxis (which was every other taxi on the road, no one was going to stay ahead of this guy). Praise to Allah for light traffic at this hour! Cairo is an incredibly busy city of over 13 million people stretching along the Nile Valley just south of the Nile Delta and the Mediterranean Sea.
Imagine arriving in New York City for your first visit and not knowing your way around. Then imagine all of the street signs, billboards and highway signs written in Arabic and a system of driving that disregards traffic rules and safety. That would give you an idea of my first impressions upon arrival in Cairo. At first I was intimidated! After a night of rest in a comfortable hotel, and a few hours wandering the streets the following day, I lost my fear. The Cairenes are friendly and helpful, especially as one travels away from the heavy tourist areas.
Tentmaker in the market, Cairo
That same evening I attended a performance by sufi dancers (whirling dervishes) in this same Islamic quarter. The show was performed by a group of musicians with stringed, wind, and percussion instruments in either white or black robes. But the highlight was the whirling dervishes that would come out in long colorful multilayered robes that opened up like umbrellas when the dancers would start spinning, non-stop for as long as 15 to 20 minutes at a time. Even when they stopped spinning at the end of a dance, it was not as if they were even dizzy. The musicians would dance around the whirling dervishes while playing their drums, flutes, and stringed instruments. The show was intense and exhilarating and the 45 minute walk back to the hotel through the crowded streets of Cairo was as entertaining as the performance. We often stopped to talk to friendly shop-owners out on the sidewalk in front of their stores enjoying the cool evening, or to chat with street vendors who would greet us with “Welcome to Egypt” as we worked our way through the crowds. We stopped for camel meat pita sandwiches sold from a temporary sidewalk café. Food is cheap here, I had one meal that consisted of four falafel patties, tahini sauce, salad and lentil beans, with baklava for dessert, for about 75cents, and that included a 10% tip.
Whirling Dervishes... Sufi Dancers, Cairo
Cairo bottle shop... and Goodyear outlet?
I spent my second day in Cairo visiting the Islamic quarter. Although most of Cairo’s skyline is dotted with minarets, this area has the highest concentration and some of the oldest mosques in Cairo. There is one mosque (Al Alzhar) with three minarets, each designed and constructed during a different century (13th, 14th, and 15th). I climbed to the top of two minarets at the old city wall of this district and was able to look down on the hundreds of minarets within viewing distance, including the minarets surrounding the Huge Muhammed Ali Mosque in the Citadel. A rest stop at a local Ahwa, or coffeeshop was an opportunity to sip ice cold fresh-squeezed mango while sitting at a sidewalk table with entertainment provided by passing vendors selling wallets, lighters, walking-canes, cigarette holders and tiny packets of tissues. Their method of selling was to stick these items within inches of my face as they passed by my table, saying “excuse me mister, excuse me mister, where are you from.”
Great Pyramids of Giza 5,000 years ago. It took about an hour by public transport bus, minivan, and subway to get to the edge of Giza, where the pyramids are located, a suburb of sprawling Cairo.
EGYPT, LUXOR
Luxor is very, very hot. Over 110 degrees by the middle of the day. I spent the morning after arrival exploring some huge ancient temples (Luxor and Karnak) but by 2:00 retired to my air-conditioned room for a cool nap. Luxor has been a tourist center since the late 1800s, and has been booming since the early 1900s with lots of tourists from all over the world. There were visitors to some of these ancient monuments even during the Greek and Roman times. I had planned to stay four days in Luxor, but left after two due to the high level of harassment by locals wanting to make some money off of tourists. It is impossible to walk the streets without a constant barrage of people offering goods and services. They seem to speak and understand English without ever having learned what the word “no” means. In Luxor, ‘No’ is always answered with “why”.
MEDINAT
COLOSSUS OF MEMNON
On the second day I was up by 5 (wanting to start early to beat the heat) and walked down to take the ferry across the Nile, then walked the three kilometers past the Colossus of Memnon, to the edge of the dry, sandy mountains that rise up above the fertile Nile valley. It is startling how lush the growth is in the valley, and how suddenly it turns to the rocky dry desert that sustains no evidence of life. I then climbed to the top of the mountain to look down into the valley of the kings. I could see all the tourists entering King Tut’s tomb, but did not want to fight the crowds to go inside myself. Instead I walked over to the valley of the Queens, where Queen Nefertiti’s tomb is, and went inside several tombs there to see the beautifully painted walls. Finally, I walked over to a huge temple called Medinat Habu which had some pretty impressive columns and wall paintings that still had some of the color visible. I walked back into the lush valley, and to the edge of the Nile to take the ferry back across to central Luxor and was back in my air-conditioned room napping by 2:00 p.m. The heat is oppressive, as are the touts and hustlers that harass tourists non-stop.
In the last few months I have moved from the furthest west reaches of intensive Islamic influence (Guinea with the African variation on Islam and Morocco wanting to identify more with the Arab world and less with Europe), then flown across the world’s largest desert and spent time in what is considered to be the heart of Islam, Egypt, where, surprisingly, Islam manifested itself in a much different way than Morocco. My next flight took me across the sea of sand called the Saudi Arabian Peninsula, passing just 200 miles north of Mecca, the birthplace and holiest city of Islam. I flew over some territory that I have never flown over before. Our flight path took us just south of Baghdad, with Iraq and Kuwait also not too far to the north. We landed in Bahrain, a small island in the Arabian Gulf, just north of Oman, and east of Saudi Arabia. The island is just an extension of the desert out into this beautiful Gulf. Bahrain has a modern airport and beautiful skyscrapers and well-designed bridges connecting them to the mainland. Bahrain is one of the oil-wealthy kingdoms of the Gulf.
Arrival and clearing customs in Cairo at just after midnight June 2, 2006 was painless. I had made arrangements in advance by internet to have a local hotel send a car for me. I was greeted by a wild-eyed Egyptian taxi driver who took only 30 minutes to get from the airport to downtown Cairo in a 30 year old Peugeot that was in top condition. He raced through red lights, weaved in between slower moving taxis (which was every other taxi on the road, no one was going to stay ahead of this guy). Praise to Allah for light traffic at this hour! Cairo is an incredibly busy city of over 13 million people stretching along the Nile Valley just south of the Nile Delta and the Mediterranean Sea.
Imagine arriving in New York City for your first visit and not knowing your way around. Then imagine all of the street signs, billboards and highway signs written in Arabic and a system of driving that disregards traffic rules and safety. That would give you an idea of my first impressions upon arrival in Cairo. At first I was intimidated! After a night of rest in a comfortable hotel, and a few hours wandering the streets the following day, I lost my fear. The Cairenes are friendly and helpful, especially as one travels away from the heavy tourist areas.
Tentmaker in the market, Cairo
That same evening I attended a performance by sufi dancers (whirling dervishes) in this same Islamic quarter. The show was performed by a group of musicians with stringed, wind, and percussion instruments in either white or black robes. But the highlight was the whirling dervishes that would come out in long colorful multilayered robes that opened up like umbrellas when the dancers would start spinning, non-stop for as long as 15 to 20 minutes at a time. Even when they stopped spinning at the end of a dance, it was not as if they were even dizzy. The musicians would dance around the whirling dervishes while playing their drums, flutes, and stringed instruments. The show was intense and exhilarating and the 45 minute walk back to the hotel through the crowded streets of Cairo was as entertaining as the performance. We often stopped to talk to friendly shop-owners out on the sidewalk in front of their stores enjoying the cool evening, or to chat with street vendors who would greet us with “Welcome to Egypt” as we worked our way through the crowds. We stopped for camel meat pita sandwiches sold from a temporary sidewalk café. Food is cheap here, I had one meal that consisted of four falafel patties, tahini sauce, salad and lentil beans, with baklava for dessert, for about 75cents, and that included a 10% tip.
Whirling Dervishes... Sufi Dancers, Cairo
Cairo bottle shop... and Goodyear outlet?I spent my second day in Cairo visiting the Islamic quarter. Although most of Cairo’s skyline is dotted with minarets, this area has the highest concentration and some of the oldest mosques in Cairo. There is one mosque (Al Alzhar) with three minarets, each designed and constructed during a different century (13th, 14th, and 15th). I climbed to the top of two minarets at the old city wall of this district and was able to look down on the hundreds of minarets within viewing distance, including the minarets surrounding the Huge Muhammed Ali Mosque in the Citadel. A rest stop at a local Ahwa, or coffeeshop was an opportunity to sip ice cold fresh-squeezed mango while sitting at a sidewalk table with entertainment provided by passing vendors selling wallets, lighters, walking-canes, cigarette holders and tiny packets of tissues. Their method of selling was to stick these items within inches of my face as they passed by my table, saying “excuse me mister, excuse me mister, where are you from.”
Great Pyramids of Giza 5,000 years ago. It took about an hour by public transport bus, minivan, and subway to get to the edge of Giza, where the pyramids are located, a suburb of sprawling Cairo.
EGYPT, LUXORLuxor is very, very hot. Over 110 degrees by the middle of the day. I spent the morning after arrival exploring some huge ancient temples (Luxor and Karnak) but by 2:00 retired to my air-conditioned room for a cool nap. Luxor has been a tourist center since the late 1800s, and has been booming since the early 1900s with lots of tourists from all over the world. There were visitors to some of these ancient monuments even during the Greek and Roman times. I had planned to stay four days in Luxor, but left after two due to the high level of harassment by locals wanting to make some money off of tourists. It is impossible to walk the streets without a constant barrage of people offering goods and services. They seem to speak and understand English without ever having learned what the word “no” means. In Luxor, ‘No’ is always answered with “why”.
MEDINAT
COLOSSUS OF MEMNON
On the second day I was up by 5 (wanting to start early to beat the heat) and walked down to take the ferry across the Nile, then walked the three kilometers past the Colossus of Memnon, to the edge of the dry, sandy mountains that rise up above the fertile Nile valley. It is startling how lush the growth is in the valley, and how suddenly it turns to the rocky dry desert that sustains no evidence of life. I then climbed to the top of the mountain to look down into the valley of the kings. I could see all the tourists entering King Tut’s tomb, but did not want to fight the crowds to go inside myself. Instead I walked over to the valley of the Queens, where Queen Nefertiti’s tomb is, and went inside several tombs there to see the beautifully painted walls. Finally, I walked over to a huge temple called Medinat Habu which had some pretty impressive columns and wall paintings that still had some of the color visible. I walked back into the lush valley, and to the edge of the Nile to take the ferry back across to central Luxor and was back in my air-conditioned room napping by 2:00 p.m. The heat is oppressive, as are the touts and hustlers that harass tourists non-stop.
EGYPT, ASWAN
INDIA
In the last few months I have moved from the furthest west reaches of intensive Islamic influence (Guinea with the African variation on Islam and Morocco wanting to identify more with the Arab world and less with Europe), then flown across the world’s largest desert and spent time in what is considered to be the heart of Islam, Egypt, where, surprisingly, Islam manifested itself in a much different way than Morocco. My next flight took me across the sea of sand called the Saudi Arabian Peninsula, passing just 200 miles north of Mecca, the birthplace and holiest city of Islam. I flew over some territory that I have never flown over before. Our flight path took us just south of Baghdad, with Iraq and Kuwait also not too far to the north. We landed in Bahrain, a small island in the Arabian Gulf, just north of Oman, and east of Saudi Arabia. The island is just an extension of the desert out into this beautiful Gulf. Bahrain has a modern airport and beautiful skyscrapers and well-designed bridges connecting them to the mainland. Bahrain is one of the oil-wealthy kingdoms of the Gulf.
INDIA, DELHI
I am on my way out of the Muslim world. It is a strange feeling to leave that behind after living there for almost four years. India is mostly Hindu, especially here in Delhi. I’m in the old part of the city, but I do not hear the prayer call. I have to consult a watch to know what time of day it is. There are not many minarets filling the skyline, Hindu temples though are frequently sighted, along with a few Buddhist temples scattered here and there.
I have grown accustomed to crowded streets, cows blocking traffic, constant honking of horns and have learned to completely ignore all of the hustlers and touts that try to sell me a product or service as I walk down the street. I had started enjoying Delhi.
The Taj Mahal
I have grown accustomed to crowded streets, cows blocking traffic, constant honking of horns and have learned to completely ignore all of the hustlers and touts that try to sell me a product or service as I walk down the street. I had started enjoying Delhi.
The Taj Mahal
INDIA, HARIDWAR
Haridwar is located at the point where the sacred Ganges river flows form the foothills of the Himalayas out to the plains of Northern India. All summer long Hindus from all over India travel to Haridwar to bathe in the Ganges, visit the many temples and shrines built in honor or the different Hindu lords and mythological figures. There are open plazas on both sides of the river with steps going right down into the water so the pilgrims can submerge themselves for their spiritual cleansing. The Ganges is believed to flow from the hair of Shiva and bathing in the river is a very spiritual event, especially in Haridwar. It took a few days in Haridwar to realize that the whole place is devoted to the worship of the Mother Ganges. Since it is a spiritual location, there is no beer or alcohol served anywhere in town and no meat is served. All restaurants are vegetarian. The streets were filled with Indian pilgrims. This is one of the places the Kumb Mehla takes place, a spiritual celebration that attracts as many as 10 million people. The Kumb Mehla actually takes place every three years but rotates to four different places, thus happening only every 12 years in each of the locations. Haridwar had the Kumb Mehla in 1998 and will have it again in 2006.
INDIA, RISHIKESH
Rishikesh. This is another sacred spot dotted with temples, ashrams, and shrines. This is the place to come study yoga, meditation, therapeutic massage and traditional Ayurvedic healing methods. Rishikesh is famous for the ashram where the Beatles came to study under the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. This ashram, now abandoned (since the mid-nineties) and being reclaimed by the jungle-like growth on the side of the mountain where this self-contained center was built, is closed to the public but I managed to find my way in. I wandered through the 40 or so acres of gardens, meditation caves, and several buildings with hundreds of guest rooms, conference center, hospital, employee village and meditation huts for several hours with a young man who knew the guards and a little bit about the history of the place. The highlight of the visit was the visit to the guru’s personal residence sitting on a high bluff overlooking the Ganges River. Much of the landscaped garden with cement pools and walkways was still intact, although overgrown and unkempt.
Meditation huts at abandoned Ashram of Guru Mahara ji. This is where The Beatles spent time in the 60's and became followers of this Guru.
I attended the Ganga Aarti ceremony along the river at Swarg Ashram near Rishikesh. This is a daily ceremony held at different locations along the Ganges every evening. Devotees come beside the river near sunset, chant, sing, and as the sun sets, the set afloat tiny rafts made of large leaves, filled with flowers and a small burning candle in the middle. It is their offering each evening to the “Mother Ganges” which sustains all life in this Hindu world. The ceremony is quite joyful and lively.
Floating restaurant, Mekong River, Vientiane, Laos
Former Buddhist Temple, now a museum of Buddhist artifacts.
Patuxai Victory Monument, Vientiane, Laos
Laos, Luang PrabangUNESCO World Heritage Site
City of Monks
Laos, Vang Vieng
Haridwar is located at the point where the sacred Ganges river flows form the foothills of the Himalayas out to the plains of Northern India. All summer long Hindus from all over India travel to Haridwar to bathe in the Ganges, visit the many temples and shrines built in honor or the different Hindu lords and mythological figures. There are open plazas on both sides of the river with steps going right down into the water so the pilgrims can submerge themselves for their spiritual cleansing. The Ganges is believed to flow from the hair of Shiva and bathing in the river is a very spiritual event, especially in Haridwar. It took a few days in Haridwar to realize that the whole place is devoted to the worship of the Mother Ganges. Since it is a spiritual location, there is no beer or alcohol served anywhere in town and no meat is served. All restaurants are vegetarian. The streets were filled with Indian pilgrims. This is one of the places the Kumb Mehla takes place, a spiritual celebration that attracts as many as 10 million people. The Kumb Mehla actually takes place every three years but rotates to four different places, thus happening only every 12 years in each of the locations. Haridwar had the Kumb Mehla in 1998 and will have it again in 2006.
INDIA, RISHIKESH
Rishikesh. This is another sacred spot dotted with temples, ashrams, and shrines. This is the place to come study yoga, meditation, therapeutic massage and traditional Ayurvedic healing methods. Rishikesh is famous for the ashram where the Beatles came to study under the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. This ashram, now abandoned (since the mid-nineties) and being reclaimed by the jungle-like growth on the side of the mountain where this self-contained center was built, is closed to the public but I managed to find my way in. I wandered through the 40 or so acres of gardens, meditation caves, and several buildings with hundreds of guest rooms, conference center, hospital, employee village and meditation huts for several hours with a young man who knew the guards and a little bit about the history of the place. The highlight of the visit was the visit to the guru’s personal residence sitting on a high bluff overlooking the Ganges River. Much of the landscaped garden with cement pools and walkways was still intact, although overgrown and unkempt.
Meditation huts at abandoned Ashram of Guru Mahara ji. This is where The Beatles spent time in the 60's and became followers of this Guru.
INDIA, RISHIKESH, GAANGA ARTI CEREMONY
I attended the Ganga Aarti ceremony along the river at Swarg Ashram near Rishikesh. This is a daily ceremony held at different locations along the Ganges every evening. Devotees come beside the river near sunset, chant, sing, and as the sun sets, the set afloat tiny rafts made of large leaves, filled with flowers and a small burning candle in the middle. It is their offering each evening to the “Mother Ganges” which sustains all life in this Hindu world. The ceremony is quite joyful and lively.
LAOS, VIENTIANE
Floating restaurant, Mekong River, Vientiane, Laos
Former Buddhist Temple, now a museum of Buddhist artifacts.
Patuxai Victory Monument, Vientiane, Laos
Laos, Luang Prabang
City of Monks
Laos, Vang Vieng
THAILAND, NONG KHAI
This smal Thai town sits on the Mekong River, just across the 'friendship' bridge connecting Thailand to Laos. Vientiane, Laos, is a short bus ride across the bridge. I got to Nong Khai by taking a very comfortable overnight train from Bangkok, Thailand.
Nong Khai sits on the Mekong River just across from Laos, connected by the Freedom Bridge which is just 15 km. from Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Nong Khai is a tourist town with hundreds of beautiful Buddhist shrines and temples, and famous for the sculpture park where the “half man, half animal” Laotian artist Luang Pu Boun Leua created hundreds of concrete statues of Buddhist and Hindu religious and mythical beings (some of them huge, one of Buddhas is eight stories high). I rented a bicycle for the day and rode past many of the beautiful shrines and went into the sculpture park about 4 km. from my hotel.
Amongst these huge statues of religious and mythical figures, is an enclosure at one end of the park which represents the samsara-cycle, with an entrance symbolic of re-entering the womb, it was necessary to bend over to walk through the tunnel-like entrance, surrounded by sculpted figures standing waiting to be born. (Samsara is the Buddhist concpt that souls are born and reborn in an endless cycle and improve one’s next life and lessen the suffering one must “make merit). Inside the enclosure were statues representing the different stages of life and included two skeletons embracing to show that passion isn’t lasting. It was a panorama of life’s possibilities.
.++Even+Ronald+is+culturally+sensitive!Who+da%27+thunk+it..JPG)
Ronald gives the traditional greeting, the Thai 'Wai'
Traditional Thai huts.
Koh Chang Beach at sunset
While visiting Lonely Beach, I visited a traditional tattoo parlor to see the process of using a bamboo stick with a needle attached to create elaborate tattoos just as quickly as the machine process we use in the U.S.A. I met a tattoo artist at a local shop named “One” whose upper body is completely covered in tattoos applied by his father who was also a tattoo artist. You can see some tattoo work even on his eyelids that extend to the outer edges of his eyes. The shops are there to cater to western tourists who are used to paying a high price for tattoos, but most of the locals also have tattoos, mostly, huge tattoos covering their whole back.
Tourist hotel at main beach, Koh Chang
Boat trip, Thailand to Cambodia
Sihanoukville, Cambodia, Korean Tae Kwon Do team visiting for competition being held there.
Nong Khai sits on the Mekong River just across from Laos, connected by the Freedom Bridge which is just 15 km. from Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Nong Khai is a tourist town with hundreds of beautiful Buddhist shrines and temples, and famous for the sculpture park where the “half man, half animal” Laotian artist Luang Pu Boun Leua created hundreds of concrete statues of Buddhist and Hindu religious and mythical beings (some of them huge, one of Buddhas is eight stories high). I rented a bicycle for the day and rode past many of the beautiful shrines and went into the sculpture park about 4 km. from my hotel.Amongst these huge statues of religious and mythical figures, is an enclosure at one end of the park which represents the samsara-cycle, with an entrance symbolic of re-entering the womb, it was necessary to bend over to walk through the tunnel-like entrance, surrounded by sculpted figures standing waiting to be born. (Samsara is the Buddhist concpt that souls are born and reborn in an endless cycle and improve one’s next life and lessen the suffering one must “make merit). Inside the enclosure were statues representing the different stages of life and included two skeletons embracing to show that passion isn’t lasting. It was a panorama of life’s possibilities.
THAILAND, BANGKOK
It was nice to get back into Bangkok and feast on Pad Thai, Tom Kha Gai, spicy papaya salad, noodle soup for breakfast, and sticky rice with mangoes for desert. Things are a bit more developed than what I have been used to for the last four years, and now I am growing accustomed to the types of comforts that “development” brings. Bangkok is an oasis of calm and clean! The airport was shiny clean, organized, and extremely calm. There were no people pushing in front of others to get to the front of the customs line and the new Mercedes taxis and their calm drivers were waiting outside the “arrivals” terminal but there was no “rush” of hustling taxi drivers trying to convince arriving passengers to take “THEIR” taxi, just an orderly line at the taxi “prepay” window. I had just come from one of the most crowded, chaotic cities in the world, and even though many people consider Bangkok to be crowded and chaotic, for me, after traveling in Delhi, Cairo and the tourist cities of Morocco, (and of course Conakry) Bangkok is the most peaceful, organized and calm city I have been in for quite awhile..++Even+Ronald+is+culturally+sensitive!Who+da%27+thunk+it..JPG)
Ronald gives the traditional greeting, the Thai 'Wai'
THAILAND, KOH CHANG
I am now resting in Kai Be village, on Koh Chang (“Koh” is the Thai word for island, and Chang is the word for elephant). There is plenty of pristine rainforest in the mountains above the white sandy beaches along the winding paved road that runs along the west coast. After crossing the ferry and dealing with the “taxi scam” that awaits unsuspecting tourists, I rode past the main beach to a beach town that is frequented mostly by Thai tourists. Traditional Thai huts.
Koh Chang Beach at sunset
Beachfront restaurant and Bar, Koh Chang.
Beachfront huts in Kai Be.
While visiting Lonely Beach, I visited a traditional tattoo parlor to see the process of using a bamboo stick with a needle attached to create elaborate tattoos just as quickly as the machine process we use in the U.S.A. I met a tattoo artist at a local shop named “One” whose upper body is completely covered in tattoos applied by his father who was also a tattoo artist. You can see some tattoo work even on his eyelids that extend to the outer edges of his eyes. The shops are there to cater to western tourists who are used to paying a high price for tattoos, but most of the locals also have tattoos, mostly, huge tattoos covering their whole back.
Tourist hotel at main beach, Koh Chang
CAMBODIA, WITH MEKONG RIVER TRIP TO VIETNAM
Boat trip, Thailand to Cambodia
Sihanoukville, Cambodia, Korean Tae Kwon Do team visiting for competition being held there.MEKONG RIVER TRIP BETWEEN CAMBODIA AND VIETNAM
Cambodian villages along Mekong River.
The Mekong Delta was crowded with people. All of Vietnam is crowded as it is the 13th most populated country in the world but does not have much land mass. I expected to go to the Delta and find a more sparsely populated area, but there seemed to be no open countryside along the rivers or the highways. Even the Mekong River and all of its tributaries in the delta are clogged with floating houses and is densely populated all along the shores. At one point we rode in a bus from the central delta, going north to the Cambodian border and for three hours there was no open countryside, it was densely populated the whole distance. It was the same when we got into a boat and traveled north, going up the Mekong River, right up to the Cambodian border, it was densely populated both on shore and in the river with floating houses for those who had migrated to Vietnam and found no land available to build homes. There was apparently a lot of migration from Cambodia during the last half of the previous century due to civil war in Cambodia and ethnic cleansing that was taking place on account of the Khmer Rouge revolution.
Floating villages on Mekong River, Vietnam
River Taxi, Mekong Delta, Vietnam
Floating market, Mekong Delta, Vietnam.
Traditional clothing of mountain dwelling tribes, Northern Vietnam
I spent the first day in the town of Sapa, wandering out into the mist and rain when the storm would let up for small segments of time. The second day, I woke up to mist, but by 1030 in the morning, it was clearing and by midday the sun was hot and causing slight sunburns for those of us trekking into the mountains. We walked about four hours into a valley surround by incredibly bright green fields of rice punctuated with stands of bushy bamboo. We stopped just past a pedestrian bridge for lunch, and then continued until we arrived in a small mountain village of Xay tribe people. This is where we spent the night. Upon arrival in the village, there was a large sign describing the rules of conduct for visitors. Most are simple rules, like “ask, before taking a photo,” or “don’t enter someone’s house without permission,” but the most interesting was the one telling us not to enter a home that had green leaves, a bone, or feathers hanging above the front door. These items have been placed above the door by the local shaman to keep the ghosts, or spirits away that are causing some sort of illness or bad luck to the family
Marijuana bush along path to mountain village. She says they don't smoke it, they grow it for the hemp used to make clothing.
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) temple guardian
HOI AN
Cambodian villages along Mekong River.The Mekong Delta was crowded with people. All of Vietnam is crowded as it is the 13th most populated country in the world but does not have much land mass. I expected to go to the Delta and find a more sparsely populated area, but there seemed to be no open countryside along the rivers or the highways. Even the Mekong River and all of its tributaries in the delta are clogged with floating houses and is densely populated all along the shores. At one point we rode in a bus from the central delta, going north to the Cambodian border and for three hours there was no open countryside, it was densely populated the whole distance. It was the same when we got into a boat and traveled north, going up the Mekong River, right up to the Cambodian border, it was densely populated both on shore and in the river with floating houses for those who had migrated to Vietnam and found no land available to build homes. There was apparently a lot of migration from Cambodia during the last half of the previous century due to civil war in Cambodia and ethnic cleansing that was taking place on account of the Khmer Rouge revolution.
Floating villages on Mekong River, Vietnam
River Taxi, Mekong Delta, Vietnam
Floating market, Mekong Delta, Vietnam.NORTHERN VIETNAM, SAPA REGION
Traditional clothing of mountain dwelling tribes, Northern Vietnam
I spent the first day in the town of Sapa, wandering out into the mist and rain when the storm would let up for small segments of time. The second day, I woke up to mist, but by 1030 in the morning, it was clearing and by midday the sun was hot and causing slight sunburns for those of us trekking into the mountains. We walked about four hours into a valley surround by incredibly bright green fields of rice punctuated with stands of bushy bamboo. We stopped just past a pedestrian bridge for lunch, and then continued until we arrived in a small mountain village of Xay tribe people. This is where we spent the night. Upon arrival in the village, there was a large sign describing the rules of conduct for visitors. Most are simple rules, like “ask, before taking a photo,” or “don’t enter someone’s house without permission,” but the most interesting was the one telling us not to enter a home that had green leaves, a bone, or feathers hanging above the front door. These items have been placed above the door by the local shaman to keep the ghosts, or spirits away that are causing some sort of illness or bad luck to the family
Marijuana bush along path to mountain village. She says they don't smoke it, they grow it for the hemp used to make clothing. Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) temple guardian HALONG BAY
This Bay is just north of Hanoi. It is easy to set up trips by bus, then spend a night or two on a boat in the bay. The overnight stay on an old wooden boat was quite peaceful.
HANOI
HOI AN
HUE
