A few days after arriving in Osaka, Japan, I flew to Busan, Korea. It was my opportunity to visit Hae-Young Kim, a dear friendfrom North Carolina, while she was in Seoul visiting family. Hae-Young took the title image of me looking out onto the harbor. We’re relaxing at the very cool Momo’s Coffee. Why Busan? […]
This post on Famous Burmese first appeared in July, 2019. After the military coup in Myanmar yesterday, I will repost over the next few days several of the blogs I wrote during my visit there. I’d like my readers to be able to inform themselves about the country from some of my first-hand observations. What […]
Have you ever heard of ghost marriage? If not, what’s your first guess about what it might mean? All my adventures these days are taken in my arm chair, book in hand. I am currently reading Marriage, a History by Stephanie Coontz. The subtitle: From Obedience to Intimacy. Or How Love Conquered Marriage. It first […]
Title image for Hotels Around the World: the key card to my hotel room in Doha, Qatar I evidently forgot to turn the card into the front desk. It now decorates my desk in Bucharest. Travel tip: I have chosen an international hotel chain where I stay in big cities whenever possible. Oh, yeah – […]
Title image: Doha, Qatar skyline seen from the balcony of my hotel room across the bay. Why Doha? From Myanmar I aimed for Romania for the rest of the summer. I figured I could fit in one more stop on my around-the-world ticket. Qatar Airways offered an easy flight from Yangon to Doha, so I […]
Title image: My guide, Win, took this picture of me in front of the Tayok-phi Temple in Bagan, Myanmar. When he showed it to me, I was put in mind of a similar picture of me – always with my umbrella. Here I am in 2016 in front of Guri Amir, the tomb of the […]
Alo Taw Pawk ‘Wish Fulfilling’ Pagoda on Inle Lake, central Myanmar is the title image. Everywhere you look are amazing Inle Lake vistas. Inle Lake Vistas: Pagodas Like everywhere else in Myanmar, this scenic lake is dotted with pagodas. Cruising into the village of Win Yadanar, we passed these: Another view: Some cause for concern. […]
The title image for Inle Lake Villages: water hyacinths growing thick on Inle Lake in central Myanmar. Inle Lake is famous for its villages, indigenous crafts and the fishermen who are out every day from dawn to dusk: Inle Lake Villages: Floating Villages A comparison to Venice is tempting. The streets are, indeed, waterways. Everything […]
The more time I spent in Myanmar, the more I wanted to learn. It helped to have a great guide in Win Kyaw Zan. He taught me about four aspects of Bagan Life. Bagan Life: Beauty Thanakha. The young woman in the title image is wearing it on her face. She has just made a […]
A quick flight from Yangon took us to Bagan. It is the city of 4444 temples and pagodas, mostly from the 13th century. The title image is of Narathihapatae Phaya. It is also called Tayok-pyi < ta ‘Mongolian’ + yok ‘strong energy’ + pyi ‘run away’ + phaya ‘temple.’ It is unfinished. Here’s the story: In […]