Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
MARCH 14, 2022 – Yugoslavia was my first encounter with a communist state; a nation led by “Big Brother,” Josip Broz Tito—though the man had been deceased for more than a year before I entered the country. Portraits of the strongman were still ubiquitous—a sign that while a power struggle was underway, no doubt, Tito …
MARCH 13, 2022 – Decades before Wokeness, use of the N-word signaled unflattering ignorance, intolerance, and overt racism. In 1981, the G-word, however, considered as derogatory as the N-word, was the only term by which I knew the “Roma” or “Romani” of Europe. This was so even though in 1971, this fascinating but universally despised …
MARCH 12, 2022 – The east end of Samos is a sling shot—or 45-minute ferry ride—from Turkey’s Aegean coast. My original plan was to hop to Asian Minor, travel up the coastline to Istanbul, then proceed north into the Soviet world—Bulgaria, Romania, and beyond. All changed, however, as the ferry pulled away from the dock. …
MARCH 11, 2022 – Though Samos accommodated plenty of German tourists 41 years ago, the island remained largely unspoiled and undeveloped. On our mopeds, Uli and I explored lots of territory, mostly along the 100-mile shoreline of the island. Among the jagged, rocky, drop-offs along the edge of the road overlooking the waters below, we …
MARCH 10, 2022 – While most tourists flocked to the Cyclades, Germans, I discovered, had staked out Samos. Nearly everyone I encountered on the boat from Piraeus was from the FRG (West Germany). During the high season, regular flights brought West Berliners directly to Samos. Though I interacted with Greek servers and shopkeepers, everyone else …
MARCH 9, 2022 – Just as the Jewish person of faith in Jerusalem venerates the Foundation Stone; as a Muslim pilgrim in Mecca rounds the Kaaba; as a devout Catholic at the Vatican genuflects inside the Basilica . . . so does a classics/history major visiting Athens climb the Acropolis. I’d done so two years …
MARCH 8, 2022 – Two years before, I’d approached Athens from Italy via Corfu. That sojourn had been part of a two-week mini-odyssey to Europe—my first trip abroad. My sister Jenny and I had flown Icelandair to Luxembourg, and using Eurail Passes—immensely popular among young American travelers—we’d journeyed to Sweden to visit relatives. By North …
MARCH 7, 2022 – To escape the heat of North Africa, I’d planned to fly to Athens, then head by ferry to Samos and Turkey, thence by train through Bulgaria and Romania. Eventually, I’d wend north to Poland. Since the shooting of President Reagan two months before, I’d been largely isolated from news headlines. I …
MARCH 6, 2022 – I spent several days in and around Luxor. The broad daylight hours were beastly hot, but comfortable hours prevailed before sunrise, after sunset, and in the cooler nighttime air. Much of Luxor was low-key and easily manageable on foot, and in the evenings, my Kiwi friends and I covered much ground, …
MARCH 5, 2022 – If Australia’s Outback was hotter than Hades, the Egyptian desert was hotter yet. After standing for five minutes on sunbaked sand, I felt it burn through the soles of my Nikes. The most welcome hawkers I’d ever seen were the water vendors near the entrance to King Tut’s tomb. Not in …
MARCH 4, 2022 – In Cairo I visited with well-educated Egyptians over coffee and French pastries; stirred by curiosity, I haggled with perfume merchants in a district where every other car parked along the narrow street was a late model, high-end Mercedes; and famished for Western fare, I walked past the valets at the Ritz …
MARCH 3, 2022 – The day arrived when I’d get to see and touch the leading Wonder of the Ancient World—the Great Pyramid of Giza—along with its timeless but smaller two partners, and for extra credit, the nearby Sphinx. As the bus carried my fellow passengers and me through the countryside south of Cairo, I …
MARCH 2, 2022 – Based on enthusiastic recommendations of fellow undergraduates, during my junior year I took “Art of the Ancient Mediterranean” taught by the venerable Professor Beam. With mesmerizing exuberance and museum-quality slides, the good professor led a fascinating classroom tour of the artistic and architectural wonders of the ancient world. In planning my …
MARCH 1, 2022 – After several days of hiking near Pahalgam, I hiked (alone) farther east past the village of Chandanwari and up a switchback trail to a high point of Pissatop Pass (I kid you not), elevation 11,200 feet. I hit the trail at 7:00 a.m. and returned to base after nightfall—exhausted, famished, and …
FEBRUARY 28, 2022 – In my 12/16/21 post, Where the Scenery Never Failed Me, I gave a preview of my venture away from Srinagar and into much higher elevations and rarefied air. That post was a week before my life swerved radically off course and more than a month before I began a measured account …
FEBRUARY 27, 2022 – All oriental carpet hawkers attend the same institution of higher learning: the University of Huckster. In the field, this is how they operate . . . The initial contact occurs beyond the “rug factory.” In Kashmir, this contact was often at a restaurant. A Western-attired, well-spoken guy finds you—ideally in the …
FEBRUARY 26, 2022 – “My friends aboard the houseboat were exceptional people,” I wrote home. “We dined as a group and […] enjoyed long evenings of conversation and charas smoking. ‘Charas,’” I explained, “is the Hindu word for . . . hashish. “Now that you’ve recovered, Mother,” I added, “you may note that hashish is …
FEBRUARY 25, 2022 – (Cont.) The letter home continued . . . While the father and I held the pain-stricken girl, the doctor went straight to work. I doubt if a top-flight Western [nurse or physician] could’ve done a better or swifter job of cleaning and dressing those wounds. Also, I couldn’t imagine a person …
FEBRUARY 24, 2022 – Blogger’s note: As the dedicated reader will observe, this series (and previous posts about the Grand Odyssey) quotes at length from letters home. This feature should not be mistaken for torpidity. The extended verbatim extracts are used to provide a contemporaneous, and therefore, immediate and accurate account of my experience. If …
FEBRUARY 23, 2022 – Blogger’s Note: I dedicate this series to close friends and fellow world travelers (Including India!), Jack Hoeschler and Linda Lovas Hoescholer. Jack is currently experiencing a rough patch in his own Tropic of Cancer. With his unfailing sense of humor, he called me first thing this morning to report on his …
FEBRUARY 22, 2022 – If I’d traveled to Kashmir to experience its natural beauty, I first had to negotiate past the many people trying to make a living off the few people like me. Like a cloud of flies, Kashmiris pestered relentlessly. In my letter home, I describe the “shikara men” who surrounded our houseboat: …
FEBRUARY 21, 2022 – After three hours on the ever-climbing, twisting, jolting road, our bus stopped at a roadside stand for breakfast. John and I ordered chai and chapati, while the three of us—including Thierry—admired the breath-taking mountain views around us. We soon learned that the stop had a a more important purpose: allowing salesmen …
FEBRUARY 20, 2020 – After nine hours of bouncing and twisting our way to ever higher elevations, we reached in darkness our over-night destination: an “inn” at the center of a remote mountain village. We three white strangers—John, Thierry, and I—soon learned that “there was no room at the inn.” The next morning, we discovered …
FEBRUARY 19, 2022 – When I was a kid, I tacked a world map to my bedroom wall. Kashmir was depicted in white and blue stripes, reflecting that it was in dispute between India and Pakistan. No such striping appeared elsewhere on the map, thus rendering Kashmir especially exotic. Once I discovered that the world’s …
FEBRUARY 18, 2022 – I adapted readily to the pulse of Delhi. After my daily breakfast of toast, eggs, and bacon at the “Y,” I’d hit the streets. Each foray took me farther, mostly on foot, but I often hailed an auto-rickshaw to expand my radius. Besides, it was fun to make conversation with the …