There is a weekly flight from Munich to Dushanbe which saves a transit in Moscow, and if you have a letter of invitation, you can get a visa on arrival. Dushanbe is a peaceful city in the trees; everybody walks, street sweepers are out in the early morning to brush away the leaves. The cars are mostly Lada's, a perfect car for the environment since you can fix it yourself. Electric powered buses cruise the main streets stopping only to pickup passangers and put the electrodes back on the wires. Red, white and green blinking flags light up the streets. Men [View Full Entry]

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My first impression of Indonesia and Jakarta when we arrived in 1986 was the open concept airport - the walkways connecting the aircraft with the arrival area were all open - to take advantage of the cool breeze. That is a real selling point when you come from a place where snow is on the ground for several months each year. Maybe I was mistaken, but now they are all glassed in and airconditioned. Huge malls and apartment towers have sprung up, just like in any other large city. They serve A/W Root Beer in frosted mugs (just like they did [View Full Entry]

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Arrived in Libya expecting a dry arid country, but I was very surprised by the greenery - Orange, olive and lemon trees near the coast, and palms in the interior. That is not to say that water is not a concern. Libya's huge project the Great (great artery of life) man made river brings water from the south to fill storage containers near the coast. Traffic circles often feature styalised wells or water containers. Tripoli- is a beautiful town, not too many cars, great for walking, and has real attractions such as the Red Castle, the old wall, Green Square with [View Full Entry]

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We left Puerto Vallarta in a chartered Cessna Caravan to go to Socorro Island, part of the Islas Revillagigedo, about 400 km west of the Mexican coast. Socorro is known as a diving destination, and has an amazing variety of life in the ocean, but the island itself is occupied only by a small Mexican Navy base on the South East corner. High winds, rain, salt water and poor roads make it a tough environment for equipment and people. Sheep have damaged some of the indigenous life, but the island is still home to the Socorro mockingbird; there are so many [View Full Entry]

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The night I arrived in Tirana, Mother Teresa International Airport was a madhouse. The Albanian National Football team had just beaten the Greek team in a world cup? qualifying match, and the Greek airplane was just leaving. People were driving around town all night waving flags and celebrating. Enver Hoxha, the long time leader of Albania (The Land of the Men of the Eagle) passed on in 1985 and is no longer featured on the money. I wondered what would he say about the tight jeans and fashionable clothes the young people are wearing these days. Tirana is a city built [View Full Entry]

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As part of working for a living I was able to visit Jeddah, Riyadh, and Halban. Riyadh is a bright new city in the middle of the country. By comparison Jeddah is a 'laid back' city on the red sea. I had seen a recommendation to visit the souq in Jeddah as one of the 1000 places to visit before you die - I found it not nearly as interesting as those in Damascus or Tripoli. All of the interesting balconies, shops and old streets have disappeared, replaced by the new. Before the trip, friends were concerned about the security situation [View Full Entry]

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Tristan da Cunha We started out from Cape Town, South Africa, at the Victoria and Alfred waterfront, which is a real working port beside luxury hotels and beautiful shops. We stayed at the Breakwater hotel which was a women's prison a hundred years ago, but has been converted into a University dorm/hotel, but some of the prison reminders remain. We left early one morning with Table mountain in the background on the 70M fishing boat Edinburgh on the 1750 km trip to Tristan da Cunha. It was a tedious 6 days, an emotional downward spiral, with little to do but learn [View Full Entry]

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Tonga is a group of Polynesian islands, a paradise in the Pacific. On the main island of Tongatapu, people smile (the gold in their teeth flash) and say hello on the street. After a week some would even know my name. This is a beautiful place; the sea, the walkway, kids swimming, the cool breeze, the palms, the ships off shore all add to the atmosphere. The shops open late and close early, and on Sunday the streets are empty, - huge bars on protect the doors and windows. Musical bells call congregations to church. The services are famous for the [View Full Entry]

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I recently had a chance to visit Syria. The first stop was Damascus, the capital, which is thought to have been inhabited since 2000 BC, it is one of the oldest cities in the world. During the day the heat is brutal, but the people come out after sunset to a cooler, different world, to stroll the sidewalks and picnic in the parks. From the hillside, you can see the city spread out below with dots of green to show where the mosques are. Under the streets are reminants of the Romans. The Omayyad mosque (705 AD), the National Museum, Saladin's [View Full Entry]

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