Articles in Travel
How You Get to Your Rice Paddy in Indonesia
A friend of mine invited me to go with her on a trip to do some work at her rice paddies about 25 kilometers outside of Kisaran, Sumatra. She picked me up on her Honda motorcycle, and we set off. This is just a fun little set of video clips of some of the final moments of our trip.
Long Journey from Kuala Lumpur to Sumatra
Once I got my passport back, my Malaysian visa was winding down, and I began to make plans to leave. I had to choose, basically, between flying to the city of Medan in Sumatra or taking the ferry to my old temporary home of Tanjungbalai. The ferry to Tanjungbalai was the obvious choice except for the fact that I was nervous about the reception I’d receive from my old friends at the Tanjungbalai immigration office, police station, and city government office.
Stop thief! That’s my phone!
It happened in the blink of an eye. One second I was on my dream trip, happily cycling down a busy street in Sumatra, Indonesia. The next, my precious smartphone was gone – snatched from my waist by a man on a motorcycle.
My first reaction was stunned disbelief. Had that really just happened? Next, came a wave of anger. I yelled at the thief in …
Tourism Secrets of Kuala Lumpur
Everyone loves secrets, and I know lots of them about Malaysia’s fascinating capital city, Kuala Lumpur.
My first secret is at the famous KL Tower. Every tourist knows this tower. At 421 meters, it is the seventh highest self-supported tower in the world. Ride the elevator to the upper decks for fantastic views of the city.
But just steps away, I discovered the KL Forest Eco Park. …
045 – Gondar
A Ghost in a Silent World
The next morning my eyes snapped open at 4:30. A drunk man was wandering through the Nile Hotel banging on each door in turn, looking, as all Ethiopians seemed to do in the early morning, for a friend. I called out to him when he reached my door and I offered to be his friend if he would go back …
044 – To Infrance
The Escape of the Joads
It was still pitch black when I was woken up by the Joads, their truck, and their rooster. They wanted to get an early start and started warming up their truck at 4:45. Unfortunately it was right outside my door and to my lungs it felt like they’d run a hose from the exhaust pipe directly into my room. I had …
043 – Bahir Dar to Werota
Leaving Bahir Dar
The streets of Bahir Dar were quiet and cold as I cycled through them. A group of men made swishing sounds as they swept up the road with large palm branches. Boys from a school scoccer team chattered and kicked a tattered ball back and forth. The only other people on the street padded by silently on their bare feet and stared at …
042 – The Blue Nile Falls
Speciation
The next day after a morning trip by bike to where the Blue Nile emerges from Lake Tana I returned to the Ghion to find Martin sitting in one of the lawn chairs on the grass. He was waiting for Andale, his right hand man on his project, and a second man from the Ministry of Agriculture. The two of them had helped him secure …