Friday, May 28, 2004

Travel Highlights

TRAVEL HIGHLIGHTS

Visiting 9 Asian countries and traveling almost entirely overland. Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Viet Nam, Nepal, India, Myanmar.

Learning to SCUBA dive AND to become a good motorcycle rider.

Living for months and months on Thai beaches in a bungalow for $3-4 a night.

Seeing the Taj Mahal, Angkor Wat, Shwe Dagon and so many other amazing sites.

Meeting the Dalai Lama and attending his teachings on The Highest Yoga Tantra.

Visiting Khatmandu and seeing live animal sacrifices at a Hindu temple.

Hiking in the foothils of the Annapurna Range of the Himalayas in Nepal.

Making a pilgrimage to Lumbini, where the Buddha was born, and to Sarnath where he gave his first teachings about 2,500 years ago.

Finding a synagogue in Yangon, Myanmar.

Traveling down the Mekon river in Laos.

Drinking rice wine with Lhasa hill people near Sappong in Thailand to celebrate their New Year.

Motorbiking to trhe Golden Triangle where the borders of Thailand Laos and Burma meet.

Befriending a beggar woman with leprosy in Northern India.

Visiting Mother Teresa's home in Calcutta.

Seeing Petronas Towers, the worlds tallest buildings in Kuala Lumpur.

Boating around Hualong Bay in Viet Nam.

Making friends with Tibetan refugees in Nepal and India.

Eating insects of various kinds and enjoying fried water bufflo brains in Laos.

Bathing in the Ganges.

Climbing Mount Kyaitio in Myanmar and seeing the Golden Rock.

Having a Singapore Sling whee it was first concocted at the Long Bar at Raffles Hotel in Singapore.

Seeing Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum in Hanoi.

Breaking my ankle and getting stuck in Dharamsala, India for 2 months.

Nearly killing myself on a motorcycle on Koh Pha Ngan (before I bacame a proficient rider).

Illegally hitchhiking in Burma from Inle Lake to Mandalay.

Chatting wtih Long-neck Karen hill people in Burma and Thailand.

Taking over 60,000 photographs.

Meeting wonderful, interesting, nice and friendly people everywhere I went.

E-mailing my Mom & Dad almost every single day so they wouldn't worry.

Reading more than 80 great books.


AND HERE ARE LINKS TO MOST OF MY TRAVEL PHOTO ALBUMS AT OFOTO.COM:

Indian Barbers

Kids in Myanmar

Street Market in Yangon, Myanmar

The Road to Mandalay

People in Mandalay

Buddhist Temples in Mandalay

Me in Myanmar

Cheroots in Myanmar

Buddhist Monks & Nuns in Myanmar

Postcards from Inle Lake, Myanmar

Hill Tribe People from Myanmar

Postcards from Bagan, Myanmar

Arts & Crafts in Northern Mayanmar

Home for the Aged in Mingin, Myanmar

Postcards from Kualal Lumpur, Malaysia

Postcards from Singapore

Portraits from Northern Myanmar

Reggae House on Koh Lanta, Thailand

Reggae House People on Koh Lanta, Thailand

Hello Little Baby!

Sunsets from Koh Lanta, Thailand

Fun in Nepal

Kathmandu Shanty Town

Kathmandu shanty Town People

The Buddah's Birthday

Pokarah, Nepal

My Adopted Nepali family

Tibetans in Nepal

Nepali Countryside

More Faces of Nepal

Gompas at Boudhanath


Final Faces of Nepal


Delhi Sights

Delhi Men

Delhi Women

Delhi Street Scenes

More Delhi Street Scenes

Baksheesh - Beggars & Sadhus in India

Tibetan Institute for the Performing Arts

Tsuglagkhan - The Dalai Lama's Temple

Views from McLeod ganj, India

Dharamsala People

Dharamsala Storefronts

McLeod Ganj Faces

Tibetan Arts & Artisans

Faces from Amritsar, India

Temples in Amritsar, India

Street Food in amritsar, India

Folks in Jaipur India

Sights in Jaipur, India

The Ladies of Pushkar, India

The Men of Pushkar India

That Pushkar Feeling

The Golden Triangle

Wats in Chiang Rai

Hmong Village in Laos

Luang Phrabang, Laos

Wats in Luang Phrabang Laos

Tam Ting Cave Temple in Laos

Border Village in Laos

Slow Boat down the Mekong River in Laos

A Village in Laos

Faces from Laos

Kids in Laos

A Luang Phrabang State of Mind

Morning Market Quilt - Laos

Reptile Whiskey in Laos

Grass Brooms in Laos

Cuisine quilt in Laos

In a Laos State of Mind

More Faces from Laos

Handmade baskets in Laos

Kungsai Waterfall in Laos

Jar Maker's Village in Laos

Textiles in Laos

Buddah Park in Laos

Rice Noodle Rolls in Laos

A city called hue, Viet Nam

Hanoi

Rice a Vietnamese man and his Water Buffalo

Halong Bay Viet Nam

Kids in Hanoi

More images of Hanoi

Faces from Hanoi

Saigon Neon

The Killing Fields

Angkor Wat

Cambodia

Trees at Angkor Wat

Cambodian Faces

Angkor Wat Bas Releif

Fun on the Beach in Cambodia

Houses in a Cambodian Fishing Village

Floating Village in Cambodia

Food in Bangkok

Bangkok Street Scenes

Bangkok Thailand

Post-Modern signs on Khao San Road in Bangkok Thailand

Jim Thompson's House in Bangkok Thailand

Buddah's in Bangkok Thailand

A Wat in Bangkok Thailand

Temple Demons from Bangkok Thailand

Rai Leh Beach near Krabi Thailand

Koh Lanta Thailand Sunsets

Cocktails at the E&O in Penang Malaysia

Scenes from Koh Lanta Thailand

Streets of Georgetown, Penang Malaysia

Old cemetary in Georgetown Penang Malaysia

Chinese Temples of Penang Malaysia

Streets of Penang Malaysia

Buddhist Temples of Penang Malaysia

Chinese Fisherman's Jetty in Penang Malaysia

Monkey Business in Penang Malaysia

Butterfly Farm in Penang Malaysia

Kek Lok Si Buddhist Temple in Penang Malaysia

Buddah's at Kek Lok Si

Koh Pha Ngan Thailand

Waterfalls and Wats on Koh Pha Ngan Thailand

Morning Market at Mae Hong Son Thailand

Easy as Pai Thailand

Lisu Village New Years near Mae Hong Son Thailand

Long Neck Karen Hill Tribe in Thailand

Mountain Wats of Mae Hong Son Thailand

More Incredible Mountain Wats of Mae Hong Son Thailand

Ban Pha Bong Thailand

Golden Triangle - Thailand, Laos, Myanmar

Books I read... Photos I took...

Pagan Babies - Elmore Leonard
Maximum Bob - Elmore Leonard
A Farewell To Arms - Ernest Hemingway
Good as Gold - Joseph Heller
Portrait of an Artist: Biography of Georgia O'Keefe - Lisa Lisle
The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen
Porno - Irvine Walsh
The Client - John Grisham
The Summons - John Grisham
The Bear & The Dragon - Tom Clancy
What should I do with my life? - Po Bronson
The Fourth Hand - John Irving
Freaky Deaky - Elmore Leonard
Tishomingo Blues - Elmore Leonard
Atonement - Ian McEwan
Disgrace - J. M. Coetzee
The Company - Robert Littell
The Glass Palace - Amitav Ghosh
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Of Human Bondage - W. Somerset Maugham
The Art of Travel - Alain DeBotton
The Power of Ideas - Isaiah Berlin
The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison
Lord Jim - Josehp Conrad
Flashman Papers - George MacDonald Fraser
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
The Deptford Trilogies - Robertson Davies
Angel of Darkness - Caleb Carr
Wittgenstein's Poker - Dave Edmonds & Johbn Eidinow
Karma Cola - Gita Mehta
The Guide - R.K. Narayan
The Last Go 'Round - Ken Kesey & Ken Babbs
Snakes & Ladders - Gita Mehta
The Death of Vishnu - Manil Suri
English, August - Upamanyu Chaterjee
Such a Long Journey - Rohinton Mistry
The Company of Women - Kushwant Singh
The Algebra of Infinite Justice - Ahrundoti Roy
No Full Stops in India - Mark Tully
V - Thomas Pynchon
Einstein's Bridge - John Cramer
Family Matters - Rohinton Mistry
Are You Experienced - William Sutcliffe
The Great Hedge of India - Roy Moxham
A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
TheTibetan Book of The Dead - translated by Robert Thurman
The Four Noble Truths - The 14th Dalai Lama
The Power of Compassion- The 14th Dalai Lama
Illywhacker - Peter Carey
Get Shorty - Elmore Leonard
The World of Tibetan Buddhism - The 14th Dalai Lama
The Way to Freedom - The 14th Dalai Lama
The Last Burden - Upamanyu Chatterjee
Water Touching Stone - Eliot Pattison
Seven Years in Tibet - Heinrich Harrar
The Skull Mantra - Eliot Pattison
Bound Feet, Western Dress - Pang-Mei Natasha Chang
The Consul's File - Paul Theroux
The Satanic Verses - Salman Rushdie
The Painted Word - Tom Wolfe
The Ground Beneath her Feet - Salman Rushdie
India - V.S. Naipaul
The Moor's Last Sigh - Salman Rushdie
A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
The Alienist - Caleb Carr
A Man in Full - Tom Wolfe
Bonfire of the Vanities - Tom Wolfe
Burmese Days - George Orwell
The God of Small Things - Arundati Roy
Road Fever - Tim Cahill
Being Dead - Jim Crace
The Running Man - Stephen King

Thailand - Lonely Planet
Laos - Lonely Planet
Cambodia - Lonely Planet
Viet Nam - Lonely Planet
Nepal - Lonely Planet
India - Lonely Planet
Myanmar - Lonely Planet
Singapore & Malaysia - Lonely Planet