The Taj Mahal in Agra India, is widely thought to be one of the most beautiful buildings ever created. Made of marble, it was built by King Shah Jahan, who took control of the Mughal Empire in 1628. The mausoleum is dedicated to the King’s enduring love for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died in […]

A Short Visit to a Tiny Indian State April 18, 2023 We began 6 days in India on April 10, 2023 with a short trip to the state of Goa. It is India’s wealthiest state with a GDP per capita ($7,300) about 2.5 times that of the rest of the country. Among other places, we […]

A Day in the Maldives April 9, 2023 Happy Easter Everyone! We spent Saturday—Holy Saturday actually—in the Maldives at the Cinnamon Dhonveli Resort in Kanuharaa. Tourism is a very important part of the Maldives economy. The  Cinnamon Dhonveli Resort where we went is a rather tony upscale affair. The physical location is gorgeous; the establishment […]

Sri Lanka April 6, 2023 We spent a short day in Colombo, Sri Lanka on the way to the Maldives. Colombo is the capital. Among other things we visited the National Museum, the Samudra Hotel and the Gangaramaya Temple. We saw native dancers at the port and believe it or not, several snake charmers.  Formerly […]

April 4, 2023 We visited diverse areas of Thailand over the course of several days. The visits included time spent in an outdoor museum that replicates part of Bangkok called the Ancient City; a training camp for monkeys where they learn to collect coconuts for processing, a giant Buddha and the island of Phuket. What […]

Singapore, March 2023 We have just spent two days in Singapore, one of our favorite cities.  What a mix of ethnicities, religions, cultures and history can be found here.   Folks from China, India and Western countries are everywhere, alongside folks originally from the Malay peninsula.    Singapore is a vibrant and young city, clean […]

Five Days in Vietnam March 24, 2023 “Brits drive on the left side of the street; Americans on the right. Vietnamese drive on all sides—and the sidewalks.”   —Tour Guide Vietnam is a study in barely controlled chaos. The comment from our tour guide about driving is essentially accurate. There are motorcycles everywhere and they […]

March 17, 2023 (AKA Patrick’s Day) We sailed into the port city of Keelung Taiwan on March 14 bypassing a scheduled port-of-call a day earlier because of bad weather. After Keelung we sailed into the port city of Kaohsiung.  Keelung, the second largest port in Taiwan, has a population of about 360,000; Kaohsiung with a […]

March 13, 2023 We are sailing toward Taiwan looking to dock in our second scheduled Taiwanese port because we missed the first one (Hualian) due to bad weather. Really bad. We sailed through the night through waves as high as 14 feet, so we got knocked about quite a bit. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.  […]