Ashish, you have given us a great and wonder-filled gift: India You have given us India’s sights: • Palaces and mountains, • Lakes and mighty forts, • Tombs and gardens, elephants, Persian wells, and Punjabi suits, • Temples and mustard fields, • Tools to read the heavens and camels, • […]
Tag: literary travel
GUEST BLOG – Gary Schoepfel welcomes you to his home field, Chicago.
For more than a decade, I have been globe trotting with Classical Pursuits. I’ve led book discussions on riverboats in Russia, Vietnam, and Cambodia; in cafes and restaurants in Paris, Greece, Quebec, and Santa Fe; in pastures, pubs, and B&Bs in England, Italy, Toronto, Ireland, and Key West. And although […]
GUEST BLOG – Join Elspeth Cameron in wild Dorset for superstition and passion
Come and see the beautiful landscapes that inspired Thomas Hardy. He did not want change to intrude on his beloved Dorset, and to a great extent, it hasn’t. People in Dorset have told me that even most English people have not experienced this wild and quaint place, because they pass through […]
ON THE ROAD WITH ANN – Cambodia and a loss of words
Tra is not his real name, but it is what we call our Cambodian guide for the sake of simplicity. If you are unaware of the name Pol Pot and the unspeakable atrocities he committed in the name of the Khmer Rouge between 1975-78, you may want to Google it. […]
GUEST BLOG – Gary Schoepfel from the Mekong
When I travel I sometimes forget my ears. I venture out with camera in hand and eyes wide open. I search for the perfect photo op: that traffic stopping almond-eyed girl, the perfect sunset or moon rise, the Buddhist monk wrapped in mysterious yellow-orange, the twilight mountain silhouette, or that […]
ON THE ROAD WITH ANN – River Kids in Cambodia
Do not feel sorry for these kids. These pictures cannot fully convey their exuberance, their lithe gracefulness, their playfulness, their ease with and kindness to one another, their inventiveness, and their quick responsiveness to gentle commands from parents or teachers, their squeals of laughter, play and surprisingly good efforts at […]
GUEST BLOG – Colin Campbell, from Toronto, tries to understand Vietnamese communism
Trying to explain Vietnam in a few sentences is like trying to complete a large abstract motif jigsaw puzzle in one quick setting. There is no one quick way and understanding comes from many discussions with both locals and fellow travellers. There is no one way of understanding, and things […]
ON THE ROAD WITH ANN – The Mekong at night
It is cocktail hour on the ‘sun deck’ of the RV Bassac Pandaw. It it pitch black outside and we are on a narrow portion of the river. The warm and humid breeze is strong and luscious. We can see the occasional electric light or fire on shore and hear […]
ON THE ROAD WITH ANN – a post from Ann’s ‘elf’ back home
Hello friends. We may have a few days of silence from Ann while the Travel Pursuits group drifts down the Mekong — not a lot of Internet along the way. So as we all wait for the next post, I thought I would share this clip that I stumbled across […]
ON THE ROAD WITH ANN – Saigon’s Yin to Hanoi’s Yang
(click on photos to see full size images) We tend to toss around the terms ‘yin’ and ‘yang’ with some hazy notion that they represent something to do with balance. What we read before we came and what has been confirmed by all we have seen and been told, is […]