The child vendors of Angkor Wat

As we were leaving the temple of Angkor Wat a boy who looked to be about ten years old sidled up alongside us. It’s hard to guess someone's age in Cambodia, where the people are slight, even by Asian standards. His little legs matched…
Angkor Wat bas relief
,

Visiting Angkor Wat without crowds

Siem Reap, Cambodia ~ We bounced along the road in a tuk-tuk—picture a rickshaw attached to a moped—anxious for our first glimpse through the trees of the temple of Angkor Wat. Our imaginations flared with visions of hacking our way…
kokorec
,

Damn that’s good sheep intestine

We’re always on the lookout for local delicacies, preferably ones that are tasty, quick and cheap. After leaving the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul a heady aroma of charcoal smoke, cooking meat and spices wafted over us. We headed for the source…
Via Dolorosa sign

In the footsteps of Christ on the Via Dolorosa

The Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem is the traditional path that Jesus walked on the way to his crucifixion. Following the fourteen Stations of the Cross up the hill towards Mount Cavalry is a pilgrimage for Christians worldwide who descend in droves…
Chiang Mai pollution

Purple Haze: Pollution in Chiang Mai

We really looked forward to visiting Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. Travel writers outdid themselves crafting clever similes to describe its ethereal beauty and local color. Others used one word repeatedly to describe it: amazing. That…
Headhouse Square Farmers Market Philadelphia Food Trust
,

Local foods at the Headhouse Farmers Market in Philadelphia

It'll be Opening Day soon for two of our favorite Philadelphia institutions: the Phillies and the Headhouse Farmers Market. While we don't know if the Phillies will make or break our hearts this year, we do know that the market will offer the…
changi Airport Singapore butterfly garden (750x647)

Butterflies are free at the Singapore airport

Airports say a lot about how a city feels toward its visitors. The chaos of JFK conveys the message "Hey, we're New York. We know you'll come here no matter how we treat you. Get over it." The long lines of Heathrow say, "You chose to come to…
Mad Max

Chasing Mad Max in the Australian Outback

There could hardly be two more disparate Australian films than Mad Max, the post-apocalyptic tale of a policeman trying to survive in a world without water, and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, the story of three drag queens…
Hoi An Vietnamese food tofu custard lady
,

Vietnamese food: Taking it to the street

From Hoi An, Vietnam ~ One of the reasons to travel the world is to taste the wide varieties of food out there. Vietnamese food is one of my favorites and the best examples are often sold by street vendors. However, before leaving on our journey…
Arab flatbread
,

Our daily bread in Doha

From Michael in Doha, Qatar ~ Regular readers of this blog know about my carb fetish. It probably stems from when I was a little boy and my Sicilian immigrant grandfather owned a bread bakery on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village. Since then…
, , , ,

Pictures: Seeing the forest and the trees

I'm usually not much of a nature boy, saving the passion of the outdoors for my forester brother. But in the Southern Hemisphere I couldn't help take pictures of trees that are really different from the ones at home. The tree picture above…
, , , ,

Don’t drink from the toilet!—and other odd signs around the world

We've come across some unusual signs in our journey. Some funny signs caution people about not doing things that would seem to be self-evident. Like the sign posted above. It's in the bathrooms at the Adelaide Airport in Australia. Not that…
Kim Il Sung mausoleum Pyongyang
, ,

Visiting the mausoleums of Mao, Ho and Kim

Communist governments feel compelled to preserve the corpses of their founders and keep them on display for public viewing. It's their way of sustaining the cult of personality that keeps the current regimes in place. In the past…

Pictures from the frenetic streets of Hanoi

Our hotel in Hanoi was in the Old Quarter, a frenzied and chaotic labyrinth of streets that rambled like they had been laid out by a toddler chasing a rabbit. Each street specializes in selling a certain product. Apparently our…
Holden driving in Australia Outback
,

Images from an Australia Outback road trip

We love road trips. Most of the ones we've taken in the past have involved cruising America on old roads like Route 66 and the Lincoln Highway. But driving in the Australia Outback presents the ultimate road trip challenge. Towns and gas stations…
Maori Haka performer

Do the Haka

Normally we're not much for folk dance performances. But when we were in New Zealand the All Blacks rugby team had just won the  World Cup. Part of their pre-game warm up is to perform the haka, an indigenous Maori dance. After the championship…
, ,

To travel cheaply, go where it’s cheap

Cheap travel is often a challenge, but how would you like to live in a land of 35 cent hoagies, $25 gourmet meals for two and beers for a buck? A place where the dollar stretches so far it could cover the entire country. That’s daily life…

I miss Saigon

From Michael ~ Yesterday, on our last day in Saigon, I strolled around the city streets for one final look. I miss Saigon already. Its current name is Ho Chi Minh City, but it was in the news a lot when I was a kid and it will always be…