Category: travel

on traveling solo

On By Rick McIn happiness, philosophy, travel1 Comment

Kristin Addis:

If you had asked me five years ago if I would ever travel alone, I would have immediately said, “No way. That can’t be safe, it must be lonely, and I’d get so bored.” Before I started traveling, I was scared of even the idea of eating dinner alone!

Then I started to realize solo travel is not something people do just because they can’t find a friend to go with — it’s because they got tired of waiting for the perfect companion and just go. Then, as they find out there are many personal benefits to it, it typically becomes the preferred mode of travel. …

10 Common Fears That Stop You from Traveling Solo

Kristin Addis is a former investment banker who sold all of her belongings and bid California goodbye in favor of traveling solo through Asia while searching for off-the-beaten path adventures. … You can find more of her musings at Be My Travel Muse.

solo travel

REFLECTIONS ON NEARLY TWO YEARS OF SOLO TRAVEL

The White Tiger – Aravind Adiga

On By Rick McIn books, travel, travel IndiaLeave a comment

Not great, despite prizes and rave reviews.

The White Tiger is the debut novel by Indian author Aravind Adiga.

It was first published in 2008 and won the 40th Man Booker Prize in the same year. The novel provides a darkly humorous perspective of India’s class struggle in a globalized world as told through a retrospective narration from Balram Halwai, a village boy. In detailing Balram’s journey first to Delhi, where he works as a chauffeur to a rich landlord, and then to Bangalore, the place to which he flees after killing his master and stealing his money, the novel examines issues of religion, caste, loyalty, corruption and poverty in India. …

white tiger

Amazon

I did like the vision of modernizing India as seen through the eyes of one of the poorest Indians.

But – as is the case in many prize winning novels – there is weirdness for the sake of being original.

The protagonist is writing to the Premier of China. Admitting to murder.

Why?

In order to be considered for the Man Booker. It’s stupid. Makes no sense. I won’t read his follow-up novels. 😦

Nov 2nd, 2014

On By Rick McIn books, hiking, travel2 Comments

I spent my 57th birthday tenting in a stone Yak shack at 4110m, close to the Tibet border in Nepal.

Langtang campsite

Next morning I scrambled up that gap towards Tilman’s Pass.

During the long, cold night cocooned in down and nylon, I listened to one of my favourite authors, Peter Matthiessen, read one of my favourite books, The Snow Leopard.

It’s his classic philosophical account of a November 1973 Nepal trek to Shey Gompa, Crystal Mountain. A spiritual journey.

If you wonder why I keep returning to Nepal, read Snow Leopard. Matthiessen is most eloquent on the joys and challenges.

Sex Lives of Cannibals

On By Rick McIn books, humour, travelLeave a comment

J. Maarten Troost 2004

Hilarious.

cover

At the age of twenty-six, Maarten Troost—who had been pushing the snooze button on the alarm clock of life by racking up useless graduate degrees and muddling through a series of temp jobs—decided to pack up his flip-flops and move to Tarawa, a remote South Pacific island in the Republic of Kiribati. He was restless and lacked direction, and the idea of dropping everything and moving to the ends of the earth was irresistibly romantic. He should have known better.

While his wife worked, Troost planned to write:

It would be a big book. Tolstoyan in scale, Joycean in its ambition, Shakespearean in its lyricism.

He ended up with this. 🙂

He and his stalwart girlfriend Sylvia spend the next two years battling incompetent government officials, alarmingly large critters, erratic electricity, and a paucity of food options (including the Great Beer Crisis); and contending with a bizarre cast of local characters, including “Half-Dead Fred” and the self-proclaimed Poet Laureate of Tarawa (a British drunkard who’s never written a poem in his life).

AMAZON – The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific

another book by Troost – Lost on Planet China

tourists love Hanoi

On By Rick McIn travel1 Comment

I’m not sure exactly why.

But everyone I spoke with over 5 days found the city interesting and entertaining.

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Most backpackers stay in the Old Quarter, near Hoàn Kiếm Lake. Me at Little Hanoi Diamond Hostel.

Walking the streets of Hanoi is not for the faint of heart. As is the case everywhere in Vietnam, traffic in Hanoi is dominated by an incredible number of motorbikes, all of which seem to be making a mad, desperate dash for something just out of reach, all of the time. The simple act of walking can be intimidating for visitors, especially in the narrow streets around the Old Quarter.

There is no such thing as one-directional traffic in Vietnam. When you leave the curb, look not only left and right, but to the front and back. Even up and down would not be amiss. Take each step deliberately but resolutely. Patiently allow the motorbikes to pass. Don’t rush. Do not make any erratic movements. This way the drivers are aware of you, and can anticipate your vector (along with all of the other motorbikes). It may look chaotic, but be patient and pay attention when you’re crossing any street, large or small, and you will be fine. …

wikivoyage

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The fastest growing city in the world has (surprisingly) aged well. Monuments and colonial architecture have been preserved, if many times off limits to tourists.

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Lakes, parks, shady boulevards and more than 600 temples and pagodas add to the appeal.

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Here are the rest of my Hanoi photos.

West Lake, Hanoi

On By Rick McIn travelLeave a comment

West Lake … in the center of Hanoi, Vietnam. With a shore length of 17 km (about 10.6 miles), this is the largest lake of the capital and a popular place for recreation with many surrounding gardens, hotels and villas. …

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I couldn’t resist a high end coffee on the lake. Hanging with chic Vietnamese and ex-pats.

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Men in parks play different kinds of games, some for money.

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more West Lake photos

St Joseph Cathedral, Hanoi

On By Rick McIn travelLeave a comment

St. Joseph’s Cathedral … on Nha Tho (Church) Street in the Hoàn Kiếm District of Hanoi, Vietnam.

The late 19th-century Gothic Revival (Neo-Gothic style) church serves as the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hanoi to nearly 4 million Catholics in the country.

Construction began in 1886, with the architectural style described as resembling Notre Dame de Paris. …

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high resolution photos

Hanoi Ceramic Mosaic Mural

On By Rick McIn Art and beauty, travelLeave a comment

October 2010 officially marked 1000 years since the establishment of the city. The Hanoi Ceramic Mosaic Mural is a 4 km ceramic mosaic mural created to mark the occasion. …

wikipedia

Impressive. Billions of tiles.

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high resolution photos

Long Biên bridge, Hanoi

On By Rick McIn travelLeave a comment

Trip Advisor advised me to check it out.

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Long Biên Bridge is a historic cantilever bridge across the Red River in Hanoi, Vietnam. …

2.4 kilometres (1.5 mi) in length …

Today trains, mopeds, bicycles and pedestrians use the dilapidated bridge …

No cars. 🙂

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Some say Gustave Eiffel was one of the designers. If so, none of the rust has been removed since he was here.

Down in the flood plain, things look very lush. I wonder how often these plantations are under water?

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more photos