After exactly ten months away, the end of the trip is here. Ten months is a long time to be running around, if you weren’t sure. For the 28th straight year of my post-university life, I have been traveling at … Continue reading
Tag Archives: hostels
Patong is like Las Vegas: you have to see it to believe it exists, but after a day or two you can’t wait to leave and you don’t return until you have forgotten most of it. That said, the beaches … Continue reading
I was last in Phuket pre-tsunami—the 10th anniversary is next month—and I hardly remember it, so I was surprised to discover how wonderful Phuket Town is. The island has the same name as the main town which everyone ignores as … Continue reading
Greetings from Thailand, deep in the iron-hard grip of a military coup! This is probably my 15th-20th visit. Indeed Thailand is now under martial law, the result of a political stalemate, but you would never know it from being on … Continue reading
So I was looking for a place to sleep in Sanur on the east coast. There is one backpackers hostel, but it ruffled my feathers when I read on their website, “PLEASE UNDERSTAND WE HAVE AN AGE LIMIT OF 35 … Continue reading
Instead of building up to something, let’s start out with it: Penang is one of my favorite cities in the world, and I’m a world city aficionado. It would be cool to visit every country in the world, but I’d … Continue reading
The first way to ruin your ten days in Philippines might be a roadside circumcision (1500 pesos = US$33) but the main thing is to have Easter be in the middle and a dental visits on both ends of it. … Continue reading
I was in transit in New Delhi airport. My Air India flight to get there was delayed four hours and then my next flight was delayed four hours. I asked the agent if there was an explanation and he simply … Continue reading
I want to be that one traveler who likes Manila. I can have a great time in many cities travelers despise: Jakarta, Medan, Kolkata, Frankfurt, Lima, etc., but Manila is a test. I had forgotten how overwhelming the poverty is. … Continue reading
Hey, what are you doing for the rest of your life? No plans? Nothing? Then why not settle down in a 10-room mountain lodge in the Japanese Alps? It’s called Hoshi Boshi Lodge, or HBL. You can of course change … Continue reading
