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+ + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing Archive

+
+
+ Oysterman Wanted +
+

Oysterman Wanted

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + St. George Island, Florida, U.S. + + + – + + The world of oystermen and local fishing industry is doomed. Even the people resisting the transition know they’re no longer fighting for their way of life. They’re just fighting to keep the thinnest resemblance of what they’ve always known around until they leave this world. They’re fighting to keep from having to watch the death of everything they know. + +

+
+
+
+ All the Pretty Beaches +
+

All the Pretty Beaches

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + St. George Island, Florida, U.S. + + + – + + St. George is just off the Gulf Coast of northwest Florida, only about 7 hours from where I live. There are better places if you're looking to dive or snorkel. Ditto if it's nightlife you're after. But if you're looking for a seemingly endless amount of gorgeous white sand beaches you'll share with only a few migratory birds, St. George is the place to be. + +

+
+
+
+ Consider the Apalachicola Oyster +
+

Consider the Apalachicola Oyster

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Apalachicola, Florida, U.S. + + + – + + If you know the name Apalachicola at all it’s likely because of its eponymous oysters. Very few things, let alone culinary things, are as attached to place as oysters. In fact, once you get beyond the Rockefeller, ordering “oysters” is akin to walking in a bar and ordering “a beer.” But unlike beer, oysters don’t have brands, they have places — Pemaquid, Wellfleet, Blue Point, Apalachicola. + +

+
+
+
+ Things Behind the Sun +
+

Things Behind the Sun

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + My grandparents left the home they lived in for 60 years today. I don't know how much of my life was spent in that house, probably well over a year if you added up all the holidays and family gatherings. And now I'm thousands of miles away and someone is clearing out the house. + +

+
+
+
+ Street Food in Athens Georgia +
+

Street Food in Athens Georgia

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + Cheap food, made fresh, in front of you. Served hot, wrapped in newspaper. Street food is the people's food, it removes the mystery of the kitchen, lays the process bare. It's also the staple diet of people around the world. + +

+
+
+
+ The Worst Place on Earth +
+

The Worst Place on Earth

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Gili Trawangan, Indonesia + + + – + + They aren't really the worst place on Earth (everyone knows that's Yuma, AZ), but the Gili Islands would top my list of places you should never go to. In the end they're not even a real place, just a collection of paradise fantasies culled from decades of hippie travelers, scuba divers, honeymooners, and the rich, lost children of the West. + +

+
+
+
+ The Best Snorkeling in the World +
+

The Best Snorkeling in the World

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Nusa Lembongan, Bali, Indonesia + + + – + + Drift snorkeling is like watching fish float by the window of an underwater train. And Indonesia has more marine life than anywhere I've ever been. Fish I have previously seen perhaps two or three at a time are swimming in massive schools. The blue depths are filled with dozens of Moorish Idols, schools of deep purple tangs, so dark they look black until you get up close, parrotfish in clusters, munching on the coral, bright, powder blue tangs, yellow-masked angelfish, countless butterfly fish, wrasses, triggerfish, pufferfish and even bright blue starfish that crawl slowly over the reef. + +

+
+
+
+ The Balinese Temple Ceremony +
+

The Balinese Temple Ceremony

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Ubud, Bali, Indonesia + + + – + + While Balinese temples look partly like Hindu temples in India, there are other elements that come from older religions. Bali is what happens when Hindu beliefs collide with animism. The Balinese seem to embrace the basic tenants of traditional Hinduism, but then add plenty of their own animist flourishes to the mix -- like frequent and elaborate temple ceremonies. We were lucky enough to be invited to a temple ceremony in Tegallantang, Bali. + +

+
+
+
+ Motor City is Burning +
+

Motor City is Burning

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Ubud, Bali, Indonesia + + + – + + Awesome as it was to be back on the Asian version of a motorbike, it wasn't quite the relaxing riding I did in Laos and elsewhere. You can never recapture the magic, and I wasn't trying.... Okay, maybe I was, but it didn't work. regrettably Honda seems to have phased out the Dream in the last five years, replacing it with something called the Nitro, which just doesn't have the same ring to it. But the bike is irrelevant, was always irrelevant. I missed my friends. It just wasn't the same by myself. Debi, Matt, where are you? There are roads to be ridden, locals with ten people on a bike to be humbled by. Six fingered men to be seen, by some. + +

+
+
+
+ Cooking in Rome +
+

Cooking in Rome

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Rome, Italy + + + – + + In the end Italy and I didn't really get along, but the food redeemed it for me. The restaurants are good, but if you really want to experience the glory of Italian food you need to head to the market, grab some utterly amazing raw ingredients and whip up something yourself. This is what food is supposed to be, simple, fresh and great. + +

+
+
+
+ Natural Science +
+

Natural Science

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Firenze (Florence), Italy + + + – + + There's no way around it; Florence is crowded. It may well be that Naples is the only Italian city that isn't overrun with tourists in the summer, but after three days of hardly seeing another traveler, I wasn't prepared for the crowds. Luckily it isn't hard to avoid the tourist hordes, just get up early and then when everyone else is starting to stir, head for obscure museums like La Specola, part of the Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze. + +

+
+
+
+ Forever Today +
+

Forever Today

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Pompeii, Italy + + + – + + Pompeii feels both very old and not that different from the modern cities that surround it now. The gap between then and now feels small because when you wander around places like Pompeii you realize that human beings have changed very little over vast expanses of time. Pompeii had the same elements of cities today, a central square, markets, temples, government offices, even fast food. Not much has changed over the years, though togas aren’t much in vogue these days. + +

+
+
+
+ The New Pollution +
+

The New Pollution

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Napoli (Naples), Italy + + + – + + Naples Italy is a big, crowded, graffiti-filled city. It's an intimidating place that is by turns a bit like Philadelphia, a bit Mumbai, a bit some post-apocalyptic video game and, in the end, something else entirely. Still, given the tourist epidemic that sweeps Italy every summer, Naples is a place worth appreciating for what it is not, even if what is isn't, perhaps, enough to ever bring you back. + +

+
+
+
+ The Language of Cities +
+

The Language of Cities

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + Paris is angry. Cities can get angry. This isn't the first time it's happened to me. New York threw me out once. Los Angeles and I left on mutually hostile terms, though we've since made up. Cities have personalities just like people, and to really be part of a city your personalities have to mesh, you have to find each other on your own terms everyday. + +

+
+
+
+ From Here We Go Sublime +
+

From Here We Go Sublime

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + Just arrived Dulles-Reykjavik-Paris, 26-hour trip, no sleep. I see things. I see a grizzly looking Spaniard selling old railway lanterns at the flea market, I see muslim men playing basketball in skull caps, I see a Michael Faraday experiment with bulbs and wires enclosed in glass that turns out to be just an elevator. I see a stout Frenchwoman closing the gates of Pere Lachaise, no more dead, we've had enough of you. + +

+
+
+
+ We Used to Wait For It +
+

We Used to Wait For It

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Los Angeles, California, U.S. + + + – + + When we first came here, there was nothing. Downtown Los Angeles was an empty husk of a place fifteen years ago. Now it's reborn, alive and kicking. Yet there is something in the older buildings, something in the old walls, something lost in the bricks, something in the concrete, the marble. Something you don’t find anymore. Something we need to find again. + +

+
+
+
+ The World Outside +
+

The World Outside

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + The world outside the house is blanketed in snow, a monochrome of white interrupted only by the dark, wet trunks of trees, the red brick of chimneys, the occasional green of shrubs poking through. The roads are unbroken expanses of smooth white, no one is out yet, no footprints track their way through the snowy sidewalk. The world outside is the same as it was last night, before the snow began, and yet, it feels totally different. + +

+
+
+
+ Charleston A-Z +
+

Charleston A-Z

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. + + + – + + Charleston alphabetically. For example, Q is for quiet, Charleston has a lot of it. Just head down to the Battery area, walk through the park and starting walking down the side streets. Take one of the many alleys and walkways that weave between the massive, stately houses. Get lost. It doesn't take much to find a quiet place of your own. + +

+
+
+
+ Dinosaur National Monument, Part Two: Down the River +
+

Dinosaur National Monument, Part Two: Down the River

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado, U.S. + + + – + + This is the only real way to see Dinosaur National Monument — you must journey down the river. There are two major rivers running through Dinosaur, the Yampa, which carves through Yampa Canyon, and the Green, which cuts through Lodore. Adventure Bound Rafting runs some of the best whitewater rafting trips in Colorado and I was lucky enough to go down the Green River with them, through the majestic Lodore Canyon. + +

+
+
+
+ Dinosaur National Monument, Part One: Echo Park +
+

Dinosaur National Monument, Part One: Echo Park

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado, U.S. + + + – + + Dinosaur National Monument was poorly named. The best parts of it are not the fossils in the quarry (which is closed for 2010 anyway) but the canyon country — some of the best, most remote canyon country you'll find in this part of the world. + +

+
+
+
+ The Endless Crowds of Yellowstone +
+

The Endless Crowds of Yellowstone

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, U.S. + + + – + + There is wilderness in Yellowstone, even if it's just inches from the boardwalks that transport thousands around the geothermal pools. It may not be wilderness on a grand scale — the sweeping mountain peaks or wild rivers of other parks — but in some ways that makes it more enticing. As one Ranger told me, Yellowstone isn't about the big picture, the grand scenery, it's about the tiny details within each pool. To really see Yellowstone, he said, you have to take your time, move slowly and look closely. + +

+
+
+
+ Backpacking in the Grand Tetons +
+

Backpacking in the Grand Tetons

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, U.S. + + + – + + Hiking into the wilderness empties your mind. You fall into the silence of the mountains and you can relax in a way that's very difficult to do in the midst of civilization. The white noise that surrounds us in our everyday lives, that noise we don't even notice as it adds thin layers of stress that build up over days, weeks, years, does not seem capable of following us into the mountains. + +

+
+
+
+ Great Sand Dunes National Park +
+

Great Sand Dunes National Park

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado, U.S. + + + – + + Something about the desert inspires me to get up early and watch the sunrise. The cool mornings seem worth getting up for out here in the high plains of Colorado, especially when there's the chance to watch the sunrise from the largest sand dunes in North America, here in Great Sand Dune National Park. + +

+
+
+
+ Comanche National Grasslands +
+

Comanche National Grasslands

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Comanche National Grasslands, Colorado, U.S. + + + – + + To say the Comanche National Grasslands is off the grid would be an understatement. With the exception of Highway 50 in Nevada, I've never driven through such isolation and vast openness anywhere in the world. And it's easy to get lost. There are no signs, no road names even, just dirt paths crisscrossing a wide, perfectly flat expanses of grass. + +

+
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+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/10/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/10/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f12bb51 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/10/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,76 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Around the World -- Page 10 + + + + + + + + + + +
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Walk Slowly

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Writing Archive

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Walk Slowly

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Writing Archive

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Walk Slowly

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Writing Archive

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Walk Slowly

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Writing Archive

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+ Why National Parks Are Better Than State Parks +
+

Why National Parks Are Better Than State Parks

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Amarillo, Texas, U.S. + + + – + + There are many reasons, but here's the one I currently consider most important: National Parks never close. Take Palo Dura State park outside of Amarillo, Texas. Were it a National Park, I would be there right now. But it's not, it's a state park and so I'm sitting in a hotel room in Amarillo because everyone knows nature closes at 10PM. + +

+
+
+
+ The Legend of Billy the Kid +
+

The Legend of Billy the Kid

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Hico, Texas, U.S. + + + – + + History rarely offers neat, tidy stories. But the messier, more confusing and more controversial the story becomes, the more it works its way into our imaginations. The legend of Billy the Kid is like that of Amelia Earhart or D.B. Cooper — the less we know for sure, the more compelling the story becomes. + +

+
+
+
+ The Dixie Drug Store +
+

The Dixie Drug Store

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. + + + – + + New Orleans is it's own world. So much so that's it's impossible to put your finger on what it is that makes it different. New Orleans is a place where the line between consensus reality and private dream seems to have never fully developed. And a wonderful world it is. + +

+
+
+
+ Begin the Begin +
+

Begin the Begin

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Gulf Port, Mississippi, U.S. + + + – + + It's travel time again. This time I'm driving my 1969 Ford truck out west, to Texas, Colorado, Utah and more — a road trip around the western United States. The first stop is Gulf Port, Mississippi. It's hard to believe, sitting here on the deserted beaches of Gulf Shore, watching the sun break through the ominous clouds, but soon this beauty will be gone. The BP oil spill is somewhere out there, blown slowly ashore by the storm hovering over us, waiting to drown the beaches in crude. + +

+
+
+
+ Los Angeles, I'm Yours +
+

Los Angeles, I’m Yours

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Los Angeles, California, U.S. + + + – + + Los Angeles is all about the car. Shiny, air-conditioned comfort, gliding you soundlessly from one place to another without the need to interact with anything in between. But I have discovered that if you abandon the car for the subway and your own two feet, the illusion that L.A. is just a model train set world — tiny, plastic and devoid of any ground beneath the ground — fades and you find yourself, for a time, in a real city. + +

+
+
+
+ (There'll Be) Peace in the Valley +
+

(There’ll Be) Peace in the Valley

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Death Valley, California, U.S. + + + – + + Sometimes you ignore the places close to home because, well, there's always next weekend. Which is why I never made it Death Valley in the twenty-five years I lived in California. It took being all the way across the country to get me out to Death Valley. Which might explain why I actually got up before dawn just to watch the sunrise at Zabriskie Point. + +

+
+
+
+ So Far, I Have Not Found The Science +
+

So Far, I Have Not Found The Science

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + A canoe trip through the Okefenokee Swamp down in the southern most corner of Georgia. Paddling the strange reddish and incredibly still waters. Begging alligators, aching muscles and the kindly folks of Stintson's Barbecue all getting their due. + +

+
+
+
+ How to Get Off Your Butt and Travel the World +
+

How to Get Off Your Butt and Travel the World

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + How do you make the leap from cubicle daydreams to life on to the road? You want to travel the world, but, like me, you have a million excuses stopping you. How do overcome the inertia that keeps you trapped in a life that isn't what you want it to be? Here's a few practical tips and how tos designed to motivate you to get off your butt and travel the world. + +

+
+
+
+ No Strangers on a Train +
+

No Strangers on a Train

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + We mythologize trains because they harken back to an age of community travel, a real, tangible community of travelers, not just backpackers, but people from all walks of life, people traveling near and far together in a shared space that isn't locked down like an airplane and isn't isolated like a car; it's a shared travel experience and there are precious few of those left in our world. + +

+
+
+
+ Leonardo Da Vinci and the Codex on Bunnies +
+

Leonardo Da Vinci and the Codex on Bunnies

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. + + + – + + A few pages from Leonardo Da Vinci's notebooks make a rare trip outside Italy, to Birmingham, AL, of all places. But the Birmingham Museum of Art is home to far more alarming works of art, works which depict the eventual, inevitable, bunny takeover, after which all the elements of our reality will be replaced by bunnies. Seriously. You heard it here first. + +

+
+
+
+ Elkmont and the Great Smoky Mountains +
+

Elkmont and the Great Smoky Mountains

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee, U.S. + + + – + + Pigeon Forge is Myrtle Beach in the mountains. Redneck weddings cascade straight out of the chapel and into the mini golf reception area. Pigeon Forge is everything that's wrong with America. But we aren't here for Pigeon Forge, it just happens to have a free condo we're staying in. We're here for the mountains. Smoky Mountain National Park is just a few miles up the road. + +

+
+
+
+ Rope Swings and River Floats +
+

Rope Swings and River Floats

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Mountain Cabin, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + Two weekends ago we went up to the mountains, just outside of Dahlonega GA, and floated the Chestatee River using inner tubes, various pool toys and one super-cool inflatable seahorse. Unfortunately, proving one of my travel mottos -- you can never go back -- a return trip proved disastrous. + +

+
+
+
+ Our Days Are Becoming Nights +
+

Our Days Are Becoming Nights

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + León, Nicaragua + + + – + + A short thought on the eve of our departure from Nicaragua: Everywhere I go I think, I should live here... I should be able to not just visit places, but in habit them. Of course that isn't possible, which is too bad. + +

+
+
+
+ Tiny Cities Made of Ash +
+

Tiny Cities Made of Ash

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + León, Nicaragua + + + – + + The church bells of León have become a constant cacophony, not the rhythmic ringing out of the hours or tolling from Mass that the human mind seems to find pleasant, but the atonal banging that only appeals to the young and dumb. But Francisco is entirely unperturbed; He's too fascinated with the tattoo on Corrinne's shoulder to bother with what slowly just becomes yet another sound echoing through León. + +

+
+
+
+ You Can't Go Home Again +
+

You Can’t Go Home Again

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Little Corn Island, Nicaragua + + + – + + The first time we came to Little Corn Island it was April, the tail end of the dry season. It rained once or twice, but never for more than five minutes and always followed by more sunshine. This time it's the end of June, just well into the wet season, and the island is an entirely different place. + +

+
+
+
+ Returning Again — Back on Little Corn Island +
+

Returning Again — Back on Little Corn Island

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Little Corn Island, Nicaragua + + + – + + Generally speaking, the world seems so huge and so full of amazing destinations that repeating one never struck me as a judicious use of my short allotment of time. But for Little Corn Island I'm willing to make an exception and of course, the universe being what it is, our second trip to Little Corn Island has been unpredictable and entirely new. + +

+
+
+
+ In Love With a View: Vagabonds, Responsibilty and Living Well +
+

In Love With a View: Vagabonds, Responsibilty and Living Well

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + Why all the vitriol about a seemingly innocuous concept -- that traveling doesn't have to cost a lot of money, isn't all that difficult and hey, you can even go right now? People like us, who feel tied down by responsibility, find the suggestion that we actually aren't tied down patronizing and yes, elitist. + +

+
+
+
+ Little Island in the Sun +
+

Little Island in the Sun

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Little Corn Island, Nicaragua + + + – + + We arrived on Little Corn Island around sundown and met Ali, whom I at first took to be a tout, but he showed us the way to our guesthouse and, after settling in and getting a feel for the island, I realized that Ali, wasn't a tout, he was just a really nice guy who enjoyed doing favors for tourists, just beware the Yoni beverage he offers. + +

+
+
+
+ Return to the Sea +
+

Return to the Sea

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua + + + – + + Southwestern Nicaragua is a very small strip of land with Lago Nicaragua to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The main town in the area, Juan Del Sur, is nestled around a well protected harbor with a mediocre strip of sand. For the nice beaches you have to head up or down the coast to one of the many small inlets. + +

+
+
+
+ Ring The Bells +
+

Ring The Bells

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Granada, Nicaragua + + + – + + The Church, which dates from the 1600s has the the narrowest, steepest, circular concrete staircase that I've ever encountered. It had a low railing and circled up four stories worth of precipitous dropoffs before you hit solid ground. From the top was a views of Granada's endless sea of mottled pink, orange and brown hues -- terra cotta roof tiles stretching from the shores of Lago Nicaragua all the way back toward the hills. + +

+
+
+
+ Fall +
+

Fall

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + The trees are in full technicolor swing. The land is slowly dying, and not just because it's Fall, we're also in the middle of a prolonged drought and this year the leaves are opting for a James Dean-style, leave-a-good-looking-corpse exit. If you're a leaf and you've got to go, do it with class. + +

+
+
+
+ On The Other Ocean +
+

On The Other Ocean

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Catalina Island, California, U.S. + + + – + + Consider what would happen if your house were tilted 30 degrees to the left, how this would complicate ordinary activities -- like say walking. Now throw in a bouncing motion that lifts the floor five or six feet up and down in a seesaw-like motion on a perpendicular axis to the 30 degree tilt -- things become more like riding a seesaw that's attached to a merry-go-round which is missing a few bolts. That's sailing. + +

+
+
+
+ Being There +
+

Being There

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Myrtle Beach Airport, South Carolina, U.S. + + + – + + Myrtle Beach does not exist. Nearly everything in Myrtle Beach is a paltry derivative of some original form. For instance, most of the country has golf courses, in Myrtle Beach there are endless rows of putt-putt courses, where most towns attempt to draw in big name musical acts for their tourist venues, Myrtle Beach is content with impersonators. + +

+
+
+
+ Sailing Through +
+

Sailing Through

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. + + + – + + The rumors are true. I moved back to the south; Athens GA to be exact. But I hate staying in one place for too long, so after a month or two in Athens I headed up to Charleston to visit a friend. The south is curious place. If you've never been here I couldn't hope to explain it, but it's not so much a place as an approach. A way of getting somewhere more than anywhere specific. Perhaps even a wrong turn. + + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/3/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/3/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d545293 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/3/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,521 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Around the World -- Page 3 + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing Archive

+
+
+ Goodbye to the Mother and the Cove +
+

Goodbye to the Mother and the Cove

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Los Angeles, California, U.S. + + + – + + It's strange how you can plan something, go through all the motions of making it happen without ever really understanding what you're doing. I've been doing this for the better part of three years now. I realized recently that I have no real idea how I came to be here. + + +

+
+
+
+ Everything All The Time +
+

Everything All The Time

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Los Angeles, California, U.S. + + + – + + I don't know if I'm just overly paranoid but when I call up memories in the dark hours of the Beaujolais-soaked pre-dawn, I see a collection of mildly amusing, occasionally painful series of embarrassments, misunderstandings and general wrong-place, wrong-time sort of moments. Which isn't to imply that my life is a British sitcom, just that I'm not in a hurry to re-live any of it. + +

+
+
+
+ The Sun Came Up With No Conclusions +
+

The Sun Came Up With No Conclusions

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Los Angeles, California, U.S. + + + – + + "And so it is that we, as men, do not exist until we do; and then it is that we play with our world of existent things, and order and disorder them, and so it shall be that non-existence shall take us back from existence and that nameless spirituality shall return to Void, like a tired child home from a very wild circus." -- Robert Anton Wilson and Kerry Thornley. Good luck and Godspeed Mr. Wilson. + +

+
+
+
+ Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose +
+

Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Los Angeles, California, U.S. + + + – + + Traveling soul. Soul is not something out there or in you, it's the place where you meet the out there; something very similar to what I think James Brown meant — a mixture of the secular and the spiritual, the profane and the sublime. + +

+
+
+
+ Homeward +
+

Homeward

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Los Angeles, California, U.S. + + + – + + New York, New York. John F Kennedy airport 1 am date unknown, sleepy looking customs guard stamps a passport without hardly looking at, without even checking to see where I had been. A light drizzle is falling outside and the subways extension to the terminal never looked so good. What is it like to be home? I don't know, I'll tell you when I get there. + +

+
+
+
+ Cadenza +
+

Cadenza

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + Paris - Outside it's raining. Beads of water form on the window in front of me. The glow of the unseen sun is fading behind midnight blue clouds and darkening sky. An old man in a butcher apron selling oysters under an awning smokes a cigarette and watches the mothers and children walking home with bags of groceries. + +

+
+
+
+ I Don't Sleep I Dream +
+

I Don’t Sleep I Dream

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Vienna, Austria + + + – + + How can Freud's former residence in Vienna lack a couch? The closest thing is up against the wall, behind a small writing desk in what was then the waiting room — a small divan where one might stare at the patternless ceiling until the patterns emerge as it were. “Tell me about it,” he began. + +

+
+
+
+ Unreflected +
+

Unreflected

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Vienna, Austria + + + – + + The Kunsthistorisches Museum contains probably the best collection of art outside of France — Rubens, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Raphael, Velazquez, Bruegel and a certain Italian for whom I have a festering personal obsession, which shall be addressed shortly — and what's remarkable about this magnificent assemblage is that the vast majority of it was once the Hapsburg's private collection. + +

+
+
+
+ Four Minutes Thirty-Three Seconds +
+

Four Minutes Thirty-Three Seconds

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Prague, Czech Republic + + + – + + Just north of Prague's old town square and east of the River Vltava is Josefov, the old Jewish quarter of Prague. The Pinkas Synagogue in Josefov is an unassuming pale, sand-colored building with a slightly sunken entrance. Inside is a small alter and little else. The floor is bare; there are no places for worshipers to sit. The synagogue is little more than walls. And on the walls inscribed in extremely small print are the names of the 77,297 Jewish citizens of Bohemia and Moravia who died in the Holocaust. + + +

+
+
+
+ Inside and Out +
+

Inside and Out

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic + + + – + + Chasing Egon Schiele: The attention to detail that makes the difference between a building and work of art was everywhere in Cesky Krumlov, from the delicate pink and red complements of a fine dovetailed corner, to the white plaster and oak beams of the Egon Schiele museum, which, despite geometric differences, looked not unlike the Globe Theatre in London. + +

+
+
+
+ The King of Carrot Flowers Part Two +
+

The King of Carrot Flowers Part Two

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Bled, Slovenia + + + – + + There is a roughly 200km loop of road that leads northwest out of Bled, through a pass in the Julian Alps and then down the other side, twisting and winding back toward Bled by way of craggy canyons, small hamlets and crystalline rivers. We set out sometime after breakfast. + +

+
+
+
+ Ghost +
+

Ghost

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Ljubljana, Slovenia + + + – + + Like Dubrovnik, Trogir is a walled city of roughly Venetian vintage, but Trogir's wall has largely crumbled away or been removed. Still, it has the gorgeous narrow cobblestone streets, arched doorways and towering forts that give all Dalmatian towns their Rapunzel-like fairly tale quality. + +

+
+
+
+ Feel Good Lost +
+

Feel Good Lost

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Dubrovnik, Croatia + + + – + + Dubrovnik, Croatia was heavily shelled during the Bosnian conflict and roughly 65 percent of its buildings were hit, built for the most part you'd never know it. Most of the buildings date from about 1468, though some were destroyed in the great earthquake of 1667, still, by and large, the city looks as it did in the fifteenth century. + +

+
+
+
+ Blue Milk +
+

Blue Milk

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Dubrovnik, Croatia + + + – + + It's hard to understand, standing on the banks of such crystalline, cerulean lakes, whose dazzling colors come from the mineral rich silt runoff of glaciers, that the largest European conflict since world war two began here, at Like Plitvice Croatia. But indeed this is where the first shots were fired on Easter Sunday in 1991 and the first casualty was a park policeman. + +

+
+
+
+ Refracted Light and Grace +
+

Refracted Light and Grace

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Budapest, Hungary + + + – + + Evening, after dinner, outside on the balcony, smoking cigarettes and contemplating the nightscape of Buda's Castle Hill rising up out of its own golden reflection in the shimmering Danube waters. The drone of car horns in the distance and the electric tram squealing as it pulls out of the station below on the river a boat slowly churns upstream... + +

+
+
+
+ London Calling +
+

London Calling

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + London, United Kingdom + + + – + + London: The British don't want me -- no money, no proof I'm leaving and no real reason for coming, good lord, I must be a vagabond, up to no good, surely. Eventually the customs agent relents and lets me in, a favor I repay by nearly burning down one of London's bigger parks. Seriously. + +

+
+
+
+ Closing Time +
+

Closing Time

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Koh Kradan, Thailand + + + – + + Headed back to Europe: I started to write a bit of reminiscence, trying to remember the highlights of my time in Asia before I return to the west, but about halfway through I kept thinking of a popular Buddhist saying — be here now. Most of these dispatches are written in past tense, but this time I want to simply be here now. This moment, on this train. This is the last time I'll post something from Southeast Asia. + +

+
+
+
+ Beginning of the End +
+

Beginning of the End

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Koh Kradan, Thailand + + + – + + I wasn't expecting much from Ko Kradan, but in the end I discovered a slice of Thailand the way it's often describe by wistful hippies who first came here twenty years ago. Tong and Ngu and the rest of the Thais working at Paradise Lost were the nicest people I met in Thailand and Wally was by far the most laid back farang I've come across. I ended up staying on Ko Kradan for the remainder of my time in the south. + + +

+
+
+
+ Going Down South +
+

Going Down South

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Koh Phi Phi, Thailand + + + – + + The Phi Phi Island Resort, where some friends were staying, is nestled on the leeward shore of Koh Phi Phi Island and posts a private beach, beautiful reef, fancy swimming pools and rooms with real sheets. Unheard of. I sauntered in a day early, acted like I owned the place, rented snorkel gear, charged it to a random room number and spent the afternoon on the reef. If only I could have put it on the Underhill's credit card. + +

+
+
+
+ The Book of Right On +
+

The Book of Right On

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Sinoukville, Cambodia + + + – + + The next day we continued on to Sinoukville which is Cambodia's attempt at a seaside resort. Combining the essential elements of Goa and Thailand, Sinoukville is a pleasant, if somewhat hippy-oriented, travelers haven. We rented Honda Dreams and cruised down the coast to deserted white sand beaches, thatched huts serving noodles and rice, where we watched sunsets and dodged rain storms. + +

+
+
+
+ Midnight in a Perfect World +
+

Midnight in a Perfect World

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Death Island, Cambodia + + + – + + Death Island, as Rob nicknamed it, was just what I needed. The first day we sat down for lunch and ordered crab; a boy in his underwear proceeded to run out of the kitchen, swam out in the ocean and began unloading crabs from a trap into a bucket. It doesn't get much fresher than that. Throw in a nice beach, some cheap bungalows and you're away. + +

+
+
+
+ Angkor Wat +
+

Angkor Wat

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Angkor Wat, Cambodia + + + – + + Roughly half a million people a year visit Angkor Wat. The first evening we decided to see just how tourist-filled Angkor was by heading to the most popular sunset temple, Phnom Bakheng, to watch the sunset. And there were a lot of tourists. Thousands of them. And that was just at one temple. Thus was hatched the plan: see Angkor in the heat of the day. Yes it will be hot. Hot hot hot. Fucking hot. But hopefully empty. + +

+
+
+
+ ...Wait 'til it Blows +
+

…Wait ‘til it Blows

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Seam Reap, Cambodia + + + – + + One the things I may have failed to mention thus far in my Cambodia reportage is that this was/is one of the most heavily mined areas in the world. You might think that removing landmines involves sophisticated technology of the sort you see in BBC documentaries on Bosnia, but here in Cambodia landmine removal is most often handled by the technological marvel of southeast Asia — the bamboo stick. + +

+
+
+
+ Beginning to See the Light +
+

Beginning to See the Light

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Floating Village, Cambodia + + + – + + Surprisingly, a floating village is not that different than a village on the land. There are the same stores, the computer repair shop, the grocers, the petrol station, the temple, the dance hall and all the other things that makeup a town. I could even say with some authority that the town is laid out in streets, watery pathways that form nearly perfect lines. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/4/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/4/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9f49991 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/4/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,519 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Around the World -- Page 4 + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing Archive

+
+
+ Blood on the Tracks +
+

Blood on the Tracks

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Phenom Phen, Cambodia + + + – + + As I mentioned in the last entry I came down with a bit of a fever for a few days. This was accompanied by what we in the group have come to term, for lack of a nicer, but equally descriptive phrase — pissing out the ass. It's not a pretty picture. Nor is it a pleasant experience, and consequently I don't have a real clear recollection of the journey from Ban Lung to Kratie or from Kratie out to Sen Monoron. + +

+
+
+
+ Ticket To Ride +
+

Ticket To Ride

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Ban Lung, Cambodia + + + – + + I can't see. My eyebrows are orange with dust. I cannot see them, but I know they must be; they were yesterday. Every now and then when her legs clench down on my hips or her fingernails dig into my shoulders, I remember Debi is behind me and I am more or less responsible for not killing both of us. + +

+
+
+
+ Little Corner of the World +
+

Little Corner of the World

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Four Thousand Islands, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + It's difficult to explain but the further south you go in Laos the more relaxed life becomes. Since life in the north is not exactly high stress, by the time we arrived in the four thousand Islands we had to check our pulse periodically to ensure that time was in fact still moving forward. + +

+
+
+
+ Can’t Get There From Here +
+

Can’t Get There From Here

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Attapeu, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + The most magical light in Laos lives on the Bolevan Plateau. For some reason not many tourists seem to make it out to the Bolevan Plateau, in spite of the fact that the roads are quite good, transport runs regularly, the villages peaceful, even sleepy, little hamlets. In short, the Bolevan Plateau is wonderful, and not the least in part because no one else is there. + +

+
+
+
+ Safe as Milk +
+

Safe as Milk

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Sekong, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + You would think, if you were the United States and you were illegally and unofficially bombing a foreign country you might not want to stamp "US Bomb" on the side of your bombs, and yet there it was all over Laos: "US Bomb." Clearly somebody didn't think things all the way through, especially given that roughly one third of said bombs failed to explode. + +

+
+
+
+ Everyday the Fourteenth +
+

Everyday the Fourteenth

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Savannakhet, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + We piled four large bags, four daypacks and five people in a six meter dugout canoe. The boat was powered by the ever-present-in-southeast-Asia long tail motor which is essential a lawnmower engine with a three meter pole extending out of it to which a small propeller is attached — perfect for navigating shallow water. And by shallow I mean sometimes a mere inch between the hull and the riverbed. + +

+
+
+
+ Water Slides and Spirit Guides +
+

Water Slides and Spirit Guides

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Konglor Cave, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + The dramatic black karst limestone mountains ringing Ban Na Hin grew darker as the light faded. I was sitting alone on the back porch of our guesthouse watching the light slowly disappear from the bottoms of the clouds and wondering absently how many pages it would take to explain how I came to be in the tiny town of Ban Na Hin, or if such an explanation even really existed. + +

+
+
+
+ The Lovely Universe +
+

The Lovely Universe

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Vang Vieng, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + I would like to say that I have something memorable to write about Vang Vieng, but the truth is we mostly sat around doing very little, making new friends, drinking a beer around the fire and waiting out the Chinese new year celebrations, which meant none of us could get Cambodian visas until the following Monday. We were forced to relax beside the river for several more days than we intended. Yes friends, traveling is hard, but I do it for you. + +

+
+
+
+ I Used to Fly Like Peter Pan +
+

I Used to Fly Like Peter Pan

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Luang Nam Tha, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + The next time someone asks you, “would you like to live in a tree house and travel five hundred feet above the ground attached to a zip wire?” I highly suggest you say, “yes, where do a I sign up?” If you happen to be in Laos, try the Gibbon Experience. + +

+
+
+
+ Hymn of the Big Wheel +
+

Hymn of the Big Wheel

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Luang Prabang, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + Jose Saramago writes in The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis that the gods "journey like us in the river of things, differing from us only because we call them gods and sometimes believe in them." Sitting in the middle of the river listening to the gurgle of water moving over stone and around trees I began to think that perhaps this is the sound of some lost language, a sound capable of creating mountains, valleys, estuaries, isthmuses and all the other forms around us, gurgling and sonorous but without clear meaning, shrouded in turquoise, a mystery through which we can move our sense of wonder intact. + +

+
+
+
+ Down the River +
+

Down the River

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Luang Prabang, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + Morning in Chiang Khong Thailand revealed itself as a foggy, and not a little mysterious, affair with the far shore of the Mekong, the Laos shore, almost completely hidden in a veil of mist. The first ferry crossed at eight and I was on it, looking to meet up with the slow boat to Luang Prabang. + +

+
+
+
+ The King of Carrot Flowers +
+

The King of Carrot Flowers

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Doi Inthanan National Park, Thailand + + + – + + The light outside the windows was still a pre-dawn inky blue when the freezing cold water hit my back. A cold shower at six thirty in the morning is infinitely more powerful, albeit not at long lasting, as a cup of coffee. After dropping my body temperature a few degrees and having no towel to dry off with, just a dirty shirt and ceaseless ceiling fan, a cup of tea seemed like a good idea so I stopped in at the restaurant downstairs and, after a cup of hot water with some Jasmine leaves swirling at the bottom of it, I climbed on my rental motorbike and set out for Doi Inthanan National Park. + +

+
+
+
+ You and I Are Disappearing +
+

You and I Are Disappearing

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Chang Mai, Thailand + + + – + + The all night bus reached Chiang Mai well past dawn, the city already beginning to stir. I considered trying to nap, but in the end decided to explore the town. What better way to see Buddhist temples than in the dreamy fog of sleeplessness? Chiang Mai has over three hundred wats within the somewhat sprawling city limits, most of them reasonably modern and, in my opinion, not worth visiting. I narrowed the field to three, which I figured was a nice round one percent. + + +

+
+
+
+ Buddha on the Bounty +
+

Buddha on the Bounty

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Bangkok, Thailand + + + – + + The house Jim Thompson left behind in Bangkok is gorgeous, but the real charm is the garden and its orchids. I wandered around the gardens which really aren't that large for some time and then found a bench near a collection of orchids, where I sat for the better part of an hour, occasionally taking a photograph or two, but mostly thinking about how human orchids are. + +

+
+
+
+ Brink of the Clouds +
+

Brink of the Clouds

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Bangkok, Thailand + + + – + + "The city is a cathedral" writes James Salter, "its scent is dreams." Salter may have been referring to New York, but his words ring true in Bangkok. And the best place to feel it at night is on the river or from the top of the Baiyoke Sky Hotel — where a circular, revolving observation deck offers 360° views of the Bangkok nightscape. + +

+
+
+
+ Are You Amplified to Rock? +
+

Are You Amplified to Rock?

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Bangkok, Thailand + + + – + + It's a new year, are you amplified to rock? Ready, set, go. + +

+
+
+
+ Merry Christmas 2005 +
+

Merry Christmas 2005

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Bangkok, Thailand + + + – + + Seasons Greeting from luxagraf. I'm in Bangkok, Thailand at the moment. I am taking a short break from traveling to do a little working so I don't have much to report. I've seen the two big temples down in the Khaosan Rd area, but otherwise I've been trying to live an ordinary life in Bangkok, if such a thing is possible. + +

+
+
+
+ Sunset Over the Himalayas +
+

Sunset Over the Himalayas

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Pokhara, Nepal + + + – + + After about forty-five minutes of paddling I reached a point where the views of the Annapurna range were, in the words of an Englishman I met in Katmandu, "gob smacking gorgeous." I put down the paddle and moved to the center of the boat where the benches were wider and, using my bag a cushion, lay back against the gunwale and hung my feet over the opposite side so that they just skimmed the surface of the chilly water. + +

+
+
+
+ Pashupatinath +
+

Pashupatinath

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Pashupatinath, Nepal + + + – + + Nestled on a hillside beside the Bagmati River, Pashupatinath is one of the holiest sites in the world for Hindus, second only to Varanasi in India. Pashupatinath consists of a large temple which is open only to Hindus, surrounded by a number of smaller shrines and then down on the banks of the Bagmati are the burning ghats where bodies are cremated. + +

+
+
+
+ Durbar Square Kathmandu +
+

Durbar Square Kathmandu

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Kathmandu, Nepal + + + – + + After saturating myself with the streets of Thamel I went on a longer excursion down to Durbar Square to see the various pagodas, temples and the old palace. The palace itself no longer houses the King, but is still used for coronations and ceremonies and Durbar Square is still very much the hub of Katmandu. + +

+
+
+
+ Goodbye India +
+

Goodbye India

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Delhi, India + + + – + + I have taken almost 750 photos and traveled nearly 4000 km (2500 miles) in India, the vast majority of it by train. I have seen everything from depressing squalor to majestic palaces and yet I still feel as if I have hardly scratched the surface. I can't think of another and certainly have never been to a country with the kind of geographic and ethnic diversity of India. + +

+
+
+
+ The Taj Express +
+

The Taj Express

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Agra, India + + + – + + The Taj Mahal is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and, given the level of hype I was fully prepared to be underwhelmed, but I was wrong. I have never in my life seen anything so extravagant, elegant and colossal. The Taj Mahal seems mythically, spiritually, as well as architecturally, to have risen from nowhere, without equal or context. + +

+
+
+
+ On a Camel With No Name +
+

On a Camel With No Name

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Thar Desert, India + + + – + + The Thar Desert is a bewitching if stark place. It reminded me of areas of the Great Basin between Las Vegas and St. George, Utah. Twigging mesquite-like trees, bluish gray bushes resembling creosote, a very large bush that resembled a Palo Verde tree and grew in impenetrable clumps, and, strangely, only one species of cactus and not a whole lot of them. + +

+
+
+
+ The Majestic Fort +
+

The Majestic Fort

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Jodhpur, India + + + – + + The next day I hopped in a rickshaw and headed up to tour Meherangarh, or the Majestic Fort as it's known in English. As its English name indicates, it is indeed perched majestically atop the only hill around, and seems not so much built on a hill as to have naturally risen out the very rocks that form the mesa on which it rests. The outer wall encloses some of the sturdiest and most impressive ramparts I've seen in India or anywhere else. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/5/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/5/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6ef9b1f --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/5/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,444 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Around the World -- Page 5 + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing Archive

+
+
+ Around Udaipur +
+

Around Udaipur

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Udiapur, India + + + – + + Just out of Udaipur is a government sponsored "artist colony" for various cultures from the five nearby states, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Goa and Madhya Pradesh. On one hand Shilpogram is a wonderful idea on the part of the government, but on the other hand the "artists colony" is slightly creepy. Amidst displays of typical tribal life there were artists and craftsmen and women hawking their wares along with dancers and musicians performing traditional songs. The whole thing had the feel of a living museum, or, for the creepy angle — human zoo. + +

+
+
+
+ The Monsoon Palace +
+

The Monsoon Palace

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Udiapur, India + + + – + + We started out in the early evening quickly leaving behind Udaipur and its increasing urban sprawl. The road to the Monsoon Palace passes through the Sajjan Garh Nature Preserve and there was a sudden and dramatic drop in temperature, but then the road climbed out of the hollow and the temperature jumped back up to comfortable as we began to climb the mountain in a series of hairpin switchbacks. As the sun slowly slunk behind the mountain range to the west the balconies and balustrades of the Monsoon Palace took on an increasingly orange hue. + +

+
+
+
+ The City Palace +
+

The City Palace

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Udiapur, India + + + – + + I spent some time sitting in the inner gardens of the City Place, listening to rustling trees and the various guides bringing small groups of western and Indian tourists through the garden. In the center of the hanging gardens was the kings, extremely oversized bath, which reminded me of children's book that I once gave to a friend's daughter; it was a massively oversized and lavishly illustrated book that told the story of a king who refused to get out of the bath and instead made his ministers, advisors, cooks and even his wife conduct business by getting in the bath with him. + +

+
+
+
+ Living in Airport Terminals +
+

Living in Airport Terminals

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Ahmedabad, India + + + – + + Airport terminals are fast becoming my favorite part of traveling. When you stop and observe them closely as I have been forced to do on this trip, terminals are actually quite beautiful, weird places. Terminals inhabit a unique space in the architecture of humanity, perhaps the strangest of all spaces we have created; a space that is itself only a boundary that delineates the border between what was and what will be without leaving any space at all for what is. + +

+
+
+
+ Anjuna Market +
+

Anjuna Market

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Anjuna Beach, India + + + – + + Earlier today I caught a bus up to the Anjuna Flea Market and can now tell you for certain that old hippies do not die, they simply move to Goa. The flea market was quite a spectacle; riots of color at every turn and more silver jewelry than you could shake a stick at. + +

+
+
+
+ Fish Story +
+

Fish Story

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Colva Beach, India + + + – + + The Arabian Sea is warm and the sand sucks at your feet when you walk, schools of tiny fish dart and disappear into each receding wave. In the morning the water is nearly glassy and the beach slopes off so slowly one can walk out at least 200 meters and be only waist deep. + +

+
+
+
+ The Backwaters of Kerala +
+

The Backwaters of Kerala

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Fort Kochi, India + + + – + + The guide showed us Tamarind trees, coconut palms, lemon trees, vanilla vine, plantain trees and countless other shrubs and bushes whose names I have already forgotten. The most fascinating was a plant that produces a fruit something like a miniature mango that contains cyanide and which, as our guide informed us, is cultivated mainly to commit suicide with — as if it was no big deal and everyone is at least occasionally tempted to each the killer mango. + +

+
+
+
+ Vasco de Gama Exhumed +
+

Vasco de Gama Exhumed

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Fort Kochi, India + + + – + + Fort Cochin is curious collision of cultures — Chinese, India and even Portuguese. Many of the obviously older buildings are of a distinctly Iberian-style — moss covered, adobe-colored arches abound. There is graveyard just down the road with a tombstone that bears the name Vasco de Gama, who died and was buried here for fourteen years before being moved to Lisbon (there we go again, more Europeans digging up and moving the dead). + +

+
+
+
+ Riots, Iraqi Restaurants, Goodbye Seine +
+

Riots, Iraqi Restaurants, Goodbye Seine

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + Well it's my last night here in Paris and I've chosen to return to the best restaurant we've been to so far, an Iraqi restaurant in a Marais. I am using all my willpower right now to avoid having a political outburst re the quality of Iraqi food versus the intelligence of George Bush etc etc. I'm traveling; I don't want to get into politics except to say that my dislike for the current El Presidente was no small factor in my decision to go abroad. + +

+
+
+
+ Bury Your Dead +
+

Bury Your Dead

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + I would like to say that the catacombs of Paris had some spectacular effect on me seeing that I strolled through human remains, skulls and femurs mainly, "decoratively arranged," but the truth is, after you get over the initial shock of seeing a skull, well, it turns out you can get adjusted to just about anything. Maybe that in and off itself is the scary part. + +

+
+
+
+ The Houses We Live In +
+

The Houses We Live In

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + I've been thinking the last couple of days about something Bill's dad said to me before I left. I'm paraphrasing here since I don't remember the exact phrasing he used, but something to the effect of "people are essentially the same everywhere, they just build their houses differently." Indeed, Parisian architecture is completely unlike anything in America. Perhaps more than any other single element, architecture reflects culture and the ideas of the people that make up culture. + +

+
+
+
+ Sainte Chapelle +
+

Sainte Chapelle

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + Sainte Chapelle was interesting to see after the modern, conceptual art stuff at the Pompidou, rather than simple stained glass, Sainte Chapelle felt quite conceptual. In a sense the entire Bible (i.e. all history from that perspective) is unfolding simultaneously, quite a so-called post-modern idea if you think about it. And yet it was conceived and executed over 800 years ago. Kind of kicks a lot pretentious modern art in its collective ass. + +

+
+
+
+ Living in a Railway Car +
+

Living in a Railway Car

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + This French apartment is more like a railway sleeper car than apartment proper. Maybe fifteen feet long and only three feet wide at the ceiling. More like five feet wide at the floor, but, because it's an attic, the outer wall slopes in and you lose two feet by the time you get to the ceiling. It's narrow enough that you can't pass another body when you walk to length of it. + +

+
+
+
+ Twenty More Minutes to Go +
+

Twenty More Minutes to Go

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Newport Beach, California, U.S. + + + – + + Well it's the night before I leave. I just got done pacing around the driveway of my parents house smoking cigarettes… nervously? Excitedly? Restlessly? A bit of all of those I suppose. I walk across the street, over the drainage ditch and head for the swing set at the park. Right now I'm swinging in a park in Costa Mesa California. Tomorrow France. Weird. [Photo to the right, via Flickr] + +

+
+
+
+ Travel Tips and Resources +
+

Travel Tips and Resources

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Newport Beach, California, U.S. + + + – + + An overview of the things you might want to bring on an extended trip, as well as some tips and recommendations on things like visas and vaccinations. The part that was most helpful for me was learning what I didn't need to bring — as it turns out, quite a bit. Nowadays my pack is much smaller and lighter. + +

+
+
+
+ The New Luddites +
+

The New Luddites

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Newport Beach, California, U.S. + + + – + + An older, non-travel piece about Google's plan to scan all the world's books and Luddite-like response from many authors. Let's see, someone wants to make your book easier to find, searchable and indexable and you're opposed to it? You're a fucking idiot. + +

+
+
+
+ One Nation Under a Groove +
+

One Nation Under a Groove

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Northampton, Massachusetts, U.S. + + + – + + The sky is falling! The iPod! It's ruining our culture! Or, uh, maybe it's just like the Walkman, but better. And since, so far as I can tell, the world did not collapse with the introduction of the Walkman and headphones, it probably isn't going to fall apart just because the storage format for our music has changed. [Photo to the right via Flickr] + +

+
+
+
+ Farewell Mr. Hunter S Thompson +
+

Farewell Mr. Hunter S Thompson

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Northampton, Massachusetts, U.S. + + + – + + Hunter S. Thompson departs on a journey to the western lands. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas delivered the penultimate eulogy for the dreams of the 1960's, one that mourned, but also tried to lay the empty idealism to rest. + +

+
+
+
+ The Art of the Essay +
+

The Art of the Essay

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Northampton, Massachusetts, U.S. + + + – + + I generally ignore internet debates, they never go anywhere, so why bother. But we all have our weak points and when programmer Paul Graham posted what might be the dumbest essay on writing that's ever been written, I just couldn't help myuself. + +

+
+
+
+ Farewell Mr. Cash +
+

Farewell Mr. Cash

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Northampton, Massachusetts, U.S. + + + – + + Johnny Cash heads for the western lands. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/6/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/6/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9aa46d5 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/6/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,76 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Around the World -- Page 6 + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing Archive

+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/7/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/7/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6dfb1c0 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/7/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,76 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Around the World -- Page 7 + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing Archive

+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/8/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/8/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4c20f03 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/8/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,76 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Around the World -- Page 8 + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing Archive

+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/9/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/9/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f1a15f3 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/9/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,76 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Around the World -- Page 9 + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing Archive

+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/austria/1/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/austria/1/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f93e6b2 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/austria/1/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,113 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Austria + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Austria

+
+
+ I Don't Sleep I Dream +
+

I Don’t Sleep I Dream

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Vienna, Austria + + + – + + How can Freud's former residence in Vienna lack a couch? The closest thing is up against the wall, behind a small writing desk in what was then the waiting room — a small divan where one might stare at the patternless ceiling until the patterns emerge as it were. “Tell me about it,” he began. + +

+
+
+
+ Unreflected +
+

Unreflected

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Vienna, Austria + + + – + + The Kunsthistorisches Museum contains probably the best collection of art outside of France — Rubens, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Raphael, Velazquez, Bruegel and a certain Italian for whom I have a festering personal obsession, which shall be addressed shortly — and what's remarkable about this magnificent assemblage is that the vast majority of it was once the Hapsburg's private collection. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/austria/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/austria/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f93e6b2 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/austria/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,113 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Austria + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Austria

+
+
+ I Don't Sleep I Dream +
+

I Don’t Sleep I Dream

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Vienna, Austria + + + – + + How can Freud's former residence in Vienna lack a couch? The closest thing is up against the wall, behind a small writing desk in what was then the waiting room — a small divan where one might stare at the patternless ceiling until the patterns emerge as it were. “Tell me about it,” he began. + +

+
+
+
+ Unreflected +
+

Unreflected

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Vienna, Austria + + + – + + The Kunsthistorisches Museum contains probably the best collection of art outside of France — Rubens, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Raphael, Velazquez, Bruegel and a certain Italian for whom I have a festering personal obsession, which shall be addressed shortly — and what's remarkable about this magnificent assemblage is that the vast majority of it was once the Hapsburg's private collection. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/cambodia/1/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/cambodia/1/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b499c46 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/cambodia/1/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,203 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Cambodia + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Cambodia

+
+
+ The Book of Right On +
+

The Book of Right On

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Sinoukville, Cambodia + + + – + + The next day we continued on to Sinoukville which is Cambodia's attempt at a seaside resort. Combining the essential elements of Goa and Thailand, Sinoukville is a pleasant, if somewhat hippy-oriented, travelers haven. We rented Honda Dreams and cruised down the coast to deserted white sand beaches, thatched huts serving noodles and rice, where we watched sunsets and dodged rain storms. + +

+
+
+
+ Midnight in a Perfect World +
+

Midnight in a Perfect World

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Death Island, Cambodia + + + – + + Death Island, as Rob nicknamed it, was just what I needed. The first day we sat down for lunch and ordered crab; a boy in his underwear proceeded to run out of the kitchen, swam out in the ocean and began unloading crabs from a trap into a bucket. It doesn't get much fresher than that. Throw in a nice beach, some cheap bungalows and you're away. + +

+
+
+
+ Angkor Wat +
+

Angkor Wat

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Angkor Wat, Cambodia + + + – + + Roughly half a million people a year visit Angkor Wat. The first evening we decided to see just how tourist-filled Angkor was by heading to the most popular sunset temple, Phnom Bakheng, to watch the sunset. And there were a lot of tourists. Thousands of them. And that was just at one temple. Thus was hatched the plan: see Angkor in the heat of the day. Yes it will be hot. Hot hot hot. Fucking hot. But hopefully empty. + +

+
+
+
+ ...Wait 'til it Blows +
+

…Wait ‘til it Blows

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Seam Reap, Cambodia + + + – + + One the things I may have failed to mention thus far in my Cambodia reportage is that this was/is one of the most heavily mined areas in the world. You might think that removing landmines involves sophisticated technology of the sort you see in BBC documentaries on Bosnia, but here in Cambodia landmine removal is most often handled by the technological marvel of southeast Asia — the bamboo stick. + +

+
+
+
+ Beginning to See the Light +
+

Beginning to See the Light

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Floating Village, Cambodia + + + – + + Surprisingly, a floating village is not that different than a village on the land. There are the same stores, the computer repair shop, the grocers, the petrol station, the temple, the dance hall and all the other things that makeup a town. I could even say with some authority that the town is laid out in streets, watery pathways that form nearly perfect lines. + +

+
+
+
+ Blood on the Tracks +
+

Blood on the Tracks

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Phenom Phen, Cambodia + + + – + + As I mentioned in the last entry I came down with a bit of a fever for a few days. This was accompanied by what we in the group have come to term, for lack of a nicer, but equally descriptive phrase — pissing out the ass. It's not a pretty picture. Nor is it a pleasant experience, and consequently I don't have a real clear recollection of the journey from Ban Lung to Kratie or from Kratie out to Sen Monoron. + +

+
+
+
+ Ticket To Ride +
+

Ticket To Ride

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Ban Lung, Cambodia + + + – + + I can't see. My eyebrows are orange with dust. I cannot see them, but I know they must be; they were yesterday. Every now and then when her legs clench down on my hips or her fingernails dig into my shoulders, I remember Debi is behind me and I am more or less responsible for not killing both of us. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/cambodia/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/cambodia/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b499c46 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/cambodia/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,203 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Cambodia + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Cambodia

+
+
+ The Book of Right On +
+

The Book of Right On

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Sinoukville, Cambodia + + + – + + The next day we continued on to Sinoukville which is Cambodia's attempt at a seaside resort. Combining the essential elements of Goa and Thailand, Sinoukville is a pleasant, if somewhat hippy-oriented, travelers haven. We rented Honda Dreams and cruised down the coast to deserted white sand beaches, thatched huts serving noodles and rice, where we watched sunsets and dodged rain storms. + +

+
+
+
+ Midnight in a Perfect World +
+

Midnight in a Perfect World

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Death Island, Cambodia + + + – + + Death Island, as Rob nicknamed it, was just what I needed. The first day we sat down for lunch and ordered crab; a boy in his underwear proceeded to run out of the kitchen, swam out in the ocean and began unloading crabs from a trap into a bucket. It doesn't get much fresher than that. Throw in a nice beach, some cheap bungalows and you're away. + +

+
+
+
+ Angkor Wat +
+

Angkor Wat

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Angkor Wat, Cambodia + + + – + + Roughly half a million people a year visit Angkor Wat. The first evening we decided to see just how tourist-filled Angkor was by heading to the most popular sunset temple, Phnom Bakheng, to watch the sunset. And there were a lot of tourists. Thousands of them. And that was just at one temple. Thus was hatched the plan: see Angkor in the heat of the day. Yes it will be hot. Hot hot hot. Fucking hot. But hopefully empty. + +

+
+
+
+ ...Wait 'til it Blows +
+

…Wait ‘til it Blows

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Seam Reap, Cambodia + + + – + + One the things I may have failed to mention thus far in my Cambodia reportage is that this was/is one of the most heavily mined areas in the world. You might think that removing landmines involves sophisticated technology of the sort you see in BBC documentaries on Bosnia, but here in Cambodia landmine removal is most often handled by the technological marvel of southeast Asia — the bamboo stick. + +

+
+
+
+ Beginning to See the Light +
+

Beginning to See the Light

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Floating Village, Cambodia + + + – + + Surprisingly, a floating village is not that different than a village on the land. There are the same stores, the computer repair shop, the grocers, the petrol station, the temple, the dance hall and all the other things that makeup a town. I could even say with some authority that the town is laid out in streets, watery pathways that form nearly perfect lines. + +

+
+
+
+ Blood on the Tracks +
+

Blood on the Tracks

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Phenom Phen, Cambodia + + + – + + As I mentioned in the last entry I came down with a bit of a fever for a few days. This was accompanied by what we in the group have come to term, for lack of a nicer, but equally descriptive phrase — pissing out the ass. It's not a pretty picture. Nor is it a pleasant experience, and consequently I don't have a real clear recollection of the journey from Ban Lung to Kratie or from Kratie out to Sen Monoron. + +

+
+
+
+ Ticket To Ride +
+

Ticket To Ride

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Ban Lung, Cambodia + + + – + + I can't see. My eyebrows are orange with dust. I cannot see them, but I know they must be; they were yesterday. Every now and then when her legs clench down on my hips or her fingernails dig into my shoulders, I remember Debi is behind me and I am more or less responsible for not killing both of us. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/central-america/1/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/central-america/1/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1957b94 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/central-america/1/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,203 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Central America + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Central America

+
+
+ Our Days Are Becoming Nights +
+

Our Days Are Becoming Nights

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + León, Nicaragua + + + – + + A short thought on the eve of our departure from Nicaragua: Everywhere I go I think, I should live here... I should be able to not just visit places, but in habit them. Of course that isn't possible, which is too bad. + +

+
+
+
+ Tiny Cities Made of Ash +
+

Tiny Cities Made of Ash

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + León, Nicaragua + + + – + + The church bells of León have become a constant cacophony, not the rhythmic ringing out of the hours or tolling from Mass that the human mind seems to find pleasant, but the atonal banging that only appeals to the young and dumb. But Francisco is entirely unperturbed; He's too fascinated with the tattoo on Corrinne's shoulder to bother with what slowly just becomes yet another sound echoing through León. + +

+
+
+
+ You Can't Go Home Again +
+

You Can’t Go Home Again

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Little Corn Island, Nicaragua + + + – + + The first time we came to Little Corn Island it was April, the tail end of the dry season. It rained once or twice, but never for more than five minutes and always followed by more sunshine. This time it's the end of June, just well into the wet season, and the island is an entirely different place. + +

+
+
+
+ Returning Again — Back on Little Corn Island +
+

Returning Again — Back on Little Corn Island

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Little Corn Island, Nicaragua + + + – + + Generally speaking, the world seems so huge and so full of amazing destinations that repeating one never struck me as a judicious use of my short allotment of time. But for Little Corn Island I'm willing to make an exception and of course, the universe being what it is, our second trip to Little Corn Island has been unpredictable and entirely new. + +

+
+
+
+ Little Island in the Sun +
+

Little Island in the Sun

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Little Corn Island, Nicaragua + + + – + + We arrived on Little Corn Island around sundown and met Ali, whom I at first took to be a tout, but he showed us the way to our guesthouse and, after settling in and getting a feel for the island, I realized that Ali, wasn't a tout, he was just a really nice guy who enjoyed doing favors for tourists, just beware the Yoni beverage he offers. + +

+
+
+
+ Return to the Sea +
+

Return to the Sea

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua + + + – + + Southwestern Nicaragua is a very small strip of land with Lago Nicaragua to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The main town in the area, Juan Del Sur, is nestled around a well protected harbor with a mediocre strip of sand. For the nice beaches you have to head up or down the coast to one of the many small inlets. + +

+
+
+
+ Ring The Bells +
+

Ring The Bells

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Granada, Nicaragua + + + – + + The Church, which dates from the 1600s has the the narrowest, steepest, circular concrete staircase that I've ever encountered. It had a low railing and circled up four stories worth of precipitous dropoffs before you hit solid ground. From the top was a views of Granada's endless sea of mottled pink, orange and brown hues -- terra cotta roof tiles stretching from the shores of Lago Nicaragua all the way back toward the hills. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/central-america/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/central-america/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1957b94 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/central-america/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,203 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Central America + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Central America

+
+
+ Our Days Are Becoming Nights +
+

Our Days Are Becoming Nights

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + León, Nicaragua + + + – + + A short thought on the eve of our departure from Nicaragua: Everywhere I go I think, I should live here... I should be able to not just visit places, but in habit them. Of course that isn't possible, which is too bad. + +

+
+
+
+ Tiny Cities Made of Ash +
+

Tiny Cities Made of Ash

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + León, Nicaragua + + + – + + The church bells of León have become a constant cacophony, not the rhythmic ringing out of the hours or tolling from Mass that the human mind seems to find pleasant, but the atonal banging that only appeals to the young and dumb. But Francisco is entirely unperturbed; He's too fascinated with the tattoo on Corrinne's shoulder to bother with what slowly just becomes yet another sound echoing through León. + +

+
+
+
+ You Can't Go Home Again +
+

You Can’t Go Home Again

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Little Corn Island, Nicaragua + + + – + + The first time we came to Little Corn Island it was April, the tail end of the dry season. It rained once or twice, but never for more than five minutes and always followed by more sunshine. This time it's the end of June, just well into the wet season, and the island is an entirely different place. + +

+
+
+
+ Returning Again — Back on Little Corn Island +
+

Returning Again — Back on Little Corn Island

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Little Corn Island, Nicaragua + + + – + + Generally speaking, the world seems so huge and so full of amazing destinations that repeating one never struck me as a judicious use of my short allotment of time. But for Little Corn Island I'm willing to make an exception and of course, the universe being what it is, our second trip to Little Corn Island has been unpredictable and entirely new. + +

+
+
+
+ Little Island in the Sun +
+

Little Island in the Sun

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Little Corn Island, Nicaragua + + + – + + We arrived on Little Corn Island around sundown and met Ali, whom I at first took to be a tout, but he showed us the way to our guesthouse and, after settling in and getting a feel for the island, I realized that Ali, wasn't a tout, he was just a really nice guy who enjoyed doing favors for tourists, just beware the Yoni beverage he offers. + +

+
+
+
+ Return to the Sea +
+

Return to the Sea

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua + + + – + + Southwestern Nicaragua is a very small strip of land with Lago Nicaragua to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The main town in the area, Juan Del Sur, is nestled around a well protected harbor with a mediocre strip of sand. For the nice beaches you have to head up or down the coast to one of the many small inlets. + +

+
+
+
+ Ring The Bells +
+

Ring The Bells

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Granada, Nicaragua + + + – + + The Church, which dates from the 1600s has the the narrowest, steepest, circular concrete staircase that I've ever encountered. It had a low railing and circled up four stories worth of precipitous dropoffs before you hit solid ground. From the top was a views of Granada's endless sea of mottled pink, orange and brown hues -- terra cotta roof tiles stretching from the shores of Lago Nicaragua all the way back toward the hills. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/central-asia/1/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/central-asia/1/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cb10635 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/central-asia/1/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,347 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Central Asia + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Central Asia

+
+
+ Sunset Over the Himalayas +
+

Sunset Over the Himalayas

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Pokhara, Nepal + + + – + + After about forty-five minutes of paddling I reached a point where the views of the Annapurna range were, in the words of an Englishman I met in Katmandu, "gob smacking gorgeous." I put down the paddle and moved to the center of the boat where the benches were wider and, using my bag a cushion, lay back against the gunwale and hung my feet over the opposite side so that they just skimmed the surface of the chilly water. + +

+
+
+
+ Pashupatinath +
+

Pashupatinath

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Pashupatinath, Nepal + + + – + + Nestled on a hillside beside the Bagmati River, Pashupatinath is one of the holiest sites in the world for Hindus, second only to Varanasi in India. Pashupatinath consists of a large temple which is open only to Hindus, surrounded by a number of smaller shrines and then down on the banks of the Bagmati are the burning ghats where bodies are cremated. + +

+
+
+
+ Durbar Square Kathmandu +
+

Durbar Square Kathmandu

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Kathmandu, Nepal + + + – + + After saturating myself with the streets of Thamel I went on a longer excursion down to Durbar Square to see the various pagodas, temples and the old palace. The palace itself no longer houses the King, but is still used for coronations and ceremonies and Durbar Square is still very much the hub of Katmandu. + +

+
+
+
+ Goodbye India +
+

Goodbye India

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Delhi, India + + + – + + I have taken almost 750 photos and traveled nearly 4000 km (2500 miles) in India, the vast majority of it by train. I have seen everything from depressing squalor to majestic palaces and yet I still feel as if I have hardly scratched the surface. I can't think of another and certainly have never been to a country with the kind of geographic and ethnic diversity of India. + +

+
+
+
+ The Taj Express +
+

The Taj Express

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Agra, India + + + – + + The Taj Mahal is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and, given the level of hype I was fully prepared to be underwhelmed, but I was wrong. I have never in my life seen anything so extravagant, elegant and colossal. The Taj Mahal seems mythically, spiritually, as well as architecturally, to have risen from nowhere, without equal or context. + +

+
+
+
+ On a Camel With No Name +
+

On a Camel With No Name

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Thar Desert, India + + + – + + The Thar Desert is a bewitching if stark place. It reminded me of areas of the Great Basin between Las Vegas and St. George, Utah. Twigging mesquite-like trees, bluish gray bushes resembling creosote, a very large bush that resembled a Palo Verde tree and grew in impenetrable clumps, and, strangely, only one species of cactus and not a whole lot of them. + +

+
+
+
+ The Majestic Fort +
+

The Majestic Fort

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Jodhpur, India + + + – + + The next day I hopped in a rickshaw and headed up to tour Meherangarh, or the Majestic Fort as it's known in English. As its English name indicates, it is indeed perched majestically atop the only hill around, and seems not so much built on a hill as to have naturally risen out the very rocks that form the mesa on which it rests. The outer wall encloses some of the sturdiest and most impressive ramparts I've seen in India or anywhere else. + +

+
+
+
+ Around Udaipur +
+

Around Udaipur

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Udiapur, India + + + – + + Just out of Udaipur is a government sponsored "artist colony" for various cultures from the five nearby states, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Goa and Madhya Pradesh. On one hand Shilpogram is a wonderful idea on the part of the government, but on the other hand the "artists colony" is slightly creepy. Amidst displays of typical tribal life there were artists and craftsmen and women hawking their wares along with dancers and musicians performing traditional songs. The whole thing had the feel of a living museum, or, for the creepy angle — human zoo. + +

+
+
+
+ The Monsoon Palace +
+

The Monsoon Palace

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Udiapur, India + + + – + + We started out in the early evening quickly leaving behind Udaipur and its increasing urban sprawl. The road to the Monsoon Palace passes through the Sajjan Garh Nature Preserve and there was a sudden and dramatic drop in temperature, but then the road climbed out of the hollow and the temperature jumped back up to comfortable as we began to climb the mountain in a series of hairpin switchbacks. As the sun slowly slunk behind the mountain range to the west the balconies and balustrades of the Monsoon Palace took on an increasingly orange hue. + +

+
+
+
+ The City Palace +
+

The City Palace

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Udiapur, India + + + – + + I spent some time sitting in the inner gardens of the City Place, listening to rustling trees and the various guides bringing small groups of western and Indian tourists through the garden. In the center of the hanging gardens was the kings, extremely oversized bath, which reminded me of children's book that I once gave to a friend's daughter; it was a massively oversized and lavishly illustrated book that told the story of a king who refused to get out of the bath and instead made his ministers, advisors, cooks and even his wife conduct business by getting in the bath with him. + +

+
+
+
+ Living in Airport Terminals +
+

Living in Airport Terminals

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Ahmedabad, India + + + – + + Airport terminals are fast becoming my favorite part of traveling. When you stop and observe them closely as I have been forced to do on this trip, terminals are actually quite beautiful, weird places. Terminals inhabit a unique space in the architecture of humanity, perhaps the strangest of all spaces we have created; a space that is itself only a boundary that delineates the border between what was and what will be without leaving any space at all for what is. + +

+
+
+
+ Anjuna Market +
+

Anjuna Market

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Anjuna Beach, India + + + – + + Earlier today I caught a bus up to the Anjuna Flea Market and can now tell you for certain that old hippies do not die, they simply move to Goa. The flea market was quite a spectacle; riots of color at every turn and more silver jewelry than you could shake a stick at. + +

+
+
+
+ Fish Story +
+

Fish Story

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Colva Beach, India + + + – + + The Arabian Sea is warm and the sand sucks at your feet when you walk, schools of tiny fish dart and disappear into each receding wave. In the morning the water is nearly glassy and the beach slopes off so slowly one can walk out at least 200 meters and be only waist deep. + +

+
+
+
+ The Backwaters of Kerala +
+

The Backwaters of Kerala

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Fort Kochi, India + + + – + + The guide showed us Tamarind trees, coconut palms, lemon trees, vanilla vine, plantain trees and countless other shrubs and bushes whose names I have already forgotten. The most fascinating was a plant that produces a fruit something like a miniature mango that contains cyanide and which, as our guide informed us, is cultivated mainly to commit suicide with — as if it was no big deal and everyone is at least occasionally tempted to each the killer mango. + +

+
+
+
+ Vasco de Gama Exhumed +
+

Vasco de Gama Exhumed

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Fort Kochi, India + + + – + + Fort Cochin is curious collision of cultures — Chinese, India and even Portuguese. Many of the obviously older buildings are of a distinctly Iberian-style — moss covered, adobe-colored arches abound. There is graveyard just down the road with a tombstone that bears the name Vasco de Gama, who died and was buried here for fourteen years before being moved to Lisbon (there we go again, more Europeans digging up and moving the dead). + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/central-asia/2/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/central-asia/2/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0c3f276 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/central-asia/2/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,77 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Central Asia -- Page 2 + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Central Asia

+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/central-asia/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/central-asia/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cb10635 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/central-asia/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,347 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Central Asia + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Central Asia

+
+
+ Sunset Over the Himalayas +
+

Sunset Over the Himalayas

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Pokhara, Nepal + + + – + + After about forty-five minutes of paddling I reached a point where the views of the Annapurna range were, in the words of an Englishman I met in Katmandu, "gob smacking gorgeous." I put down the paddle and moved to the center of the boat where the benches were wider and, using my bag a cushion, lay back against the gunwale and hung my feet over the opposite side so that they just skimmed the surface of the chilly water. + +

+
+
+
+ Pashupatinath +
+

Pashupatinath

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Pashupatinath, Nepal + + + – + + Nestled on a hillside beside the Bagmati River, Pashupatinath is one of the holiest sites in the world for Hindus, second only to Varanasi in India. Pashupatinath consists of a large temple which is open only to Hindus, surrounded by a number of smaller shrines and then down on the banks of the Bagmati are the burning ghats where bodies are cremated. + +

+
+
+
+ Durbar Square Kathmandu +
+

Durbar Square Kathmandu

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Kathmandu, Nepal + + + – + + After saturating myself with the streets of Thamel I went on a longer excursion down to Durbar Square to see the various pagodas, temples and the old palace. The palace itself no longer houses the King, but is still used for coronations and ceremonies and Durbar Square is still very much the hub of Katmandu. + +

+
+
+
+ Goodbye India +
+

Goodbye India

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Delhi, India + + + – + + I have taken almost 750 photos and traveled nearly 4000 km (2500 miles) in India, the vast majority of it by train. I have seen everything from depressing squalor to majestic palaces and yet I still feel as if I have hardly scratched the surface. I can't think of another and certainly have never been to a country with the kind of geographic and ethnic diversity of India. + +

+
+
+
+ The Taj Express +
+

The Taj Express

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Agra, India + + + – + + The Taj Mahal is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and, given the level of hype I was fully prepared to be underwhelmed, but I was wrong. I have never in my life seen anything so extravagant, elegant and colossal. The Taj Mahal seems mythically, spiritually, as well as architecturally, to have risen from nowhere, without equal or context. + +

+
+
+
+ On a Camel With No Name +
+

On a Camel With No Name

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Thar Desert, India + + + – + + The Thar Desert is a bewitching if stark place. It reminded me of areas of the Great Basin between Las Vegas and St. George, Utah. Twigging mesquite-like trees, bluish gray bushes resembling creosote, a very large bush that resembled a Palo Verde tree and grew in impenetrable clumps, and, strangely, only one species of cactus and not a whole lot of them. + +

+
+
+
+ The Majestic Fort +
+

The Majestic Fort

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Jodhpur, India + + + – + + The next day I hopped in a rickshaw and headed up to tour Meherangarh, or the Majestic Fort as it's known in English. As its English name indicates, it is indeed perched majestically atop the only hill around, and seems not so much built on a hill as to have naturally risen out the very rocks that form the mesa on which it rests. The outer wall encloses some of the sturdiest and most impressive ramparts I've seen in India or anywhere else. + +

+
+
+
+ Around Udaipur +
+

Around Udaipur

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Udiapur, India + + + – + + Just out of Udaipur is a government sponsored "artist colony" for various cultures from the five nearby states, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Goa and Madhya Pradesh. On one hand Shilpogram is a wonderful idea on the part of the government, but on the other hand the "artists colony" is slightly creepy. Amidst displays of typical tribal life there were artists and craftsmen and women hawking their wares along with dancers and musicians performing traditional songs. The whole thing had the feel of a living museum, or, for the creepy angle — human zoo. + +

+
+
+
+ The Monsoon Palace +
+

The Monsoon Palace

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Udiapur, India + + + – + + We started out in the early evening quickly leaving behind Udaipur and its increasing urban sprawl. The road to the Monsoon Palace passes through the Sajjan Garh Nature Preserve and there was a sudden and dramatic drop in temperature, but then the road climbed out of the hollow and the temperature jumped back up to comfortable as we began to climb the mountain in a series of hairpin switchbacks. As the sun slowly slunk behind the mountain range to the west the balconies and balustrades of the Monsoon Palace took on an increasingly orange hue. + +

+
+
+
+ The City Palace +
+

The City Palace

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Udiapur, India + + + – + + I spent some time sitting in the inner gardens of the City Place, listening to rustling trees and the various guides bringing small groups of western and Indian tourists through the garden. In the center of the hanging gardens was the kings, extremely oversized bath, which reminded me of children's book that I once gave to a friend's daughter; it was a massively oversized and lavishly illustrated book that told the story of a king who refused to get out of the bath and instead made his ministers, advisors, cooks and even his wife conduct business by getting in the bath with him. + +

+
+
+
+ Living in Airport Terminals +
+

Living in Airport Terminals

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Ahmedabad, India + + + – + + Airport terminals are fast becoming my favorite part of traveling. When you stop and observe them closely as I have been forced to do on this trip, terminals are actually quite beautiful, weird places. Terminals inhabit a unique space in the architecture of humanity, perhaps the strangest of all spaces we have created; a space that is itself only a boundary that delineates the border between what was and what will be without leaving any space at all for what is. + +

+
+
+
+ Anjuna Market +
+

Anjuna Market

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Anjuna Beach, India + + + – + + Earlier today I caught a bus up to the Anjuna Flea Market and can now tell you for certain that old hippies do not die, they simply move to Goa. The flea market was quite a spectacle; riots of color at every turn and more silver jewelry than you could shake a stick at. + +

+
+
+
+ Fish Story +
+

Fish Story

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Colva Beach, India + + + – + + The Arabian Sea is warm and the sand sucks at your feet when you walk, schools of tiny fish dart and disappear into each receding wave. In the morning the water is nearly glassy and the beach slopes off so slowly one can walk out at least 200 meters and be only waist deep. + +

+
+
+
+ The Backwaters of Kerala +
+

The Backwaters of Kerala

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Fort Kochi, India + + + – + + The guide showed us Tamarind trees, coconut palms, lemon trees, vanilla vine, plantain trees and countless other shrubs and bushes whose names I have already forgotten. The most fascinating was a plant that produces a fruit something like a miniature mango that contains cyanide and which, as our guide informed us, is cultivated mainly to commit suicide with — as if it was no big deal and everyone is at least occasionally tempted to each the killer mango. + +

+
+
+
+ Vasco de Gama Exhumed +
+

Vasco de Gama Exhumed

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Fort Kochi, India + + + – + + Fort Cochin is curious collision of cultures — Chinese, India and even Portuguese. Many of the obviously older buildings are of a distinctly Iberian-style — moss covered, adobe-colored arches abound. There is graveyard just down the road with a tombstone that bears the name Vasco de Gama, who died and was buried here for fourteen years before being moved to Lisbon (there we go again, more Europeans digging up and moving the dead). + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/croatia/1/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/croatia/1/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bb8d947 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/croatia/1/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,113 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Croatia + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Croatia

+
+
+ Feel Good Lost +
+

Feel Good Lost

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Dubrovnik, Croatia + + + – + + Dubrovnik, Croatia was heavily shelled during the Bosnian conflict and roughly 65 percent of its buildings were hit, built for the most part you'd never know it. Most of the buildings date from about 1468, though some were destroyed in the great earthquake of 1667, still, by and large, the city looks as it did in the fifteenth century. + +

+
+
+
+ Blue Milk +
+

Blue Milk

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Dubrovnik, Croatia + + + – + + It's hard to understand, standing on the banks of such crystalline, cerulean lakes, whose dazzling colors come from the mineral rich silt runoff of glaciers, that the largest European conflict since world war two began here, at Like Plitvice Croatia. But indeed this is where the first shots were fired on Easter Sunday in 1991 and the first casualty was a park policeman. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/croatia/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/croatia/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bb8d947 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/croatia/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,113 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Croatia + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Croatia

+
+
+ Feel Good Lost +
+

Feel Good Lost

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Dubrovnik, Croatia + + + – + + Dubrovnik, Croatia was heavily shelled during the Bosnian conflict and roughly 65 percent of its buildings were hit, built for the most part you'd never know it. Most of the buildings date from about 1468, though some were destroyed in the great earthquake of 1667, still, by and large, the city looks as it did in the fifteenth century. + +

+
+
+
+ Blue Milk +
+

Blue Milk

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Dubrovnik, Croatia + + + – + + It's hard to understand, standing on the banks of such crystalline, cerulean lakes, whose dazzling colors come from the mineral rich silt runoff of glaciers, that the largest European conflict since world war two began here, at Like Plitvice Croatia. But indeed this is where the first shots were fired on Easter Sunday in 1991 and the first casualty was a park policeman. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/czech-republic/1/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/czech-republic/1/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2255b57 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/czech-republic/1/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,114 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Czech Republic + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Czech Republic

+
+
+ Four Minutes Thirty-Three Seconds +
+

Four Minutes Thirty-Three Seconds

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Prague, Czech Republic + + + – + + Just north of Prague's old town square and east of the River Vltava is Josefov, the old Jewish quarter of Prague. The Pinkas Synagogue in Josefov is an unassuming pale, sand-colored building with a slightly sunken entrance. Inside is a small alter and little else. The floor is bare; there are no places for worshipers to sit. The synagogue is little more than walls. And on the walls inscribed in extremely small print are the names of the 77,297 Jewish citizens of Bohemia and Moravia who died in the Holocaust. + + +

+
+
+
+ Inside and Out +
+

Inside and Out

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic + + + – + + Chasing Egon Schiele: The attention to detail that makes the difference between a building and work of art was everywhere in Cesky Krumlov, from the delicate pink and red complements of a fine dovetailed corner, to the white plaster and oak beams of the Egon Schiele museum, which, despite geometric differences, looked not unlike the Globe Theatre in London. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/czech-republic/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/czech-republic/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2255b57 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/czech-republic/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,114 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Czech Republic + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Czech Republic

+
+
+ Four Minutes Thirty-Three Seconds +
+

Four Minutes Thirty-Three Seconds

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Prague, Czech Republic + + + – + + Just north of Prague's old town square and east of the River Vltava is Josefov, the old Jewish quarter of Prague. The Pinkas Synagogue in Josefov is an unassuming pale, sand-colored building with a slightly sunken entrance. Inside is a small alter and little else. The floor is bare; there are no places for worshipers to sit. The synagogue is little more than walls. And on the walls inscribed in extremely small print are the names of the 77,297 Jewish citizens of Bohemia and Moravia who died in the Holocaust. + + +

+
+
+
+ Inside and Out +
+

Inside and Out

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic + + + – + + Chasing Egon Schiele: The attention to detail that makes the difference between a building and work of art was everywhere in Cesky Krumlov, from the delicate pink and red complements of a fine dovetailed corner, to the white plaster and oak beams of the Egon Schiele museum, which, despite geometric differences, looked not unlike the Globe Theatre in London. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/europe/1/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/europe/1/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1f906ec --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/europe/1/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,402 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Europe + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Europe

+
+
+ The Language of Cities +
+

The Language of Cities

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + Paris is angry. Cities can get angry. This isn't the first time it's happened to me. New York threw me out once. Los Angeles and I left on mutually hostile terms, though we've since made up. Cities have personalities just like people, and to really be part of a city your personalities have to mesh, you have to find each other on your own terms everyday. + +

+
+
+
+ From Here We Go Sublime +
+

From Here We Go Sublime

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + Just arrived Dulles-Reykjavik-Paris, 26-hour trip, no sleep. I see things. I see a grizzly looking Spaniard selling old railway lanterns at the flea market, I see muslim men playing basketball in skull caps, I see a Michael Faraday experiment with bulbs and wires enclosed in glass that turns out to be just an elevator. I see a stout Frenchwoman closing the gates of Pere Lachaise, no more dead, we've had enough of you. + +

+
+
+
+ Cadenza +
+

Cadenza

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + Paris - Outside it's raining. Beads of water form on the window in front of me. The glow of the unseen sun is fading behind midnight blue clouds and darkening sky. An old man in a butcher apron selling oysters under an awning smokes a cigarette and watches the mothers and children walking home with bags of groceries. + +

+
+
+
+ I Don't Sleep I Dream +
+

I Don’t Sleep I Dream

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Vienna, Austria + + + – + + How can Freud's former residence in Vienna lack a couch? The closest thing is up against the wall, behind a small writing desk in what was then the waiting room — a small divan where one might stare at the patternless ceiling until the patterns emerge as it were. “Tell me about it,” he began. + +

+
+
+
+ Unreflected +
+

Unreflected

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Vienna, Austria + + + – + + The Kunsthistorisches Museum contains probably the best collection of art outside of France — Rubens, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Raphael, Velazquez, Bruegel and a certain Italian for whom I have a festering personal obsession, which shall be addressed shortly — and what's remarkable about this magnificent assemblage is that the vast majority of it was once the Hapsburg's private collection. + +

+
+
+
+ Four Minutes Thirty-Three Seconds +
+

Four Minutes Thirty-Three Seconds

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Prague, Czech Republic + + + – + + Just north of Prague's old town square and east of the River Vltava is Josefov, the old Jewish quarter of Prague. The Pinkas Synagogue in Josefov is an unassuming pale, sand-colored building with a slightly sunken entrance. Inside is a small alter and little else. The floor is bare; there are no places for worshipers to sit. The synagogue is little more than walls. And on the walls inscribed in extremely small print are the names of the 77,297 Jewish citizens of Bohemia and Moravia who died in the Holocaust. + + +

+
+
+
+ Inside and Out +
+

Inside and Out

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic + + + – + + Chasing Egon Schiele: The attention to detail that makes the difference between a building and work of art was everywhere in Cesky Krumlov, from the delicate pink and red complements of a fine dovetailed corner, to the white plaster and oak beams of the Egon Schiele museum, which, despite geometric differences, looked not unlike the Globe Theatre in London. + +

+
+
+
+ The King of Carrot Flowers Part Two +
+

The King of Carrot Flowers Part Two

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Bled, Slovenia + + + – + + There is a roughly 200km loop of road that leads northwest out of Bled, through a pass in the Julian Alps and then down the other side, twisting and winding back toward Bled by way of craggy canyons, small hamlets and crystalline rivers. We set out sometime after breakfast. + +

+
+
+
+ Ghost +
+

Ghost

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Ljubljana, Slovenia + + + – + + Like Dubrovnik, Trogir is a walled city of roughly Venetian vintage, but Trogir's wall has largely crumbled away or been removed. Still, it has the gorgeous narrow cobblestone streets, arched doorways and towering forts that give all Dalmatian towns their Rapunzel-like fairly tale quality. + +

+
+
+
+ Feel Good Lost +
+

Feel Good Lost

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Dubrovnik, Croatia + + + – + + Dubrovnik, Croatia was heavily shelled during the Bosnian conflict and roughly 65 percent of its buildings were hit, built for the most part you'd never know it. Most of the buildings date from about 1468, though some were destroyed in the great earthquake of 1667, still, by and large, the city looks as it did in the fifteenth century. + +

+
+
+
+ Blue Milk +
+

Blue Milk

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Dubrovnik, Croatia + + + – + + It's hard to understand, standing on the banks of such crystalline, cerulean lakes, whose dazzling colors come from the mineral rich silt runoff of glaciers, that the largest European conflict since world war two began here, at Like Plitvice Croatia. But indeed this is where the first shots were fired on Easter Sunday in 1991 and the first casualty was a park policeman. + +

+
+
+
+ Refracted Light and Grace +
+

Refracted Light and Grace

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Budapest, Hungary + + + – + + Evening, after dinner, outside on the balcony, smoking cigarettes and contemplating the nightscape of Buda's Castle Hill rising up out of its own golden reflection in the shimmering Danube waters. The drone of car horns in the distance and the electric tram squealing as it pulls out of the station below on the river a boat slowly churns upstream... + +

+
+
+
+ London Calling +
+

London Calling

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + London, United Kingdom + + + – + + London: The British don't want me -- no money, no proof I'm leaving and no real reason for coming, good lord, I must be a vagabond, up to no good, surely. Eventually the customs agent relents and lets me in, a favor I repay by nearly burning down one of London's bigger parks. Seriously. + +

+
+
+
+ Riots, Iraqi Restaurants, Goodbye Seine +
+

Riots, Iraqi Restaurants, Goodbye Seine

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + Well it's my last night here in Paris and I've chosen to return to the best restaurant we've been to so far, an Iraqi restaurant in a Marais. I am using all my willpower right now to avoid having a political outburst re the quality of Iraqi food versus the intelligence of George Bush etc etc. I'm traveling; I don't want to get into politics except to say that my dislike for the current El Presidente was no small factor in my decision to go abroad. + +

+
+
+
+ Bury Your Dead +
+

Bury Your Dead

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + I would like to say that the catacombs of Paris had some spectacular effect on me seeing that I strolled through human remains, skulls and femurs mainly, "decoratively arranged," but the truth is, after you get over the initial shock of seeing a skull, well, it turns out you can get adjusted to just about anything. Maybe that in and off itself is the scary part. + +

+
+
+
+ The Houses We Live In +
+

The Houses We Live In

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + I've been thinking the last couple of days about something Bill's dad said to me before I left. I'm paraphrasing here since I don't remember the exact phrasing he used, but something to the effect of "people are essentially the same everywhere, they just build their houses differently." Indeed, Parisian architecture is completely unlike anything in America. Perhaps more than any other single element, architecture reflects culture and the ideas of the people that make up culture. + +

+
+
+
+ Sainte Chapelle +
+

Sainte Chapelle

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + Sainte Chapelle was interesting to see after the modern, conceptual art stuff at the Pompidou, rather than simple stained glass, Sainte Chapelle felt quite conceptual. In a sense the entire Bible (i.e. all history from that perspective) is unfolding simultaneously, quite a so-called post-modern idea if you think about it. And yet it was conceived and executed over 800 years ago. Kind of kicks a lot pretentious modern art in its collective ass. + +

+
+
+
+ Living in a Railway Car +
+

Living in a Railway Car

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + This French apartment is more like a railway sleeper car than apartment proper. Maybe fifteen feet long and only three feet wide at the ceiling. More like five feet wide at the floor, but, because it's an attic, the outer wall slopes in and you lose two feet by the time you get to the ceiling. It's narrow enough that you can't pass another body when you walk to length of it. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/europe/2/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/europe/2/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2f4d139 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/europe/2/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,77 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Europe -- Page 2 + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Europe

+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/europe/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/europe/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1f906ec --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/europe/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,402 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Europe + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Europe

+
+
+ The Language of Cities +
+

The Language of Cities

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + Paris is angry. Cities can get angry. This isn't the first time it's happened to me. New York threw me out once. Los Angeles and I left on mutually hostile terms, though we've since made up. Cities have personalities just like people, and to really be part of a city your personalities have to mesh, you have to find each other on your own terms everyday. + +

+
+
+
+ From Here We Go Sublime +
+

From Here We Go Sublime

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + Just arrived Dulles-Reykjavik-Paris, 26-hour trip, no sleep. I see things. I see a grizzly looking Spaniard selling old railway lanterns at the flea market, I see muslim men playing basketball in skull caps, I see a Michael Faraday experiment with bulbs and wires enclosed in glass that turns out to be just an elevator. I see a stout Frenchwoman closing the gates of Pere Lachaise, no more dead, we've had enough of you. + +

+
+
+
+ Cadenza +
+

Cadenza

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + Paris - Outside it's raining. Beads of water form on the window in front of me. The glow of the unseen sun is fading behind midnight blue clouds and darkening sky. An old man in a butcher apron selling oysters under an awning smokes a cigarette and watches the mothers and children walking home with bags of groceries. + +

+
+
+
+ I Don't Sleep I Dream +
+

I Don’t Sleep I Dream

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Vienna, Austria + + + – + + How can Freud's former residence in Vienna lack a couch? The closest thing is up against the wall, behind a small writing desk in what was then the waiting room — a small divan where one might stare at the patternless ceiling until the patterns emerge as it were. “Tell me about it,” he began. + +

+
+
+
+ Unreflected +
+

Unreflected

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Vienna, Austria + + + – + + The Kunsthistorisches Museum contains probably the best collection of art outside of France — Rubens, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Raphael, Velazquez, Bruegel and a certain Italian for whom I have a festering personal obsession, which shall be addressed shortly — and what's remarkable about this magnificent assemblage is that the vast majority of it was once the Hapsburg's private collection. + +

+
+
+
+ Four Minutes Thirty-Three Seconds +
+

Four Minutes Thirty-Three Seconds

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Prague, Czech Republic + + + – + + Just north of Prague's old town square and east of the River Vltava is Josefov, the old Jewish quarter of Prague. The Pinkas Synagogue in Josefov is an unassuming pale, sand-colored building with a slightly sunken entrance. Inside is a small alter and little else. The floor is bare; there are no places for worshipers to sit. The synagogue is little more than walls. And on the walls inscribed in extremely small print are the names of the 77,297 Jewish citizens of Bohemia and Moravia who died in the Holocaust. + + +

+
+
+
+ Inside and Out +
+

Inside and Out

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic + + + – + + Chasing Egon Schiele: The attention to detail that makes the difference between a building and work of art was everywhere in Cesky Krumlov, from the delicate pink and red complements of a fine dovetailed corner, to the white plaster and oak beams of the Egon Schiele museum, which, despite geometric differences, looked not unlike the Globe Theatre in London. + +

+
+
+
+ The King of Carrot Flowers Part Two +
+

The King of Carrot Flowers Part Two

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Bled, Slovenia + + + – + + There is a roughly 200km loop of road that leads northwest out of Bled, through a pass in the Julian Alps and then down the other side, twisting and winding back toward Bled by way of craggy canyons, small hamlets and crystalline rivers. We set out sometime after breakfast. + +

+
+
+
+ Ghost +
+

Ghost

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Ljubljana, Slovenia + + + – + + Like Dubrovnik, Trogir is a walled city of roughly Venetian vintage, but Trogir's wall has largely crumbled away or been removed. Still, it has the gorgeous narrow cobblestone streets, arched doorways and towering forts that give all Dalmatian towns their Rapunzel-like fairly tale quality. + +

+
+
+
+ Feel Good Lost +
+

Feel Good Lost

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Dubrovnik, Croatia + + + – + + Dubrovnik, Croatia was heavily shelled during the Bosnian conflict and roughly 65 percent of its buildings were hit, built for the most part you'd never know it. Most of the buildings date from about 1468, though some were destroyed in the great earthquake of 1667, still, by and large, the city looks as it did in the fifteenth century. + +

+
+
+
+ Blue Milk +
+

Blue Milk

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Dubrovnik, Croatia + + + – + + It's hard to understand, standing on the banks of such crystalline, cerulean lakes, whose dazzling colors come from the mineral rich silt runoff of glaciers, that the largest European conflict since world war two began here, at Like Plitvice Croatia. But indeed this is where the first shots were fired on Easter Sunday in 1991 and the first casualty was a park policeman. + +

+
+
+
+ Refracted Light and Grace +
+

Refracted Light and Grace

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Budapest, Hungary + + + – + + Evening, after dinner, outside on the balcony, smoking cigarettes and contemplating the nightscape of Buda's Castle Hill rising up out of its own golden reflection in the shimmering Danube waters. The drone of car horns in the distance and the electric tram squealing as it pulls out of the station below on the river a boat slowly churns upstream... + +

+
+
+
+ London Calling +
+

London Calling

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + London, United Kingdom + + + – + + London: The British don't want me -- no money, no proof I'm leaving and no real reason for coming, good lord, I must be a vagabond, up to no good, surely. Eventually the customs agent relents and lets me in, a favor I repay by nearly burning down one of London's bigger parks. Seriously. + +

+
+
+
+ Riots, Iraqi Restaurants, Goodbye Seine +
+

Riots, Iraqi Restaurants, Goodbye Seine

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + Well it's my last night here in Paris and I've chosen to return to the best restaurant we've been to so far, an Iraqi restaurant in a Marais. I am using all my willpower right now to avoid having a political outburst re the quality of Iraqi food versus the intelligence of George Bush etc etc. I'm traveling; I don't want to get into politics except to say that my dislike for the current El Presidente was no small factor in my decision to go abroad. + +

+
+
+
+ Bury Your Dead +
+

Bury Your Dead

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + I would like to say that the catacombs of Paris had some spectacular effect on me seeing that I strolled through human remains, skulls and femurs mainly, "decoratively arranged," but the truth is, after you get over the initial shock of seeing a skull, well, it turns out you can get adjusted to just about anything. Maybe that in and off itself is the scary part. + +

+
+
+
+ The Houses We Live In +
+

The Houses We Live In

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + I've been thinking the last couple of days about something Bill's dad said to me before I left. I'm paraphrasing here since I don't remember the exact phrasing he used, but something to the effect of "people are essentially the same everywhere, they just build their houses differently." Indeed, Parisian architecture is completely unlike anything in America. Perhaps more than any other single element, architecture reflects culture and the ideas of the people that make up culture. + +

+
+
+
+ Sainte Chapelle +
+

Sainte Chapelle

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + Sainte Chapelle was interesting to see after the modern, conceptual art stuff at the Pompidou, rather than simple stained glass, Sainte Chapelle felt quite conceptual. In a sense the entire Bible (i.e. all history from that perspective) is unfolding simultaneously, quite a so-called post-modern idea if you think about it. And yet it was conceived and executed over 800 years ago. Kind of kicks a lot pretentious modern art in its collective ass. + +

+
+
+
+ Living in a Railway Car +
+

Living in a Railway Car

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + This French apartment is more like a railway sleeper car than apartment proper. Maybe fifteen feet long and only three feet wide at the ceiling. More like five feet wide at the floor, but, because it's an attic, the outer wall slopes in and you lose two feet by the time you get to the ceiling. It's narrow enough that you can't pass another body when you walk to length of it. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/france/1/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/france/1/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..33127a2 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/france/1/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,221 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from France + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from France

+
+
+ The Language of Cities +
+

The Language of Cities

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + Paris is angry. Cities can get angry. This isn't the first time it's happened to me. New York threw me out once. Los Angeles and I left on mutually hostile terms, though we've since made up. Cities have personalities just like people, and to really be part of a city your personalities have to mesh, you have to find each other on your own terms everyday. + +

+
+
+
+ From Here We Go Sublime +
+

From Here We Go Sublime

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + Just arrived Dulles-Reykjavik-Paris, 26-hour trip, no sleep. I see things. I see a grizzly looking Spaniard selling old railway lanterns at the flea market, I see muslim men playing basketball in skull caps, I see a Michael Faraday experiment with bulbs and wires enclosed in glass that turns out to be just an elevator. I see a stout Frenchwoman closing the gates of Pere Lachaise, no more dead, we've had enough of you. + +

+
+
+
+ Cadenza +
+

Cadenza

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + Paris - Outside it's raining. Beads of water form on the window in front of me. The glow of the unseen sun is fading behind midnight blue clouds and darkening sky. An old man in a butcher apron selling oysters under an awning smokes a cigarette and watches the mothers and children walking home with bags of groceries. + +

+
+
+
+ Riots, Iraqi Restaurants, Goodbye Seine +
+

Riots, Iraqi Restaurants, Goodbye Seine

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + Well it's my last night here in Paris and I've chosen to return to the best restaurant we've been to so far, an Iraqi restaurant in a Marais. I am using all my willpower right now to avoid having a political outburst re the quality of Iraqi food versus the intelligence of George Bush etc etc. I'm traveling; I don't want to get into politics except to say that my dislike for the current El Presidente was no small factor in my decision to go abroad. + +

+
+
+
+ Bury Your Dead +
+

Bury Your Dead

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + I would like to say that the catacombs of Paris had some spectacular effect on me seeing that I strolled through human remains, skulls and femurs mainly, "decoratively arranged," but the truth is, after you get over the initial shock of seeing a skull, well, it turns out you can get adjusted to just about anything. Maybe that in and off itself is the scary part. + +

+
+
+
+ The Houses We Live In +
+

The Houses We Live In

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + I've been thinking the last couple of days about something Bill's dad said to me before I left. I'm paraphrasing here since I don't remember the exact phrasing he used, but something to the effect of "people are essentially the same everywhere, they just build their houses differently." Indeed, Parisian architecture is completely unlike anything in America. Perhaps more than any other single element, architecture reflects culture and the ideas of the people that make up culture. + +

+
+
+
+ Sainte Chapelle +
+

Sainte Chapelle

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + Sainte Chapelle was interesting to see after the modern, conceptual art stuff at the Pompidou, rather than simple stained glass, Sainte Chapelle felt quite conceptual. In a sense the entire Bible (i.e. all history from that perspective) is unfolding simultaneously, quite a so-called post-modern idea if you think about it. And yet it was conceived and executed over 800 years ago. Kind of kicks a lot pretentious modern art in its collective ass. + +

+
+
+
+ Living in a Railway Car +
+

Living in a Railway Car

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + This French apartment is more like a railway sleeper car than apartment proper. Maybe fifteen feet long and only three feet wide at the ceiling. More like five feet wide at the floor, but, because it's an attic, the outer wall slopes in and you lose two feet by the time you get to the ceiling. It's narrow enough that you can't pass another body when you walk to length of it. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/france/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/france/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..33127a2 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/france/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,221 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from France + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from France

+
+
+ The Language of Cities +
+

The Language of Cities

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + Paris is angry. Cities can get angry. This isn't the first time it's happened to me. New York threw me out once. Los Angeles and I left on mutually hostile terms, though we've since made up. Cities have personalities just like people, and to really be part of a city your personalities have to mesh, you have to find each other on your own terms everyday. + +

+
+
+
+ From Here We Go Sublime +
+

From Here We Go Sublime

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + Just arrived Dulles-Reykjavik-Paris, 26-hour trip, no sleep. I see things. I see a grizzly looking Spaniard selling old railway lanterns at the flea market, I see muslim men playing basketball in skull caps, I see a Michael Faraday experiment with bulbs and wires enclosed in glass that turns out to be just an elevator. I see a stout Frenchwoman closing the gates of Pere Lachaise, no more dead, we've had enough of you. + +

+
+
+
+ Cadenza +
+

Cadenza

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + Paris - Outside it's raining. Beads of water form on the window in front of me. The glow of the unseen sun is fading behind midnight blue clouds and darkening sky. An old man in a butcher apron selling oysters under an awning smokes a cigarette and watches the mothers and children walking home with bags of groceries. + +

+
+
+
+ Riots, Iraqi Restaurants, Goodbye Seine +
+

Riots, Iraqi Restaurants, Goodbye Seine

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + Well it's my last night here in Paris and I've chosen to return to the best restaurant we've been to so far, an Iraqi restaurant in a Marais. I am using all my willpower right now to avoid having a political outburst re the quality of Iraqi food versus the intelligence of George Bush etc etc. I'm traveling; I don't want to get into politics except to say that my dislike for the current El Presidente was no small factor in my decision to go abroad. + +

+
+
+
+ Bury Your Dead +
+

Bury Your Dead

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + I would like to say that the catacombs of Paris had some spectacular effect on me seeing that I strolled through human remains, skulls and femurs mainly, "decoratively arranged," but the truth is, after you get over the initial shock of seeing a skull, well, it turns out you can get adjusted to just about anything. Maybe that in and off itself is the scary part. + +

+
+
+
+ The Houses We Live In +
+

The Houses We Live In

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + I've been thinking the last couple of days about something Bill's dad said to me before I left. I'm paraphrasing here since I don't remember the exact phrasing he used, but something to the effect of "people are essentially the same everywhere, they just build their houses differently." Indeed, Parisian architecture is completely unlike anything in America. Perhaps more than any other single element, architecture reflects culture and the ideas of the people that make up culture. + +

+
+
+
+ Sainte Chapelle +
+

Sainte Chapelle

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + Sainte Chapelle was interesting to see after the modern, conceptual art stuff at the Pompidou, rather than simple stained glass, Sainte Chapelle felt quite conceptual. In a sense the entire Bible (i.e. all history from that perspective) is unfolding simultaneously, quite a so-called post-modern idea if you think about it. And yet it was conceived and executed over 800 years ago. Kind of kicks a lot pretentious modern art in its collective ass. + +

+
+
+
+ Living in a Railway Car +
+

Living in a Railway Car

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + This French apartment is more like a railway sleeper car than apartment proper. Maybe fifteen feet long and only three feet wide at the ceiling. More like five feet wide at the floor, but, because it's an attic, the outer wall slopes in and you lose two feet by the time you get to the ceiling. It's narrow enough that you can't pass another body when you walk to length of it. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/hungary/1/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/hungary/1/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..446d47b --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/hungary/1/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,95 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Hungary + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Hungary

+
+
+ Refracted Light and Grace +
+

Refracted Light and Grace

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Budapest, Hungary + + + – + + Evening, after dinner, outside on the balcony, smoking cigarettes and contemplating the nightscape of Buda's Castle Hill rising up out of its own golden reflection in the shimmering Danube waters. The drone of car horns in the distance and the electric tram squealing as it pulls out of the station below on the river a boat slowly churns upstream... + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/hungary/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/hungary/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..446d47b --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/hungary/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,95 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Hungary + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Hungary

+
+
+ Refracted Light and Grace +
+

Refracted Light and Grace

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Budapest, Hungary + + + – + + Evening, after dinner, outside on the balcony, smoking cigarettes and contemplating the nightscape of Buda's Castle Hill rising up out of its own golden reflection in the shimmering Danube waters. The drone of car horns in the distance and the electric tram squealing as it pulls out of the station below on the river a boat slowly churns upstream... + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3beacfa --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,517 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Around the World + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing Archive

+
+
+ Oysterman Wanted +
+

Oysterman Wanted

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + St. George Island, Florida, U.S. + + + – + + The world of oystermen and local fishing industry is doomed. Even the people resisting the transition know they’re no longer fighting for their way of life. They’re just fighting to keep the thinnest resemblance of what they’ve always known around until they leave this world. They’re fighting to keep from having to watch the death of everything they know. + +

+
+
+
+ All the Pretty Beaches +
+

All the Pretty Beaches

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + St. George Island, Florida, U.S. + + + – + + St. George is just off the Gulf Coast of northwest Florida, only about 7 hours from where I live. There are better places if you're looking to dive or snorkel. Ditto if it's nightlife you're after. But if you're looking for a seemingly endless amount of gorgeous white sand beaches you'll share with only a few migratory birds, St. George is the place to be. + +

+
+
+
+ Consider the Apalachicola Oyster +
+

Consider the Apalachicola Oyster

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Apalachicola, Florida, U.S. + + + – + + If you know the name Apalachicola at all it’s likely because of its eponymous oysters. Very few things, let alone culinary things, are as attached to place as oysters. In fact, once you get beyond the Rockefeller, ordering “oysters” is akin to walking in a bar and ordering “a beer.” But unlike beer, oysters don’t have brands, they have places — Pemaquid, Wellfleet, Blue Point, Apalachicola. + +

+
+
+
+ Things Behind the Sun +
+

Things Behind the Sun

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + My grandparents left the home they lived in for 60 years today. I don't know how much of my life was spent in that house, probably well over a year if you added up all the holidays and family gatherings. And now I'm thousands of miles away and someone is clearing out the house. + +

+
+
+
+ Street Food in Athens Georgia +
+

Street Food in Athens Georgia

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + Cheap food, made fresh, in front of you. Served hot, wrapped in newspaper. Street food is the people's food, it removes the mystery of the kitchen, lays the process bare. It's also the staple diet of people around the world. + +

+
+
+
+ The Worst Place on Earth +
+

The Worst Place on Earth

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Gili Trawangan, Indonesia + + + – + + They aren't really the worst place on Earth (everyone knows that's Yuma, AZ), but the Gili Islands would top my list of places you should never go to. In the end they're not even a real place, just a collection of paradise fantasies culled from decades of hippie travelers, scuba divers, honeymooners, and the rich, lost children of the West. + +

+
+
+
+ The Best Snorkeling in the World +
+

The Best Snorkeling in the World

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Nusa Lembongan, Bali, Indonesia + + + – + + Drift snorkeling is like watching fish float by the window of an underwater train. And Indonesia has more marine life than anywhere I've ever been. Fish I have previously seen perhaps two or three at a time are swimming in massive schools. The blue depths are filled with dozens of Moorish Idols, schools of deep purple tangs, so dark they look black until you get up close, parrotfish in clusters, munching on the coral, bright, powder blue tangs, yellow-masked angelfish, countless butterfly fish, wrasses, triggerfish, pufferfish and even bright blue starfish that crawl slowly over the reef. + +

+
+
+
+ The Balinese Temple Ceremony +
+

The Balinese Temple Ceremony

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Ubud, Bali, Indonesia + + + – + + While Balinese temples look partly like Hindu temples in India, there are other elements that come from older religions. Bali is what happens when Hindu beliefs collide with animism. The Balinese seem to embrace the basic tenants of traditional Hinduism, but then add plenty of their own animist flourishes to the mix -- like frequent and elaborate temple ceremonies. We were lucky enough to be invited to a temple ceremony in Tegallantang, Bali. + +

+
+
+
+ Motor City is Burning +
+

Motor City is Burning

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Ubud, Bali, Indonesia + + + – + + Awesome as it was to be back on the Asian version of a motorbike, it wasn't quite the relaxing riding I did in Laos and elsewhere. You can never recapture the magic, and I wasn't trying.... Okay, maybe I was, but it didn't work. regrettably Honda seems to have phased out the Dream in the last five years, replacing it with something called the Nitro, which just doesn't have the same ring to it. But the bike is irrelevant, was always irrelevant. I missed my friends. It just wasn't the same by myself. Debi, Matt, where are you? There are roads to be ridden, locals with ten people on a bike to be humbled by. Six fingered men to be seen, by some. + +

+
+
+
+ Cooking in Rome +
+

Cooking in Rome

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Rome, Italy + + + – + + In the end Italy and I didn't really get along, but the food redeemed it for me. The restaurants are good, but if you really want to experience the glory of Italian food you need to head to the market, grab some utterly amazing raw ingredients and whip up something yourself. This is what food is supposed to be, simple, fresh and great. + +

+
+
+
+ Natural Science +
+

Natural Science

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Firenze (Florence), Italy + + + – + + There's no way around it; Florence is crowded. It may well be that Naples is the only Italian city that isn't overrun with tourists in the summer, but after three days of hardly seeing another traveler, I wasn't prepared for the crowds. Luckily it isn't hard to avoid the tourist hordes, just get up early and then when everyone else is starting to stir, head for obscure museums like La Specola, part of the Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze. + +

+
+
+
+ Forever Today +
+

Forever Today

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Pompeii, Italy + + + – + + Pompeii feels both very old and not that different from the modern cities that surround it now. The gap between then and now feels small because when you wander around places like Pompeii you realize that human beings have changed very little over vast expanses of time. Pompeii had the same elements of cities today, a central square, markets, temples, government offices, even fast food. Not much has changed over the years, though togas aren’t much in vogue these days. + +

+
+
+
+ The New Pollution +
+

The New Pollution

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Napoli (Naples), Italy + + + – + + Naples Italy is a big, crowded, graffiti-filled city. It's an intimidating place that is by turns a bit like Philadelphia, a bit Mumbai, a bit some post-apocalyptic video game and, in the end, something else entirely. Still, given the tourist epidemic that sweeps Italy every summer, Naples is a place worth appreciating for what it is not, even if what is isn't, perhaps, enough to ever bring you back. + +

+
+
+
+ The Language of Cities +
+

The Language of Cities

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + Paris is angry. Cities can get angry. This isn't the first time it's happened to me. New York threw me out once. Los Angeles and I left on mutually hostile terms, though we've since made up. Cities have personalities just like people, and to really be part of a city your personalities have to mesh, you have to find each other on your own terms everyday. + +

+
+
+
+ From Here We Go Sublime +
+

From Here We Go Sublime

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Paris, France + + + – + + Just arrived Dulles-Reykjavik-Paris, 26-hour trip, no sleep. I see things. I see a grizzly looking Spaniard selling old railway lanterns at the flea market, I see muslim men playing basketball in skull caps, I see a Michael Faraday experiment with bulbs and wires enclosed in glass that turns out to be just an elevator. I see a stout Frenchwoman closing the gates of Pere Lachaise, no more dead, we've had enough of you. + +

+
+
+
+ We Used to Wait For It +
+

We Used to Wait For It

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Los Angeles, California, U.S. + + + – + + When we first came here, there was nothing. Downtown Los Angeles was an empty husk of a place fifteen years ago. Now it's reborn, alive and kicking. Yet there is something in the older buildings, something in the old walls, something lost in the bricks, something in the concrete, the marble. Something you don’t find anymore. Something we need to find again. + +

+
+
+
+ The World Outside +
+

The World Outside

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + The world outside the house is blanketed in snow, a monochrome of white interrupted only by the dark, wet trunks of trees, the red brick of chimneys, the occasional green of shrubs poking through. The roads are unbroken expanses of smooth white, no one is out yet, no footprints track their way through the snowy sidewalk. The world outside is the same as it was last night, before the snow began, and yet, it feels totally different. + +

+
+
+
+ Charleston A-Z +
+

Charleston A-Z

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. + + + – + + Charleston alphabetically. For example, Q is for quiet, Charleston has a lot of it. Just head down to the Battery area, walk through the park and starting walking down the side streets. Take one of the many alleys and walkways that weave between the massive, stately houses. Get lost. It doesn't take much to find a quiet place of your own. + +

+
+
+
+ Dinosaur National Monument, Part Two: Down the River +
+

Dinosaur National Monument, Part Two: Down the River

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado, U.S. + + + – + + This is the only real way to see Dinosaur National Monument — you must journey down the river. There are two major rivers running through Dinosaur, the Yampa, which carves through Yampa Canyon, and the Green, which cuts through Lodore. Adventure Bound Rafting runs some of the best whitewater rafting trips in Colorado and I was lucky enough to go down the Green River with them, through the majestic Lodore Canyon. + +

+
+
+
+ Dinosaur National Monument, Part One: Echo Park +
+

Dinosaur National Monument, Part One: Echo Park

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado, U.S. + + + – + + Dinosaur National Monument was poorly named. The best parts of it are not the fossils in the quarry (which is closed for 2010 anyway) but the canyon country — some of the best, most remote canyon country you'll find in this part of the world. + +

+
+
+
+ The Endless Crowds of Yellowstone +
+

The Endless Crowds of Yellowstone

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, U.S. + + + – + + There is wilderness in Yellowstone, even if it's just inches from the boardwalks that transport thousands around the geothermal pools. It may not be wilderness on a grand scale — the sweeping mountain peaks or wild rivers of other parks — but in some ways that makes it more enticing. As one Ranger told me, Yellowstone isn't about the big picture, the grand scenery, it's about the tiny details within each pool. To really see Yellowstone, he said, you have to take your time, move slowly and look closely. + +

+
+
+
+ Backpacking in the Grand Tetons +
+

Backpacking in the Grand Tetons

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, U.S. + + + – + + Hiking into the wilderness empties your mind. You fall into the silence of the mountains and you can relax in a way that's very difficult to do in the midst of civilization. The white noise that surrounds us in our everyday lives, that noise we don't even notice as it adds thin layers of stress that build up over days, weeks, years, does not seem capable of following us into the mountains. + +

+
+
+
+ Great Sand Dunes National Park +
+

Great Sand Dunes National Park

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado, U.S. + + + – + + Something about the desert inspires me to get up early and watch the sunrise. The cool mornings seem worth getting up for out here in the high plains of Colorado, especially when there's the chance to watch the sunrise from the largest sand dunes in North America, here in Great Sand Dune National Park. + +

+
+
+
+ Comanche National Grasslands +
+

Comanche National Grasslands

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Comanche National Grasslands, Colorado, U.S. + + + – + + To say the Comanche National Grasslands is off the grid would be an understatement. With the exception of Highway 50 in Nevada, I've never driven through such isolation and vast openness anywhere in the world. And it's easy to get lost. There are no signs, no road names even, just dirt paths crisscrossing a wide, perfectly flat expanses of grass. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/india/1/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/india/1/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9a64b95 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/india/1/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,293 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from India + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from India

+
+
+ Goodbye India +
+

Goodbye India

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Delhi, India + + + – + + I have taken almost 750 photos and traveled nearly 4000 km (2500 miles) in India, the vast majority of it by train. I have seen everything from depressing squalor to majestic palaces and yet I still feel as if I have hardly scratched the surface. I can't think of another and certainly have never been to a country with the kind of geographic and ethnic diversity of India. + +

+
+
+
+ The Taj Express +
+

The Taj Express

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Agra, India + + + – + + The Taj Mahal is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and, given the level of hype I was fully prepared to be underwhelmed, but I was wrong. I have never in my life seen anything so extravagant, elegant and colossal. The Taj Mahal seems mythically, spiritually, as well as architecturally, to have risen from nowhere, without equal or context. + +

+
+
+
+ On a Camel With No Name +
+

On a Camel With No Name

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Thar Desert, India + + + – + + The Thar Desert is a bewitching if stark place. It reminded me of areas of the Great Basin between Las Vegas and St. George, Utah. Twigging mesquite-like trees, bluish gray bushes resembling creosote, a very large bush that resembled a Palo Verde tree and grew in impenetrable clumps, and, strangely, only one species of cactus and not a whole lot of them. + +

+
+
+
+ The Majestic Fort +
+

The Majestic Fort

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Jodhpur, India + + + – + + The next day I hopped in a rickshaw and headed up to tour Meherangarh, or the Majestic Fort as it's known in English. As its English name indicates, it is indeed perched majestically atop the only hill around, and seems not so much built on a hill as to have naturally risen out the very rocks that form the mesa on which it rests. The outer wall encloses some of the sturdiest and most impressive ramparts I've seen in India or anywhere else. + +

+
+
+
+ Around Udaipur +
+

Around Udaipur

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Udiapur, India + + + – + + Just out of Udaipur is a government sponsored "artist colony" for various cultures from the five nearby states, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Goa and Madhya Pradesh. On one hand Shilpogram is a wonderful idea on the part of the government, but on the other hand the "artists colony" is slightly creepy. Amidst displays of typical tribal life there were artists and craftsmen and women hawking their wares along with dancers and musicians performing traditional songs. The whole thing had the feel of a living museum, or, for the creepy angle — human zoo. + +

+
+
+
+ The Monsoon Palace +
+

The Monsoon Palace

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Udiapur, India + + + – + + We started out in the early evening quickly leaving behind Udaipur and its increasing urban sprawl. The road to the Monsoon Palace passes through the Sajjan Garh Nature Preserve and there was a sudden and dramatic drop in temperature, but then the road climbed out of the hollow and the temperature jumped back up to comfortable as we began to climb the mountain in a series of hairpin switchbacks. As the sun slowly slunk behind the mountain range to the west the balconies and balustrades of the Monsoon Palace took on an increasingly orange hue. + +

+
+
+
+ The City Palace +
+

The City Palace

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Udiapur, India + + + – + + I spent some time sitting in the inner gardens of the City Place, listening to rustling trees and the various guides bringing small groups of western and Indian tourists through the garden. In the center of the hanging gardens was the kings, extremely oversized bath, which reminded me of children's book that I once gave to a friend's daughter; it was a massively oversized and lavishly illustrated book that told the story of a king who refused to get out of the bath and instead made his ministers, advisors, cooks and even his wife conduct business by getting in the bath with him. + +

+
+
+
+ Living in Airport Terminals +
+

Living in Airport Terminals

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Ahmedabad, India + + + – + + Airport terminals are fast becoming my favorite part of traveling. When you stop and observe them closely as I have been forced to do on this trip, terminals are actually quite beautiful, weird places. Terminals inhabit a unique space in the architecture of humanity, perhaps the strangest of all spaces we have created; a space that is itself only a boundary that delineates the border between what was and what will be without leaving any space at all for what is. + +

+
+
+
+ Anjuna Market +
+

Anjuna Market

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Anjuna Beach, India + + + – + + Earlier today I caught a bus up to the Anjuna Flea Market and can now tell you for certain that old hippies do not die, they simply move to Goa. The flea market was quite a spectacle; riots of color at every turn and more silver jewelry than you could shake a stick at. + +

+
+
+
+ Fish Story +
+

Fish Story

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Colva Beach, India + + + – + + The Arabian Sea is warm and the sand sucks at your feet when you walk, schools of tiny fish dart and disappear into each receding wave. In the morning the water is nearly glassy and the beach slopes off so slowly one can walk out at least 200 meters and be only waist deep. + +

+
+
+
+ The Backwaters of Kerala +
+

The Backwaters of Kerala

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Fort Kochi, India + + + – + + The guide showed us Tamarind trees, coconut palms, lemon trees, vanilla vine, plantain trees and countless other shrubs and bushes whose names I have already forgotten. The most fascinating was a plant that produces a fruit something like a miniature mango that contains cyanide and which, as our guide informed us, is cultivated mainly to commit suicide with — as if it was no big deal and everyone is at least occasionally tempted to each the killer mango. + +

+
+
+
+ Vasco de Gama Exhumed +
+

Vasco de Gama Exhumed

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Fort Kochi, India + + + – + + Fort Cochin is curious collision of cultures — Chinese, India and even Portuguese. Many of the obviously older buildings are of a distinctly Iberian-style — moss covered, adobe-colored arches abound. There is graveyard just down the road with a tombstone that bears the name Vasco de Gama, who died and was buried here for fourteen years before being moved to Lisbon (there we go again, more Europeans digging up and moving the dead). + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/india/2/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/india/2/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..be4067e --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/india/2/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,77 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from India -- Page 2 + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from India

+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/india/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/india/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9a64b95 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/india/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,293 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from India + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from India

+
+
+ Goodbye India +
+

Goodbye India

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Delhi, India + + + – + + I have taken almost 750 photos and traveled nearly 4000 km (2500 miles) in India, the vast majority of it by train. I have seen everything from depressing squalor to majestic palaces and yet I still feel as if I have hardly scratched the surface. I can't think of another and certainly have never been to a country with the kind of geographic and ethnic diversity of India. + +

+
+
+
+ The Taj Express +
+

The Taj Express

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Agra, India + + + – + + The Taj Mahal is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and, given the level of hype I was fully prepared to be underwhelmed, but I was wrong. I have never in my life seen anything so extravagant, elegant and colossal. The Taj Mahal seems mythically, spiritually, as well as architecturally, to have risen from nowhere, without equal or context. + +

+
+
+
+ On a Camel With No Name +
+

On a Camel With No Name

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Thar Desert, India + + + – + + The Thar Desert is a bewitching if stark place. It reminded me of areas of the Great Basin between Las Vegas and St. George, Utah. Twigging mesquite-like trees, bluish gray bushes resembling creosote, a very large bush that resembled a Palo Verde tree and grew in impenetrable clumps, and, strangely, only one species of cactus and not a whole lot of them. + +

+
+
+
+ The Majestic Fort +
+

The Majestic Fort

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Jodhpur, India + + + – + + The next day I hopped in a rickshaw and headed up to tour Meherangarh, or the Majestic Fort as it's known in English. As its English name indicates, it is indeed perched majestically atop the only hill around, and seems not so much built on a hill as to have naturally risen out the very rocks that form the mesa on which it rests. The outer wall encloses some of the sturdiest and most impressive ramparts I've seen in India or anywhere else. + +

+
+
+
+ Around Udaipur +
+

Around Udaipur

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Udiapur, India + + + – + + Just out of Udaipur is a government sponsored "artist colony" for various cultures from the five nearby states, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Goa and Madhya Pradesh. On one hand Shilpogram is a wonderful idea on the part of the government, but on the other hand the "artists colony" is slightly creepy. Amidst displays of typical tribal life there were artists and craftsmen and women hawking their wares along with dancers and musicians performing traditional songs. The whole thing had the feel of a living museum, or, for the creepy angle — human zoo. + +

+
+
+
+ The Monsoon Palace +
+

The Monsoon Palace

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Udiapur, India + + + – + + We started out in the early evening quickly leaving behind Udaipur and its increasing urban sprawl. The road to the Monsoon Palace passes through the Sajjan Garh Nature Preserve and there was a sudden and dramatic drop in temperature, but then the road climbed out of the hollow and the temperature jumped back up to comfortable as we began to climb the mountain in a series of hairpin switchbacks. As the sun slowly slunk behind the mountain range to the west the balconies and balustrades of the Monsoon Palace took on an increasingly orange hue. + +

+
+
+
+ The City Palace +
+

The City Palace

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Udiapur, India + + + – + + I spent some time sitting in the inner gardens of the City Place, listening to rustling trees and the various guides bringing small groups of western and Indian tourists through the garden. In the center of the hanging gardens was the kings, extremely oversized bath, which reminded me of children's book that I once gave to a friend's daughter; it was a massively oversized and lavishly illustrated book that told the story of a king who refused to get out of the bath and instead made his ministers, advisors, cooks and even his wife conduct business by getting in the bath with him. + +

+
+
+
+ Living in Airport Terminals +
+

Living in Airport Terminals

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Ahmedabad, India + + + – + + Airport terminals are fast becoming my favorite part of traveling. When you stop and observe them closely as I have been forced to do on this trip, terminals are actually quite beautiful, weird places. Terminals inhabit a unique space in the architecture of humanity, perhaps the strangest of all spaces we have created; a space that is itself only a boundary that delineates the border between what was and what will be without leaving any space at all for what is. + +

+
+
+
+ Anjuna Market +
+

Anjuna Market

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Anjuna Beach, India + + + – + + Earlier today I caught a bus up to the Anjuna Flea Market and can now tell you for certain that old hippies do not die, they simply move to Goa. The flea market was quite a spectacle; riots of color at every turn and more silver jewelry than you could shake a stick at. + +

+
+
+
+ Fish Story +
+

Fish Story

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Colva Beach, India + + + – + + The Arabian Sea is warm and the sand sucks at your feet when you walk, schools of tiny fish dart and disappear into each receding wave. In the morning the water is nearly glassy and the beach slopes off so slowly one can walk out at least 200 meters and be only waist deep. + +

+
+
+
+ The Backwaters of Kerala +
+

The Backwaters of Kerala

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Fort Kochi, India + + + – + + The guide showed us Tamarind trees, coconut palms, lemon trees, vanilla vine, plantain trees and countless other shrubs and bushes whose names I have already forgotten. The most fascinating was a plant that produces a fruit something like a miniature mango that contains cyanide and which, as our guide informed us, is cultivated mainly to commit suicide with — as if it was no big deal and everyone is at least occasionally tempted to each the killer mango. + +

+
+
+
+ Vasco de Gama Exhumed +
+

Vasco de Gama Exhumed

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Fort Kochi, India + + + – + + Fort Cochin is curious collision of cultures — Chinese, India and even Portuguese. Many of the obviously older buildings are of a distinctly Iberian-style — moss covered, adobe-colored arches abound. There is graveyard just down the road with a tombstone that bears the name Vasco de Gama, who died and was buried here for fourteen years before being moved to Lisbon (there we go again, more Europeans digging up and moving the dead). + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/indonesia/1/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/indonesia/1/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ef451ea --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/indonesia/1/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,149 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Indonesia + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Indonesia

+
+
+ The Worst Place on Earth +
+

The Worst Place on Earth

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Gili Trawangan, Indonesia + + + – + + They aren't really the worst place on Earth (everyone knows that's Yuma, AZ), but the Gili Islands would top my list of places you should never go to. In the end they're not even a real place, just a collection of paradise fantasies culled from decades of hippie travelers, scuba divers, honeymooners, and the rich, lost children of the West. + +

+
+
+
+ The Best Snorkeling in the World +
+

The Best Snorkeling in the World

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Nusa Lembongan, Bali, Indonesia + + + – + + Drift snorkeling is like watching fish float by the window of an underwater train. And Indonesia has more marine life than anywhere I've ever been. Fish I have previously seen perhaps two or three at a time are swimming in massive schools. The blue depths are filled with dozens of Moorish Idols, schools of deep purple tangs, so dark they look black until you get up close, parrotfish in clusters, munching on the coral, bright, powder blue tangs, yellow-masked angelfish, countless butterfly fish, wrasses, triggerfish, pufferfish and even bright blue starfish that crawl slowly over the reef. + +

+
+
+
+ The Balinese Temple Ceremony +
+

The Balinese Temple Ceremony

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Ubud, Bali, Indonesia + + + – + + While Balinese temples look partly like Hindu temples in India, there are other elements that come from older religions. Bali is what happens when Hindu beliefs collide with animism. The Balinese seem to embrace the basic tenants of traditional Hinduism, but then add plenty of their own animist flourishes to the mix -- like frequent and elaborate temple ceremonies. We were lucky enough to be invited to a temple ceremony in Tegallantang, Bali. + +

+
+
+
+ Motor City is Burning +
+

Motor City is Burning

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Ubud, Bali, Indonesia + + + – + + Awesome as it was to be back on the Asian version of a motorbike, it wasn't quite the relaxing riding I did in Laos and elsewhere. You can never recapture the magic, and I wasn't trying.... Okay, maybe I was, but it didn't work. regrettably Honda seems to have phased out the Dream in the last five years, replacing it with something called the Nitro, which just doesn't have the same ring to it. But the bike is irrelevant, was always irrelevant. I missed my friends. It just wasn't the same by myself. Debi, Matt, where are you? There are roads to be ridden, locals with ten people on a bike to be humbled by. Six fingered men to be seen, by some. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/indonesia/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/indonesia/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ef451ea --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/indonesia/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,149 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Indonesia + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Indonesia

+
+
+ The Worst Place on Earth +
+

The Worst Place on Earth

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Gili Trawangan, Indonesia + + + – + + They aren't really the worst place on Earth (everyone knows that's Yuma, AZ), but the Gili Islands would top my list of places you should never go to. In the end they're not even a real place, just a collection of paradise fantasies culled from decades of hippie travelers, scuba divers, honeymooners, and the rich, lost children of the West. + +

+
+
+
+ The Best Snorkeling in the World +
+

The Best Snorkeling in the World

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Nusa Lembongan, Bali, Indonesia + + + – + + Drift snorkeling is like watching fish float by the window of an underwater train. And Indonesia has more marine life than anywhere I've ever been. Fish I have previously seen perhaps two or three at a time are swimming in massive schools. The blue depths are filled with dozens of Moorish Idols, schools of deep purple tangs, so dark they look black until you get up close, parrotfish in clusters, munching on the coral, bright, powder blue tangs, yellow-masked angelfish, countless butterfly fish, wrasses, triggerfish, pufferfish and even bright blue starfish that crawl slowly over the reef. + +

+
+
+
+ The Balinese Temple Ceremony +
+

The Balinese Temple Ceremony

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Ubud, Bali, Indonesia + + + – + + While Balinese temples look partly like Hindu temples in India, there are other elements that come from older religions. Bali is what happens when Hindu beliefs collide with animism. The Balinese seem to embrace the basic tenants of traditional Hinduism, but then add plenty of their own animist flourishes to the mix -- like frequent and elaborate temple ceremonies. We were lucky enough to be invited to a temple ceremony in Tegallantang, Bali. + +

+
+
+
+ Motor City is Burning +
+

Motor City is Burning

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Ubud, Bali, Indonesia + + + – + + Awesome as it was to be back on the Asian version of a motorbike, it wasn't quite the relaxing riding I did in Laos and elsewhere. You can never recapture the magic, and I wasn't trying.... Okay, maybe I was, but it didn't work. regrettably Honda seems to have phased out the Dream in the last five years, replacing it with something called the Nitro, which just doesn't have the same ring to it. But the bike is irrelevant, was always irrelevant. I missed my friends. It just wasn't the same by myself. Debi, Matt, where are you? There are roads to be ridden, locals with ten people on a bike to be humbled by. Six fingered men to be seen, by some. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/italy/1/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/italy/1/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..554f60e --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/italy/1/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,149 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Italy + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Italy

+
+
+ Cooking in Rome +
+

Cooking in Rome

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Rome, Italy + + + – + + In the end Italy and I didn't really get along, but the food redeemed it for me. The restaurants are good, but if you really want to experience the glory of Italian food you need to head to the market, grab some utterly amazing raw ingredients and whip up something yourself. This is what food is supposed to be, simple, fresh and great. + +

+
+
+
+ Natural Science +
+

Natural Science

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Firenze (Florence), Italy + + + – + + There's no way around it; Florence is crowded. It may well be that Naples is the only Italian city that isn't overrun with tourists in the summer, but after three days of hardly seeing another traveler, I wasn't prepared for the crowds. Luckily it isn't hard to avoid the tourist hordes, just get up early and then when everyone else is starting to stir, head for obscure museums like La Specola, part of the Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze. + +

+
+
+
+ Forever Today +
+

Forever Today

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Pompeii, Italy + + + – + + Pompeii feels both very old and not that different from the modern cities that surround it now. The gap between then and now feels small because when you wander around places like Pompeii you realize that human beings have changed very little over vast expanses of time. Pompeii had the same elements of cities today, a central square, markets, temples, government offices, even fast food. Not much has changed over the years, though togas aren’t much in vogue these days. + +

+
+
+
+ The New Pollution +
+

The New Pollution

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Napoli (Naples), Italy + + + – + + Naples Italy is a big, crowded, graffiti-filled city. It's an intimidating place that is by turns a bit like Philadelphia, a bit Mumbai, a bit some post-apocalyptic video game and, in the end, something else entirely. Still, given the tourist epidemic that sweeps Italy every summer, Naples is a place worth appreciating for what it is not, even if what is isn't, perhaps, enough to ever bring you back. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/italy/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/italy/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..554f60e --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/italy/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,149 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Italy + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Italy

+
+
+ Cooking in Rome +
+

Cooking in Rome

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Rome, Italy + + + – + + In the end Italy and I didn't really get along, but the food redeemed it for me. The restaurants are good, but if you really want to experience the glory of Italian food you need to head to the market, grab some utterly amazing raw ingredients and whip up something yourself. This is what food is supposed to be, simple, fresh and great. + +

+
+
+
+ Natural Science +
+

Natural Science

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Firenze (Florence), Italy + + + – + + There's no way around it; Florence is crowded. It may well be that Naples is the only Italian city that isn't overrun with tourists in the summer, but after three days of hardly seeing another traveler, I wasn't prepared for the crowds. Luckily it isn't hard to avoid the tourist hordes, just get up early and then when everyone else is starting to stir, head for obscure museums like La Specola, part of the Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze. + +

+
+
+
+ Forever Today +
+

Forever Today

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Pompeii, Italy + + + – + + Pompeii feels both very old and not that different from the modern cities that surround it now. The gap between then and now feels small because when you wander around places like Pompeii you realize that human beings have changed very little over vast expanses of time. Pompeii had the same elements of cities today, a central square, markets, temples, government offices, even fast food. Not much has changed over the years, though togas aren’t much in vogue these days. + +

+
+
+
+ The New Pollution +
+

The New Pollution

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Napoli (Naples), Italy + + + – + + Naples Italy is a big, crowded, graffiti-filled city. It's an intimidating place that is by turns a bit like Philadelphia, a bit Mumbai, a bit some post-apocalyptic video game and, in the end, something else entirely. Still, given the tourist epidemic that sweeps Italy every summer, Naples is a place worth appreciating for what it is not, even if what is isn't, perhaps, enough to ever bring you back. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/laos/1/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/laos/1/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7c5756e --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/laos/1/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,239 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Lao (Pdr) + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Lao (Pdr)

+
+
+ Little Corner of the World +
+

Little Corner of the World

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Four Thousand Islands, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + It's difficult to explain but the further south you go in Laos the more relaxed life becomes. Since life in the north is not exactly high stress, by the time we arrived in the four thousand Islands we had to check our pulse periodically to ensure that time was in fact still moving forward. + +

+
+
+
+ Can’t Get There From Here +
+

Can’t Get There From Here

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Attapeu, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + The most magical light in Laos lives on the Bolevan Plateau. For some reason not many tourists seem to make it out to the Bolevan Plateau, in spite of the fact that the roads are quite good, transport runs regularly, the villages peaceful, even sleepy, little hamlets. In short, the Bolevan Plateau is wonderful, and not the least in part because no one else is there. + +

+
+
+
+ Safe as Milk +
+

Safe as Milk

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Sekong, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + You would think, if you were the United States and you were illegally and unofficially bombing a foreign country you might not want to stamp "US Bomb" on the side of your bombs, and yet there it was all over Laos: "US Bomb." Clearly somebody didn't think things all the way through, especially given that roughly one third of said bombs failed to explode. + +

+
+
+
+ Everyday the Fourteenth +
+

Everyday the Fourteenth

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Savannakhet, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + We piled four large bags, four daypacks and five people in a six meter dugout canoe. The boat was powered by the ever-present-in-southeast-Asia long tail motor which is essential a lawnmower engine with a three meter pole extending out of it to which a small propeller is attached — perfect for navigating shallow water. And by shallow I mean sometimes a mere inch between the hull and the riverbed. + +

+
+
+
+ Water Slides and Spirit Guides +
+

Water Slides and Spirit Guides

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Konglor Cave, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + The dramatic black karst limestone mountains ringing Ban Na Hin grew darker as the light faded. I was sitting alone on the back porch of our guesthouse watching the light slowly disappear from the bottoms of the clouds and wondering absently how many pages it would take to explain how I came to be in the tiny town of Ban Na Hin, or if such an explanation even really existed. + +

+
+
+
+ The Lovely Universe +
+

The Lovely Universe

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Vang Vieng, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + I would like to say that I have something memorable to write about Vang Vieng, but the truth is we mostly sat around doing very little, making new friends, drinking a beer around the fire and waiting out the Chinese new year celebrations, which meant none of us could get Cambodian visas until the following Monday. We were forced to relax beside the river for several more days than we intended. Yes friends, traveling is hard, but I do it for you. + +

+
+
+
+ I Used to Fly Like Peter Pan +
+

I Used to Fly Like Peter Pan

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Luang Nam Tha, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + The next time someone asks you, “would you like to live in a tree house and travel five hundred feet above the ground attached to a zip wire?” I highly suggest you say, “yes, where do a I sign up?” If you happen to be in Laos, try the Gibbon Experience. + +

+
+
+
+ Hymn of the Big Wheel +
+

Hymn of the Big Wheel

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Luang Prabang, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + Jose Saramago writes in The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis that the gods "journey like us in the river of things, differing from us only because we call them gods and sometimes believe in them." Sitting in the middle of the river listening to the gurgle of water moving over stone and around trees I began to think that perhaps this is the sound of some lost language, a sound capable of creating mountains, valleys, estuaries, isthmuses and all the other forms around us, gurgling and sonorous but without clear meaning, shrouded in turquoise, a mystery through which we can move our sense of wonder intact. + +

+
+
+
+ Down the River +
+

Down the River

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Luang Prabang, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + Morning in Chiang Khong Thailand revealed itself as a foggy, and not a little mysterious, affair with the far shore of the Mekong, the Laos shore, almost completely hidden in a veil of mist. The first ferry crossed at eight and I was on it, looking to meet up with the slow boat to Luang Prabang. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/laos/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/laos/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7c5756e --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/laos/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,239 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Lao (Pdr) + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Lao (Pdr)

+
+
+ Little Corner of the World +
+

Little Corner of the World

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Four Thousand Islands, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + It's difficult to explain but the further south you go in Laos the more relaxed life becomes. Since life in the north is not exactly high stress, by the time we arrived in the four thousand Islands we had to check our pulse periodically to ensure that time was in fact still moving forward. + +

+
+
+
+ Can’t Get There From Here +
+

Can’t Get There From Here

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Attapeu, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + The most magical light in Laos lives on the Bolevan Plateau. For some reason not many tourists seem to make it out to the Bolevan Plateau, in spite of the fact that the roads are quite good, transport runs regularly, the villages peaceful, even sleepy, little hamlets. In short, the Bolevan Plateau is wonderful, and not the least in part because no one else is there. + +

+
+
+
+ Safe as Milk +
+

Safe as Milk

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Sekong, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + You would think, if you were the United States and you were illegally and unofficially bombing a foreign country you might not want to stamp "US Bomb" on the side of your bombs, and yet there it was all over Laos: "US Bomb." Clearly somebody didn't think things all the way through, especially given that roughly one third of said bombs failed to explode. + +

+
+
+
+ Everyday the Fourteenth +
+

Everyday the Fourteenth

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Savannakhet, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + We piled four large bags, four daypacks and five people in a six meter dugout canoe. The boat was powered by the ever-present-in-southeast-Asia long tail motor which is essential a lawnmower engine with a three meter pole extending out of it to which a small propeller is attached — perfect for navigating shallow water. And by shallow I mean sometimes a mere inch between the hull and the riverbed. + +

+
+
+
+ Water Slides and Spirit Guides +
+

Water Slides and Spirit Guides

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Konglor Cave, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + The dramatic black karst limestone mountains ringing Ban Na Hin grew darker as the light faded. I was sitting alone on the back porch of our guesthouse watching the light slowly disappear from the bottoms of the clouds and wondering absently how many pages it would take to explain how I came to be in the tiny town of Ban Na Hin, or if such an explanation even really existed. + +

+
+
+
+ The Lovely Universe +
+

The Lovely Universe

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Vang Vieng, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + I would like to say that I have something memorable to write about Vang Vieng, but the truth is we mostly sat around doing very little, making new friends, drinking a beer around the fire and waiting out the Chinese new year celebrations, which meant none of us could get Cambodian visas until the following Monday. We were forced to relax beside the river for several more days than we intended. Yes friends, traveling is hard, but I do it for you. + +

+
+
+
+ I Used to Fly Like Peter Pan +
+

I Used to Fly Like Peter Pan

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Luang Nam Tha, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + The next time someone asks you, “would you like to live in a tree house and travel five hundred feet above the ground attached to a zip wire?” I highly suggest you say, “yes, where do a I sign up?” If you happen to be in Laos, try the Gibbon Experience. + +

+
+
+
+ Hymn of the Big Wheel +
+

Hymn of the Big Wheel

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Luang Prabang, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + Jose Saramago writes in The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis that the gods "journey like us in the river of things, differing from us only because we call them gods and sometimes believe in them." Sitting in the middle of the river listening to the gurgle of water moving over stone and around trees I began to think that perhaps this is the sound of some lost language, a sound capable of creating mountains, valleys, estuaries, isthmuses and all the other forms around us, gurgling and sonorous but without clear meaning, shrouded in turquoise, a mystery through which we can move our sense of wonder intact. + +

+
+
+
+ Down the River +
+

Down the River

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Luang Prabang, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + Morning in Chiang Khong Thailand revealed itself as a foggy, and not a little mysterious, affair with the far shore of the Mekong, the Laos shore, almost completely hidden in a veil of mist. The first ferry crossed at eight and I was on it, looking to meet up with the slow boat to Luang Prabang. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/nepal/1/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/nepal/1/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3075d11 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/nepal/1/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,131 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Nepal + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Nepal

+
+
+ Sunset Over the Himalayas +
+

Sunset Over the Himalayas

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Pokhara, Nepal + + + – + + After about forty-five minutes of paddling I reached a point where the views of the Annapurna range were, in the words of an Englishman I met in Katmandu, "gob smacking gorgeous." I put down the paddle and moved to the center of the boat where the benches were wider and, using my bag a cushion, lay back against the gunwale and hung my feet over the opposite side so that they just skimmed the surface of the chilly water. + +

+
+
+
+ Pashupatinath +
+

Pashupatinath

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Pashupatinath, Nepal + + + – + + Nestled on a hillside beside the Bagmati River, Pashupatinath is one of the holiest sites in the world for Hindus, second only to Varanasi in India. Pashupatinath consists of a large temple which is open only to Hindus, surrounded by a number of smaller shrines and then down on the banks of the Bagmati are the burning ghats where bodies are cremated. + +

+
+
+
+ Durbar Square Kathmandu +
+

Durbar Square Kathmandu

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Kathmandu, Nepal + + + – + + After saturating myself with the streets of Thamel I went on a longer excursion down to Durbar Square to see the various pagodas, temples and the old palace. The palace itself no longer houses the King, but is still used for coronations and ceremonies and Durbar Square is still very much the hub of Katmandu. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/nepal/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/nepal/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3075d11 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/nepal/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,131 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Nepal + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Nepal

+
+
+ Sunset Over the Himalayas +
+

Sunset Over the Himalayas

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Pokhara, Nepal + + + – + + After about forty-five minutes of paddling I reached a point where the views of the Annapurna range were, in the words of an Englishman I met in Katmandu, "gob smacking gorgeous." I put down the paddle and moved to the center of the boat where the benches were wider and, using my bag a cushion, lay back against the gunwale and hung my feet over the opposite side so that they just skimmed the surface of the chilly water. + +

+
+
+
+ Pashupatinath +
+

Pashupatinath

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Pashupatinath, Nepal + + + – + + Nestled on a hillside beside the Bagmati River, Pashupatinath is one of the holiest sites in the world for Hindus, second only to Varanasi in India. Pashupatinath consists of a large temple which is open only to Hindus, surrounded by a number of smaller shrines and then down on the banks of the Bagmati are the burning ghats where bodies are cremated. + +

+
+
+
+ Durbar Square Kathmandu +
+

Durbar Square Kathmandu

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Kathmandu, Nepal + + + – + + After saturating myself with the streets of Thamel I went on a longer excursion down to Durbar Square to see the various pagodas, temples and the old palace. The palace itself no longer houses the King, but is still used for coronations and ceremonies and Durbar Square is still very much the hub of Katmandu. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/nicaragua/1/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/nicaragua/1/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..672c491 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/nicaragua/1/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,203 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Nicaragua + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Nicaragua

+
+
+ Our Days Are Becoming Nights +
+

Our Days Are Becoming Nights

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + León, Nicaragua + + + – + + A short thought on the eve of our departure from Nicaragua: Everywhere I go I think, I should live here... I should be able to not just visit places, but in habit them. Of course that isn't possible, which is too bad. + +

+
+
+
+ Tiny Cities Made of Ash +
+

Tiny Cities Made of Ash

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + León, Nicaragua + + + – + + The church bells of León have become a constant cacophony, not the rhythmic ringing out of the hours or tolling from Mass that the human mind seems to find pleasant, but the atonal banging that only appeals to the young and dumb. But Francisco is entirely unperturbed; He's too fascinated with the tattoo on Corrinne's shoulder to bother with what slowly just becomes yet another sound echoing through León. + +

+
+
+
+ You Can't Go Home Again +
+

You Can’t Go Home Again

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Little Corn Island, Nicaragua + + + – + + The first time we came to Little Corn Island it was April, the tail end of the dry season. It rained once or twice, but never for more than five minutes and always followed by more sunshine. This time it's the end of June, just well into the wet season, and the island is an entirely different place. + +

+
+
+
+ Returning Again — Back on Little Corn Island +
+

Returning Again — Back on Little Corn Island

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Little Corn Island, Nicaragua + + + – + + Generally speaking, the world seems so huge and so full of amazing destinations that repeating one never struck me as a judicious use of my short allotment of time. But for Little Corn Island I'm willing to make an exception and of course, the universe being what it is, our second trip to Little Corn Island has been unpredictable and entirely new. + +

+
+
+
+ Little Island in the Sun +
+

Little Island in the Sun

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Little Corn Island, Nicaragua + + + – + + We arrived on Little Corn Island around sundown and met Ali, whom I at first took to be a tout, but he showed us the way to our guesthouse and, after settling in and getting a feel for the island, I realized that Ali, wasn't a tout, he was just a really nice guy who enjoyed doing favors for tourists, just beware the Yoni beverage he offers. + +

+
+
+
+ Return to the Sea +
+

Return to the Sea

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua + + + – + + Southwestern Nicaragua is a very small strip of land with Lago Nicaragua to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The main town in the area, Juan Del Sur, is nestled around a well protected harbor with a mediocre strip of sand. For the nice beaches you have to head up or down the coast to one of the many small inlets. + +

+
+
+
+ Ring The Bells +
+

Ring The Bells

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Granada, Nicaragua + + + – + + The Church, which dates from the 1600s has the the narrowest, steepest, circular concrete staircase that I've ever encountered. It had a low railing and circled up four stories worth of precipitous dropoffs before you hit solid ground. From the top was a views of Granada's endless sea of mottled pink, orange and brown hues -- terra cotta roof tiles stretching from the shores of Lago Nicaragua all the way back toward the hills. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/nicaragua/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/nicaragua/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..672c491 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/nicaragua/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,203 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Nicaragua + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Nicaragua

+
+
+ Our Days Are Becoming Nights +
+

Our Days Are Becoming Nights

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + León, Nicaragua + + + – + + A short thought on the eve of our departure from Nicaragua: Everywhere I go I think, I should live here... I should be able to not just visit places, but in habit them. Of course that isn't possible, which is too bad. + +

+
+
+
+ Tiny Cities Made of Ash +
+

Tiny Cities Made of Ash

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + León, Nicaragua + + + – + + The church bells of León have become a constant cacophony, not the rhythmic ringing out of the hours or tolling from Mass that the human mind seems to find pleasant, but the atonal banging that only appeals to the young and dumb. But Francisco is entirely unperturbed; He's too fascinated with the tattoo on Corrinne's shoulder to bother with what slowly just becomes yet another sound echoing through León. + +

+
+
+
+ You Can't Go Home Again +
+

You Can’t Go Home Again

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Little Corn Island, Nicaragua + + + – + + The first time we came to Little Corn Island it was April, the tail end of the dry season. It rained once or twice, but never for more than five minutes and always followed by more sunshine. This time it's the end of June, just well into the wet season, and the island is an entirely different place. + +

+
+
+
+ Returning Again — Back on Little Corn Island +
+

Returning Again — Back on Little Corn Island

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Little Corn Island, Nicaragua + + + – + + Generally speaking, the world seems so huge and so full of amazing destinations that repeating one never struck me as a judicious use of my short allotment of time. But for Little Corn Island I'm willing to make an exception and of course, the universe being what it is, our second trip to Little Corn Island has been unpredictable and entirely new. + +

+
+
+
+ Little Island in the Sun +
+

Little Island in the Sun

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Little Corn Island, Nicaragua + + + – + + We arrived on Little Corn Island around sundown and met Ali, whom I at first took to be a tout, but he showed us the way to our guesthouse and, after settling in and getting a feel for the island, I realized that Ali, wasn't a tout, he was just a really nice guy who enjoyed doing favors for tourists, just beware the Yoni beverage he offers. + +

+
+
+
+ Return to the Sea +
+

Return to the Sea

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua + + + – + + Southwestern Nicaragua is a very small strip of land with Lago Nicaragua to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The main town in the area, Juan Del Sur, is nestled around a well protected harbor with a mediocre strip of sand. For the nice beaches you have to head up or down the coast to one of the many small inlets. + +

+
+
+
+ Ring The Bells +
+

Ring The Bells

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Granada, Nicaragua + + + – + + The Church, which dates from the 1600s has the the narrowest, steepest, circular concrete staircase that I've ever encountered. It had a low railing and circled up four stories worth of precipitous dropoffs before you hit solid ground. From the top was a views of Granada's endless sea of mottled pink, orange and brown hues -- terra cotta roof tiles stretching from the shores of Lago Nicaragua all the way back toward the hills. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/north-america/1/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/north-america/1/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a82a738 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/north-america/1/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,515 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from North America + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from North America

+
+
+ Oysterman Wanted +
+

Oysterman Wanted

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + St. George Island, Florida, U.S. + + + – + + The world of oystermen and local fishing industry is doomed. Even the people resisting the transition know they’re no longer fighting for their way of life. They’re just fighting to keep the thinnest resemblance of what they’ve always known around until they leave this world. They’re fighting to keep from having to watch the death of everything they know. + +

+
+
+
+ All the Pretty Beaches +
+

All the Pretty Beaches

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + St. George Island, Florida, U.S. + + + – + + St. George is just off the Gulf Coast of northwest Florida, only about 7 hours from where I live. There are better places if you're looking to dive or snorkel. Ditto if it's nightlife you're after. But if you're looking for a seemingly endless amount of gorgeous white sand beaches you'll share with only a few migratory birds, St. George is the place to be. + +

+
+
+
+ Consider the Apalachicola Oyster +
+

Consider the Apalachicola Oyster

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Apalachicola, Florida, U.S. + + + – + + If you know the name Apalachicola at all it’s likely because of its eponymous oysters. Very few things, let alone culinary things, are as attached to place as oysters. In fact, once you get beyond the Rockefeller, ordering “oysters” is akin to walking in a bar and ordering “a beer.” But unlike beer, oysters don’t have brands, they have places — Pemaquid, Wellfleet, Blue Point, Apalachicola. + +

+
+
+
+ Things Behind the Sun +
+

Things Behind the Sun

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + My grandparents left the home they lived in for 60 years today. I don't know how much of my life was spent in that house, probably well over a year if you added up all the holidays and family gatherings. And now I'm thousands of miles away and someone is clearing out the house. + +

+
+
+
+ Street Food in Athens Georgia +
+

Street Food in Athens Georgia

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + Cheap food, made fresh, in front of you. Served hot, wrapped in newspaper. Street food is the people's food, it removes the mystery of the kitchen, lays the process bare. It's also the staple diet of people around the world. + +

+
+
+
+ We Used to Wait For It +
+

We Used to Wait For It

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Los Angeles, California, U.S. + + + – + + When we first came here, there was nothing. Downtown Los Angeles was an empty husk of a place fifteen years ago. Now it's reborn, alive and kicking. Yet there is something in the older buildings, something in the old walls, something lost in the bricks, something in the concrete, the marble. Something you don’t find anymore. Something we need to find again. + +

+
+
+
+ The World Outside +
+

The World Outside

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + The world outside the house is blanketed in snow, a monochrome of white interrupted only by the dark, wet trunks of trees, the red brick of chimneys, the occasional green of shrubs poking through. The roads are unbroken expanses of smooth white, no one is out yet, no footprints track their way through the snowy sidewalk. The world outside is the same as it was last night, before the snow began, and yet, it feels totally different. + +

+
+
+
+ Charleston A-Z +
+

Charleston A-Z

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. + + + – + + Charleston alphabetically. For example, Q is for quiet, Charleston has a lot of it. Just head down to the Battery area, walk through the park and starting walking down the side streets. Take one of the many alleys and walkways that weave between the massive, stately houses. Get lost. It doesn't take much to find a quiet place of your own. + +

+
+
+
+ Dinosaur National Monument, Part Two: Down the River +
+

Dinosaur National Monument, Part Two: Down the River

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado, U.S. + + + – + + This is the only real way to see Dinosaur National Monument — you must journey down the river. There are two major rivers running through Dinosaur, the Yampa, which carves through Yampa Canyon, and the Green, which cuts through Lodore. Adventure Bound Rafting runs some of the best whitewater rafting trips in Colorado and I was lucky enough to go down the Green River with them, through the majestic Lodore Canyon. + +

+
+
+
+ Dinosaur National Monument, Part One: Echo Park +
+

Dinosaur National Monument, Part One: Echo Park

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado, U.S. + + + – + + Dinosaur National Monument was poorly named. The best parts of it are not the fossils in the quarry (which is closed for 2010 anyway) but the canyon country — some of the best, most remote canyon country you'll find in this part of the world. + +

+
+
+
+ The Endless Crowds of Yellowstone +
+

The Endless Crowds of Yellowstone

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, U.S. + + + – + + There is wilderness in Yellowstone, even if it's just inches from the boardwalks that transport thousands around the geothermal pools. It may not be wilderness on a grand scale — the sweeping mountain peaks or wild rivers of other parks — but in some ways that makes it more enticing. As one Ranger told me, Yellowstone isn't about the big picture, the grand scenery, it's about the tiny details within each pool. To really see Yellowstone, he said, you have to take your time, move slowly and look closely. + +

+
+
+
+ Backpacking in the Grand Tetons +
+

Backpacking in the Grand Tetons

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, U.S. + + + – + + Hiking into the wilderness empties your mind. You fall into the silence of the mountains and you can relax in a way that's very difficult to do in the midst of civilization. The white noise that surrounds us in our everyday lives, that noise we don't even notice as it adds thin layers of stress that build up over days, weeks, years, does not seem capable of following us into the mountains. + +

+
+
+
+ Great Sand Dunes National Park +
+

Great Sand Dunes National Park

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado, U.S. + + + – + + Something about the desert inspires me to get up early and watch the sunrise. The cool mornings seem worth getting up for out here in the high plains of Colorado, especially when there's the chance to watch the sunrise from the largest sand dunes in North America, here in Great Sand Dune National Park. + +

+
+
+
+ Comanche National Grasslands +
+

Comanche National Grasslands

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Comanche National Grasslands, Colorado, U.S. + + + – + + To say the Comanche National Grasslands is off the grid would be an understatement. With the exception of Highway 50 in Nevada, I've never driven through such isolation and vast openness anywhere in the world. And it's easy to get lost. There are no signs, no road names even, just dirt paths crisscrossing a wide, perfectly flat expanses of grass. + +

+
+
+
+ Why National Parks Are Better Than State Parks +
+

Why National Parks Are Better Than State Parks

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Amarillo, Texas, U.S. + + + – + + There are many reasons, but here's the one I currently consider most important: National Parks never close. Take Palo Dura State park outside of Amarillo, Texas. Were it a National Park, I would be there right now. But it's not, it's a state park and so I'm sitting in a hotel room in Amarillo because everyone knows nature closes at 10PM. + +

+
+
+
+ The Legend of Billy the Kid +
+

The Legend of Billy the Kid

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Hico, Texas, U.S. + + + – + + History rarely offers neat, tidy stories. But the messier, more confusing and more controversial the story becomes, the more it works its way into our imaginations. The legend of Billy the Kid is like that of Amelia Earhart or D.B. Cooper — the less we know for sure, the more compelling the story becomes. + +

+
+
+
+ The Dixie Drug Store +
+

The Dixie Drug Store

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. + + + – + + New Orleans is it's own world. So much so that's it's impossible to put your finger on what it is that makes it different. New Orleans is a place where the line between consensus reality and private dream seems to have never fully developed. And a wonderful world it is. + +

+
+
+
+ Begin the Begin +
+

Begin the Begin

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Gulf Port, Mississippi, U.S. + + + – + + It's travel time again. This time I'm driving my 1969 Ford truck out west, to Texas, Colorado, Utah and more — a road trip around the western United States. The first stop is Gulf Port, Mississippi. It's hard to believe, sitting here on the deserted beaches of Gulf Shore, watching the sun break through the ominous clouds, but soon this beauty will be gone. The BP oil spill is somewhere out there, blown slowly ashore by the storm hovering over us, waiting to drown the beaches in crude. + +

+
+
+
+ Los Angeles, I'm Yours +
+

Los Angeles, I’m Yours

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Los Angeles, California, U.S. + + + – + + Los Angeles is all about the car. Shiny, air-conditioned comfort, gliding you soundlessly from one place to another without the need to interact with anything in between. But I have discovered that if you abandon the car for the subway and your own two feet, the illusion that L.A. is just a model train set world — tiny, plastic and devoid of any ground beneath the ground — fades and you find yourself, for a time, in a real city. + +

+
+
+
+ (There'll Be) Peace in the Valley +
+

(There’ll Be) Peace in the Valley

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Death Valley, California, U.S. + + + – + + Sometimes you ignore the places close to home because, well, there's always next weekend. Which is why I never made it Death Valley in the twenty-five years I lived in California. It took being all the way across the country to get me out to Death Valley. Which might explain why I actually got up before dawn just to watch the sunrise at Zabriskie Point. + +

+
+
+
+ So Far, I Have Not Found The Science +
+

So Far, I Have Not Found The Science

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + A canoe trip through the Okefenokee Swamp down in the southern most corner of Georgia. Paddling the strange reddish and incredibly still waters. Begging alligators, aching muscles and the kindly folks of Stintson's Barbecue all getting their due. + +

+
+
+
+ How to Get Off Your Butt and Travel the World +
+

How to Get Off Your Butt and Travel the World

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + How do you make the leap from cubicle daydreams to life on to the road? You want to travel the world, but, like me, you have a million excuses stopping you. How do overcome the inertia that keeps you trapped in a life that isn't what you want it to be? Here's a few practical tips and how tos designed to motivate you to get off your butt and travel the world. + +

+
+
+
+ No Strangers on a Train +
+

No Strangers on a Train

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + We mythologize trains because they harken back to an age of community travel, a real, tangible community of travelers, not just backpackers, but people from all walks of life, people traveling near and far together in a shared space that isn't locked down like an airplane and isn't isolated like a car; it's a shared travel experience and there are precious few of those left in our world. + +

+
+
+
+ Leonardo Da Vinci and the Codex on Bunnies +
+

Leonardo Da Vinci and the Codex on Bunnies

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. + + + – + + A few pages from Leonardo Da Vinci's notebooks make a rare trip outside Italy, to Birmingham, AL, of all places. But the Birmingham Museum of Art is home to far more alarming works of art, works which depict the eventual, inevitable, bunny takeover, after which all the elements of our reality will be replaced by bunnies. Seriously. You heard it here first. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/north-america/2/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/north-america/2/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..991686e --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/north-america/2/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,426 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from North America -- Page 2 + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from North America

+
+
+ Elkmont and the Great Smoky Mountains +
+

Elkmont and the Great Smoky Mountains

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee, U.S. + + + – + + Pigeon Forge is Myrtle Beach in the mountains. Redneck weddings cascade straight out of the chapel and into the mini golf reception area. Pigeon Forge is everything that's wrong with America. But we aren't here for Pigeon Forge, it just happens to have a free condo we're staying in. We're here for the mountains. Smoky Mountain National Park is just a few miles up the road. + +

+
+
+
+ Rope Swings and River Floats +
+

Rope Swings and River Floats

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Mountain Cabin, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + Two weekends ago we went up to the mountains, just outside of Dahlonega GA, and floated the Chestatee River using inner tubes, various pool toys and one super-cool inflatable seahorse. Unfortunately, proving one of my travel mottos -- you can never go back -- a return trip proved disastrous. + +

+
+
+
+ In Love With a View: Vagabonds, Responsibilty and Living Well +
+

In Love With a View: Vagabonds, Responsibilty and Living Well

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + Why all the vitriol about a seemingly innocuous concept -- that traveling doesn't have to cost a lot of money, isn't all that difficult and hey, you can even go right now? People like us, who feel tied down by responsibility, find the suggestion that we actually aren't tied down patronizing and yes, elitist. + +

+
+
+
+ Fall +
+

Fall

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + The trees are in full technicolor swing. The land is slowly dying, and not just because it's Fall, we're also in the middle of a prolonged drought and this year the leaves are opting for a James Dean-style, leave-a-good-looking-corpse exit. If you're a leaf and you've got to go, do it with class. + +

+
+
+
+ On The Other Ocean +
+

On The Other Ocean

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Catalina Island, California, U.S. + + + – + + Consider what would happen if your house were tilted 30 degrees to the left, how this would complicate ordinary activities -- like say walking. Now throw in a bouncing motion that lifts the floor five or six feet up and down in a seesaw-like motion on a perpendicular axis to the 30 degree tilt -- things become more like riding a seesaw that's attached to a merry-go-round which is missing a few bolts. That's sailing. + +

+
+
+
+ Being There +
+

Being There

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Myrtle Beach Airport, South Carolina, U.S. + + + – + + Myrtle Beach does not exist. Nearly everything in Myrtle Beach is a paltry derivative of some original form. For instance, most of the country has golf courses, in Myrtle Beach there are endless rows of putt-putt courses, where most towns attempt to draw in big name musical acts for their tourist venues, Myrtle Beach is content with impersonators. + +

+
+
+
+ Sailing Through +
+

Sailing Through

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. + + + – + + The rumors are true. I moved back to the south; Athens GA to be exact. But I hate staying in one place for too long, so after a month or two in Athens I headed up to Charleston to visit a friend. The south is curious place. If you've never been here I couldn't hope to explain it, but it's not so much a place as an approach. A way of getting somewhere more than anywhere specific. Perhaps even a wrong turn. + + +

+
+
+
+ Goodbye to the Mother and the Cove +
+

Goodbye to the Mother and the Cove

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Los Angeles, California, U.S. + + + – + + It's strange how you can plan something, go through all the motions of making it happen without ever really understanding what you're doing. I've been doing this for the better part of three years now. I realized recently that I have no real idea how I came to be here. + + +

+
+
+
+ Everything All The Time +
+

Everything All The Time

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Los Angeles, California, U.S. + + + – + + I don't know if I'm just overly paranoid but when I call up memories in the dark hours of the Beaujolais-soaked pre-dawn, I see a collection of mildly amusing, occasionally painful series of embarrassments, misunderstandings and general wrong-place, wrong-time sort of moments. Which isn't to imply that my life is a British sitcom, just that I'm not in a hurry to re-live any of it. + +

+
+
+
+ The Sun Came Up With No Conclusions +
+

The Sun Came Up With No Conclusions

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Los Angeles, California, U.S. + + + – + + "And so it is that we, as men, do not exist until we do; and then it is that we play with our world of existent things, and order and disorder them, and so it shall be that non-existence shall take us back from existence and that nameless spirituality shall return to Void, like a tired child home from a very wild circus." -- Robert Anton Wilson and Kerry Thornley. Good luck and Godspeed Mr. Wilson. + +

+
+
+
+ Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose +
+

Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Los Angeles, California, U.S. + + + – + + Traveling soul. Soul is not something out there or in you, it's the place where you meet the out there; something very similar to what I think James Brown meant — a mixture of the secular and the spiritual, the profane and the sublime. + +

+
+
+
+ Homeward +
+

Homeward

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Los Angeles, California, U.S. + + + – + + New York, New York. John F Kennedy airport 1 am date unknown, sleepy looking customs guard stamps a passport without hardly looking at, without even checking to see where I had been. A light drizzle is falling outside and the subways extension to the terminal never looked so good. What is it like to be home? I don't know, I'll tell you when I get there. + +

+
+
+
+ Twenty More Minutes to Go +
+

Twenty More Minutes to Go

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Newport Beach, California, U.S. + + + – + + Well it's the night before I leave. I just got done pacing around the driveway of my parents house smoking cigarettes… nervously? Excitedly? Restlessly? A bit of all of those I suppose. I walk across the street, over the drainage ditch and head for the swing set at the park. Right now I'm swinging in a park in Costa Mesa California. Tomorrow France. Weird. [Photo to the right, via Flickr] + +

+
+
+
+ Travel Tips and Resources +
+

Travel Tips and Resources

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Newport Beach, California, U.S. + + + – + + An overview of the things you might want to bring on an extended trip, as well as some tips and recommendations on things like visas and vaccinations. The part that was most helpful for me was learning what I didn't need to bring — as it turns out, quite a bit. Nowadays my pack is much smaller and lighter. + +

+
+
+
+ The New Luddites +
+

The New Luddites

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Newport Beach, California, U.S. + + + – + + An older, non-travel piece about Google's plan to scan all the world's books and Luddite-like response from many authors. Let's see, someone wants to make your book easier to find, searchable and indexable and you're opposed to it? You're a fucking idiot. + +

+
+
+
+ One Nation Under a Groove +
+

One Nation Under a Groove

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Northampton, Massachusetts, U.S. + + + – + + The sky is falling! The iPod! It's ruining our culture! Or, uh, maybe it's just like the Walkman, but better. And since, so far as I can tell, the world did not collapse with the introduction of the Walkman and headphones, it probably isn't going to fall apart just because the storage format for our music has changed. [Photo to the right via Flickr] + +

+
+
+
+ Farewell Mr. Hunter S Thompson +
+

Farewell Mr. Hunter S Thompson

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Northampton, Massachusetts, U.S. + + + – + + Hunter S. Thompson departs on a journey to the western lands. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas delivered the penultimate eulogy for the dreams of the 1960's, one that mourned, but also tried to lay the empty idealism to rest. + +

+
+
+
+ The Art of the Essay +
+

The Art of the Essay

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Northampton, Massachusetts, U.S. + + + – + + I generally ignore internet debates, they never go anywhere, so why bother. But we all have our weak points and when programmer Paul Graham posted what might be the dumbest essay on writing that's ever been written, I just couldn't help myuself. + +

+
+
+
+ Farewell Mr. Cash +
+

Farewell Mr. Cash

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Northampton, Massachusetts, U.S. + + + – + + Johnny Cash heads for the western lands. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/north-america/3/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/north-america/3/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4ef027f --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/north-america/3/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,77 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from North America -- Page 3 + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from North America

+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/north-america/4/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/north-america/4/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..34e4589 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/north-america/4/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,77 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from North America -- Page 4 + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from North America

+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/north-america/5/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/north-america/5/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fb05367 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/north-america/5/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,77 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from North America -- Page 5 + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from North America

+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/north-america/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/north-america/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a82a738 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/north-america/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,515 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from North America + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from North America

+
+
+ Oysterman Wanted +
+

Oysterman Wanted

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + St. George Island, Florida, U.S. + + + – + + The world of oystermen and local fishing industry is doomed. Even the people resisting the transition know they’re no longer fighting for their way of life. They’re just fighting to keep the thinnest resemblance of what they’ve always known around until they leave this world. They’re fighting to keep from having to watch the death of everything they know. + +

+
+
+
+ All the Pretty Beaches +
+

All the Pretty Beaches

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + St. George Island, Florida, U.S. + + + – + + St. George is just off the Gulf Coast of northwest Florida, only about 7 hours from where I live. There are better places if you're looking to dive or snorkel. Ditto if it's nightlife you're after. But if you're looking for a seemingly endless amount of gorgeous white sand beaches you'll share with only a few migratory birds, St. George is the place to be. + +

+
+
+
+ Consider the Apalachicola Oyster +
+

Consider the Apalachicola Oyster

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Apalachicola, Florida, U.S. + + + – + + If you know the name Apalachicola at all it’s likely because of its eponymous oysters. Very few things, let alone culinary things, are as attached to place as oysters. In fact, once you get beyond the Rockefeller, ordering “oysters” is akin to walking in a bar and ordering “a beer.” But unlike beer, oysters don’t have brands, they have places — Pemaquid, Wellfleet, Blue Point, Apalachicola. + +

+
+
+
+ Things Behind the Sun +
+

Things Behind the Sun

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + My grandparents left the home they lived in for 60 years today. I don't know how much of my life was spent in that house, probably well over a year if you added up all the holidays and family gatherings. And now I'm thousands of miles away and someone is clearing out the house. + +

+
+
+
+ Street Food in Athens Georgia +
+

Street Food in Athens Georgia

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + Cheap food, made fresh, in front of you. Served hot, wrapped in newspaper. Street food is the people's food, it removes the mystery of the kitchen, lays the process bare. It's also the staple diet of people around the world. + +

+
+
+
+ We Used to Wait For It +
+

We Used to Wait For It

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Los Angeles, California, U.S. + + + – + + When we first came here, there was nothing. Downtown Los Angeles was an empty husk of a place fifteen years ago. Now it's reborn, alive and kicking. Yet there is something in the older buildings, something in the old walls, something lost in the bricks, something in the concrete, the marble. Something you don’t find anymore. Something we need to find again. + +

+
+
+
+ The World Outside +
+

The World Outside

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + The world outside the house is blanketed in snow, a monochrome of white interrupted only by the dark, wet trunks of trees, the red brick of chimneys, the occasional green of shrubs poking through. The roads are unbroken expanses of smooth white, no one is out yet, no footprints track their way through the snowy sidewalk. The world outside is the same as it was last night, before the snow began, and yet, it feels totally different. + +

+
+
+
+ Charleston A-Z +
+

Charleston A-Z

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. + + + – + + Charleston alphabetically. For example, Q is for quiet, Charleston has a lot of it. Just head down to the Battery area, walk through the park and starting walking down the side streets. Take one of the many alleys and walkways that weave between the massive, stately houses. Get lost. It doesn't take much to find a quiet place of your own. + +

+
+
+
+ Dinosaur National Monument, Part Two: Down the River +
+

Dinosaur National Monument, Part Two: Down the River

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado, U.S. + + + – + + This is the only real way to see Dinosaur National Monument — you must journey down the river. There are two major rivers running through Dinosaur, the Yampa, which carves through Yampa Canyon, and the Green, which cuts through Lodore. Adventure Bound Rafting runs some of the best whitewater rafting trips in Colorado and I was lucky enough to go down the Green River with them, through the majestic Lodore Canyon. + +

+
+
+
+ Dinosaur National Monument, Part One: Echo Park +
+

Dinosaur National Monument, Part One: Echo Park

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado, U.S. + + + – + + Dinosaur National Monument was poorly named. The best parts of it are not the fossils in the quarry (which is closed for 2010 anyway) but the canyon country — some of the best, most remote canyon country you'll find in this part of the world. + +

+
+
+
+ The Endless Crowds of Yellowstone +
+

The Endless Crowds of Yellowstone

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, U.S. + + + – + + There is wilderness in Yellowstone, even if it's just inches from the boardwalks that transport thousands around the geothermal pools. It may not be wilderness on a grand scale — the sweeping mountain peaks or wild rivers of other parks — but in some ways that makes it more enticing. As one Ranger told me, Yellowstone isn't about the big picture, the grand scenery, it's about the tiny details within each pool. To really see Yellowstone, he said, you have to take your time, move slowly and look closely. + +

+
+
+
+ Backpacking in the Grand Tetons +
+

Backpacking in the Grand Tetons

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, U.S. + + + – + + Hiking into the wilderness empties your mind. You fall into the silence of the mountains and you can relax in a way that's very difficult to do in the midst of civilization. The white noise that surrounds us in our everyday lives, that noise we don't even notice as it adds thin layers of stress that build up over days, weeks, years, does not seem capable of following us into the mountains. + +

+
+
+
+ Great Sand Dunes National Park +
+

Great Sand Dunes National Park

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado, U.S. + + + – + + Something about the desert inspires me to get up early and watch the sunrise. The cool mornings seem worth getting up for out here in the high plains of Colorado, especially when there's the chance to watch the sunrise from the largest sand dunes in North America, here in Great Sand Dune National Park. + +

+
+
+
+ Comanche National Grasslands +
+

Comanche National Grasslands

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Comanche National Grasslands, Colorado, U.S. + + + – + + To say the Comanche National Grasslands is off the grid would be an understatement. With the exception of Highway 50 in Nevada, I've never driven through such isolation and vast openness anywhere in the world. And it's easy to get lost. There are no signs, no road names even, just dirt paths crisscrossing a wide, perfectly flat expanses of grass. + +

+
+
+
+ Why National Parks Are Better Than State Parks +
+

Why National Parks Are Better Than State Parks

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Amarillo, Texas, U.S. + + + – + + There are many reasons, but here's the one I currently consider most important: National Parks never close. Take Palo Dura State park outside of Amarillo, Texas. Were it a National Park, I would be there right now. But it's not, it's a state park and so I'm sitting in a hotel room in Amarillo because everyone knows nature closes at 10PM. + +

+
+
+
+ The Legend of Billy the Kid +
+

The Legend of Billy the Kid

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Hico, Texas, U.S. + + + – + + History rarely offers neat, tidy stories. But the messier, more confusing and more controversial the story becomes, the more it works its way into our imaginations. The legend of Billy the Kid is like that of Amelia Earhart or D.B. Cooper — the less we know for sure, the more compelling the story becomes. + +

+
+
+
+ The Dixie Drug Store +
+

The Dixie Drug Store

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. + + + – + + New Orleans is it's own world. So much so that's it's impossible to put your finger on what it is that makes it different. New Orleans is a place where the line between consensus reality and private dream seems to have never fully developed. And a wonderful world it is. + +

+
+
+
+ Begin the Begin +
+

Begin the Begin

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Gulf Port, Mississippi, U.S. + + + – + + It's travel time again. This time I'm driving my 1969 Ford truck out west, to Texas, Colorado, Utah and more — a road trip around the western United States. The first stop is Gulf Port, Mississippi. It's hard to believe, sitting here on the deserted beaches of Gulf Shore, watching the sun break through the ominous clouds, but soon this beauty will be gone. The BP oil spill is somewhere out there, blown slowly ashore by the storm hovering over us, waiting to drown the beaches in crude. + +

+
+
+
+ Los Angeles, I'm Yours +
+

Los Angeles, I’m Yours

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Los Angeles, California, U.S. + + + – + + Los Angeles is all about the car. Shiny, air-conditioned comfort, gliding you soundlessly from one place to another without the need to interact with anything in between. But I have discovered that if you abandon the car for the subway and your own two feet, the illusion that L.A. is just a model train set world — tiny, plastic and devoid of any ground beneath the ground — fades and you find yourself, for a time, in a real city. + +

+
+
+
+ (There'll Be) Peace in the Valley +
+

(There’ll Be) Peace in the Valley

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Death Valley, California, U.S. + + + – + + Sometimes you ignore the places close to home because, well, there's always next weekend. Which is why I never made it Death Valley in the twenty-five years I lived in California. It took being all the way across the country to get me out to Death Valley. Which might explain why I actually got up before dawn just to watch the sunrise at Zabriskie Point. + +

+
+
+
+ So Far, I Have Not Found The Science +
+

So Far, I Have Not Found The Science

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + A canoe trip through the Okefenokee Swamp down in the southern most corner of Georgia. Paddling the strange reddish and incredibly still waters. Begging alligators, aching muscles and the kindly folks of Stintson's Barbecue all getting their due. + +

+
+
+
+ How to Get Off Your Butt and Travel the World +
+

How to Get Off Your Butt and Travel the World

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + How do you make the leap from cubicle daydreams to life on to the road? You want to travel the world, but, like me, you have a million excuses stopping you. How do overcome the inertia that keeps you trapped in a life that isn't what you want it to be? Here's a few practical tips and how tos designed to motivate you to get off your butt and travel the world. + +

+
+
+
+ No Strangers on a Train +
+

No Strangers on a Train

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + We mythologize trains because they harken back to an age of community travel, a real, tangible community of travelers, not just backpackers, but people from all walks of life, people traveling near and far together in a shared space that isn't locked down like an airplane and isn't isolated like a car; it's a shared travel experience and there are precious few of those left in our world. + +

+
+
+
+ Leonardo Da Vinci and the Codex on Bunnies +
+

Leonardo Da Vinci and the Codex on Bunnies

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. + + + – + + A few pages from Leonardo Da Vinci's notebooks make a rare trip outside Italy, to Birmingham, AL, of all places. But the Birmingham Museum of Art is home to far more alarming works of art, works which depict the eventual, inevitable, bunny takeover, after which all the elements of our reality will be replaced by bunnies. Seriously. You heard it here first. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/slovenia/1/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/slovenia/1/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..37c003d --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/slovenia/1/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,113 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Slovenia + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Slovenia

+
+
+ The King of Carrot Flowers Part Two +
+

The King of Carrot Flowers Part Two

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Bled, Slovenia + + + – + + There is a roughly 200km loop of road that leads northwest out of Bled, through a pass in the Julian Alps and then down the other side, twisting and winding back toward Bled by way of craggy canyons, small hamlets and crystalline rivers. We set out sometime after breakfast. + +

+
+
+
+ Ghost +
+

Ghost

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Ljubljana, Slovenia + + + – + + Like Dubrovnik, Trogir is a walled city of roughly Venetian vintage, but Trogir's wall has largely crumbled away or been removed. Still, it has the gorgeous narrow cobblestone streets, arched doorways and towering forts that give all Dalmatian towns their Rapunzel-like fairly tale quality. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/slovenia/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/slovenia/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..37c003d --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/slovenia/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,113 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Slovenia + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Slovenia

+
+
+ The King of Carrot Flowers Part Two +
+

The King of Carrot Flowers Part Two

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Bled, Slovenia + + + – + + There is a roughly 200km loop of road that leads northwest out of Bled, through a pass in the Julian Alps and then down the other side, twisting and winding back toward Bled by way of craggy canyons, small hamlets and crystalline rivers. We set out sometime after breakfast. + +

+
+
+
+ Ghost +
+

Ghost

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Ljubljana, Slovenia + + + – + + Like Dubrovnik, Trogir is a walled city of roughly Venetian vintage, but Trogir's wall has largely crumbled away or been removed. Still, it has the gorgeous narrow cobblestone streets, arched doorways and towering forts that give all Dalmatian towns their Rapunzel-like fairly tale quality. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/southeast-asia/1/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/southeast-asia/1/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5455bbd --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/southeast-asia/1/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,517 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Southeast Asia + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Southeast Asia

+
+
+ Closing Time +
+

Closing Time

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Koh Kradan, Thailand + + + – + + Headed back to Europe: I started to write a bit of reminiscence, trying to remember the highlights of my time in Asia before I return to the west, but about halfway through I kept thinking of a popular Buddhist saying — be here now. Most of these dispatches are written in past tense, but this time I want to simply be here now. This moment, on this train. This is the last time I'll post something from Southeast Asia. + +

+
+
+
+ Beginning of the End +
+

Beginning of the End

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Koh Kradan, Thailand + + + – + + I wasn't expecting much from Ko Kradan, but in the end I discovered a slice of Thailand the way it's often describe by wistful hippies who first came here twenty years ago. Tong and Ngu and the rest of the Thais working at Paradise Lost were the nicest people I met in Thailand and Wally was by far the most laid back farang I've come across. I ended up staying on Ko Kradan for the remainder of my time in the south. + + +

+
+
+
+ Going Down South +
+

Going Down South

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Koh Phi Phi, Thailand + + + – + + The Phi Phi Island Resort, where some friends were staying, is nestled on the leeward shore of Koh Phi Phi Island and posts a private beach, beautiful reef, fancy swimming pools and rooms with real sheets. Unheard of. I sauntered in a day early, acted like I owned the place, rented snorkel gear, charged it to a random room number and spent the afternoon on the reef. If only I could have put it on the Underhill's credit card. + +

+
+
+
+ The Book of Right On +
+

The Book of Right On

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Sinoukville, Cambodia + + + – + + The next day we continued on to Sinoukville which is Cambodia's attempt at a seaside resort. Combining the essential elements of Goa and Thailand, Sinoukville is a pleasant, if somewhat hippy-oriented, travelers haven. We rented Honda Dreams and cruised down the coast to deserted white sand beaches, thatched huts serving noodles and rice, where we watched sunsets and dodged rain storms. + +

+
+
+
+ Midnight in a Perfect World +
+

Midnight in a Perfect World

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Death Island, Cambodia + + + – + + Death Island, as Rob nicknamed it, was just what I needed. The first day we sat down for lunch and ordered crab; a boy in his underwear proceeded to run out of the kitchen, swam out in the ocean and began unloading crabs from a trap into a bucket. It doesn't get much fresher than that. Throw in a nice beach, some cheap bungalows and you're away. + +

+
+
+
+ Angkor Wat +
+

Angkor Wat

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Angkor Wat, Cambodia + + + – + + Roughly half a million people a year visit Angkor Wat. The first evening we decided to see just how tourist-filled Angkor was by heading to the most popular sunset temple, Phnom Bakheng, to watch the sunset. And there were a lot of tourists. Thousands of them. And that was just at one temple. Thus was hatched the plan: see Angkor in the heat of the day. Yes it will be hot. Hot hot hot. Fucking hot. But hopefully empty. + +

+
+
+
+ ...Wait 'til it Blows +
+

…Wait ‘til it Blows

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Seam Reap, Cambodia + + + – + + One the things I may have failed to mention thus far in my Cambodia reportage is that this was/is one of the most heavily mined areas in the world. You might think that removing landmines involves sophisticated technology of the sort you see in BBC documentaries on Bosnia, but here in Cambodia landmine removal is most often handled by the technological marvel of southeast Asia — the bamboo stick. + +

+
+
+
+ Beginning to See the Light +
+

Beginning to See the Light

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Floating Village, Cambodia + + + – + + Surprisingly, a floating village is not that different than a village on the land. There are the same stores, the computer repair shop, the grocers, the petrol station, the temple, the dance hall and all the other things that makeup a town. I could even say with some authority that the town is laid out in streets, watery pathways that form nearly perfect lines. + +

+
+
+
+ Blood on the Tracks +
+

Blood on the Tracks

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Phenom Phen, Cambodia + + + – + + As I mentioned in the last entry I came down with a bit of a fever for a few days. This was accompanied by what we in the group have come to term, for lack of a nicer, but equally descriptive phrase — pissing out the ass. It's not a pretty picture. Nor is it a pleasant experience, and consequently I don't have a real clear recollection of the journey from Ban Lung to Kratie or from Kratie out to Sen Monoron. + +

+
+
+
+ Ticket To Ride +
+

Ticket To Ride

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Ban Lung, Cambodia + + + – + + I can't see. My eyebrows are orange with dust. I cannot see them, but I know they must be; they were yesterday. Every now and then when her legs clench down on my hips or her fingernails dig into my shoulders, I remember Debi is behind me and I am more or less responsible for not killing both of us. + +

+
+
+
+ Little Corner of the World +
+

Little Corner of the World

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Four Thousand Islands, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + It's difficult to explain but the further south you go in Laos the more relaxed life becomes. Since life in the north is not exactly high stress, by the time we arrived in the four thousand Islands we had to check our pulse periodically to ensure that time was in fact still moving forward. + +

+
+
+
+ Can’t Get There From Here +
+

Can’t Get There From Here

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Attapeu, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + The most magical light in Laos lives on the Bolevan Plateau. For some reason not many tourists seem to make it out to the Bolevan Plateau, in spite of the fact that the roads are quite good, transport runs regularly, the villages peaceful, even sleepy, little hamlets. In short, the Bolevan Plateau is wonderful, and not the least in part because no one else is there. + +

+
+
+
+ Safe as Milk +
+

Safe as Milk

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Sekong, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + You would think, if you were the United States and you were illegally and unofficially bombing a foreign country you might not want to stamp "US Bomb" on the side of your bombs, and yet there it was all over Laos: "US Bomb." Clearly somebody didn't think things all the way through, especially given that roughly one third of said bombs failed to explode. + +

+
+
+
+ Everyday the Fourteenth +
+

Everyday the Fourteenth

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Savannakhet, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + We piled four large bags, four daypacks and five people in a six meter dugout canoe. The boat was powered by the ever-present-in-southeast-Asia long tail motor which is essential a lawnmower engine with a three meter pole extending out of it to which a small propeller is attached — perfect for navigating shallow water. And by shallow I mean sometimes a mere inch between the hull and the riverbed. + +

+
+
+
+ Water Slides and Spirit Guides +
+

Water Slides and Spirit Guides

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Konglor Cave, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + The dramatic black karst limestone mountains ringing Ban Na Hin grew darker as the light faded. I was sitting alone on the back porch of our guesthouse watching the light slowly disappear from the bottoms of the clouds and wondering absently how many pages it would take to explain how I came to be in the tiny town of Ban Na Hin, or if such an explanation even really existed. + +

+
+
+
+ The Lovely Universe +
+

The Lovely Universe

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Vang Vieng, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + I would like to say that I have something memorable to write about Vang Vieng, but the truth is we mostly sat around doing very little, making new friends, drinking a beer around the fire and waiting out the Chinese new year celebrations, which meant none of us could get Cambodian visas until the following Monday. We were forced to relax beside the river for several more days than we intended. Yes friends, traveling is hard, but I do it for you. + +

+
+
+
+ I Used to Fly Like Peter Pan +
+

I Used to Fly Like Peter Pan

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Luang Nam Tha, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + The next time someone asks you, “would you like to live in a tree house and travel five hundred feet above the ground attached to a zip wire?” I highly suggest you say, “yes, where do a I sign up?” If you happen to be in Laos, try the Gibbon Experience. + +

+
+
+
+ Hymn of the Big Wheel +
+

Hymn of the Big Wheel

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Luang Prabang, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + Jose Saramago writes in The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis that the gods "journey like us in the river of things, differing from us only because we call them gods and sometimes believe in them." Sitting in the middle of the river listening to the gurgle of water moving over stone and around trees I began to think that perhaps this is the sound of some lost language, a sound capable of creating mountains, valleys, estuaries, isthmuses and all the other forms around us, gurgling and sonorous but without clear meaning, shrouded in turquoise, a mystery through which we can move our sense of wonder intact. + +

+
+
+
+ Down the River +
+

Down the River

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Luang Prabang, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + Morning in Chiang Khong Thailand revealed itself as a foggy, and not a little mysterious, affair with the far shore of the Mekong, the Laos shore, almost completely hidden in a veil of mist. The first ferry crossed at eight and I was on it, looking to meet up with the slow boat to Luang Prabang. + +

+
+
+
+ The King of Carrot Flowers +
+

The King of Carrot Flowers

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Doi Inthanan National Park, Thailand + + + – + + The light outside the windows was still a pre-dawn inky blue when the freezing cold water hit my back. A cold shower at six thirty in the morning is infinitely more powerful, albeit not at long lasting, as a cup of coffee. After dropping my body temperature a few degrees and having no towel to dry off with, just a dirty shirt and ceaseless ceiling fan, a cup of tea seemed like a good idea so I stopped in at the restaurant downstairs and, after a cup of hot water with some Jasmine leaves swirling at the bottom of it, I climbed on my rental motorbike and set out for Doi Inthanan National Park. + +

+
+
+
+ You and I Are Disappearing +
+

You and I Are Disappearing

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Chang Mai, Thailand + + + – + + The all night bus reached Chiang Mai well past dawn, the city already beginning to stir. I considered trying to nap, but in the end decided to explore the town. What better way to see Buddhist temples than in the dreamy fog of sleeplessness? Chiang Mai has over three hundred wats within the somewhat sprawling city limits, most of them reasonably modern and, in my opinion, not worth visiting. I narrowed the field to three, which I figured was a nice round one percent. + + +

+
+
+
+ Buddha on the Bounty +
+

Buddha on the Bounty

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Bangkok, Thailand + + + – + + The house Jim Thompson left behind in Bangkok is gorgeous, but the real charm is the garden and its orchids. I wandered around the gardens which really aren't that large for some time and then found a bench near a collection of orchids, where I sat for the better part of an hour, occasionally taking a photograph or two, but mostly thinking about how human orchids are. + +

+
+
+
+ Brink of the Clouds +
+

Brink of the Clouds

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Bangkok, Thailand + + + – + + "The city is a cathedral" writes James Salter, "its scent is dreams." Salter may have been referring to New York, but his words ring true in Bangkok. And the best place to feel it at night is on the river or from the top of the Baiyoke Sky Hotel — where a circular, revolving observation deck offers 360° views of the Bangkok nightscape. + +

+
+
+
+ Are You Amplified to Rock? +
+

Are You Amplified to Rock?

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Bangkok, Thailand + + + – + + It's a new year, are you amplified to rock? Ready, set, go. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/southeast-asia/2/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/southeast-asia/2/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4888654 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/southeast-asia/2/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,100 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Southeast Asia -- Page 2 + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Southeast Asia

+
+
+ Merry Christmas 2005 +
+

Merry Christmas 2005

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Bangkok, Thailand + + + – + + Seasons Greeting from luxagraf. I'm in Bangkok, Thailand at the moment. I am taking a short break from traveling to do a little working so I don't have much to report. I've seen the two big temples down in the Khaosan Rd area, but otherwise I've been trying to live an ordinary life in Bangkok, if such a thing is possible. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/southeast-asia/3/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/southeast-asia/3/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2ed767b --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/southeast-asia/3/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,77 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Southeast Asia -- Page 3 + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Southeast Asia

+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/southeast-asia/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/southeast-asia/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5455bbd --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/southeast-asia/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,517 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Southeast Asia + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Southeast Asia

+
+
+ Closing Time +
+

Closing Time

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Koh Kradan, Thailand + + + – + + Headed back to Europe: I started to write a bit of reminiscence, trying to remember the highlights of my time in Asia before I return to the west, but about halfway through I kept thinking of a popular Buddhist saying — be here now. Most of these dispatches are written in past tense, but this time I want to simply be here now. This moment, on this train. This is the last time I'll post something from Southeast Asia. + +

+
+
+
+ Beginning of the End +
+

Beginning of the End

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Koh Kradan, Thailand + + + – + + I wasn't expecting much from Ko Kradan, but in the end I discovered a slice of Thailand the way it's often describe by wistful hippies who first came here twenty years ago. Tong and Ngu and the rest of the Thais working at Paradise Lost were the nicest people I met in Thailand and Wally was by far the most laid back farang I've come across. I ended up staying on Ko Kradan for the remainder of my time in the south. + + +

+
+
+
+ Going Down South +
+

Going Down South

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Koh Phi Phi, Thailand + + + – + + The Phi Phi Island Resort, where some friends were staying, is nestled on the leeward shore of Koh Phi Phi Island and posts a private beach, beautiful reef, fancy swimming pools and rooms with real sheets. Unheard of. I sauntered in a day early, acted like I owned the place, rented snorkel gear, charged it to a random room number and spent the afternoon on the reef. If only I could have put it on the Underhill's credit card. + +

+
+
+
+ The Book of Right On +
+

The Book of Right On

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Sinoukville, Cambodia + + + – + + The next day we continued on to Sinoukville which is Cambodia's attempt at a seaside resort. Combining the essential elements of Goa and Thailand, Sinoukville is a pleasant, if somewhat hippy-oriented, travelers haven. We rented Honda Dreams and cruised down the coast to deserted white sand beaches, thatched huts serving noodles and rice, where we watched sunsets and dodged rain storms. + +

+
+
+
+ Midnight in a Perfect World +
+

Midnight in a Perfect World

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Death Island, Cambodia + + + – + + Death Island, as Rob nicknamed it, was just what I needed. The first day we sat down for lunch and ordered crab; a boy in his underwear proceeded to run out of the kitchen, swam out in the ocean and began unloading crabs from a trap into a bucket. It doesn't get much fresher than that. Throw in a nice beach, some cheap bungalows and you're away. + +

+
+
+
+ Angkor Wat +
+

Angkor Wat

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Angkor Wat, Cambodia + + + – + + Roughly half a million people a year visit Angkor Wat. The first evening we decided to see just how tourist-filled Angkor was by heading to the most popular sunset temple, Phnom Bakheng, to watch the sunset. And there were a lot of tourists. Thousands of them. And that was just at one temple. Thus was hatched the plan: see Angkor in the heat of the day. Yes it will be hot. Hot hot hot. Fucking hot. But hopefully empty. + +

+
+
+
+ ...Wait 'til it Blows +
+

…Wait ‘til it Blows

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Seam Reap, Cambodia + + + – + + One the things I may have failed to mention thus far in my Cambodia reportage is that this was/is one of the most heavily mined areas in the world. You might think that removing landmines involves sophisticated technology of the sort you see in BBC documentaries on Bosnia, but here in Cambodia landmine removal is most often handled by the technological marvel of southeast Asia — the bamboo stick. + +

+
+
+
+ Beginning to See the Light +
+

Beginning to See the Light

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Floating Village, Cambodia + + + – + + Surprisingly, a floating village is not that different than a village on the land. There are the same stores, the computer repair shop, the grocers, the petrol station, the temple, the dance hall and all the other things that makeup a town. I could even say with some authority that the town is laid out in streets, watery pathways that form nearly perfect lines. + +

+
+
+
+ Blood on the Tracks +
+

Blood on the Tracks

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Phenom Phen, Cambodia + + + – + + As I mentioned in the last entry I came down with a bit of a fever for a few days. This was accompanied by what we in the group have come to term, for lack of a nicer, but equally descriptive phrase — pissing out the ass. It's not a pretty picture. Nor is it a pleasant experience, and consequently I don't have a real clear recollection of the journey from Ban Lung to Kratie or from Kratie out to Sen Monoron. + +

+
+
+
+ Ticket To Ride +
+

Ticket To Ride

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Ban Lung, Cambodia + + + – + + I can't see. My eyebrows are orange with dust. I cannot see them, but I know they must be; they were yesterday. Every now and then when her legs clench down on my hips or her fingernails dig into my shoulders, I remember Debi is behind me and I am more or less responsible for not killing both of us. + +

+
+
+
+ Little Corner of the World +
+

Little Corner of the World

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Four Thousand Islands, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + It's difficult to explain but the further south you go in Laos the more relaxed life becomes. Since life in the north is not exactly high stress, by the time we arrived in the four thousand Islands we had to check our pulse periodically to ensure that time was in fact still moving forward. + +

+
+
+
+ Can’t Get There From Here +
+

Can’t Get There From Here

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Attapeu, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + The most magical light in Laos lives on the Bolevan Plateau. For some reason not many tourists seem to make it out to the Bolevan Plateau, in spite of the fact that the roads are quite good, transport runs regularly, the villages peaceful, even sleepy, little hamlets. In short, the Bolevan Plateau is wonderful, and not the least in part because no one else is there. + +

+
+
+
+ Safe as Milk +
+

Safe as Milk

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Sekong, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + You would think, if you were the United States and you were illegally and unofficially bombing a foreign country you might not want to stamp "US Bomb" on the side of your bombs, and yet there it was all over Laos: "US Bomb." Clearly somebody didn't think things all the way through, especially given that roughly one third of said bombs failed to explode. + +

+
+
+
+ Everyday the Fourteenth +
+

Everyday the Fourteenth

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Savannakhet, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + We piled four large bags, four daypacks and five people in a six meter dugout canoe. The boat was powered by the ever-present-in-southeast-Asia long tail motor which is essential a lawnmower engine with a three meter pole extending out of it to which a small propeller is attached — perfect for navigating shallow water. And by shallow I mean sometimes a mere inch between the hull and the riverbed. + +

+
+
+
+ Water Slides and Spirit Guides +
+

Water Slides and Spirit Guides

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Konglor Cave, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + The dramatic black karst limestone mountains ringing Ban Na Hin grew darker as the light faded. I was sitting alone on the back porch of our guesthouse watching the light slowly disappear from the bottoms of the clouds and wondering absently how many pages it would take to explain how I came to be in the tiny town of Ban Na Hin, or if such an explanation even really existed. + +

+
+
+
+ The Lovely Universe +
+

The Lovely Universe

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Vang Vieng, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + I would like to say that I have something memorable to write about Vang Vieng, but the truth is we mostly sat around doing very little, making new friends, drinking a beer around the fire and waiting out the Chinese new year celebrations, which meant none of us could get Cambodian visas until the following Monday. We were forced to relax beside the river for several more days than we intended. Yes friends, traveling is hard, but I do it for you. + +

+
+
+
+ I Used to Fly Like Peter Pan +
+

I Used to Fly Like Peter Pan

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Luang Nam Tha, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + The next time someone asks you, “would you like to live in a tree house and travel five hundred feet above the ground attached to a zip wire?” I highly suggest you say, “yes, where do a I sign up?” If you happen to be in Laos, try the Gibbon Experience. + +

+
+
+
+ Hymn of the Big Wheel +
+

Hymn of the Big Wheel

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Luang Prabang, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + Jose Saramago writes in The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis that the gods "journey like us in the river of things, differing from us only because we call them gods and sometimes believe in them." Sitting in the middle of the river listening to the gurgle of water moving over stone and around trees I began to think that perhaps this is the sound of some lost language, a sound capable of creating mountains, valleys, estuaries, isthmuses and all the other forms around us, gurgling and sonorous but without clear meaning, shrouded in turquoise, a mystery through which we can move our sense of wonder intact. + +

+
+
+
+ Down the River +
+

Down the River

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Luang Prabang, Lao (PDR) + + + – + + Morning in Chiang Khong Thailand revealed itself as a foggy, and not a little mysterious, affair with the far shore of the Mekong, the Laos shore, almost completely hidden in a veil of mist. The first ferry crossed at eight and I was on it, looking to meet up with the slow boat to Luang Prabang. + +

+
+
+
+ The King of Carrot Flowers +
+

The King of Carrot Flowers

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Doi Inthanan National Park, Thailand + + + – + + The light outside the windows was still a pre-dawn inky blue when the freezing cold water hit my back. A cold shower at six thirty in the morning is infinitely more powerful, albeit not at long lasting, as a cup of coffee. After dropping my body temperature a few degrees and having no towel to dry off with, just a dirty shirt and ceaseless ceiling fan, a cup of tea seemed like a good idea so I stopped in at the restaurant downstairs and, after a cup of hot water with some Jasmine leaves swirling at the bottom of it, I climbed on my rental motorbike and set out for Doi Inthanan National Park. + +

+
+
+
+ You and I Are Disappearing +
+

You and I Are Disappearing

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Chang Mai, Thailand + + + – + + The all night bus reached Chiang Mai well past dawn, the city already beginning to stir. I considered trying to nap, but in the end decided to explore the town. What better way to see Buddhist temples than in the dreamy fog of sleeplessness? Chiang Mai has over three hundred wats within the somewhat sprawling city limits, most of them reasonably modern and, in my opinion, not worth visiting. I narrowed the field to three, which I figured was a nice round one percent. + + +

+
+
+
+ Buddha on the Bounty +
+

Buddha on the Bounty

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Bangkok, Thailand + + + – + + The house Jim Thompson left behind in Bangkok is gorgeous, but the real charm is the garden and its orchids. I wandered around the gardens which really aren't that large for some time and then found a bench near a collection of orchids, where I sat for the better part of an hour, occasionally taking a photograph or two, but mostly thinking about how human orchids are. + +

+
+
+
+ Brink of the Clouds +
+

Brink of the Clouds

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Bangkok, Thailand + + + – + + "The city is a cathedral" writes James Salter, "its scent is dreams." Salter may have been referring to New York, but his words ring true in Bangkok. And the best place to feel it at night is on the river or from the top of the Baiyoke Sky Hotel — where a circular, revolving observation deck offers 360° views of the Bangkok nightscape. + +

+
+
+
+ Are You Amplified to Rock? +
+

Are You Amplified to Rock?

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Bangkok, Thailand + + + – + + It's a new year, are you amplified to rock? Ready, set, go. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/thailand/1/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/thailand/1/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9d883ae --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/thailand/1/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,241 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Thailand + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Thailand

+
+
+ Closing Time +
+

Closing Time

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Koh Kradan, Thailand + + + – + + Headed back to Europe: I started to write a bit of reminiscence, trying to remember the highlights of my time in Asia before I return to the west, but about halfway through I kept thinking of a popular Buddhist saying — be here now. Most of these dispatches are written in past tense, but this time I want to simply be here now. This moment, on this train. This is the last time I'll post something from Southeast Asia. + +

+
+
+
+ Beginning of the End +
+

Beginning of the End

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Koh Kradan, Thailand + + + – + + I wasn't expecting much from Ko Kradan, but in the end I discovered a slice of Thailand the way it's often describe by wistful hippies who first came here twenty years ago. Tong and Ngu and the rest of the Thais working at Paradise Lost were the nicest people I met in Thailand and Wally was by far the most laid back farang I've come across. I ended up staying on Ko Kradan for the remainder of my time in the south. + + +

+
+
+
+ Going Down South +
+

Going Down South

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Koh Phi Phi, Thailand + + + – + + The Phi Phi Island Resort, where some friends were staying, is nestled on the leeward shore of Koh Phi Phi Island and posts a private beach, beautiful reef, fancy swimming pools and rooms with real sheets. Unheard of. I sauntered in a day early, acted like I owned the place, rented snorkel gear, charged it to a random room number and spent the afternoon on the reef. If only I could have put it on the Underhill's credit card. + +

+
+
+
+ The King of Carrot Flowers +
+

The King of Carrot Flowers

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Doi Inthanan National Park, Thailand + + + – + + The light outside the windows was still a pre-dawn inky blue when the freezing cold water hit my back. A cold shower at six thirty in the morning is infinitely more powerful, albeit not at long lasting, as a cup of coffee. After dropping my body temperature a few degrees and having no towel to dry off with, just a dirty shirt and ceaseless ceiling fan, a cup of tea seemed like a good idea so I stopped in at the restaurant downstairs and, after a cup of hot water with some Jasmine leaves swirling at the bottom of it, I climbed on my rental motorbike and set out for Doi Inthanan National Park. + +

+
+
+
+ You and I Are Disappearing +
+

You and I Are Disappearing

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Chang Mai, Thailand + + + – + + The all night bus reached Chiang Mai well past dawn, the city already beginning to stir. I considered trying to nap, but in the end decided to explore the town. What better way to see Buddhist temples than in the dreamy fog of sleeplessness? Chiang Mai has over three hundred wats within the somewhat sprawling city limits, most of them reasonably modern and, in my opinion, not worth visiting. I narrowed the field to three, which I figured was a nice round one percent. + + +

+
+
+
+ Buddha on the Bounty +
+

Buddha on the Bounty

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Bangkok, Thailand + + + – + + The house Jim Thompson left behind in Bangkok is gorgeous, but the real charm is the garden and its orchids. I wandered around the gardens which really aren't that large for some time and then found a bench near a collection of orchids, where I sat for the better part of an hour, occasionally taking a photograph or two, but mostly thinking about how human orchids are. + +

+
+
+
+ Brink of the Clouds +
+

Brink of the Clouds

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Bangkok, Thailand + + + – + + "The city is a cathedral" writes James Salter, "its scent is dreams." Salter may have been referring to New York, but his words ring true in Bangkok. And the best place to feel it at night is on the river or from the top of the Baiyoke Sky Hotel — where a circular, revolving observation deck offers 360° views of the Bangkok nightscape. + +

+
+
+
+ Are You Amplified to Rock? +
+

Are You Amplified to Rock?

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Bangkok, Thailand + + + – + + It's a new year, are you amplified to rock? Ready, set, go. + +

+
+
+
+ Merry Christmas 2005 +
+

Merry Christmas 2005

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Bangkok, Thailand + + + – + + Seasons Greeting from luxagraf. I'm in Bangkok, Thailand at the moment. I am taking a short break from traveling to do a little working so I don't have much to report. I've seen the two big temples down in the Khaosan Rd area, but otherwise I've been trying to live an ordinary life in Bangkok, if such a thing is possible. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/thailand/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/thailand/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9d883ae --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/thailand/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,241 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Thailand + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from Thailand

+
+
+ Closing Time +
+

Closing Time

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Koh Kradan, Thailand + + + – + + Headed back to Europe: I started to write a bit of reminiscence, trying to remember the highlights of my time in Asia before I return to the west, but about halfway through I kept thinking of a popular Buddhist saying — be here now. Most of these dispatches are written in past tense, but this time I want to simply be here now. This moment, on this train. This is the last time I'll post something from Southeast Asia. + +

+
+
+
+ Beginning of the End +
+

Beginning of the End

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Koh Kradan, Thailand + + + – + + I wasn't expecting much from Ko Kradan, but in the end I discovered a slice of Thailand the way it's often describe by wistful hippies who first came here twenty years ago. Tong and Ngu and the rest of the Thais working at Paradise Lost were the nicest people I met in Thailand and Wally was by far the most laid back farang I've come across. I ended up staying on Ko Kradan for the remainder of my time in the south. + + +

+
+
+
+ Going Down South +
+

Going Down South

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Koh Phi Phi, Thailand + + + – + + The Phi Phi Island Resort, where some friends were staying, is nestled on the leeward shore of Koh Phi Phi Island and posts a private beach, beautiful reef, fancy swimming pools and rooms with real sheets. Unheard of. I sauntered in a day early, acted like I owned the place, rented snorkel gear, charged it to a random room number and spent the afternoon on the reef. If only I could have put it on the Underhill's credit card. + +

+
+
+
+ The King of Carrot Flowers +
+

The King of Carrot Flowers

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Doi Inthanan National Park, Thailand + + + – + + The light outside the windows was still a pre-dawn inky blue when the freezing cold water hit my back. A cold shower at six thirty in the morning is infinitely more powerful, albeit not at long lasting, as a cup of coffee. After dropping my body temperature a few degrees and having no towel to dry off with, just a dirty shirt and ceaseless ceiling fan, a cup of tea seemed like a good idea so I stopped in at the restaurant downstairs and, after a cup of hot water with some Jasmine leaves swirling at the bottom of it, I climbed on my rental motorbike and set out for Doi Inthanan National Park. + +

+
+
+
+ You and I Are Disappearing +
+

You and I Are Disappearing

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Chang Mai, Thailand + + + – + + The all night bus reached Chiang Mai well past dawn, the city already beginning to stir. I considered trying to nap, but in the end decided to explore the town. What better way to see Buddhist temples than in the dreamy fog of sleeplessness? Chiang Mai has over three hundred wats within the somewhat sprawling city limits, most of them reasonably modern and, in my opinion, not worth visiting. I narrowed the field to three, which I figured was a nice round one percent. + + +

+
+
+
+ Buddha on the Bounty +
+

Buddha on the Bounty

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Bangkok, Thailand + + + – + + The house Jim Thompson left behind in Bangkok is gorgeous, but the real charm is the garden and its orchids. I wandered around the gardens which really aren't that large for some time and then found a bench near a collection of orchids, where I sat for the better part of an hour, occasionally taking a photograph or two, but mostly thinking about how human orchids are. + +

+
+
+
+ Brink of the Clouds +
+

Brink of the Clouds

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Bangkok, Thailand + + + – + + "The city is a cathedral" writes James Salter, "its scent is dreams." Salter may have been referring to New York, but his words ring true in Bangkok. And the best place to feel it at night is on the river or from the top of the Baiyoke Sky Hotel — where a circular, revolving observation deck offers 360° views of the Bangkok nightscape. + +

+
+
+
+ Are You Amplified to Rock? +
+

Are You Amplified to Rock?

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Bangkok, Thailand + + + – + + It's a new year, are you amplified to rock? Ready, set, go. + +

+
+
+
+ Merry Christmas 2005 +
+

Merry Christmas 2005

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Bangkok, Thailand + + + – + + Seasons Greeting from luxagraf. I'm in Bangkok, Thailand at the moment. I am taking a short break from traveling to do a little working so I don't have much to report. I've seen the two big temples down in the Khaosan Rd area, but otherwise I've been trying to live an ordinary life in Bangkok, if such a thing is possible. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/united-kingdom/1/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/united-kingdom/1/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2283920 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/united-kingdom/1/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,95 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from United Kingdom + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from United Kingdom

+
+
+ London Calling +
+

London Calling

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + London, United Kingdom + + + – + + London: The British don't want me -- no money, no proof I'm leaving and no real reason for coming, good lord, I must be a vagabond, up to no good, surely. Eventually the customs agent relents and lets me in, a favor I repay by nearly burning down one of London's bigger parks. Seriously. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/united-kingdom/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/united-kingdom/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2283920 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/united-kingdom/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,95 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from United Kingdom + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from United Kingdom

+
+
+ London Calling +
+

London Calling

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + London, United Kingdom + + + – + + London: The British don't want me -- no money, no proof I'm leaving and no real reason for coming, good lord, I must be a vagabond, up to no good, surely. Eventually the customs agent relents and lets me in, a favor I repay by nearly burning down one of London's bigger parks. Seriously. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/united-states/1/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/united-states/1/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..52fbc8e --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/united-states/1/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,515 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from United States + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from the United States

+
+
+ Oysterman Wanted +
+

Oysterman Wanted

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + St. George Island, Florida, U.S. + + + – + + The world of oystermen and local fishing industry is doomed. Even the people resisting the transition know they’re no longer fighting for their way of life. They’re just fighting to keep the thinnest resemblance of what they’ve always known around until they leave this world. They’re fighting to keep from having to watch the death of everything they know. + +

+
+
+
+ All the Pretty Beaches +
+

All the Pretty Beaches

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + St. George Island, Florida, U.S. + + + – + + St. George is just off the Gulf Coast of northwest Florida, only about 7 hours from where I live. There are better places if you're looking to dive or snorkel. Ditto if it's nightlife you're after. But if you're looking for a seemingly endless amount of gorgeous white sand beaches you'll share with only a few migratory birds, St. George is the place to be. + +

+
+
+
+ Consider the Apalachicola Oyster +
+

Consider the Apalachicola Oyster

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Apalachicola, Florida, U.S. + + + – + + If you know the name Apalachicola at all it’s likely because of its eponymous oysters. Very few things, let alone culinary things, are as attached to place as oysters. In fact, once you get beyond the Rockefeller, ordering “oysters” is akin to walking in a bar and ordering “a beer.” But unlike beer, oysters don’t have brands, they have places — Pemaquid, Wellfleet, Blue Point, Apalachicola. + +

+
+
+
+ Things Behind the Sun +
+

Things Behind the Sun

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + My grandparents left the home they lived in for 60 years today. I don't know how much of my life was spent in that house, probably well over a year if you added up all the holidays and family gatherings. And now I'm thousands of miles away and someone is clearing out the house. + +

+
+
+
+ Street Food in Athens Georgia +
+

Street Food in Athens Georgia

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + Cheap food, made fresh, in front of you. Served hot, wrapped in newspaper. Street food is the people's food, it removes the mystery of the kitchen, lays the process bare. It's also the staple diet of people around the world. + +

+
+
+
+ We Used to Wait For It +
+

We Used to Wait For It

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Los Angeles, California, U.S. + + + – + + When we first came here, there was nothing. Downtown Los Angeles was an empty husk of a place fifteen years ago. Now it's reborn, alive and kicking. Yet there is something in the older buildings, something in the old walls, something lost in the bricks, something in the concrete, the marble. Something you don’t find anymore. Something we need to find again. + +

+
+
+
+ The World Outside +
+

The World Outside

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + The world outside the house is blanketed in snow, a monochrome of white interrupted only by the dark, wet trunks of trees, the red brick of chimneys, the occasional green of shrubs poking through. The roads are unbroken expanses of smooth white, no one is out yet, no footprints track their way through the snowy sidewalk. The world outside is the same as it was last night, before the snow began, and yet, it feels totally different. + +

+
+
+
+ Charleston A-Z +
+

Charleston A-Z

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. + + + – + + Charleston alphabetically. For example, Q is for quiet, Charleston has a lot of it. Just head down to the Battery area, walk through the park and starting walking down the side streets. Take one of the many alleys and walkways that weave between the massive, stately houses. Get lost. It doesn't take much to find a quiet place of your own. + +

+
+
+
+ Dinosaur National Monument, Part Two: Down the River +
+

Dinosaur National Monument, Part Two: Down the River

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado, U.S. + + + – + + This is the only real way to see Dinosaur National Monument — you must journey down the river. There are two major rivers running through Dinosaur, the Yampa, which carves through Yampa Canyon, and the Green, which cuts through Lodore. Adventure Bound Rafting runs some of the best whitewater rafting trips in Colorado and I was lucky enough to go down the Green River with them, through the majestic Lodore Canyon. + +

+
+
+
+ Dinosaur National Monument, Part One: Echo Park +
+

Dinosaur National Monument, Part One: Echo Park

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado, U.S. + + + – + + Dinosaur National Monument was poorly named. The best parts of it are not the fossils in the quarry (which is closed for 2010 anyway) but the canyon country — some of the best, most remote canyon country you'll find in this part of the world. + +

+
+
+
+ The Endless Crowds of Yellowstone +
+

The Endless Crowds of Yellowstone

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, U.S. + + + – + + There is wilderness in Yellowstone, even if it's just inches from the boardwalks that transport thousands around the geothermal pools. It may not be wilderness on a grand scale — the sweeping mountain peaks or wild rivers of other parks — but in some ways that makes it more enticing. As one Ranger told me, Yellowstone isn't about the big picture, the grand scenery, it's about the tiny details within each pool. To really see Yellowstone, he said, you have to take your time, move slowly and look closely. + +

+
+
+
+ Backpacking in the Grand Tetons +
+

Backpacking in the Grand Tetons

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, U.S. + + + – + + Hiking into the wilderness empties your mind. You fall into the silence of the mountains and you can relax in a way that's very difficult to do in the midst of civilization. The white noise that surrounds us in our everyday lives, that noise we don't even notice as it adds thin layers of stress that build up over days, weeks, years, does not seem capable of following us into the mountains. + +

+
+
+
+ Great Sand Dunes National Park +
+

Great Sand Dunes National Park

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado, U.S. + + + – + + Something about the desert inspires me to get up early and watch the sunrise. The cool mornings seem worth getting up for out here in the high plains of Colorado, especially when there's the chance to watch the sunrise from the largest sand dunes in North America, here in Great Sand Dune National Park. + +

+
+
+
+ Comanche National Grasslands +
+

Comanche National Grasslands

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Comanche National Grasslands, Colorado, U.S. + + + – + + To say the Comanche National Grasslands is off the grid would be an understatement. With the exception of Highway 50 in Nevada, I've never driven through such isolation and vast openness anywhere in the world. And it's easy to get lost. There are no signs, no road names even, just dirt paths crisscrossing a wide, perfectly flat expanses of grass. + +

+
+
+
+ Why National Parks Are Better Than State Parks +
+

Why National Parks Are Better Than State Parks

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Amarillo, Texas, U.S. + + + – + + There are many reasons, but here's the one I currently consider most important: National Parks never close. Take Palo Dura State park outside of Amarillo, Texas. Were it a National Park, I would be there right now. But it's not, it's a state park and so I'm sitting in a hotel room in Amarillo because everyone knows nature closes at 10PM. + +

+
+
+
+ The Legend of Billy the Kid +
+

The Legend of Billy the Kid

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Hico, Texas, U.S. + + + – + + History rarely offers neat, tidy stories. But the messier, more confusing and more controversial the story becomes, the more it works its way into our imaginations. The legend of Billy the Kid is like that of Amelia Earhart or D.B. Cooper — the less we know for sure, the more compelling the story becomes. + +

+
+
+
+ The Dixie Drug Store +
+

The Dixie Drug Store

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. + + + – + + New Orleans is it's own world. So much so that's it's impossible to put your finger on what it is that makes it different. New Orleans is a place where the line between consensus reality and private dream seems to have never fully developed. And a wonderful world it is. + +

+
+
+
+ Begin the Begin +
+

Begin the Begin

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Gulf Port, Mississippi, U.S. + + + – + + It's travel time again. This time I'm driving my 1969 Ford truck out west, to Texas, Colorado, Utah and more — a road trip around the western United States. The first stop is Gulf Port, Mississippi. It's hard to believe, sitting here on the deserted beaches of Gulf Shore, watching the sun break through the ominous clouds, but soon this beauty will be gone. The BP oil spill is somewhere out there, blown slowly ashore by the storm hovering over us, waiting to drown the beaches in crude. + +

+
+
+
+ Los Angeles, I'm Yours +
+

Los Angeles, I’m Yours

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Los Angeles, California, U.S. + + + – + + Los Angeles is all about the car. Shiny, air-conditioned comfort, gliding you soundlessly from one place to another without the need to interact with anything in between. But I have discovered that if you abandon the car for the subway and your own two feet, the illusion that L.A. is just a model train set world — tiny, plastic and devoid of any ground beneath the ground — fades and you find yourself, for a time, in a real city. + +

+
+
+
+ (There'll Be) Peace in the Valley +
+

(There’ll Be) Peace in the Valley

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Death Valley, California, U.S. + + + – + + Sometimes you ignore the places close to home because, well, there's always next weekend. Which is why I never made it Death Valley in the twenty-five years I lived in California. It took being all the way across the country to get me out to Death Valley. Which might explain why I actually got up before dawn just to watch the sunrise at Zabriskie Point. + +

+
+
+
+ So Far, I Have Not Found The Science +
+

So Far, I Have Not Found The Science

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + A canoe trip through the Okefenokee Swamp down in the southern most corner of Georgia. Paddling the strange reddish and incredibly still waters. Begging alligators, aching muscles and the kindly folks of Stintson's Barbecue all getting their due. + +

+
+
+
+ How to Get Off Your Butt and Travel the World +
+

How to Get Off Your Butt and Travel the World

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + How do you make the leap from cubicle daydreams to life on to the road? You want to travel the world, but, like me, you have a million excuses stopping you. How do overcome the inertia that keeps you trapped in a life that isn't what you want it to be? Here's a few practical tips and how tos designed to motivate you to get off your butt and travel the world. + +

+
+
+
+ No Strangers on a Train +
+

No Strangers on a Train

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + We mythologize trains because they harken back to an age of community travel, a real, tangible community of travelers, not just backpackers, but people from all walks of life, people traveling near and far together in a shared space that isn't locked down like an airplane and isn't isolated like a car; it's a shared travel experience and there are precious few of those left in our world. + +

+
+
+
+ Leonardo Da Vinci and the Codex on Bunnies +
+

Leonardo Da Vinci and the Codex on Bunnies

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. + + + – + + A few pages from Leonardo Da Vinci's notebooks make a rare trip outside Italy, to Birmingham, AL, of all places. But the Birmingham Museum of Art is home to far more alarming works of art, works which depict the eventual, inevitable, bunny takeover, after which all the elements of our reality will be replaced by bunnies. Seriously. You heard it here first. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/united-states/2/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/united-states/2/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..64c5882 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/united-states/2/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,426 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from United States -- Page 2 + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from the United States

+
+
+ Elkmont and the Great Smoky Mountains +
+

Elkmont and the Great Smoky Mountains

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee, U.S. + + + – + + Pigeon Forge is Myrtle Beach in the mountains. Redneck weddings cascade straight out of the chapel and into the mini golf reception area. Pigeon Forge is everything that's wrong with America. But we aren't here for Pigeon Forge, it just happens to have a free condo we're staying in. We're here for the mountains. Smoky Mountain National Park is just a few miles up the road. + +

+
+
+
+ Rope Swings and River Floats +
+

Rope Swings and River Floats

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Mountain Cabin, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + Two weekends ago we went up to the mountains, just outside of Dahlonega GA, and floated the Chestatee River using inner tubes, various pool toys and one super-cool inflatable seahorse. Unfortunately, proving one of my travel mottos -- you can never go back -- a return trip proved disastrous. + +

+
+
+
+ In Love With a View: Vagabonds, Responsibilty and Living Well +
+

In Love With a View: Vagabonds, Responsibilty and Living Well

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + Why all the vitriol about a seemingly innocuous concept -- that traveling doesn't have to cost a lot of money, isn't all that difficult and hey, you can even go right now? People like us, who feel tied down by responsibility, find the suggestion that we actually aren't tied down patronizing and yes, elitist. + +

+
+
+
+ Fall +
+

Fall

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + The trees are in full technicolor swing. The land is slowly dying, and not just because it's Fall, we're also in the middle of a prolonged drought and this year the leaves are opting for a James Dean-style, leave-a-good-looking-corpse exit. If you're a leaf and you've got to go, do it with class. + +

+
+
+
+ On The Other Ocean +
+

On The Other Ocean

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Catalina Island, California, U.S. + + + – + + Consider what would happen if your house were tilted 30 degrees to the left, how this would complicate ordinary activities -- like say walking. Now throw in a bouncing motion that lifts the floor five or six feet up and down in a seesaw-like motion on a perpendicular axis to the 30 degree tilt -- things become more like riding a seesaw that's attached to a merry-go-round which is missing a few bolts. That's sailing. + +

+
+
+
+ Being There +
+

Being There

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Myrtle Beach Airport, South Carolina, U.S. + + + – + + Myrtle Beach does not exist. Nearly everything in Myrtle Beach is a paltry derivative of some original form. For instance, most of the country has golf courses, in Myrtle Beach there are endless rows of putt-putt courses, where most towns attempt to draw in big name musical acts for their tourist venues, Myrtle Beach is content with impersonators. + +

+
+
+
+ Sailing Through +
+

Sailing Through

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. + + + – + + The rumors are true. I moved back to the south; Athens GA to be exact. But I hate staying in one place for too long, so after a month or two in Athens I headed up to Charleston to visit a friend. The south is curious place. If you've never been here I couldn't hope to explain it, but it's not so much a place as an approach. A way of getting somewhere more than anywhere specific. Perhaps even a wrong turn. + + +

+
+
+
+ Goodbye to the Mother and the Cove +
+

Goodbye to the Mother and the Cove

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Los Angeles, California, U.S. + + + – + + It's strange how you can plan something, go through all the motions of making it happen without ever really understanding what you're doing. I've been doing this for the better part of three years now. I realized recently that I have no real idea how I came to be here. + + +

+
+
+
+ Everything All The Time +
+

Everything All The Time

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Los Angeles, California, U.S. + + + – + + I don't know if I'm just overly paranoid but when I call up memories in the dark hours of the Beaujolais-soaked pre-dawn, I see a collection of mildly amusing, occasionally painful series of embarrassments, misunderstandings and general wrong-place, wrong-time sort of moments. Which isn't to imply that my life is a British sitcom, just that I'm not in a hurry to re-live any of it. + +

+
+
+
+ The Sun Came Up With No Conclusions +
+

The Sun Came Up With No Conclusions

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Los Angeles, California, U.S. + + + – + + "And so it is that we, as men, do not exist until we do; and then it is that we play with our world of existent things, and order and disorder them, and so it shall be that non-existence shall take us back from existence and that nameless spirituality shall return to Void, like a tired child home from a very wild circus." -- Robert Anton Wilson and Kerry Thornley. Good luck and Godspeed Mr. Wilson. + +

+
+
+
+ Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose +
+

Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Los Angeles, California, U.S. + + + – + + Traveling soul. Soul is not something out there or in you, it's the place where you meet the out there; something very similar to what I think James Brown meant — a mixture of the secular and the spiritual, the profane and the sublime. + +

+
+
+
+ Homeward +
+

Homeward

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Los Angeles, California, U.S. + + + – + + New York, New York. John F Kennedy airport 1 am date unknown, sleepy looking customs guard stamps a passport without hardly looking at, without even checking to see where I had been. A light drizzle is falling outside and the subways extension to the terminal never looked so good. What is it like to be home? I don't know, I'll tell you when I get there. + +

+
+
+
+ Twenty More Minutes to Go +
+

Twenty More Minutes to Go

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Newport Beach, California, U.S. + + + – + + Well it's the night before I leave. I just got done pacing around the driveway of my parents house smoking cigarettes… nervously? Excitedly? Restlessly? A bit of all of those I suppose. I walk across the street, over the drainage ditch and head for the swing set at the park. Right now I'm swinging in a park in Costa Mesa California. Tomorrow France. Weird. [Photo to the right, via Flickr] + +

+
+
+
+ Travel Tips and Resources +
+

Travel Tips and Resources

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Newport Beach, California, U.S. + + + – + + An overview of the things you might want to bring on an extended trip, as well as some tips and recommendations on things like visas and vaccinations. The part that was most helpful for me was learning what I didn't need to bring — as it turns out, quite a bit. Nowadays my pack is much smaller and lighter. + +

+
+
+
+ The New Luddites +
+

The New Luddites

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Newport Beach, California, U.S. + + + – + + An older, non-travel piece about Google's plan to scan all the world's books and Luddite-like response from many authors. Let's see, someone wants to make your book easier to find, searchable and indexable and you're opposed to it? You're a fucking idiot. + +

+
+
+
+ One Nation Under a Groove +
+

One Nation Under a Groove

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Northampton, Massachusetts, U.S. + + + – + + The sky is falling! The iPod! It's ruining our culture! Or, uh, maybe it's just like the Walkman, but better. And since, so far as I can tell, the world did not collapse with the introduction of the Walkman and headphones, it probably isn't going to fall apart just because the storage format for our music has changed. [Photo to the right via Flickr] + +

+
+
+
+ Farewell Mr. Hunter S Thompson +
+

Farewell Mr. Hunter S Thompson

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Northampton, Massachusetts, U.S. + + + – + + Hunter S. Thompson departs on a journey to the western lands. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas delivered the penultimate eulogy for the dreams of the 1960's, one that mourned, but also tried to lay the empty idealism to rest. + +

+
+
+
+ The Art of the Essay +
+

The Art of the Essay

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Northampton, Massachusetts, U.S. + + + – + + I generally ignore internet debates, they never go anywhere, so why bother. But we all have our weak points and when programmer Paul Graham posted what might be the dumbest essay on writing that's ever been written, I just couldn't help myuself. + +

+
+
+
+ Farewell Mr. Cash +
+

Farewell Mr. Cash

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Northampton, Massachusetts, U.S. + + + – + + Johnny Cash heads for the western lands. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/united-states/3/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/united-states/3/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ded9960 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/united-states/3/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,77 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from United States -- Page 3 + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from the United States

+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/united-states/4/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/united-states/4/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bc0a8bf --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/united-states/4/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,77 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from United States -- Page 4 + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from the United States

+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/united-states/5/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/united-states/5/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4e902a1 --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/united-states/5/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,77 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from United States -- Page 5 + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from the United States

+
+ + + + + + + + diff --git a/bak/oldluxpages/writing/united-states/index.html b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/united-states/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..52fbc8e --- /dev/null +++ b/bak/oldluxpages/writing/united-states/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,515 @@ + + + + + Luxagraf | Travel Writing from United States + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+

+

Walk Slowly

+
+ +
+ +
+

Writing from the United States

+
+
+ Oysterman Wanted +
+

Oysterman Wanted

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + St. George Island, Florida, U.S. + + + – + + The world of oystermen and local fishing industry is doomed. Even the people resisting the transition know they’re no longer fighting for their way of life. They’re just fighting to keep the thinnest resemblance of what they’ve always known around until they leave this world. They’re fighting to keep from having to watch the death of everything they know. + +

+
+
+
+ All the Pretty Beaches +
+

All the Pretty Beaches

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + St. George Island, Florida, U.S. + + + – + + St. George is just off the Gulf Coast of northwest Florida, only about 7 hours from where I live. There are better places if you're looking to dive or snorkel. Ditto if it's nightlife you're after. But if you're looking for a seemingly endless amount of gorgeous white sand beaches you'll share with only a few migratory birds, St. George is the place to be. + +

+
+
+
+ Consider the Apalachicola Oyster +
+

Consider the Apalachicola Oyster

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Apalachicola, Florida, U.S. + + + – + + If you know the name Apalachicola at all it’s likely because of its eponymous oysters. Very few things, let alone culinary things, are as attached to place as oysters. In fact, once you get beyond the Rockefeller, ordering “oysters” is akin to walking in a bar and ordering “a beer.” But unlike beer, oysters don’t have brands, they have places — Pemaquid, Wellfleet, Blue Point, Apalachicola. + +

+
+
+
+ Things Behind the Sun +
+

Things Behind the Sun

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + My grandparents left the home they lived in for 60 years today. I don't know how much of my life was spent in that house, probably well over a year if you added up all the holidays and family gatherings. And now I'm thousands of miles away and someone is clearing out the house. + +

+
+
+
+ Street Food in Athens Georgia +
+

Street Food in Athens Georgia

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + Cheap food, made fresh, in front of you. Served hot, wrapped in newspaper. Street food is the people's food, it removes the mystery of the kitchen, lays the process bare. It's also the staple diet of people around the world. + +

+
+
+
+ We Used to Wait For It +
+

We Used to Wait For It

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Los Angeles, California, U.S. + + + – + + When we first came here, there was nothing. Downtown Los Angeles was an empty husk of a place fifteen years ago. Now it's reborn, alive and kicking. Yet there is something in the older buildings, something in the old walls, something lost in the bricks, something in the concrete, the marble. Something you don’t find anymore. Something we need to find again. + +

+
+
+
+ The World Outside +
+

The World Outside

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + The world outside the house is blanketed in snow, a monochrome of white interrupted only by the dark, wet trunks of trees, the red brick of chimneys, the occasional green of shrubs poking through. The roads are unbroken expanses of smooth white, no one is out yet, no footprints track their way through the snowy sidewalk. The world outside is the same as it was last night, before the snow began, and yet, it feels totally different. + +

+
+
+
+ Charleston A-Z +
+

Charleston A-Z

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. + + + – + + Charleston alphabetically. For example, Q is for quiet, Charleston has a lot of it. Just head down to the Battery area, walk through the park and starting walking down the side streets. Take one of the many alleys and walkways that weave between the massive, stately houses. Get lost. It doesn't take much to find a quiet place of your own. + +

+
+
+
+ Dinosaur National Monument, Part Two: Down the River +
+

Dinosaur National Monument, Part Two: Down the River

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado, U.S. + + + – + + This is the only real way to see Dinosaur National Monument — you must journey down the river. There are two major rivers running through Dinosaur, the Yampa, which carves through Yampa Canyon, and the Green, which cuts through Lodore. Adventure Bound Rafting runs some of the best whitewater rafting trips in Colorado and I was lucky enough to go down the Green River with them, through the majestic Lodore Canyon. + +

+
+
+
+ Dinosaur National Monument, Part One: Echo Park +
+

Dinosaur National Monument, Part One: Echo Park

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado, U.S. + + + – + + Dinosaur National Monument was poorly named. The best parts of it are not the fossils in the quarry (which is closed for 2010 anyway) but the canyon country — some of the best, most remote canyon country you'll find in this part of the world. + +

+
+
+
+ The Endless Crowds of Yellowstone +
+

The Endless Crowds of Yellowstone

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, U.S. + + + – + + There is wilderness in Yellowstone, even if it's just inches from the boardwalks that transport thousands around the geothermal pools. It may not be wilderness on a grand scale — the sweeping mountain peaks or wild rivers of other parks — but in some ways that makes it more enticing. As one Ranger told me, Yellowstone isn't about the big picture, the grand scenery, it's about the tiny details within each pool. To really see Yellowstone, he said, you have to take your time, move slowly and look closely. + +

+
+
+
+ Backpacking in the Grand Tetons +
+

Backpacking in the Grand Tetons

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, U.S. + + + – + + Hiking into the wilderness empties your mind. You fall into the silence of the mountains and you can relax in a way that's very difficult to do in the midst of civilization. The white noise that surrounds us in our everyday lives, that noise we don't even notice as it adds thin layers of stress that build up over days, weeks, years, does not seem capable of following us into the mountains. + +

+
+
+
+ Great Sand Dunes National Park +
+

Great Sand Dunes National Park

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado, U.S. + + + – + + Something about the desert inspires me to get up early and watch the sunrise. The cool mornings seem worth getting up for out here in the high plains of Colorado, especially when there's the chance to watch the sunrise from the largest sand dunes in North America, here in Great Sand Dune National Park. + +

+
+
+
+ Comanche National Grasslands +
+

Comanche National Grasslands

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Comanche National Grasslands, Colorado, U.S. + + + – + + To say the Comanche National Grasslands is off the grid would be an understatement. With the exception of Highway 50 in Nevada, I've never driven through such isolation and vast openness anywhere in the world. And it's easy to get lost. There are no signs, no road names even, just dirt paths crisscrossing a wide, perfectly flat expanses of grass. + +

+
+
+
+ Why National Parks Are Better Than State Parks +
+

Why National Parks Are Better Than State Parks

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Amarillo, Texas, U.S. + + + – + + There are many reasons, but here's the one I currently consider most important: National Parks never close. Take Palo Dura State park outside of Amarillo, Texas. Were it a National Park, I would be there right now. But it's not, it's a state park and so I'm sitting in a hotel room in Amarillo because everyone knows nature closes at 10PM. + +

+
+
+
+ The Legend of Billy the Kid +
+

The Legend of Billy the Kid

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Hico, Texas, U.S. + + + – + + History rarely offers neat, tidy stories. But the messier, more confusing and more controversial the story becomes, the more it works its way into our imaginations. The legend of Billy the Kid is like that of Amelia Earhart or D.B. Cooper — the less we know for sure, the more compelling the story becomes. + +

+
+
+
+ The Dixie Drug Store +
+

The Dixie Drug Store

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. + + + – + + New Orleans is it's own world. So much so that's it's impossible to put your finger on what it is that makes it different. New Orleans is a place where the line between consensus reality and private dream seems to have never fully developed. And a wonderful world it is. + +

+
+
+
+ Begin the Begin +
+

Begin the Begin

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Gulf Port, Mississippi, U.S. + + + – + + It's travel time again. This time I'm driving my 1969 Ford truck out west, to Texas, Colorado, Utah and more — a road trip around the western United States. The first stop is Gulf Port, Mississippi. It's hard to believe, sitting here on the deserted beaches of Gulf Shore, watching the sun break through the ominous clouds, but soon this beauty will be gone. The BP oil spill is somewhere out there, blown slowly ashore by the storm hovering over us, waiting to drown the beaches in crude. + +

+
+
+
+ Los Angeles, I'm Yours +
+

Los Angeles, I’m Yours

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Los Angeles, California, U.S. + + + – + + Los Angeles is all about the car. Shiny, air-conditioned comfort, gliding you soundlessly from one place to another without the need to interact with anything in between. But I have discovered that if you abandon the car for the subway and your own two feet, the illusion that L.A. is just a model train set world — tiny, plastic and devoid of any ground beneath the ground — fades and you find yourself, for a time, in a real city. + +

+
+
+
+ (There'll Be) Peace in the Valley +
+

(There’ll Be) Peace in the Valley

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Death Valley, California, U.S. + + + – + + Sometimes you ignore the places close to home because, well, there's always next weekend. Which is why I never made it Death Valley in the twenty-five years I lived in California. It took being all the way across the country to get me out to Death Valley. Which might explain why I actually got up before dawn just to watch the sunrise at Zabriskie Point. + +

+
+
+
+ So Far, I Have Not Found The Science +
+

So Far, I Have Not Found The Science

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + A canoe trip through the Okefenokee Swamp down in the southern most corner of Georgia. Paddling the strange reddish and incredibly still waters. Begging alligators, aching muscles and the kindly folks of Stintson's Barbecue all getting their due. + +

+
+
+
+ How to Get Off Your Butt and Travel the World +
+

How to Get Off Your Butt and Travel the World

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + How do you make the leap from cubicle daydreams to life on to the road? You want to travel the world, but, like me, you have a million excuses stopping you. How do overcome the inertia that keeps you trapped in a life that isn't what you want it to be? Here's a few practical tips and how tos designed to motivate you to get off your butt and travel the world. + +

+
+
+
+ No Strangers on a Train +
+

No Strangers on a Train

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Athens, Georgia, U.S. + + + – + + We mythologize trains because they harken back to an age of community travel, a real, tangible community of travelers, not just backpackers, but people from all walks of life, people traveling near and far together in a shared space that isn't locked down like an airplane and isn't isolated like a car; it's a shared travel experience and there are precious few of those left in our world. + +

+
+
+
+ Leonardo Da Vinci and the Codex on Bunnies +
+

Leonardo Da Vinci and the Codex on Bunnies

+

Scott Gilbertson

+ +

+ + Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. + + + – + + A few pages from Leonardo Da Vinci's notebooks make a rare trip outside Italy, to Birmingham, AL, of all places. But the Birmingham Museum of Art is home to far more alarming works of art, works which depict the eventual, inevitable, bunny takeover, after which all the elements of our reality will be replaced by bunnies. Seriously. You heard it here first. + +

+
+
+ + + + + + + + -- cgit v1.2.3-70-g09d2