1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
|
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html dir="ltr" lang="en-US">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<title>Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Around the World -- Page 4</title>
<meta name="description"
content="Travel writing, essays and dispatches from around the world Page 4">
<meta name="author" content="Scott Gilbertson">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
<!--[if IE]>
<script src="/js/html5css3ie.min.js"></script>
<![endif]-->
<link rel="alternate"
type="application/rss+xml"
title="Luxagraf RSS feed"
href="https://luxagraf.net/rss/">
<link rel="stylesheet"
href="/media/screenv8.css"
media="screen">
<!--[if IE]>
<link rel="stylesheet"
href="/media/css/ie.css"
media="screen">
<![endif]-->
</head>
<body id="writing">
<div class="wrapper">
<div class="header-wrapper">
<header role="banner">
<h1><a id="logo" href="/" title="home">Luxagraf</a></h1>
<h2>Walk Slowly</h2>
</header>
<nav role="navigation" class="bl">
<ul>
<li id="stories"><a href="/writing/" title="An archive of writings from around the world">Writing</a></li>
<li id="photos"><a href="/photos/" title="Photos from travels around the world">Photos</a></li>
<!--<li id="guides"><a href="/travel-guide/1/" title="Travel Guides, Tips, Tricks and Recommendations">Guides</a>,</li>-->
<li id="notes"><a href="/notes/" title="Shorter thoughts, sometimes syndicated to twitter">Notes</a></li>
<li id="maps"><a href="/map" title="Maps and miscellanea">Map</a></li>
<li id="projects" ><a href="/projects/" title="Luxagraf: Projects">Projects</a></li>
<li id="etc" class="last"><a href="/about" title="About Luxagraf">Etc</a></li>
</ul>
</nav>
</div>
<ul class="bl" id="breadcrumbs" itemscope itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Breadcrumb">
<li><a href="/" title="luxagraf homepage" itemprop="url"><span itemprop="title">Home</span></a> → </li>
<li>Writing </li>
</ul>
<main role="main" id="writing-archive" class="archive">
<h1 class="hide">Writing Archive </h1>
<article class="h-entry hentry odd first">
<div class="post--image">
<a href="/2006/03/blood-tracks" title="Blood on the Tracks"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/killingfields.jpg" alt="Blood on the Tracks" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
</div>
<h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/03/blood-tracks" class="u-url" title="Blood on the Tracks">Blood on the Tracks</a></h1>
<p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
<time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-03-14T23:41:41">March <span>14, 2006</span></time>
<p>
<span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
<span class="p-region">Phenom Phen</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/cambodia/" title="travel writing from Cambodia">Cambodia</a>
<data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="11.56597559052094"></data>
<data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="104.92750166386062"></data>
</span> –
<span class="p-summary hyphenate">
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.
</span>
</p>
</article>
<article class="h-entry hentry even second">
<div class="post--image">
<a href="/2006/03/ticket-ride" title="Ticket To Ride"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/hondadream.jpg" alt="Ticket To Ride" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
</div>
<h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/03/ticket-ride" class="u-url" title="Ticket To Ride">Ticket To Ride</a></h1>
<p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
<time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-03-07T23:39:02">March <span>7, 2006</span></time>
<p>
<span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
<span class="p-region">Ban Lung</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/cambodia/" title="travel writing from Cambodia">Cambodia</a>
<data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="13.734549299840165"></data>
<data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="106.97941301763984"></data>
</span> –
<span class="p-summary hyphenate">
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.
</span>
</p>
</article>
<article class="h-entry hentry odd third">
<div class="post--image">
<a href="/2006/02/little-corner-world" title="Little Corner of the World"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/siphondon.jpg" alt="Little Corner of the World" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
</div>
<h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/02/little-corner-world" class="u-url" title="Little Corner of the World">Little Corner of the World</a></h1>
<p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
<time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-02-28T20:13:00">February <span>28, 2006</span></time>
<p>
<span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
<span class="p-region">Four Thousand Islands</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/laos/" title="travel writing from Lao (PDR)">Lao (PDR)</a>
<data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="14.130915842740961"></data>
<data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="105.83782194571636"></data>
</span> –
<span class="p-summary hyphenate">
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.
</span>
</p>
</article>
<article class="h-entry hentry even first">
<div class="post--image">
<a href="/2006/02/cant-get-there-here" title="Can&#8217;t Get There From Here"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/attapeulight.jpg" alt="Can&#8217;t Get There From Here" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
</div>
<h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/02/cant-get-there-here" class="u-url" title="Can&#8217;t Get There From Here">Can’t Get There From Here</a></h1>
<p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
<time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-02-24T20:00:03">February <span>24, 2006</span></time>
<p>
<span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
<span class="p-region">Attapeu</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/laos/" title="travel writing from Lao (PDR)">Lao (PDR)</a>
<data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="14.806085524831946"></data>
<data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="106.83689115944449"></data>
</span> –
<span class="p-summary hyphenate">
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.
</span>
</p>
</article>
<article class="h-entry hentry odd second">
<div class="post--image">
<a href="/2006/02/safe-milk" title="Safe as Milk"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/usbombs.jpg" alt="Safe as Milk" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
</div>
<h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/02/safe-milk" class="u-url" title="Safe as Milk">Safe as Milk</a></h1>
<p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
<time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-02-18T19:54:24">February <span>18, 2006</span></time>
<p>
<span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
<span class="p-region">Sekong</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/laos/" title="travel writing from Lao (PDR)">Lao (PDR)</a>
<data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="14.623949505069236"></data>
<data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="106.5756225437582"></data>
</span> –
<span class="p-summary hyphenate">
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.
</span>
</p>
</article>
<article class="h-entry hentry even third">
<div class="post--image">
<a href="/2006/02/everyday-fourteenth" title="Everyday the Fourteenth"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/hinbunriver.jpg" alt="Everyday the Fourteenth" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
</div>
<h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/02/everyday-fourteenth" class="u-url" title="Everyday the Fourteenth">Everyday the Fourteenth</a></h1>
<p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
<time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-02-14T19:50:35">February <span>14, 2006</span></time>
<p>
<span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
<span class="p-region">Savannakhet</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/laos/" title="travel writing from Lao (PDR)">Lao (PDR)</a>
<data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="16.560435757136183"></data>
<data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="104.75026129218114"></data>
</span> –
<span class="p-summary hyphenate">
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.
</span>
</p>
</article>
<article class="h-entry hentry odd first">
<div class="post--image">
<a href="/2006/02/water-slides-and-spirit-guides" title="Water Slides and Spirit Guides"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/konglorcave.jpg" alt="Water Slides and Spirit Guides" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
</div>
<h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/02/water-slides-and-spirit-guides" class="u-url" title="Water Slides and Spirit Guides">Water Slides and Spirit Guides</a></h1>
<p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
<time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-02-10T19:47:12">February <span>10, 2006</span></time>
<p>
<span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
<span class="p-region">Konglor Cave</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/laos/" title="travel writing from Lao (PDR)">Lao (PDR)</a>
<data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="18.06285035750356"></data>
<data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="104.49783323740189"></data>
</span> –
<span class="p-summary hyphenate">
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.
</span>
</p>
</article>
<article class="h-entry hentry even second">
<div class="post--image">
<a href="/2006/02/lovely-universe" title="The Lovely Universe"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/vangveing.jpg" alt="The Lovely Universe" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
</div>
<h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/02/lovely-universe" class="u-url" title="The Lovely Universe">The Lovely Universe</a></h1>
<p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
<time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-02-04T23:43:28">February <span>4, 2006</span></time>
<p>
<span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
<span class="p-region">Vang Vieng</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/laos/" title="travel writing from Lao (PDR)">Lao (PDR)</a>
<data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="18.92544862065573"></data>
<data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="102.43755339150223"></data>
</span> –
<span class="p-summary hyphenate">
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.
</span>
</p>
</article>
<article class="h-entry hentry odd third">
<div class="post--image">
<a href="/2006/01/i-used-fly-peter-pan" title="I Used to Fly Like Peter Pan"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/gibbonexperience.jpg" alt="I Used to Fly Like Peter Pan" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
</div>
<h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/01/i-used-fly-peter-pan" class="u-url" title="I Used to Fly Like Peter Pan">I Used to Fly Like Peter Pan</a></h1>
<p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
<time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-01-21T19:42:47">January <span>21, 2006</span></time>
<p>
<span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
<span class="p-region">Luang Nam Tha</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/laos/" title="travel writing from Lao (PDR)">Lao (PDR)</a>
<data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="20.853678554651314"></data>
<data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="101.19094847224211"></data>
</span> –
<span class="p-summary hyphenate">
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.
</span>
</p>
</article>
<article class="h-entry hentry even first">
<div class="post--image">
<a href="/2006/01/hymn-big-wheel" title="Hymn of the Big Wheel"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/bluemilkwaterfall.jpg" alt="Hymn of the Big Wheel" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
</div>
<h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/01/hymn-big-wheel" class="u-url" title="Hymn of the Big Wheel">Hymn of the Big Wheel</a></h1>
<p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
<time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-01-19T19:37:46">January <span>19, 2006</span></time>
<p>
<span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
<span class="p-region">Luang Prabang</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/laos/" title="travel writing from Lao (PDR)">Lao (PDR)</a>
<data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="19.827433510057354"></data>
<data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="102.42279051308633"></data>
</span> –
<span class="p-summary hyphenate">
Jose Saramago writes in <cite>The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis</cite> 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.
</span>
</p>
</article>
<article class="h-entry hentry odd second">
<div class="post--image">
<a href="/2006/01/down-river" title="Down the River"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/mekongslowboat.jpg" alt="Down the River" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
</div>
<h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/01/down-river" class="u-url" title="Down the River">Down the River</a></h1>
<p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
<time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-01-17T20:13:26">January <span>17, 2006</span></time>
<p>
<span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
<span class="p-region">Luang Prabang</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/laos/" title="travel writing from Lao (PDR)">Lao (PDR)</a>
<data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="19.875064447947235"></data>
<data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="102.13199614056808"></data>
</span> –
<span class="p-summary hyphenate">
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.
</span>
</p>
</article>
<article class="h-entry hentry even third">
<div class="post--image">
<a href="/2006/01/king-carrot-flowers" title="The King of Carrot Flowers"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/doiinthanonnp.jpg" alt="The King of Carrot Flowers" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
</div>
<h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/01/king-carrot-flowers" class="u-url" title="The King of Carrot Flowers">The King of Carrot Flowers</a></h1>
<p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
<time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-01-17T18:53:17">January <span>17, 2006</span></time>
<p>
<span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
<span class="p-region">Doi Inthanan National Park</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/thailand/" title="travel writing from Thailand">Thailand</a>
<data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="19.315031381446268"></data>
<data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="98.84262083585028"></data>
</span> –
<span class="p-summary hyphenate">
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.
</span>
</p>
</article>
<article class="h-entry hentry odd first">
<div class="post--image">
<a href="/2006/01/you-and-i-are-disappearing" title="You and I Are Disappearing"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/changmaiumong.jpg" alt="You and I Are Disappearing" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
</div>
<h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/01/you-and-i-are-disappearing" class="u-url" title="You and I Are Disappearing">You and I Are Disappearing</a></h1>
<p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
<time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-01-12T00:52:30">January <span>12, 2006</span></time>
<p>
<span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
<span class="p-region">Chang Mai</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/thailand/" title="travel writing from Thailand">Thailand</a>
<data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="18.787042343613653"></data>
<data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="98.9876746993555"></data>
</span> –
<span class="p-summary hyphenate">
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.
</span>
</p>
</article>
<article class="h-entry hentry even second">
<div class="post--image">
<a href="/2006/01/buddha-bounty" title="Buddha on the Bounty"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/jimthompsonhouse.jpg" alt="Buddha on the Bounty" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
</div>
<h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/01/buddha-bounty" class="u-url" title="Buddha on the Bounty">Buddha on the Bounty</a></h1>
<p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
<time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-01-05T18:43:03">January <span>5, 2006</span></time>
<p>
<span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
<span class="p-region">Bangkok</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/thailand/" title="travel writing from Thailand">Thailand</a>
<data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="13.726128126466529"></data>
<data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="100.547304139446"></data>
</span> –
<span class="p-summary hyphenate">
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.
</span>
</p>
</article>
<article class="h-entry hentry odd third">
<div class="post--image">
<a href="/2006/01/brink-clouds" title="Brink of the Clouds"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/bangkokfrombaiyoke.jpg" alt="Brink of the Clouds" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
</div>
<h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/01/brink-clouds" class="u-url" title="Brink of the Clouds">Brink of the Clouds</a></h1>
<p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
<time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-01-03T20:38:27">January <span>3, 2006</span></time>
<p>
<span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
<span class="p-region">Bangkok</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/thailand/" title="travel writing from Thailand">Thailand</a>
<data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="13.750921779579318"></data>
<data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="100.54314135105552"></data>
</span> –
<span class="p-summary hyphenate">
"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.
</span>
</p>
</article>
<article class="h-entry hentry even first">
<div class="post--image">
<a href="/2006/01/are-you-amplified-rock" title="Are You Amplified to Rock?"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/bangkokriver.jpg" alt="Are You Amplified to Rock?" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
</div>
<h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/01/are-you-amplified-rock" class="u-url" title="Are You Amplified to Rock?">Are You Amplified to Rock?</a></h1>
<p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
<time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-01-01T18:37:48">January <span>1, 2006</span></time>
<p>
<span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
<span class="p-region">Bangkok</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/thailand/" title="travel writing from Thailand">Thailand</a>
<data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="13.761790973148347"></data>
<data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="100.4934453824343"></data>
</span> –
<span class="p-summary hyphenate">
It's a new year, are you amplified to rock? Ready, set, go.
</span>
</p>
</article>
<article class="h-entry hentry odd second">
<div class="post--image">
<a href="/2005/12/merry-christmas-2005" title="Merry Christmas 2005"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/bangkokfort.jpg" alt="Merry Christmas 2005" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
</div>
<h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2005/12/merry-christmas-2005" class="u-url" title="Merry Christmas 2005">Merry Christmas 2005</a></h1>
<p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
<time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2005-12-25T18:27:48">December <span>25, 2005</span></time>
<p>
<span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
<span class="p-region">Bangkok</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/thailand/" title="travel writing from Thailand">Thailand</a>
<data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="13.761790973148347"></data>
<data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="100.49344538243446"></data>
</span> –
<span class="p-summary hyphenate">
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.
</span>
</p>
</article>
<article class="h-entry hentry even third">
<div class="post--image">
<a href="/2005/12/sunset-over-himalayas" title="Sunset Over the Himalayas"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/pokharaboat.jpg" alt="Sunset Over the Himalayas" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
</div>
<h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2005/12/sunset-over-himalayas" class="u-url" title="Sunset Over the Himalayas">Sunset Over the Himalayas</a></h1>
<p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
<time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2005-12-17T21:03:43">December <span>17, 2005</span></time>
<p>
<span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
<span class="p-region">Pokhara</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/nepal/" title="travel writing from Nepal">Nepal</a>
<data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="28.210482777870325"></data>
<data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="83.95820616507119"></data>
</span> –
<span class="p-summary hyphenate">
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.
</span>
</p>
</article>
<article class="h-entry hentry odd first">
<div class="post--image">
<a href="/2005/12/pashupatinath" title="Pashupatinath"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/nepalburninggahts.jpg" alt="Pashupatinath" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
</div>
<h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2005/12/pashupatinath" class="u-url" title="Pashupatinath">Pashupatinath</a></h1>
<p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
<time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2005-12-15T18:02:59">December <span>15, 2005</span></time>
<p>
<span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
<span class="p-region">Pashupatinath</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/nepal/" title="travel writing from Nepal">Nepal</a>
<data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="27.71057315568692"></data>
<data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="85.34853457216452"></data>
</span> –
<span class="p-summary hyphenate">
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.
</span>
</p>
</article>
<article class="h-entry hentry even second">
<div class="post--image">
<a href="/2005/12/durbar-square-kathmandu" title="Durbar Square Kathmandu"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/durbarsquare.jpg" alt="Durbar Square Kathmandu" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
</div>
<h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2005/12/durbar-square-kathmandu" class="u-url" title="Durbar Square Kathmandu">Durbar Square Kathmandu</a></h1>
<p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
<time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2005-12-15T17:57:48">December <span>15, 2005</span></time>
<p>
<span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
<span class="p-region">Kathmandu</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/nepal/" title="travel writing from Nepal">Nepal</a>
<data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="27.703363690641837"></data>
<data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="85.31737803225191"></data>
</span> –
<span class="p-summary hyphenate">
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.
</span>
</p>
</article>
<article class="h-entry hentry odd third">
<div class="post--image">
<a href="/2005/12/goodbye-india" title="Goodbye India"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/indiadelhi.jpg" alt="Goodbye India" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
</div>
<h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2005/12/goodbye-india" class="u-url" title="Goodbye India">Goodbye India</a></h1>
<p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
<time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2005-12-10T17:53:25">December <span>10, 2005</span></time>
<p>
<span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
<span class="p-region">Delhi</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/india/" title="travel writing from India">India</a>
<data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="28.6418241967323"></data>
<data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="77.21092699883451"></data>
</span> –
<span class="p-summary hyphenate">
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.
</span>
</p>
</article>
<article class="h-entry hentry even first">
<div class="post--image">
<a href="/2005/12/taj-express" title="The Taj Express"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/tajmahal.jpg" alt="The Taj Express" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
</div>
<h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2005/12/taj-express" class="u-url" title="The Taj Express">The Taj Express</a></h1>
<p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
<time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2005-12-09T17:49:40">December <span>9, 2005</span></time>
<p>
<span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
<span class="p-region">Agra</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/india/" title="travel writing from India">India</a>
<data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="27.17280401257652"></data>
<data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="78.04176806317186"></data>
</span> –
<span class="p-summary hyphenate">
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.
</span>
</p>
</article>
<article class="h-entry hentry odd second">
<div class="post--image">
<a href="/2005/12/camel-no-name" title="On a Camel With No Name"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/cameltrek.jpg" alt="On a Camel With No Name" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
</div>
<h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2005/12/camel-no-name" class="u-url" title="On a Camel With No Name">On a Camel With No Name</a></h1>
<p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
<time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2005-12-05T22:46:54">December <span>5, 2005</span></time>
<p>
<span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
<span class="p-region">Thar Desert</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/india/" title="travel writing from India">India</a>
<data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="27.004078760567136"></data>
<data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="70.89065550770995"></data>
</span> –
<span class="p-summary hyphenate">
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.
</span>
</p>
</article>
<article class="h-entry hentry even third">
<div class="post--image">
<a href="/2005/12/majestic-fort" title="The Majestic Fort"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/jodhpurfort.jpg" alt="The Majestic Fort" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
</div>
<h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2005/12/majestic-fort" class="u-url" title="The Majestic Fort">The Majestic Fort</a></h1>
<p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
<time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2005-12-02T17:40:02">December <span>2, 2005</span></time>
<p>
<span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
<span class="p-region">Jodhpur</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/india/" title="travel writing from India">India</a>
<data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="26.29741635354351"></data>
<data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="73.01766871389577"></data>
</span> –
<span class="p-summary hyphenate">
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.
</span>
</p>
</article>
</main>
<nav class="pagination">
<ul class="pages">
<li><a href="/writing/3/" class="prev"> Newer</a></li>
<li><a href="/writing/1/" class="page">1</a></li>
<li><a href="/writing/2/" class="page">2</a></li>
<li><a href="/writing/3/" class="page">3</a></li>
<li class="current page">4</li>
<li><a href="/writing/5/" class="page">5</a></li>
<li><a href="/writing/5/" class="next">Older</a></li>
</ul>
</nav>
<footer role="contentinfo">
<nav class="bl">
<ul>
<li><a href="/rss/" title="RSS feed">Subscribe</a></li>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/luxagraf" rel="me" title="follow luxagraf on Twitter">@luxagraf</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/luxagraf" rel="me" title="luxagraf on Flickr">Flickr</a></li>
<li><a href="/contact/" title="contact luxagraf">Contact</a></li>
</ul>
</nav>
<p id="license">
© 2003-2014
<span class="h-card"><a class="p-name u-url" href="https://luxagraf.net/">Scott Gilbertson</a><data class="p-nickname" value="luxagraf"></data><data class="p-locality" value="Athens"></data><data class="p-region" value="Georgia"></data><data class="p-country-name" value="United States"></data></span>, except photos, which are licensed under the Creative Commons (<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/" title="read the Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 deed">details</a>).
</p>
</footer>
<script src="/media/js/hyphenate.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">var _gaq=_gaq||[];_gaq.push(['_setAccount','UA-1186171-1']);_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);(function(){var ga=document.createElement('script');ga.type='text/javascript';ga.async=true;ga.src=('https:'==document.location.protocol?'https://ssl':'http://www')+'.google-analytics.com/ga.js';var s=document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga,s)})();</script>
</body>
</html>
|
