Learning Chinese
My Uncle has a joke that goes something like this: “I know Arabic.” “What are you talking about, Uncle Jim? Of course you don’t.” We would think to ourselves, waiting for the punchline. Then he […]
Destinations
Cruising the Yangtze River Day 3: Visiting The Three Gorges Dam
This Post is part of a series. Read: Cruising the Yangtze Day 1: Leaving Chongqing and Cruising the Yangtze Day 2: The Three Gorges Before touring the Three Gorges Dam, we would have
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Cruising the Yangtze Day 2: The Three Gorges
This Post is part of a series. Read: Cruising the Yangtze Day 1: Leaving Chongqing The day before all I could think about was whether the fog would clear out by today. This
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Cruising the Yangtze River Day 1: Leaving Chongqing
Our ship pulled out of Chongqing the night before at 22:00—slowly leaving the bright lights of this megacity at the confluence of two great rivers. We had explored Chongqing by foot, up and down
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Getting my Palm Read in China
93. He pencils in the only thing I can understand among the Chinese characters. He smiles and points to the man with a long grey beard and arching back behind me. I smile. He’s predicting
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Photos from the Road: Shaxi’s Friday Market
Shaxi’s Friday Market was by far the most interesting of the markets we had had visited in China’s Yunnan Province. Sha Ping Market, the previous Monday, was big, lively, and interesting. But Shaxi’s market was
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Sidewalk Dentistry in China
Years ago, I remember flipping through a National Geographic magazine seeing a photograph of a person performing dentistry on a sidewalk in China. That remained in my mind one of those must-see-it-for-myself things. My fantasy
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Cycling along Er Hai Lake
One of the best day trips from Old Dali, in China’s Yunnan Province is a bike ride along the shores of the great Er Hai Lake. A less-traveled and newly surfaced road connects a string
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Visiting the Pandas in Chengdu China
I’ve seen Pandas before—in the San Diego Zoo when I was a child and the couple on loan to the National Zoo in Washington, DC. But they’re always so far away it’s hard to get
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Back Stage at Rice and Friends Cooking School in Dali, China
Juno photographs Luxi at Rice & Friends Cooking School in Dali, China I had a really great opportunity in Dali, China to check out the Rice and Friends Cooking School. They just moved to
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Passing on the Three Pagodas
What happens when the Chinese are charging 190 CYN ($30 US) to enter the Three Pagodas in Dali, China? I walk around the entire walled complex, take a bunch of pictures from afar, and refuse
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Tasting Tea in Kunming
It wouldn’t be far from the truth if I told you I’m in China’s Yunnan Province for one reason: tea. True, the scenery is a real draw, and ancient towns like Lijiang, Shaxi, and Dali
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Shopping at Sha Ping
Every day of the week you can find a market in the towns around Erhai Lake in northwestern Yunnan Province. On Tuesday it’s in Shuanglang, on Wednesday, Shaba, on Friday in Yousuo, and in Jiangwei
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Luang Prabang in Photos
This photo essay is the visual accompaniment to my previous article: What it’s like in Luang Prabang. except this post tends to let the beauty and tranquility of the town shine. In my written description
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Eating Barbecued Insects in China Video
Eating Insects in Yunnan China from Bohemian Traveler. Not too much to add to this one. I’m going to let the video speak for itself. All this insect eating took place in Jianshui, in China’s
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Vomit and Cigarettes: A Ride on a Chinese Sleeper Bus
View from the road to Dali from Jinghong The vomiting began just after we pulled out of the Jinghong bus station. We hadn’t even left the city limits and the woman behind me had already
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Cycling around Luang Namtha, Laos Video
On our way south from China, we stopped in the town of Luang Namtha for a few days. It’s a popular place for travelers who are looking to do hill tribe treks in northern Laos.
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Photos from the Road: Rice Terraces of Yunnan China
From the edge of Xinjie I walked into the countryside. Xinjie is perched on the mountain like a medieval Italian hill town. But we are in China’s Yunnan Province and here ethnic minority groups from
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Photos from the Road: the Gower Peninsula
Back in 2008 I traveled to the Gower Peninsula when I visited Swansea, Wales. I had a week-long lay-over on my way to Spain. I’d never been to Wales, so I thought I’d give
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A Digital Nomad in Luang Prabang
I’ve written previously about my quest to become location independent and posted Using Chiang Mai as a Remote Workplace last year after stopping temporarily to work there during my travels through Southeast Asia. I wanted
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Hong Kong Outdoor Escalators Video
I thought it would be fun to make a video riding the escalators in Hong Kong. Where else can you ride outdoor escalators in a city? I sped it up and my twenty minute ride
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Bargain New York City
Article by Jeff Dobbins New York City is one of the world’s most exciting destinations. It can also be one of the most expensive, with an “average” daily hotel rate of $276, and
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Photos from the Road: Whitby England
Whitby is a picturesque town on the north coast of Yorkshire, England. It was the home town of the explorer Captain James Cook and the place where according to Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula landed
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Photos from the Road: Zhu Family Garden
The Zhu Family Gardens is a huge Qing-era (1644-1911) complex of ancestral building, family homes, courtyards, ponds and gardens. You can amble from courtyard to courtyard through intricately carved and painted wooden doors. Inside the
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