And you thought your job was tough… The Danakil depression in Eastern Ethiopia is one of the lowest and hottest points in all of Africa. It’s at -127 meters and is dry, HOT, and salty. For centuries, the locals have mined the hot salt flats and exported blocks of salt to the farmers in the […]
Browsing Posts in Travel
Ethiopia: Down in the Salt Mines
January 24, 2018
Erte Ale: A Lava River
January 23, 2018
I trekked up Ethiopia’s Erte Ale volcano to admire its fine lava. Formerly there was a lava lake at the summit, but this was disrupted in the January 2017 eruption and the lake drained away. However, it has been replaced by a fresh flow of lava being forced up from below. This lava flows […]
Rangoon: A Diamond-Tipped Pagoda
December 13, 2017
Greetings from Myanmar, land of giant golden stupas. I came in overland from Thailand through Mawlamyine, where there is an ancient stupa visited by Kipling and referenced in his poem Mandalay: “By the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin’ eastward to the sea …” Neither the temple nor Mawlamyine/Moulmein seem to have changed much since Kipling’s day. […]
A Bridge on the River Kwai
December 8, 2017
A quick “Hi” from a Bridge on the River Kwai. Yes, there really is such a place and it is a (mostly) authentic relic of the Death Railway. The book/movie “The Bridge on the River Kwai” was satirical fiction and the wooden bridge they showed never actually existed. But a steel bridge was built in […]
Carcassonne: Medieval Walls
September 19, 2017
I’m enjoying the historic medieval French city of Carcassonne. It is perfectly formed, with magnificent double curtain walls, a grand fortress, tall round towers with spiky roofs, portcullis gates, the works. It is very cool! Note that this is not like one of those recent Chinese “restorations” of Ancient City Walls. Mais non! This is […]
Idaho: The Black Sun
August 21, 2017
I was in Idaho Falls for the 2017 US Total Eclipse. The local authorities had been unsure what to expect: hotels had sold out far in advance and there were fears of a vast insurge of eclipse watchers up Interstate 15 from Salt Lake City. So Starbucks and the local police had all hands on […]
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