It was a much needed day of (mostly) fresh air after the 24 hours it took to get here to Hanoi. The city is bustling – 10m people, a maze of motor-scooters, mopeds, and cars, tons of store-fronts, a mix of old French-style architecture, more modern high-rises, and some decaying buildings that went up notContinue reading “Day One – Ninh Binh and a Vietnam War-era Bomb Shelter”
Category Archives: Blogs & Photos
Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, & Tokyo – Intro
It’s been since last August since I traveled to a far-flung spot, so I couldn’t be more excited about where I’m headed – Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Tokyo. My original gameplan was to only head to the first three countries (collectively named Indochina during the French colonial period) with a last 2 days in Bangkok,Continue reading “Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, & Tokyo – Intro”
Papua New Guinea – My final few days and some final thoughts (Aug 20th, 21st, and 22nd)
Emotionally recovering from the remarkable experience at the Mount Hagen Cultural Festival, the last evening, after we flew back to Port Moresby, was spent having a delicious group dinner – though with horrendously slow service – at a local restaurant named “Bacchus.” Yup – kind of a weird name, given our locale, made even weirderContinue reading “Papua New Guinea – My final few days and some final thoughts (Aug 20th, 21st, and 22nd)”
Papua New Guinea – Days Eleven and Twelve: The Mount Hagen Cultural Festival (Aug 19 & 20)
Back in the early 1960’s, a group of tribes from around the Western Highlands Province met in Mount Hagen. While it appears to be difficult to uncover the true history of this meeting, it seems that, originally, it was designed to help calm the animosities between and among various tribes. The Mount Hagen Cultural FestivalContinue reading “Papua New Guinea – Days Eleven and Twelve: The Mount Hagen Cultural Festival (Aug 19 & 20)”
Papua New Guinea – Day Ten and the Morning of Day Eleven (Aug 18 & 19)
On the morning of day ten, we cruised a bit north on the Karawari; the river opened up a bit, stretching to perhaps 100 yards wide. The grassy shoreline continued to be dotted with tall trees. Egrets sat in the grass until they heard our boat begin to get close, at which point they’d takeContinue reading “Papua New Guinea – Day Ten and the Morning of Day Eleven (Aug 18 & 19)”
Papua New Guinea – Day Nine (Aug 17)
When I left my room at seven a.m. on the morning of day nine, our tour director, Deb, stopped to tell me that there was a crocodile on the deck outside. It was a dead one. As it turned out, a local merchant – Ronny – had planned on stopping by the Sepik Spirit earlyContinue reading “Papua New Guinea – Day Nine (Aug 17)”
Papua New Guinea – Day Eight (Aug 16)
On day eight, the electricity in the Karawari Lodge went back on at six in the morning, starting-up the ceiling fan above my mosquito-net draped bed. There was a beautiful view of the Karawari River from my room, with the sounds of birds and insects and who knows what else. We’d been told, though, thatContinue reading “Papua New Guinea – Day Eight (Aug 16)”
Papua New Guinea – Day Seven (Aug 15)
Today we made our move to the Karawari Lodge, located 1,000 ft up a ridge overlooking the Karawari River. This is in East Sepik Province, and the Lodge can’t be reached by road. We met Sam, our pilot from New Zealand, with whom we had a scheduled 8 a.m. departure, at the charter air-terminal. AfterContinue reading “Papua New Guinea – Day Seven (Aug 15)”
Papua New Guinea – Day Six (Aug 14)
Today we were able to visit four tribes here in the Western Highlands Province, with sometime lengthy drives in-between. We started with a visit to members of the Melpa tribe, who gave us a demonstration of a burial – from the way in which they communicate with other families in their tribe or clan (aContinue reading “Papua New Guinea – Day Six (Aug 14)”
Papua New Guinea – Day Five (Aug 13)
Day five started with an early flight from Port Moresby to Mt Hagen, a city in the Western Highlands province. The flight up took about an hour and the airport sits at about 5,500 feet, while our lodge, which overlooks the Wahgi Valley, sits at 7,100 feet. Our time over the next few days willContinue reading “Papua New Guinea – Day Five (Aug 13)”
Fred's Travel Blog 