1000 Posts Later - my favorite spots

This, unbelievably and illogically, is my 1000th post at this blog.  I was thinking of how to celebrate my 1000th post (beyond, obviously, getting medical help to deal with my megalomania).  This blog began its life as a way for my friends and loved ones to follow my adventures when I was travelling a lot (although they never really did so, but they never stopped me from blathering on) so it seemed natural to go back to its origins.  Being a guy, it seemed like the best approach was to come up with a Top 10 list of favorite overseas locations, and I even went so far as to start on the post and entitled it "1000 Posts Later - a Top 10" but then figured out that I couldn't get it down to ten locations, which I'll take it as proof positive of how stupidly fortunate I've been.  In the end I just picked out my favorite spots, and then I was going to write corresponding commentary, but I've already written so much about everyone of these locations - all of which can be accessed through the labels on this blog - that it seemed like overkill.  So, I decided to keep the commentary to a minimum.  Suffice it to say, I would go back to any of these places in a heartbeat, and am actively planning return trips to a few of them even as we speak.  This is not listed in any particular order, but rather as they popped into my addled brain as I was putting together the list.  It is interesting that there are so few cites in Europe with the exception of Croatia and Montenegro, and I do love Europe. Obviously, every one of these cites is stamped with emotion, but I tried to consider them fairly dispassionately as places that I love as compared to places that I might have been in love.  Some places didn't make the list, although they are very dear to me, such as Barcelona (K. travelling half-way around the world to spend time with me there because she knew I was terribly sad and lonely) and Johannesburg (a lovely week there with Z.).

Sana'a, Yemen

Sana'a would have to be the most exotic location I've ever visited because, well, who goes to Sana'a?  Only two people knew of the trip in advance - Laura, my girlfriend at the time and Dave Kelley, my long-time best friend - and both of them were not pleased.  It was an amazing trip and the Yemenis could not have been any kinder or more welcoming, and they certainly had no reason to welcome a visiting American, even then.  I hope to go back soon, and have delusions to spending my 60th birthday in Sana'a or maybe Socotra Island, although, sadly, once again the US hasn't done anything but bring misery to Yemen.  I will make it back there, inshallah.

My first view of the city as the sun came up.  There is no place on earth like it.

Maybe my most unique eating experience, ever.  Lunch in the old city.  I never really ordered, the food just showed up.

Zanzibar, Tanzania

It's difficult to believe that I've been to Zanzibar twice, but it just goes to show you that whenever you leave a place and think that you'll never be back you'll go there repeatedly.  Wehmeyer and I are already planning our next trip, which will actually be longer.  Just the name alone conjures up magic.

This might be my favorite picture of me of all time (not that there are many good alternatives).  This is from my first trip.  I'm happy to report that my friend was still there waiting for me.

This time I actually made it all the way out to Pemba, which is also part of the Zanzibar island chain.  Here's the waganga mid-trance.  It may have been more theater than actual possession, but he said the weirdest thing to me . . .

Two of the paper plates that featured the 99 names of God from a little dirt poor (and dirt floor) school on Pemba.  If only everyone were "Kind" and "Just."

Probably my second favorite sunset photo, this one taken from a dock at the resort that we had to ourselves.

Salalah, Oman

I've only been to Oman twice, but enjoyed it immensely both times.  When I was running the Global Modules program at Champlain I spent a couple days in Muscat at a partner school.  Years later when I was in Abu Dhabi Laura and I flew to Salalah for a weekend, and it was so beautiful.

The extraordinary rugged coastline of Oman.

The tomb of Ayob (Job).

We saw hundreds and hundreds of camels, enough to justify this wonderful sign.

Wadi Rum, Jordan

For some reason I could not find more pictures from the Wadi Rum, which is partially caused by the fact that the desert ate my camera while we were there (as we know, I have many problems with cameras).  That said, I have some amazing pictures which I know I've seen but somehow have not made my blog.  It's kind of astonishing that a blog which features a thousand posts still has a lot of back-filling to do.  I'd wanted to go to the Wadi Rum since the first time I saw Lawrence of Arabia.  It is beyond description.  Cyndi and I are planning a return student trip to Jordan, with more days at the Wadi Rum, although, sadly, it probably won't come until spring 2018.

You can imagine the terror I felt herding students (cats?) across this natural stone bridge.

Ellora and Ajanta Caves, India

Two of the many sacred caves in India, and just a short sleeper bus ride away from Mumbai.  Cyndi and I are trying to see if we can include a day there on next spring's trip to India.

The valley with the dozens of natural and man-made caves.

The intricate iconography of the Buddhist art.

Just one of the astonishing caves.

A huge temple, bigger than the Acropolis, made out of one stone.

Kasgar, China

As is well-documented, Steve Wehmeyer always refers to me as one of those desert-loving English - and he was not at all surprised that I loved China the further west I headed.  Kasgar, one of the most important cities on the old Silk Road, is just about as far west as you can get.  It was where the northern and southern branches of the Silk Road rejoined after skirting the Taklamakan Desert.  Sadly, I suspect that a large part of the old center of Kasgar has been destroyed as the Chinese continue to persecute the Uyghurs.

As always, I effortlessly blend.

Spices for sale in the old market.  And, yes, that's dried snake at the bottom, a famous aphrodisiac.  My adventures with donkey penis wine are chronicled elsewhere on this blog. 

Buying bread in a very conservative Muslim enclave.

The location of my famous/infamous three city quest for a hamburger, also detailed elsewhere on the blog.

Sleeping on the tarmac of the Kasgar Airport.

Istanbul, Turkey

It's kind of hard to believe but Istanbul didn't make my initial Top 10 list, which is just ridiculous.  I was scrolling back through my blog and I don't have nearly enough posts associated with the city.  Over the last few years I've passed through Istanbul several times, but only was able to actually get out into the city once, and only for a couple days.  It's a pity because I loved the city and my time there.

The Hagia Sophia is one of the places - the cathedral of Notre Dame would be another - where I walked into and immediately was moved to tears.

It's humbling to look up at the magnificent dome that rests hundreds of feet above the floor and realize that it has stood there for around fifteen hundred years.

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

This is a bit of a strange one in that the UAE is not a place that I find particularly interesting, although it's the foreign country I've spent by far the most time in.  In the end, however, I just lived there, and, more importantly, I had a life there.  I had a job and an apartment and a car and friends and a routine and I was in love - you really can't beat that.

There are certainly many amazing cites to see in Abu Dhabi, but I guess I just reveled in the simple domesticity of my time there.  I found it an oddly easy town to live in.

Why am I always drawn to the desert?  Like Lawrence, I guess I would just have to say because it's clean.

One of my favorite activities: taking Aya, Salwa and Roma for ice cream every Thursday afternoon.

It's funny how it's only when you have your own car that a town truly becomes yours.  Here is my little Yaris, which seemed to be the car of short-term ex-pats in Abu Dhabi.

And my little apartment in the Staybridge.  One I moved out of the posh but highly artificial world of the Radisson Blu and into the more homey Staybridge I really felt like I had a home.

Sadly, the memories of Abu Dhabi are being swept away, as much as I try to hold them in place.

And, well, I was also in love with an amazing woman that year in Abu Dhabi, and that always makes every place magical.

Byblos, Lebanon

A side trip from many of the Emirati-funded trips while I was in Abu Dhabi.  I enjoyed Beirut a lot, but we took a trip out to Byblos and it was one of my favorite days.  A visit to Pepe's Fishing Club Bar is required.

The view looking at Pepe's Bar.  I'd love to be there right now.

And, doubtless, the best picture of a sunset I've ever taken.  It was one of those extraordinary nights when you just could not take a bad picture.  Astonishing.

Dubrovnik, Croatia

I had never really thought of going to Croatia, but it was another one of those trips from my UAE trips which made perfect sense when you have money in your pocket.  And thank you, Zayed University for that one (among other things, naturally).  I loved Croatia, including Zagreb, which I didn't include on this list, although I might have.  I'm also surprised that I only have around a dozen postings for my time in Croatia.  Obviously, I need to go back and check out my old pictures and memories.

Dubrovnik is justifiably famous for its beauty, although definitely try and plan your visit to the walled city in between the times that the cruise ships dump hundreds of people into the narrow streets.

As Archer would add, mournfully and sarcastically, "hurry for metaphor."

I did get eat some seriously good squid, and lots of it.

Mumbai, India

I've always suggested that India and Jordan are my two favorite overseas locations, so I guess it's appropriate that they are both mentioned twice in this post.  I've passed through Mumbai several times over the years, but I have a special affinity for the summer of 2004, which I spent teaching there at our (now sadly and foolishly closed) Champlain College campus.  There are a million fascinating things about the city, but, much like my time in Abu Dhabi, I mainly remember the fact that I lived there and that it was starting to become my own.

As I've discussed, the first time I ever completely gave myself to another culture, as I abandoned the Champlain College team and disappeared into a throng of thousands of Hindu worshipers celebrating Krishna's birthday.  One of the team building human pyramids adopted me as a mascot and we sat in the street together and ate.

The Haji Tali Mosque out in the bay in Mumbai, which sometimes is cut off in bad weather.

Two of my all-time favorite people, John and Volga Neelankavil.  They are the absolute salt of the earth, and she may be the best cook in the world.

Their sons Will and Jeff.  Tragically, Will passed away a few years ago in a train accident.  I still follow him on Twitter because I can't bring myself to break the connection.

This is actually a picture snapped in the UAE, but it might have been taken in Mumbai.  Two scoundrels: Raj and yours truly.  He has a heart of gold.

Petra, Jordan

Petra almost didn't make the list, which is really odd because I've been there five times (and, once again, you don't need any more proof of how stupidly lucky I've been that I can make statement like that).  I can remember walking through the Siq with my friend Faith for the first time, and she kept repeating, "I can't believe I'm here, I can't believe I'm here."  It may be my all-time favorite overseas spot, although, sadly, every time I go back it is getting more and more jammed full of shops and it isn't the pristine experience it was even a few years ago.  That said, it is simply one of those places that you have to visit, especially if you make the long climb up to the Monastery at the end.

The first view of the Treasury as you pass through the Siq.

I've taken twenty versions of this location over the years, and they all come out much the same - and yet I keep mindlessly clicking away.

What I've always referred to as the Petra money shot.

The crew that Cyndi and I dragged to Jordan, posing in front of the Monastery.

And my excellent friend and titular little sister Cyndi at the Cave Bar in Petra.

Kotor, Montenegro

I was killing time on the 4th of July in Dubrovnik and decided to drive my rental car into Montenegro, which would have probably been worth it just for the border guard looking at my passport and welcoming me a happy 4th of July.  It was a brutally hot day, but I still like Kotor quite a bit.  However, truthfully, I think I liked the deep fjords that I drove through getting there even more.