Author Archives: Richard

Maybe I can download pictures! Let’s see. Woo hoo! Here we are in a relatively out of the way place, Port St. Johns in Eastern Cape, and the connection is fast enough to upload pictures. Great. One thing for sure, … Continue reading →

That photo may not seem exciting to you, but it’s holy ground for most South Afrcans. It was Nelson Mandela’s house in Soweto before he was arrested. From Johannesburg we went straight to Swaziland which, for the geography challenged, is … Continue reading →

Greetings from southern Africa. Something tells me we aren’t in China anymore, Toto. We are just getting our feet wet and learning a few ropes. Don’t expect any real insight soon. So far, here’s what we’ve done. We got into … Continue reading →

We’ve decided to go to South Africa and are leaving tonight at 2 AM. Ugh. Our tentative plan is to go get used to the African scene in South Aftica, then tour the countries of southern Africa. After that, it’s … Continue reading →

Myung and I are taking it pretty easy in Beijing. We’re staying a half hour bus ride away from city center at one of China’s answers to Motel 6. It’s called 99 Inn because the standard, clean room with bathoom/shower, … Continue reading →

This will be a quickie. I went to Pingyao while Myung went to Beijing. (She’s about had it with China. It’s not like she hasn’t spent years here already.) Pingyao is an old walled city which, unlike other cities in … Continue reading →

We are in Kaifeng, Henan, now. This area is steeped in history, as most of China’s dynasties have called the cities of this region their capitals. The Henan capital, Zhengzhou, about 80 km wwest of here, was the capital of … Continue reading →

We went down to Hong Kong to get new visas and stayed there for two nights. Myung lived just across the water from there, in Shenzhen, for a long time, so she wasn’t too excited about staying. I think it … Continue reading →

In the States, we’re used to businesses proudly stating they have been in business since 1949 or something. This pharmacy in Hangzhou has been in business at this location since 1647. It’s been modernized since then. You can get your … Continue reading →

After going to Jungdezhen and before coming to Hangzhou, we visited a couple of old towns. “Old town” in China is as likely as not to be one of the few remaining places where buildings more than a hundred years … Continue reading →