Category Archives: Travel

Skookumchuk.  Anyone who has had anything to do with boating or waters in the Pacific Northwest has heard of the legendary Sechelt Rapids at Skookumchuk Narrows. Boats, especially sail boats, need to pay careful attention to tide charts, and only attempt the narrow pass between Sechelt and Jervis Inlets at slack tide. Spectators and kayakers, of course prefer their […]

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Myanmar truly is “The Golden Land.” From the mines to the temples, gold is everywhere. Shwedagon Pagoda, for example, is covered in 60 tons of gold, pounded into thin leaves. Gold is an integral part of Burmese life. Every day, faithful Burmese apply gold leaf to their favourite Buddha images as offerings. So much gold leaf has been […]

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I guess that rainy weather is pretty common in Wales. One clue is the council workers: as we walked from Pembroke Dock to Pembroke, splashing through puddles that wet us up to the knees, huddling under raincoats that whipped in the wind, and clinging to umbrellas that turned inside out and failed to keep the […]

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We are having property management problems yet again. Our little holiday cottage, which sits perched on a quiet beach in Koh Samui, Thailand, has been orphaned once more. The situation is not as serious as it was 18 months ago, but it is still distressing to try to deal with agents and cleaners and bills when we are […]

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I’ve said it before: the hospitality, friendliness – and general willingness to be be followed around and photographed – of people in small communities off-the-beaten-track, amazes me. The sun was barely up as we descended over the Mandalay region last September, landing at that beautiful, modern facility in the middle of nowhere: the brand new Mandalay International […]

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