Category Archives: Travel

MACAM KUMBANG by Peter Nolan Smith

June 24, 2018 – 12:14 pm

In 1990 I got off the train from Surabaya a little past dawn and headed over to the port of Jakarta. An inter-island ship was departing to Sumatra at noon and I looked forward to a cruise through the Java Sea to the Indian Ocean. As I neared the dock, a man of indeterminable race […]

By Peter | Also posted in 90s, indonesia, semi-fiction | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

World’s Worst Road

May 26, 2018 – 5:08 am

An article from Travelling Board ranked the most dangerous roads in the world. http://travellingboard.net/travel-guides/the-most-dangerous-roads-in-the-world/ The winner was the ‘Road of Death’ or North Yungas Road in in Bolivia. The winding mountain ‘highway’ covers about 70 km. through the Bolivian Andes from La Paz to Coroico. Heavily traveled the route reaps from 100-200 souls every year. […]

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The Trade Route Of The Orient

May 4, 2018 – 3:57 am

From 1956 until 1973 20 Thai baht bought $1. A flight to Penang on Thai Airway cost about $130US. I checked Air Asia current ticket fare from Bangkok to Penang and discovered the price is about the same. Some things never change.

By Peter | Also posted in 50s, Asia, Thailand | Tagged | Comments (0)

Hello It’s Me

March 10, 2018 – 6:23 am

The train tracks from Boston to New York were laid through the western pine barrens of Rhode Island in the 19th Century. The pine forests grow on deep sand deposits left over from the glacial melting of the Ice Age. This desolate region has resisted civilization, however on a winter afternoon in 1979 I was […]

By Peter | Also posted in 70s, Nature, New England | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Hotel Sòk-gà-bpròk

March 2, 2018 – 11:25 am

My friends in the finance sector travel 4-star. I once stayed at the Hotel Imperial in Biarritz with a French movie actress. The King Farouk suite was 5-star. I know the height of luxury. My travels around the world have been on a budget. Luckily my resources allow the minimum of comfort, however sometimes the […]

By Peter | Also posted in Bangkok, Pattaya | Tagged , , | Comments (0)