Author Archives: wes

Today, Monday, we woke up, dressed and went down to breakfast. I had a petite omelette customized with mushrooms, gruyere cheese and sprinkled with freshly snipped fragrant chives. A few tables away was a familiar face. Our concert tonight featured Cecilia Bartoli. And there she was with her husband and her mamma. She travels withContinue reading “Vienna: Fairy Tale Evening: 13 May 2019”

Another great hotel.  This is starting to feel decadent. Constant hymns of praise to great hotels. Is the trip about seeing new elements of the world? Exploring truly foreign lands? It is. But Southeast Asia seemed so foreign and it is our first time coming. The safety and comfort of special hotels seemed warranted. MaybeContinue reading “Luang Prabang, Laos – November 16 – 20”

The Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai is an outstanding destination. So comfortable, you do not want to wander off site. It has ninety plus rooms placed into sixty pavilions which gradually descend to active rice fields and then a lake.  There are 32 acres of gardens. It is like a botanical garden. The ground-keeping staffContinue reading “Chiang Mai, Thailand – November 11 – 16”

Siem Reap, CambodiaWe deplaned on the tarmac. Again, it was hot. A recurring theme. Inside the terminal we went through several lines. First, to deliver our passports with extra photos. Then to pay a fee according to the posted schedule of countries, A to Z, with their particular amount.  In another line, our visa wasContinue reading “Cambodia – November 20 – 24”

We enjoyed hiking around the Kuang Si Falls and swimming in the rock-formed pools on our visit to Luang Prabang, Laos.  Here are two short videos showing the beauty of the falls.

Tuesday, November 7, 2017. Today, we traveled down the shore. We traded our Casa Colombo hotel for a mountain top house, Satori Villa in Unawatuna, Sri Lanka.As we arrived into town it began to pour. The traffic was chaotic.  Little, three-wheeled tuk-tuks, in blue, green, yellow, red, spun and wove like circus clowns.  The publicContinue reading “Sri Lanka Finale – Satori Villa, Unawatuna, November 7 – 11”

We are at Amansara in Siem Reap for Thanksgiving – having arrived here earlier in the week from a fantastic time in Luang Prabang, Laos.  The schedule at Amansara is similar to our visit to South Africa 20 years ago – early morning excursions to see the nearby temples in the Ankor Wat area inContinue reading “Thanksgiving 2017 – Siem Reap, Cambodia”

After a week in the mountains, we are at the sea.  This morning, we woke up in Casa Colombo. In Mirissa, near the southern tip of the island of Sri Lanka.  A small hotel of 6 or so rooms, a few dozen feet from the Indian Ocean. We cannot bathe in the sea in frontContinue reading “Sri Lanka – Mirissa, November 6-7”

Train day. The weather is good. We packed up, had breakfast (tropical fruits, Ceylon tea, curries, etc.) and checked out of the St. Andrews. Just before we left, the “nephew” arrived for a quick farewell. We sat in a parlor. Outside the windows were the tea pot and tea cup topiaries and gardens.The van droveContinue reading “Sri Lanka – Nuwara Eliya to Ella to Mirissa, November 5, 2017”

We have a wonderful travel companion. Last night, she met, for the first time, her nephew. He is a distinguished army officer. He has traveled the world and given serious thought to how his professional resources can be used to help the country recover and better their conditions since the conclusion of their three decadeContinue reading “Sri Lanka, Nuwara Eliya, November 4”