In Lhasa’s Barkhor Square, the weathered Tibetan woman softly intoning a Buddhist mantra fell to her knees, looked fervently skyward and then lunged face down on the pavement, oblivious to the commercial life surrounding her. After a few seconds of prayer, she rose stiffly, moved two steps forward and repeated the process. Shoppers flowed around her with scarcely a sideways glance because Lhasa residents are used to prostrate pilgrims
By David DeVoss For the better part of three years Macau slumbered, its public squares subdued, its major shopping streets shuttered. On two occasions the entire city locked down on orders from Beijing. For a city of 713,000 that makes all its money selling the luck of the draw, the consequences of reduced tourism were…
There are more than 2.2 billion Christians throughout the world and during the month of December it often seems most of them are spending Christmas in Germany. They come to walk respectfully through vaulted cathedrals where relics of ancient saints are entombed. Or visit palaces once belonging to Holy Roman Emperors. Some find their way to Bayreuth’s 1750 Opera House to marvel at the intricate Baroque carving. But if pressed to admit what really appeals to them about cold Decembers in Germany most visitors admit they come for the Christmas markets.
The day I almost died was a sunny Sunday 50 years ago this week. I was a 24-year-old Time Magazine correspondent in Saigon who along with photographers Dirck Halstead and LeMinh Thai decided to get an early start on the week by driving north up Highway 13 to meet a company of South Vietnamese marines. Their goal: March to the Cambodian border and lift the siege of An Loc, a tiny rubber town founded by the French that had been encircled by the Viet Cong for three months.
You’re familiar with Purdue and Princeton. You know about Penn State and Pitt. But are you aware of Poupon U? It’s a small culinary institute in Middleton, six miles outside Madison, WI. You won’t find it on U.S. News & World Report’s Best College Rankings but, rest assured, all its students can cut the mustard. At the center of Poupon U sits the Mustard Museum, a repository of more than 6,300 different mustards.
Why visit Santa Catalina Island at the onset of winter when it’s too cold to swim and clouds often blanket the resort town of Avalon? Because in the off season Southern California’s favorite weekend escape offers gourmet restaurants without crowds, colorful bars where it’s actually possible to meet locals and hotels glad to provide deep discounts since only 30% of the town’s 1,051 hotel rooms and vacation rentals are occupied.
North of the market town of Ubud, Bali’s tourist resorts and handicraft markets give way to small villages like Trunyan, pop. 300, that belong to a mountain people called the Bali Aga. Unlike Balinese Hindus elsewhere, the Bali Aga do not memorialize the dead with elaborate cremations. Instead, they place their deceased kinsmen beneath a large tree and let nature reclaim the bodies. In my imagination, Trunyan seemed both dreadful and exotic at the same time.
By David DeVoss We live in a disconnected age where colors define politics and words like “rural” and “urban” are used to describe who we are. For children of big city parents the estrangement can be particularly acute. Just ask a 10-year old where food comes from. Chances are he’ll look perplexed, then slowly recover…
Travelers on the Mayan Trail often visit Copán in Honduras, Chichén Itzá in Mexico’s Yucatan and Caracol in Belize. If you want to meet today’s Maya, however, head for Chichicastenango on market days.
By David DeVoss Covid-19. Shuttered bars and restaurants. Urban lockdowns. Mask fatigue. Curfews. Canceled holiday gatherings. Want to get away? Well, why not? There’s never been a better time to travel. Like anything, there are risks and benefits to global travel during a pandemic. There are bargains everywhere you look. Want to fly from New…