Rice is a staple of the Japanese diet. Japanese-grown rice costs twice as much in Japan as the same rice sold in other countries. This is because of a convoluted system of distribution and middlemen, which raises the price far beyond the actual and reasonably expected price of rice.
The price of healthcare in America is similarly inflated. . .
Words are inadequate to describe India, absent firsthand experience. But I’ll try…
Ireland had always been on my “bucket list.” So I’m ecstatic to have gotten the opportunity to visit, even without long prior planning.
Following our first port of Cabo San Lucas and three days at sea, our second port of call on the Viking world cruise was the famous tourist city Puerto Vallarta. Puerto Vallarta is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, a state which is approximately the size of South Carolina. Tourism is its main “industry.” Susan and I joined a city tour with a local guide who spoke perfect English. We toured the downtown area including the cathedral, followed by a half-hour drive out of the city to tour a tequila factory...
Ayutthaya lies about a two hour's drive north of Bangkok. It was Thailand's capital for approximately four hundred years, founded in 1351. It was burned by Burmese invaders in 1767, which resulted in its abandonment and the establishment of Bangkok which remains Thailand's current capital.
Below is one of the oldest Stupas, built in the 14th century, in the same era as the construction of Cambodia's Angkor Wat, the world's largest UNESCO world heritage site. Stupas are Buddhist cylindrical structures containing the ashes, bones, or remains of religious figures, and are intended to function as pilgrimage sites for worship and meditation.
It’s often said that India is a land of contrasts, which I am happy to confirm and illustrate. India has some of the world’s richest people and many of the poorest. It has luxurious high-rise apartment buildings, surrounded by the huts and hovels in which the servants, maids, drivers, cooks, and workmen live who take care of their richer neighbors.
This week marks my second visit to Venice. The first was in 2004. My opinion remains unchanged: Venice is one of the most interesting cities on the planet.