Galleries

Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world, after #1 India, #2 China, & #3 USA, numbering 279 million people (source-Wikipedia).  It is the world's most populous Muslim country.  It is the world's 14th largest nation by area, and the world's largest archipelagic state consisting of over 17,000 islands. 

But beyond these statistics, I was very impressed with the warmth of the Indonesian people. The attached photo gallery illustrates their warmth.

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. . .

As Susan and I begin the final week of our India visit, in this blog I want to try and describe our day-to-day life during our six weeks here.  We have had such a wonderful time, that we hope to return again at the end of this year.  We played more concerts in our six weeks here than we have in the past year at home in Reno.  The positive audience reception of our Indian audiences was very gratifying.

For the last twenty years, Dallas has been meeting friends he first met over fifty years ago while a student in Kiel, Germany.  This was the fourth reunion in Greece by the Kieler Old Farts.  Previously, they met on the Greek islands of Poros and Corfu.  This was their second reunion on the Peloponnese Peninsula, where KOF member David has retired.

Why have a German reunion in Salt Lake City? In 1969, I traveled to Kiel, Germany, for a “junior year abroad” at the Christian-Albrechts University. I ended up staying out of the US for three and a half years, during which time, besides living in Germany, I spent significant time in Sweden, Afghanistan, and India. I returned home at the end of 1972, after the Vietnam draft had been abolished...

Shinto is Japan's "native" religion, dating back at least two thousand years.  The Shinto temples in Kyoto date from the eighth century, when Kyoto was the most powerful city in Japan.

February 2015: If I am counting correctly, this is my fourteenth visit to India, starting the first time in 1971, again in 1982 & 1983, again in 2002, and finally practically every years since 2005 on tour with Mynta. It is very gratifying to have made so many great friends here, that my social calendar is filled with trying to connect with everybody. . .

A couple of decades ago, my wife Susan and I worked as entertainers on cruise ships.  Often the entertainers sat together at mealtimes.  A common observation was that the job of being a comedian was the most difficult of all the entertainers.  Having to be funny for ten or fifteen minutes before a group of elderly strangers (as well as having to avoid any jokes that might be interpreted as obscene, irreligious, or politically incorrect) was difficult indeed...

How much can a tourist learn about a country in five days? First impressions count. One can draw conclusions from even a short visit that merit more research perhaps through a future visit. Having just spent five days in Bhutan. . .

Malta is nicknamed the “navel of the Mediterranean” since it is in approximately the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.  Its location has made Malta the object of conquest, starting with the Phoenicians, and followed by the Carthaginians, Romans, Greeks, Arabs, Normans, Aragonese, the Knights of St. John, French, and finally the British in 1813-1974, when Malta became an independent neutral country.