If someone ever decided to devise a course to acquaint the unsuspecting visitor with the general chaos and sensory overload of the Moroccan Medina experience, they will be wasting their time. It is available – for free – every day in Essaouira (pronounced: Essa-weera). The first-time guest to Morocco will not have the frame of…
Due to a road collapse and a landslide, the Quilotoa Loop is currently subject to a significant and perilous detour just north of Lago Quilotoa – and is completely blocked to traffic north of Chugchilán. Road Collapse near Lago Quilotoa Approximately 1km north of Lago Quilotoa the first road closure has a detour that, after…
Under the partial shade of a tree there sat an old plastic garden chair. Many years ago, the yellowish chair had probably been white and, more likely than not, each of its legs had connected to the ground in a reassuringly simultaneous and sturdy manner. On this day, those properties were lost to time. The…
I have travelled this road thousands of times. I know all of its many and varied potholes, simultaneously acknowledging their growth and avoiding contact with them in the manner of a disinterested parent. I know the intersection where the traffic always slows to a crawl and where, fifty yards later, it accelerates again as…
I’ve been teaching myself Spanish for a few years now. It was always something I wanted to learn, but my natural tendency towards procrastination had stopped me from actually doing anything about it. In fact, had it not been for the urgent need to find an alternative entertainment to the excruciating radio advertising jingles that…
We had forgotten something. As we watched your slow progress along the snaking line of the airport security checkpoint, the feeling continued to taunt us. But what was it? We were pretty sure that it wasn’t an overlooked domestic task. It seemed to be more important than that. No relative or friend had a proximate…
I have driven in many of the world’s most intimidating cities, across some of its most hostile terrain, and through its bleakest weather conditions. Each time, occasionally more by luck than judgment, I have emerged unscathed – and with one more story to tell. So why was I plagued by a nagging anxiety before starting…
A ferocious blizzard was pummeling the car, threatening to send us tumbling into unknown peril. Aside from a few yards on each side, our surroundings were rendered invisible by a forbidding wall of relentless snow. Only a series of regularly-spaced poles marking the sides of the road served to guide our tentative advance. White knuckles…
Suddenly, there were headlights coming straight towards us. They swayed erratically as they accelerated out of the exit lane. We were no more than 200 yards apart – and the gap between us was closing at a rate of 50 yards each second. Adrenalin pumped furiously; white knuckles glowed in the dark; we could feel…
We don’t go back to places. However much we may enjoy a particular destination, the number of places we have seen and the variety of experiences we have gained along the way are still far outnumbered by those yet to be encountered. It’s the traveler’s perennial dilemma. You travel thousands of miles, find your favorite…
Journeys And 