Aitape, Papua New Guinea (July 19, 2017) One day during the First World War, in light of the heavy losses German fighter aircraft were inflicting on Allied reconnaissance aircraft, the Royal Flying Corps made a decision: from now on, reconnaissance aircraft would require an escort of at least three fighter aircraft. The date of that […]
The Vanity of Leaders
Statue of Turkmenbashi in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan (2004) When I visited Turkmenistan in 2004, I struggled to put into words my emotional reaction to how its leader, Saparmurat Atayevich Niyazov (aka Turkmenbashi), demonstrated his sense of grandiosity. There was the golden statue of himself that revolved during the day so that it always faced the sun. […]
Phnom Penh, Where I Wished I Could Have Left A Leg
Ferry in Siem Reap, Cambodia, soon to depart for Phnom Penh (June 27, 2000). Three months earlier, in March, the ferry had been boarded and robbed by ex-Khmer Rouge. In April it had capsized, drowning Taiwanese tourists. The following is from my journal entry for June 27, 2000 — the day I traveled from Siem […]
The Kindness of a Syrian Stranger, on a Road to Damascus
The turn-off to Maloula on the road from An-Nabk to Damascus, Syria (June 9, 2010) Early on the afternoon of June 9, 2010, I stood on the side of a Syrian highway and took this picture. For the previous two nights I had been staying at Deir Mar Musa, a monastery perched on a mountainside […]
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