07 August 2002

Itinerary of trip to Cambodia and Laos, along the Mekong, 8-30 August 2002


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A journey to Cambodia and Laos, along the Mekong, 8-30 August 2002

Click on an Itinerary or a date to go to the post for that day
Day
Date
Itinerary
Night
Km
hrs
1
In the air
0
0
2
Siem Reap
0
0
3
Siem Reap
20
1
4
Siem Reap
50
2
5
Phnom Penh
270
6
6
Phnom Penh
50
3
7
Sambok
150
6
8
Stung Treng
130
5
9
Muang Khong
35
2
10
Pakse
130
2
11
Vientiane
0
0
12
Luang Prabang
0
0
13
Luang Prabang
0
0
14
Luang Prabang
0
0
15
Nong Kiaw (Muang Ngoy)
130
8
16
Muang Khua
70
6
17
Udom Xai
135
5
18
Muang Sing
210
7
19
Muang Sing
trek
8
20
Luang Namtha
70
3
21
Luang Prabang
250
7
22
Bangkok
0
0
23
Bangkok
0
0


TOTAL

1,700
71

MAP of Cambodia

 

18 July 2002

Book Review: River's Tale, A year on the Mekong (2003, by Edward A. Gargan, *****

Synopsis

From windswept plateaus to the South China Sea, the Mekong flows for three thousand miles, snaking its way through Southeast Asia. Long fascinated with this part of the world, former New York Times correspondent Edward Gargan embarked on an ambitious exploration of the Mekong and those living within its watershed. The River’s Tale is a rare and profound book that delivers more than a correspondent’s account of a place. It is a seminal examination of the Mekong and its people, a testament to the their struggles, their defeats and their victories.

15 July 2002

Book Review: River of Time, by Jon Swain, *****

Synopsis

Between 1970 and 1975 Jon Swain, the English journalist portrayed in David Puttnam's film, "The Killing Fields", lived in the lands of the Mekong river. This is his account of those years, and the way in which the tumultuous events affected his perceptions of life and death as Europe never could. He also describes the beauty of the Mekong landscape - the villages along its banks, surrounded by mangoes, bananas and coconuts, and the exquisite women, the odours of opium, and the region's other face - that of violence and corruption.

He was in Phnom Penh just before the fall of the city to the Khmer Rouge in April 1975. He was captured and was going to be executed. His life was saved by Dith Pran, the New York Times interpreter, a story told by the film The Killing Fields. In Indo-China Swain formed a passionate love affair with a French-Vietnamese girl. The demands of a war correspondent ran roughshod over his personal life and the relationship ended.

04 July 2002

Book Review: Extra Virgin (2001), by Annie Hawes, *****

Synopsis

A small stone house deep among the olive groves of Liguria, going for the price of a dodgy second-hand car. Annie Hawes and her sister, on the spot by chance, have no plans whatsoever to move to the Italian Riviera but find naturally that it's an offer they can't refuse. The laugh is on the Foreign Females who discover that here amongst the hardcore olive farming folk their incompetence is positively alarming. Not to worry: the thrifty villagers of Diano San Pietro are on the case, and soon plying the Pallid Sisters with advice, ridicule, tall tales and copious hillside refreshments ...


01 May 2002

Book Review: On the Shores of Eternity: Poems from Tagore on Immortality and Beyond, *****

Synopsis
To realize that death is an illusion, you either have to be very sophisticated or very simple. Tagore was both. I am awed by his use of language, pure crystals of wise innocence. Every word is personal, every word is universal. Those who met Tagore during his eighty years described him as one of the greatest souls of our age; Einstein considered him a sage. From what we learn in these poems, he certainly lived his own words. He kissed the infinite, he was not afraid to lose everything. And in this book, he allows us to approach death not with dusty words but with a silence that washes the soul. (From the Introduction by Deepak Chopra)

02 April 2002

Recensione: La rabbia e l'orgoglio (2001) di Oriana Fallaci, *****

You can read an English version of the article on which this book is based here.

Sinossi


Con "La rabbia e l'orgoglio" (2001), Oriana Fallaci rompe un silenzio durato dieci anni, dalla pubblicazione di "Insciallah", epico romanzo sulla missione occidentale di pace nella Beirut dilaniata dallo scontro tra cristiani e musulmani e dalle faide con Israele. Dieci anni in cui la Fallaci sceglie di vivere ritirata nella sua casa newyorchese, come in esilio, a combattere il cancro. Ma non smette mai di lavorare al testo narrativo dedicato alla sua famiglia, quello che lei chiama "il-mio-bambino", pubblicato postumo nel 2008, "Un cappello pieno di ciliege". L'undici settembre le impone di tornare con furia alla macchina da scrivere per dar voce a quelle idee che ha sempre coltivato nelle interviste, nei reportage, nei romanzi, ma che ha poi "imprigionato dentro il cuore e dentro il cervello" dicendosi "tanto-la-gente-non-vuole-ascoltare".

Il risultato è un articolo sul "Corriere della Sera" del 29 settembre 2001, un sermone lo definisce lei stessa, accolto con enorme clamore in Italia e all'estero. Esce in forma di libro nella versione originaria e integrale, preceduto da una prefazione in cui la Fallaci affronta alle radici la questione del terrorismo islamico e parla di sé, del suo isolamento, delle sue scelte rigorose e spietate. La risposta è esplosiva, le polemiche feroci. Mentre i critici si dividono, l'adesione dei lettori, in tutto il mondo, è unanime di fronte alla passione che anima queste pagine. (Prefazione di Ferruccio De Bortoli)


Recensione

Un libro controverso, dai toni feroci, anche troppo, solo in parte giustificabili dalla situazione: Fallaci era a New York al momento degli attacchi dell'11 settembre. A mio avviso Fallaci ha ragione a parlare del pericolo che l'Europa abbassi la guardia sulla propria identità, ma indebolisce le sue argomentazioni quando si lascia trasportare dalle emozioni del momento. Maggiore sangue freddo avrebbe reso i suoi argomenti più lucidi. In ogni caso il libro pone delle domande, scomodissime, su cui il lettore farebbe bene a ragionare. Un libro importante, un grido di dolore di un'italiana che se la prende prima di tutto con gli italiani, e gli europei, non all'altezza del retaggio culturale che gli appartiene.

Il testo dell'articolo si può leggere nell'archivio del Corriere della Sera.


10 January 2002

20. - 10 JAN: flying home

PLACEHOLDER

Depart by Airfrance flight at 0105hrs

final considerations

09 January 2002

19. - 9 January: shopping in Cochin

Morning breakast at the hotel, rich Indian breakfast! One last walk through town, some shopping of local music and a final decision on Indian antiques. The list of acquisitions is long:

-- four bullheads, big white wood sculptures

-- three peacock lamps to be used with oil and wick, very typical of this part of India

-- two large bronze pots used for cooking, they weigh about 25kg each!

--


It’s time to start heading home :-( Off to the airport and uneventful flight to Delhi, with a stopover in Mumbai. Once in the capital
 

 

08 January 2002

18. - 8 January: Cochin tour

PLACEHOLDER

Morning breakfast at the hotel and day free for own activities with car at disposal full day

Return to hotel for overnight stay. Malabar Residency/Cochin