Haircuts on the Road
Today’s post is guest-written by my very witty husband, Murph (aka WanderDad) on a traumatic if efficient barbershop experience here in Kizkalesi, Turkey. One of the simple necessities of life that becomes fraught with peril on the road is haircuts. When you don’t share a language, you rely on grunts, gestures and animated hand signals, Read the Rest…
Bobby Sands St Tehran
“There’s a Bobby Sands St in Tehran”, Murph said as we walked towards the metro station. “No way!” “Yep. They renamed Winston Churchill Ave to Bobby Sands St”. How is it that my husband, who rarely cracks open a guidebook can find such a cartographical gem?
Women in Tehran
“And she too?” The taxi-driver chatting to Murph in the front of the cab barely inclined his head towards me, headscarfed and in the back with the kids. They continued their conversation about where we were from and where we lived. I seethed, the knot at the pit of my stomach curling ever tighter. Was Read the Rest…
Bukhara Uzbekistan
Genghis Khan sacked Bukhara Uzbekistan in 1220AD. The story goes that he chastised the citizens of the city saying, “If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me”. Whether he actually said this or not, you have to agree that it’s a great plundering conqueror line. But, even Read the Rest…
What Does A Travelling Mom Look Like in Iran
“Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me!” We spent my most recent 25-yet-again birthday in Esfahan last week. Murph reckons that this is the 20th birthday I’ve spent with him – how’s that for making a body feel old!! No matter, his observation prompted a conversation that lasted all day where we tried (and Read the Rest…
Khiva Uzbekistan
There’s little to do in the old center of Khiva, Uzbekistan except sit and admire the view. The dusty sand-colored buildings are ornately tiled in blues and greens. The minarets stand like lighthouses in the desert over an old town, frozen in time, and a new town sprawling out around the 17th-century walls.
Community Based Tourism in Kyrgyzstan
I read about CBT Kyrgyzstan in my initial research on Kyrgyzstan. I filed it away as “Hmm, maybe, not sure it will work for us”. By the time we got to Western China, nine months into our trip, the idea of spending a few days with a driver and staying in homes with all meals Read the Rest…
More Books for Tween Boys
Perspective is the word that comes to mind when I think about Suzanne Collins’ excellent Hunger Games trilogy. The perspective of child versus adult, poor versus rich, city versus country, weak versus powerful, winner versus loser, participant versus spectator. In the post-apocalyptic world which Collins so vividly describes in the Hunger Games all of these Read the Rest…
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