Big Bear Lake is located just under 2 hours east of downtown Los Angeles and the lake and its nearby surroundings are without a doubt among some of the most picturesque natural beauty easily accessible from the Los Angeles basin and its communities. At nearly 7000 feet, the elevation outnumbers the population here. If your looking for LA "glitter" this is not the place to go. Rather it *is* the place to go to get away from people (especially in … [Read more...]
Los Angeles, CA – Skiing
Skiing - No you cannot ski in Los Angeles proper but there are a number of places to get to the snow during reasonable snowfall years within about 60 to 120 minutes drive of downtown Los Angeles. Big Bear Mountain is the most popular southland skiing area and boasts three ski areas: Bear Peak, Silver Mountain, and Goldmine Mountain. This is a bit further from Los Angeles than Mt. Baldy - with no traffic a drive will take about 2 hours … [Read more...]
Afghanistan: Some children only live to beg
The day before it started snowing in Kabul, the shopkeepers had the wooden snow shovels out for sale, knowing that they would come in handy. And it snowed with a vengeance, massive flakes the size of large coins came down. Kabul is a city of flat roofs and everyone, young and old, got busy climbing up and shoveling the white stuff off onto the sidewalks, where passersby played cat and mouse games with heaps of snow crashing down on them. Pretty … [Read more...]
Where is the Ho Chi Minh Trail?
Saigon, Dec. 14, 2004 Director Francis Ford Coppola's 'Apocalypse Now' is a movie about the Vietnam War. Nowadays it is also a swanky bar in the heart of modern Saigon, Vietnam. I have yet to visit it, after having arrived in Saigon today from Hanoi, but I have heard that it enjoys a locally notorious reputation for fast cars, fast drugs, and fast women. It might be wiser to start with the tamer entertainment establishments of this utterly … [Read more...]
Mt. Pelister
This article is about one of the most beautiful mountains on the Balkan Peninsula, Mount Pelister. This is not only my opinion, but of many people who came here and have visited Pelister, even the Gods. I heard a legend on television a few days ago - it said: The Gods asked Zeus why he settled at Mount Olimpus when there is a much more beautiful mountain to the north. Zeus became angry and decided to marry Pelister with Baba Mountain (baba means … [Read more...]
A White Trash Ski Trip
A few years back I went on my very first skiing experience which was unfortunately before I had a healthy respect for what is a very fun sport, but one in which to be careful. Arrogantly I was going to ski like everyone else who'd lived in the snowcapped towns of Sweden all their lives. They made it look so easy. I learned on the first trip not only down the slope, but up it too, that it's a tad bit more difficult than it looks. I was an … [Read more...]
Cannon Beach
Oregon's coastline is full of secrets: veiled pleasures and surprises, clandestine, deserted beaches and hidden gems peppering the towns in the form of lodgings or eateries. But perhaps the most stunning secret on all of Oregon's coast lies just outside of the art and culture mecca of Cannon Beach, on the north coast. There's a castle a bit south of town, hidden behind the walls of trees just north of the Arch Cape Tunnel. You can become king … [Read more...]
Argentina Yours Truly
Although I have made it a relentless point in my life to take advantage of every free moment (and buck or two) I've had in my vertiginous existence to discover a new place in the world, nothing has impressed me more than Argentina. The idea of visiting this far-away country had been in the back of my head for a few years, but somehow I always ended up in another spot (usually a hidden beach in Mexico or the South China sea). That was until 2003, … [Read more...]
A Hiking Guide to Easter Island, Chile
Ask me which Pacific island has the most to offer hikers and I'll probably answer Easter Island. Here on an island 11 km wide and 23 km long you'll find nearly a thousand ancient Polynesian statues strewn along a powerfully beautiful coastline or littering the slopes of an extinct volcano. The legends of Easter Island have been recounted many times. What's less known is that the island's assorted wonders are easily accessible on foot from the … [Read more...]
Medellin, Colombia Welcome to Paradise
"Welcome to Medellin, my friend! Look at the mountains! Look at the women! I'll tell you a secret - it's called Paradise!" Although Medellin is considered the most dangerous city in Colombia, if not the world, the locals never stopped telling me that it was the most wonderful place on the planet. The food, the weather, the people, they insisted, could not be better anywhere. That isn't exactly the image that Medellin holds for the rest of … [Read more...]
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