The Traveling Pancy

We landed in DaNang, Vietnam mid afternoon. It was wet, more mist than rain and very humid with a similar forecast for the next few days, identical weather to the entire nine days we were in Vietnam twenty years ago. I inwardly groaned – does the sun never shine here? Time to unpack the rain…

When we booked the Ancient Crossroads trip pre-COVID, our itinerary had us visiting Mynamar. Connected to the Silk Road via sea routes to China and overland, Mynamar, known as Burma at the time, was noted for its prized etched beads. But political turmoil and a government coup intervened so Vietman replace Mynamar in the itinerary,…

After an almost nine hour flight, a two hour advance in time and a one hour transfer from the airport, we arrived at the Bangkok Four Seasons well after dark, exhausted. Staff welcomed us with fragrant leis of white and red roses, then thankfully, whisked us off to our room. Observing from floor to ceiling…

The term Silk Road conjures up images of the overland trade route between Southeast Asia, China, India, Arabia, Egypt and Europe, but commerce also happened by sea. The Maritime Silk Road was established and operated primarily by sailors from Southeast Asia and the Arabian pennisula. Not only did this route move silk, spices, foodstuffs and…

Ancient Samarkand was known for both its high quality silk weaving and papermaking – two artisan craft industries that are alive and well today given their importance to Uzbeki culture. Both crafts came to Samarkand via the Silk Road from China, paper in the 7th century, silk weaving a few centuries later, were embraced by…

We arrived in Samarkand at dusk and met our guide, Timur. Likely expecting that we knew little of Uzbekistan, let alone Samarkand, he spent our transport time educating us. A former Soviet Republic, today Uzbekistan is an independent, self governing state of 35 million people whose heritage is a unique multicultural mixture of ancient Persian,…

I knew little about Central Asia prior to this trip, especially the Stans.  ‘World’ history in American education is narrow and only focuses on Europe.  So I was excited to get a glimpse of Central Asia – its history, geography, politics and culture in Uzbekistan.  The city of Samarkand that we would visit in Uzbekistan…

We paralleled the Dead Sea for much of our drive to Masada.  The saltiest water body in the world, nothing but some hearty baceteria lives in this 234 square mile sea, but its minerals and salts are world renowned for skincare and cosmetic manufacture.   The sea is beautiful – aquamarine blue set against a hazy…

The Old City of Jerusalem is complicated, crowded and at times overwhelming.  I was first in Jerusalem almost ten years ago but happy to have a second chance to try to absorb all this ancient city has to offer.  We arrived after dark and shuttled to the King David, a hotel with a rich history…

Israel is a land that holds meaning to many diverse people.  Historically important to the religious traditions of Jews, Christians and Muslims, the history of the region dates back to 15th century BCE and has been occupied by Caanites, Jewish tribes, Romans, Byzantines, Crusaders, Ottoman Turks, Palestinians and more recently Jews from around the world. …