The ZoeverseThe first thing I’d tell the Asia traveler is that Asia is big. It includes many countries, a huge variety of the world. People tend to think of East Asia when thinking of being an Asia traveler – it includes Central and West Asia.
And the Middle East. Complicated place.
My roots are technically Asian, back before they were European. But I suppose we are all African, in the end. :)
I’ve explored much of Asia, from the Stans to Japan to India to Russia to the Southeast – and here are my tales to tell about it. There’s still a good half of Asia I haven’t been to yet. Some of the world’s most difficult to visit (for me) countries are located in Asia – including the country I am saving for very last on my journey to every country in the world: Iran. I’ll get there. I will. I’m an intrepid Asia traveler.
It seems many of the world’s wonders are located in Asia. Great civilizations of the recent past, and, it seems to me, the not so distant future.
Also have to give an extra nod to Asian men because I separate them into different countries here on the blog, so they don’t get enough love as a group. They don’t get enough love as a group all around the world. For some reason we’ve decided to desexualize the Asian man. It is what it is. I love Asian men of all kinds, I don’t buy into any of that bullshit. Men are men. Hot.
Wasn’t particularly impressed with ganja in Mumbai, but I love Mumbai though. I’ll just start there. I’m halfway through over five weeks in India. I visited all the major cities, like a maniac. I don’t like things other people like. No one would advise visiting all the major cities in India in a row, not Read More
I find out about the Cu Chi Tunnels Firing Range when I am told by my amazing Vietnamese host to go to the Cu Chi tunnels to learn about the American/Vietnam War. He doesn’t mention it to me, but when I look up the tunnels there’s a list of associated activities including the Cu Chi Read More
I buy my best friend birthday presents for years without nothing in return. He moves to Tokyo to pursue his dreams of finding a Japanese wife (I mean, other dreams too, but, that’s the one that counts). There’s a point at which he emails me in a panic because every Japanese condom he has tried Read More
“I have a Jew in my home?” she says in her lilting Arabic accent , beaming at me. I cringe. I only told her because she revealed that she had helped an Israeli visit Kuwait, and that she loves Jews. It’s not safe to be a Jew here. “Why don’t we just keep it to Read More
The most popular photo I have taken in all my travels is one I took at Sonagachi. What is Sonagachi? Sonagachi is the is the largest red-light district in Asia. The number of sex workers varies depending on who you ask. Probably around ten thousand. I am always curious about extremes of all kinds, the Read More
I stand on the inside of the fence at the edge of the fire crater, because there are no real laws here at the Turkmenistan Gates of Hell, specifically. Because Turkmenistan is binary. Either it’s boxed or it’s wild. He stands on the outside of the fence and we pass the bottles back and forth Read More
Buzkashi Tajikistan. It’s not something I plan. I don’t even really know what it is before seeing it. I’ve read about it, somewhere, but managed to store away the information in the forget file. I do that with many things. Learn about them, then forget that I have learned about them, then encounter them and Read More
I know nothing about the world except through observation and the association thereof with vague pieces of data. That disclaimer should likely go on all of my posts, but considering how little I truly know about Jordan outside of one sample of Jordanian hash, it definitely belongs on this one. Jordan seems a blend of Read More
It’s a party night in Los Angeles, and the last thing on my mind is dating Russian men or a Russian lover. It’s international and integrated, as many Los Angeles parties are. And there’s my Chinese American friend and some Siberian couchsurfer and a Mexican and then two space scientists from Austria and Russia. The Read More
I do not often, as a rule, find myself buying drugs on the street. Nor do I make exceptions for parks. I frown on other people buying drugs on the street, in almost all situations. This is because I have had realistic and horrid encounters with drugs of unknown origins. If I didn’t make it Read More