TREK-PART 6: A WEDDING, A WONDER, AND BRAD NEWSHAM (NEPAL, 1982)
Marianique and I reversed course and headed back down the mountain from Muktinath, a depressing venture. Neither of us wanted to retreat from this high part of the world. We wanted to go farther. We...
TREK-PART 5: THE HOLY FLAME AND A LINE IN THE SNOW (NEPAL, 1982)
The morning after the Valley Girl lost her composure, Marianique and I packed up our backpacks, dined on the Red House gruel, climbed back through the gauntlet of ladders and horse pens to frigid...
TREK-PART 4: A FORD, APPLE PIE, AND A VALLEY GIRL (NEPAL, 1982)
After a breakfast of singed nan and gritty porridge prepared by our Lete innkeeper, Marianique and I left our primeval yak-pen lodging under a clear sky and headed northward up the Kali Gandaki...
EGYPT AIR: A SLIGHT TECHNICAL SNAG (EGYPT, 1982)
The old Egypt Air 737 slowly rose from the bumpy runway and soared upward into a bright clear sky. It ascended over the Nile, curved over Giza, crossed the outer edge of the vast dusty metropolis,...
TREK-PART 3: DEAD GUYS AND LIGHTNING (NEPAL, 1982)
Marianique refused to stay an extra day in Ghorepani—despite our aching bodies, the eclectic collection of travelers, and the extraordinary views of the surrounding mountains. I didn’t want to...
TREK-PART 2: MARIANIQUE (NEPAL, 1982)
Near the top of the ridge above Pokhara, I came to a fork in the trail. It was poorly marked so I dropped my pack and dug the map out its pocket for a quick review of my location. Would the entire...
TREK-PART 1: ALONE (NEPAL, 1982)
The winding death-ride in the old bus from Kathmandu ended when the betel-chewing driver swung off the potholed pavement, bounced into a gravel parking lot, set his brake, yanked the door lever, and...
24 HOURS SOUTH OF THE BORDER (MEXICO 1986)
Five uniformed Federales marched up the beach in our direction, eyes locked forward, guns in readied positions.
INVITATION TO THE PYRES (INDIA 1982)
We could feel the radiance of the burning pyres nearly a hundred feet away. Woody fuel crackled and popped as a hundred-plus Hindu celebrants sang and danced in undulating patterns around three...
THE CHOLLA (PLACERVILLE 1969)
Balancing atop the wobbly step-stool, hefting a brimming watering can upward with my quavering arm, I strained toward a thirsty cactus jammed on a shelf that was too high to easily reach. It wasn’t...
FINDING THE IGUANA (MEXICO 1983)
“Did you bring the Dramamine?” Chris dug into his backpack, rummaged around, then looked up with a blank stare. “You mean YOU don’t have it?” he asked. “No.” He shrugged and sighed. “Shit!” I...
CHAOS OVER PAKISTAN (1988)
“Return to your seats!” the forward flight attendant yelled over the intercom. “NOW!—please!” she added with a hint of panic. The large entourage of travelers in the jet’s midsection ignored the...
CLIFF PACKING IN THE HIGH SIERRA (2018)
“Crack!” A rock the size of a bread loaf bounced off a ledge above, whizzed by my head, spun right over Gary and landed a good forty feet below the two of us with a “Whump,” exploding into smaller...
OVERLAND TO CAIRO (GAZA-SINAI-EGYPT 1982)
Shouldering my pack, I strode out of my cheap Tel Aviv travelers’ hotel, walked to the transit terminal, and boarded the public bus for the Egyptian border. The fare was a modest US $12, a bargain...
A MILLION BUCKS (DAVIS, 1977)
Six of us encircled three drained pitchers of Larry Blake’s tap beer, elbow to elbow, eyeball to eyeball, down in the smoky rathskeller. We were grasping for a warm buzz on a winter’s night, seeking...
SCHOOLED BY A SADHU (India, 1982)
Standing alone in the middle of a dirt-floored, fly-infested local marketplace, it didn’t register that there were no other tourists within sight or earshot. Why should it? This was one of my...
BACK TO THE BEACH (Oakland, 2019)
Sprawled out on my back, before me lay—of all things—a tropical beach with frothy, white waves rolling in from a blue sea. There were palm trees, birds flittering about and the constant roar of the...
THE OUTHOUSE (Nevada, 1960s)
When Dad finally slowed, I glanced up, hoping to see a nice, clean service station with a restroom. There weren’t many of those out there. That’s where we were, too—“out there”
THE MONKEY MEN (India, 1982)
It was April and the afternoon air baked from the pre-monsoon forced-heating of the Indian interior. Even the trees seemed to wilt. Cows wandered the eroded streets between the rickshaws and...
HALLOWEEN GORE (Marin, 2010)
Ten years ago, maybe more, I bought one of those do-it-yourself gore kits at the Halloween store and fashioned the best neck gash ever. It took some finesse in gluing the pieces to my skin, then...