by Calvin Sun | Apr 19, 2012 | April 2012: Iran, Blitzkrieg!!!, How Did You Do That?, How's the weather?, Public Transportation, Serendipitous!, Switzerland, The Nightlife, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come
One of the last moments of the trip After 5 hours in Frankfurt, we landed in Geneva, Switzerland where we had a whopping 20 hours to kill. Our options were: Stay in Geneva, meet a friend, and rest up before heading back home Head to Berne, meet a friend, and...
by Calvin Sun | Apr 14, 2012 | April 2012: Iran, How Did You Do That?, Iran, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Serendipitous!, Way Way Off the Beaten Path
As Americans, you’re not allowed to wander around Iran alone. You’re supposed to be guarded by an MFA-approved tour agency at all times following a strict itinerary. But that was not the case today. In true Monsooning fashion, we decided to skirt...
by Calvin Sun | Apr 14, 2012 | April 2012: Iran, Iran, Mythbusters, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Way Way Off the Beaten Path
We approach the mauseoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini with caution. If there’s anything I learned when I visited the mauseoleum of Kim Il-Sung in North Korea, it’s that you do not screw around when it comes to visiting the grave of the...
by Calvin Sun | Apr 12, 2012 | April 2012: Iran, Epiphanies on the Road, Iran, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come
He was a youth in 1979, toppling the statue of Reza Khan in defiance of the Shah. And as one of the many emerging activists of 1979 , he supported the historic regime change that led to the era of Ayatollah Khomeini. But before he was to bear witness to the...
by Calvin Sun | Jan 4, 2012 | December 2011: Spain, Gibraltar, Morocco, Portugal, Fail, Morocco, Serendipitous!, Way Way Off the Beaten Path
They say that 1st time is happenstance, 2nd time is coincidence… Let it be known that after our first run-in — and now definitely after this second coincidental run-in, Gerard Butler now reads this blog, and I quote from June (left in...
by Calvin Sun | Jan 2, 2012 | December 2011: Spain, Gibraltar, Morocco, Portugal, Fit for Foodies, Morocco, Serendipitous!, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come
Usually I would resort to these titles to grab your attention, but if you look at the picture above, you’ll see it’s more than a gimmick. It’s for real: 5 minutes ago we ran into Gerard Butler in the maze of souks within the Marrakech medina. Being...
by Calvin Sun | Nov 25, 2011 | Fit for Foodies, Guatemala, How Did You Do That?, November 2011: Guatemala & Belize, Public Transportation, Serendipitous!, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come
About a month ago I was still debating where I wanted to go for Thanksgiving weekend. To make a long story short, it was seeing a picture of Guatemala’s Lake Atitlan that helped me decide. Consistently rated as one of the top 2 things to see in all...
by Calvin Sun | Oct 26, 2011 | Publicity, Way Way Off the Beaten Path
Does this make us famous? We go on at the 64:00 and the interview lasts about an hour. We talk about how we pay for our travel, where my favorite places are, and of course getting into North Korea as an...
by Calvin Sun | Aug 23, 2011 | Let me tell you a Story..., North Korea, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come
It’s been a few days since I’ve been in North Korea. There are some things on a trip that are just asking to be done. When we noticed that elevator buttons skipped the 5th floor of our North Korean hotel in Pyongyang, or that if you google...
by Calvin Sun | Aug 14, 2011 | North Korea, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Way Way Off the Beaten Path
The cult of personality. That’s the term giving to folks like Mao, Stalin, Ho Chi Minh, Mussolini, Castro, and Kim Il-Sung. It’s the idea of using mass media and propaganda to fuel the notion that a single human being is a god-like hero, a savior of...
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