Across Thailand, thousands of small craft villages dot the landscape. Each one specializes in the manufacture of a particular handicraft. Especially in northern Thailand, the choices seem endless. In tiny Ban Ton Pao in northern Thailand, everyone in the villages is involved in the production of handmade paper from Mulberry bark. In nearby Baan Tawai, … Read more
On April 3, 2019, the Sultan of Brunei imposed Islamic sharia law on all residents of the country, including the 30% of the population who are not Muslims. In a nutshell, this means that people will be whipped or stoned to death for gay sex, adultery, sodomy, and rape, and the crime of theft will … Read more
Kota Kinabalu City Mosque was the highlight of my half-day tour of Kota Kinabalu (KK), capital of the Malaysian State of Sabah on the island of Borneo. The mirror image of the mosque reflected in its surrounding lagoon has earned it the nickname “floating mosque.” Knowing my tour would include a stop at an important … Read more
It had been a day of firsts for me at Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. I’d attended two live feedings in the jungle, where dozens of macaque monkeys and at least six orangutans had emerged from the jungle canopy to avail themselves of the fresh fruit. But the best experience of all occurred after the final … Read more
Not only is Borneo one of the few places in the world to see orangutans in the wild, it’s also fantastic for seeing endangered Sun Bears, proboscis monkeys, pygmy elephants, and monitor lizards, among other wild species. I saw them all and more in the Malaysian State of Sabah, on the island of Borneo, and … Read more
