Rail Voyage on the Indian Pacific Perth to Sydney
Strains of Waltzing Matilda under the stars on the Nullarbor Plain Perth arrival, nearly missing my train, but my Sikh taxi driver set me straight…. During all my years of travel to over 100 countries, I had never been to Australia. But a seven - hour flight from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport with the strains of “Waltzing Matilda” stuck in my head (1959 - remember that movie “On the Beach”, primarily set in Australia, describing the apocalyptic nuclear war’s end?) would ch
Vietnam Railways - the Reunification Express
I have logged thousands of miles in airplanes, through good weather and bad, but some of the most severe turbulence of my many years of flying struck my Vietnam Airlines Airbus 320 as we descended towards Noi Bai Airport on a mid – Sunday morning. Strong sideways jolts were more than an inconvenience as we descended further; friends had told me yesterday there were severe thunderstorms in Hanoi – apparently some still remained. Finally at about 500 feet, the air cleared pavin
Vietnam - Looking for the Footprints of War
Footprints of the American War; searching for an experience that never was. It was July 1968 and the Vietnam War was raging. A lot had happened in the past couple of months for me – graduated from university, started work at the railroad and, most importantly, I lost my student draft deferment. Suddenly, I was now an inductee on my way to Ft. Campbell Kentucky. Cold sweats as I boarded the bus in Indianapolis for the nocturnal trip. Some trepidation, surely, and the depressi
