On a meandering journey in Germany, I traveled to the Town of Bamberg, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Bamberg is one of the touted medieval towns in Bavaria, and one of the better ones.  Starting from the train station, there…

In Phnom Penh, Cambodia, is the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, the former Security Office 21 in “Democratic Kampuchea,” an  interrogation center created by Pol Pot (Saloth Sâr) in 1975. In April 1975, the Khmer Rouge led a victorious attack on…

Nepal. Each year at Chitwan National Park, there is a 10-day interval during which villagers can enter the National Park and cut elephant grass, pick mushrooms, and otherwise take advantage of its natural resources from which they are barred during…

India.  From travels in the State of Kerala in Southern India… In Malappuram, there are temples carved from single huge stones. In one huge (100×50 foot) relief carved into a natural rock wall were intricate scenes of battle, triumph, torment,…

Reflecting on Chairman Mao Zedung, I can’t help but thinking of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Ode to Ozymandias. In the early 1980s, many in the world watched reports on the trial of the Gang of Five (Mao supporters).   In 2000…