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What’s there to do in Thailand outside of Bangkok?  Plenty!  Our favorite part of the trip was in North Thailand, a hilly area that was once the ancient Kingdom of Lanna, and is now a collection of nations and tribes split across the legal borders of Thailand, Laos and Burma.  This region is geographically midway […]

Today was my birthday and I was turning 13, finally a teenager! The car was waiting for us as we left the breakfast hall. We jumped in and began our ride to the elephant camp. After a one hour drive we reached the Thai Elephant Home. Accompanying us to the site today were two other […]

ประกอบด้วยแปลไทยด้านล่าง  (Thai translation at bottom) Rice has been eaten for thousands of years. For a while, people grew rice just like carrots; in a field of soil. Eventually, people found out that flooding the fields with water increased the quantity and quality of the rice. Farmers would plant seedlings in a non-flooded field, and when […]

Infamous and exotic, the Golden Triangle is situated at the intersection of northern Thailand, Laos, and Burma (Myanmar).  The mighty Mekong River flows through the heart of the Triangle and serves as a major trade thoroughfare and border between nations.  Just thirty years ago, up to 90% of the world’s opium supply poured out of […]

Our guide Suzy brought us to the Floating Market, about an hour and a half south of Bangkok.   This market had water canals instead of roads. We stepped into a “James Bond” boat and whizzed down a series of canals. As we sped along, water sprayed as high as the boat’s canopy; I nonchalantly munched […]

Piggy visited Thailand and looked at lots of temples. Can you guess what city this collection of temples is in?  Bonus question:  what is the name of the temple?  There is also an emerald Buddha here.

As part of Road School, the kids are reading a textbook comparing eight major world religions.  In the Hinduism unit we read about an ancient Sanskrit epic, the Ramayana which means Rama’s Journey. We had never heard about this story, but it is just as important in the East as the Odyssey or Gilgamesh.  When […]

Dedicated to my cousin Eleanor Wilcox, for getting me re-interested in Haikus The green and gold train Rolls into the hot station On clean oiled wheels Our passports get stamped We board the train in car D I’m so excited Our glasses wobble But not a single drop falls On the white table The train […]

Where can you find Hindu Indians, Buddhist Chinese, and Muslim and Christian Malays living side by side in an island leased from a Sultan and developed by the British?  The answer is George Town, a UNESCO World Heritage site and the capital city of Penang, one of the states of Malaysia.  On its first morning out of Singapore, […]

     Piggy is getting onto an ovenight train.  She is very excited.  Can you guess what train she is taking? Bonus question:  what country is she in? Send your guesses to me at katherine@365saturdays.org!

Eating in Singapore is a national pastime so compelling that more than 5 million tourists visit annually to participate. While some opt for the five-star tables, those in the know come for the street food. We were clueless and consequently delighted when we learned that the city was filled with “food courts” where hawkers selling […]

Here follows the account of Hurlock Pseudonym Bonde, in…..THE GROUP OF EIGHT I was sitting in my lovely office, smoking a burgundy pipe from Melbourne, when I got a call from “N”. “Hurlock, I need you in Rotorua, A.S.A.P.! A plane is booked for 3:45 today, your tickets and boarding pass will be waiting for […]

     Our friend Gordon told us that while we were in New Zealand, we better take a moment to enjoy the stars.  Not only does New Zealand have clear air and low light pollution, but it is so far south that you get a fabulous view of the southern celestial sky. Our eyes were drawn […]

Every evening a group of New Zealand’s Native tribesmen and woman called the Maori come together to perform. It seemed like a great way to better understand the culture, so we went there Saturday night. It began with a traditional Maori welcome, with Nick from Australia representing our tribe’s chief. He picked up the fern […]

This is the true story of an Englishman who made a New Zealander dig forty-one holes in a hill, sixty years in the future. The Englishman J.R.R. Tolkien was born in Africa and came back to live in England at the age of three.  His father and later his mother died of illnesses and he […]

Chop- chop- chop- chop- chop- chop- chop- chop- chop!  Our Helicopter lifted off and we were headed to White Island, home of a volcano that acted up every 10-15 years.  The last incident was in 2000.  We were in the zone. When we landed our pilot gave us each helmets and gas masks!  Then we […]

The folks at Treetops are fond of saying “Anything is possible here.”  That is a statement that begs to be tested.  Can you arrange for local Maori elders to greet us on arrival with a ritual welcoming ceremony?  Yes!  Can you schedule a helicopter to fly us to an offshore volcano?  Yes!  Could you make […]

     Piggy visited a set from the Lord of the Rings movies.  Can you guess where she is on Middle Earth?  Email your answer to me at katherine@365saturdays.org!

54New Zealand is a Mecca for outdoor lovers and, while I would never classify myself as a Nature gal, even I couldn’t help but be transported by the lushness and variety of the Great Outdoors quite literally outside my door. Russ, Giles, and I left the lodge at 11:00 am with the stated intention of […]

When we arrived at the hotel on South Island, the first thing we thought was: “is this the right place?” It was a beautiful stretch of land covering 2400 acres, and the only man made thing we could see (besides cars and roads) was a big yellow house. We rang the doorbell and were greeted […]

There are lots of volcanoes in New Zealand.  This is the largest active volcano.  It is a cone volcano.  Can you guess which small island it is on?  (Not North Island or South Island those are the two major islands of New Zealand). P.S. I am so sorry!  I am really behind on the Piggy […]

We had a red-eye flight into Hong Kong that proved easier than expected, due to the kindness of a Kingfisher employee who saw the kids and decided to upgrade our seats!  Thank goodness for a decent night’s rest. The goals for Hong Kong were simple:  first, to rest and rejuvenate after a couple of weeks of intense […]

Can you guess where Piggy is spending the night? Send your guess to me by email to katherine@365saturdays.org P.S.  Can you also guess what animal year is about to start here?

When we were in France, I fell in love with the castle Chenonceau.  In India, I fell in love with The Lake Palace.  The Lake Palace was the summer residence of the Maharana of Udaipur. Maharana means warrior king and is a title distinct from Maharaja.  The current ruling dynasty in Udaipur has stood for […]

The cuisine of India is rich in history, dazzling in color, and overwhelming in variety.  Countless legumes, vegetables, and spices are combined to create everything from street snacks to five-star entrees. I did a lot of eating and a bit of cooking while here and my first introduction to both came under the expert guidance […]

We swerve to the left around a herd of cows, not too far because there is a grey horse lumbering just beside us, straining to pull a metal-wheeled cart stacked eight feet high with cow dung patties.  No matter that there is just one lane going our direction – the cows, the horse and our […]

The Indians are fantastic martial inventors. They invented many hundreds of things, but I have chosen the top invention of each main category that we saw. GATE DEFENSES A fort’s gate is its weak link, the easiest place to smash in and take control. In India there are bristly, natural, and gray battering rams know […]

All over India we have seen many different kinds of animals. From parakeets to water buffalos, India is full of life. The first animals we noticed were the monkeys. They run around eating bananas, banging on things, scratching themselves, grunting, and other equally un-useful things. They are however, very cute. They have tangerine fur and […]

To break up a long drive from Agra to Jaipur, we stopped first outside of Agra at Fatehpur Sikri, which was briefly the Mughal capital (long story) and contains an impressive palace complex. Further along, we visited Chand Baori – a step well.  Step wells are massive excavated stone cisterns that could store rain water, […]

Here is a true story:  when the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan was a prince, he visited a market at the palace grounds.  There he spied a beautiful girl, Mumtaz Mahal, who was working at a bangle booth.  She was the daughter of one of the court accountants.  He was so entranced that he proposed on […]

This one is easy but we had to post Piggy here! Can you guess where she is? Bonus question: What was this place built for? Email your answer to me at katherine@365saturdays.org

Glossary Roti——-Nan-like bread. Flat and circular. To end our first day in India our guide, Majeet, brought us to a Sikh Temple. Before entering the complex, we had to take off our shoes and socks and cover our hair. My mom and sister already had scarves, and Majeet had a turban, but my dad and […]

The classic touring trip to India is called the Golden Triangle, which is exactly what we signed up to do for our first exposure to the country.   It all takes place in Northwest India, right around the capital city and then to the immediate south in a desert area called Rajasthan.  You fly into New […]

The final stopping point for our Nile boat trip was Luxor – home of multiple ancient Egypt sights including the Valley of the Kings that Gina describes.  The last day here we stayed in the city and saw the massive temple of Karnak and the temple of Luxor as well as the Luxor Museum.  All […]

Although our hotel was out by the pyramids, we crossed the Nile and plunged into Cairo several times.  It is an astonishing city.  Cairo has 17 million residents and swells by another 3 million commuters every day.  (Some people say the actual numbers are far higher than the official statistics).  The commute times to go […]

We didn’t really know much about the Valley of the Kings and so went in with modest expectations.  After all, two days prior we had descended into the pyramids themselves like modern-day tomb raiders.  What could top that?  Our interest was piqued when we were informed that no photography of any sort was allowed in […]

Can you guess where Piggy is sight-seeing today? Email your answer to me at katherine@365saturdays.org

Before us towered Edfu temple, one of the best preserved temples in all of Egypt. Dedicated to the god Horus, Edfu temple is 118 feet high and a fantastic but small sized memory of the Egyptian builders and engineers. The temple’s gate is lower than the pylons to its left and right. Symbolizing the Nile […]

By far the most interesting pyramid to visit is outside Cairo at Saqqara.  Here is the oldest of the pyramids, designed by Imhotep.  At the time the pharaohs were buried deep in shafts – not 6 feet under but 600 feet under, the depth representing the importance of the pharaoh.  This first pyramid was designed […]

The great Pyramids of Giza are the last standing wonder of the ancient world. They were built with stone knifes and watery sand for glue. They are towering structures built for one purpose and one purpose only: to hold a body.  They were amazing! Why go to so much trouble to bury a single body? […]