Offerings to Buddha.

Peaceful Prayertime

Vung Tau Beach

Temple in Nha Trang

Saigon – Old US Army Vehicles Plying the Streets

Orthodox Easter in Ethiopia is the real thing. No bunnies or chocolate eggs here ! As Ethiopia had been cut off from the rest of the world for nearly 1000 years, the rites and rituals are nearly the same as when Christianity arrived in 400 AD. This mass is at a church in Lalibela. ArcticTropic links to 3 destinations in Ethiopia.

Long Lost Laos was cut off from the world for nearly 20 years after the Communist occupations. The country had never changed much before that – a great advantage if one is looking for the Old Southeast Asia – much like Thailand might have been 40 years ago. Jungles, mountains, Holy villages, the limestone forest of Khammouane and caves such as Xe Bang Fai are all part of Laotian Adventure.

ArcticTropic currently has three locations in Laos – with room for many more! Go HERE to visit the sites directly.

India and Indonesia are already well represented on ArcticTropic Blog with ArcticTropic produced video. Please see the archives. Above we have travelogue propaganda from Iran -, where most people must go on an organized tour. ArcticTropic has two destinations in Iran. Please let us know about any more. Travelers with Iran footage ware welcome to link here and write for ArcticTropic Blog.

On Thursday morning a car was delivered to our hotel in Mexico City. After battling DF traffic for about an hour and a half, we were headed for Puebla on the Cuota – stopping for a late brunch in a high pass where the temperature was in the low 40s.

Puebla is very reminiscent of Spain. We explored the colonial churches and climbed Puebla Cathedral – a 400 year old tower that is 245 feet high. The tower is generally not open to the public – one must ask – it is a steep climb !

Hundreds of slippery steps !

For Mexican Adventure Travel – ArcticTropic offers direct links to destinations and soon – will offer direct booking !

Yesterday morning, fresh off the plane from Miami , I took a cab from GRU to São Bento Cathedral in São Paulo, Brazil. This is a really old missal rite that is being revived, especially in Brazil.

To visit the Ethiopian countryside is the closest thing to time travel – back to the 4th Century. ArcticTropic currently has three providers in Ethiopia.

From a respectable distance , this footage of multiple cremations was taken along the Ganges River in Varanasi, India. ArcticTropic is the gateway to all adventure travel in India. For an in depth look at Indian life, check out India Incognito.

Northern Thailand ,November,1988. An exotic,peaceful temple near the Burmese border. ArcticTropic has many links to exploration providers in Northern Thailand and the Golden Triangle Region.

As an American kid growing up in Heidelberg, (West) Germany, back in the 60’s I got to travel quite a bit around Europe – Western Europe. It was very difficult to travel to the mysterious lands beyond the Iron Curtain. I did traverse Yugoslavia by train on the way to Greece – fascinating to see out the window, but not really that “Communist”. I wished that our family could be a little more adventurous and visit Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, etc. However – there was one country completely off limits – Albania! No one could go there –ever – under pain of death.

Xenophobic Stalinist Dictator Enver Hoxha had sealed the nation off from the world. In the 1960’s the only diplomatic relations were with China – even those were broken in the 1970’s when Hoxha denounced the Chinese for betraying true Marxism.

For the next 25 years or so – I often glanced at the globe – knowing one day I would finally get to Albania. In 1991 the evil regime finally collapsed and the world finally got a glimpse of life inside the bizarre hermit nation. The early 90’s were a busy time for me, and I finally got a chance to visit in the Spring of 1995.

I flew from Bari, Italy to Tirana aboard an old YAK-40. Looking down from the plane it was hard to believe we were flying in Europe – the land was nearly unpopulated, with dirt tracks instead of roads. We had a slight delay in landing as sheep had to be cleared from the runway. On the runway were military aircraft – US, UN and Italian – as less than 80 miles away in Kosovo war was raging.

The first thing one notices when leaving the airport are the pillboxes everywhere. Hoxha had been convinced that the entire world was ready to attack and invade – so one pillbox was built for every four people (1 million pillboxes) to defend the homeland. In addition every fencepost had a razor sharp iron spike to impale invading parachutists.

The city of Tirana had not been rebuilt yet, as it is apparently now. Free enterprise had taken over, but Western retail establishments had not yet entered the volatile war-prone market.

Proletarian flatblocks were dilapidated – and Communist propaganda was still visible. PPSH had been the acronym for the Communist Party.

Religion was reappearing. The Iranian government was helping to reopen old mosques (one had been used as a hog slaughterhouse by Hoxha – to defile Islam and promote himself as a god) and build new ones. This mosque in Durazzo had been recently restored.

The people were very friendly – LOVED Americans and school kids cheered everywhere I went.

Government buildings were built in a way to inspire terror in would be dissidents.

Factories had been destroyed in fighting during the collapse of the Hoxha regime in 1991 – mostly outdated make-work sort of places. Also, an amphetamine factory had been looted at the same time all the armories of AK-47s and grenade launchers had been totally emptied by the populace – making for a very touchy situation – even still in 1995.

After a couple of days, first in a hotel, then at my guide’s flat, we ventured into the countryside. The old fort of Kruje glares imposingly from the Balkan heights.

Small villages are not much changed from medieval times.

Transport is primitive, yet innovative.

Pollution poisons the country air in many regions.

Once we were invited to a viewing of a 100-year-old man who had died that morning. In accordance with Islamic Law he was to be buried by sundown.

Propaganda is hard to remove.

Business deals everywhere – here at a car market where stolen cars from all over Europe are traded.

The coast is beautiful. 12 years ago the next Adriatic Riviera was waiting to be opened up – it still is.

Two wars have been fought here since my visit,and now the nation is at peace.

ArcticTropic features Albania, with a hotel link. More accommodations and providers will be offered soon. Please suggest any provider HERE – and we will list if appropriate. For advertising opportunities click HERE – or click on Advertise in the top menu bar.