I have longed to experience the monsoon. I watch with great joy. It’s so wet that photos are hard to capture.
I’m told that this is the end of the hot season. The monsoons have come early this year. The days are sunny and the temperature reaches only into the 90s F (35 Celsius). Every few days, the sky will darken, the winds whip the trees into a frenzy, and then the water descends from the sky in buckets.
Bucket list, indeed.
Wear red and white… see THE tree… join the parade down by Dhaka University… The new year is a time to clear old debts and start fresh! Everyone is merry and enjoys the carnival atmosphere. It was great fun. Truly festive.
Walk up a waterfall and swim like tarzan in the jungle… at the Kuang Si waterfall near Luang Prabang, Laos.
Just one reason that Laos is gorgeous!
The Hagia Sophia (Aya Sofia) has survived so much history that it seems impossible for more stories to be added to her walls. But, she can support it all. One of my favorites, this is possibly the greatest building ever built. 
Come visit Istanbul and the Hagia Sophia!
Here are some more food photos as promised…
I came to Istanbul to see friends and to eat. Then so much more happened. Like the Hagia Sofia, this city of living myth and carpets wrapped her mighty magic embrace… and now, my heart is falling hard. When I told this to my friend, she said, “Good. I’m glad that you are leaving your heart here… then you’ll come back for it.”
An easy flight from Dhaka and you are suddenly in Singapore (so clean that I was smitten but not bitten). The soup dish called “laksa” is delicious cheap food (around $4)… and not just because Tony Bourdain said so! Take the number 14 bus to check another thing off the bucket list.
