T H I S+W E E K

Sleeping with elephants
By Don Meredith
Earth-shaking encounters in Kenya

Sleepless in Siena
By Don George, Editor
The strangest place I've ever slept

Man is an island
By Jan Morris
The Isle of Man is the last contented jewel in Britain's imperial crown

D E P A R T M E N T S

The Surreal Gourmet
By Bob Blumer
Corn off the cob

Passages
"Desiring Italy"
Mary Taylor Simeti's Sicilian journal

> Readers' Tips and Tales
My private wanderlust

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LA S T+W E E K

Tuesday, August 12, 1997

S t .+E l v i s
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Who took the grace out of Graceland?
By Cintra Wilson
Our columnist goes to Memphis

The King and us
By Christina Boufis
The world's most maniacal Elvis fans

Way dead Elvis
By Greil Marcus
A tribute to the King proves that his posthumous legend has become equal parts sincerity and trash

A full list of all
Wanderlust articles

April Romo de Vivar | My private wanderlust
07:32pm Aug 5, 1997 PST (#22 of 22)

i moved around a lot as a child and began to feel the itch itch itching about every four years even after I stopped. That first non-move at the end of the first four years was the hardest. I thought that I would go mad. Maybe, I did.

I raised babies and stayed in one place, dreaming vacations, always alone.

One day, I decided to pack up and go out and sell my artwork to more than two cities. The first time that I went out alone, I was concerned with safety and whether I could really do this.

The second time, I took the dog and stopped everywhere, took tiny little winding roads, took the long way when given a choice and avoided freeways like the plague. The last day before having to go home, I sat on a rock watching the city dog root in the stinky mud of the Rio Grande river bank,chasing water bugs and splashing insanely, just for the sheer joy of splashing water. We're desert folks.

The wanderlust grew and I had to head out every five to six weeks after that. I started renting vans so that I could go to tiny places and sleep inside of it. When I began putting things in the vans, Najee, the dog would start to bark, then dance , then try to push past me wagging his tail. Too happy to hide it. I felt the same way.I did that for three years and never have figured out why I stopped and started shipping my work......

When I gave that up, I began to feel mildly crazy again, as if biding my time. I try to tell myself that I will figure out how to do that again, should do that again. I bought my own van,an old thing, but strong. I guess that I'm just waiting to finish fixing it up enough to have no worries about taking it down those little New Mexico forks in the road that lead you to another place worthy of stopping at forever.

I discovered that Crown Victorias are the best rental vehicles for the backwoods of the NAVAJO NATION and all of its little twists and turns and ups and downs.

deborah soper | Traveling in India
08:34am Aug 12, 1997 PST (#1 of 1)

i lived in India for one one year in this very holy city of Varanasi. The day to day experiences of living in one of the oldest "living" and traditional cities in the world have always been the highlight of my travels.

I am an archaeologist and the first thing I noticed was the ancient architecture and was comparing building techniques of the wells and structures to those that I saw at Mohenjo-daro, a Harappan Civilization site in Pakistan, to the wells at the ghats of Varanasi. I was a student in Varanasi learning the language attending classes at Banaras Hindu University as well as reserched archaeological material in Calcutta, Hyderbad, Dehli and for a vacation I treated myself to a Christmas camel trek in the Rajasthan desert. I lived with an Indian family and made life long friends.

One truely unique aspect of Varanasi are the pilgrims. They come from all over India dressed in their traditional clothing making them very visible within the north Indians who live in the city. There are so many festivals and holy days it is hard to keep track. Varanasi is worth the visit but my only word of advice to travelers is to realize that you are in a very traditional Hindu city, use common sense and dress appropriately. You would not see women wearing tank tops and shorts in a Catholic Cathedral in Italy. You will be in a different culture with a different dress code try to follow that code as best you can in western clothes or Indian. This practice would be good not only in Varnasi but all over India. Actually the Indian clothes are surprising light and well geared for the hot weather. The residents and pilgrims will have more resepect for you and other travelers from our western part of the world. If you want to know more about Varanasi or India and Pakistan let me know. It is my second home.

April Romo de Vivar | Using local public transit when travelling
12:52pm Aug 13, 1997 PST (#7 of 7)

let me counter my last entry with the Best Bus Ride on the Planet.

I got on a bus in the part of Rio called Leblon,the beginning of the line at the time. It was two weeks before Carnaval and the radios had just introduced the new songs for that year's Escolas de Samba.

A fellow at the back of the bus began to hum a new tune and shook his keys and hit his hand with them to the beat of his song. the guy in front of him,just lighting a cigarette, shook his little box of wooden matches to the same beat. the man just coming on the bus hit each metal seat back with hi hand on his way to sit down. Two schoolboys hit the metal seat backs with their pencils to another part of that beat. Someone said,zum,zum,zum to the counter beat.The token taker clicked the tokens together and the driver nodded in time and braked the bus, the last ten feet in little jerks to the beat. Someone began to hit the side of the bus and so did others. Finally, the new words to the new song began and we all sang. Some school girls did a little dance for each other giggling and this went on for over twenty minutes, o lei o lei o la......

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