The Monsoon Diaries
  • TMD: A Memoir
    • Amazon
    • Barnes&Noble
    • Books-A-Million
    • Bookshop.org
    • Indiebound
    • Audible
    • AppleBooks
    • GooglePlay
    • Kobo
  • Upcoming Trips
    • French/Swiss Alps
    • Upstate NY Camping
    • Tomorrowland
    • East Coast Snow
    • Sudan
    • Paraguay
    • TransCanada Hwy
    • Kyrgyzstan
    • All Trips
  • Past Trips
    • Itineraries
    • Our Map
    • Trip Reviews
    • Pics & Vids
  • Our Story
    • What We Do
    • How We Do It
      • The 20 Rules
      • Travel Guide
    • In The Press
  • Community
    • Who We Are
      • Reunions
    • Our Friends
    • In The Media
    • Dancing
  • Blog
    • All Posts (List)
    • All Posts (Map)
    • Featured
    • Meditative
  • Shop
  • FAQ/Contact
Select Page
Nature’s Last Stand: It’s Only A Matter of Príncipe!

Nature’s Last Stand: It’s Only A Matter of Príncipe!

by Calvin Sun | Jan 8, 2024 | How Did You Do That?, Príncipe, São Tomé & Príncipe, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come, Winter 2023: The Gulf of Guinea

  After a 10 day long roadtrip across the coast along the Gulf of Guinea and a day to recover in Accra, we flew out on an afternoon 4:10pm TP1527 TAP Portugal flight from Accra to TMS airport in São Tomé, one of the least visited countries in the world.  ...
Let’s Go-lan, Far, and To New Heights Together

Let’s Go-lan, Far, and To New Heights Together

by Calvin Sun | Sep 25, 2023 | Border Crossing, How Did You Do That?, September 2023: Syria, Syria, Travel Warnings, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

  After saying our goodbyes yesterday to Francois and this morning to Rajani and Chris this morning, all of whom had to leave much earlier for their scheduled flights, we took a detour drive west to the Golan Heights before we’d make our own flights back...
Humbling Homs

Humbling Homs

by Calvin Sun | Sep 23, 2023 | Crisis, September 2023: Syria, Syria, The Nightlife, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

  This morning after breakfast and another quick workout at Hotel Laurus in Aleppo, we drove back south towards Homs at 9am.     Along the highway towards Homs we stopped for local pistachios back at Hama.     While our family dinner 2 nights...
Mogadishu, Somalia: Witness to Reconstruction & Renaissance

Mogadishu, Somalia: Witness to Reconstruction & Renaissance

by Calvin Sun | May 27, 2023 | Getting that VISA, May 2023: Horn of Africa, Somalia, Travel Warnings, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

 The Battle of Mogadishu took place nearly more than 30 years ago in 1993 and its subsequent depiction in the film Black Hawk Down has remained a fixture of my childhood since high school. I still remember the night when we went to watch the film with my fellow...
The Sweet Is Never As Sweet Without The Massawa

The Sweet Is Never As Sweet Without The Massawa

by Calvin Sun | May 22, 2023 | Crisis, Eritrea, Introspection, May 2023: Horn of Africa, Uncategorized Stories, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

 We’re skipping ahead from Somaliland to Massawa today, but if you want to read about how we got into Asmara yesterday from Somaliland: read here.After arriving a day later than planned in Asmara from Somaliland and Addis Ababa we quickly had...
“Laas Geel!” “To Where?” Berbera!

“Laas Geel!” “To Where?” Berbera!

by Calvin Sun | May 20, 2023 | Fail, Fit for Foodies, How's the weather?, May 2023: Horn of Africa, Somalia, Somaliland, Unrecognized Territories, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

  After breakfast this morning, we visited Hargeisa’s livestock market where locals allowed us to purchase our very own camel or goat!     Here also happens to be the only place in the world where you can find the original rare black-headed sheep...
« Older Entries
Next Entries »

Where Are We Now?

Click to open a larger map

Where Are We Next?

Click to open a larger map

Recent Posts

  • All Aboard the Santa Claus Express! February 10, 2026
  • For Richer, For Polar February 9, 2026
  • The Coolest Hotel in Lapland (Literally) February 7, 2026
  • Ylläs Hear Me Out February 6, 2026
  • Sundance’s Last Dance: Park City, UT January 27, 2026

Post Categories

Calendar of Posts

February 2026
M T W T F S S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
232425262728  
« Jan    
  • Facebook
  • X
  • Instagram
  • RSS
All original photos, videos and media uploaded to, and featured on this website (hereinafter (“Media Content”), are the intellectual property of Calvin D. Sun, MD and are copyright protected by The Monsoon Diaries™️ Download and use of any content or media on this website may be permitted for individual, educational, and non-commercial purposes only with the expressed written permission by the author and/or copyright holder. Please report any unauthorized use to calvin@monsoondiaries.com . Use of copyright materials, in contravention of the license above, may result in legal proceedings against the user for monetary damages, an injunction, and any other remedies and relief that a court of competent jurisdiction deems just and proper. Dr. Sun also hereby disclaims any and all liability to any party for any direct, indirect, implied, punitive, special, incidental or other consequential damages arising directly or indirectly from any use of the Media Content, which is provided as is, and without warranties. Copyright Notice: Copyright © 2020 The Monsoon Diaries™️, New York, NY USA, All Rights Reserved
Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
  • Manage options
  • Manage services
  • Manage {vendor_count} vendors
  • Read more about these purposes
View preferences
  • {title}
  • {title}
  • {title}