by Calvin Sun | Apr 12, 2012 | April 2012: Iran, Epiphanies on the Road, Iran, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come
He was a youth in 1979, toppling the statue of Reza Khan in defiance of the Shah. And as one of the many emerging activists of 1979 , he supported the historic regime change that led to the era of Ayatollah Khomeini. But before he was to bear witness to the...
by Calvin Sun | Jun 25, 2011 | Epiphanies on the Road, Introspection, Let me tell you a Story..., Nepal, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, What Dreams May Come
Doubt is useful for awhile. . . . But we must move on. To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation. — Life of Pi, Chapter 7 In the course of 6 hours on the bus from Kathmandu to Pokahara I have finished...
by Calvin Sun | Jun 19, 2011 | Epiphanies on the Road, Introspection, Jordan, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, What Dreams May Come
We are the only two foreigners. Scratch that — the only two Asians in a sea of local Jordanians and other Arabians. In a balcony cafe awash with the perfumed smoke of nargile, we overlook the quiet chaos of downtown Amman. For a moment, everything seems...
by Calvin Sun | Aug 6, 2010 | Epiphanies on the Road, India, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, What Dreams May Come
Last night: Overnight bus in the middle-of-nowhere, India. A song from a distant past begins to play on the iPod. The last time I heard this song I am also on a night bus: It is exactly 11 years ago in the middle-of-somewhere America and I am returning from a...
