Autopsis » Travel

Parallel Worlds

Doug — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:51:34 +0000

The tailcoat was electric blue, and being pressed up against the car, covered the window.

I’d seen something close to the tailcoat’s color in a peacock’s feathers, a shade less similar in a highland weaver’s threads, and a mild resemblance in the shimmering breast of a hummingbird flitting in and out of the sun, but that was as close as my last year’s memory could get to what smothered my field of view.

The tailcoat’s electric blue was a color not found in nature.

Before I could recoil, the tailcoat slid away, replaced by the smooth black silk of a top hat, which was even more disorienting that the electric blue coat.

The car door swung open and the doorman’s face appeared around it. In my disconnected state of mind, his dark skin, shaved head, large white teeth and broad smile created the aura of a voodoo priest assassin from an early James Bond adventure, beckoning me into his lair.

His arm swept forward and he said, “Welcome. Please, this way…”

Click here for the rest of the story: www.hackneys.com/travel/docs/parallelworlds.pdf

The Hat Photo

Doug — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 02:02:54 +0000

I’ve been getting a lot of requests for a shot of me in the hat from the story The Hat Man, so here it is:

(more…)

Stuff-o-holic

Doug — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:57:09 +0000

Hello, my name is Doug, and I am a stuff-o-holic.

Click here for the rest of the story: http://www.hackneys.com/travel/ecuador/stuff-o-holic.pdf

Polywogs No More

Doug — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:36:42 +0000

300 years ago in the Royal Navy, we would have been dragged through the ocean from a yardarm and nearly drowned.

Even today, in the United States Navy, we would have been obliged to drink and eat unspeakable concoctions in the service of Lord Neptune.

But we were not compelled to any of those fates.

Click here for the rest of the story: www.hackneys.com/travel/ecuador/polywogsnomore.pdf

2008 September Photos Posted

Doug — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 00:08:13 +0000

Photos from September 2008 are posted here: www.hackneys.com/gallery/v/travel/2008/

Photos are all from Peru and include:

Nazca Lines
Chicken Bus Roads
Highland villages and agriculture
Cordillera Blanca & Cordillera Negra (White Mountains & Black Mountains)
Reed fishing boats
And more

Instant Karma

Doug — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 20:44:07 +0000

“Instant karma’s gonna get you”

I grunted and rolled over, but the knocks came again. “Knock, knock, knock!” harder this time.

I crawled down out of the berth and checked the clock. “Hmmm, too early for Steph to be back from the market. I wonder who this is?” I thought.

Click here for the rest of the story: www.hackneys.com/travel/ecuador/instantkarma.pdf

The Hat Man

Doug — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 19:08:30 +0000

The old man motioned from the dark opening. Come in, he prompted, come here.

Steph called over her shoulder as she crossed the street, “Doug, come on, let’s check it out.”

Click here for the rest of the story: http://www.hackneys.com/travel/ecuador/thehatman.pdf

2008 August Photos Posted

Doug — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 18:42:36 +0000

Photos from our travels in August 2008 are posted at: http://www.hackneys.com/gallery/v/travel/

These photos are from Peru and include Machu Picchu, the Salinas, etc.

Lunch with Ernesto

Doug — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 15:32:46 +0000

We stopped at Cabo Blanco, Peru, for lunch today.

Cabo Blanco is popularly known for a couple of things, and less known for two additional things, both arguably more significant.

From our lunch spot, we could see the first of the less known, but more significant, features of Cabo Blanco.

Click here for the rest of the story: http://www.hackneys.com/travel/peru/docs/lunchwithernesto.pdf

The Promised Land

Doug — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:54:22 +0000

After more than a month of driving chicken bus roads, where our typical day’s average speed hovered around 20 to 30 kilometers per hour (12.5 - 18.6 mph), it was heaven to be on the Panamericana cruising along at a blistering 80 - 100 kph (49.7 - 62 mph).

We were so enamored with the smooth asphalt and warp speed we were able to more-or-less ignore the pervasive, endless-border-town creepiness of the Panamericana.

As I hummed along with the first music pumped out of the stereo in months, I plotted the hundreds of kilometers we’d make in the remaining hours of the day. I planned to drive deep into the night to make up for the many hours of errands and provisioning we expended before our departure.

My mental map was well up the coast toward our destination at a small coastal village for a GivingPictures project when my daydreams were shattered by an explosion from the rear of the Fuso.

Click here for the rest of the story: http://www.hackneys.com/travel/peru/docs/thepromisedland.pdf