Sounds of Türkiye: Minarets and the Cats’ Meow

Asia, Culture, Europe, Middle East & Africa

The eminent archeologist was explaining how the discoveries at Göbekli Tepe in southeastern Türkiye were changing the way people understood Neolithic history. But most of my attention was directed toward an affectionate tricolor tabby posing coquettishly in the foreground of the ruins. This is a common occurrence in Türkiye, where an estimated five to 10 million cats, ranging from domesticated to feral, roam urban boulevards, lavish resorts, trendy shopping centers and country lanes. In Istanbul, you’ll find street-dwelling felines lurking in and around structures that include Byzantine cathedrals, spice markets and Ottoman palaces.

To Lhasa and Beyond On the Road to Shangri-La

Asia, Culture, Dispatch, History, Travel

In Lhasa’s Barkhor Square, the weathered Tibetan woman softly intoning a Buddhist mantra fell to her knees, looked fervently skyward and then lunged face down on the pavement, oblivious to the commercial life surrounding her. After a few seconds of prayer, she rose stiffly, moved two steps forward and repeated the process. Shoppers flowed around her with scarcely a sideways glance because Lhasa residents are used to prostrate pilgrims

beer drinking

Vietnam: A Hot, Humid Country that Loves Cold Beer

Asia, Business, Travel

Drinking beer is woven into the social fabric of Vietnam. At family affairs and business lunches, impromptu meetings and private karaoke parties, beer flows like water. Cartons of beer — Saigon Special and Bia Hanoi, 333 and Larue, 24 cans to a box — balance in towering store displays and on the backs of motorbikes that careen through swarming traffic en route to their final destinations. A 2022 survey reported that Vietnam’s annual per capita beer consumption is 41.6 liters (over 11 gallons), or about 125 standard-sized cans per person.