Maajid Nawaz, former radical Islamist, interviewed by CSD at the Goa ThinkFest

Goa Thinkfest, November 2011

The Thinkfest in Goa last week was a great success, and the Grand Hyatt is a great hotel that has only just opened. The beach ... well, the beach needs to be cleaned up. There are still too many remnants of its funky past. But that will come. I tried to photograph the enormous bats in the trees, but I'm afraid my camera wasn't up to the task....

Lovers by the Nile, April 2011

Dubai Idyll Amid Regional Unrest

Dubai Sunset

Airborne Cocooning: Emirates A380 En Route to Dubai

I stitched together this panorama on my iPhone on a recent flight to Dubai. You'll have to click on it to get the full effect.
   
I've never flown business class quite like this. Every passenger has his or her own little pod, complete with a bedside table and refreshment stand. The movie screens are about as big as you could want, and when you get tired of sitting, reclining or sleeping, you can stroll back to the bar. First class on the same plane offers "suites," which are bigger and even more enclosed, but a whole helluva lot more expensive. (I was curious to see, as I walked by them, whether they were big enough for two people -- honeymoon suites, as it were. I'd say, no. But I imagine some passengers have tested the concept.) In either class, by the end of the flight, you're sort of reluctant to leave your cocoon. I flew back to Paris on a 777, which had similar decor, but didn't have anything like the same luxury of space. No room for real pods.

--CSD

Cleaning Up Cairo: The celebration continues but the city is back in business.

Al-Rifai Mosque: Tomb of Farouk, the Shah, and others.

Years ago, Hosni Mubarak used to be called La Vache Qui Rit. Nobody's laughing now. But this fading advertisement seemed oddly symbolic.