Why do many religious folks constantly tell people that they are going to hell? Let's give them the benefit of the doubt for a second and say that they're right. Well, they don't have to gloat about it.

Isn't it enough that they're NOT going to hell? I mean, what the hell?

The 'objects' I come across predominantly in rural areas, no matter where I travel in central and southern Europe, are religious shrines and icons of one description or another. The closer to the Mediteranian one gets, the more predominant they become.

Never came across any in England, which is not a...

Somehow
this journey has felt different from the beginning. Maybe it's because
of the way it came about. Sitting across from my parents pitching a
weak plan of moving to Tahoe for the winter, only to have my mom tell
me that she thought it was a bad idea. "Do you have money to travel?"
she asked....

Have you ever heard of the Panj River? Have you ever crossed the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan?

I'm not going to talk about all the virtual intricacies of traveling in Tajikistan, no need, you will never actually go. I can tell you Dushanbe is an amazing, beautiful, convivial small...