The Places Where We Belong

Vijayawada, Amaravati, Ghantasala, Machilipatnam, Guntupalli, Undavalli, Nagarjunakonda, Panigiri, Jaggaiahpet, Chennai government museum, and Hyderabad. For a transcript, see https://www.buzzsprout.com/1970784

Amaravati, Ghantasala, Ghantupalle, and Undavalli.

Nagarjunakonda, Phanigiri, the Government Museum in Chennai, and Jaggayyapet.

"I'm flying out to Reno so I can visit Virginia City. It's an old mining town about an hour south of Reno." "Why?" "Why what? You have to stop asking that question. The answer is always the same: To look around." "That's seriously unprofessional.. You're supposed to have a hypothesis, a methodology, and some data." "I'm retired." "Hell, you've always been retired." "Can we talk about it some other time? The sun's shining."

A visit to an old mining town in Nevada. For a transcript, see https://www.buzzsprout.com/1970784 For pictures, see greatmirror.com

Lima, Arequipa, Mollendo, Puno and Pomata, Trujillo (Huaca de la Luna, Chanchan) Huaca de la Cao Viejo), Chimbote (Caral and Cerro Sechin), Chiclayo (Chotuna, Tucume, and Huaca Rajada). For a transcript, see https://www.buzzsprout.com/1970784 For pictures, see greatmirror.com

"What is this nonsense about Heidegger in Peru? Was he ever there?" "I have no idea. I presume not." "Then what gives? I know you well enough to know that you don't read serious philosophy." "You're right, but I still want to know how I should live." "Oh boy, you remind me of the high school student who was turned down by West Point because he said exactly that. And he was 17, for God's sake."

The itinerary here starts in Lima then heads out on two loops, the first in southern Peru ( Arequipa, Mollendo, Puno, and Pomata) and the second on the north coast between Lima and Chiclayo . Along the way, I glimpse modern Peru, Old Peru, and Really Old Peru. For photos, see greatmirror.com

Jambukeswara and Mangalyeswarar temples near Trichy, the Brihadeshwarar temple near Thanjavur, the Airavateswarar, Nageswarar, and Adi Kumbeswaram temples at Tanjore, the Gangaikondcholapuram and Malakadambur temples en route to Chidambaram, and the Nataraja temple at Chidambaram. For a transcript, see https://www.buzzsprout.com/1970784 For pictures, see greatmirror.com

Khami Ruins, Danangombe (Dhlodhlo), Nalatale, and Mapungubwe For a transcript, see https://www.buzzsprout.com/1970784 For photos, see greatmirror.com

For a transcript see https://www.buzzsprout.com/1970784 For photos, see greatmirror.com

"I'm confused. I was working down the list of episodes, some self-contained but others spread over two or three episodes Then I bump into this, a series of 14 numbered episodes which also are grouped in pairs and trios and quartets. Makes me remember that old joke about Einstein studying physics because geography was too hard." "Sorry, but think of these 14 episodes as parts of a book with five chapters. Each chapter is from a different part of the world, so the first chapter deals with Australia and is in four parts. Etc, etc., until the last chapter, which deals with India and is in three parts. See?" "Ummm, well, I'm one of those people who hates introductions and prologues and prefaces. I'll just start and see how it goes." "Very sensible. Don't forget that greatmirror.com is always there if you want to see the places, not just hear about them."

From Sydney I go to Adelaide, where I drive north 50 miles to Riverton, a town that ought to make Americans wonder where they went wrong. North of Riverton, South Australia dries out, and I pass through a landscape where 19th century pioneers were determined to plow land too dry for agriculture. Shades of the American Great Plains! For pictures, go to greatmirror.com and, under Australia, see the file called Long Way to Broken Hill.

The mining giant BHP Group, formerly Broken Hill Proprietary, takes its name from a hill about 600 miles west of Sydney. Since the 1880s, the hill has been reduced to a giant pile of tailings surrounded by a town that doesn't dress up much. That's a point in its favor, if you value honesty. For pictures, go to greatmirror.com and from there to Australia, then Broken Hill.

For some visitors, a visit to Uluru (formerly Ayers Rock) is an exotic adventure, but for others it's a reminder of where they belong. For pictures, go to greatmirror.com and from there to Australia, then Uluru.

I'm heading to Great Zimbabwe but won't get there until the next episode. For now, I'm starting in Harare and then driving to Chivhu and Masvingo. For pictures, go to greatmirror.com and from there to Zimbabwe, then Harare and From Harare to Great Zimbabwe.

Great Zimbabwe was built by a class-based or hierarchical society that, by most definitions, was civilized. Unlike the cities built by other civilizations, however, Great Zimbabwe was built without standardized units of measure. No inches, feet, yards, meters, perches, pounds, etc. Disaster? Not at all: Great Zimbabwe is as perfect as Uluru. For pictures, go to greatmirror.com and from there find Zimbabwe, then Great Zimbabwe.