The Tijuana of the Caspian

[JackLuis]

"At the border between Azerbaijan and Iran, everything’s for sale: sex, booze, tattoos—and maybe some revolutionary fervor."

I have memories of Tijuana, some, shall I say, unique. Having been raised in So Cal, Tijuana was a lure of all sorts of illicit temptations, from Tuck and Roll shops to the "Fuck and Roll" shops beyond the facade of the Main Street.

Different cultures, but some how the same dynamic in play.

Amsterdam in Spring, ah that thought makes the heart glow to remember a pass through a City of repute.

 

[Handley_Page]

"At the border between Azerbaijan and Iran, everything’s for sale: sex, booze, tattoos—and maybe some revolutionary fervor."

Amsterdam in Spring, ah that thought makes the heart glow to remember a pass through a City of repute.

Oh it sure does.
Walk down the Damrak and then hang a left by the Big Church. . . . . .

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I thought the last line was especially apt.

 

[JackLuis]

The smell of the clong in Bang Cock!

The Perfume River and Cheap Charlie's.

Ever walk through Nairobi at night?

Where do you remember?

Cheap bars, cheap booze and inexpensive Companions, Tu Do '66. Ah!

 

[JackLuis]

Oh it sure does.
Walk down the Damrak and then hang a left by the Big Church. . . . . .

I was passing thru Amsterdam on my way from Mumbi to Athens and spent the week end in Amsterdam.

After a week in Mumbi, it was amazing to walk through the city at 7 in the morning, I was still on Mumbi time and took my camera out to capture the district. After taking some pictures of the old church, I sat down in a coffee shop on the front walk and watched the city come to life. The June sun was warm and a farmers market was setting up behind the church in the broad square.

There were three women sitting sipping coffee. They had a eastern coloring and a sensuality of Indonesia. Their clothes were proof that they were just closing their day, rather than starting. I tried to avoid staring at them but that was hard to do. So still on Mumbi time and jacked upon espresso, I spent 36 stimulating hours in Amsterdam and ate real food for the first time in over a week!

 

[oggbashan]

I remember Tangier in the early 1950s. It was not as dangerous and exciting as it had been in the 1920s and 1930s when it was the place where East and West, Africa and Europe, met to plot and scheme, but the atmosphere was still there. It was nearly fatal for me.

I tried to capture it in one of my stories The Casbah.

For my experience of Tangier, think of the film Casablanca, but in colour with pungent smells.

Og

 

[JackLuis]

I was in Beijing a couple of times in the ninties and the smell of the place was a combination of coal smoke and sesame oil scorching.

Every time I pass a Chinese restaurant I'm reminded of China.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Seoul, Korea always struck me as an odd scented city. The countryside, though, where they fertilize with night soil? Phew! Don't know about the negotiable affection there, though. I prefer to stay out of trouble with HM.

 

[JackLuis]

Korea is interesting. Mostly christian, which surprised me at the time, yet it has it's own style and flexibility.

 

[ishtat]

Korea is interesting. Mostly christian, which surprised me at the time, yet it has it's own style and flexibility.

60% of South Koreans profess no religion at all, of those that do slighty more claim to be Budbhist rather than Christian but the ethical values of the Secular, Buddhist and Christian groups are all strongly Confucian.

Prior to the Korean War most of the country's Christians lived in the north and many became refugee emigrants to the south or overseas following the communist takeover. Thus a far higher proportion of todays emigrant poulation professes christianity.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Ah the fragerance of Old Quzon in Manila. A quaint mixtrue of burning sugar cane and sewage. Now that brings back memories.

 

[JackLuis]

Ah Manila, that is a city of repute! Tropic breezes with the sent of unfettered Capitalism.

 

[R. Richard]

Okay, but does Azerbaijan have a Cafe Blue Fox? (The tee shirts say, "Eat at the Club Blue Fox," but it was actually the Cafe Blue Fox.) Ask an old time member of the 6th fleet who was stationed in San Diego back in the 50s.

 

[JackLuis]

The '50's were vintage years for Tijuana, a lot less crime and an honest pour.