Yesterday, as the American president's trip wound down, several dozen Christians were arrested in Beijing for gathering together in public.
His trip wound up as just another exercise in the dysfunctional, with Phillips receiving some criticism for drawing attention to some foolscap on the Internet.
Wylda Bayron went to Papua New Guinea to photograph its unique culture, but the first week of her trip wound up like a scene in an action movie.
But what should have been a quick trip wound up taking nearly three weeks and was, as Paul Hyland makes clear in his engaging account, more than a little fraught.
Obama's trip, winding up later on Thursday, is part of a wider effort to deepen ties and bolster U.S. influence with Latin America after years of frosty relations with left-leaning governments in the region.
The surfing is good here, too; but for a break from sun and sand, head a few miles east (half an hour by bus) to Puerto El Morro, where boat trips wind through the mangroves with opportunities to watch dolphins in the channel.
But unlike most trips winding through the city, this does not seem like the longest hour of the riders' lives — not in a bus tricked out with a dance floor, moody lighting, a D.J. and free alcohol.
This was around the time when you could see the trend of wasteful trips winding down.
In Mysore, as their trip winds down, the couple follow a crowd into an auditorium one night and end up watching a talent show put on by schoolchildren.
As the trip winds to its conclusion, a thunderbolt of political and personal import strikes, pushing the movie to a dramatic crisis.
