Asia

Heading to Pakistan? Don’t Miss Out On Peshawar

I knew I had wanted to visit Peshawar before I even set foot in Pakistan. Part of my interest was due to the long and robust history the city holds, and the other part was because others had told me not to. As an offbeat traveler, a place like Peshawar was exactly...

Hoi An, Vietnamese Hand Embroidery

It was a boiling day in Hoi An when I was exploring the tourist attractions in the charming ancient town. After visiting a couple of them, I just wanted to get into an air-conditioning enclosure to escape the scorching heat. Even my shades and sun hat had not been...

Sailing over the Myanmar’s Plains of Bagan

Bagan Archaeological Zone More than 2,200 eleventh to thirteenth century temples and stupas pepper the forty square miles of Myanmar's plains of Bagan. Why are so many of these graceful, exotic structures clustered in this Southeast Asian country once known as Burma?...

Baba: Video Night on the Ganges

I hope I still have some of his hair on my headphones. They got tangled when he put them on to watch the video. His hair was wispy and dry as tinder: the sort of hair that would burn fast in a riverside cremation. His face was lined with age but boyishly handsome. It...

Reunited in Turkey – Love Overcomes the Pandemic

I gripped my fiancé's hand tightly as we took our first tentative steps across the smooth wet crystallised rock. Our bare feet on the carbonate mineral generated by thermal spring water, and the scorching September sunshine in the aesthetically-aethereal Aegean area...

England to Iraq Overland

Returning to England in 2021 after six years in China was a bit of a shock to the system. After spending one year catching up with friends and family, working on various projects and securing a couple of permanent freelance writing gigs it was time to hit the road...

The Famous Hanoi Train Street

I visited the energetic city of Hanoi, one of the most popular holiday destinations, last summer. Hanoi Train Street is one place that will never disappear from my travel memories. I had put Train Street at the top of the list of to-do attractions while planning the...

A White Christmas in North Korea

I had first visited the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) in October 2016 as a day trip from Dandong in China. I've always liked to explore places where few others dare to go, so I was very excited about my first trip (not to mention a little...

Following the Beatles in India

Back in 1968, music sensation "The Beatles" visited an ashram in Rishikesh, India. During their time there, they wrote over 50 songs and brought Eastern influences to the mainstream like never before. Fifty years later, in September, I had the chance to...

Thailand’s Koh Chang

Bang! Bang! Bang! After an interval of 5 seconds, I caught it again -- the brief and strange metal banging noise that sounded like two pieces of sheet metal hitting each other. I could hear nothing else than that. It was peacefully quiet and hot like in the middle of...

Traversing Neverland: Ha Giang Loop

I've had an out-of-body experience or two in my life. At the very least, a brief spiritual awakening. My first was being front row to a Red Hot Chili Peppers show. A feat I accomplished by staying glued to the railing for six hours prior to those first few...

Antalya day trips – Duden Waterfalls and Phaselis

After many visits to Istanbul, I intentionally planned my next Turkey trip to a different region and I was recommended several times over the southwest coastline. Antalya was my first stop, and in the afternoon after I arrived, I had my mind set on checking out the...