Experience the sights, the sounds and, not least, the enticing smells of Asia. Here are a few Asia travel stories for you to enjoy.
Latest Asia travel stories
The unexpected charm of Ulaanbaatar
In front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ulaanbaatar, I stumble upon an unusual monument: musical notes engraved on a rock shaped like the country. Turns out it's the first stanza of the patriotic song Khaluun elgen nutag - The Warmth of the Land. I love that Mongolia has a monument dedicated to a song. It speaks straight to [...]
Islamabad: Pakistan’s green capital
Hello hello good people! We're about to take a trip along the fabled Karakoram Highway. Can't wait! But first, a few days to settle into Pakistan. I was not sure what to expect from Islamabad. Like many, I have heard more about the country's intense and chaotic cities and the dramatic mountain landscapes in the north than its capital. But [...]
Swiftly into Shanghai
I didn't expect Shanghai to feel so personal. Perhaps it's the why. The reason we are here. A brief stop, or two rather, on the way to Fujian, to see the place where Cat was born. More about that here on the blog when we're ready. For now: Shanghai, our entry and exit point into the country. There are cities [...]
Luang Prabang: where time slows and beauty flows
I am at the tail end of a jaunt in South-East Asia, in Luang Prabang, sort of by chance. I was going to explore Myanmar - more of the country than just Yangon, that is. But a typhoon was on the way, and if I had any kind of time constraints, I would do well to leave and come back [...]
Have a stopover in Manila? Gotcha covered.
Well, whaddya know: to escape the approaching typhoon in Myanmar, I have somehow landed myself a 24-hour stop-over in Manila. What to do, what to do? Manila has a reputation for being busy, bustling, blaring... and just plain loud. I have recently come from Dhaka, also loud, as well as chaotic, crowded, with heavy traffic and car horns honking 24/7, [...]
Sacred gold and whirling lights in Yangon
I have left Cox's Bazar and Rohingya refugees, and have landed in the land they fled. My intention was to travel north to the Naf river, where I was, just days ago, on the Bangladesh side. Easier said than done, it turns out. Much of Rakhine State is restricted, even closed, as a result of the ongoing conflict. A [...]
Bangladesh: from the chaos of Dhaka to the calm of Cox’s Bazar
There are places that test your patience and others that require little effort - and then there is Bangladesh, which somehow manages to do both. My journey from Dhaka, the wild and relentless capital, to Cox’s Bazar, home to the world’s longest natural beach and more than one million Rohingya refugees from neighbouring Myanmar, has been a ride through contrasts: [...]
World at a Glance: Zhongshan Road in Xiamen
Xiamen: Zhongshan Road Coming back from exploring Changting, the city where Cat was born, we stop for the night in Xiamen, before next morning's flight to Taipei. I don't know what I expected, hadn't really thought much about Xiamen at all. But this harbour city on the Taiwan Strait turned out to be a cool discovery. It is tidy, lush [...]
A Tiny Taste of Taipei
Not exactly turbocharged in Taipei Cat and I were recently in Fujian in China, on a very interesting and very personal journey, which I may get back to in a later post. Today, however, I thought I would share a bit about Taipei. We were only in town for 32 hours, and on top of that, C was a bit [...]
24 hours in Malé (and 12 hours in Colombo)
Earlier this month, I found myself in the Maldives for just over 24 hours. And worse, 12 hours in Colombo. "What?" you say? "24 hours in the Maldives? That is ridiculous. And I won't even get into the 12 hours in Sri Lanka!" Normally, I would agree. Except for very few countries (Monaco, the Vatican, and a few more), 24 [...]
7 delightful dong in Seoul – and 3 bonuses
Seoul neighbourhoods, known as dong, are diverse and exciting. Seoul, exciting as it is, can be an overwhelming acquaintance at first, though. It takes some time to get one’s bearings in a city of 10 million people, especially if you, as I, come from a place with about half of that in the entire country. But having spent a fun, [...]
The Joseon Spirits of Seoul
Today, we'll have a quick look at Korea's last kingdom, the Joseon Dynasty. This royal family governed the Korean peninsula from 1392 until 1910. Furthermore, they are responsible for no less than 3 world heritage sites in the centre of Seoul: the Changdeokgung Palace Complex, the Jongmyo Shrine, and the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty Palace - shrine - [...]
