Experience the sights, the sounds and, not least, the enticing smells of Asia. Here are a few Asia travel stories for you to enjoy.
Brunei
Cambodia
China
DPRK (North Korea)
India
Indonesia
Japan
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Malaysia
Nepal
Singapore
Tajikistan
Thailand
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Vietnam
Latest Asia travel stories
Transfixed in Turkmenistan: The Gates of Hell and Other Eccentric Encounters
Hello hello, good people, and welcome to another episode of wild and wacky Turkmen tales. We can't travel at the moment, but we can reminisce, and invite you along for the ride here in Sophie's World. Why yes, that IS a burning gas crater behind us. And very windy, too. Turkmenistan outside Ashgabat Since you're reading this post, I'm going to [...]
Transfixed in Turkmenistan: the Ashgabat edition, 11 things you’ll love
It was oddly difficult to decide how to headline this post. The 11 things-series: a tried and trusted format. Transfixed in Turkmenistan: so fitting. As usual when I can't decide, I choose both. Always works out, somehow. But enough of that; let's get on with this most peculiar of lands. Or rather, of stans. Where to even begin? As strange [...]
Driving the Pamir Highway – Dushanbe to Osh
Thinking of driving the Pamir Highway? It's one of the world's epic road trips (possibly the most epic), through the wild landscape of the Pamir Mountains, and along the equally wild Panj, the river that forms the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan. You'll drive across lunar desert landscapes, past stunning turquoise lakes and golden meadows. You'll spot Marco Polo sheep [...]
Marian’s Guesthouse: An Oasis in Dushanbe
Considering a visit to Dushanbe and wondering where to stay? Dush-where, you ask? Well, Dush is where it's at. Skopje, Pristina, Astana, Pyongyang, Vaduz, Chisinau - you may remember I'm forever intrigued by the quirky and often lesser-known national capitals of the world. A city of 800 000 people, and formerly named Stalinabad, Dushanbe is the capital of ... I'll wait while [...]
(Almost) 48 hours in Osh
At the end of a mind-blowing road trip along the Pamir Highway (which you can look forward to in a later post), my two fave travel friends and I are in Osh. Driving most of the day from Karakul Lake across the border in Tajikistan, we arrive in town late afternoon. We had booked a couple of nights in Osh, [...]
Astana
What do you think of when you hear Kazakhstan? OK, let's get it over with: Borat. If nothing else, Sacha Baron Cohen did place Kazakhstan on the map. Enormous flat steppes, once the secret home of Soviet gulags and a nuclear weapons testing zone. Also, once the secret home of the Soviet space programme: this is where Yurij Gagarin, first [...]
World at a Glance: Petroglyphs in Tamgaly Gorge
As this goes to publish, flight schedules on point, I’ll be ambling about the airport in Constantinople (something about that name…), Central Asia bound yet again, and I was reminded I still haven’t told you about the rock carvings in Kazakhstan’s Tamgaly Gorge. Now, Tajikistan will be the major player this journey. We will be in Kazakhstan only for a [...]
World at a Glance: Temple of Heaven, Beijing tranquility
It’s early evening; the sun is slowly setting. As I wander through the gate in the bright red wall and into the park, I wonder: if I travel ever westwards, how fast will I have to go to see a perpetual sunset? A continuous magical golden hour? Let’s see: if we stick with the Equator, Earth is about 40 000 [...]
A look inside North Korea
Come with me on an extraordinary journey to a very curious corner of the world. Let's step inside North Korea for a look at Pyongyang and the fabled DMZ.
Christmas in India: 4000 steps, camels and sleeping amongst lambs
Reminiscing about a Christmas past today, a Christmas in India. You'll pardon the photos - they're from the days of 35 mm-film in rolls. Remember those? We rarely travel over the holidays. It's a sacred time of sorts - not in the conventional meaning, but in the sense that it's home time. It takes a lot to beat Norwegian kos* [...]
Kazakhstan & Kyrgyzstan with G Adventures: a trip review
"Welcome to Kazakhstan!" Those were the first words I heard in Central Asia - spoken with a big smile at passport control in Almaty airport, just seconds before midnight on the last day of June. Central Asia, what made me choose such an odd destination, you ask? Well, this blog is about the world’s curious places, after all. If you’re [...]
Bokor Hill Station: Whispers of the past
Gaping holes, pitch black squares and rectangles, glare at me as I approach. And shades of grey. So many shades, many more than 50. Here and there interrupted by patches of rusty red. The abandoned, derelict ruin is all that is left of this once luxurious hotel at Bokor Hill Station. When I hear the word hill station, my mind [...]
