“Even the smugglers don’t come here,” were the comforting words of the guide on our day trip to Khinaliq, one of the most remote villages in the Caucasus. “Hopefully we can get back okay…” It was winter. Azerbaijan. And for some reason we decided to abandon the cozy, deserted Baku old-town coffee shops and head…
Before any hardcore travelers start screaming about slow travel being the best, yes, I know a 6 day Laos itinerary isn’t enough. But we have jobs, we have cats, we have a bag of tomatoes in the fridge fast going soft, and we don’t have time for a three-month backpacking jaunt across Southeast Asia. So…
There are some things in life that are universally liked by everyone. Sunsets, unconditional love, fart jokes. Those are the big three. And elephants. I had the extreme pleasure of visiting an elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Here’s what happened. Preparing for the Visit If you’re planning a visit to Chiang Mai, you have…
Singapore’s coast-to-coast trail is a 36km route from (almost) one side of Singapore to another. Today we’re covering checkpoint 2, the 2km from Bukit Batok Nature Park to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. If you missed the start of the journey, catch up here! Bukit Batok Nature Park Checkpoint 2 of the coast-to-coast trail is right…
The most beautiful street in Singapore is Koon Seng Road. Beauty is subjective of course. One person’s Mona Lisa is another person’s steaming pile of hot garbage. One person’s steaming pile of hot garbage is another person’s Mona Lisa. But let’s be real here. The Peranakan shophouse above is beautiful. It’s colourful, it’s ornate, it…
Singapore is a country filled with lots of hiking trails, from the highest point at the top of Bukit Timah Hill, to the Southern Ridges, to the wetlands in the north, and lots more I haven’t explored yet. But the Coast-to-Coast trail ratchets the difficulty up a notch, combining multiple parts of many hiking routes…
No one wants to visit Brunei, and I mean that almost literally. It’s one of the world’s least visited countries. But it’s been very close to the top of my list to visit for a while now, first as a joke and now as a legitimate “as soon as I can, I’m gosh darn well…
This is your simple guide to the Southern Ridges, one of the most popular hiking routes in Singapore. Covering Mount Faber Park, Telok Blangah Hill Park, HortPark, and Kent Ridge Park via a series of elaborate trails, bridges, and connectors, the Southern Ridges is an incredible example of how even a densely-populated city like Singapore…
Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve in the very northwest of Singapore really puts the wild in wildlife. Crocodiles, mudskippers, monitor lizards, and, err, onions, this part of Singapore is one of the best escapes into nature you can get without leaving the country. My phone didn’t agree with that last part. After I’d taken a bus…
It was a trek for the ages, destined to be remembered by historians for generations to come. I speak, of course, of the epic journey of hiking to the highest point in Singapore. Let me tell you, friends, it was a thoroughly taxing 30 minutes. The highest point in Singapore is Bukit Timah Hill, which…