There is a city that crosses continents. You read that right. It’s a city so badass that it couldn’t be contained within one puny continent. It was ruled by Greeks as Byzantium and Ottomans as Constantinople. And now it’s ruled by Turks as Istanbul and it’s partly in Europe and partly in Asia. If Istanbul…
Below are some photos of the Taj Mahal in fog, for those with a fondness for visibility-reducing weather phenomena and Indo-Islamic architecture. When we first arrived before dawn, you couldn’t even see your hand in front of your face, and by the time we left it was also super heavy fog. Thankfully, in the few…
Here’s my experience in Guangzhou on a transit visa. An accidental transit visa I should say, because I’m not the brightest spark plug in the toolbox (is that how that saying goes?). At best I thought I was going to have to spend the night in a hotel room under armed guard, at worst chained…
Read on for an account of our police escort at the Beatles Ashram in Rishikesh. But first, some preamble. Traffic in India is, and this is the official diagnosis, completely insane. From rattling rickshaws to maniac mopeds to carefree cows, any urban sprawl in India is chock full of…stuff. I reluctantly admit that most of…
We spent almost three weeks in India, visiting my better half’s family, attending and almost eating ourselves to death at weddings, and finding some time to do some touristy stuff too. The highlight of the lot – sorry, Taj Mahal – was Amber Fort in Jaipur, which is absolutely stunning. Without further ado, here are…
Nara, Japan is famous for its deer. You’ve probably seen them on social media, bowing to tourists to receive snacks. That’s pretty cool, but it’s not the most interesting thing about the town. At least not for me. More interestingly to me, is that Nara contains both the largest wooden building in the world and…
Below is a review of Shinkansen bullet trains in Japan. But first, let’s play a game. Name a thing that this describes: hard, shiny, powerful, intimidating in length, takes your breath away when you ride it. Thought of something? Okay, now open the back of the book and look at the answer section. There are…
Hanoi, capital of Vietnam, is full of mopeds. How do you cross a road where none of them stop?
Below are the best photos from Vietnam I took when visiting back in September 2013. I make no apologies for the fact most of them are from Ha Long Bay! For some of my stories from Vietnam, click here.
Getting cash abroad can be a real pain. Using an ATM outside of your home country comes with its fair amount of anxiety. In fact, money issues are one of the most common travel anxieties. Where am I going to get my money? Not being able to get money is every traveler’s worst nightmare. This…