Feb
22
Where to stay in Luang Prabang? A decade ago your options would have been limited to guesthouses, because for many years the UNESCO World Heritage-listed town was predominantly a backpacker destination with few choices for travellers looking for comfort, style, and something more. Things have changed, and while backpackers still outnumber other travellers, Luang Prabang is dotted …
Aug
25
Perhaps for the same nostalgic reasons that Mumbai’s locals prefer to call their city Bombay, Ho Chi Minh City, as it was renamed in 1975 after the fall of Saigon, is, we quickly discovered, still fondly referred to as Saigon by the locals. We don’t care what it’s called – we loved it. Although I’m not …
Aug
18
From Khon Kaen, where we explored gleaming gold temples, ambled about the town with an affable monk, strolled by the scenic lake, people-watched at the waterfront hipster market, and savoured the aromas of Isaan food sizzling away at the night markets, we drove in a north-westerly direction through the Loie province. We’d had a busy …
Jul
05
It was a scorcher of a day. We’d tried hard to time our arrival at the ruins of the Khmer temple of Prasat Hin Phimai, slap bang in the centre of the small town of Phimai in Thailand’s northeastern Isaan region, for the late afternoon. But somehow we’d still arrived early in the afternoon and …
Dec
14
Home to Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman treasures, Sultanahmet, Istanbul’s ‘old city’, on the European side of the Golden Horn, is where first-time travellers to Istanbul usually stay. It’s where we stayed when we first visited the city many years ago. But once you’ve seen Old Istanbul’s star attractions, Hagia Sophia (Aya Sofya), the Blue Mosque …
Recent Comments