Cooking with Poo – A Walking Tour of Klong Toey Markets

Cooking with Poo Cooking Class. A Walking Tour of Klong Toey Markets. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

“Isaan people eat everything!” Poo tells our small group as we negotiate the muddy paths of frenetic Klong Toey market on a walking tour to purchase ingredients for our Cooking with Poo experience and the Thai cooking lessons to follow at Saiyuud Diwong’s Helping Hands Thai Cooking School in Bangkok. ‘Poo’ is the nickname of Saiyuud Diwong, our … Read more

The Ethereal Apsara: Celestial Nymph, Storyteller, Messenger

The Ethereal Apsara: Celestial Nymph, Storyteller, Messenger. Apsara Dancer, La Residence d’Angkor, Siem Reap, Cambodia. Copyright © 2023 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

It’s hard to escape the apsara in Siem Reap. The celestial nymph is everywhere we look. Clad in silk and a colossal golden headdress, she seductively adorns temple walls in the form of elaborate carvings, or in human form as a graceful and distant dancer performing the Dance of the Apsara Divinities. The Apsara is … Read more

Thai Cooking Class at the Mandarin Oriental Cooking School

Thai Cooking Class at the Mandarin Oriental Thai Cooking School, Bangkok, Thailand. Copyright © 2023 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

We like to think that if discovering the food of a destination is a way into the heart of a place, then learning to cook the cuisine is the route into its soul. That’s why a cooking class at the Mandarin Oriental Cooking School in Bangkok was high on my agenda. In the last 18 … Read more

Exploring the Isaan: the Silk Weaving Village of Chonnabot

Exploring the Isaan. The Silk Weaving Village of Chonnabot, Isaan, Thailand. Copyright © 2023 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

From Prasat Hin Phimai, our road trip through Thailand’s off the beaten track Isaan region took us north to Khon Kaen, a cool university city in the central Isaan. As the region’s silk is almost as celebrated as its food, we made a stop on the way at the traditional silk weaving village of Chonnabot. … Read more

Port, Wine & Bacalhau in the Douro Valley, Portugal: Part 2

Port, Wine & Bacalhau in the Douro Valley, Portugal: Part 2. Copyright © 2023 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Our third morning* in Portugal’s UNESCO World Heritage-listed Douro Valley wine region began with the now mandatory drive through magnificent countryside, our bus skirting the edge of the misty valley before climbing up to Favaios, on a plateau which at 600 metres is the Douro’s highest point. DAY 3 Douro Valley: Quinta da Avessada, Quinta … Read more