Before I moved to Asia, I would stalk people’s pictures and blogs and jealously look at them in, on and around various exotic, fascinating, strange temples of curious, foreign religions. I’d be in awe – the incredible colours, the picturesque tilt of the roofs, the marvellous costumes, and wonder about the fascinating stories behind these alien […]
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Jiufen, Taiwan: The definition of Travel
Let me introduce you to Jiufen, Taiwan. This is Travel. These pics define more or less my image of Travel with a huge, beautiful capital T. Mountains, sea and an exotic temple to remind you this is not just anywhere. My last whole day in Taiwan I spent with T and L exploring further away […]
The joyful cable cars of Oriental Venice
Before I begin, please forgive me. The title is misleading. The joyful cable cars are not actually in the Oriental Venice, but I have been sat here for way too long trying to think of a title for this blog post (I eventually decided against my dad’s suggestion of ‘Ngong Ping Pong Kong‘). The joyful […]
First tastes of Bali beachlife and nightlife
HOWDY MATES I don’t think many people will argue with the fact that the most famous thing about Bali is its beaches. Something we also learnt quite quickly when researching Bali was that the main city, Kuta, did not have the best beach (and wasn’t the most scenic town in itself, either, very built-up)… […]
‘ruising and canoeing HALONG BAY
One of the musts of being in the north of Vietnam is visiting the stunner which is Halong Bay. Gorgeous natural beauty, an ancient bay full of, erm, little tree-covered mountains (‘towering limestone islands topped with rainforests’, describes google a bit more poetically) popping out from the sea. The name translates as ‘where the dragon […]
The Pass of the Ocean Clouds feat. Hue
One of the main sights I wanted to do on this trip was the Hai Van Pass. It was made especially famous in Europe through the Vietnam episode of Top Gear, where the not-easily-impressed Jeremy Clarkson described it as one of the most beautiful rides in the world. My guide book called it the ‘Pass […]
Crazy, cold, colourful, canyony Dalat
Our first stop on our 10-day whizz-tour through Vietnam was Dalat City, about 300 km from Ho Chi Minh City. A pretty, hilly town, with a stunning lake and surroundings, many cute cafés and restaurants, Dalat is a get-away for many Saigonese and an increasing amount of foreign visitors who want to escape the eternal heat […]
The Elephants of Ayuthaya
I had wanted to leave Bangkok, and a place called Ayuthaya an hour away sounded promising – the ancient capital which housed thirty-three kings in the Middle Ages, ruined by the Burmese. It was a town with ruins of old temples spread about – sounded exciting and historically enlightening! I went there with fellow-hosteller Dan […]
The last bus of Lopburi
So, them Thailand day trips. On the Saturday Gemma and I daytripped to Lopburi, a town two hours away by minibus. Lopburi is famous for its monkey temple and sunflower fields, that was all I knew in advance. We got a vehicle reminiscent of a large tuk-tuk from the bus station to the temple (after […]
Chicken feet, cockroaches and plane-spotting
19.11.2014 Xin chao! Long time no write, I seem to have phases. But now I MUST write it’s been a while… So, what’s happened since I last wrote. Well, I’ve settled more into BH life, and I really do enjoy teaching and lesson planning, and our group of BH teachers are a great bunch. We’ve gone for […]