When planning this adventure the only country John was adamant we must visit was Japan. Our two-week tour of western Honshu would take in the iconic cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo. Continue reading “Japan”
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China (a country in a hurry)
Just like nomadic travellers, countries don’t stand still either. They are constantly evolving economically and culturally. This is no more obvious than when travelling in China as we did in March 2017.
China is the new global superpower poised to displace the USA as the world’s most powerful economy. The twentieth century has been called ‘the American century’ but, the twenty-first looks destined to be China’s. Continue reading “China (a country in a hurry)”
Return to Vietnam
Returning to places for which you hold fond memories always risks a newer, lesser, reality erasing them. This is especially so in Asia where the pace of change can radically alter older parts of city’s where the essential character of a place is to be found. So, with some trepidation we have returned to Vietnam for extended stays at two of our favourite places (Hoi An and Hanoi).
Cambodia and Laos
Having worked and travelled extensively in some SE Asian countries over the past 15 years (especially Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Malaysia), we are keen to visit some new places on this year-long adventure. Cambodia and Laos are hardly adventurous destinations for tourists these days but, we were looking forward to them having read some great research by our good friend Colin.
The top of the world – Nepal
The physical impact of the massive earthquake that hit east of Nepal’s capital Kathmandu on 25th April 2015 is everywhere to be seen in damaged buildings. Invisible to tourists is the human impact: 9000 dead and 22,000 injured. An aftershock hit on May 12th killing a further 153 and injuring 3200.
By comparison the experiences of individual tourists are trivial. Collectively, of course, tourists have a valued role to play in providing revenues to help Nepal recover. Continue reading “The top of the world – Nepal”
India from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal
Our travels across southern India are almost complete. Trains have carried us 570km from Kochi on the west coast, overlooking the Arabian Sea, to the French colonial town of Pondicherry, looking out across the Bay of Bengal on the east coast.
Romantic as this journey sounds, the reality of India’s railways have a way of imposing themselves on such fanciful notions. Train travel in India is nothing short of a test of character. Not for the faint hearted the bone shaking carriages rattling along jostling passengers to sleep or distraction depending on temperament.
Continue reading “India from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal”
One Day in Mumbai
We often say that three days is a reasonable amount of time to form a first impression of any city. So the one day we had in Mumbai wasn’t even going to scratch the surface of this mega city of 21m people. But one day is all we had following an arduous transit from the UK. So this is what we got to see on a leisurely day in Mumbai.
