Dhobi Ghats, Mumbai, India
Mumbai is an unrelenting and persevering city.
It drives hard to catch up to the city’s honking horns, foot traffic and bustle. However, as much as it powers through on old railway cars, this international city never seems to catch up to the modern age (read my post here). In many ways, I’m glad it hasn’t caught up. It preserves the kind of (more…)
Do you like to visit museums when you travel? What’s the cutest, quirkiest or most bizarre museum you’ve been to?
I was an art major so to some degree, I can take interest in art museums from time-to-time. But what about war museums, a Chocolate Museum, Sex Museums, a Trick Art Museum or a Sound Museum? Jeju Island has loads of unique museums to pass time with (read my post on things to do on Jeju). But how about Teddy Bears?
Personally, I never cared for them as a kid, so why would I visit a museum full of ‘em, as an adult?
Why? (more…)
How many times can I look at Buddhas and temples?
Ordinarily, my tolerance isn’t high for seeing the same things over and over.
Variation is key.
For instance, living in Korea if you’ve seen one buddhist temple, you’ve pretty near seen them all. The architecture doesn’t change much and the buddhas wear the look of staunch, Fu Man Chu looking Confucianist. Thailand is different. Whether it’s a hundred Buddhas lined up in a row, (more…)
In lieu of the New Year, I’m reflecting on the “travel steps” that led me to be the traveler I am today.
Looking back at photos, I was reminiscing about a past trip to Morocco. It was my first “developing country”. Reading Paul Bowles‘ autobiography, this trip incited my thirst and curiosity for adventures, which lay beyond western borders. The thirst kept growing, because…
There’s a secret to Morocco and I’m convinced it speaks through its spices! From scented oils, city-wide prayer calls and intricate Arabic/Berber craft (more…)
A three-day trek in the mountains of Chiang Mai, Thailand? Loved it. A rugged and intense workout, it made me feel like I really earned those landscape gems of perfect waterfalls, manicured paddy fields and quaint mountain villages.
By now, a porcelain bowl in the ground and a bucket of water to flush isn’t so shocking to me. My odds of hitting my shoe when I squirt are 80 out of 100. Yay! I’m getting pretty professional.
A village home stay with an outhouse isn’t horrible in the light of day. But at night with no light? That’s a different story… (more…)
In Bangkok, all roads may not lead to Rome, but you’ll have many ways to get there.
One of my favorite things about Bangkok is its transportation. Skytrain, city bus, taxi, motorbike taxi, ferry boat,… each presents a unique way for getting around the city, while also presenting angles of Bangkok life.
Full Story »These days I enjoy trekking where it’s possible. Aside from a great workout, I like visiting mountain life, its lush and pristine settings of streams, hills and rice paddy fields and simple, hardworking and content inhabitants
Full Story »At first, visiting the tourist cities of Vientiane and Luang Prabang, my spirits were a little low. Where was the virgin Laos I’d heard about from others?
Hitting the Laotian countryside, the facades of French colonial architecture melted away. Concrete turned to wood and earth, revealing a Laotian maiden. Small communities of bamboo hut villages, wrapped in the karst landscape that’s fed by the Mekong snake. Rice paddy fields stretch over the land like canvas and locals enjoy the simple unfettered existence of ‘village life’.
Full Story »
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