Merry Christmas!
I made it to North Island! Apologies to have left you hanging after my first day on the Alps 2 Ocean, but I’ve had a terribly busy few weeks since […]
Author Archives: Joanna James
Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail: Days 1-2
After my last post from Lake Tekapo, I bussed up to Mount Cook Village. Mount Cook herself remained coyly draped in cloud throughout that first day, despite the northwest wind’s […]
Crazy Yak on a Bike
In a dramatic departure from what constitutes routine here at Little Yak, this month has found me cycle-touring New Zealand’s beautiful South Island. My humble apologies for the sudden shift […]
The Little Yak 2015 Calendar
What? It’s only November and my 2015 calendars are almost ready??! Yes, gentle reader, in a rare instance of advance planning, I have managed to pick out twelve of my […]
Why You Should Visit Xinjiang
The adjective most commonly applied to Xinjiang* is “restive”. After a series of recent attacks attributed to the region’s Uyghur separatists, it was with some trepidation back in June that […]
Hong Kong: Pictures of Protest
When I took these pictures I thought there was a good chance that they would be irrelevant by now. After a temporary news blackout while I took a tour through […]
Seven Travel Secrets
I’m travelling with a diary that I bought in Bangkok earlier this year. On one page near the front I’ve been compiling a list of grandly titled “Secrets of Travel” […]
Otter on a motorbike + update
Early one morning in March, I was killing time in Myeik. As I walked aimlessly around the small town’s centre I happened upon a lily-choked lake. The champagne-coloured dawn air […]
Mr Book’s Ginger Tea
Mr Book suddenly let out a hoot and, leaning closer, pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his forefinger. Glancing around to see what had caused the […]
The Monastery Toilet
Tibet has China’s most draconian speed limits. Drivers have to register at regular checkpoints, where you’re told how long you have to take to get to the next checkpoint. It’s […]
Not Quite Kailash
This month I had originally planned to visit Mount Kailash in western Tibet. One of my (surprisingly few) travel dreams is to see the spectacular Saga Dawa festival that takes […]
Drums, Dragons & Beer: Dragon Boat Festival
Happy Dragon Boat Festival! A national holiday across China, Dragon Boat Festival (also known, somewhat unpronounceably, as ‘Tuen Ng Festival’ in Hong Kong) is a day devoted to racing boats, […]
Shwebo Dog Rescue
Burma has a dog problem – hundreds and thousands of strays. I’d read about ‘pariah dogs’ in colonial-era books on the country, but didn’t realise how ubiquitous they are until […]
Nice Buns! Cheung Chau Bun Festival
I stand corrected. After four years living on Cheung Chau and almost four years of telling people that it was kind-of-lame and best avoided, I’ve finally done the Cheung Chau […]
Looking back at Burma
Hello there! Remember me, the errant author of this blog? Lovely to see you again, after all this time… I returned to Hong Kong last week after 67 fascinating days […]
Little Yak 