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 […]
Tag Archives: Travel
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
The Ladykiller
When Wayne pulled up on his motorbike and asked me where I was going, I’m afraid I sighed inwardly, in anticipation of the conversation ahead. Like most independent travellers, I […]
In Yangon
I’ve been in Thailand for a week now, and it took several stern conversations with myself before I resolved to start this post. My first four weeks travelling through Burma […]
To Burma
In a few hours time I will be on a flight over the Andaman Sea from Singapore to Yangon. Doesn’t that sound romantic? If this were the 1930s —when Yangon […]
Five Great Tibetan Roads
Tibetan roads come in two flavours, plateau-straight and mountain-ripple. While plateau roads make for easy driving and quick progress, my heart belongs to the mountain roads that curve across the […]
“Ladder Fields”: Where to see China’s rice terraces?
In southern China, where there are hills, there are rice terraces. These “ladder fields”, as they’re called in Chinese (梯田, tītián) snake across hillsides from Fujian to Yunnan, cut into thousands […]
Bodhisattva For Sale
“Come here”, the cook said, beckoning Chinese-style – her palm facing down and fingers moving together. I followed her behind the grimy sheet that hid the kitchen from the restaurant […]
Five things I’ve learned about travel photography
My camera and I travelled almost 30,000 kilometres (or 18,750 miles, but that doesn’t sound nearly as impressive) across China last year. We returned with over 10,000 photographs documenting all […]
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year, dear readers! I hope that 2014 is off to a good start for you all. Here in Hong Kong, we’re in limbo between the Western New Year […]
Little Yak 