I was never supposed to go trekking in the Himalayas, you see. With a minuscule piece of hand luggage to last the entire trip, and clothing apparel tailored to the islands and beaches of Southeast Asia and the deserts of Rajasthan, it simply couldn’t work. The plan was to get to subtropical Kathmandu overland by …
Bhutan Or Bust!
I want to visit every country in the world, it is as simple as that. I cannot remember the exact moment that I decided I would aim for and achieve my own global conquest, in a geographical sense; I merely became aware one day that this is something I would do. The rapid and clear …
9 Photos Of… Bangladesh
What a delight it is when a country confounds all expectations and delivers a rich and genuinely satisfying travel experience. After a mildly disappointing week in Laos, which provided plenty of social and physical activity but lacked the cultural and culinary stimuli of its near neighbours, it was left to unheralded Bangladesh to reignite my …
Welcome To Chaos
“Do you have any long trousers? We are going to my private members’ club this evening, but there is a dress code and they do not allow shorts.” I don’t know what exactly I was expecting from my week-long sojourn in Bangladesh, but it didn’t involve boujee nightclubs, and certainly not during Ramadan. It was …
Good Times & Pad Thais
If the way to a man’s heart is indeed through his stomach, as the popular idiomatic expression goes, this would go a long way towards explaining the direct correlation between two of my biggest passions and pleasures in life. The exploration of a country’s cultural heritage via its gastronomy is such a vital component of …
9 Photos Of … the Philippines
*** SPOILER ALERT – BLOG POST CONTAINS OFFENSIVE MATERIAL *** If you are sitting at an office desk in a desperately grey and drizzly part of the world, starting a long bar shift with a migraine, or just experiencing a momentary bout of life is meh, you may wish to save this post for later. …
Rice Rice Baby
It wasn’t until the bowl was placed in front of me, its fragrant waft of lightly fried garlic allowing my nostrils to kickstart a hitherto redundant stomach into action, connecting with the view unfurling itself before my eyes, that I understood the significance of the moment: today was the day, the day I finally left …
9 Photos Of… Japan
Well, where to begin? Picking a mere 9 photos is a genuinely tricky task, because Japan delivered it all on this visit, truly. From global award-winning digital art installations to budget Michelin starred meals, via lifetime running achievements and official world records, fantastic human encounters, and even an early blossoming of the famed sakura: Tokyo …
The Road Trip
Sand, sand, sand… Sand as far as the eye can see, and beyond. Whatever scenery I was expecting from my first week in Peru, 500m high dunes, desert oases, and hundreds of kilometres of arid coastline was not it. And if the landscape has changed dramatically from Ecuador, so too has the pace of travel. …
9 Photos Of… Ecuador
If the common travel adage is true that one should always leave a reason to return when leaving a country for the first time, then omitting to visit the Galápagos Islands on this visit to Ecuador should pretty much guarantee a return trip in this life rather than my next incarnation. That it is my …