What I love about Helsinki is the ease with which one can navigate the city on foot. For the visitor who has seen all the must-sees (the two major cathedrals, the rock church, Suomenlinna, the railway station and the Sibelius monument). a relaxing walk among the city’s early modern architecture can be very enjoyable. There […]
I’ve been to many places but few of them are picturesque in the way that Luang Prabang, Laos is. The dense surrounding forest and the absence of high-rise buildings couldn’t be more different from the urban sprawl of other Southeast Asian cities. I spent 5 days and 4 nights there in May 2017, a couple […]
The room was still dark when I opened my eyes for the third time. Fitful sleep on my first night anywhere was a given. My overnight stay in Yazd, however, was special. The chance to catch a sunrise in the desert for the first time beckoned and I wasn’t going to miss it. I checked […]
There was one “mistake” I have no regrets making on my visit to Porvoo. As the bus that I took from Helsinki approached the city, I saw the street sign that pointed to ‘Vanha Porvoo’. It caused me to panic a little. Instead of taking the bus all the way to the terminal, I alighted at […]
The peak season had just begun when I arrived in Siem Reap, Cambodia last November. I knew from experience that the usual popular spots for sunset at Pre Rup and Phnom Bakheng would be packed. No way I was going to jostle with ill-mannered tourists again. Instead, I took a ride to Phnom Krom, a […]
After a wild ride through the Okere Falls on a raft, our group reached the point where we exited the river. As six of us hauled the raft onto the bank, I pointed to Trout Pool Falls downstream and asked the guide a seemingly innocent question. ‘What’s beyond those falls?’ ‘That’s too dangerous for us. […]