Fantastic Fiestas: three of the world’s great festivals
This is the second post in the Travel Highlights series sharing some of the most enduring highlights of all our …
Category Archives: Asia
A Portrait of China – a photo essay
In 2018 I went to China. It was an epic journey lasting four weeks and covering nearly five thousand kilometres …
Beauty And The Beast – exploring Japanese style from the whimsical to the sublime
12-25 March 2019. My first time in Japan was in 2018, and I’ve written about how I tried to take …
The Ultimate Treasure Hunt – a flea market and a food market in Kyoto
25 March 2019. You really need to see this place! I know you love a bargain, and this place is …
Oh deer! Nara – Japan’s Ancient Capital
21 March 2019. We know about the deer of course. It seems they are the first thing we come to, …
The God of Rice – a Fushimi-Inari pilgrimage.
From the beginning of time we humans have worshipped mountains. They are the highest and most impressive elements of any …
Hello to the Queen! And other tales from Rishikesh, India
Feb-Mar 2019 and Feb-Mar 2020 Rishikesh, India. Back in August I wrote this to close a post about India: In …
Kyoto’s Magical Mountain – hiking from Kurama to Kibune
18 March 2019 I really wanted to hike the Nakasendō, a 534-kilometre ancient highway between Kyoto and Edo (Tokyo). It …
Gateway to God: Haridwar on the Ganges
5 March 2019 We first went to India in 2012 and lived in Tiruvannamalai in the southern state of Tamil …
The Harbinger of Spring – plum blossoms at Kyoto’s shrines
12-25 March 2019 I’m either too early or too late. The best time to see the wisteria in Tokyo is …
A Portrait of India – a photo essay
When I travelled in my twenties and early thirties I never wanted to go to India. I’d heard of the …
Jungle Adventure – a Kinabatangan River cruise in Borneo, Malaysia
15 March 2020 There are two things I remember about the very long bus ride from Sepilok to the lodge …
Here Be Dragons – Kiyomizudera Temple and the Seiryū-e Festival, Kyoto
13-14 March 2019 It begins with a long mournful drone on conch shells. The sound fills the air like a …
Born Of All The Sacred Waters – rituals and devotions to the Ganges River in India
She begins high in the Himalayas, a rivulet from the Gangotri Glacier that becomes a stream that becomes a river …
