There’s nothing like scrambling to stay out from underhoof as two horseback wrestlers charge into a crowd of journalists to really set a festive tone. With the Winter Olympics having wrapped up in Sochi and the FIFA World Cup in Brazil only a few months gone, one might have assumed that all the best sports-themed travel opportunities were done for 2014. In a quiet corner of Central Asia, however, for the first time ever delegations from across … [Read more...]
Connecting with Locals and Experiencing Village Life in Thailand
When I travel I try to take advantage of meeting locals and seeking out home stay opportunities. Rather than seeing a country from just my own perspective, often times more superficially, staying with locals allows one to see and experience a country through their eyes. I find experiences more rewarding and despite the usual communication barriers I discover they are also intrigued with my perspectives and are curious about my own travels. My … [Read more...]
The Most Mysterious Island Of Asia: Pulau Besar
When you are traveling northward from Singapore there is a high chance that sooner or later you’ll find yourself in a hot and noisy town of Southern Malaysia, Malacca. After a few hours of sightseeing (not extremely interesting in fact) you’ll understand that you are covered with dust and start wondering if there is a clean beach nearby. That’s the moment when a quick Google search will lead you to Pulau Besar. WHAT IS PULAU BESAR? Pulau … [Read more...]
Mary Jane, Mopeds, and Metal Bars
When you wake up on a concrete floor with only a bamboo mat between you and the cold you might just wonder what the hell you were thinking the night before. This was my situation a few years back while I traveled the world for a year or so. Some days it felt longer and this was one of them. I lay there body sore, taught as a fisherman’s net soaked with salt, dried in the hot afternoon sun. Rubbing my eyes, I dared to take a day light look at my … [Read more...]
The land of the rolling hills
A city and corporate life makes me wither away hence the scent of any travel trail hits me head-on soaring my spirits. A recent tour of the land of the rolling hills - Cameron Highlands - nestled in Pahang, Malaysia brought me closer to nature much like a lovelorn lass. Tea gardens and trek have always lulled my senses. Back home the Himalayan foothills resonate the same aura as Cameron Highlands although the landscape of the former is more … [Read more...]
Viet Yum – Close Encounters of the Turd Kind
Vietnam’s Traveler Cafes Offer Much More Than Just Joe WEASEL COFFEE: $300-$600 A POUND On the far shore of an artificial lake in Hanoi, Vietnam, I found a much-needed antidote to restaurant hell, with its reckless gastronomical woes on untranslatable menus (involving Indochinese delicacies like baked sparrows with the feathers still on, fried scorpions, sautéed snakes, roasted rats, and “No Cock, only Fanta Orange”). It was a coffee … [Read more...]
Living the Search for Peace
Probably the biggest lesson that has shown itself to my wife and me since our launch from material life into a wanderlust spin is, simply, peace. We thought we were setting out to explore the world and, on a deeper level, to shed attachments to the lives we had individually created, which were then brought into our new marriage. Not that those things haven’t happened. It’s just that the higher purpose seems to have been what Gandhi notoriously … [Read more...]
Stepping off the path + A train ride to Hampi, India
"Chai chai chai!" "Pakora! Samosa! Pakora!" I'm on a train heading east from Goa to Hampi. Food hawkers jump on and off at every stop rushing through the cars shouting, selling refreshments. I want to taste everything that passes—samosas served from a worn cardboard box, crispy masala rice snacks in a giant plastic garbage bag, fresh mango lassis carried in a tattered milk crate. Yet I cringe as the vendors grab food with their bare hands, … [Read more...]
The Old House in Silay
For many generations the same families have owned and preserved ancestral houses in the Philippines as part of their culture. Several houses of prominent families have become points of interest or museums in their communities because of their historical, cultural or architectural worth. Some of these houses, too, have become endangered because of negligent businesses that have no interests in preserving them. I find “preservation” of these homes … [Read more...]
Cooking Lessons from a Street Vendor in Thailand
On a humid afternoon in November, I found myself slowly wandering through the outdoor food markets of downtown Chiang Mai, Thailand. A cornucopia of vibrant and enticing food stalls and souvenir stands littered the pathways as vendors competed for my business. My stomach and brain have never had such a conflict... Stomach: "Wow that sushi looks amazing" Brain: "It's 10 THB ($0.33 USD) a piece. How long has it been sitting there? It's a … [Read more...]
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