If Chengdu is a mecca for malls, Chongqing is capitalism on steroids. As we have become accustomed to, the city is in the midst of a construction boom – the […]
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Chengdu: Malls, Cinema & Hot Pot!
Having originally planned only a one night stop here before heading to Guilin via Chongqing, we immediately knew this would not be the case when we checked into the fantastic […]
Songpan: Daily life
The bus journey to Songpan was a welcome antidote to the drabness of Langmusi. Climbing to nearly 4,000mthis road, crossing the border between Gansu and Sichuan, passed through some of […]
Langmusi: A True Disappointment
The Lonely Planet Guidebook describes Langmusi as “an Amdo Tibetan village nestled among steep grassy meadows…a delightful place surrounded by countless red and white monastery buildings, flapping prayer flags and […]
Xiahe: A glimpse of Tibet
Arriving by bus in Xiahe (there is no railway between here & Lanzhou) it was immediately apparent that we had crossed some invisible boundary into an altogether different part of […]
Xi’an: More than Terracotta Warriors
Xian is more than just Terracotta Warriors. With a much more lively and cosmopolitan feel than Beijing, it has at its centre the colourful and bustling Muslim Quarter. This is […]
Pingyao: Ming & Qing Dynasty Kitsch
Pingyao is one of the cities China is most proud of. Its visitor information says that it owns more “AAAA” tourist attractions than any other Chinese city, and it is […]
A Chinese train journey: Beijing – Pingyao
In recent years, China has pumped a staggering amount of money into its railways (the controversial QuingHai–Tibet line alone cost $5 billion). Unfortunately precious little of it seems to have […]
Beijing: Our First Impressions of China
1,300,000,000 people are never going to be inconspicuous, but in China the presence of humankind is overwhelming. Not surprisingly, Beijing is no exception. Such is the scale of this city […]
Pokhara: Happy New Year 2070!
Happy New Year! The end of our trek coincided with the Nepali New Year festivities in Pokhara. The Nepali calendar is 57 years ahead of the Gregorian one, meaning that […]
Annapurna Circuit: Part 3
CLICK TO READ PART 2… Day 11: Thorung Phedi – Thorung La Pass – Muktinath We set off at 4am and started up the hill. It was pitch-black and the […]
Annapurna Circuit: Part 2
CLICK TO READ PART 1… Day 6: Upper Pisang – Manang Today it was a beautiful and relatively easy walk up the valley which afforded us great views of Annapurna […]
Annapurna Circuit: Part 1
Surprisingly, Josi was the one to originally think about completing the Annapurna Circuit. As John was a seasoned mountain trekker & climber, he was thrilled at sharing his love of […]
Kathmandu: An assault on the senses
Evidently not many of the millions of tourist dollars that pour into Nepal every year get spent on infrastructure. The airport is chaotic, the roads are potholed, and littered with […]
Mongolian Nomads: Ger-to-Ger: Our last few families
DAY 4 Broke bright and frosty. Over breakfast of hard biscuits and milk tea our host asked whether we had a car or ox-cart at home. We answer “car” and […]
Mongolian Nomads: Ger-to-Ger: Our first few families
DAY 1 We had found Ger-to-Ger in our guidebook, they described themselves as providing “’Social Enterprise’ comprised nomadic travel routes, rural cultural home-stay programs that aim to expand greater community […]
Ulaanbaatar: A modern gateway to an ancient way of life
Touching down at Ulaanbaatar airport was not the way we had planned to arrive, but it did at least give a bird’s eye view of the vast mountainous plateau that […]
An unexpected change of plan!!
After a leisurely morning in Listvyanka, a chance perusal of our passports by Josi at 5pm revealed an alarming discovery. We had been diligent about planning our entry dates into […]