February 19, 2015
While Old Delhi can best be described as a cacophony of congestion and craziness, New Delhi reeks of old money and British Heritage. It is an exceedingly wealthy area. Mansions, obscenely ostentatious government buildings, manicured lawns with colourful dahlia beds, and monuments to kings long dead dominate the urban landscape. In amongst this development poverty can be clearly seen. Beggars…
February 17, 2015
Incongruence was a word that came up time and again while we were in Amritsar. The juxtaposition of chaos with calm, serenity with edginess was has left me with mixed feelings about this city. On the one hand it was dirty and congested and unsettling, and on the other there were oases of peace and tranquility. The approach to the…
February 14, 2015
The chaos of the night is replicated in daytime Amritsar. The road is crowded with pedestrians and drivers in all kinds of vehicles, including horse and carts and tractors. The missing footpaths force pedestrians to take their chances walking along the sides of shoulderless roads. The air is clear and cool, but dusty. I’ve brought my running gear, thinking that…
I have to start by saying I have never been as happy to see anyone in my life as my driver who picked me up from Amritsar airport. Firstly, I assumed he wouldn’t be there because I was bumped from my original flight and had to take a later one. And second, I didn’t want the transfer I paid for…
On the Go tours managed my itinerary while I was in Japan, including where I stayed. I would travel with them again in a heartbeat. I had the flexibility of travelling independently without the drudgery of having to organise domestic transport and accommodation, and I had someone on the ground in Japan if I got into trouble. The standard of…
May 2, 2014
After having a lazy day yesterday, I vowed to be more active today, mainly because it’s my last day in Japan AND I had IC Card credit that needed to be used before going home. I’m on my last ¥1000 ($10) or so, and I set myself a target to go to only free things today, because I don’t want…
May 1, 2014
What a throbbing mass of vibrant hustle and bustle the city of Osaka is! It heaves and spews people out of its subways and stations and shopping strips like a dragon breathes out fire. And amid it all, I wander alone and at peace, but somehow connected to this thriving metropolis, knowing that I’ve really only just barely scratched the…
April 29, 2014
Every trip I take, I always find a place that resonates with me. A place where, if I had to move to that particular country, I could totally live. In Vietnam, it was Hue; in China, it was Shanghai; in Italy, it was a toss-up between Stresa and Assisi; in the Former Yugoskavia, it was Sarajevo; in Turkey, it was…
April 27, 2014
The two and a half hour train ride from Kyoto was nothing short of spectacular. The train snaked through ravines with sheer drops to meandering rivers, only occasionally angry and foaming below; mountains thick with pine forests and splashed white and pink with cherry blossom; rustic towns and villages dotted with thin two story housing, cemeteries, glass houses and manicured…
April 26, 2014
I spent three nights in Kyoto and it wasn’t nearly enough time. This city is a really interesting blend of traditional and modern Japan. Wide boulevards funnel into tiny side streets with limited pedestrian access; department stores compete for the attention of shoppers with local markets selling all manners of goods; space age buildings are within walking distance of shrines…
April 23, 2014
Yesterday I caught the train from Nagano to Matsumoto, where I stayed overnight, before heading to Tsumago today. Matsumoto was a lovely town, albeit chilly. I checked into my hotel, and then walked up to Matsumoto castle, which was a pleasant 2km stroll. The main street looked almost European in the way it was set out with its shopfronts and…
April 21, 2014
I took the Shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo to Nagano, and it was a very relaxed and pleasant journey (once I found my way through the organised chaos of Shinjuku and Tokyo stations). Travelling this way – as in local transport options – certainly broadens the travel experience into something personal and unique. It’s almost, but not quite, an immersion.…
April 19, 2014
Tonight is my last night in Tokyo. It’s been a wonderful week, and I’ve packed the days (and some evenings) with all sorts of sightseeing experiences. Here are my highlights, in no particular order: Tokyo transport I must admit I was extremely nervous about using Tokyo’s transport system. I mean, it’s a city of 13.2 million people and HUGE. What…
April 17, 2014
I arrived in Tokyo exhausted after 21 hours travelling – 7(ish) hours from Adelaide to Singapore, 7 hours stopover, then 6(ish) hours from Singapore to Tokyo. The flight was uneventful apart from some slight turbulence. I can’t speak highly enough of Singapore Airlines – they make long haul flying bearable with their fabulous service, food and entertainment. Now if the…
April 14, 2014
Let’s get something out of the way up front: my phone doesn’t work! Thank God for wifi! I was warned that this might happen, so I’m not too disconcerted. I use WhatsApp over wifi to text my daughter, which beats the telcos at their own game. Friends stay in touch via Facebook, Twitter, this blog or email. Tokyo is clean,…
Having only ever transitted through Singapore on my way to somewhere else, I am delighted to be stopping for a number of days. And on my own. No tours or schedules, other than those I book or put myself on. Just me and my Singapore guide books, maps and apps. The first thing I notice about Singapore – apart from…
I arrived in Singapore around eight hours ago, after an early flight from Athens to Istanbul (with a few hours waiting around either side) before a gruelling 12 hour flight from Istanbul. Atatürk Airport is crazy busy for those readers who have never been through there. There are people everywhere, there are not enough seats, and you have to wait…
My final day in Athens and I took the bus (i.e. public transport) to Sounio and the Temple of Poseidon. It was almost a four hour round trip, but worth it because it was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon/evening. The sun setting over the Aegean during the drive back to Athens was just breath-taking. A big thank you…
One of the highlights of my cruise last year was visiting the island of Santorini, or Thera, as it’s formally known. I was excited to have the opportunity to stop there again this year and visit Oia, which I didn’t get to last year. Late in the afternoon, I was up on the top deck to watch the approach to…
I was only in Crete for a few short hours, but in that time was enchanted by the city of Heraklion. I thought it was a fabulous place. I walked from the port into the city – about a 10 minute stroll, so around a kilometre. I was rewarded with a view over the marina, cobbled stones, lovely European architecture,…