Tag Archives: Asia
2024 Gone, 2025 Beckons
As has become traditional at this time of year I am looking back on my travel year and forward to travels to come. 2024 Innsbruck I started 2024 with a solo short break to the Tyrollean Alps. 36 hours gave me enough time to explore the small city and take the train/cable car high up […]
Philippines Tour – Part 1 Manila
My travel buddy Hamish and I arranged a trip to the main Filipino island of Luzon for late 2023, to be followed by a few days in South Korea. Practicalities Philippines is 8 hours ahead of U.K. time, with South Korea an hour further ahead. The big difference was the temperature. Low 30s for Philippines […]
Tuesday Train – Narita in Japan
Mention Japanese trains and most people will immediately think of high speed Shinkansen/bullet trains. However there is also a vast network of suburban trains, slower inter-city versions & street cars throughout the nation. We stayed at Narita Town before our flight home and I captured the airport train below framed by vivid cherry blossom this […]
Philippines Tour Part 5 – Pagudpud & Ilocos Norte Region
We headed northwards to the coastal town of Pagudpud. Golden beaches fringed with palm trees, verdant cliffs, an amazing viaduct and a beach front hotel with indoor & outdoor pools. But, then the rain came! We were staying for one night and what had promised to be a glorious day of lounging, swimming and strolling […]
Philippines Tour Part 4 – The Ancient Tattooist
We left the Shire after an early breakfast and well before elevenses to continue northwards. We would pass fabulous rice terraces once more and end up in Tuguegarao for the night. However, the highlight of the day would be a visit to the village of Buscalan in the province of Kalinga. We met our local […]
Philippines Tour Part 3 – Sagada & The Shire
After leaving Banaue we had a long journey to get to Sagada where we would be staying the night. The journey required very skilful driving – tight bends corkscrewing up and down mountain roads, potholes deep enough to be swallowed up in, sporadic road works, trucks & buses providing obstacles to pass, and chickens & […]
Philippines Tour – Part 1 Manila
My travel buddy Hamish and I arranged a trip to the main Filipino island of Luzon for late 2023. I followed the tried & trusted plan: 1) Create an itinerary by looking at the tours offered by international tour agencies at inflated prices 2) Find a local agency and ask them to price up a […]
Sunday Photos – The Golden Pavilion in Kyoto, Japan
Kyoto has many must sees – the Gion Geisha District, shrines, temples & beautiful gardens aplenty, the Fushimi Inari Taisha Sembon Torii (temple of 1,000 gates) and the bamboo forest amongst them. A lot to cram into 3 days. With a couple of hours to fill before our Shinkansen train to Hiroshima, I hot-footed it alone […]
East Asia Revisited
I am just back from my first visit to East Asia since 2015. This time it was a journey to the main Philippines island of Luzon, together with a short stay in Seoul. It did not disappoint. There is something about that region that is just pure magic. Philippines There were many highlights. Marvellous manic […]
Friday Photo – The Taj Mahal, Agra in India
Visiting the Taj in 1998 was one of those wow moments in life. Like many I had seen pictures as a kid and it seemed almost impossible to reach back then. India seemed as far away as the moon. It definitely lived up to expectations as we visited at sunrise and came back again later […]
