It’s quite possible that the small Indonesian island of Bali is the most famous Southeast Asian destination around the world. For this fame, the Balinese have to thank, first and foremost, the Australian surfers and backpackers, who started coming to Bali as early as in the1970s, and then the 2010 chick flick “Eat Pray Love”…
Category: Destinations
Ten Reasons Why India Can Be a Challenging Travel Destination
Every traveler if his worth has either been to India or at least planned of considered going there. It’s a country that’s just too big, too important and too fascinating to avoid unless you are a real home body. Even if you are not an independently minded traveler, you’ve probably felt the lure of Taj…
The Guide to the Best Beaches of Phuket
I have written about Phuket a number of times, but there is one main reason people from all over the world flock to this island on Thailand’s Andaman coast. It’s the beaches. As someone who has travelled and explored a big chunk of Thai seaboard, I can attest that the beaches in Phuket are second…
Phang Nga: the Good, the Bad and the Macabre
Photos by Eugene Reshetov For many tourists in Thailand, the name Phang Nga is usually synonymous with Ao Phang Nga – the world-renowned bay with the towering limestone rocks, cliffs and caves, including the infamous “James Bond” island. It is one of South East Asia’s three famed karst waterscapes, along with Ha Long Bay in…
California National Parks Primer
My beloved state of California has a total of 9 national parks – more than any other state, including Utah, which I personally consider the most beautiful state for landscape photography. The sheer size of Golden State – slightly larger than Japan and slightly smaller than Sweden – allows for incredible geographic and geological diversity,…
Destination: Guatemala
My first and only trip to Guatemala was back in 2007, yet it stays in my memory as one of the most interesting ones I’ve taken, even now. I remember I got some free time fairly unexpectedly and was wondering where to go. Guatemala wasn’t on my radar initially, but my girlfriend at the time…
Thailand – 15 years later
RECENTLY, I returned from a month-long trip to Thailand. You might think, big deal, and for the most part, you’d be right. Thailand is the most visited Asian country after China, and Bangkok remains the world’s number one most visited city – that is, it’s ahead of Paris, London, New York and Tokyo among others….
Destination: Northeast India (part 2)
In part 1 of this destination guide, I wrote about the Northeast Indian states of Sikkim, Meghalaya, the region of Darjeeling and the general logistics and reasons for visiting of the Northeast. This post describes the remaining states of his fascinating part of India. Assam By far the biggest state of the Northeast by area…
Destination: Northeast India (part 1)
There is no other country for a backpacker like India. With the population of a quarter of the world and a vast territory, it has literally a wealth of things to see and to do, and you would need a lifetime to do them all. Any backpacker and really, pretty much anybody else should visit…
Ho Chi Minh City vs. Hanoi
Few countries in the world have the geographic and cultural bipolarity of Vietnam: it’s an elongated country, historically divided between the North and the South, and with a mighty hub city in each part. Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon or simply HCMC is the country’s biggest city and the dominant city of the South. Hanoi,…