Towering karst peaks, a lake and two pagodas were the things I used to think of whenever someone mentioned the name Guilin. To some of my friends Guilin is one of the cities in China they most want to visit, thanks to its legendary picturesque […]
Five Colors from What an Amazing World!
Recently James from Plus Ultra has kindly nominated me to join the Capture the Colour photo competition run by TravelSupermarket.com. The idea is to choose five original shots from your travels, each one representing the colors blue, green, yellow, white and red, and publish them […]
Walking The Dragon’s Backbone
In a drizzling afternoon we arrive at the entrance to the village of Dazhai to see the famous Longji Rice Terraces. Nestled between mountains and hills with small, rocky rivers carving their way through the deep valleys, this place is a perfect escape from the […]
Inspired by Xingping
In a dimly-lit wooden room with a window looking to the darkness outside, we find our place to stay in a small Chinese town called Xingping. Two men are busy working downstairs, starting to build something with red bricks and mortar. It is already past […]
Just Passing Through, Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia, Southeast Asia’s third richest country – behind Singapore and Brunei Darussalam – came into the international spotlight in 1998 when two of the nation’s greatest achievements occurred: the XVI Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur and the completion of the Petronas Towers, currently still the […]
Awards Season 2012
Receiving an award from other blogger is always a nice thing because that way I know that someone does enjoy reading my blog and furthermore it works as a big support for me to keep writing and sharing stories of places I have traveled (and […]
The Wat and The Waterfall
In a typical afternoon in Luang Prabang, we walked along a narrow street parallel to the embankment near the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers. To our left, Wat Xieng Thong welcomed us with a serene and almost solitary atmosphere. Monks in bright […]
Picture The World – Indonesia
Indonesia. A country of 17,000 islands, 240 million people and series of volcanoes – some are of the deadliest in history. Volcanoes have always played a vital role in the archipelago, and will always do. Their eruptions brought demise to some civilizations, but also a […]
The Soothing Charm of Luang Prabang
I carefully opened the curtain, peeked out the window and sighed. The day didn’t look too promising. Clouds were hanging over the sky, casting a dim grey hue from above. But it was so quiet, so peaceful. No honking, only a faint noise from nearby […]
The Long Road to Luang Prabang
It was Sunday morning in Vientiane. After a two-day sojourn in the Lao capital, our affection for the city started to grow. But we knew it was time for us to continue our journey to the north, where the world-famous town of Luang Prabang is […]
Vientiane: The Rush-Free Capital
Long before I made my way to Laos I had heard and read about how laid-back the country was. Officially Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), or affectionately Please Don’t Rush, the country did give a very strong impression that we should really not rush into […]
Lao Food: I Lao You!
Last week I returned from a wonderful trip to Laos with James. We flew from Jakarta and Hong Kong respectively and met in Kuala Lumpur to catch the flight to Vientiane on the following day. That gave us enough time to wander around the Malaysian […]
What an Amazing World! 