There are generations of travelers who have been brought up on tales from the Hippie Trail, that hallucinogenic trip from Istanbul to Kathmandu, later extending to Sydney, Australia. Alas, Imperial war mongering and religious section eights took significant parts of that journey off the map forcing current travelers to negotiate the gaps with a series […]
Australia East Coast Classic Read More »
The Japanese have a whimsical approach to religion. Like many aspects of the country they often just pick the stuff they like the look of from overseas and mix it in with their own. Hence it’s sometimes said of the people that they are born Shinto, marry Christian (actually they just play pretend here,
Introducing: Three Shrine Festival in Tokyo Read More »
Rio de Janeiro: The City and the State Rio de Janeiro is more than just a city, it’s a state. Whilst the Cuidade Marvellosa understandably grabs the best and the worst of the region’s headlines, there are other attractions nearby that need to be seen. In fact, with the city bracing itself for the fanfare
Easy Trips Around Rio de Janeiro Read More »
Without enough money or time to reach Patagonia but needing a break from Chile’s urban triangle of Santiago, Valparaiso and Viña del Mar, we overnight bused it south to Pucón, in the heart of the Chilean ‘Lake District’. The name Pucón means ‘entrance to the mountains’, in the language of the native Mapuche
Photo of the Week: Pucon Chile Read More »
Tokyo, Japan features on many a list of the world’s insert superlative here cities. These lists often include population, Michelin stared restaurants and yes, expense. But then this is one of the world’s great cities. It’s supposed to be expensive, isn’t it? After all, we’re talking about an economic Goliath, a dictator of markets. In
What It Costs: A Day of Travel in Tokyo Read More »
I sometimes wonder if I did actually visit Itacaré. It’s taken the form of a warm dream that I was gutted to wake up from. It all started on an ashtray gray bus, jumping across the bay heading north out of Rio de Janeiro where a warm dusk and sewage effluence fumes sent me
Photo of the Week: Itacaré Sunset, Brazil Read More »
Nothing can prepare you for Iguazu Falls. No coffee table picture books or sweeping movie panoramas could come close. The scale is just too vast. This is the widest waterfall in the world stretching across 2.7km and it demands your attention. No, that’s not right. It doesn’t demand it, there’s no need, you just
Photo of the Week: Iguazu Falls taken from Argentina Read More »
It’s a curious thing, gold. It seems to drive people mad. I mean, stark-raving, cowered down on all fours digging through dirt to get at it, mad. A single cry of “there’s gold in them there hills” is enough to attract a circus of the desperate, exploited and downright greedy. Countless numbers have succumbed to
Black Gold – A Brazilian Story (from Ouro Preto) Read More »
Welcome to the Whitsundays, a collection of 74 islands off the central coast of Queensland, Australia. This is Great Barrier Reef territory and a day out on a boat exploring the beaches and reefs around here is pure fun. Together with our vessel’s perma-tanned, skin like leather, captain, six of us headed out
Photo of the Week: Hill Inlet, Whitsunday Island Australia Read More »
Kyoto, Japan – The Romance and Reality Kyoto, Japan. Mere mention of the name here in Tokyo brings out the capital’s overworked, underpaid and constantly knackered work force into a beaming soliloquy about tradition and romance. Spared of World War II bombs and home to some two thousand temples and shrines, this is a city
Kyoto, Japan – The Romance and Reality Read More »
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