It’s not all bad news. The airport queues are short, bookshops are a breeze and even wearing a face mask…
My mum, the pilot
Once upon a time, a little girl was told that women shouldn’t fly airplanes … I grew up knowing ‘mum…
Flying in the time of Covid
A hike in the Himalayan snow
We left the glimmering lake at Dodital to climb another thousand metres, ascending pine forests, crossing streams and meadows to…
Spending half a day at the bank
It wasn’t quite how I imagined the start of my Himalayan adventure. This is the second part of the blog…
A Merry Assamese Christmas (repost)
Man, those Assamese really know how to party. Here’s something I’m reposting from a couple of years ago, fond memories…
Crossing a special sea between Bali and the Gili Islands
It was a day that started serene, went chaotic and became serene again. A chaos sandwich, if you will This…
A funny incident in the men’s loo
Men’s bathroom protocol | What goes on in the men’s loos? | What is a loo? | A funny incident|…
To Bali and Beyond…
The final week of our amazing 90 days backpacking in southeast Asia arrived far too soon. In search of some…
Thoughts on returning home after backpacking around Southeast Asia for 90 days
Or … why you can never really ‘do’ a country We’ve been back now for six weeks after our 90…
Photography: Sunset over the Sulu Sea
Selingan Island | Sabah Province | Malaysia
Things that can go wrong when travel-blogging
How to blog on the go when you’re in a relationship | when your thumb decides to blog without you…
Photography: Landscapes of Bagan
Last month we were in Bagan, a dusty plain in Myanmar, where there are over 2,000 temples and pagodas, some…
Turtle island, Selingan Island, Borneo
The islands between Malaysia and the Philippines must be some of the loveliest islands in the world. During the day…
How to see orangutans in Borneo
We arrived in Sepilok in Borneo, the world’s third largest island, famed for its wildlife. We saw orangutans at play…
Finding the perfect perfume in Singapore
We’d landed in Singapore, our 6th country and 28th place on our 90 day travels around southeast Asia We immediately…
Things to see on Lake Inle in Myanmar
After a one hour flight from Bagan, a 45 minute taxi and a 50 minute boat ride, we were in…
What to see in Bagan, Myanmar
Imagine over 2,000 ancient stone temples, the fruits of devotion that have lasted almost a millennium. Some grandiose, topped in…
What to do in Mandalay
The lay of the land can be a great tell about a people just like a first view of Myanmar…
Landing in the sea at Halong Bay, Vietnam
We arrived via seaplane, landing in a sea filled with spectacular limestone cliffs rising out of the water. Hanoi to…
What to see in Vietnam: Hoi An, Hué and Hanoi
We visited the ancient trading port of Hoi An and the old royal capital Hué, and then on to Vietnam’s…
Getting over a fever in central Vietnam
We’re now half-way through our 90 days backpacking in south east Asia and we had just arrived in central Vietnam…
Visit the Saigon Opera House
Ho Chi Minh City | Vietnam There are many tourist activities to do in Ho Chi Minh City but we…
Goodbye Laos, you beauty
In the south of Laos, we climbed a World Heritage Site called Wat Phu and relaxed on river islands in…
On our way down south in Laos
A beery game of boules, realising the growing pains of middle-aged backpacking and a flight to the deep south of…
Caves, a jungle trek and the mysterious turquoise lake
We arrive in central Laos; take a jungle hike; visit caves and a mysterious lake; enjoy a Mekong sunset Thakek…
In the laid-back city of Vientiane
We arrived in what must be the world’s most laid-back capital city; temples; national monuments; a moving rehabilitation centre, and…
A slow and unintended minibus to Vang Vieng
We made our way on a tricky bus journey to Vang Vieng, a town in a lush setting of towering…
Luang Prabang in Laos: the jewel on the Mekong River
We arrived at a picturesque town of French colonial architecture, swam in clear blue waterfalls, ate local food in night…
Replanning our route, re-routing our plan
A Street cafe breakfast of omelettes and rice | Chiang Mai | Northern Thailand This post is part of the…
Chiang Mai, pretty little temple town
After 20 hours of travelling from the Himalayas we got to the laid-back town in north Thailand, Chiang Mai; we…
Kalimpong and a Magical Himalayan Wedding
We woke early to see the world’s third highest peak and there she was, Kanchenjunga, at dawn, ready to witness…
A tale of a dry day in India (it must be election time)
Departure Lounge Bar| Kolkata Airport | India We’re just about to leave India and go to Thailand on our 90…
A time of unbridled joy: the Assamese bihu
Man, those Assamese know how to celebrate. It’s the spring festival of Rongali Bihu and when we arrived in the…
Where the Rhinos Roam
We’re in Kaziranga National Park in Assam, a UNESCO world heritage site which has two thirds of the world’s one-horned…
Helpful hints on how to climb a 17 foot elephant on your wedding day
From Jorhat we travelled west for one and a half hours till we got to Kohora, a small village on…
An unexpected treat on the River Brahmaputra
We got lucky. By an unexpected act of kindness we were spending the night aboard a luxury boat all to…
Things to see in Majuli, the world’s largest river island
We sailed to the world’s largest river island, Majuli, in the mighty river Brahmaputra and cycled in stunning Assamese countryside…
To Sivasagar: home of the Assamese kings
We’ve made our way to the ancient capital of Assam, full of monuments of the Ahoms. Digboi to Sivasagar |…
Digboi, the oil town in the rainforest
We’ve made our way to the easternmost corner of Assam, to a sleepy town by a rainforest called Digboi. It’s…
On the lazy man’s road: the story of Dhodar Ali
We’re travelling further east in Assam, towards Digboi on an old road that has a curious tale about it. Dhodar…
A storm in an Assamese tea cup
We’ve arrived in Upper Assam at the start of the tea plucking season; the tea-pluckers are out in full force,…
Flying past Mount Everest to Assam
Delhi to Dibrugarh, Assam, North-east India. Flight time: 2 hours 25 minutes. Blogging with a view of the Himalayas. It’s…
How to sleep on a flight (Aches on a plane).
Overnight flight from London to Delhi. 9 sleepless hours Sleeping vertically has never been a human trait unless you’re Spider-Man;…
What to pack for backpacking
With less than a week to go till our 90 Days Backpacking In South East Asia I’ve started to pack…
I’m backpacking around South East Asia for 90 Days
When a rare opportunity for extended travel arrives, you just have to grab it with both hands I’m going backpacking…
Great travel annoyances of our times: the hotel toaster
At the hotel breakfast, that metal appliance that toasts your bread on a little conveyor … I mean… how hard…
The Little Fish Mystery
This is a true mystery that happened in my kitchen – it involves multiple murders, male-only breeding, a sex-change and…
Getting to work, Rwanda style
Whoever first coined the term ‘the Dark Continent’ to describe Africa was either wearing very powerful sunglasses, or was nocturnal.…
Hints of Holi: after India’s festival of colours, the powdered dyes linger on
Days after Holi, India’s festival of colours, the powdered dyes linger on in tiny cracks, on walls, on doors, paving…
Things to see in Kolkata
We have precisely seven hours in Kolkata before the taxi leaves for the airport. We’re spending the day traveling on…
Varanasi: Notes from the banks of the Ganges
India wakes early and Varanasi is no exception – at dawn the eastern sky above the sandy floodplain shines pink…
Bird talk: how an innocent childhood hobby got the whole class laughing
Preface: in the 1980s the word bird was used as British slang to mean a girl or a woman. It…
Virtual London Tour: From St Paul’s Cathedral to London Bridge
This virtual online walk along the Thames, from St. Paul’s Cathedral to London Bridge features google Earth images, photos and…
Virtual London tour: Canary Wharf and Limehouse
To book this tour please click here ( via the Eventbrite website) Using google Earth images, photos and a real…
Virtual London Tour: Whitechapel, East End
Bring your own cuppa, put your feet up and enjoy this virtual walk from Let’s Discover London. Using Google Earth,…
Virtual tour of the Assyria gallery of the British Museum
Virtual tour of the Assyria gallery of the British Museum Virtual tour of the Assyria gallery of the British Museum —…
My mum, the pilot
Once upon a time, a little girl was told that women shouldn’t fly airplanes … I grew up knowing ‘mum…
The whirling dervishes of Istanbul
The Galata Mevlevi Museum | Istanbul | February 2020 *** A few months ago I had the good fortune to…
My Mum the Pilot
In honour of International Women’s Day, I’m reposting a blog post I wrote a few years ago which was featured…
