The new year marked the start of a challenge for over 100 000 people to abide by a vegan lifestyle for a month, commonly known as ‘Veganuary’. If you’re one of those participating, you have my best wishes on a very positive endeavour for both your own and the planet’s health. My own journey on this path started in the summer of 2016. But it’s…
Read More
Seemingly on my to-do list for the past 12 years, over the last few months I’ve finally got around to building my own PC. My aging MacBook has been crying enough. To be fair though, I have tormented it over the last 6 years. Not long after unboxing, I dissected the CD drive with the intention of replacing it with a hard drive, and broke…
Read More
Before I departed on my overland trip through Asia last July, one of my greatest anticipations – aside from visiting many incredible countries – was to write this blog post at the very end. I was keen to know how this experience would change me. To justify it to the various curious people, I described this as an adventure “within” and a “character building experience”….
Read More
Arriving into Kuala Lumpur came as a welcome change after a few weeks away from the hustle and bustle of big cities. I was beginning to miss some urban comforts, especially after my last adventure in the jungles. As the MRT subway train pulled up into the city, the ambience became quite energetic. There were huge crows of people wearing yellow t-shirts in support of…
Read More
The Cameron Highlands is a region in the heart of the Malaysian peninsula famous for its tea plantations, orchards and mossy forests. Its cooler climate provides much needed respite from the otherwise hot and humid climate at sea level. Despite the persistent rain this came as a welcome comfort as I stepped off the coach in Brinchang. Over two days I trekked through 4 of the main trails…
Read More
After another three hour endeavour on a fishing boat back to Sihanoukville, I boarded a bus back to Phnom Penh. The road infrastructure in Cambodia is still quite limited, so it’s not straightforward to travel directly to Siem Reap without first going to the capital. Happily, though, I made the most of this stop to visit the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre run by Wildlife Alliance….
Read More
Well, I say ‘rugged’ Cambodia because that’s the first word that came to mind after entering the capital Phnom Penh, and I couldn’t find another suitable adjective to describe this unique country. Getting from Can Tho to Phnom Penh wasn’t feasible without first going back to HCMC and staying a night to catch an early morning coach the following day. It was a long ride –…
Read More
The chaotic streets and endless hooting of the cities had given way to the serene and peaceful waterways of Can Tho, located in the southern Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. It was only a 3hr coach ride to get there from HCMC. Its geography is unlike anywhere else in Vietnam, or much of Asia in fact. The Mekong River empties into the South China Sea…
Read More
The next stop in Vietnam was the highland town of Da Lat, and it took just under a day to get there from Hoi An. The first leg was via overnight train along the Reunification Express from Da Nang to Nha Trang, and unfortunately with my last minute decision I was told there were only seats available (when I instantly recalled the nightmare leg in…
Read More
A three hour bus ride took me from Cat Ba island to my next stop south, Ninh Binh. As bus journeys go, this was pretty frightening. The driver had only one speed – as fast as the engine pistons permit, and without as much as a thought for anyone else. Motorcyclists have it worst off; they’re forever hooted at and shoved off the road by bus drivers…
Read More