Articles from this Category
20 June 2024
Above: View soon after take-off from Almaty. Leaving Almaty The breakfast lady at the hostel was 20 mins late but fortunately it didn’t affect my plan to check-out at 0900 to head to the airport for my 1130 flight to Shymkent on SCAT Airlines. I was surprised the ride only took 20 mins. I was […]
19 June 2024
First things first I didn’t sleep deeply last night but had dozed from 2330 till 0700 this morning, which is fine for me. After a greasy included breakfast of three fried eggs and sides, I left the hostel in search of ATMs (or bankomats as they’re called in this part of the world). The first […]
17 June 2024
Gwangjang Market I had considered going to the royal tombs, Donggureung, today but they are closed on Mondays. Having been to the other key sights of Seoul, some more than once, I thought I’d swing past Gwangjang Market on the way to Hanok Buchon for lunch at a place I enjoyed on my first visit […]
15 June 2024
Hwaseong Fortress I woke after 9 hours of sleep, having missed a night’s sleep airborne. Venturing out after some muesli and milk, I was pleased that it wasn’t stinking hot today, with substantial cloud cover. The plan for the morning was to explore Hwaseong Fortress or rather its walls and gates which are dotted around […]
14 June 2024
Above: Pedestrian mall in Suwon, near my hotel. Arriving at Seoul Incheon airport at 0630, I wasn’t as lucky as previous visits. It took an hour to get through immigration and exit without a bag. I’m booked to stay in Suwon, which Google Maps says is 2h away by bus. The hotel’s check-in time is […]
13 June 2024
Taking ten years off my age About 10 days short of six months, I stopped shaving just before going on my three-week trip to Saudi Arabia. Today, I had planned to have the beard taken off at the Indian barber in KL Sentral / Brickfields where I was overnighting. When I had a haircut there, […]
12 June 2024
For this visit to Kuala Lumpur, I had it on my list to visit the Islamic Arts Museum. This had come highly recommended by E, with whom I travelled around Saudi Arabia about half a year ago. I arrived at the site by train and foot, getting there a few minutes before their 0930 opening. […]
26 March 2024
Internet connection; the enabler As my previous trip to China was 9 years ago, this is my first visit since the country went largely cashless. I came prepared and everything worked like a dream. I didn’t use any cash or my credit/debit cards for any travel-related expenses during my whole stay! An internet connection is […]
26 March 2024
Above: At the next massage table. My turn next. Massage and cupping Our flight back to New Zealand leaves at 0230 “tonight” (technically tomorrow morning) from Haikou. We have the day to kill before taking the train from Sanya to Haikou airport before killing more time there. I opted to skip breakfast and take brunch […]
