Year: 2018

One of two old UNESCO World Heritage Site villages near Huangshan, Hongcun is the most attractive Chinese village I’ve ever been to (not that I’ve been to that many, but trust me, it is beautiful). Situated next to a stream, with a small lake in...

As the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur features the National Museum, the country’s main history museum. However, its best museum is the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia. Despite its name, the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia features a large...

Hong Kong is a tiny city-state that is more well known for finance and business than history. But the fact is Hong Kong, as an urban settlement, has a history of over 150 years, while villages in its rural New Territories have been around for over...

Lots of books have been written about the Vietnam War but most of those have been about the US experience. The Sympathizer is a novel about the war from a Vietnamese perspective, but even this is a little complicated. The protagonist is a South...

Bangkok is visited by millions of tourists every year, but museums are probably not at the top of the list. However, Thailand is an old country with a lot of history and culture, which is reflected by the Bangkok National Museum, the country’s...

Up until the 1970s, Calcutta used to be India’s wealthiest and largest city. Since then, Calcutta (now Kolkatta) has experienced a steady decline as it has relinquished its economic crown to the likes of Bombay, Bangalore and New Delhi. But despite...

Bangkok is a city with a ton of things to see, eat and do. But one thing you can’t really do is hike because Bangkok is flat and has no hills. The closest activity to a hike is to climb up the Golden Mount at Wat Saket. This is a small,...