A breeze even for the solo backpacker, Laos should be Southeast Asia’s welcoming station. While it lacks the highs of the greater region — Thailand’s cuisine, Cambodia’s temples, Vietnam’s coast and Myanmar’s authenticity — Laos has its own understated, accessible beauty and culture. Explore by…
I stared up at the ceiling as the howling laughter intensified around me — demonic cackles, warm chuckles and everything in between. Should I run? This was nuts. The girl next to me shook uncontrollably and tears rolled down her…
In Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, 45-minutes from the Kazakh border, lies a compound run by a Japanese family whose gates only open to those at a crossroads. Travelers who find themselves within its walls are not swinging by for a night…
As the cliffs grew closer, we saw the outline of large, lithe creatures scurrying beneath the overhanging rock, their skin shiny and firm. I gasped as one fell, caught just feet above the sand by an attached rope, a…
Think morning motorcycle rides and seafood on the beach. Though often overlooked, aside from the famed Angkor temples, Cambodia’s slow tempo, open spaces, solid infrastructure and friendliness, will win you over. Island hopping, ruin wandering and river floating are all on the itinerary,…
I have never laid eyes on the Mona Lisa, despite having visited Paris numerous times. My childhood home is 40 minutes from San Francisco, yet I have never stepped foot on the Golden Gate. In New York City, “Top…
Tibetan flags, weathered faces and muted colors greet you upon arrival. After a few weeks of moseying around Ladakh’s dusty mountains life takes on an addictive simplicity that steadies the pace, deepens the breath and slows the heart. The trip…
Google Manali–Leh Highway and the first couple of hits you’ll find include dangerousroads.org and thrillophilia.com, the sort of websites whose hyperboles I tend to take with a grain of salt. As I noted the rusted underbellies of the vehicles…
“How was Myanmar?” Pause. Awkward pause. Four years on and I’m still not sure how to answer that question. The country? Beautiful. The locals? Welcoming. But the trip itself… Sometimes the stars align and you take a vacation where…
When I think of Varanasi I think of bodies. They’re everywhere, some living, some not. The shores of the river are where they gather. If the city had a heartbeat, the Ganges would be its source. The banks are alive. Corpses burn…
Istanbul is the end of the road – the Silk Road namely – the point on the map where the East and West come to a head: symbolically, geographically and, in many ways, ideologically. It’s situated on the Bosphorus strait, which stretches…
What I noticed first were the hands. Heavy, no-nonsense, working hands. Hands that lift and carry and squeeze. Okay, I might be exaggerating a little and even flirting with political incorrectness, but it’s what I remember. As we moved…
From afar Vang Vieng looked like any number of small towns in Laos. Dramatic limestone cliffs framed the sunset as we dropped into the karst canyon from the north. We took a mini bus into town from the main…
We entered Punjab via Amritsar near the Pakistani border, heading south from mountainous Himachal Pradesh. We’d just spent almost a month exploring areas near Ladakh in the Jammu and Kashmir state and ten days meditating in a vipassana. By now we thought we had…
Some would say that entering China is like stepping back in time. Others would say it’s like stepping into the future. Whatever it is, it’s captivating, confusing, incredible and sometimes overwhelming. It’s a place of superlatives. You love it…