Nomadic Notes

I’m James Clark, and I've been travelling the world since 2003 while running a location independent travel business. I’m currently based in Ho Chi Minh City writing about transport and city development in Southeast Asia.

Nomadic Notes is a travel blog featuring travel tips, where to stay guides, rail travel, and old-school trip reports.

More about me and Nomadic Notes.

Where I’m At: April, 2020 – Saigon quarantine edition

Greetings from Saigon and another edition of Where I’m At – my monthly summary of where I’ve been and site news. Where I’ve Been What a long month March was. That Lenin quote comes to mind where “there are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” I started the month in […]

Notes on Kolkata

Kolkata is third-most populous metropolitan area in India, with a population of over 14 million. Calcutta (as it was formerly known) became the headquarters of the East India Company in 1773, and it was the capital of British India from 1858 to 1911. The remains of this period have left one of the grandest cities […]

Old Goa – Time machine dreams and the fragility of civilisation

Old Goa (Velha Goa) was the former capital of Portuguese India from the 16th century until the 18th century. It was once a significant city with a population that rivalled Lisbon, having an estimated population of over 200,000 people. The city was eventually abandoned due to a plague in the 18th century, and the capital […]

Where I’m At: March, 2020 – Saigon edition

Greetings from Saigon and another edition of Where I’m At – my monthly summary of where I’ve been and site news. Where I’ve Been Here’s a summary of where I’ve been last month. Follow me on Instagram for where I’m at in real time. North Goa View this post on Instagram Good morning Goa. A […]

Notes on Panaji – The quaint capital of Goa, and the Macau of India

Panaji (formerly Panjim) is capital of the state of Goa. There’s no beach here, and at just over 40,000 people, petite Panaji feels positively provincial. While there are 36 states and union territories in India, Panaji doesn’t even crack the top 300 biggest cities in India. I think though that in the future Panaji will […]

Notes on North Goa Beaches

Goa is the smallest state in India, with a coastline of approximately 160 kilometres facing the Arabian Sea. Despite its diminutive size its a bit of a pain to get around due to the roads and its geography. The state is comprised of two districts: North Goa, and South Goa. When people are planning a […]

Notes on Bengaluru (The Garden City) – Old city mayhem, transport apps, and fancy airports

Bengaluru is the third largest city in India, located in the middle of the Deccan Plateau in South India. I was in Bengaluru on the way to somewhere else. I visited Bengaluru in 2007 during my first trip to India, so I would have preferred to visit a new city. 13 years between visits is […]

Where I’m At: February, 2020 – Bengaluru edition

Greetings from Bengaluru and another edition of Where I’m At – my monthly summary of where I’ve been and site news. Where I’ve Been Here’s a summary of where I’ve been last month. Follow me on Instagram for where I’m at in real time. Bangkok For the second year in a row my year began […]

Chow Kit – an emerging inner city neighbourhood in Kuala Lumpur

While reading the NY Times 52 Places To Go In 2020 I raised an eyebrow when I saw Chow Kit in Kuala Lumpur listed as one of the featured destinations. Older KLites who have not been to Chow Kit for many years might have raised both eyebrows and popped their eyes out a bit. Chow […]

Promoting Mekong Delta tourism through cargo boat travel

Travel by cargo boat in the Mekong Delta is something I’ve been meaning to do ever since I first read about it. One trip I wanted to do was from Ben Tre to Tra Vinh. I’ve seen this way of travel mentioned in forums, and I’ve had a reader email me how he did the […]