After having spent nearly a year in Ho Chi Minh City I returned my home city of Melbourne for the Christmas holidays. While it’s always good to go back I knew I would be soon be having some Vietnamese food withdrawals, so I made my way to one of the Vietnamese districts. There are three […]
The Victorian-era gold rush city of Bendigo – Australia
The Victorian gold rush between 1851 and the late 1860s turned Melbourne into one of the great cities of the world. Much of the wealth that built Melbourne came from the gold fields of central Victoria. If you admire the Victorian era heritage of Melbourne then I would recommend having a look at Bendigo as […]
In Pictures: Cai Rang Floating Market in the Mekong Delta
Cai Rang is home to the biggest floating market in the Mekong Delta. The market is near the city of Can Tho, which is about four hours from Ho Chi Minh City; too far for a day trip, so an overnight stay is required. Here is my guide on where to stay in Can Tho. […]
In Pictures: JFK assassination sites in Dallas
If you travel with American Airlines in the US there is a good chance you will have a connecting flight at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. This was the case for me where I was on my way to Belize City with a connection at DFW. I was using frequent flyer points and the only seats […]
Phnom Penh Cafes
Phnom Penh has a special place in my heart as it was the first city in Southeast Asia I visited, back in 2005. I remember paying $2USD for a motorbike taxi from the airport, which may have been a dollar more than I was supposed to pay (I’m sure some wiseass backpacker pointed that out […]
Devouring durians in Davao
Durians and I I’m not a fan of durians. Every time I have tried a piece it has grossed me out and had me wishing for a bottle of mouth wash and a tongue scraper. And the taste lingers for ages; durians – it seems – cannot be untasted. Despite this I have still been […]
Notes on Shanghai: revisiting an old favourite
I was last in Shanghai three years ago and I spent about a month in the city. When I came here in 2010 I was actually considering moving to Shanghai – that is how much I liked it. As it turned out I could only get a tourist visa that required leaving the country every […]
Notes on Chongqing: the megacity of Southwest China
I first visited Chongqing in 2010 where I made a stopover on my way from Xi’an to Chengdu, and I recall having to look it up to see where it was. Turns out that Chongqing is technically the largest city in China (if ranked by administrative area). [Chongqing – one enormous city!] Is Chongqing the […]
Notes on Jaipur: forts and palaces
I came to Jaipur in 2011 and I had Delhi belly (I had just come from Delhi and got sick when I arrived, so I’m calling it Delhi). As a result, I didn’t see much of Jaipur the first time around, so now I had the chance to see what I missed. Forts and Palaces […]
Notes on Mamallapuram
My first time to India was in 2007 where I visited Mumbai and some of the southern states. I was told that the south is so more relaxed than the north, but having never been to the north I had no way of comparing. I came back to India again in 2011, this time flying […]










