Khao San Road is the famous backpacker street of Bangkok. This road and surrounding streets is the budget travel hub of Southeast Asia. In normal times it is a spectacle like no other place in the world. When the Covid-19 virus reduced travel to a trickle in March 2020, Thailand closed its borders to international […]
Jalan Jaksa – The slow demise of Jakarta’s backpacker street
On my first trip to Indonesia in 2009 I travelled from Medan to Bali by ferry, bus, train, and plane. Midway through that trip I arrived in Jakarta with a copy of Lonely Planet Indonesia in hand. The Book directed me to Jalan Jaksa – the backpacker street of Jakarta. I don’t remember where I […]
Soi Ngam Dupli – The old backpacker neighbourhood of Bangkok
Any backpacker who has been to Bangkok knows that Khao San Road is the backpacker Mecca of Southeast Asia. When I first arrived in Bangkok in 2005 all I knew was to make my way to this fabled street and I could walk around and find a cheap guesthouse to stay. Khao San Road was […]
