Vietnam travel tips (learnt the hard way) – part 1
As I round out my tour of duty in Vietnam and prepare to travel into Laos, now seems like the perfect time to reflect on […]
Month: February 2012
Visiting Ho Chi Minh’s final resting place
Gruff military personnel strip you of your camera as you pass through a metal detector and join a long and somber queue. You slowly make […]
Five reasons to love Brussels
You might think a city that’s home to both the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) would be dull and uninteresting. […]
Death defying acts in old Saigon
Thousands of scooters whip past, their horns blaring as you stand in the middle of the road like a deer caught in headlights. Your heart […]
Getting stabbed in the face in Tenerife
Three simple words to sum up my holiday in Tenerife: OPEN BAR and BUFFET. To be honest, and I feel guilty saying this, I never […]
Vietnam: sleeper buses for dummies
As I write these words my body is still reeling from a 12 hour bus journey that took me overnight from Nha Trang to Hoi […]
Istanbul: the place where history and kebabs come from
Istanbul is ten thousand miles away from New Zealand, literally and figuratively. Mosques dominated the city skyline as the ferry made its way across the […]
Vietnam’s Valley of Love – a Valentine’s Day spectacular
Saccharine, schmaltzy and without a hint of irony whatsoever, Dalat’s Valley of Love is cuter than a sack full of lolcats and very nearly as […]
Learning to ski in the Swiss Alps
As it turns out, skiing is actually much harder than it looks. And who would have ever guessed that sliding down a hill on two […]
The most intense museum ever
In a town where crossing the road is tantamount to playing chicken in the middle of a busy motorway at rush-hour, Ho Chi Minh’s War […]
Ice Kacheng: a Singapore sensation (or not)
I’m not the bravest man in the world when it comes to trying new culinary treats but when I saw a picture in a Singapore […]
Australia’s safest beach
When I think of Australia what immediately comes to mind is shrimps on barbecues, thongs as footwear, the accent, all manner of dangerous and deadly […]