Sarajevo: The Miljacka River Walk. October 2021. In my last article I wrote about Sarajevo’s Old Bazaar and what an essential experience it is, no matter how short of time one might be when visiting the Bosnian capital. While we clearly enjoyed exploring the bazaar, our self-guided walks along the handsome Miljacka River just about […]
Read MoreBaščaršija: Exploring Sarajevo Old Bazaar. October-November 2021. For visitors with just a few days in Sarajevo, the city’s Old Bazaar, known locally as Baščaršija, is somewhere to prioritise. Immediately captivating, visually rich, and dense with five centuries of history packed into a web of cobbled streets, it rewards every hour you give it. Imagine, then, […]
Read MoreKovači Cemetery, Sarajevo, Bosnia. October 2021. After three wonderful months exploring Montenegro, Sladja and I had mixed feelings about finally saying goodbye. On the one hand we were definitely going to miss it, particularly its spectacular coastline. On the other hand, we were excited about moving on to a new country. As misfortune would have […]
Read MoreOnce Upon a Time in Hong Kong. May 2010. I had high hopes for Hong Kong. Partly because, well, it’s Hong Kong. But also because I knew this would be the last hurrah of my 2009-2010 travels around China. Over the preceding year, I’d crisscrossed the country and battled my way through what can only […]
Read MoreHuangluo Yao Village & the Longji Rice Terraces. Guangxi Autonomous Region, China. May 2010. Cover photo courtesy of xiquinhosilva. After my cycling and cooking adventures in Yangshuo, I returned to Guilin by bus, where, reluctantly, I boarded a large coach for my day trip into the mountains. I had hoped to avoid a group tour, […]
Read MoreExploring Misty Yangshuo, Guangxi Autonomous Province, China. May 2010. Cover photo courtesy of Chensiyuan. As I arrived in Yangshuo, so often described as the most beautiful place in China, I carried a quiet caveat with me. It was something I’d read in a travel guide months earlier: this might be the most spectacular thing you […]
Read MoreSnippets of Guilin, Guangxi autonomous region, China. May 2010. Cover photo courtesy of Shujianyang. Looking back, I do wish I’d spent more time in Guangxi, China’s impossibly beautiful, storybook province. But by then, my trip was already beginning to wind down, and I had just a week left to take in a handful of highlights […]
Read MoreWarriors and Walls: Exploring Xi’an. May 2010. I arrived in Xi’an by train from Pingyao, the journey gliding by in a smooth, slightly hypnotic two hours and forty-five minutes. It was great, another quiet triumph for China’s high-speed rail. One moment I was watching Shanxi’s muted landscapes flicker past, the next I was stepping out […]
Read MoreA Visit to the Ancient Walled City of Pingyao. Shanxi Province, China. May 2010. After a year teaching English in a small language school on Beijing’s northeastern fringe, the simple act of leaving the capital felt like letting out a long, deep breath. China’s roads were calling again, thus I answered with an inventive route […]
Read MoreA Visit to the Overlooked Town of Bar in Montenegro. October 2021. Our three-month odyssey around Montenegro was beginning to draw to a close. As our final days in Budva slipped quietly away, we realised there was just enough time for one last field trip before we packed up our lives and moved on. After […]
Read MoreKing’s Beach, Queen’s Beach & Sveti Stefan: Montenegro’s Royal Shores. October 2021. “Montenegro’s most breathtaking and iconic stretch of coastline,” Sladja read, her face lit by the phone screen. “Well… guess we better squeeze that in before we leave.” I agreed at once, though the claim felt bold. Could Sveti Stefan really outshine everything we’d […]
Read MoreThe Royal Capital That Was: Exploring Cetinje in Montenegro. October 2021. As soon as Sladja and I heard about the town of Cetinje, we knew it had to be a priority of our final weeks in Montenegro. A mountain town thirty kilometres from the coast, a former royal seat once home to kings, queens, princes, […]
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