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Posts tagged ‘Markets’

Jun 11

15 Comments

Siem Reap on a Plate

“Are you running the marathon tomorrow?”

Risa, the kind young woman at the front desk of our Siem Reap hotel, is not being ironic.

Bama and I want to laugh. Our near-instantaneous answer, a polite “no,” dispels any notion that we will be needing a 3 a.m. wake-up call. By pure coincidence, the two of us have arrived the day before the Angkor Wat International Half-Marathon, and the French guests booked into the room next door are taking part. Depending on where we travel, itineraries sometimes involve hiking excursions, snorkeling, or even a bit of ocean kayaking. But running? The point of this holiday in Siem Reap was to explore the area’s incredible trove of ancient temples and to eat. Read more

Sep 23

27 Comments

Banjarmasin: Life on the River in Borneo

It came without warning. Barely a minute earlier, Bama and I had been puttering down a narrow waterway lined with ramshackle wooden houses, softly lit by the full moon as it peeked through a wispy layer of cloud. But here was a vast expanse of water that seemingly merged into the darkness of the pre-dawn sky. At once I felt infinitesimally small; the absence of lights on the opposite bank exaggerated its distance, and our boat was now dwarfed by an oil tanker and hulking flat-bottomed barges laden with heaps of coal. I knew then that we’d arrived on the mighty Barito River. Read more

Nov 23

31 Comments

Nyaung Shwe: a photo essay

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The name Nyaung Shwe may not ring a bell, but if you are heading to one of Myanmar’s most well-known tourist destinations, there’s a very great likelihood that you will stay in this colourful, rambunctious place. Read more

Jun 21

36 Comments

Strolling Wan Chai’s markets

Wan Chai Market_1

Right in the centre of Hong Kong Island’s north shore, Wan Chai may be better known as the setting for the film and novel ‘The World of Suzie Wong’, its raucous nightlife a legacy of visiting servicemen during the Korean and Vietnam Wars. But beyond the tram tracks on Johnston Road lies the original neighbourhood, home to a thriving residential community that was established long before the girlie bars and nightclubs first made an appearance. Read more

Feb 24

22 Comments

Beyond Cholon, the scars of history

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Founded by Cantonese settlers on a tributary of the Saigon River, Cholon is the symbolic heartland of the Hoa, the Sino-Vietnamese community. Ethnic Chinese residents know her as Tai-Ngon, named for the embankments that buttress the town. On my final day in Saigon I had come here in search of a personal connection. “No need for Vietnamese,” I was told. “Maybe you can talk to people in Cantonese or Mandarin.”

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