It was a pleasant morning in George Town, Penang, as I wandered along a quiet street in Chinatown. Old Chinese buildings lined the street, each one showing signs of age and character; each with its own story to tell. As the street led me out of Chinatown, I could suddenly smell that unique aroma that [...]
It was strange to leave Penang. We had only been in George Town for five days, but it felt like a lot longer than that. In that short period of time we had already become familiar with the city. We had already discovered our favourite food spots; we even knew our way around pretty well [...]
In all of my travels I have visited countless places of religious worship. I have visited stunning Catholic churches in Italy, sparkling Buddhist temples in Thailand, wooden monasteries in the Himalayas and interesting Chinese and Hindu temples in several different cities in the world. But strangely enough, I had never visited a Mosque. That all [...]
Every Sunday afternoon in Chiang Mai, Thailand, Rachadamnoen Rd - the main street through the Old City - is closed off to all traffic to become one big long night market. From the central area around Tha Pha Gate, stalls set up all along the road right up to Wat Phra Singh, and they sell [...]
Some of the most interesting historic attractions in George Town, Malaysia, are the beautiful Chinese clanhouses around the city. The Chinese immigrants who came to Penang in the 18th and 19th centuries developed "Clans" based on where they were from in China. The larger of these clans felt the need to build "Clanhouses" for meetings [...]
As with all of the destinations that I visited during my six month journey through Southeast Asia, every day in Penang started with a walk. The only question was what direction I would head in when I stepped out the door of my guest house in Chinatown each morning. On this particular day, my feet [...]
Si Phan Don (4000 Islands) is situated right in the south of Laos, in the stretch of Mekong River that borders Cambodia. Here, the Mekong River splits into a maze of different channels covering a width of around 4 km, creating thousands of small islands (around 4000 in the dry season). Si Phan Don is [...]
Located on Lebuh Gereja, right in the heart of George Town, Malaysia, Pinang Peranakan Mansion is one of the greatest examples of the extravagant Chinese Courtyard homes that were common among the rich merchants of the Baba Nyonya Culture in Penang. The Baba Nyonyas (also known as Peranakans) are a community of people that originated [...]
It's Instagram roundup time again! This time from the beautiful landlocked country of Laos in Southeast Asia. This was actually my second trip to Laos, but this time I had a lot more time to explore and got to see some new places. It still wasn't enough time of course. This time around I didn't [...]
Malaysia as a whole country is interesting due to its mix of different cultures and religions, but there are few better examples of this than the city of George Town on the island of Penang. Due to its history as an important trading port, people came from many parts of the world to settle here, [...]
