Slaughter of the Innocents

At the end of our stay in Nepal, the last country on our Asia itinerary, here comes yet another cultural-religious shock. I never doubted for a minute Asia would disappoint in shaking up our European outlooks on anything from religion to food taste, moulded nice and safe for years within our comfort zone. This was

Happy Himalayas

There are many books written about the Annapurna Circuit trek which focus on the local people, their traditional lifestyle and religious practices. Their authors claim the trek is a spiritual journey within yourself as the breathtaking landscape of the Himalayas together with the amazing, warm-hearted people inhabiting this region reach the deep hidden feelings of

Kathmandu Stroll

A touch base place for trekkers and climbers. Here you’ll get all your missing gear and find guides and porters for the upcoming mountain expedition. But it’s so much more than Westerner-oriented Thamel and Freak Street. It’s a city of the living goddess, Kumari; people practising a blend of Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism, and amazing

Holy City of Varanasi

‘Welcome to my town, Varanasi, the holy city!,’ greets us a rikshaw driver. In the next sentence he offers us a great inexpensive hotel, which we absolutely must see. When we turn down his offer for obvious reason, which is the commission the driver will get at our expense, we hear that Varanasi people are

Praise the Rats!

Once upon a time lived a Polish prince called Popiel, who died eaten alive by mice and rats in a tower, where he took refuge with his wife to escape the rebellion of the people he ruled. I remember this bizarre story from my childhood and that’s where it belonged, to the realm of legends,

Holy Cow!

It’s common knowledge that India is one of the most spiritual countries in the world. But, truly speaking, we didn’t feel much of it until we came to Pushkar, a relatively small town as for Indian standards, where people breathe in spirituality with the air. For us it was a perfect oasis of peace and

Golden Temples of Chiang Mai

Temples in Chiang Mai City:

Bangkok: Two Tales of the City

Another border crossed. This time Thailand. The Land of Smiles is the third country in SE Asia we’re visiting and we hope it’s ‘same same, but different‘, as goes the threadbare slogan overused in tourism industry in Asia.

Apocalypse Now: The Day After

We arrived in Hue, the ancient capital of Vietnam, early in the morning and the moment we got off the bus, hotel touts started the fight for our wallets. This time we let ourselves be taken to one of the hotels, which turned out to be opposite doors with the famous Cafe on Thu Wheels,

Mt Emei: Stairway to Heaven

Having explored Chengdu in Sichuan province for a day, we needed to decide how to spend the next 3 days before we caught our train to Guilin just before the Golden Week (the first week of October), which is the annual biggest migration of the Chinese not counting the Chinese New Year. Emeishan, the holy