A ghost town overrun by giant Easter eggs
Because Europe all but shuts down on Easter Sunday – and there’s only so much to do in a chilly and mermaid-less Copenhagen – I […]
Sightseeing
The case of Copenhagen’s missing mermaid
Imagine you went to Paris and the Eiffel Tower wasn’t there. Or you went to see Big Ben in London but it had been loaned […]
The brutality of the killing fields (not for the squeamish)
Bone fragments, teeth and pieces of fabric litter the ground next to a gnarled and knotted tree against which babies and small children had their […]
The Cheatles live in Liverpool
Travelling is all about moments like this one. Having wandered down to the Liverpool docks I was struck by a familiar sound, one synonymous with the […]
Places that give the worst first impressions
Within ten minutes of arriving in the Vietnamese town of Dalat I was ready to throw in the towel. Lost, hungry and tired of playing […]
From Hanoi to Luang Prabang (a love story)
It was off to a fairly underwhelming beginning, delayed in a bitterly cold and threadbare Hanoi Airport due to adverse weather conditions (airport speak for […]
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 […]
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 […]