After 14 years of being away from Vietnam I made my way back to visit Hoi An. What I have not done when I previously visited 14 years ago, was to really explore Danang, and so before heading down to Hoi An I spent a couple of days exploring more of the city. There are […]

The University of Padova is one of the oldest universities in the world, dating back to the 13th century. A few months ago I attended a seminar at the university, and there would be all sorts of tours taking us to see various historical parts of the campus. The first session was held in the […]

A short drive away from Obidos in Portugal was an unexpected delight that took me completely by surprise. A funky attraction in the most unlikely place. The Buddha Eden Gardens are so out of place, and so strange, yet so nice, that I wasn’t entirely sure how I feel about this place. At the beginning […]

During Chinese/Lunar New Year I escaped Hong Kong to Thailand, and found my way to the southern island of Ko Samui. I did not intend to but the beach hotel I got was right next to China Town and so I was very lucky to catch the very lively local celebrations near the local template. […]

At the end of my Thailand trip, I spent a couple of days in Chang Mai after 14 years of being away. I rented a scooter and headed up the mountains to explore temples and see Chang Mai from above. After making a stop at the lively Doi Suthep, I continued onwards and saw a […]

After 14 years of being away I made my way back to where it all began – Chang Mai, my first stop on the 14+ years travel journey. I revisited places I’ve already been to, but also got a chance to see new things. I rented a scooter for a couple of days, and on […]

My last visit to Singapore I was hosted on the far western side of Singapore in the NTU campus area, near the border with Malaysia. Most of the Singapore attractions are far away from that area but there’s one attraction that’s really worth visiting – Singapore Botanical Gardens. It features Chinese gardens, Japanese gardens, and […]

Earlier this year I attended a one week workshop in Padova (Padua) in northern Italy. Padua University in one of the oldest universities in the world with famous folks like Galileo Galilei as resident scholars. When not in the workshop, we enjoyed tours of the university campus and the city. We visited some lovely historical […]

Last summer I visited Turin in Italy, and rented a car to roam around to surrounding mountains. I first headed east, to catch grand views of the city from above, starting from Faro Della Vittoria, an old lighthouse from the 1920s to commemorate the victory of Italy on Germany and Austria during the 1st World […]

I had a week to roam around Sri Lanka, and a few remarkable things happened to me on that short trip. I got a strong delayed allergic reaction to Sri-Lankan “traditional medicine” I tried at the beginning of the trip, the trip was interrupted by an army curfew given riots between the Muslims and the […]