Inherit The Earth
Asia
Uzbekistan: The Silk Road
I GOT into Tashkent at 4am in the morning. Had I woken up at that time, I would not have been at my best, so perhaps it was a blessing that I had not slept on a cramped economy flight via Turkey, after a 7am start in London.
Macau: Gambling on growth
THE JET-LAG wakes me at 5am and I rise to explore Macau, the quiet, rain-soaked streets already warm from the searing tropical day to come. Coming back to my hotel at 8am still befuddled by lack of sleep, I go in the wrong door and find myself in its casino.
Kagoshima: History in the air
AS A hairy 6ft 2in foreigner, you stand out anywhere you go in Japan – but perhaps nowhere more so than walking around the Chiran Peace Museum. Dedicated to the memory of some of the 1,400 kamikaze pilots who gave their lives for the Emperor at the end of World War II, the site is … Continue reading
Sri Lanka: Going eco
I’M NEARING the end of my second day at Vil Uyana – one of Sri Lanka’s premier new eco-lodges and close to the famous Sigiriya ‘Lion Rock’ in the heart of the country – when it finally clicks. Thatched wooden houses on stilts, set among tropical lagoons – where does it remind me of? It … Continue reading
China: The road to Shangri-La
HAVE you noticed you never quite get to Shangri-La? I arrived in the pretty town of Lijiang at night and, although it is a Unesco World Heritage site, I was totally unprepared for its charms. Red lanterns lit up narrow cobbled streets lined with traditional Chinese wooden buildings and small stone bridges spanned an intricate … Continue reading
China: A Kunming plan
PERHAPS, if I could read it, the graffiti etched into the rocks of Kunming’s Stone Forest might seem less picturesque. For all I know, the beautiful calligraphy is the equivalent of ‘Kilroy was here’.
Beijing: Thronging to see Zedong
THE QUEUE is four wide and stretches endlessly into the distance. We shuffle along at an efficient, if not quick, pace. I’m the only foreigner among the thousands of tourists around me – curious glances are sneaked, the odd stare. We’re waiting to see the embalmed body of China’s most famous son, Mao Zedong, the … Continue reading
Osaka: Yen for life
WHAT struck me during my first visit to Japan was our similarities rather than our differences. A small island, lying off the coast of a large continent which it has alternatively threatened or been threatened by during its history; a population that has developed an elaborate set of manners, much of it a legacy of … Continue reading
