Blogs from Asia - page 15

Last year was the first trip back to India since the Covid escape of March 2020. This fall as I told Taylor my plans for this year's trip, he said "but I've been to India 4 times, can we explore somewhere new?" I was unimpressed at first with his disappointment in returning to my homeland! But when I realized he used the word explore, I knew this was exactly the kind of child I was attempting to raise...one who was excited by new adventures and discovering all the world had to offer. He also asked to skip traveling altogether and just visit his family in Vancouver....so, after many conversations and many feels and many flight searches, I landed on a 2 month trip to Vancouver, Thailand and India. Some new mixed in with family time and ... read more

Today, we'll depart from Yeosu for our visit to Busan. The journey will take over 3 hours. Our first stop in Busan will be Gamcheon Culture Village, where houses cascade in a staircase-like fashion along the foothills of the coastal mountains. This vibrant community features alleys adorned with lively murals and sculptures created by its residents. After lunch, we'll visit Gukje Market (Bupyeong Kkangtong Market). This market gained prominence during the Korean War for supplying canned goods to the US forces. It served as a central hub for foreign products in Korea and earned the moniker 'Gukje (International) Market' due to its extensive collection of rare goods. Continuing our exploration, we'll experience SPA LAND Centum City, situated within the world's largest department store, Shinsegae Centum City. This luxurious and contemporary Korean traditional spa (Jjimjilbang) spans across ... read more

After an overnight sleep at Hanoi, I headed to Cat Ba Island. In Vietnam, one of the most famous places to visit is the Ha Long Bay. People visit for the limestone karsts and the clean waters. But given its popularity, it can get crowded. So I chose Cat Ba (pronounced as Cas Ba), the next door neighbour, much less touristy and the same landscapes. Cat Ba (means Island of Women) is named after three women from the Trang Dynasty of Vietnam, is a 285 square KM island comprising of the Cat Ba National Park. It's being developed as a tourist destination, but because it shares the same land and sea as Ha Long Bay, you get to see the same landscapes. After arriving, I explored the island a bit the first day and rested. Next ... read more

It is not unusual to hear from us that once again we are chasing a bucket list item. This particular one was generated as usual from those dang National Geographic magazines. This time, we were in search of those wonderfully photographed snow monkeys. Now technically, they are Japanese macaques, but since almost everyone calls the “snow monkeys,” that’s what we’re going with. We were eager to get to Nagano in early March to see the snow monkeys. We had read the best chance of seeing them in the snow was February, but we would not be able to get there until the 10thof March and yet we remained hopeful. Snowy snow monkeys here we come! A late morning flight from Okinawa to Tokyo and then a train ride had us arriving in Nagano late afternoon. We ... read more