Shanghai was a favorite stop on our tour of China, a beautiful and lively metropolis with accessibly delicious food, good shopping and a much pleasanter population than up north. China's most international city is a wonderful place to rest after experiencing the history-rich but trying cities of Beijing and, to a lesser extent, Xi'an. Of particular interest was the Bund, without which a visit to Shanghai would be incomplete, the Shanghai Museum, perhaps the best in China, and the shops and restaurants in the French Concession and Yuyuan Bazaar. Unlike in many of the cities we visited, it was easy to find great food, including some outstanding Yunnanese cuisine. We should have planned for more time here, but spread ourselves thin visiting other important cities in the area: Nanjing, Suzhou and Hangzhou. These cities we visited ... read more

Beijing was the perfect city to begin our trip. It was, in many ways, the China I came to see: dense history, fantastic sights, good food, wonderful temples, interesting architecture. After a day exploring Beijing you're never left with with any doubt that you've been anywhere but ensconced within the Middle Kingdom, unlike certain other Chinese cities which can lure your imagination away to more global and less rooted modern metropolises. Every day there's so much to see, much more than is possible for a short-term traveler, and every day you work for it. Despite the city having a modern metro, plenty of free and accessible toilets, and more English than I had hoped for, every day was a bit of a struggle, and sometimes more than a bit. True, it's a very large city, and ... read more

So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Nothing seems to have been forgotten, nothing overlooked. - Mark Twain It's true. We arrived in the early morning on the last train of our journey, and made our way to a little hotel to drop our bags and get washed up. First stop was the Gateway of India, built to commemorate the 1911 royal visit of King George V and completed in 1924. Most impressive, despite the aggressive touts who lie in wait outside. From here we bought our boat tickets to Elephanta Island. A pleasant if toasty ride across filthy seas with a good view of Mumbai city until you got a ... read more

I’m glad I went, and I’m glad I never have to go back. - Mark Twain on Calcutta (Kolkata) I expected to feel this way about Kolkata but didn't. Many travelers report being overwhelmed by the humanity, the squalor, the poverty. Certainly Kolkata has all these things, but in comparison to the other places we visited I found it relatively tidy and orderly, with many people employed looking out for the tourists and their fellow Kolkatans, in the streets as well as in the museums. It reminded me a bit of Mumbai, although quieter and more spread out, at least in terms of the sights. It's a city I'd like to return to and experience again, as two days certainly wasn't enough here. We began our stay at the Broadway Hotel, a nice place with pleasant ... read more

The bad hearts are there, but I believe that they are in a small, poor minority. One thing is sure: They are much the most interesting people in the world--and the nearest to being incomprehensible. At the very least they are the hardest to account for. Their character and their history, their customs and their religion, confront you with riddles at every turn--riddles which are a trifle more perplexing after they are explained than they were before. , it makes our own religious enthusiasm seem pale and cold. - Mark Twain Varanasi was quite a sensory overload. An active, alive, and holy place, everyone we talked to before and during our travels had strong feelings about the city, both for and against. We both really wanted to experience it, to enjoy it, to allow it to ... read more