Seeing the broken wreckage of a military helicopter near the runway of Sana’a International Airport as my flight landed confirmed most people’s impressions of Yemen - a dangerous and lawless land where there is an average of three guns for every man, woman and child the country. The other impression of a conservative and closeted country was apparent earlier on my flight, for if one turned their gaze from the landscape of burnt hills that arose from the pale desert, they would notice that every woman on the flight wore a niqab. Many people had warned me away from visiting here due to the security situation, but the lure of the Old City of Sana’a proved too strong. Yemen’s claim of being the poorest country on the Arabian peninsula became quickly apparent. Gone were the modern ... read more

After being awakened to many aspects of North Korea - the passionate pursuit of a military policy and panegyrics about the Great Leader being two examples - there were more revelations as we concluded our North Korean odyssey. One was the extremely proud nature of the North Korean people. This extended to a great pride about their history, and they make great efforts to preserve and display their historical sites. These places were always attended to by a local guide - most were women dressed in traditional flowing gowns in pastel colours, but sometimes they were men - including one who bore a striking resemblance to the Dear Leader. Some of these sites were impressive, including the 14th century Tomb of Kongmin near Kaesong, where the 31st ruler of the Koryo dynasty is buried with his ... read more

Within the North Korean psyche, nothing is more despised than imperialist aggressors. Those evil, external forces that threaten to usurp the Juche idea of self-reliance, and besmirch the Great Leader. Public enemy number one in this regard are the US - and they have held this title for the past sixty years, when they overtook Japan (and their imperialist efforts in the first half of the twentieth century) as the most despised nation. It was rare to hear the word “US” or “American” without the phrase “Imperialist Aggressors” spat out immediately after. This term was so common that I would automatically say the words “imperialist aggressors” in the rare instances when our hosts forgot to add this sobriquet to any reference to the US. This always received a nod of approval from our Guide and Official. ... read more

“You are going where?!?!”, my friend would exclaim. “North Korea,” I would calmly reply, with a nonchalance likened to asking a flight attendant for another orange juice. “Don’t you mean South Korea?” would come the inevitable response. “No, I mean North Korea: missile tests, captured US journalists...” and the answer would always be, “Ah…you mean the dangerous one,” with particular emphasis on the second last word. I would eventually be asked my reasons: North Korea (or the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea - DPRK) is the last remaining bastion of Communism, the failed economic experiment of the twentieth century. While other communist nations have fallen to the lure of capitalism through one reason or another, North Korea has remained true to its ideal - and for those who were too young to travel to the ... read more

Sitting at the crossroads of history, Xi’an is famous for not only being the termination point of the epic Silk Road, but it was in this region where China was united for the first time under a common ruler, that of the belligerent Emperor Qin Shi Huang, whose other legacy is the legendary terracotta army. After what seemed a prolonged period of flight connections (mainly because it was) I wearily trudged into Xi’an airport, and I immediately headed to the Han Yanglin Mausoleum, where the fourth Emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Jindi, was interred. Jindi was a far less pugnacious fellow than his more famous predecessor, Emperor Qin. Emperor Jindi lived by the philosophical Daoist philosophy which encourages harmonious living with the surrounding world - partly achieved by following a course of non-action or ... read more