Posts in category ”Travel destinations”

Found 203 hits, currently showing 161-170.

Being Godzilla in Tokyo

Being Godzilla in Tokyo

I walked alone in the streets of Tokyo, like a benign Godzilla without the sharp teeth. Everywhere I went, people stopped in their tracks and stared at the six-foot-five gaijin. I did a “smile and wave” like the mad penguins in Madagascar movie, and started humming on the song “Big in Japan” by Alphaville.

Alone in Kyoto

Alone in Kyoto

Kyoto isn’t Tokyo. It whispers softly and lures you in with the rustle of bamboo and the silence between footsteps. It doesn’t fight to get your attention. You will listen anyway.

Torii gate on Miyajima island

The gate of Hiroshima

The name of Hiroshima will forever be connected to the horrible event in 1945. On August 6, the first nuclear bomb to be used against mankind detonated 580 meters above the city, killing hundreds of thousands of people.

A day of war in Seoul

A day of war in Seoul

Seoul is a city of contradictions. Hypermodern and ancient. Bubble tea and barbed wire. It’s a city that rebuilt itself from ash and artillery, where the past isn’t a distant echo but a constant hum in your ear.

Beijing

Forbidden City in Beijing

After a long train journey, I had finally arrived in Beijing. First thing on the list was to get some food. I had hoped to casually sweep through the food court like Anthony Bourdain, but my noodles were awful and I felt more like John Hurt in movie “Alien”, just waiting for the chestburster to appear.

Tent heating in Mongolia

Tent heating in Mongolia

Mongolia doesn’t care about your comfort. It doesn’t pretend to. Out here on the steppe, where the wind could strip the flesh from your bones and the stars feel close enough to punch you in the face, survival isn’t a metaphor, it’s a daily negotiation.

Dawn in Ulaanbaatar

Dawn in Ulaanbaatar

One minute I’m dozing on a Soviet-era train, the next I’m dropped into the Mongolian capital like a sack of flour from a low-flying plane. I place my dusty shoes on the pavement of the Ulaanbataar railway station and quickly scan the area.

Isolation on Trans-Siberian railway

Isolation on Trans-Siberian railway

I shared cabin with a Russian couple on a night train from Helsinki to Moscow earlier this week. They told me that a plane had crashed near Perm with 80 dead and some damage done to the Trans-Siberian railway.

Red Square of Moscow

Red Square of Moscow

There are places that smack you in the face the moment you set foot in them. Red Square is one of those places. Less a tourist attraction, more a stone colossus of history staring you down. Welcome to Moscow, comrade. This isn’t Paris, and it sure as hell isn’t Disneyland.

The black balsam of Riga

The black balsam of Riga

When I set out to explore a new city, I tend to look for the odd things that cannot be found back home. So far, Riga has not disappointed me.

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