Kyoto is the most “old Japan” it gets in Japan, and famous for its temples and gardens. There are at least a dozen famous ones, but just walking down any street you never go far without coming across a temple or shrine. First up: Kinkaku – the so called “golden temple” – the main building…

Japan in one sentence: “Wow, this is interesting/weird/fascinating/amazing – also, I don’t have the slightest clue what is even going on”. I stayed at the “Gojo guesthouse” – a hostel in a traditional Ryokan style (i.e. a wooden house with floors of rice-straw tatami mats, and you roll out a futon to sleep on). An…

Has Singapore: a) Too much Money b) Dubai Envy c) Not enough parks d) All of the above It’s probably d) The Marina Bay Sands building above is a private enterprise – and while a really cool picture at night or as a skyline, a lot less impressive in the day, from the near looks…

Nope, that’s not little India – that’s the oldest mosque in so-called “Kampung glam”, i.e. the muslim area. Not much muslim character left, but the mosque looks nice. And they celebrated the beginning of ramadan by – a street food fair? Makes no sense, but hey, food is always fine with me.. Had a weird-looking,…

One downside to Singapore: the climate. A little above 30 degrees: no problem. Combined with 85% humidity: start hunting around for an air-conditioned building to duck into after about 5 minutes of walking. Otherwise get windshield wipers for your forehead, and feel yourself dissolving in a puddle of sweat. So just some quick impressions from…

I can’t even tell you how much I love Singapore right now! After Nepal etc, firmly back in the first world. Not the Western world – Singapore is plenty exotic, with an interesting mix of Chinese, Malai, Indian and Western culture. But at the same time, it’s a very rich country, and more importantly a…

Some more pics from Kathmandu – this one is the entrance to the home of the Kumari – a child that is worshipped as a living goddess, showing herself here once a day, but only until she hits puberty, at which point a new, younger Kumari is chosen. Yup, Hinduism does get weird sometimes. Kathmandu…

Swayambunath was a name that I could not for the life of me remember – had lots of conversations like “What are you doing today” – ” Going to Saya..waya…the Buddhist stupa, you know, the one with the monkeys”. Swayambunath is a major ancient buddhist site on the outskirts of Kathmandu. Besides the giant stupa…

Nepal is where I almost failed to be let into the country. Visa? On arrival at the airport, check. Fee? 25 USD, check. Except I stupidly left my US Dollars in my luggage – whereas Nepali immigration is, as usual, *before* baggage pick-up, so I could not access my bag without dollars, and did not…

Nope, not a typo: Abu Dhabi does have a Louvre – the first museum called Louvre besides the original one. Picture By Wikiemirati – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65054805 I wanted to take a picture of the rather spectacular building from outside – but it was way, way too hot to walk far enough…