501 Places

Whenever we met another foreigner in Syria, they considered us crazy for hiring a car and driving ourselves around the country. Let me say from the outset: driving in Syria is heaps of fun! There is only one rule: there are no rules. As long as you follow this, and appreciate that every one is [...]

Robert Louis Stevenson said ““I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” And yet in different parts of the world, the act of just “going” can give us a vastly different experience. I have travelled extensively in Europe and the US, and here [...]

I like Cape Town. It is listed in many Top 10 cities lists, and rightly so IMHO. Great restaurants, attractive waterfront, fascinating museums, a place steeped in history, and of course a backdrop that very few places can compete with. Yet my own memory from our visit there centres on the day we spent out [...]

Walking through Sydney some years ago, we came across this row of terraced houses in The Rocks. Sussanah Place, a row of four houses and a shop, is open to the public as an example of the earliest (European) houses in Australia. It is a great place to wander around learn more of the history [...]

Think of India, and the chances are that the picture in your mind has a hot, sunny backdrop. That’s the India we all come to know. While we did experience this side of the country as well, my most memorable Indian moment is set in the heaviest snowfall I have ever experienced, and involves the [...]

Dubai leaves an impression on almost everyone I meet who has been there. People talk of great skyscrapers, the World development, of wonderful shopping and 7 star hotels. Money, money, money (for a small part of the population at least) I have to admit it is not one of my favourite destinations. I enjoyed seeing [...]

Not to be confused with the more illustrious West Highland Way on the mainland, the West Island Way winds around the Isle of Bute, just off the west coast of Scotland, and within fairly easy access of Glasgow. We walked this trail over a summer weekend, and at 30 miles can comfortably be completed in [...]

We missed our connecting bus in Puerto Natales by an hour. Next bus – 23 hours. We then knew we were off-peak, and reaching Torres del Paine would not be easy. A dirt track of a road winds its way from the Argentine border into the national park, with little passing traffic. With a pre-paid [...]

Around 5 hours west of Winnipeg is a little-known part of Canada that’s well worth the effort of reaching. Riding Mountain National Park does attract its share of visitors. Sadly, most of these are there to shoot the wildlife, rather than admire it. We visited the park as an aside before our trip north to [...]

This picture, and the words accompanying it, might be of no use to the prospective visitor to China in 2009. After all, if you find this stretch of water in the city of Wuxi, you are unlikely to recognise it from the details here. Although the picture is only 14 years old, at the time [...]