Archway in north London seems at first glance an unlikely place for gentrification. When you leave the Northern line Tube station and emerge in the grotty 1960s shopping precinct, it is late night fried chicken takeaways and pound shops that greet you. But some it seems have faith […]
“For the wind is in the palm trees, an’ the temple-bells they say: ‘Come back you British soldier, come you back to Mandalay!’” Rudyard Kipling’s poem ‘Mandalay’ is probably one of the most famous things ever written about Burma, but some will be disappointed to know that he […]
Western mass tourism may be in its infancy for Burma, but a well-trodden route is quickly emerging. After exploring Yangon – the country’s biggest city – for a couple of days many head to Bagan for its spectacular Buddhist temples, then the former royal capital of Mandalay for […]
“Welcoming the new guard,” the state-run newspaper the Global New Light of Myanmar splashed in November 2015 after Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won 80% of seats in both of Burma’s parliamentary houses. Observed by the international community, it was the first “proper” election […]
At first glance Burma seems a multicultural place. There are numerous Christian churches in the country’s biggest city, Yangon, dating back to colonial times when missionaries came to predominantly Budhist-Burma to build new congregations. In the Indian quarter there are mosques, but also the Jewish Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue […]
On the streets of Yangon people go about their lives as normal. They enjoy the nightclubs, they visit new shopping malls and eat in new trendy restaurants. The streets are clogged with traffic as people drive in their cars to work. This is all in stark contrast with […]
If tourists visit just one place when they are in Yangon it tends to be Shwedagon pagoda. “A golden mystery upheaved itself on the horizon – a beautiful winking wonder that blazed in the sun,” is how Rudyard Kipling described the temple, which dates back at least the […]
In contrast to the glitz and modernity of Singapore, visiting Melaka is like stepping back in time. There is heaps of interesting history to this Malaysian port city, but it strikes of a place that invested in tourism several decades ago and hasn’t yet truly reaped the rewards. […]
If you’ve been travelling long distances across dusty, uneven roads elsewhere in Asia, arriving in Singapore will come as a pleasant surprise. From touching down at the ultra modern Changi Airport and driving into the city centre, the journey will leave you pretty impressed. Singapore is so clean […]
Raffles is a name that is hard to miss when visiting Singapore. Of course, the city’s most famous luxury hotel – sadly closed for major renovation during my recent trip – boats that designation. But there are many other examples in Singapore: Raffles Place, the financial centre filled […]
Past In The Present 