Cu Chi – Cu Chi; but not so endearing Vietnam
One step away from idyllic Vietnam into the dark of the Cu Chi tunnels and War Remnants museum. When Vietnam has so much to offer to travellers by way of beaches, bays, culture and countryside, you might wonder why war still features so strongly in its appeal to tourists. With the Vietnam War (1955-1975) a not so distant memory for many still alive today, its killing fields and museums still exact a significant draw on veterans,...
The true Zest of Zanzibar
This ancient spice route island now holds a much more fragrant appeal to travellers with its exceptional accommodation for sun seekers. We take a look at the Zanzibar Collection. Getting to Zanzibar had been fraught. Precision Air, our airline, had failed at every turn – we’d seen more precision in a game of ‘Pin the tail on the donkey’. Shambolic check-in, numerous unannounced hours of delays, offloaded in Dar es Salaam, routed...
Colombo – Food Detective – but no Mac
With the old Hollywood detective, ‘Colombo’, you’d always see him with a Mac – and whilst Colombo in Sri Lanka isn’t short of the creeping malaise of fast-food, you can still get an excellent meal without resorting to a Mac. The last thing we’d expect to suggest in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital, is that you should go to an hotel restaurant, to enjoy some of the best Sri Lankan food you’ll find anywhere. What city restaurants do exist...
Nha Trang – Buddhas, beaches and beansprouts
Nha Trang in Vietnam is best known as a beach resort for its miles of wide, clean white sand but if you delve a little deeper you’ll find a few treasures and fascinating local life. Not particularly attracted to lazing on a beach, as our threshold of boredom is fairly low, we elect to travel around Nha Trang to try to get a flavour of local life. We walk into the TTC Michelia Hotel on the junction of Le Loi and Pasteur roads and...
A count of ten in Colombo
Sri Lanka’s capital city is often just an entry point to get you on your way to the white sand beaches, cultural interior or fascinating wildlife – but it has an appeal all of its own. We’ve collected together ten places to see that we think epitomises the character of Colombo and makes it worthwhile delaying your departure for at least a day. They’re in no particular order and can all be covered during a cheap two-hour tuk-tuk ride –...
