Landmine Museum, Cambodia

This is a bit grim, but I took this photo at the Aki Rai Landmine Museum a few miles out of Siem Reap a few years back. I wrote about how I got to the museum here, when it still hadn't opened to the public. The landmines and warheads you see here are just a few of the thousands that were installed and set off by the Khmer Rouge. 

Halong Bay, Vietnam

'Halong' means 'descending dragon' in Vietnamese and once you set your eyes on Halong Bay, you'll understand how the place got its name. Not only do the limestone islands resemble the back of a dragon (or what people imagine a dragon would look like), legend has it that the gods sent down a family of dragons to protect Vietnam from invaders. As the dragons descended from the heavens, they spat out jewels and chunks of jade, which turned into the islands we now see.

There are a total of 3,000 limestone islands in Halong Bay. The size of the islands vary - some are mere rocks jutting out of the sea while some are large with thick vegetation, bird colonies and caves.The larger ones like Cat Ba island are inhabited, with a population of about 13,000.  

We set out from Hanoi early in the morning. Our van took us to a port called Haiphong, which was the start of our Halong cruise. The weather was perfect.

The communities around Halong Bay are mostly fishermen. This lady and her baby turned up from nowhere and entered my viewfinder just as I was about to click. 

 The view from Cat Ba island.

 The water in Halong Bay has a greenish tinge from the limestone. That shade looks absolutely lovely matched with the light green of this boathouse.

 A fishing village in one of the lagoons

 Another fisherman's boat. 

Sunsets over Halong Bay are magnificent. This was taken from the top of our boat

If you like water, kayaking and lovely fresh seafood, then Halong Bay is the place for you. A lot of Hanoi-based companies offer cruises but the best are the overnight ones. You board a boat, sleep on board for one or two nights and go to sleep lulled by the gentle rocking of the water. Don't worry about meals because they'll be taken care of. Did I mention delicious fresh seafood?

If all this sounds good to you, click here, here and here for more information. Shop around for tours when you get to Hanoi, though- prices seem to be cheaper when you book in person as opposed to online. 

Photo essay: Doors and doorways

I love taking photos of doors and windows. The right kind of door can add character to a house, mosque or temple and may even make you want to go inside and explore. Here are some of my favourites.

 This door in the grounds of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia had some 

lovely metalwork depicting what appeared to be a deity sitting on top of lotus flowers. 

 Still in Cambodia, this time in one of Angkor's temples. I had entered a doorway 

and was about to leave when I saw this boy sitting outside, just watching me.

This lovely door was in an art shop in Chiang Mai, Thailand. 

This was in Alcatraz prison, in San Francisco Bay. 

I wish I knew what or who they once kept in the vault.

I love New Orleans, 'nuff said

 Rusty metalwork and peeling paint complement this door at an old mosque in Ayutthaya, Thailand 

I discovered this lovely sea-green door in a quiet alley in an old section of Kuala Lumpur. 

Wish I knew what the words meant.

Evening sunlight shining through a doorway at the Blue Mosque, Istanbul

This week's photo: Spying in Cambodia

This was taken from outside my hotel room in Phnom Penh. It was my first night in Cambodia and I was about to go to bed when I heard what sounded like two men arguing very loudly. I came out and didn't see anything but when I looked down, saw the front desk guy watching TV on the ground floor. The man was still in his chair, asleep, when I went down for breakfast the next morning at 7am.

Photo essay: Hanoi

If you've ever tried crossing the road in Hanoi, you'll probably say that the words 'peace' and 'quiet' don't apply to the Vietnamese capital.

But Hanoi isn't all that bad- the city has some lovely spots where you can take a breather and enjoy a quiet moment.

The Vietnamese are early risers- you'll wake up to the sound of cars honking by 6am, maybe even earlier. Not a problem - get yourself out of bed, head for the nearest bakery and enjoy a nice warm baguette by Hoan Kiem Lake. It's a great place to just sit and enjoy the scenery.

Hanoi has some lovely pagodas. This is the One Pillar Pagoda, so named because it stands on one pillar. The original was built in 1049 (what's there now is a replica) under the orders of Emperor Ly Thai Tong after his wife gave birth to a son. 

In May 1958, Ho Chi Minh, then President of North Vietnam, moved into this modest stilt house which he stayed in until his death in 1969. It's a nice place to visit if you're interested in seeing where Ho Chi Minh planned his strategies for the Vietnam War and how he apparently lived- his study and bedroom are both sparely furnished.

Attractive shopfronts in Hanoi 

Finally, if you're in need of of a break, do stop by Lam Cafe for some great Vietnamese coffee. Only after leaving it did I find out that it used to be the hangout for Hanoi's painters and artists, which explains the collection of paintings on the walls. This cafe is located in the Old Quarter, on Nguyen Huu Huan near Hoan Kiem Lake. 

The Best of 2011

Every Friday, the travel community on Twitter holds #FriFotos and this week, the theme is 'Best of 2011'. The past 12 months were pretty quiet for me but I've started to make plans for next year, which I'm really looking forward to. 

Until I pack my rucksack again for 2012, here are my favourite photos of 2011:

The Blue Mosque, Istanbul

 Nazar boncuğu, or evil eye amulets hanging on a tree near Nevşehir, Turkey

Cappadocia

The Celcius Library, Ephesus

Cute kid waving at passengers on the North Borneo Express, Sabah

River in Donggongon, Sabah

Mural on the Malacca River 

Old Kuala Lumpur

A few days ago, two friends and I took a walk around Kuala Lumpur to take photographs. This was something I'd been wanting to do for a long time- to just walk in KL, chill and make like a tourist.

It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. I once tried to write a travel piece about Kuala Lumpur and found it really difficult- I didn't know what to write. I thought that taking photographs would be easier, but it's only just marginally so. The thing about trying to see your city through a foreigner's eyes is that nothing is foreign to you. You've seen all these faces and eaten all the food.

So it was interesting that we found ourselves gravitating towards the old parts of the city, not necessarily what you would see on a Tourism Malaysia website.

It was beginning to get really hot so we stopped for a lassi at an Indian restaurant on Lebuh Ampang. That was when I saw these shophouses across the street. The waiter didn't seem too excited when we told him we didn't want to order any food, though.

These were painted on the wall of a backpackers' joint on Jalan Sultan, part of a heritage project in the city. I remembered this road because I'd stopped here to rest while covering Bersih 2.0.

Ask me where I saw this 'Astrology Centre' and I wouldn't be able to tell you the name of the street, but I'll probably remember the route we took.

There's something about old doors and windows which I really like. I found this old house round the corner from the Astrology Centre. I hung around for a while and waited for someone to open the door but no-one did.

This was a mural/collection of paintings on a building on Jalan Panggong. I can see the 1998 Commonwealth Games logo somewhere up there.

Coconuts at Central Market. Coconut water is great on a hot day

Cruel, but cute

And finally....for all your hairy needs, contact this man. You will not be disappointed.

This week's photo- Clouds over Lang Tengah Island, Terengganu

This was taken on one of our snorkelling trips around Lang Tengah Island, which lies off the coast of Terengganu, Malaysia. The snorkelling isn't as good as what you get on Redang or the two Perhentians but the island is pretty enough for a quiet weekend or a change of scene from the busy-ness of Terengganu's other islands. I like Lang Tengah because it isn't overrun with tourists and it's quite possible to wander off and find your own private beach, which we did.

This week's photo- Pacific Coast Highway, California

There's nothing like the blue of the sea contrasting with rocks or mountains or grass, only to reach upward to meet the blue of the sky. This was along California State Route 1 or the Pacific Coast Highway, the road we took from San Francisco to Los Angeles. It was a windy morning in early October when we set out soon after breakfast. We stopped for lunch at Monterey, whizzed past Carmel (thus failing to stop and say 'Hi' to a certain Mr Eastwood) and reached LA close to midnight. What a beautiful drive.

This week's photo- Tea shop in Seoul

I was in Seoul last November and boy, was it cold. I don't remember how long I'd been walking, but my feet were killing me and them being flat just made it worse. We found this rather nice tea shop/cafe in the Insa-dong area so we went in. It looked very plain from the outside but once we got in, we saw that the seating section was divided into little alcoves and nooks, which gave it a very cosy atmosphere- good for gossiping! Tables and chairs were made from solid blocks of wood so it was all very rustic, which we liked. The fragrant flower tea I had simply completed the whole experience. Bliss.

Photo essay: Markets in Kota Kinabalu

One thing which I really like about Asian countries is that there's almost always an open-air market nearby, wherever you are. They could be selling food, household appliances, antiques, vegetables- whatever it is, you're guaranteed an interesting experience.

Kota Kinabalu in Sabah has several markets. Among these are the main night market which is packed with food stalls, the so-called Filipino Market which sells souvenirs and jewellery and the various produce and fish markets in the city itself or further out.

Grilled fish at the KK night market. We ate this with steamed rice and a hot and sour sauce

Never knew tomatoes could be so pretty. Also at the night market

Giant doughnuts at the Donggongan Tamu, or market

Fresh seaweed, usually eaten with rice

Colourful bead necklaces for sale at the Donggongon Tamu

That's right, you're seeing correctly- blue fish. They taste like normal fish, apparently

And if you're lucky, you may even get to hear some local music 

Why do I love Asian markets again? They're great for people-watching, chatting with the locals and if it's a food or produce market, everything is always fresh, cheap and tasty.

This week's photo- Muir Woods, CA

Let's just say that I'm not very tall, so I'm used to looking up! These are giant redwood trees in Muir Woods, taken from below. Named after Scottish-born American environmentalist John Muir, this was one of the nicest places we went to in San Francisco. Muir Woods is just 12 miles away from the Golden Gate Bridge and a great place to get some fresh air. Some of the world's tallest trees are located here- the tallest redwood in Muir Woods is 260 feet tall and the oldest is estimated to be 1,200 years old. I love this place.

The Syr Darya River, Kazakhstan

It was a chilly day in October in Baikonur, Kazakhstan when I took this photo. This is the Syr Darya, known as the Jaxartes in ancient times. It's also the sister river of the more famous Amu Darya, which was known by its Latin name, the Oxus.

I first read about these two rivers in a lovely book called 'An Unexpected Light' about author Jason Elliot's travels in Afghanistan. Both rivers are historically significant- Alexander the Great is said to have crossed the Oxus after an arduous journey through the Afghanistan desert, eventually extending his empire by setting up a walled city on the banks of the Jaxartes. If you've ever heard of a region known as Transoxiana ('across the Oxus river'), this is that very place.

There's another reason why the Syr Darya and Amu Darya are significant- these rivers flow into the Aral Sea, that body of water which used to be the fourth largest inland sea in the world until its boundaries began shrinking due to extensive Soviet irrigation projects in the 1960s. Worse still, the land and water around the Aral Sea became toxic from years of weapons testing and industrial chemicals use, harming lakeside communities and the ecology in the area.

Here's an animated map with a timeline showing how much the Aral Sea has shrunk:

NordNordWest @ German Wikipedia

The Kazakhstan government and the World Bank are now working together to restore as much of the Aral Sea as they can. Looking at the calm blue water of the Syr Darya, I just hope that they'll be able to get rid of the pollution at the very least.