Welcome to the Summer Palace! The last of the big three tourist destinations in Beijing! The others being the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. The Summer Palace was the summer home of the Chinese Imperial Family for centuries. But before that, it was already a popular location for temples Read more…
Xi’An is one of the most historic cities in China. The downtown core is a UNESCO world heritage site thanks to the giant ancient wall that stands as a reminder of the Empires that rose and fell beneath them. From the Qin Dynasty’s capital in Xianyang where China was first Read more…
Hong Kong is one of the world’s most dense cities with residents living in small apartments in a jungle of high rises. But the untold story of Hong Kong is that 40% of the land area is designated for country parks and nature reserves. Using the amazing transit network we Read more…
Welcome to the magnificent and sacred Itsukushima Shrine! Japan is filled with thousands of wonderful temples and shrines, after only 10 days of travel in the land of the rising sun you’ll probably experience dozens! But Itsukushima is special, the entire island has been built up around this shrine since Read more…
Miyajima Island is one of my favorite destinations. I spent around 5 week in Hiroshima, a lot of it on this wonderful island paradise. Miyajima has been an important sacred location for over 500 years and sees over 5 million visitors each year! The whole island is said to be Read more…
Ninna-ji Temple is one of the most spectacular and historic temples in Kyoto Japan. In a city with over 2000 temples, shrines, castles and palaces, Ninna-ji Temple has one particular unique feature: For almost 1000 years, the temple’s head priest often came from the imperial family lineage. Just a few Read more…
Just a short train ride from Gion or Kyoto Station, Arashiyama (嵐山) is a small sub-section of greater Kyoto, tucked into the base of the city’s western mountains. Famous for the bamboo forest walk and the docile macaque monkeys that live in the mountain top park, Arashiyama has always been Read more…
The small town of Mt. Koya is home to Japan’s grandest ancient graveyard: Okuno-in Temple, hidden within the old cypress and pine forest. The mountain settlement grew to be an important pilgrimage site and home to the Shingon Buddhism sect. Founder “Kobo Daishi” who oversaw the construction of the Konpon Daito Padoga in the Read more…
Day Trip to Uji, Kyoto Prefecture The following day after my trip to Nara, I set out early in the morning with a new friend from my hostel. Jenni had spent a year living in and exploring the old capital city and neighboring towns. For her this was a trip down Read more…
For my day trip to Nara, I met up with a few travel companions, Fred & Gert, from Belgium. Fred and I met earlier this year at a hostel in Pai, Thailand. Fast forward a few months and we both ended up in Japan! Isn’t that the greatest part of Read more…