The Bigger Picture
As thoughts and actions become increasingly polarised towards our own immediate environment and as international borders close, this crisis should bring lessons for our future into sharp focus. These are extraordinary times. Coronavirus (Covid -19) will touch every human on earth in some way or another, in the very least because it has – hopefully temporarily – suspended the magic of travel. A thought we’d like you to...
Inle, Myanmar – Part 1 – Lake and life
Combine Intha, Taungyo, Pa-O (Taungthu), Danu, Kayah, Danaw and Bamar ethnicities and it alludes to the broad diversity of activities, crafts and lifestyles that you’ll encounter around this picturesque lake in central Myanmar. Inle Lake is also one of the most picturesque and varied landscapes you’ll find in Myanmar, providing you with wonderful opportunities for photography around its colourful shores and inlets. Its people, crafts,...
A Royal Klang in Selangor
You’re unlikely to make a beeline for this Malaysian misfit but its shabby rundown appearance hides echoes of a well-maintained heritage and royal history. At the northern end of the Straits of Malacca on the west coast of the Malaysian Peninsula, Port Klang is sheltered by surrounding islands and acts as the gateway to Malaysia’s most developed region, where the capital Kuala Lumpur lies 40 miles to the east. Since the 17th...
Shades of Shan
This traditional highly colourful and practical rural craft, still practiced in Myanmar today, has its origins steeped in history. In pre-colonial Burma, a white umbrella or ‘hti byu’ was a sign of sovereignty limited exclusively to the Burmese king and his chief queen. It was one of the five articles of coronation regalia and use of a white umbrella by anyone other than the king and his chief queen was seen as a declaration of...
Exploring the mysterious Mekong
The mighty arterial Mekong River in Vietnam provides a fascinating vein through which the lifeblood of Vietnam flows. As we motor along the Mekong, through small villages, between trading barges and floating markets it can only give us a brief insight into the resources concealed within that influence the daily lives and culture of over 60 million people—people who depend on its water for transportation, fishing, trade, manufacture,...
