South East Asia

While the frenetic streets of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City offer a unique insight into Vietnam’s urban life, it’s not until you’ve ridden through the serene – and surreal – surrounds of Mai Chau that you get to know the real Vietnam.

While Halong Bay may be one of Vietnam’s shining stars, Cat Ba Island is a hidden gem. Here’s why you should add it to your travel itinerary now.

Most people tend to focus their Cambodia itinerary on Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, perhaps with a jaunt along the coast thrown in. Between the temples of Angkor and the bright lights of the capital, there’s a whole country waiting to be explored.

If you want to see the face of overtourism, take a plane to Phnom Penh and catch a bumpy five-hour bus to Sihanoukville – a once-sleepy town on a little peninsula in the Gulf of Thailand. Sihanoukville is the jewel of Cambodia’s tourism industry. Or at least it used to be.

Sadly, the influx of mass-produced and imported items in Laos has made shopping responsibly more challenging in recent years. Here are our tips.

The thing that really gets me – the thing that really grinds my travel gears – is that Laotian cuisine is consistently underrated. It’s overlooked. It’s a travesty!

It’s often overlooked in favour of its more popular neighbours Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. But make no mistake – Laos’ Luang Prabang can’t be missed.

18 months after breaking two legs and an arm in a car accident, one American lawyer never dreamed she’d be climbing Mt Batur in Bali.

While Kuta, Canggu and Seminyak are tourist meccas for their shopping, Western-style cafés and bars, Ubud attracts a more spiritually curious, nature-loving crowd.