21st century friction between China and the USA is evidence of just how powerful the Chinese have become. The economy is the second largest in the world and the country has ever increasing influence over world affairs. They also see things very differently from the West and the emphasis on the collective over the individual […]

Bangkok may be the economic heartbeat of the nation, but Chiang Mai is the culture centre of a more authentic Thailand. Older than the capital and littered with ancient pagodas and golden temples, this is also the place to shop for handcrafted goods or explore Thai traditions past and present. Chiang Mai is at its […]

Cambodia is a country of misty mountains, ancient pagodas, tropical sanctuaries and long-abandoned cave temples. It has also seen one of the bloodiest genocides of the twentieth century. After emerging from 30 years of turmoil in the late 1980s Cambodia has made great progress, but the legacy of the Khmer Rouge still lingers and it […]

A busy, bustling, booming San Marco Piazza welcomes you off the boat and throws you in the deep end of this liquid land. The stunning Saint Mark’s Basilica looms across Andrea Tirali’s pavement as you stroll across the plaza, before losing yourself in the narrow, steep-sided maze of Venice’s ancient streets and bridges. Gondolas flow […]

Perhaps more than anywhere in the world, Romania is a country defined by its rurality. With the world population rapidly urbanising, between 1997 and 2006 Romania actually saw a net migration from towns to the countryside. Rural Romania can appear like the world that time forgot. Sheep wander aimlessly over expansive green hillsides, horse-drawn carts […]

A diverse country of lush green valleys, dusty mountains, sun-soaked beaches and rolling, arid plains, Spain is an amalgamation of smaller principalities, from Catalonia in the south to the Basque country in the north. All told, there are seven recognised regional languages, and the influence of these subcultures can be seen clearly throughout the country. […]

Ghana’s economic wealth lies in its rich gold deposits and cocoa farms, but for the traveller its real value is in its people. Once an integral part of the slave trade it is today home to six main tribal groups, including the prolific Ashanti, one of the world’s few matrilineal societies. Relics of the slave […]

Ireland is one of the best kept secrets in Europe. With dramatic coastland, misty mountains and lush, green valleys, you can lose yourself in its inspiring wilderness. Cormorants skim the surface of the glacial lakes of Kilarney National Park, while lonely fishing villages cling to the coastal downs of the Connemara hinterland. Stand on the […]

This is the oldest of the imperial cities in Morocco and was at the centre of Arab influence during the Renaissance era, while many Moroccans still see it as the true cultural heart of their country. It doesn’t bare its soul as easily as the more extrovert Marrakesh, yet the veil of Arab mystic that […]

Formerly the western half of Czechoslovakia, which was dissolved in 1993, the Czech Republic is still a young country. Since gaining sovereignty, it has become possibly the most successful post-communist nation in Europe, with a highly developed economy and good standard of living. Its responsible banking industry even weathered the 2008 global financial crisis relatively […]

Croatia’s warm Mediterranean climate and 18,000km coastline has made it one of the top twenty tourist destinations in the world. Inland, it maintains something of a schizophrenic identity – Roman, Ottoman, Venetian and Soviet influences beneath a newly cosmopolitan feel have made it one of the trendiest countries of the 21st century. Few cities are […]

Luscious, green volcanic ridges overlook the sprawling harbours of the ‘City of Sails’, the most populace city in New Zealand. There are more boats per person in Auckland than any other place on earth; hiring a yacht and exploring the coast delivers views as rewarding as the sunrise panorama from nearby Mount Eden. The city’s […]