Little Rocky statue at DMZ in North Korea

Run DMZ: Visiting the DMZ on the North Korean side

Update June, 2017: Since our visit to North Korea in 2011, the recent death of American tourist Otto Warmbier, who was detained while visiting the country, is a tragic situation that is inexcusable. Accordingly, despite our feelings that tourism…
Mundan baby with head shaved

We witness mundan, a Hindu head-shaving ceremony

In Malaysia we witnessed a Hindu infant head shaving ceremony known as Mundan. We were visiting Batu Caves, a large Hindu Temple built atop a hillside, outside of Kuala Lumpur. Take a tour of Batu Caves. There were the typical souvenir…
traditional Indonesian dolls in tana toraja

Visiting Tana Toraja, a hideaway in Indonesia

From guest writer Nico ~ It is the end of the wet season and the land is a rich hue of greens. The deep terraced valleys and floodplains are covered in a quilted patchwork of rice paddy fields. The rice has been planted in rotation; some…
Extreme Sights North Korea-Arch

From the inside: Rare photos of North Korea

Update June, 2017: Since our visit to North Korea in 2011, the recent death of American tourist Otto Warmbier, who was detained while visiting the country, is a tragic situation that is inexcusable. Accordingly, despite our feelings that…
North korea postcard soldier and rifle

Postcards from Pyongyang: Images of North Korea

We'd like to share some images of North Korea from postcards we picked up in Pyongyang. Some of them display the incessant propaganda while others are images of the modern city center. Unless you've avoided all media, you've probably…
Landmine danger sign-cambodia

A visit to the Cambodian Landmine Museum

The Cambodian Landmine Museum and Relief Centre may be the only museum in the world that prints this disclaimer on their tickets: "Everything on display has been inspected 100% free from explosives." Would that the fields in the nearby countryside…
Michael eating pizza
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The surprising best pizza in the world

Pizza is our go-to food on the road, our favorite is New York-style. And when we return from a trip it's usually the first meal we eat. On our year-long journey we tried pizza on six continents, including at its birthplace in Naples, to…
Free things in bangkok

Free things to do in Bangkok

By Bethaney Davies ~ Surprisingly, there aren't many free things to do in Bangkok. Many of Bangkok’s attractions (with the exception of the Grand Palace) cost next to nothing to attend but if you’re doing a lot of sightseeing…
Singapore national Orchid Garden

A day in Singapore: He Saw, She Saw

The city-state of Singapore is an intriguing place. An island perched at the tip of the Malay Peninsula, it’s a major trading port where goods have been exchanged among China, India and Arabia for centuries. Eventually a wide array…
Trishaw Malacca Melaka Malaysia

The colorful trishaws of Malacca

The historic port town of Malacca, Malaysia offers a wonderful blend of Asian and European influences. Also spelled Melaka, it bears traces of Malay, Chinese, Indian, Portuguese and Dutch cultures. This varied background is displayed by the…
How to travel to North Korea DMZ

How to travel to North Korea

Update June, 2017: Since our visit to North Korea in 2011, the recent death of American tourist Otto Warmbier, who was detained while visiting the country, is a tragic situation that is inexcusable. Accordingly, despite our feelings that…
Durian donut Big Apple donuts
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The world’s stinkiest donut

One of the things we're tasting on this journey are donuts from around the world. But there was one donut that smelled so awful we couldn't eat it. It pains us to even think of donuts in a bad way, but we met our match in a durian donut in…
Bali beach trash
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Drowning in a sea of plastic

One of the more sobering aspects of our journey has been the environmental abuse we’ve seen, sometimes in the least likely places. Although we've traveled all over the world and written about some incredible sights, the story that resonated…
Angkor Wat bas relief
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Visiting Angkor Wat without crowds

Siem Reap, Cambodia ~ We bounced along the road in a tuk-tuk—picture a rickshaw attached to a moped—anxious for our first glimpse through the trees of the temple of Angkor Wat. Our imaginations flared with visions of hacking our way…
Chiang Mai pollution

Purple Haze: Pollution in Chiang Mai

We really looked forward to visiting Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. Travel writers outdid themselves crafting clever similes to describe its ethereal beauty and local color. Others used one word repeatedly to describe it: amazing. That…
changi Airport Singapore butterfly garden (750x647)

Butterflies are free at the Singapore airport

Airports say a lot about how a city feels toward its visitors. The chaos of JFK conveys the message "Hey, we're New York. We know you'll come here no matter how we treat you. Get over it." The long lines of Heathrow say, "You chose to come to…
Kim Il Sung mausoleum Pyongyang
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Visiting the mausoleums of Mao, Ho and Kim

Communist governments feel compelled to preserve the corpses of their founders and keep them on display for public viewing. It's their way of sustaining the cult of personality that keeps the current regimes in place. In the past…
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A calm haven in frenzied Beijing

Published on Sun, Oct. 9, 2011 in The Philadelphia Inquirer     By Larissa and Michael Milne For The Inquirer BEIJING - It was a late-summer day, and the air was thick with the combination of humidity and smog particular to this capital…