Tag: Indonesia

When I first climbed Kawah Ijen more than a decade ago, there were only a few overpriced organised tours. Returning now, the path is a highway. Lines of visitors shuffle along, guides shouting to keep them together. The blue fire at the crater floor, once a mysterious flicker in the dark, now is almost outshone by a sky of raised phones. What felt like a harsh workplace has become a theatre, and I, camera in hand, am part of the audience.

November 3, 2025About 3 min

The Bewildering Logic of Travel

Mount Bromo in Indonesia here is unforgettable. You rise in the dark, climb into an ancient Land Cruiser - one of hundreds, all painted in retro greens, reds, and yellows - and rattle up a winding mountain road. By the time you reach the viewpoint, the air is cold, the stars are fading, and the horizon glows with an orange blur.

October 12, 2025About 3 min

Life in Five Foot Ways

The sun hangs low over George Town, throwing shadows that stretch across the mosaic of colonial facades and weathered shutters. The five-foot ways, these sheltered corridors beneath the classic shophouses, come alive as the heat of the day dissipates. They support life in this city, and many others like it, pulsating with life, history, and the echoes of countless footsteps.

July 9, 2025About 2 min

Pai - Life in Asia’s Drifter Capitals

It starts with a suggestion, "just go, I ended up staying there for weeks". Next thing you know, you’re on a minivan climbing the switchbacks to Pai. Or you’re barefoot on a ferry bound for Gili Trawangan, your hair dusted in sand and regret.

Once you’ve been around a few hostels in Asia you’ll start hearing the names: Pai, Gili T, Siquijor, Pushkar, Vang Vieng—a constellation of places orbiting in your daydreams. Out here, deadlines mean the next visa run. Job titles mean nothing. Everyone is five years younger than they claim or ten years older than they look, clothed in a patchwork of stretched singlets and accesorised in hemp.

May 31, 2025About 2 min