How to indulge in guiltless fun in Miami
Miami, Florida, United States. Visited on 3 – 5 April 2025. From San Juan, Puerto Rico, I flew to Miami in Florida, USA, drawn by its sun, style, and sea. I walked a short distance...
One of my most blissful holidays, in the Dominican Republic
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, the Caribbean. Visited on 19 March 2025. Stop 1. From the wintry chill of Madrid, I flew into the tropics at Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. I started this trip...
An exciting fusion of Spanish, American, and Caribbean in Puerto Rico
San Juan, Puerto Rico. Visited on 28 March – 1 April 2025. Part 1. I left Santo Domingo and flew into San Juan, Puerto Rico’s capital, on the 27th of March – never been, often...
How to experience the best of Central America in 50 days solo and overland – Stop 16 Bacalar, Mexico
5-6th April 2024 It wasn’t my plan to go to Mexico but here I was, on a boat from the island of Caye Caulker in Belize straight to Chetumal, a coastal town just across the...
How to experience the best of Central America in 50 days solo and overland – Stop 15 San Ignacio and Caye Caulker, Belize
1- 4th April 2024 After seeing the Mayan ruins in Tikal, my next move was to go across the border to San Ignacio in Belize. I arrived at a town shut down for the public...
How to experience the best of Central America in 50 days solo and overland – Stop 14 Flores and Tikal, Guatemala
28-31 March 2024 From Copan Ruinas in Honduras, I returned to Guatemala at Chiquimula, to go to Tikal in the north. First I aimed for Ro Dulce to break from the long journey. I arrived...
How to experience the best of Central America in 50 days solo and overland – Stop 13 Copan Ruinas, Honduras
26-27 March 2024 From Antigua, I took a chicken bus to Guatemala City, then another bus to Chiquimula. I stayed a night there, and at 8 am, I was on my way to the border...
How to experience the best of Central America in 50 days solo and overland – Stop 12 Lake Atitlan, Guatemala
21 -22 March 2024 After spending 2 days in Antigua, I took a shuttle bus to Lake Atitlan, which is about 2 hours away. This is another very popular tourist destination, a lake formed by...
How to experience the best of Central America in 50 days solo and overland – Stop 11 Antigua, Guatemala
18-20 March 2024 From El Tunco on the east coast of El Salvador, I made an ambitious attempt to reach Antigua in Guatemala on the same day. First I caught an early morning bus back...
How to experience the best of Central America in 50 days solo and overland – Stop 10 San Salvador and El Tunco, El Salvador
16-17 March 2024 I wanted to cross into El Salvador at La Union from Potosi in Nicaragua by boat. Upon arriving at the crossing, there was no one except me. The border crossing was shuttered,...
How to experience the best of Central America in 50 days solo and overland – Stop 9 Leon, Nicaragua
10-13 March 2024 From Granada, I boarded a local bus to Managua, and from there, I caught a shared taxi straight to Leon. In many ways, Leon feels like Granada – a small Spanish colonial...
How to experience the best of Central America in 50 days solo and overland – Stop 8 Granada, Nicaragua
7-9 March 2024 From Ometepe, I returned to the mainland of Nicaragua before taking a shared taxi to Granada, by Nicaragua Lake in the north. This is a small town of humble folks going about...
How to experience the best of Central America in 50 days solo and overland – Stop 7 Ometepe, Nicaragua
4-6 March 2024 From La Fortuna, I attempted to cross into Nicaragua, via the Panas Blancas border crossing to Ometepe. Initially, I took a taxi to a small bus stop at El Tanque, where I...
How to experience the best of Central America in 50 days solo and overland – Stop 6 La Fortuna, Costa Rica
29 Feb – 2 March 2024 I was making my way towards Nicaragua. From San Jose I rode a bus heading for La Fortuna, in Spanish means The Fortune. Let’s see. Enormous and head and shoulders...
How to experience the best of Central America in 50 days solo and overland – Stop 5 San Jose, Costa Rica
27-28 February 2024 From the shore of Puerto Viejo of the Caribbean, I took a bus for 5 hours to the capital of Costa Rica – San Jose, in the heart of the country. The...
How to experience the best of Central America in 50 days solo and overland – Stop 4 Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica
23-26 February 2024 After Bocas del Toro, I set my sights on Costa Rica. I boarded a boat to Almirante on the mainland, then proceeded to the border crossing at Guabito-Sixaoli. At the Costa Rica...
How to experience the best of Central America in 50 days solo and overland Stop 3 Bocas del Toro
20-22 February 2024 From Boquete, I now made my way further north to the island of Bocas del Toro. The shuttle bus carried the bus load of us, Western tourists, plus one Asian, along the...
How to experience the best of Central America in 50 days solo and overland – Stop 2 Boquete
18-19 February 2024 After spending 3 days in Panama City enjoying the sea, I boarded a night bus bound for the mountainous town of Boquete near the border with Costa Rica. At an elevation of 1200m,...
How to experience the best of Central America in 50 days solo and overland – Stop 1 Panama City
14-16th February 2024 After 32 hours, I finally arrived in Panama City, the capital of Panama, from Kuala Lumpur. This is the start of the trip to Central America. Despite its negative reputation due to...
New York USA 美国纽约 8/2014
8/2014. New York is such a melting pot. It is easy to feel out of place if you come from a homogeneous country. Whatever shades or colors you come in, you can find your place...
Venezuela 委内瑞拉 8/2014
I came to this country on business, but squeezed in some time to take a peek. Venezuela is no stranger to making international news in the past few decades. From the time of its former...
Rio de Janeiro Brazil （B）巴西里约热内卢 (下）4/2017 (27)
30/4/2017-7/5/2017. I came to this Ipanema beach just before the sun set, to squeeze in one more beach for the day. This was another famous beach in Rio. The sun was about to retire for...
Rio de Janeiro Brazil (A) 巴西里约热内卢 (上）4/2017 (26)
30/4/-7/5/2017. I left São Paulo behind and boarded a bus for a six-hour ride to Rio. Yes, this was the city of the last Olympics. Waking up in the morning, stepping out of my residence,...
Sao Paolo Brazil 巴西圣保罗 – 4/2017 (25)
28-29/4/2017. I touched down in São Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, in no time. The flight took an hour, but the taxi ride from the airport to my accommodation took about two hours, bogged down by...
Iguazu Argentina 阿根廷伊瓜苏 – 4/2017 (24)
26/4/2017 I broke my own record yet again, this time leaving Buenos Aires on a 20-hour bus ride. The rain had been dripping naggingly through the night, with thick vegetation starting to appear outside the...
Iguazu Brazil 巴西伊瓜苏 – 4/2017 (23)
24-25/4/2017. From Buenos Aires, the next logical stop should be Iguazú in Argentina before moving into Brazil. But I had mistakenly booked the accommodation for Iguaçu in Brazil instead. So here I am in Iguaçu,...
Buenos Aires Argentina 阿根廷布宜诺斯艾利斯 – 4/2017 (22)
21-23/4/2017. Last night I was treated like a king in this bus from Mendoza to Buenos Aires, at a price of USD 120. I was served red wine, champagne, and a hot dinner. I watched...
Mendoza Argentina 阿根廷门多萨 – 4/2017 (21)
19-20/4/2017. I left the coast toward Argentina. The scenery on this stretch was yet another feast for the eyes. Today, the sun put on quite a show, flashing its glory with its utmost might in...
Chile Valparaiso 瓦尔帕莱索智利 4/2017 (20)
18/4/2017. One and a half hours away from Santiago on the Pacific coast was the port city of Valparaiso, made famous by its street art, a euphemism for graffiti. A few cable car stations connected...
Chile Santiago 圣地亚哥智利 – 4/2017 (19)
16-17/4/2019. I was on the road again, leaving La Serena behind. I noticed more clouds in the sky and more vegetation on the mountains. This bus ride would take six to seven hours, eventually arriving...
Chile La Serena 拉塞雷纳智利 – 4/2017 (18)
14-15/4/2019. I took another night bus, proceeding southward along the Chile Pacific coast. After 10 hours, I arrived at La Serena. I hired a bicycle for the day for USD 10. This beach was wider...
Chile Antofagasta 安托法加斯塔智利 – 4/2017 (17)
11-13/4/2017. At the end of seven hours of riding in the desert, after negotiating a few mountains, Antofagasta—a sizeable city of about 600,000 inhabitants—appeared before us. First thing in the morning, I went to the...
Chile Iquique 伊基克智利 – 4/2017 (16)
9-11/4/2017. Chile is the longest country in the world, more than 4,000 kilometers long narrow strip of land facing the Pacific. Journeying south should provide a feast of beaches. Arica whets my appetite for more....
Chile Arica 阿里卡智利 – 4/2017 (15)
8-9/4/2017. After 10 hours of desperate escape from La Paz, I finally arrived in Chile’s northernmost coastal city of Arica. As I arrived on the coast, my eardrums popped, just like when a plane touches...
La Paz Bolivia 玻利维亚拉巴斯 04/2017 (14)
5-7/4/2017. I finally arrived in La Paz. The first few days in Bolivia were not easy. Few here accepted credit cards. Their ATMs did not take my China and Malaysian withdrawal cards. My dwindling US...
Copacabana/Lake Titicaca Bolivia 玻利维亚科帕卡瓦纳 – 4/2017 (13)
1-3/4/2017. From Puno on the Peruvian side, I traveled by bus toward Bolivia along Lake Titicaca, to arrive at the border. I then walked about 200 meters to cross the border, arriving at the border...
Puno Peru 秘鲁普诺 – 3/2017 (12)
31/3/2017. After seven hours, the tour bus arrived at Puno, still in Peru but now close to the Bolivian border. This was a little town with humble people. I took a casual walk around the...
Machu Picchu and Agua Clientes Peru 秘鲁马丘比丘 3/2019 (11)
28-29/3/2017. There is a place in Peru every traveler touring Latin America makes a pilgrimage to wherever he/she is. From Cusco, I tried to get close to it, by finding my way first of all...
Cusco Peru 秘鲁库斯科 – 3/2017 (10)
27-30/3/2017. A luxurious bus carried me from Arequipa to Cusco. The journey took 10 hours, arriving in Cusco early in the morning. I alighted the bus totally rested and fresh. This was the best and...
Arequipa and Colca Canyon Peru 秘鲁阿雷基帕 – 3/2017 (9)
22-26/3/2017. From Nazca, I took the night bus with a bunch of European youths. Ten hours later, I arrived in Arequipa, Peru’s second largest city. I quickly went out for a quick tour of the...
Nazca Peru 秘鲁纳斯卡 – 3/2017 (8)
21-22/3/2017 I left Huacachina for Nazca the same day I arrived there. As I stood in the local bus looking down the aisle, I saw all these innocent big eyes staring at this yellow gringo...
Huacachina Peru 秘鲁瓦卡奇纳绿洲 – 3/2017 (7)
21/3/2017. An hour’s drive from Paracas, the public bus arrived at Huacachina, South America’s only oasis. The place looked quite ridiculous. Bizarre, really, a little pond in the middle of nothing but sand and sand...
Paracas/Islas Ballestas/National Reserve Peru 秘鲁帕拉卡斯 3/2017 (6)
18-20/3/2017. I departed Lima on a luxurious bus. A pillow and blanket were provided, also a hot lunch and a dedicated video screen. My little luggage had to be checked in. I went through a...
Lima Peru 秘鲁利马 3/2017 (5)
14-17/3/2017. After nine days in Colombia, I arrived in Lima, Peru. Peru conjures up images of mystique. Lima is a start. Let’s see. I excitedly came to this first landmark, Larcomar, in the Miraflores district....
Cartagena Colombia 哥伦比亚卡塔赫纳 – 3/2017 (4)
12-13/3/2017. A couple of years ago, I met a super friendly young couple honeymooning in Cancún, Mexico. They told me I must go to Cartagena. I have not forgotten their friendliness down to this day....
Guatape Colombia 哥伦比亚瓜塔佩 – 3/2017 (3)
10/3/2017. After Medellín, I made a day trip to see Guatape, a two-hour drive from Medellín. Guatape would prove to be the icing on the cake. The roads there were truly mountainous. Wow! Guatape was...
Medellin Colombia 哥伦比亚麦德林 – 3/2017 (2)
9/3/2017. From Bogotá, I flew into Medellín instead of taking the bus. It took only 45 minutes instead of 10 hours by bus, due to the mountainous roads. Besides, there was a lot more ground...
Bogota Colombia 哥伦比亚波哥达 – 3/2017 (1)
3-8/3/2017. It was going to be like going around the globe to reach South America from Kuala Lumpur. But I did not expect it to take 63 hours either. For some reason, the connection at...
Washington USA 美国华盛顿 4/2019 (4)
Caution: If you do not understand sarcasm or see compliments, you may not want to read further 注：内容含讽刺和隐喻，无意不敬 30/4-1/5/2015. After Cancun, Havana, Cuba, and the Bahamas, I returned to Houston for a little business, then...
The Bahamas 巴哈马 4/2015 (3)
19-20/4/2015. At the airport, a band dressed in bright colors played in the arrivals hall, welcoming tourists and getting us into the mood. I had little time in the Bahamas—to be precise, only a day...
Cuba 古巴 4/2015 (2)
14-18/4/2015. Cuba was the American playground decades ago. Then everything changed. Since the revolution in 1959, the country has been a constant thorn in the flesh of the people up north. In fact, a nuclear...
Cancun, Mexico 墨西哥坎昆 4/2015 (1)
10-13/4/2015. I made this trip back in April 2015, starting in Cancun, Mexico, then to Havana, Cuba, The Bahamas, and finally Washington. D.C., USA. The memory is still sweet and beautiful today, English or Chinese....