The view that took three attempts to find
The problem with the standard sunrise viewpoint at Gunung Bromo is not the view itself. It’s that everyone knows about…
South East Asia
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The waiting hour at Borobudur
The stone felt warm already, even at half past five in the morning. I had put a hand flat against…
Through the haze above the crater rim
The sulfur smell hit before I saw anything. Not the distant, theoretical smell you read about in guidebooks. A real,…
A Wall of Scent at Dawn
The smell hit me before I saw the island. I was standing in the bow of a creaking wooden ferry…
Ibu Fatmawati’s Wrists
The first thing I noticed about Ibu Fatmawati’s hands was that they were wet. Not damp from washing — wet…
Nasi Goreng, Smoke, and a Wok in the Ruins
Banda Aceh is a city that smells like cloves and wet concrete. The air at the intersection of Jalan T….
The Alley Where the Smoke Never Clears
I smelled it before I saw it — a block away, maybe two, carried on a breeze that had nothing…
The Ark of Pork: Finding the Best Satay Lilit of My Life in a Ubud Side Alley
The consensus in my guidebook, repeated by people I trusted, was clear: Bali was for chicken satay and fish satay….
The chicken coop and the napkin
The trailhead wasn’t where the guesthouse owner said it would be. I stood at the end of a dirt track…
The Night the Elephants Walked Through Us
The first thing you notice at the Khao Yai salt lick after dark is not the elephants. It’s the quiet….