The Boatman Grabbed My Shirt While I Leaned Out Over the Mekong
The boatman didn’t speak English, and I didn’t speak Vietnamese beyond a handful of food words, so when he pointed…
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What the Water Told Us, One Island at a Time
The sampan felt too small for the work it was doing. A woman in a conical hat, her face hidden…
When the Road Decides for You
The asphalt stopped just north of Phong Nha, which was the first sign that our plan had been too tidy….
The Fourth Cup Is the One That Slows You Down
We were on our third coffee by nine in the morning and the ceiling fan above Giảng Café was doing…
Peninsular Malaysia Loop: Highlands, Islands & Rainforest: Day 8 to 10
Kuala Terengganu had been the kind of stop that makes a traveler reconsider the whole idea of coastal Malaysia —…
Peninsular Malaysia Loop: Highlands, Islands & Rainforest: Day 4 to 7
The transition from Ipoh to Penang isn’t gradual. One moment the Perak landscape is all limestone karsts and tin-mining towns,…
Peninsular Malaysia Loop: Highlands, Islands & Rainforest: Day 1 to 3
The key turned in the ignition of the hired campervan at a lot just outside Kuala Lumpur’s city center, and…
Above the Canopy: Shooting Taman Negara’s Ancient Rainforest from a High Viewpoint at First Light
The Peninsular Malaysian rainforest is not quiet at 4:15 AM. It hums. Cicadas cycle through frequencies like a dial being…
Last Light at Kuala Sepetang
It arrives in waves, not all at once. Not the fireflies—those come later, after the sky has finished its performance….
Where the Light Shows Up Different
The rain had been falling for three hours when a taxi driver in George Town offered a piece of advice…