TRAVEL

Kuala Lumpur, often simply called KL, is the capital of Malaysia and a modern, multicultural city. Malay, Chinese and Indian communities live side by side here, a mix reflected in the food, neighbourhoods, temples and architecture. With its skyscrapers, markets, mosques and temples, Kuala Lumpur is often the starting point for a trip around Peninsular…

Malaysia is a Southeast Asian country divided between the Malay Peninsula and Borneo. Planning an independent trip to Malaysia means moving from modern, multicultural Kuala Lumpur to tropical beaches, tea plantations and the wildlife-rich jungles of Borneo. The climate is hot and humid almost all year round and, of all the Southeast Asian countries we…

Guilin is a city in southern China, in the Guangxi region, famous for the distinctive karst hills rising along the Li River. This landscape, so different from the rest of our itinerary, was exactly why we wanted to include Guilin in our trip. We had very high expectations for this area, but of course you…

Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, is best known as the city of giant pandas and for its cuisine, one of the most famous and spiciest in China. Unfortunately, we had limited time and only managed to spend half a day in the city, in addition to visiting the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda…

Xi’an is one of the most important cities in Chinese history. With more than 3,000 years of history and a past closely linked to the ancient Silk Road, today it is best known for the famous Terracotta Army. We really liked Xi’an, but unfortunately our time was limited and we only managed to spend one…

Our trip to China began in Beijing, the country’s capital and the city where we spent the most time. Huge, chaotic and full of history, it was our first real introduction to China and to all those everyday details that had seemed far more complicated before we arrived. From the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square…

China is one of those countries that, at least at first, can seem complicated to organise independently. It is enormous, many of the apps we use every day do not work, payments work very differently from what we are used to, and several attractions need to be booked in advance. Yet once you understand how…