Suddenly the hair rose on the back of my neck and my body tensed…

I was fully prepared to discredit such a slogan as “The Land of Smiles” as the merest marketing department propaganda…

Penang, I found, was a lovely place. It possessed a fascinating cultural diversity: Indian, Chinese and Malay were the dominant ethnic groups, but countless others filled the nooks and crannies around town…

Although his pen has slumbered, his legs have been exuberantly wakeful; and it’s been an exciting three months since last we met…

Our first 300 kilometers in Western China’s Xinjiang Province – including a run-in with the authorities of the Celestial Empire…

Five-hundred kilometers along some of Central Asia’s worst roads—a misnomer—across the Ustyurt Plateau and finally into Uzbekistan’s semi-autonomous Karakalpakstan. The route of choice for those who love endless miles of dusty dry desolation.

Kazakhstan was going to be great, I thought, as my tires whirred steadily over the smooth pavement and Aktau receded behind me. Little did I know…