Asia.
Going to Southeast Asia for the first time and tasting that spectrum of flavours - that certainly changed my whole palate, the kind of foods I crave. A lot of the dishes I used to love became boring to me.
- Anthony Bourdain
There’s nowhere quite like Asia.
The starting point of our year-long trip in 2015: Singapore, followed by months backpacking through the southeast.
For 3 months, we ate our fill in Singapore's Hawker Halls, rediscovered our sense of zen in the land of a million elephants (and temples!): Laos. We did jungle hikes at a community-based ecotourism project in Cambodia, watched sunrise over ancient temples in Bagan, swam in Sri Lanka’s tropical oceans, and devoured many tasty street food meals in Bangkok.
And while we have long loved Asia for its vibrance and beauty, this time around we also fell in love with it as the home of our favourite country in the world: Nepal. Amongst the hiking trails, chaos of Kathmandu, and people of Nepal, we found our own slice of travel Nirvana — we even got engaged there in 2019!
The world's largest continent in more ways than one: most populous, most culturally diverse, and home to the world's largest mountain ranges… Asia doesn't do anything by halves.
Crossing from one side of the continent to the other, you'll discover ancient gilded temples, lush tropical paradise, soaring snow-capped mountains, the peace of monks in prayer, and the honking chaos of colourful neon cities.
Then there are the flavours. The sizzle and clink of a Kothu Roti being prepared in Sri Lanka, the fragrance of a steaming Pad Thai from a local street food cart in Bangkok, the mouth-watering mix of spices in an Indian curry.
It's vibrant, spiritual, and at times dizzying; a rare mix of adventure and spirituality that offers something for every traveller.
