ORBIS TERRAE COMPENDIOS from 1596, found on flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/vitroids/, copyright: Masakazu Matsumoto I was sent a link a few days ago to this article on the BBC website about a man who has visited every country in the world, all 196 of them, and has written a book about his experiences. Albert Podell has travelled to every country…
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My waterproofs were used. They stank with the unmistakeable sour tang of wet and muddy fabric left to stew in its own nasty bacterial heaven like the very worst of festival tents. I slipped the trousers over my legs and held my breath as I pulled the hoody-shaped bag over my head. I suppose I…
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It’s normal, I think, to put the most difficult and disturbing realities of life on earth to the back of your mind. None of us could function if we constantly acknowledged the truth of just how messed up this planet really is. If it wasn’t for that safe little smokescreen of wilful ignorance that envelops…
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I learned many things during my time working in a small museum in the UK, many strange, extraordinary, worrying things, but one of the real eye-openers for me was that all museums, no matter how great or humble, have objects in their collection for which they have no provenance. What that means is that they…
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“I only spend my money on two things”, he said. “Sports shoes,” he lifted his tiny leg to show us his spotless, size three Nikes, “and orchids”, he gestured towards the delicate, white and pink potted plants resting on every available surface. We met Mr Mu in his coffee shop, right across the road from…
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The imposing walls of Hue’s Imperial Citadel, a city within a city, loom over Hue. These walls have borne witness to the rise and fall of dynasties, the toppling of governments, the waging and winning of war. Now the crumbling, moss-covered remains of what was once a heavily guarded fortress look out at the modern city…
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I was told that nobody goes to Ninh Binh, which isn’t in itself a reason not to go but went some way in explaining why we found it so difficult to find somewhere to eat that first night. After walking the dark, rainy streets for half an hour or so we settled for a pho…
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“So, this myth”, I asked the tour guide, “about the dragons. Where does it come from? Did anyone ever write it down?” He smiled and looked at me with raised eyebrows, the way you’d look at a small child who asks something cute, like are the sun and the moon brother and sister, and said,…
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