New Orleans is the voodoo capital of the USA, a city where the dead are buried above ground and the past is lived in the now. For a woman in her mid 70s she’s surprisingly youthful. Graced with a virtually unlined face despite years of struggle with untimely death and... Read More
What’s a visit to Tokyo without a side trip to Disneyland and DisneySea? Minus Mickey, Donald and Duffy is what. Duffy? Duffy the bear is a favourite Disney character in Japan, just one of the quirkier aspects integral to a visit to one of the world’s largest... Read More
Indonesia: 13,466 islands… so why does one get all the attention? Bali is by far the best known and also gets the lion’s share of international visitors. For tourism to survive and thrive in Indonesia, visitors need to re-focus their attention on... Read More
She walks purposefully, if a bit daintily outside one of Kyoto’s countless temples. Dressed in a long pink satin kimono, her black hair is swept up and fixed with a fake scarlet hibiscus flower. Traditional wooden soled shoes make a susurrus on the pavement. As a... Read More
Shikoku? Haven’t heard of it? If you’ve been wondering how to discover a relatively untouched Japan, this could be your best option. Fourth in size among Japan’s main islands (Honshu, Kyushu and Hokkaido are the other three) and least known to most international... Read More
Crystals shine along Mount Shasta town’s main street. Clairvoyants, shamans, chakra aligners, yoga teachers, massage therapists, soul diggers; they’re all here because of the mountain. The new age shops proliferating in Mount Shasta town are drawn by the mountain’s... Read More
The day began sunny and bright… again. No wonder this town is regularly nominated as having the world’s best climate. Ajijic is where the days and nights meld together in near perfect meteorological unity, a Goldilocks kind of town, not too hot, not too cold;... Read More
In 2010 when Myanmar’s repressive military government freed Aung San Suu Kyi from years of unjustified incarceration, the world took notice. Suddenly, closed doors opened. Strict visa laws applied to foreign tourists were relaxed. Interested bystanders bent on... Read More
The sun is so bright my eyes hurt. I edge myself back into the shady veranda, not wanting to burn bright red on my first day at this small resort situated right on Koh Samui’s Bo Phut beach. From my private view, sprawled out on a day bed overlooking the pool... Read More
The Northeast of Victoria is Australia’s most interestingly varied gourmet region. Call me prejudiced but I remain convinced. Having covered the wide brown land’s gourmet regions from the Barossa Valley in South Australia to the Sunshine Coast hinterland in... Read More
Flowing through Thailand’s Kanchanaburi Province, the river Kwai has seen its fair share of history. Nearly 70 years ago in October 1943, the infamous ’Death Railway’ between Thailand and Myanmar reached completion. 415 kilometres of track, marked by terrible human... Read More
Wego’s guest writer and favourite adventure traveller, Tom Neal Tacker, from Naked Hungry Traveller, takes us to the wilds of Sumatra to meet some of its rarest local inhabitants. Orangutans are not the only endangered species struggling to survive in... Read More
Tua Pittman rides the tiller with stern command. Steering the Marumaru Atua northwards into the night, he scopes the greying horizon like it’s a familiar friend. As one of the few contemporary Master Navigators trained in the ancient ways of sailing by stars, moon,... Read More
Do southern humpback whales frolic? It’s a question I often ask myself whenever I get up close and personal with a group of ’humpies’ relaxing in Queensland’s Great Sandy Strait off Fraser Island. While two adolescent male whales apparently show as much interest in a... Read More
Chamindah stops the van. He turns around, smiles at me and points to a large tortoise trying to cross the road. I climb out, pick it up and place it gently near a tree in the direction it was travelling. Chamindah clasps his hands together giving thanks to Buddha and... Read More
Chitwan, Nepal’s oldest national park is the heart of the jungle, an ark in a world of diminishing wild places. I put my arms around her head and lean forwards. Playfully, she tosses me into the air like a rag doll. At two and a half years old, Chandra Kali is a big... Read More
Today we welcome Tom Neal Tacker as a regular special guest contributor to the Wego Travel Editor’s Desk. Tom is a well respected and legendary travel writer, serving on the Advisory Board of the Australian Festival of Travel Writing and a regular guest speaker... Read More
