Vignettes of the World
My Travel Journal
A leisurely walk within the ancient town of Huangyao will take some three hours or so. I began walking into the ancient town from Qianxing Square and came across the main street with all kinds of vendors and restaurants. The storefronts were all well-kept and …
At the Qianxing Square drop-off point I first came across the Ancient Stage. Built in the third year of the Jiaqing reign in Ming dynasty (1524), the Ancient Stage was the only building in Huangyao that served the purpose of cultural performances. When it was …
I love visiting ancient towns in China. In this blog I have covered the Gankeng Ancient Hakka Townlet and the Dapeng Fortress in Shenzhen. Apparently, many tourists find ancient towns to be very attractive tourist sites, and China’s local governments and cultural heritage developers have …
Guilin was my first trip in 2024. The trip lasted four days and three nights, and I visited the ancient towns of Huangyao, Yangshuo and Xingping. Perhaps at a long-forgotten time I have visited Guilin proper with my parents. When I was growing up, Guilin …
My bestie and I had a full day of fun with yummy food and interesting sightseeing in Shenzhen. We started the day at Fascino Bakery in CoCo Park in Futian, then visited Shui Wei 1368, then the Ancient Art Museum of the Shenzhen Museum. We …
Throughout this wonderful first trip in Uzbekistan, I have had many memorable encounters with the locals. For most of the times, they approached us for photographs and we would begin a conversation. It was through them that I gathered the perspectives that Uzbeks hold close …
We relaxed and shopped a bit at the Sitorai Mokhi Khosa. Dusk would befall upon us soon so we hurried and got a taxi to get to the Samani Park. We would be seeing the Ismail Samani Mausoleum as the final sightseeing in Bukhara on …
The Sitorai Mokhi Khosa is the summer palace for the last Bukhara Emir, Alim Khan. At the time of the summer palace’s construction, Russian domination, be it as the expression of Russian imperialism or as the Bolshevik ambition that followed, has reached this part of …
A night of thunderstorm and rain has restored Bukhara’s muffled air of the previous day into crisp, clean breezes. The morning sunlight greeted us and we enjoyed the blessing of generous good weather for this last full day in Bukhara. The day would be packed …
From the Zindan Jail we headed over to The Plov, a restaurant that has high ratings for its plov dishes. There was quite a bit of a walk to this restaurant. In that walk we went through a large area of Bukhara outside the Old …