Asia

Idre's Guesthouse in Ulan Bator  provides a friendly, comfortable base for either a short layover in Mongolia, (which we did on our journey from China to Russia), or a much longer visit, (which we wish we...

Naadam Festival is a countrywide celebration in Mongolia that takes place in several cities and most smaller communities in July each year, with Ulan Bator hosting the biggest gathering of all. When we booked...

A quick stop over in Mongolia while traveling on the Trans Mongolian Railway allowed us to witness some of the Naadam Festival, see the Genghis Khan Equestrian Statue and Gorkhi-Terelj National Park and eat...

Like in a classic James Bond film, we were riding in style, first class aboard the Trans-Mongolian Railway from Beijing to Ulan Bator. Inside our private sleeper cabin, surrounded by deep red wood paneling and...

I wouldn't recommend the Beijing City Central Youth Hotel to anyone. Well, maybe a young man looking to test himself before shipping off to BUD/S where you might actually be a little more comfortable. How...

We might have spent more time relaxing in the comfortable atmosphere of the Xiangzimen International Youth Hostel in Xi'an than we did out exploring the city and I'm not ashamed to admit it. The day we...

When I first arrived in China, I thought the food was going to be like this: Or like this: Apart from the Donghuamen night market in Beijing and the occasional chicken feet and squid tentacles seen at...

A short but eventful visit to Beijing that included stops at the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and a wonderful hike along the steep steps of the Great Wall of China. Photos taken with a Canon 5D Mark...

Traveling by train is a great way to see China and cover a lot of ground on a smaller budget. In our month in China we took six different trains with the majority of them being overnight trips. And while a...

A stop in Xi'an, China, where we rode bikes around the ancient Xi'an City Wall, visited the Terra Cotta Army and ate so much good food in the Muslim quarter. Photos taken with a Canon 5D Mark III....

The past week has been an all out, sight-seeing rampage. Day after day we were hopping buses, waiting in lines, buying steeply priced tickets and sweating the Chinese summer heat. From Chengdu to Xi’an we...

We came to Chengdu for pandas but ended up getting so much more. One day, we'd love to return here as the jump-off point for a trip into Tibet. Keep scrolling, at least until you find the Leshan Giant Buddha,...

Hello Chengdu International Youth Hostel followed the theme of the city itself- clean and friendly, which made for a relaxing and enjoyable stay.  The first thing we noticed was the wonderful oasis this...