Bangkok Airways no longer has an exclusive air route flying from Bangkok to Siem Reap, Cambodia, gateway city to the historical Angkor Wat complex. With an agreement that took five years to forge, Thai Air Asia, beginning October 1, 2013, will now fly to Siem Reap, opening with a promotional fare that essentially amounts to […]
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Fastest way from Narita Airport to Tokyo: Narita Express train N’EX and Suica card
Here at WoWasis, we like to get out of airports and into the city as quickly and inexpensively as we can, and Narita Airport has a solution that’s pretty much seamless. You simply take Japan Rail (JR-East’s) fast N’EX train (Narita Express) from either terminal at the airport, and you’ll get off at either the […]
Read the rest of this entry »Not optimized for westerners: an afternoon wasted in Kibune, Kyoto, Japan
The tiny mountain village of Kibune, a half-hour north of Kyoto, Japan, sounds great in the guidebooks. It sits next to a mountain stream, and people eat at restaurants that consist of platforms nestled next to the steam. The traditional dish is cold noodles dipped in a local sauce. Sounds wonderful and idyllic, doesn’t it? […]
Read the rest of this entry »See Kyoto’s temples by city bus, optimized for western visitors
We’ll have to admit it, we here at WoWasis aren’t much for using city buses to get around. In most cities, we’ll take the subway, taxis, hire a car and driver for a day, we might even take a bicycle. Typically, city buses can be challenging for those not speaking the language. But Kyoto, Japan’s […]
Read the rest of this entry »See Kyoto’s eastern temples in a half-day walk in the southern Higashiyama district
Kyoto’s Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines are spread all over this fairly large city, and using the bus system is something visitors get used to doing quite quickly, unless they want to run up considerable taxi bills. For us here at WoWasis, therefore, a half-day north to south walk along Kyoto’s eastern perimeter in the […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis book shopping review: a superior English bookshop at Dhaka’s international airport in Bangladesh
There’s not a lot to do for international travelers in the departure area of the Hazrat Shahjalal airport in Bangladesh’s capital of Dhaka. On top of that, the restrooms are crappy, literally. Most cow pastures are cleaner. This is amazing, given that international flyers, who have the money for plane tickets, presumably, would have learned […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis travel review: Railroads in Bangladesh
The Bangladesh Railway, a principle transportation agency of the country, is a Government – owned and Government – managed organization. It covers a length of 2,855 route kilometers, employing a total of 34,168 regular employees. Watch a video of a Bangladeshi locomotive at the station in Rajshahi. The Bangladesh Railway website isn’t well-developed, but does […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis book review: ‘Who Needs a Road? The Longest and Last Motor Journey Around the World’ by Harold Stephens and Albert Podell
Back in 1999, we here at WoWasis drove 4000 km through South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. We broke down in soft sand up to our axels in the bush with lions nearby, got an accidental fill-up of diesel 200 km from the nearest Kalahari town, and did it all while driving solo in a […]
Read the rest of this entry »Welcome to Bangladesh: an introduction
Welcome to Bangladesh! Here, braving the challenges of a country that doesn’t have much of a travel infrastructure for the westerner does have significant rewards. You’ll see things most people you know haven’t, like the wonderful historical temples and mosques outside of Rajshahi and Bagerhat, outside of Khulna. The Sundarbans National Park consists of the […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis travels transportation in Bangladesh
Transportation in Bangladesh consists chiefly of train, car & driver for hire, auto-rickshaw, and pedal-rickshaw. Train: Bangladesh’s train stations have virtually no signage in English, nor English-speaking information counters (exception: Rajshahi train station). Read the WoWasis post on how to deal with this. When you do get a first class ticket, the trains are relatively […]
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