This Week in PostMag: Explore Bangkok, Japan, the Silk Road, and More Top Travel Ideas
Need travel inspiration this summer? Try the Yunnanese capital of Kunming, Bangkok’s vibrant Chinatown or modern-day Silk Road vistas
One of the saddest things about becoming an adult is losing summer. Of course, there’s still the season, which honestly I’d happily lose in Hong Kong, its oppressive humidity and all. But the deliciously lazy six to eight weeks of nothingness and boredom I remember from childhood vanish for most of us in the workforce. (Though, perhaps they’ve already disappeared for the modern era’s chronically overscheduled children, too.)
Somewhere in the midst of these lazy weeks, there might be a family trip to break the glorious banality of doing nothing. A day at the seaside, a visit to grandparents, perhaps an exotic journey abroad, if you’re lucky.
In that spirit of those adventures both big and small, allow me to introduce our summer travel special. Whether or not you have your travel plans booked, or even if you’re staying in the city throughout, I hope this issue inspires you as it did me.
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I loved reading about the renewed energy sweeping Bangkok’s Chinatown neighbourhood. Vincent Vichit-Vadakan talks to the next generation who are driving the change, restoring heritage buildings and transforming the area with forward-thinking restaurants, bars and art spaces. From what people have been telling me, there’s been no better time to visit Bangkok than now and this has me convinced.
With his gorgeous photography, Christopher Wilton-Steer documents the last leg of his 40,000km journey along the Silk Road. In his recently published book, he travels eastward from Italy all the way to Beijing, weaving together the famed trade route’s history with the present day. Here, Wilton-Steer has shared the final portion of his odyssey from the Pakistan border into China. The far western reaches of the mainland are not an area I’ve visited yet, but the striking landscape of Dunhuang and the Gobi Desert are calling.
Cameron Dueck treks through Japan’s largest national park, Daisetsuzan. I’ll be honest, the prospect of brown bears lessens its appeal for me but I have faith you might be braver. What does the height of indulgence look like to a newly christened Hongkonger? The solitude and vast expanses of wilderness that he encounters.
Elsewhere in the issue, there’s more to feed your wanderlust. Thomas Bird chats with some of Kunming’s long-timers on what to do, see and eat in the Yunnanese capital. I spent a couple of summers there and can confirm, it’s a delightful break from much of the region’s heat and humidity. In our Interiors pages, Peta Tomlinson transports us to the English countryside where former Hongkonger Alice Fortescue has restored her family’s 15th century estate and even transformed it into a place you can stay. Finally, looking back in Then & Now, Jason Wordie recalls the summer destinations of yore.
While we might not have the vast expanse of summer breaks any more, the perk of being an adult is that now we can choose what trips these summers hold. I hope you have some good ones planned.
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This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.
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