Asia

The motto of Cyelon Air Force was “Per Ardua Ad Astra”, written in Sanskrit

Mt. Fuji is a tough but gorgeous hike. It is much shorter than Grand Canyon or Mt. Whitney and can be done on a day trip. The shortest way to hike Mt. Fuji is to start from the 5th station. I would recommend taking a 2400-yen bus from Tokyo to Kawaguchiko and staying there at night. In the morning, you can start the hike from the 5th station. That’s the furthest one can access via bus. It is about an 8-mile round trip hike with a ~4800 ft elevation gain. So, unless you have done strenuous hikes before, don’t attempt it. ...

Unlike Tokyo, Kyoto is a nice and cozy city. We started the day with a walking tour that gave us an intense view of this city of shrines. There is a lot to do in this city. However, I would recommend focusing on a few of the best specific shrines. Inari Shrine - do the full mountain hike to the top and check the small waterfalls on the backside Kinkaku-ji Shrine Ninna-ji temple - a 1200-year-old temple with several statues of Hindu gods sculpted in 800 AD. ...

Tokyo isn’t a city per se but a prefecture. A prefecture is more akin to a county in the US. Japan has 47 prefectures. I would recommend two important cities in Tokyo to spend your time in - Akihabara Electronic District and Shinjuku (fancy) District. While public transport is great, payment requires cash, iPhone, or Suica cards. Unfortunately, Android phones sold outside Japan do not have the appropriate NFC to pay. There are multiple different types of rail companies operating in Tokyo. When you buy a JR pass (please don’t) or a 24-hour pass, it isn’t obvious where you can use it. ...

Sri Lanka is a small island country near the southern coast of India. My trip was heavily focused on Ramayana and Hinduism. While I loved it, those who have little interest in Hinduism might find the trip. Like Kerala and Sikkim, I had a chauffered guide for the trip. I would highly recommend doing that, otherwise, a packed trip becomes harder to pull off. You can see a list of recommended guides here. ...

Singapore is a small country on the southern tip of the Malaysian peninsula. Thanks to its visionary leader, Singapore is one of the most prosperous countries in the world. Once you get passed the heat and humidity, it is a wonderful place to visit. I had a short stay in Singapore while taking a Royal Caribbean cruise. Here’s my recommendation on what to see in Singapore. Day 1 - Jewel and Sentosa Island Start with the Jewel Airport area. It is gorgeous with an artificial waterfall and a full-fledged shopping mall. ...

We did a 3-day Royal Caribbean cruise from Singapore with a stop in Penang, Malaysia. This was my first time cruising in Asia. Unlike the Caribbean and French Polynesia, most passengers were from Chinese and India. And this reflected well in the activities as well as food choices. The quizzes were geekier, e.g., guess the airport from the codename. Food choices were way more vegetarian friendly including a Jain food counter! Day 1 - Check-in We arrived at around 3 PM, 90 minutes before the start of the cruise. We know we are late when we saw absolutely no one in the check-in line! ...

The world views of Lee Kuan Yew, the architect of the modern Singapore.

The northern part of Bengal known as Gorkhaland and Sikkim is the Nepali-speaking region of India. This part is known mostly for its mountainous beauty. If you are flying in, Bagdogra is the closest airport. The airside of this airport is congested, so, I would recommend not to check in too early. Day 1 - Bagdogra to Darjeeling We took the taxi from Bagdogra to Darjeeling. It is a risky mountainous drive and most portions of the narrow road allow only a single car, so, definitely budget 4-5 hours for this. In the evening, we checked out the local market as well as the local Mahakal temple. It is a bit of a hike and you will encounter a good local market in your journey as well. I would highly recommend trying momos here. There are tons of sellers selling veg and non-veg momos for ₹50 a plate. ...

After renting a moped in Thailand, I stopped at a small shop to ask for a petrol pump/gas station. Instead, the shop owner handed me a bottle of gasoline for purchase. “Must be a peaceful country where they can sell gasoline in bottles.”, I said to myself, “In most parts of the world, people would use this as a petrol bomb during violent protests and riots.”