Category Asia

The last night in Mumbai: a night market, a decision not to sleep, and a 2:25 AM departure. Seat 59D turns out to be a find. Home before noon.

Hollywood has the money. Bollywood has the numbers. A comparison of two industries that share a name suffix and almost nothing else, from someone who has spent time in both.

A private walking tour of Dharavi, Mumbai's densest neighbourhood. Two million people, three dollars a day, plastic recycling, soap, ceramics. Everyone working, all the time.

For the last few days in India, Palolem Beach in South Goa. A crescent of sand, calm water, beach huts, and a pace that makes it easy to stop counting days.

Pit No. 30, dated 14 February 2026. A Forest Department mesh cage on Palolem Beach, a turtle nest inside, and a small calculation about what might already have happened by the time I found it.

India's largest carrier and by some distance its best budget option. Four flights on a modern A320neo fleet, new aircraft, smooth boarding, and rather better than Ryanair. Which is not nothing.

Three cities in one day. Breakfast in Varkala, a layover in Bangalore, dinner in Goa, arriving just in time for sunset at the beach.

The best breakfast I have ever eaten at a restaurant that was closed. A slow day on the Varkala cliff, good coffee, warm water, and no particular plans.

Seven hours of travel on a local bus and a train to cover a modest distance through Kerala. Tea hills, backwaters glimpsed between palm trees, a conversation with strangers, and a thirty-cent waiting room that was worth considerably more.

Two traditional Kerala art forms, back to back in Thekkady. Kalaripayattu may be the world's oldest martial art; Kathakali tells its stories through gesture and expression alone. An evening that made the connection between them legible.