Phuket was once a port of call, routinely seeing traders from China, India, Malaysia, Persia, Arabia, Indonesia, and Portugal. Each of these traders brought with them spices, recipes, and cooking techniques that helped shape Phuket’s cuisine.
Bali is characterized by its striking coastal areas and verdant interior. Hindu temples abound throughout the island, as do expressions of its highly developed arts in the fields of painting, sculpture, woodcarving, metalwork, and dance.
Ubud is a town in the central foothills of Bali island in Indonesia. Located inland about an hour and a half north of the airport, it’s known as a quieter and more cultural destination compared to the fun but often raucous atmosphere of Seminyak and Kuta in southern Bali.
Whenever we visit a new city, we try to experience as much of the local cuisine as we can. We rarely go to restaurants that serve non-local food so if that means having to ignore a Japanese restaurant in Bangkok in spite of its great reviews, then so be it. But Bali is different.
Bandung is the capital of West Java Province in Indonesia. Lying on a river basin surrounded by volcanic mountains, the area is known for its cool mountain climate and hectares of tea plantations.
Based on what I’ve read, Bandung doesn’t have as strong a culinary identity. Most of their food is Sundanese in origin and they aren’t known for any particular dishes. With that said, they have become famous for giving dishes that originated in other parts of the country a unique Bandung twist.
As big as Jakarta is, it isn’t a major destination for international travelers. Like similarly large megacities in Southeast Asia, it functions more as a stopover to other destinations in the region like Bandung, Yogyakarta, Bali, and Lombok.
A popular pilgrimage site, Kandy is regarded as a holy city and is home to The Temple of the Tooth Relic (the sacred tooth of the Buddha), one of the most sacred places of worship in Buddhism. It’s a key religious site not just in Sri Lanka, but in the entire Buddhist world.
Helga’s Folly is a hotel / acid trip located in the mountains surrounding Kandy, Sri Lanka. It’s owned by Helga De Silva Blow Perera, a Sri Lankan socialite and eccentric who started painting on the walls of the hotel as a form of therapy after going through a traumatic divorce.
Mumbai is home to some of the world’s grandest Victorian Gothic architecture and an equally impressive Art Deco heritage. I never expected this, but Mumbai has the second largest collection of Art Deco buildings in the world, behind only Miami.