Cities

La Paz is clearly not on the list of my favorite cities but it offers some amazing views. The city is located in a small valley, its altitude spanning from 3000m to 4000m. From one side to another you're only seeing a wall of small orange-brick houses. At night, this transforms in a beautiful wall of light. You'll definitely walk slowly as the altitude, the constant up and down hill and ... read more »

Visited: March 2014 Posted: 06/05/2014 Bolivia

First night in a Bolivian city in Potosi. Far from being as bad as I had read, it has a vibrant center with a lot of colonial buildings. The difference with Chile is still very impressive, Bolivia being a much poorer country. I did not visit the mines which is the principal tourist attraction but the experience seems like a very original thing to do. ![Potosi](http://travelingcoder.com/... read more »

Visited: March 2014 Posted: 03/05/2014 Bolivia

I've been moving a lot lately and doing so much that I kind of forgot to update the blog. Oups! But this also means that great stuff is coming: amazing landscapes and thrilling activities have been filling up my time ;) I crossed over from Argentina to Chile through the Andes moutain range, a beautiful route where you can take a very brief peek at the Aconcagua. It took me 2 hours to cro... read more »

Visited: March 2014 Posted: 24/04/2014 Chile

Not much to say about Sao Paulo. The saying is that it is not a city you like but a great place to live in where a lot is happening. As a tourist, you don't get to really experience that which means you're left with a city "you don't like". Anyway, unless you're going to spend a long time there to really appreciate the lifestyle, Sao Paulo is enough as a one-day stopover between different ... read more »

Visited: January 2014 Posted: 18/02/2014 Brazil

There is a dark side to Rio de Janeiro which is hard to miss: at the heart of the city, on the slope of the its mountains, lies some of the poorest neighborhoods of South America, the favelas. It is one of the biggest gap between poor and rich people on the planet and yet crossing a street is enough to go from one side to another. I was very curious to visit one of them and my brother an... read more »

Visited: January 2014 Posted: 20/01/2014 Brazil

The best way to see Rio de Janeiro is from above as the city's setting is amazing with 300m high peaks, beaches all along the coast and surrounded by rainforest. There is two ways to get a breathtaking view of the city without leaving the ground from the top of the Sugar Loaf (*Pao de Açucar*) and from the top of the Corcovado (where the Christ Redeemer is) and few options involving flying... read more »

Visited: January 2014 Posted: 17/01/2014 Brazil

When I left a year ago, Rio was supposed to be the end of my trip. According to my plan, I should be writing this from Europe, getting ready to go back to a less nomadic life. [Things have changed](/2013/09/why-iam-in-montreal-right-now) a lot since then and Rio ended up to be the end of an amazing year but also the start of a great new one. My brother joined me for ten days in the most ... read more »

Visited: January 2014 Posted: 13/01/2014 Brazil

I spent a very uneventful and relaxing week in Montevideo. I was there only due to the fact that the plane ticket to Rio was cheaper compared to flying from Buenos Aires. I took the opportunity to walk around the city and rest a lot as I arrived very tired from the previous weeks. Montevideo is a chill place, full of colorful colonial buildings. Not much was happening in the city as it w... read more »

Visited: December 2013 Posted: 09/01/2014 Uruguay

After six weeks in Montréal, it was time to move on to South America. (By the way, that was my longest stop in a single place this year!). I was finally going to a continent that I didn't know at all and that I was eager to explore. I chose Buenos Aires as my first stop as I heard a lot of good about it and my readings on the subject made me conclude that I had to visit the "Paris of the So... read more »

Visited: November 2013 Posted: 14/11/2013 Argentina

*Wow this was a long pause! Sorry for not posting more often in the last few weeks. I'm now in Argentina, back on the road and I have some articles in the pipe!* It was a comeback in Montreal for me as I lived there for a year during my studies. I really loved my stay there back in 2008 and as such it was a pleasure to return and see how things have changed. Culturally speaking, Montre... read more »

Visited: September 2013 Posted: 01/11/2013 Canada

Eleven years ago I was leaving Scotland for Congo after living five years in Aberdeen, the place where I went to middle school and where I lived continually the longest. As a young teenager, I think the place definitely had an impact on my personality. So what it's like to go back there eleven years later? It felt very strange, like I know the place but not really. Although I have some ... read more »

Visited: August 2013 Posted: 14/09/2013 United Kingdom

As I was going to Europe from Australia and because the most interesting flights connect in the UAE, I thought it would be a good idea to spend a night in Dubai. Although you don't need much time to visit Dubai, one night was too short especially because I was really tired from the 14h flight from Sydney. My first impression of the UAE was in Abu Dhabi (I flew Etihad). We arrived at 5... read more »

Visited: August 2013 Posted: 10/09/2013 United Arab Emirates

In the months I was traveling before arriving in Sydney I must have heard how great it was hundreds of time. Everybody is always raving about how amazing Sydney is. It was finally time for me to check it out, stopping in Australia's most iconic city for a week before flying out of the country. So does Sydney live up to the hype? I would say yes although I feel a little something is miss... read more »

Visited: August 2013 Posted: 03/09/2013 Australia

Quick stop in Brisbane on my way south down the east coast of Australia. There's not much to do as a tourist but it was my first encounter with a big city in the country. Brisbane is a really nice place with a long walkway along the river opposite the CBD, a lively city center, lots of places to eat and grab a drink. It was a nice feeling being back in a big cosmopolitan city as I'm no... read more »

Visited: August 2013 Posted: 18/08/2013 Australia

As the Lonely Planet says, Kyoto is the place where even the Japanese come to learn about their own history and culture. For a thousand years it was the capital of Japan which may explains the incredible number of temples and shrines (over 2000!). Kyoto cannot be visited in one day and requires a lot of walking! I would say the minimum duration of your stay should be three days but you co... read more »

Visited: June 2013 Posted: 27/07/2013 Japan

Osaka was my second big city in Japan. I was surprised how different it was from Tokyo. The city center is also something to witness as it is fascinating. To reach Osaka, I took the Shinkansen from Tokyo, Japan's bullet train. Compared to Europe, the way of using it seems closer to a suburban train than a classic high speed train. You get the same ticket as other suburban train, go thr... read more »

Visited: June 2013 Posted: 18/07/2013 Japan

I left one of the most [densely populated city](http://travelingcoder.com/2013/07/incredible-skyline-of-hong-kong) for another one, Tokyo, the starting place of my two weeks trip in Japan. I experienced Tokyo a bit differently than other cities because I stayed at a friend's place. Cool travel story by the way: I met her in Italy last year, she visited me in the Southwest of France where... read more »

Visited: June 2013 Posted: 12/07/2013 Japan

After four months in Southeast Asia, time for me to fly away and meet another [tiger](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Asian_Tigers): Hong Kong. If you know me or have been reading the blog, you may have noticed that I love big cities. I know this is not a very common view (people usually prefer quiet and less crowded places) but I like feeling the life around me and to know that I alw... read more »

Visited: June 2013 Posted: 10/07/2013 China

Last stop in Vietnam in the capital city of Hanoi. Although I spent a few days there, I'm a bit ashamed to say that I didn't do much visiting. I mostly walk around the Old Quarter. The town is very busy with the usual crazy Vietnam traffic. The Old Quarter is a maze of small streets packed with shops, restaurants and bars. Life only seems to slow down late at night. You can clearly f... read more »

Visited: June 2013 Posted: 08/07/2013 Vietnam

After three weeks in Cambodia, is was time to discover a new country! Vietnam here I am, starting with a few days in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), ex-Saigon. HCMC is a busy, modern and quickly growing city. I was very surprised how modern it was. It's also huge, something you can particularly appreciate from the top of the Bitexco tower, the tallest in town (where it is also a perfect place to... read more »

Visited: May 2013 Posted: 04/06/2013 Vietnam

How good it feels to back in a big city again! Feeling the energy only this kind of international cities can give. After four weeks of sleepy Laos, it was a pleasure to spend a week in Phnom Penh. The capital of Cambodia is very busy, a bit dirty and under construction but it's also full of trendy restaurants and bars, has a nice riverfront and interesting things to do. You won't get b... read more »

Visited: May 2013 Posted: 09/05/2013 Cambodia

One night stop in Vientiane between two night buses to reach the south of Laos. Travelers who had already visited the capital were not very enthusiastic about it and didn't recommend spending more than a day there. It's true that there's not much to do. A few temples to visit and the "unmissable" national monument of Laos, Pha That Luang. None of them are very interesting. ![Wat Si ... read more »

Visited: April 2013 Posted: 29/04/2013 Laos

First stop in Laos after two days on the slow boat from Thailand: Luang Prabang. This UNESCO World Heritage town is extremely charming with it's colonial style buildings, great food and slow pace of life. The city has a lot of temples in a different architecture than Thailand so it's worth visiting the main ones. Do not miss Wat Xien Thong as it is the most beautiful. The Royal Palace Mu... read more »

Visited: April 2013 Posted: 18/04/2013 Laos

Even though, technically, I can say it was not my first time in Bangkok, in reality is was like it. In twenty years, the city has changed a lot and I couldn't remember much (I was pretty young back then). Bangkok is vast, crowded and always busy. The traffic is intense and there are hordes of people in the central areas. I find it's still manageable (not as crowded as India) although my ... read more »

Visited: March 2013 Posted: 28/03/2013 Thailand

Bangkok is the capital city of the Thai Kingdom and as such there are temples at every corners, some of them being huge, and the famous Grand Palace. The Grand Palace is the residence of the King and is on the same ground as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, Wat Phra Kaew. It's a big complex with a lot of beautifully decorated buildings. Unfortunately, it's also the most popular tourist ... read more »

Visited: March 2013 Posted: 26/03/2013 Thailand

Wandering in Chinatowns of big cities around the world is an habit I'm loving more and more. Bangkok's Chinatown was the largest and the best I've been to yet. Singapore's and Kuala Lumpur's Chinatowns have been cleaned up, covered in some parts and overall, look more like a tourist attraction than a real neighborhood. Of course, if you skip the big streets you can get a more real exper... read more »

Visited: March 2013 Posted: 24/03/2013 Thailand

Kuala Lumpur is my first stop on my way to Beijing, the plan being to reach it in about 5 months only using overland transportation. The train from Singapore is nice but last around 6 hours. KL is famous for its Petronas Twin Towers which were the highest in the World for some time (they still claim it's the highest *twin* towers in the world, *twin* being the keyword). They are really impress... read more »

Visited: Febuary 2013 Posted: 26/02/2013 Malaysia

After a month in India arriving in Singapore was like jumping in the future. The country is one of the richest, cleanest and modern in the world. The island being quite small, skyscrapers are the only way to accommodate the 5 millions people living there, thus making the Singapore's skyline very impressive. Nonetheless, the city has a lot of vegetation which makes it nice to walk around. ![Sky... read more »

Visited: Febuary 2013 Posted: 20/02/2013 Singapore

Arriving in a Northen Indian city is always kind of a challenge. You are immediately surrounded by people trying to sell you something and taxi or rickshaw drivers. Jaisalmer was the worst but Delhi is not far behind. We got out of the station in search for a rickshaw to our booked hotel. Fortunately, we had stopped in Delhi 2 weeks before on our way to Varanasi so we knew where the hotel was ... read more »

Visited: Febuary 2013 Posted: 17/02/2013 India

The big trip has finally started! We have been visiting Mumbai for the last few days (I'm traveling with David while in India). An incredibly big city that is way too crowded. Chaotic is the only word that could describe the traffic and the sidewalks are always overflowing from people. Mumbai is a paradoxical city where skyscrapers are rising everywhere, surrounded by slums. You'll see brand n... read more »

Visited: January 2013 Posted: 09/01/2013 India

I had heard so many raving reviews from friends about Prague that it was a city I was expecting a lot and it was indeed the perfect place to conclude my trip! I only stayed 2 nights there (I should have stayed one more night) but I had enough time to visit the most important things and take a good walk around the city. The main site to visit is the Castle of Prague, which is the biggest castle... read more »

Visited: October 2012 Posted: 20/10/2012 Czech Republic

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Visited: October 2012 Posted: 17/10/2012 Austria

Venice is truly a unique and magical place and it's a real pleasure to get lost in the city. The only problem was that I was alone when the fact is Venice is a destination for couples. Literally getting lost in the city is the only way to get a feel of Venice. Anyways, everybody probably ends up lost as following a map is too much work. Most streets are really narrow and have turns and corne... read more »

Visited: October 2012 Posted: 15/10/2012 Italy

I was in Florence (*Firenze* in Italian) for the last few days, birth place of the Renaissance and quite a nice city. The historic center is a mix of narrow streets and old buildings with luxury shops. Of course the city is also full of museums and churches.  Florence is all about Art and churches. The dome of the ... read more »

Visited: October 2012 Posted: 13/10/2012 Italy

I left *Roma* this morning after 3 and a half days visiting what is a wonderful city. The first one on my 15 days trip from Rome to Prague. I didn't loose time on arrival and after an hour of bus from the Fiumicino airport (half the price compared to the train) and checking in at my hostel I went straight to visit the monument I've been waiting for the most. The Coliseum is to Rome what the... read more »

Visited: October 2012 Posted: 10/10/2012 Italy