The Reality of Yerevan: The Capital Older Than Rome
In a museum on a hill at the southern edge of Yerevan there is a slab of basalt with wedge-shaped marks cut…
Regional Guide
Asia
Asia travel guide on PenguFly: top attractions, best places to visit, routes and practical tips — plus cheap flight ideas to plan your trip to Asia.
Cheap flights to Yerevan: the London nonstop that just appeared, the one-stop menu, and the airport bus that isn’t the one you’ve read about
Here is the mistake I want you to avoid, because it is the single most common thing written wrong about arriving in…
The Reality of Istanbul: The City That Was Three Capitals
Some cities are preserved by geographical isolation; others survive because they were simply spared by history. Istanbul is the absolute opposite: a…
Cheap flights to Istanbul: two airports on two continents, the airline that flies everywhere, and the month that moves every year
On one of my first trips through Turkey, I booked a cheap flight to Istanbul with a self-transfer connection, arriving at Sabiha…
The Reality of Kanazawa: The City the War Never Reached
Nearly every major Japanese city was firebombed in 1945; their historic districts are, by necessity, largely post-war rebuilds. Kanazawa lacked the strategic…
Cheap flights to Tokyo: two airports playing different games, the rail-pass rethink, and the weeks Japan travels all at once
On an early trip to Japan, I booked an exceptionally cheap flight to Tokyo that landed at Narita Airport at ten thirty…
The Reality of Hoi An: The Port the River Switched Off
For four centuries, this was Faifo—one of Southeast Asia's great trading ports. Japanese, Chinese, Dutch, and Portuguese merchants maintained busy quarters here,…
The Reality of Bukhara: Two Thousand Years of Bazaar
Samarkand is the conqueror's showcase—Timur's capital, built strictly to awe. Bukhara is something else entirely: a merchant city that simply kept trading…
Cheap flights to Phuket: direct or through Bangkok, the monsoon calendar, and the arrival card to sort out first
On an early trip to Thailand, I booked a flight to Phuket with a self-transfer connection through Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport, leaving a…
Cheap flights to Hong Kong: how the HKG hub works, the 24-minute train, and the season the fares drop
On one of my early transpacific routes, I booked a self-transfer layover in Hong Kong, arriving on a legacy carrier and departing…
The Reality of Siem Reap: The Megacity Behind Angkor
Almost everyone who flies into Siem Reap arrives specifically to see one building, but Angkor is not a building. It is the…
The Reality of Yogyakarta: The Living Court Behind Borobudur
Stand on the Kedu Plain at dawn as the thick mist begins to thin in the palm canopy. In front of you,…