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…
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.
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,…
Cheap flights to Delhi: the e-visa you need before check-in, surviving IGI arrivals, and the smog season nobody prices in
On my first arrival at Indira Gandhi International Airport, I walked out of the terminal and bypassed the official transport booths. A…
The Reality of Chiang Mai: The Lanna Capital Behind the Tourist Boom
Walk along the edge of the old-city moat in the early evening, and the geometry of the place becomes clear. The square…
Cheap flights to Istanbul: two airports on two continents, the Turkish Airlines megahub, and the transfer that eats your day
On my first trip to Istanbul, I booked a cheap ticket that landed at Sabiha Gökçen Airport on the Asian side of…
The Reality of Samarkand: Timur’s Conqueror Capital
Stand in the centre of the Registan at first light, before the crowds arrive. Three vast, heavily tiled madrasahs frame the empty…
The Reality of Tbilisi: Empires, Sulphur Baths, and Ancient Wine
Walk through the Abanotubani district at dawn, and you will see the low, brick domes of the sulphur bathhouses steaming in the…