Travel Writing Competition 2012 Entries Page3

Our business trip to Guangzhou China - We were driving 1 hour to the factory, the sky was a dark charcoal colour..I commented 'Looks like we are in for a bad storm'? " Oh no " the driver said that is "Prousion"

Setting off from my house in Barka, near Muscat, at 4am I meet an Indian neighbour sitting in the comfortable dark cool of the morning; we smile and wish each other a good morning. I start the car and note that the...

The tiny, overcrowded bus from Santorini’s capital, Firà, came to a screeching halt, and unceremoniously dumped its sweaty passengers onto the black volcanic sand of Perissa beach. “God, it’s hot”, observed...

We are lost. Hopelessly lost in Chandni Chowk, the ‘moonlit market’, in a sensory overload of nighttime noise and colour. The streets that seem so benign in the daylight quickly become the place where two unescorted...

Who knew a 45 second encounter with a girl no more than 12, could have such an impact? It’s been 3 years, and I still think of her often. I wonder if she feels the same.

Note to self. Next time you go to Hong Kong for new years, book a room in advance. After hours of walking I finally found a hotel with a vacancy. The owner called his wife to show me to my room.

O dear, have I ever been in a place I didn’t want to be? Possibly while picnicking on yesterday’s cold parathas, heavy oily flannels of indigestible dough unwrapped from the car boot and three layers of foil on the...

This is the first time I have ever gone to Istanbul and what a mystical, place it is with so many sights and sounds to see. Stepping back in time to the 6th century the underground dark remains of the Palace Cistern...

A cold autumn sun is kissing yellow leaves that are dancing in the wind. A squirrel is looking for something to eat on the ground. It does not scare people. The grass and tree trunks break through asphalt and concrete walls.

Even as I took in the hot summer weather and gorgeous green scenery, I still couldn't help feeling a bit homesick. I had recently experienced a major disillusionment with someone I considered a good friend;