https://www.scmp.com/rss/323183/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Sri Lanka’s tourism industry has blossomed in recent years, luring visitors to its palm-fringed shores, lapped by the azure Indian Ocean. However, with 1,600km of coastline it can be tricky for first-timers to know where to go. Weligama, Arugum Bay on the east coast, or Unawatuna and Hikkaduwa around the historic city of Galle have been on the tourist map for some time, but there are plenty of other under-the-radar places to explore, tucked quietly between the ocean and Sri Lanka’s main A2... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3036553/place-escape-crowds-sri-lankas-south-coast-hiriketiya?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3036553/place-escape-crowds-sri-lankas-south-coast-hiriketiya?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Nov 2019 07:00:07 +0000 With one wheel short of four, a two-stroke, seven horsepower lawnmower motor, a seat that is hard as nails and a chassis largely held together by its paint job, the humble auto rickshaw, or tuk-tuk, isn’t really the best vehicle to get across town, let alone across a country as big as India. However, crossing India in an “auto” is precisely what I found myself doing this summer, along with a couple of hundred other like-minded adventurers, all on “The Rickshaw Run” – a twice-yearly event open to... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3032769/3000km-tuk-tuk-drive-across-india-old-school-adventure?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3032769/3000km-tuk-tuk-drive-across-india-old-school-adventure?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Oct 2019 10:00:12 +0000 There’s not a soul in sight as our battered toothpick-shaped boat cuts through some of the clearest turquoise water imaginable. I’m deep in the heart of the remote Indonesian province of West Papua, heading for one of three minuscule sand atolls barely a metre across each and only exposed on lower tides. “Usually we’d have some trouble to land the boat there,” says my host and guide Pak Martin Makusi. We push up onto the sand and jump overboard into the balmy shallows to stake our momentary... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3008450/raja-ampat-indonesia-how-enjoy-tropical-island-paradise?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3008450/raja-ampat-indonesia-how-enjoy-tropical-island-paradise?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 May 2019 09:45:09 +0000 Are you heading to Russia to watch your team in the World Cup this summer? If you’re going to be in St Petersburg – base for England, Costa Rica, Saudi Arabia and South Korea and host city for a semi-final and third place play-off – you’re in luck. Russia’s second city offers plenty for the visitor to explore beyond the St Petersburg Stadium. 1. Impressive churches One thing St. Petersburg is not short of is churches. There’s the Church of the Saviour on the Spilled Blood just off Nevsky... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2146073/five-things-do-st-petersburg-during-world-cup-russia-or-any?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2146073/five-things-do-st-petersburg-during-world-cup-russia-or-any?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 May 2018 13:15:45 +0000 It is 8pm on a balmy evening in the Balinese village of Kerobokan and the road outside my house is blocked off by a small marquee surrounded by people. The gathered crowd – some 50 or so locals from the village – sits cross-legged in hushed silence, transfixed on the spectacle in front. Wide-eyed youngsters and village elders alike look on in wonder as dark forms begin to flicker across a cloth screen, accompanied by the percussive clangs of a Balinese gamelan, a traditional orchestra ensemble.... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2108084/meet-shadow-puppet-master-teaching-balis-traditional-art?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2108084/meet-shadow-puppet-master-teaching-balis-traditional-art?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 27 Aug 2017 04:30:39 +0000 It’s barely 9am and already I’m sweltering. The heat of the day has kicked in, and it’s making our ascent through the thick vines and undergrowth extremely hard going. Two hours into our trek since we left the tiny village of Adu, and fortunately we’ve almost reached our destination: a clump of large trees growing just below a ridge line high in the forest in eastern Sumbawa, the next island to the east of better known Lombok in Indonesia. I’m accompanied by three villagers: Pak Abidin, and his... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2001832/where-find-some-worlds-best-wild-forest-honey-and-why-its?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2001832/where-find-some-worlds-best-wild-forest-honey-and-why-its?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Aug 2016 23:15:00 +0000