https://www.scmp.com/rss/514885/feed Oliver is a British-born writer, printmaker and illustrator. He has spent much of his life in various countries and now calls Europe and Asia home. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Oliver Raw Oliver Raw Northeast of central Saigon lies the Dakow canal. It was here, in its dirty waters, that the body of an American man was found drowned in the mud – stabbed in the chest, it would later be determined, by “a rusty bayonet”. Thus begins Graham Greene’s The Quiet American, published 70 years ago this year. Set during the first Indochina war (1946-1954), the novel tells of a love triangle between a jaded British foreign correspondent and self-professed désengagé, Thomas Fowler; Vietnamese beauty... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/travel/article/3310447/footsteps-saigons-quiet-american-70-years?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/travel/article/3310447/footsteps-saigons-quiet-american-70-years?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 May 2025 03:00:09 +0000 Our incredibly loud, incredibly slow, diesel-powered wooden boat grinds up the wide river. On either side, nipa palms rise 10 metres (33 feet) high, forming an unbroken wall of green. Far ahead, lightning flickers within a cloud as the afternoon light starts to fail. We are a four-man crew. Well, technically, there are three crew members – ethnic Bajau men from islands off the coast – and me, hitching a ride. Our destination is the town of Berau – pronounced “Brow” – 60km (37 miles) up this... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3269751/indonesian-river-trip-retraces-joseph-conrad-voyages-inspired-lord-jim-other-novels?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3269751/indonesian-river-trip-retraces-joseph-conrad-voyages-inspired-lord-jim-other-novels?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Jul 2024 20:15:08 +0000 The teak tree is a tropical hardwood native to parts of India and Southeast Asia. Prized for its durability and natural oils, it was once highly sought after for the construction of boats and furniture. In the late 19th century the European powers, having colonised its neighbours, turned their focus towards Thailand’s untapped teak reserves. This led to an uneasy alliance between logging firms, the Siamese government and local rulers – an alliance marked by suspicion, double dealing and... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3263980/footsteps-teak-wallahs-northern-thailand-legacy-logging-show?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3263980/footsteps-teak-wallahs-northern-thailand-legacy-logging-show?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 May 2024 05:15:09 +0000 Bangkok has been referred to as “the Venice of the East” on account of its many canals. Although the Italian city is rarely described as “the Bangkok of Europe”, the comparison does highlight the pivotal role that water played in shaping the development of the Thai capital. Today, despite an expanding network of subways and sky trains, Bangkok’s canals, or khlongs, are far from relics of a bygone era; the motorised canal boat remains a fixture of urban life, much like tuk-tuks and traffic... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3249924/seeing-bangkoks-canals-boat-powered-solar-energy-shows-its-potential-water-transport?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3249924/seeing-bangkoks-canals-boat-powered-solar-energy-shows-its-potential-water-transport?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Jan 2024 04:45:16 +0000 The screech of electric saws and pounding of jackhammers are never far away in Phnom Penh. As you explore the Cambodian capital’s tree-lined streets, you might, for a moment, imagine yourself in southern China, given the number of building sites emblazoned with Chinese characters. At every turn, it seems, something is being torn down or is in the process of going up. This frantic development has come to characterise Phnom Penh. Yet, before Chinese money started pouring in, before the calamities... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3229996/how-tour-cambodias-capital-phnom-penh-reveals-heritage-hotbed-beneath-new-chinese-money?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3229996/how-tour-cambodias-capital-phnom-penh-reveals-heritage-hotbed-beneath-new-chinese-money?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Aug 2023 05:15:10 +0000 A hundred kilometres (60 miles) north of Kuala Lumpur, amid highland rainforest, stands the former colonial hill station named after Scottish adventurer Louis James Fraser. It is overshadowed in tourist literature by the Cameron Highlands and ignored by the pleasure seekers of Genting, but there are two compelling reasons to visit Fraser’s Hill, in Pahang’s Raub district: the mock-Tudor architecture, which has earned the town the nickname “Malaysia’s Little England”; and the wealth of wildlife,... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3210376/battle-frasers-hill-malaysian-former-hill-stations-little-england-heritage-and-rich-wildlife-under?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3210376/battle-frasers-hill-malaysian-former-hill-stations-little-england-heritage-and-rich-wildlife-under?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Feb 2023 23:45:07 +0000