Posts by Charmaine Hallmark

MALAYSIAN MEMORIES Malaysia drips in a culture and atmosphere unique to itself. It has beautiful scenery, white sandy beaches and friendly faces. A ‘cocktail’ of faiths, mainly Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus – Malaysia is culturally diverse but everyone seems to live in harmony! I flew with Qatar Airways, and it was a pleasant and comfortable…

A MALAYSIAN INTERLUDE With only 10 days to spare, we headed off East in search of the orangutans of Borneo! Few places on Earth can be compared to the rugged natural beauty of Sabah ‘the land under the wind’, home of Mount Kinabalu, the highest peak of South East Asia. Our destination was Sepilok, an…

MALAYSIA A TRIP TO FILL UP YOUR SENSES Air Malaysia has the best seat pitch in economy from London to Kuala Lumpur ~ a full 34 inches to BA’s 31! So my 13-hour journey was as comfortable as could be! Kuala Lumpur is a clean and modern city and easy to get around by foot…

MINGALABAR MYANMAR It had been on my wish list for years, and when Burma opened up ever so slightly to tourists……I was checking visa requirements, brochures and guide books, before you could say Mingalabar Myanmar! (That’s Hello Burma in Burmese!) Burma, as it was, Myanmar, as it is now, has been closed for decades, under…

HAPPY YEAR OF THE DOG The transfer from the Airport at Chek Lap Kok gave me my first glimpse of Hong Kong, and its Skyline it was breathtaking! It was so busy and vibrant. Every spare inch that can be reclaimed from the sea has been built on and up! I have never seen so…

SRI LANKA THE TEARDROP OF INDIA I’ll leave it to the tourist books to tell you about the getting there, the what not to miss, the where you should go… my story is about Sri Lanka, about its magic and its effect on an unwary traveller, with just a little bit of curiosity – me!…

JAI HO INDIA Jai Ho! No matter what I say about India, it will seem like a cliché. One thing is true, a visit to India will change your life and your perspective forever. It’s a continent of over one billion people, scrambling to live, to survive, from the rubbish dumps of Mumbai to the…

A JOURNEY THROUGH THAILAND Arriving in Bangkok on a Monday afternoon, to traffic jams, hot and tired, I could hardly take in this large noisy city where street vendors and tuc tucs are the norm alongside modern skyscrapers and the city Skyrail system. A good night’s sleep and a day later I was aboard the…