Iain Manley

Iain wrote for London's Daily Telegraph before editing the Asian travel portal HolidayFu.com. His work has appeared in a range of publications on subjects as diverse as China's involvement in Africa and the link between travel and nostalgia, and his first book, about the pirates, prostitutes and opium peddlers of old Singapore, was published last year. You can find him at Old World Wandering, his award winning travelogue.

Posts by Iain Manley

A South African couple’s journey across the Old World

30 August 2012 | Iain Manley

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A little over eight years ago, Claire and I left Cape Town for London. We planned to spend two years working and saving money, in between travelling. Now, as I sit writing this in Luang Prabang, northern Laos, we have yet to return home for more than a flying visit since leaving eight years ago.

A journey across the road in Bangkok

18 May 2012 | Iain Manley

Shuttling between three neighbouring hotels in Bangkok's Khao San area gave us a sense of travelling back in time in Thailand's capital city.

A music performance at the Sivananda Ashram in Neyyar Dam

Remnants of the Hippie Trail at the Sivananda Ashram

26 January 2012 | Iain Manley

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Claire and I arrived at the Sivananda Ashram at Neyyar Dam in southern India on a decrepit bus to begin our yoga vacation.

Sunrise on the River Ganges

31 August 2011 | Iain Manley

India has a surfeit of sacred places, but for its Hindu majority there is no place as magically divine as Varanasi, on the banks of Ganges River.

Attukal Pongala: The world’s largest gathering of women

12 July 2011 | Iain Manley

Recognised as the world's largest annual gathering of women, the Attukal Pongala Festival in Thiruvananthapuram, India, amasses almost three million women in honour of the deity Attukal Devi.

The St Angelo Castle and St Angelo bridge

Misadventures in Rome

27 May 2011 | Iain Manley

A single coin thrown into the Trevi Fountain, with your right hand, over your left shoulder, is said to ensure a return to Rome. Claire and I did our duty as tourists in Rome. We joined a jostling crowd, picked through our wallets for the smallest change, turned our backs on the fountain, and threw

Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus, formerly called Victoria Terminus, is a World Heritage Site

Bombay bitter sweet

14 April 2011 | Iain Manley

A look into the dichotomous lives of the people who live in a country of unfamiliar strength, where development and culture seem inexorably juxtaposed.

Mistaking Aleppo

18 March 2011 | Iain Manley

At immigration, Claire and I - the only tourists on our Syrian owned bus - were treated with suspicion.