Teh Chin Liang
Teh Chin Liang is a long-time travel journal contributor to Dave’s Travel Corner and Global Travel Insider and a Senior Writer for GoNomad. Having traveled to more than 30 countries and counting, he especially enjoys venturing off the beaten path and experiencing unique local customs and cultures. He mostly travels solo and loves to capture what he sees on the road through words and photographs. Becoming a travel writer has made him more sensitive to each place he visits and encourages him to live more fully in the present.
Articles by Teh Chin Liang
Spanning 3.5 billion acres across the southern hemisphere, buffeted by the deadly Southern Ocean and raked by sub-zero polar winds all year long, Antarctica remains an unclaimable landmass under the 1959 Antarctic Treaty. In 2001, while serving in the US Navy, Travis McHenry came across an article about how Antarctica remained unclaimable by any nation. What seemed like trivia to many served as a fascinating discovery to him.
“There is never a traditional way of foraging. You develop your own approach over time.” Jyrki Tsutsunen explained when asked about Finnish foraging traditions. His approach combines careful identification with creative experimentation, without ever compromising the balance of nature.
Unlike in most parts of Europe, the alpine frontier in Bhutan begins at around 4,000 meters above sea level. These windswept plateaus, made up of vast rugged terrain, are not only home to the highlanders but also a treasure trove of biodiversity — stunted firs and dwarf rhododendrons, blue sheep, marmots, takins, snow leopards, and, most notably, yaks and the highly sought-after golden fungus (Cordyceps sinensis), which are the pulse and lifeblood of the highland economy.
The ubiquitous street art, depicting portraits of Ho Chi Minh, flying pigeons, and people waving the national flag, reminded me that this year marks the 50th anniversary of Vietnam’s reunification in 1975.
In my broken Thai, I pointed toward the water and looked at the boatman. “Bua?” I asked. "Bua" means lotus in Thai. I tried to mimic the local accent and used a hand gesture, hoping he would understand and take me to see the flowers. He nodded and smiled, mumbled a string of words that I could not understand, and steered the boat into the open water, still shrouded in morning fog. The boat slowly pierced through the dissipating mist, eerily silent, like something out of a sci-fi movie. Before us, a sea of pink lotuses started to unfold, bit by bit, like a watercolor painting coming to life with each brushstroke. It was surreal, almost like a dream, yet it was real. My jaw dropped in awe when the scene finally unfolded in its entirety.
