Inspiring Travel Writing from Philip Sen
Currently based in Amsterdam, Philip Sen's writing has featured in publications from The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Guardian Unlimited to Wallpaper* and Bizarre. In 2001 he was highly commended at the PPA New Journalist of the Year Awards.
Tiring of the commuter lifestyle in London and after a few months on the road in Southeast Asia, in summer 2003 he settled in Shanghai. This was his base for extensive travel around China before departing for India two years later to reconnect with his family roots and finally landing up in the Netherlands in 2006. With a fair command of Taxi Chinese and Bazaar Hindustani in addition to his English degree from Oxford, Philip is well-versed in the sights, sounds and smells of Asia and, with Nikon in hand, is now getting on his bike around the Low Countries too.
http://www.philip-sen.com
Tiring of the commuter lifestyle in London and after a few months on the road in Southeast Asia, in summer 2003 he settled in Shanghai. This was his base for extensive travel around China before departing for India two years later to reconnect with his family roots and finally landing up in the Netherlands in 2006. With a fair command of Taxi Chinese and Bazaar Hindustani in addition to his English degree from Oxford, Philip is well-versed in the sights, sounds and smells of Asia and, with Nikon in hand, is now getting on his bike around the Low Countries too.
http://www.philip-sen.com
Articles by Philip Sen
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Before You Die: White Out at the Summer Palace
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Philip Sen
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China
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Beijing Region
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Beijing
It might have been built as a retreat from the heat, but when the frost and snow descend upon Beijing, the Summer Palace takes on an ethereal beauty all of its own. As you look over the icy lake around which this last resort of the doomed Qing...
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China's UNESCO World Heritage Sites: A Personal Pick
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Philip Sen
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China
The Great Wall China's first 'Taikonaut' might not have been able to spot it from orbit in 2003, but it's the undisputed big daddy of them all. Summing up everything that is both admirable and appalling about Chinese history, this stupendous feat of...
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Qufu, China: Beyond Beliefs
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Philip Sen
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China
Like many another Chinese city, in Qufu the sky is blackened around the edges by the stain of pollution. World-weary ponies haul gaudy carriages, vying for road space with squadrons of orange and green pedicabs charging five kuai a ride. It is as...
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Before You Die: Bucovina's Painted Monasteries
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Philip Sen
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Romania
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Bucovina (North-Western)
In the historic heartland of what used to be Moldavia they take their religion seriously. Both inside and outside, every inch of Bucovina's mediaeval monasteries is covered with elaborate frescoes, intricate gold-plated designs and solemn yet serene...
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Before You Die: The Plain of the Unexplained
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Philip Sen
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Laos
The Plain of Jars is exactly what it says it is. A plain full of jars. Whether the thousands of artefacts scattering the otherwise empty grasslands are dynastic burial chambers, ancient brewing vessels or simply Neolithic dustbins, no-one knows. Don...
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Before You Die: Hit Rock Bottom at Everest Base Camp
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Philip Sen
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Nepal
Getting this high hurts like hell. Altitude sickness can hit anyone at any time, irrespective of age, gender or fitness. Your head may be pounding, but with the forbidding peak of Everest just penetrating the heavens before you, but so what?...
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Out of this World
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Philip Sen
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Tibet
Back in 2003, NASA began its much-anticipated exploration of Mars. But, it could have saved its money. The red planet is here, on Earth. Tucked into the deepest recess of Asia, Tibet is the closest thing to an alien world most people might ever see...
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Walled In: Pingyao
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Philip Sen
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China
If there's one thing the Chinese love, it's building walls. China's number one attraction is a wall, the longest in the world no less. At some point in history, most Chinese cities worth their silk have put up their own barricades, second lines of...
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China: World Heritage v Tourism
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Philip Sen
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China
Chances are that those that do are marked with the distinctive circle-and-square logo of a World Heritage Site. It's a badge they rightly wear with pride. But, all is not well in picture-postcard land. The very first paragraph of the UNESCO (United...
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The Jungle is Neutral
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Philip Sen
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Thailand
They call it the Hellfire Pass, and indeed in the tropical sunshine and humidity it feels like the devil's kitchen itself. But remember what happened here and, despite the sweat and the flies and the dusty walk to get here you begin to think...