Hong Kong: what's to love about the backstreets

I've been thinking about what I love about Hong Kong's backstreets: dried seafood stores with their just-arrived produce laid out on the pavement; down-to-earth eateries with delicious glazed ducks hanging in their windows; medicinal herbalists selling snake skins, animal tails, herbs, potions, and other oddities we can only guess at; tiny shops carving bespoke wooden, ivory and jade seals, a unique souvenir; cluttered second hand stores with whimsical bric-a-brac waiting to be discovered; self-serve bakeries where you take a tray and tongs to select your snacks of choice from an array of tasty Chinese buns and golden Portuguese tarts; textile shops crammed with shoppers bargaining for rolls of gaudy fabrics; tea shops with tins of aromatic teas lining the walls; tiny temples heady with incense like Man Ho Temple, Hong Kong's oldest... What do you like?

Hong Kong: it's all about the backstreets

It's all about the backstreets, isn't it? Whether it's Hong Kong (pictured), Shanghai or Dubai, it's the backstreets of those cities that are the most fascinating. That's where I like to think we find what's 'authentic' - a term in itself that's up for discussion, right? But to really see how people live, we need to get off the high streets and stylish boulevards. I'll admit I love my galleries, restaurants and shops, but I also like to leave the chic streets and get lost. The more I travel the more inclined I am to leave the guidebook at the hotel and just take a map and phrasebook. I'm bored with the term 'off the beaten track' (can we try to find another?) but getting off the tourist trail and wandering around an everyday neighbourhood, even an unfashionable suburban mall, can be just as compelling, don't you think? My favorite big cities to get lost in would have to be Hong Kong, Beijing, Dubai, Damascus, Mumbai, Marrakesh, Milan, Venice, Antwerp and Amsterdam. What are yours?

Alexandria: the people you meet, part 1

It's people that make my travels so memorable. And I don't necessarily mean the people I befriend. Sometimes it's a person I merely see on my travels, an exchange of knowing looks as we walk down the same lane, as we leisurely stroll the same route, as we nudge each other out of the way on a busy shopping street. Sometimes it's a person I meet fleetingly - in a souq, in a restaurant, on the road - someone I may never see again. And yet, that moment - a smile, a stare, a wave, a tear - may leave an everlasting impression. That sounds corny I know. But it's true. I'll never forget the slight smile and glint in the eye of the woman on the right as we passed each other in the backstreets of Alexandria. Do you have those memories from your travels?