Unpacked: Japan, Mongolia, Praiano's Casa Angelina, Ladakh & more with travel writer, Luke Abrahams

The Travel Diaries

Travel writer Luke Abrahams joins host Holly Rubenstein to recount his recent global expeditions through Japan, Italy, India, and Mongolia.

Key takeaways

• Luke describes a profound mental reset experienced while traveling through Mongolia's nomadic landscapes without modern connectivity.
• Kyoto is facing significant etiquette challenges due to 'Instagram craze' behaviors impacting local temples and streets.

Main topics

• Kyoto Cherry Blossom Season
• Amalfi Coast Luxury Hotels

Notable quotes

I've had a few breakdowns on BA flights recently.

Conclusion

The episode serves as an inspiring guide for travelers seeking both lu

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:05) Hello and welcome to The Travel Diaries Unpacked, your weekly weekend dose of wanderlust. I'm your host, Holly Rubenstein, and today I am joined by travel writer, author and photographer Luke Abrahams. Now, Luke is one of the UK's most prolific travel journalists. He's been to 30 countries this year alone and is always in somewhere far-flung and exciting. And on today's episode, we'll be unpacking Ruthie Rogers' bucket list destination. That was Kyoto, reflecting on my hotel of the week on the Amalfi Coast, chatting about Luke's recent trip to Ladakh in northern India, and answering your listener questions among a lot of other chats. So without further ado, let's buckle up and get started. Here's Luke. Speaker 3 (0:59) Luke, welcome to the Travel Diaries Unpacked. Speaker 2 (1:02) Thank you so much. It's great to see you. I'm excited. On a Speaker 3 (1:05) rare moment that you are in the UK. I Speaker 2 (1:08) know. I Speaker 3 (1:09) think you are the most busy travel journalist I know. Speaker 2 (1:13) I would agree with you on that, Holly, actually. This year's been crazy. I think I've done 24 countries in four months, so it's nice to be on the ground. Wild. Do Speaker 3 (1:24) you... Do you just not get phased by the travelling part? Speaker 2 (1:28) I do. To be honest with you, I've had a few breakdowns on BA flights recently. And it's not because of the service, but it's more to do with the fact that I'm just kind of like, I can't do this high altitude life anymore. So it's actually quite nice to be down on the ground. Feel grounded. Feel grounded and actually be in London for once. And it's nice to actually have a summer. Actually, we Speaker 3 (1:48) were messaging when you were... flying from Russia to Mongolia and you were going out of Dubai at the about time Speaker 2 (1:55) you'd be travelling. Sorry darling, I'm flying over Russian airspace. I don't know what's going to happen. It Speaker 3 (2:01) is funny, isn't it, how the world is so huge but also so small. Like you were saying that one of our friends was trying to call you and you're like, darling, I'm in the Congo. But I'll get Speaker 2 (2:12) back to you tomorrow. Just with some gorillas. Yeah. Speaker 1 (2:16) It's amazing that... Speaker 3 (2:18) Being Speaker 1 (2:18) bitten to death by Speaker 2 (2:19) driver Speaker 1 (2:19) ants. Speaker 2 (2:20) By driver ants. Really? Speaker 3 (2:22) Yeah, Speaker 2 (2:23) it was quite funny. We were walking through the jungle and then we spotted the gorillas, but none of us realised that we stepped into a driver's ant's nest. Speaker 3 (2:32) So what are driver's ants? Speaker 2 (2:34) Well, they're just larger than life. ants, but they've got pincers on them. So when they bite, it's like this fiery sensation. But I had about 40 on me at the same time, especially around my groin area, which wasn't the best place to have them. So whilst you've got like 10 gorillas around you and you've just got everything biting, you just have to keep your calm. You have to be silent. Because you've got a giant silverback next to you, so you're sort of smiling in agony. So that was quite fun. But thankfully they eat them, but they didn't eat the ones on me, so I was a bit sad. So I just spent 20 minutes scratching, which was a joy. Speaker 3 (3:15) Wow. What an experience. Speaker 2 (3:17) Yeah, it was definitely, I would say, everyone's been asking me this year what's been the most memorable. And I think having the pleasure. to go to the Congo, especially as a half South African, it's just sort of like, you know, a lot of safari now is quite Disney. And to be able to, it's like going on safari for the first time or discovering. a part of Africa for the first time and you actually realise what that must have been like for generations of people to stumble onto this sort of lost frontier. And that's what the Congo was for me. Speaker 3 (3:52) Something for an intrepid traveller. Definitely. Beyond intrepid. Because Speaker 2 (3:56) there Speaker 3 (3:56) are, like we were saying, in terms of connectedness, but where feels like the final frontier now in travel, I guess. Perhaps that there may be... Some parts of Saudi Arabia, maybe parts of China. Speaker 2 (4:12) Nomadic, yeah. Definitely the north of China, Mongolia, the Stans, places like that. They're really, I think, sort of like the final place. Yeah, North Korea. Have you been to North Korea? No, I'd love to go. I feel Speaker 3 (4:27) like you should Speaker 2 (4:28) go. Yeah, I reckon me and... Good old Kim would get on quite well, actually. I had Dom Jolly on the podcast, who had Speaker 3 (4:37) been. And it was, you know, I mean, talk about that kind of social anthropological experience to see somewhere like that. Speaker 2 (4:48) And so far removed from anything that we know or have seen. I would Speaker 3 (4:54) be so interested, so interested to go. So we're going to be covering an awful lot today. We're going to be talking about Kyoto, the Amalfi Coast, Northern India, and answering this in a Q &A as well. So we've got lots to cover. Speaker 1 (5:09) But we'll Speaker 3 (5:10) kick off by, as we always do, delving a little bit and unpacking Ruthie Rogers, who was our guest on Tuesday this week. I thought it'd be good to chat a little bit about the destination that was at the top of her travel bucket list. So that was Kyoto. Speaker 1 (5:28) I am dying and I really, really want to go to a restaurant called the Shimonsen in Kyoto in Japan. It is designed by a great architect, Taduando. It's in the most beautiful city. It's owned by a friend of mine, Patrick McKillen, Patty McKillen. And he does his hotels with such details, such generosity, such attention to what you will want as a traveler to stay in. And I have so many friends who've come back from there saying, Ruthie. You know, it's great architecture, which you love. It's great food, which you need. And you know the person who created it. Why haven't you been? And I have no answer to that question. Speaker 3 (6:16) A destination that is obviously incredibly popular, but also not easy to get to from either the UK or the US, really. You know, expensive, potentially over-touristed. Speaker 3 (6:32) How do you think Kyoto sits as a kind of destination? How much should we be prioritising it for our travels, do you think? So, I Speaker 2 (6:41) mean, I went to Kyoto during cherry blossom season. So I was writing a piece on the art of Hanami, which is cherry blossom viewing, essentially. And it was one of those surreal experiences where you go to a place in Southeast Asia and you actually realise how different it is from everything else that you've seen before. And so Kyoto, I mean, I hate the phrase bucket list, but it's one of those places that I remember the first time I ever heard of Kyoto was lost in translation. And that scene with Scarlett Johansson. And, you know, I'm partial to a breakdown here and there. So it was like one of those things that you're just sort of going in, you feel anew, you see it afresh. And that's the beauty of it. You're experiencing something that's familiar in terms of, I think the one thing that blew my mind when I arrived. in Kyoto is that it's a bit of a concrete jungle before you actually get to the ancient city. It's Speaker 3 (7:41) a big city. Speaker 2 (7:42) It's a huge, huge city. And then when I got off the Shinkansen from Tokyo and I was greeted, I was like, where are the temples? And you don't see them immediately when you get off. And you just get into the tourist lane taxi that says, you tourist, you are local and that kind of thing. And then you just jump off into the main city. I think it's definitely one of those places that you have to see, but also one of those places that you have to go to at the right time to see now. Speaker 3 (8:13) And would you go in cherry blossom season now? Speaker 2 (8:15) Probably not again, but the beauty of Japan is that you see it. So I'm quite sad in the sense where I actually followed a cherry blossom calendar to actually see when it was going to bloom. Speaker 3 (8:28) Not sad at all. I did the exact same thing when I was doing the fall foliage in the US. Okay, Speaker 2 (8:34) fine. We can relate. But if I were to go again, I'd just totally go on off-season when it's not. anything to do with foliage at all, then you can actually enjoy it because there are so many restrictions now there due to tourists behaving badly that you can't actually see half of the stuff that I went to when I visited, which was literally when Japan reopened after the pandemic. And they were going into people's properties, taking selfies, kind of like the Instagram craze was going a little bit too crazy. People were dressing up and... Obviously, you know, one of the most famous things about Japan is this whole idea of manners and politeness and all of that was being broken, particularly with regards to, you know, etiquette, basically, in temples. So there are some streets you can't even go on anymore because of that. They Speaker 3 (9:23) block them off. Totally Speaker 2 (9:24) block them off now. Interesting, Speaker 3 (9:25) right. Speaker 2 (9:26) So it's sort of like you do the traditional tourist route, but, you know, it gets busy. It's one of those cities that gets busy, but it's worthwhile busy. You know, I was so enthralled by the cherry blossoms, I didn't even notice it half the time. Speaker 3 (9:38) Really? Really? It was that special? So Speaker 2 (9:41) special. I mean, I love flowers personally. So for me, I was just sort of like in my element. My friend who was with me was like, can we go? And I was like, no, we haven't seen that tree. Is it Speaker 3 (9:52) March? So Speaker 2 (9:55) it's getting slightly later. I think we were there end of March. And I remember so vividly we were in Okinawa and suddenly it went bang on the cherry blossom calendar. I was like, right, we're going back to Tokyo. Speaker 3 (10:06) So you changed your itinerary. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Speaker 2 (10:08) Totally changed because we were there a little bit too early. The buds were starting to come out. But I was like, it's not really the same. And then I saw it and I was like, I'm so sorry, guys. I'm cancelling all my plans in Tokyo. No way. Off to Kyoto. And they were like, why? I was like, cherry blossoms, obviously. And then we got there and we literally did the entire cherry blossom trail in a day. Even after spending three days there, I saw all I saw the first time I saw in a day. So that's how hardcore. I was about it. Speaker 3 (10:44) That is dedication to the cause. Speaker 2 (10:47) Totally. Still paying off the loan I had to take for the train. Speaker 3 (10:53) And do you, I mean, obviously Ruthie is passionate also about design and that's, you