South America

Escadaria Selarón, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Rousing Rio

Rio is a city of varying extremes, encapsulated in wild rainforests and beaches, a metropolis of skyscrapers and shantytowns; a cosmopolitan city, steeped in history – something I’d come to realise after a month in this beguiling city.

I explore its many aspects through a series of articles on the city. This is the second of three.

Locals having a quick lunch

Ciudad del Este: A Window into Paraguay

Ciudad del Este, Paraguay’s second largest city, is famous. But perhaps not for the more conventional reasons. Set on the tri-border with Brazil’s Foz do Iguaçu and Argentina’s Puerto Iguazú, the city isn’t quite on the tourist trail like its neighbours. Instead, it seems to have gained notoriety as one of the region’s busiest hotbeds for counterfeit goods. With rumours that the city had harboured the likes of Osama bin Laden, it has long held the imagination of screenwriters, featuring on popular crime shows like NCIS and Miami Vice. For our family of three, however, the lure lay in the prospect of experiencing a new culture within close proximity to our base in Foz do Iguaçu—a 15-minute bus ride to the border.

Even crumbling facades are works of art, Monserrat, Buenos Aires

The Barrios of Buenos Aires: Part I – Monserrat & the City Centre

In a serendipitous twist of fate, I found myself living in Buenos Aires. With little over a month and accompanied by my young family, I set about immersing myself in all that this beguiling city had to offer.

The Barrios of Buenos Aires has been split into three parts: Monserrat & City Centre, Palermo & Recoleta, and La Boca & San Telmo. This is the first installment in the series.

Jubilation on Copacabana Beach Rio Brazil World Cup 2018

Football Fever: Watching the World Cup in Latin America

Travelling through South America during the World Cup, I succumb to football fever and find myself trying to explain to locals Bangladesh’s blind obsession with Brazilian and Argentinian football.

What Bourdain Taught Me

I pen this while seated under the shadow of a deserted lighthouse in a quaint Uruguayan coastal town, a meaty chivito clutched in one hand, its juices dripping down my arm. You would’ve approved. As I ruminate on your teachings I promise myself, and you this: I will continue to savour my meals, in whatever circumstances and locations they may be in, and write about them, with no reservations.