Samai Haider

The joys of travel

The pandemic brought travel to a halt. With flights grounded, restaurants shuttered, and popular tourist sites morphed into ghost towns,

3y ago

Bird’s-eye Views of Rio de Janeiro

No self-respecting tourist will come away from Rio without having visited Christ the Redeemer, the statue that is emblematic of Rio.

5y ago

Rousing Rio

Rio is a city of varying extremes, encapsulated in wild rainforests and beaches; a metropolis of skyscrapers and shantytowns; a cosmopolitan steeped in history. I explore its many aspects through a series of articles on the city. This is the second of three.

5y ago

Beach Bums in Rio

Rio is unlike any city I'd been in before: not just geographically, where the urban sprawl gives way to fine, sandy beaches and rainforest covered hills with sheer drop down to stunning lagoons, but also culturally as it exudes a vibrant yet laid-back vibe.

5y ago

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

5y ago

The Mighty Iguazú

Looking down, I saw what resembled a mossy carpet, its tight weave separated only by the muddy Paraná River, snaking its way through the vast stretch of jungle.

5y ago

Montevideo Musings

What we'd thought would be a breezy two-hour bus ride from the coastal town of Colonia del Sacramento to the capital of Uruguay, Montevideo, quickly turned into a four-hour affair.

5y ago

The Muted Delights of Colonia del Sacramento

The ferry, a much smaller vessel than I'd expected, bobbed up and down as it cut across the Rio del Plata. We were en route to Colonia del Sacramento—a quaint coastal town in Uruguay.

5y ago
February 17, 2021
February 17, 2021

The joys of travel

The pandemic brought travel to a halt. With flights grounded, restaurants shuttered, and popular tourist sites morphed into ghost towns,

May 17, 2019
May 17, 2019

Bird’s-eye Views of Rio de Janeiro

No self-respecting tourist will come away from Rio without having visited Christ the Redeemer, the statue that is emblematic of Rio.

April 5, 2019
April 5, 2019

Rousing Rio

Rio is a city of varying extremes, encapsulated in wild rainforests and beaches; a metropolis of skyscrapers and shantytowns; a cosmopolitan steeped in history. I explore its many aspects through a series of articles on the city. This is the second of three.

March 15, 2019
March 15, 2019

Beach Bums in Rio

Rio is unlike any city I'd been in before: not just geographically, where the urban sprawl gives way to fine, sandy beaches and rainforest covered hills with sheer drop down to stunning lagoons, but also culturally as it exudes a vibrant yet laid-back vibe.

February 1, 2019
February 1, 2019

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

January 11, 2019
January 11, 2019

The Mighty Iguazú

Looking down, I saw what resembled a mossy carpet, its tight weave separated only by the muddy Paraná River, snaking its way through the vast stretch of jungle.

November 30, 2018
November 30, 2018

Montevideo Musings

What we'd thought would be a breezy two-hour bus ride from the coastal town of Colonia del Sacramento to the capital of Uruguay, Montevideo, quickly turned into a four-hour affair.

November 16, 2018
November 16, 2018

The Muted Delights of Colonia del Sacramento

The ferry, a much smaller vessel than I'd expected, bobbed up and down as it cut across the Rio del Plata. We were en route to Colonia del Sacramento—a quaint coastal town in Uruguay.

October 5, 2018
October 5, 2018

LA BOCA & SAN TELMO

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

September 14, 2018
September 14, 2018

The Barrios of Buenos Aires

I had originally tried my hand at learning to speak French but failed spectacularly. So, I turned to Spanish, a seemingly more manageable language, where I could, at least, pronounce the words I was reading.