The Other Side Of Paradise

Jerrica Leong ventures into the sleepy towns of Italy, Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines, where dreams lay wide awake and inspirations take on the form of reality.

Think Italy and immediately Rome, Venice and Milan will come to mind. Mention Vietnam and cruising along Ha Long Bay would come first on your bucket list. While one can be sure that these popular destinations would have established avenues specifically catered to tourists visiting the place, these activities would not give you the taste of that local culture you may want to experience while visiting these interesting landmarks.

I personally love travelling to countries just to get a glimpse of how the locals go about their daily lives. But it’s not easy to find that slice of culture without the influence of huge throngs of tourists. So I have always gone the extra mile to step out of the popular cities like Tokyo, Venice and Ho Chi Minh City and into the suburbs where not many travellers would venture into. These side trips have also proven to be the most memorable part of each country that I have visited!

1. Cinque Terre National Park, Italy

Other than roaming the corridors of the Coliseum, I took time off to venture on a day trip to a little seaside town known as Cinque Terre. The town was built on the cliff side of Linguria, Italy and is made up of five coastal villages, namely Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. In 1997, the villages were collectively established as Cinque Terre National Park and were included into the UNESCO World Heritage Site.