Places I Keep
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Four regions, one of the deepest street-food cultures on earth, and the easiest country in Asia to travel badly. Here is how not to.

Three cuisines that have been arguing productively for two hundred years, and the most underrated eating in Asia.

Expensive to sleep in, absurdly cheap to eat in. Three days here is a masterclass in hawker food if you spend your money in the right place.

A thousand miles of coastline and three distinct food cultures. Do not try to see it all in ten days — everyone does, and it does not work.

The slowest country in South-East Asia, and the one that punishes a tight itinerary. Give it two weeks or give it a miss.

Seventeen thousand islands, and most visitors see one. Bali is worth it — but Java is where the country actually is.

Eight distinct regional cuisines, a payment system that locks out foreign cards, and the best high-speed rail network on earth. Prepare properly and it is the most rewarding trip here.

The most rewarding country in the world to eat in, and the one where preparation pays off most. Book early, walk a lot, eat standing up.

Home. The most underrated food country in East Africa, and the easiest place on the continent to have a good time cheaply.

Nyama choma, Swahili coastal cooking and the best-organised safari infrastructure in Africa. Also the most expensive country in this guide.

One of the four or five genuinely great food cultures on earth, and a country most visitors experience only in Istanbul.