TravelDay buddy

Halim Yusof

@eightplaces · he/him · Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Four places, then eight, then whatever Asia adds after that.

  • Temples
  • Slow mornings
  • Train windows
  • Slow pace
  • Mid range

Halim Yusof is a drawn, fictional companion written by TravelDay. The places below are real entries in our catalogue, and each one names the guide it came from.

How Halim Yusof travels

I started with the four places in the Buddha's life because a list of four is a thing a person can actually do. Lumbini, Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, Kushinagar. Then the list grew to eight, and then it stopped being a list and became a way of planning holidays.

I travel by train where a train exists and by hired car where it does not. I am fifty two and I have stopped pretending I enjoy overnight buses. I book the middle of the day for sitting still.

I am not a scholar and I am not making any claim about myself by going. I go because these are old places with people still in them, and because the countryside between them is the best part of the trip.

  • Heritage
  • History
  • Rail
  • Slow travel
  • Walking

Cities Halim Yusof keeps going back to

  • Kuala Lumpur

    Malaysia

    Home. Every one of these trips starts with a late flight out of here.

  • Delhi

    India

    The way in and out of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, and worth two days on its own.

  • Kyoto

    Japan

    The temples are busy and I still go, because the walking between them is quiet.

  • Bangkok

    Thailand

    A long layover city where the layover can be the good part.

Heritage journeys Halim Yusof follows

Choosing a journey is an interest. It says nothing about who anyone is.

  • The Four Great Places · The four places the Buddha himself named: where he was born, woke, first taught and died.
  • The Eight Great Places · The four places the Buddha named, plus the four that later tradition added for the miracles told of him.
  • Buddhist Asia · Places where Buddhism took root far from the Ganges plain, in Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana forms.

What Halim Yusof recommends

Bangkok

  • Wat Phra Kaew · Sight

    Wat Phra Kaew. The dress code covers shoulders, knees and ankles, and it is enforced at the gate. Wear long trousers and save yourself the queue for the loan sarongs.

  • Wat Phra Chettuphon Wimon Mangkhalaram Ratchaworamahawihan · Sight

    Wat Pho, ten minutes away and far calmer. The massage school inside is the best use of a long layover I know.

Delhi

  • Karim's · Restaurant

    In the lanes behind the Jama Masjid. Go at lunch, not dinner, and go hungry.

    • Seen in Lonely Planet. Named as a century-old eatery near the Jama Masjid, among the most respected Muslim eateries in the city

  • Saravana Bhavan · Restaurant

    A south Indian thali in Connaught Place. Reliable, quick, and open when I land at an odd hour.

    • Seen in Lonely Planet. Recommended as Hotel Saravana Bhavan on Block P, Connaught Place, for south Indian thalis

  • Naivedyam · Restaurant

    Pure vegetarian, Karnataka style. The filter coffee at the end is the part I remember.

    • Seen in Wanderlog. Covered as a pure-vegetarian south Indian restaurant with Karnataka-style decor and several Delhi branches

  • Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters · Cafe

    Indian-grown coffee, properly made. I sit here for two hours before a night train and nobody minds.

    • Seen in Wanderlog. Covered at Khan Market, sourcing beans from Indian estates including Attikan

Kuala Lumpur

  • Jalan Alor - Night Market · Market

    My home street for visitors. Go after nine, sit at a plastic table, order more than you think you need.

    • Seen in Tourism Malaysia. The official national tourism site describes the whole stretch of Jalan Alor as designated for hawker stalls

  • Petaling Street · Market

    Chinatown. I ignore the stalls and go for the old coffee shops on the side lanes.

    • Seen in Wanderlog. Covered as the heart of Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown, a night market known for street food and stalls

  • The Hungry Tapir · Restaurant

    Plant-based Malaysian food in Chinatown. Where I take people who want laksa without the fish.

    • Seen in Wanderlog. Ranked second on Wanderlog's list of the fifty best women-owned businesses in Kuala Lumpur

Kyoto

  • Nishiki Market · Market

    Nishiki Market. Narrow, loud, and the fastest way to understand what Kyoto actually eats.

    • Seen in Lonely Planet. A Lonely Planet top choice in Downtown Kyoto, the covered market locals call Kyoto's kitchen

  • Heihachi Jaya · Restaurant

    Yamabana Heihachi Chaya, out on the old Saba Kaido road north of the city. Barley rice and grilled fish, in a garden.

  • Kiyomizu-dera · Sight

    Kiyomizu-dera. It opens at six. At six it is a different building entirely.

Plans you can copy

The four great places, by road out of Delhi

7 nights · November to February · Slow pace · Mid range

Bodh Gaya, Rajgir, Sarnath, Kushinagar and across to Lumbini. A week of early starts and long flat drives, with Delhi at both ends.

  1. Day 1

    Land in Delhi and go nowhere

    • National Museum · Afternoon · Museum

      Start here. The Buddhist gallery gives you the shape of the whole trip in ninety minutes.

    • Karim's · Evening · Meal

      Old Delhi, in the lanes. Eat early, the flight south leaves at dawn.

      • Seen in Lonely Planet. Named as a century-old eatery near the Jama Masjid, among the most respected Muslim eateries in the city

  2. Day 2

    Bodh Gaya

    • Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya · Morning · Journey stop

      Phones are controlled at the gate and footwear comes off. Go at first light, sit on the east side, and let the chanting start around you.

    • Great Buddha Statue · Afternoon · Sight

      Twenty five metres of sandstone from 1989. Not old and not trying to be.

  3. Day 3

    Rajgir and Nalanda

    • Rajgir and Gridhrakuta · Morning · Journey stop

      Vulture Peak is a stepped path, not a scramble. There is a ropeway to the neighbouring stupa if the steps are too much.

    • Archaeological Site of Nalanda Mahavihara at Nalanda, Bihar · Afternoon · Sight

      Brick foundations of a university that ran for seven hundred years. Take the site museum as well.

  4. Day 4

    Sarnath, and the river at Varanasi

    • Ancient Buddhist Site of Sarnath · Morning · Journey stop

      The excavation and the museum are ticketed separately. Buy both, the lion capital is in the museum.

    • Dashashwamedh Ghat · Evening · Walk

      Another tradition's place entirely, and I go as a guest. Stand at the back, do not photograph the families.

  5. Day 5

    Kushinagar

    • Kushinagar · Midday · Journey stop

      An open site under the Archaeological Survey of India. Footwear off at the temple. It is the quietest of the four.

    • Ramabhar Stupa · Afternoon · Sight

      A brick mound in a field a kilometre away. Almost nobody walks over. I always do.

  6. Day 6

    Across the border to Lumbini

    • Lumbini, the Birthplace of the Lord Buddha · Afternoon · Journey stop

      Run by the Lumbini Development Trust. Shoes off inside the Maya Devi Temple and no photographs of the marker stone.

    • Tilaurakot · Evening · Sight

      The old palace mounds, half an hour west. Mostly trees and brick, and almost no one there.

  7. Day 7

    Back to Delhi, slowly

    • Saravana Bhavan · Midday · Meal

      A thali and a coffee. After a week of hotel breakfasts this is the meal I want.

      • Seen in Lonely Planet. Recommended as Hotel Saravana Bhavan on Block P, Connaught Place, for south Indian thalis

    • Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters · Afternoon · Coffee

      Two hours with a notebook before the night flight. That is how I end every one of these.

      • Seen in Wanderlog. Covered at Khan Market, sourcing beans from Indian estates including Attikan
  • Seen in Lonely Planet. Lonely Planet's three-day Delhi itinerary, including a street-food walk through Old Delhi

Kandy and Anuradhapura, five slow nights

5 nights · January to March · Slow pace · Mid range

Up into the hills for the Tooth Relic, then north through Dambulla and Polonnaruwa to the old capital. Sri Lanka is not a catalogued city on TravelDay yet, so this trip has no meal stops and I have not pretended otherwise.

  1. Day 1

    Kandy

    • Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic · Morning · Journey stop

      White or modest dress, shoulders and knees covered, footwear left at the entrance. There is security screening. Go for a puja time and stand at the back.

    • Sacred City of Kandy · Afternoon · Walk

      The lake circuit. Forty minutes, flat, and the best way to see how the town sits in its bowl of hills.

  2. Day 2

    Dambulla and the rock

    • Rangiri Dambulla Cave Temple · Morning · Sight

      Five caves painted floor to ceiling. The climb is the hardest part of the day and it is still only twenty minutes.

    • Ancient City of Sigiriya · Afternoon · Sight

      Go late, when the coaches have gone and the rock has cooled. If the stairs are not for you, Pidurangala opposite gives the better view of Sigiriya anyway.

  3. Day 3

    Polonnaruwa

    • Ancient City of Polonnaruwa · Morning · Sight

      Hire a bicycle at the gate. The site is flat and spread out and walking it in the heat is a mistake I made once.

    • Gal Vihara · Afternoon · Sight

      Four figures cut from one granite face. Shoes off on the platform, and hats off too.

  4. Day 4

    Anuradhapura

    • Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi · Morning · Journey stop

      Part of the ticketed sacred city. Footwear off, shoulders and knees covered. People come to sit here for hours, so do not treat it as a stop on a circuit.

    • Sacred City of Anuradhapura · Afternoon · Walk

      The whole listed city. A bicycle again, and a plan to be somewhere shaded by one.

  5. Day 5

    The two great dagobas

    • Ruwanwelisaya · Morning · Sight

      White, enormous, and full of families at the weekend. Go at seven and it is yours.

    • Abhayagiri Dagaba · Afternoon · Sight

      Unrestored brick, in the trees. I prefer it to the white one and I know that is a minority view.

Kyoto, Nara and a night on Kōyasan

4 nights · Late November, or April · Slow pace · Mid range

Four nights in Kansai with one night in a temple lodging on the mountain. Osaka at the end because the food is better there and I am not going to pretend otherwise.

  1. Day 1

    Kyoto, east side

    • Kiyomizu-dera · Morning · Sight

      Kiyomizu-dera opens at six. Be at the gate for it and you will have the veranda almost alone.

    • Nishiki Market · Midday · Market

      Nishiki Market. Lunch standing up, in pieces, from four different counters.

      • Seen in Lonely Planet. A Lonely Planet top choice in Downtown Kyoto, the covered market locals call Kyoto's kitchen

  2. Day 2

    Kyoto, west side

    • Ryōan-ji · Morning · Sight

      Ryoan-ji. Fifteen stones and one wall. Sit on the boards until the tour group leaves, then look properly.

    • Ninna temple · Afternoon · Sight

      Ninna-ji, twenty minutes away and always emptier. The palace buildings are the reason to come.

    • Heihachi Jaya · Evening · Meal

      Out on the old road north. Book it, take a taxi, and give the evening to it.

  3. Day 3

    Nara

    • Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara · Morning · Sight

      The whole listed group. Give it a full day rather than the usual three hours.

    • Tōdai-ji · Afternoon · Journey stop

      Ticketed halls with published hours. The hall is the largest wooden building I have stood inside, and it is a third smaller than the original.

  4. Day 4

    Up the mountain

    • Mount Kōya · Afternoon · Journey stop

      Stay in a temple lodging and take the early morning service. No photographs past the Gobyōbashi bridge in Okunoin.

    • Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range · Evening · Sight

      The listed landscape that ties this mountain to Kumano. Walk the last kilometre of the Chōishi-michi if you have light left.

  5. Day 5

    Down to Osaka

    • Osaka Castle · Afternoon · Sight

      Osaka Castle. The park more than the keep, and the plum garden if it is February.

    • CHITOSE · Evening · Meal

      Nikusui to finish. Broth, beef, a raw egg if you want one, and a flight home after.

  • Seen in Time Out Kuala Lumpur. Time Out Kuala Lumpur's guide to the things to eat in the city, which also names Jalan Alor

Halim Yusof is a TravelDay buddy: drawn, fictional, and not an account in the network. Research edition 2026-09-17.