I was inspired to do this post by Brenna who has done a few photo series of all the animals she has met along her travels. Over the past few months I have been meeting cats. Lots and lots of cats! Some of them are clever strays who hang around restaurants where they are sure to be well fed, others spend their days lounging in cat cafes, and then you have the hostel pets who love getting attention from the passing traveller.
Here’s a quick look at my time in Asia through…cats:
A young cat hangs out at the pier of the Weld Quay Clan Jetties, a community of homes built above the sea in Georgetown, Malaysia.

A furry white cat takes a nap at a cat cafe in Hongdae. Cat cafes are very popular in Seoul, South Korea.

I am attacked by cats who dig their sharp little claws into me in a desperate attempt to steal a piece of chicken.

Sam the Cat Whisperer teaches cats to form a semi-circle around him and then rewards their behaviour.

A friendly black cat I encountered outside a restaurant in Chiang Mai takes a minute to pose with me.

This friendly cat in Chiang Mai first climbed onto our laps and then decided he would claim the table.

A cute little kitten I met on my two day hiking tour through Sapa, Vietnam. This cat was the most popular guest at our local homestay.

A cat with the most beautiful icy blue eyes and cappuccino stripes near our guesthouse in Georgetown, Malaysia.

A cat with no tail in Battambang, Cambodia.

Making friends with a momma cat while visiting one of the outlying temples of Angkor near Siem Reap, Cambodia

And another furry little friend who we often saw during breakfast while we were staying at the Impiana Resort in Phuket, Thailand. With smoked salmon on the menu, this cat sure knew where to get the best meals.
OH MY GOD that white cat in Hongdae!! It looks like he’s melting!!
Also, what is with the crazy tails on cats on this side of the world? We have two kitties in our office here in Luang Prabang and they both have short, knobbly tails…
I’ve noticed that too with cats in Asia! They all seem to have crooked little tails. I honestly think it might just be some strange mutation in their genes because I have seen newborn kittens with tails looking that way.
It IS!
I played with the cutest kitten today in Ulaanbaatar… actually I think it was too small to be away from its mother. SO tiny! Nice photos, my vote is the sleeping cat in Hongdae. x
I just finished reading about your journey to Mongolia – wowzahs, what an adventure!
Cute photos 🙂 I love the idea of cat cafes 🙂
While traveling Greece and Turkey it was either a cat or a dog town. It’s sad that they’re strays but no one really seems to mind them.
FYI – Most of the Greek Islands are owned by cats, but in Turkey most of the towns are run by dogs, lol.
Oh my gosh, that white cat is beautiful! I just want to give him a big cuddle! Shanghai is chock full of cats and my theory is that their presence is encouraged by the city to keep rodents and bugs at bay. If this is true, it certainly works as I’ve found very little evidence of pests in my two years here. (I also did a post about them because they are so stinkin’ cute and turn up in the darnedest places!)
Thanks for thinking of me, Audrey! Cats are actually the next animal I’ll be featuring in my Around the World series. That cat in Sapa is the absolute cutest…
Can’t wait to see your collection of cat photos, Brenna. 😉 The kitten in Sapa was a darling. I pretty much spent all afternoon playing with it.
I love cats. I kind of want to get a kitten so that my dog and the cat can play together. But, he’s a terrier and I think he would not be cool with that. =(
That’s a lot of cats, they must love the food you’ve been eating and smelling something delicious!
What a nice post! I may do a similar post one of these days;-).
that cat with no tail, the eyes, so fierce!
So cute!! I’m such a sucker for loving on animals I encounter during travels. I’ve never heard of ‘Cat Cafes’, I think that might be the strangest/cutest thing I’ve ever heard – I look forward to coming across one in my future travels!
I love the weirdness of the cat cafe. I would so go there to cuddle with that gorgeous white cat!
Yeah, Korea and Japan are really into quirky cafes. There are so many strange ones that I never got around to visiting!
I dies of cute! I love cats! Fun post!
Oh, this is such a cute post! I’ve been really wanting to find a cat cafe and go visit sometime – it seems like such a great idea who doesn’t love a room full of cats!? Have you been to many other cat cafes? (Are they all similar or is there something specific I should be looking for when trying to find one?)
I love the photos you have of all these fur-babies! It’s so great how friendly stray cats are, I bet they get lots of love and food from people on their travels!