ARCHIVES: ASIA

A CULTURE WRAPPED IN NATURE: Nepal
Nepal is primarily known to be a Hindu nation but it is also the birthplace of Buddha. Nepal is home to four world heritage sites, one of which lies in the Kathmandu valley, the valley where its capital by the same name is situated.

VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF CHENNAI AND AREA TREASURES: Tamil Nadu, India
Our mixed experiences of landmark churches, ancient temples, ashrams, specialty crafts of various areas, and pocket of French flavour, was made even more incredible with the hospitality of friendly localsa. I concur with Rick’s succinct summation, “India just keeps getting better.”

THROUGH THE TOWNS OF THE HIMALAYAS: India
When most people think of images of India, few bring pictures of green mountain meadows and snow-capped peaks to mind. Delhi’s narrow Pahar Ganj, with its rickshaws, dirt, street-sellers and conmen is probably much closer to many people’s visual concept of India.

THE HEROIC WOMEN OF CHITTORGARH: Rajasthan, India
We are at Chittorgarh, also called Chittaur, in Rajasthan, one of the oldest and biggest forts in India. It was once the bastion of the Mewar Rajputs and was ruled by various kings famed for their courage, but more than them, it is the story of their women that dwells in people’s hearts even today ... each one of them attained immortality in the hearts and minds of Indians. This is the story of some of these women.

THE TERRACOTTA TRAIL: Kolkata, India
While planning for a small vacation around Kolkata, I saw some pictures of the Terracotta temples of Bishnupur and that instant I knew I have to go there. The bright red temples were so inviting that I dropped my plans to visit Shanti Niketan and instead headed for this temple town.

THE WEDDING, ETHIOPIAN STYLE: Abdurafi, Ethiopia
It’s wedding season in Abdurafi, Ethiopia. Wedding season comes but once a year, and lasts for two months only. Raise a flag, kill a goat, beat a drum, invite the neighbours and get yourself a wife!

IN TIMES OF DISASTER: Sri Lanka
It’s January 12, 2010—5 years after the tsunami tore into Asian countries around the Indian Ocean, an earthquake, magnitude of 7, affects millions in Haiti: 200,000 dead; 250,000 injured; over two million homeless with the rainy season upon them.

SERENE, SOOTHING AND SALUBRIOUS SAPUTARA: Gujarat, India
Hill stations have always fascinated me. My family and I have been fortunate to visit some of India’s best known hill stations ranging from Tawang in the Eastern Himalayas to Shimla, Nubra Valley and beyond. Having experienced first hand the joys of visiting the quintessential Himalayan hill stations of India, we decided to alter our hill sojourn a bit and gave the less commercialized Saputara a try.

FADED GLORY – ‘RAMALINGA VILASAM’: Ramanathapuram, South India
Kings and castles may seem to belong to a forgotten era. Yet I have always been keen on exploring old forts and ruined palaces. When I moved into the quaint town of Ramanathapuram in South India, an old palace that silently adorns the market square was the first landmark to catch my attention.

FIELD OF BOMBS: Phonsavan, Laos
The tiny Lao Aviation plane dropped hastily from the sky. Crossing my fingers I cursed my sense of adventure. What on Earth had persuaded me to risk flying to Phonsavan? The reason was, of course, the famous ‘Plain of Jars’. These ancient stone vessels lay scattered across the far-flung Lao province, and according to the travel books, have become something of a tourist magnet. I was looking forward to some hardcore sightseeing.

THE HEAVENLY GATES: Sapa, Vietnam
Jumping off the Victoria Express train in 5:00am fog at Loa Cai, a Vietnamese border town next to China, is not the most inviting start to the day, but I am here - determined to find the Heavenly Gates near the mountain-top town of Sapa.

MEMORIAL TO AN INTREPID TRAVELER: Sir Edmund Hillary 1919-2008
Knighted in 1953 after conquering Mount Everest’s summit, to the locals Sir Edmund was like a god. They bedecked him with garlands of flowers and almost worship him. Mitch says Sir Edmund’s calmness and poise impressed him. “It was an unexpected treasure meeting him,” Mitch says.

WHAT TO SEE, WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO: Beijing, China
Beijing is buzzing with activity as it prepares for the 2008 Olympic games. If you’re headed there for either business or pleasure, you’re in for an unforgettable journey into the history and culture of a 5,000 year old civilization.

THE WONDERS OF KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia
In the words of British novelist and playwright Somerset Maugham, “If you haven’t seen this place, you haven’t seen the world.” He was referring to Malaysia. And he was right.

THE RAINFOREST WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL: Kuching, Sarawak, Borneo
The 10th Anniversary of the annual, three-day Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) was held in mid July 2007 in the Sarawak Cultural Village in Santubong, 45 minutes drive outside of Kuching, Sarawak on the northwest coast of the island of Borneo.

ART IN A TROPICAL GARDEN: Rimbun Dahan, Malaysia
Tucked away on an small acreage just outside of Kuala Lumpur, a Malaysian architect, Hijjas Kasturi and his Australian wife, Angela, have developed a lush garden paradise retreat for artists and writers.

OLD MALACCA TOWN - MALAYSIA’S HISTORIC CITY: Malaysia
A fugitive Sumatran prince established Malaysia’s first sultanate in Malacca during the 1400’s…and as it turned out, he’d recognized a good thing when he saw it! Very quickly, his sleepy seaside-fishing village developed into a prosperous cosmopolitan port, changing hands again and again over time.

ISLAND OF LEGENDS: Langkawi, Malaysia
Our first trekking destination was the Ourika Valley. We were forced to leave the van and had to teeter across foot-wide Berber bridges fashioned out of sticks, suspended over the rushing white water and squeeze behind houses on uneven slippery pathways meant only for goats.

GATEWAY TO THE HIMALAYAS: Nepal
It is hard to believe that Nepal only opened its borders to mass tourism in the 1950s. Now it is famous for its trekking and climbing, as it utilises the fact that most of the world’s highest mountains are within its territory.

TOKYO, JAPAN: Standing Room Only In Shibuya
I was in Shibuya, a Tokyo district familiar to any moviegoer. It’s all the points of the compass compacted into the city’s busiest road crossing. Pedestrians line up like the start of a marathon and take over the road, leaving Bill Murray hangdog in the middle. His foreignness is clear in his stillness for, in a place that’s constantly moving, the most Japanese of experiences are to be found by standing up.

TRADITION - OKINAWA'S LUNAR NEW YEAR: Japan
Fireworks illuminate the faces of Americans and locals as glasses are raised and toasts are made to another peaceful year on Okinawa, Japan. While the Americans' New Years celebration is coming to an end, the Okinawans' will continue on through the night until the first sunrise of the new year.

TSUNAMI! A STORY OF SURVIVAL - Phi Phi Island, Thailand
I wake, underwater, drowning again. My limbs are free. I look above into darkness. I’m down deep. The weight of the water crushes me. Debris boxes me in. I turn left…everything is black. I turn right…there’s a faint circle of light. Instinct guides me to swim! Swim! Swim for your life! Adrenaline fuels me and I sever a path through the filthy, now motionless, water.

OKINAWA’S FIVE UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE CASTLES AND THE LEGEND OF GOSAMARU: Japan
Okinawa is the smallest and southernmost of Japan’s 47 prefectures. It’s part of an island archipelago that stretches from southern Kyushu in Japan to within view of Taiwan. It was also the scene of the last and greatest land battle in the Pacific theater of WWII. Today it claims nine UNESCO World Heritage sites, five of which are ancient castles.

BOROBUDUR: Java, Indonesia
Turning the corner, I found myself on the main path that led straight up to the front of the temple. It was massive, like a layered pyramid of dark grey stone rising out of the dirt. I picked up my pace to get to there quickly until I realized that I didn't need to rush the moment. I just stopped and stared in wonder.

FOODIE HEAVEN: Welcome to Penang, Malaysia
In Penang, Malaysia, the Jalan Sungai Pinang is a street crowded with food stalls, and frequented nightly by local Penangites who come to taste their rich treats. Some of the richest gastronomic experiences can be had in the markets of Penang. Street vendors at these markets prepare hot dishes with fresh ingredients right before your eyes.

AN OKINAWAN BULLFIGHT: Uruma Okinawa, Japan
Bullfighting is a traditional Sunday pastime in Okinawa and earliest records show it has been a spectator sport since at least the 17th century. Unlike bullfighting in Spanish speaking cultures, there is no Matador to face the bull; it is one bull challenging another and neither will be seriously injured or die in the event.

THE STONE-SHAPERS OF MAHABALIPURAM: Tamil Nadu, India
Mamallapuram is all about sculpture, old and new; history and mythology as is the old bespectacled guide in a crisp white veshti, who has been standing at the very spot at the gateway of the town for the past 31 years, heralding tourists with his trademark “I can show you Mamallapuram. Want a guide?

SAVORING COOKING EXPERIENCES IN ASIA: The Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand
I love serving my dinner guests Phad Thai and having them ask, “Where did you learn to make this?” I enjoy their surprised looks when I reply, “At the Peninsula Hotel in Bangkok. And, how do you like the lemongrass drink? I learned to make it at the Governor’s Residence in Myanmar.

CONTRASTING INDIA: Delhi/Ladakh, India
As our jeep drove on through the Ladakh district of India in the Western Himalayas, under the watchful eye of this bright afternoon sun, mud houses seemed to emerge from the desert. Then we see ahead the magnificent Tikse monastery which swells to its dazzling proportions, leaving us in awe.

THE FORT OF KUMBHALGARH: Rajasthan
We can scarcely believe that we are in the heart of the Indian desert – Rajasthan. It is so green and lush, the roads lined with sugarcane fields. Even the approaching mountains appear green all over. Our driver tells us that this is the only fertile area of Rajasthan, and this year the rains have been plentiful. “You are lucky to see this face of this state!” he exclaims.

AMONG THE LIONS: Gir, India
Sasan Gir, land of the wild and the free, the savage and the beautiful, where endless dry and arid grasslands are rife with game. Lions prowl there, magnificent lions with imposing manes. A stunning variety of some of the magnificent specimens of wildlife found anywhere else on earth are here in Sasan Gir.

HORSEBACK IN TIBET: Tibet, Asia
The romantic notion of galloping across the Tibetan grasslands on horseback has me lost in a reverie. According to the locals, Serchul County has the five “mosts” in the Ganzi prefecture. It is the highest (4000 metres above sea level), the farthest, the biggest, the coldest, and the poorest. It's subtle charm then is its rawness, its simplicity and its vastness.

CELEBRATING CHINESE NEW YEAR: Hong Kong
I was fortunate to be in Hong Kong during Chinese New Year. It was a wonderful opportunity to learn as much as we could about the traditional celebrations. From our Western viewpoint, Chinese New Year is like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year celebrations all rolled into one.

TIBETAN MAGIC: Mcleod Ganj, Upper Dharamshala

Serene and sunny, this seems like a great day to explore this little Tibetan settlement, which is often known as Little Lasha. Located in Upper Dharamshala (Himachal Pradesh), Mcleod Ganj is the home of his Holiness the Dalai Lama and the head quarters of the Tibetan Government in Exile. Home for several Tibetan refugees, this mountain village is packed with compact houses, shops and monasteries.

CELEBRATING CHINESE NEW YEAR: Hong Kong
I was fortunate to be in Hong Kong during Chinese New Year. It was a wonderful opportunity to learn as much as we could about the traditional celebrations. From our Western viewpoint, Chinese New Year is like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year celebrations all rolled into one.

WHAT TO SEE, WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO: Beijing, China
If you’re headed there for either business or pleasure, you’re in for an unforgettable journey into the history and culture of a 5,000 year old civilization. China’s capital city is packed with magnificent historical sites and out of the way alleyways teeming with life, just waiting to be discovered.

GENOCIDE AND GRAFFITI - REMEMBERING CAMBODIA'S WAR TORN PAST: Cambodia
During the three years, eight months, and twenty-one days that the Khmer Rouge were in power, an estimated two million Cambodians lost their lives from starvation, overwork or execution. Twenty thousand of those were caged within these institutional walls, the school that came to be known as Tuol Sleng, or Security Prison 21.

THE ASTOUNDING TEMPLES AND TREES OF ANGKOR: Cambodia
The full moon hangs low. Voluminous clouds shroud us in darkness as we ride toward Cambodia’s ancient Angkor temples, and the world’s largest religious monument. The open sides of the tuk-tuk (essentially a motorcycle pulling a covered cart, in which my girlfriend Jen and I sit) allow us to breathe in the cool, tropical air, a far cry from the stifling midday heat.

DILAPIDATED GLORY OF AN ANCIENT PORT: Kodangallur, India
I am in Kerala, the southern coast of India, at a port called Kodangallur. The Brits in their 150 years of colonial dominance here till 1947, couldn't pronounce Kodangallur and came as close to the name as their thick tongues would allow by calling it Cranganore. Apostle Thomas had landed at Kodangallur in 52 A.D., soon after the death of Christ.

ANGKOR AND BEYOND: Northeast Thailand
The thrill of hearing your trowel “clink” on an artifact or part of skeletal remains that nobody has seen for over 3000 years is shared by all of us who are volunteers. In addition to digging, we take turns reconstructing ancient pottery (similar to assembling a three-dimensional jig saw puzzle) and sorting other finds such as jewelry and tools.

MUSIC WITHOUT BORDERS - THE RAINFOREST WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL: Kuching, Sarawak, Borneo
The 10th Anniversary of the annual, three-day Rainforest World Music Festival was held in mid July 2007 in the Sarawak Cultural Village in Santubong, 45 minutes drive outside of Kuching, Sarawak on the northwest coast of the island of Borneo.

HIKING HALLASAN IN THE SNOW: Mount Halla, South Korea
At the foot of Mount Halla, my girlfriend Jen and I stop and gape at the meter of snow clogging the trailhead. Our guidebook clearly specified: no special equipment required. From a distance, the only visible snow lies atop Hallasan’s trapezoidal summit, like a white fin on a surfacing whale.