Asia Pacific

Amanda Jaffe attends the last fully accessible Theemithi fire walking ceremony in the days before Covid. These days the experience is all online...

As a low profile Muslim travelling in Oceania, Teja finds herself fighting a whole host of preconceptions spread by Australians - and others - with no experience of anyone quite like her.

The American war is brought back to life for Lee Ruddin on a visit to Vietnam.

At a Bangkok cafe, Martin Oliver tries to order a plain Iced Tea. But as often in Thailand, the locals get their own way.

Off the coast of Australia Anthony Toole explores Bruny Island. Though little-known elsewhere it's Tasmania's premier day-trip destination, a haven for wildlife off its southeastern coast.

Somehow we should have known that 2020 has been the 'Year of the Rat' according to the Chinese calendar. In Singapore's traditional street-vendor region Amanda Jaffe gets a taste of things to come with a cataclysmic horoscope.

Paul Michelson breezes through Cambodia's greatest city, but takes time to visit Tuol Sleng, the infamous prison used by the Khmer Rouge when the country went thoroughly to the bad. This brings unsettling thoughts.

The Principality of Hutt River rejoined the nation of Australia this month, in August, 2020. Nick Elvin recalls crossing the border from Western Australia into a wonderfully strange micronation.

Paul Michelson finds Bangkok's klongs reach to the heart of Asia's busiest city in a way the clogged roads can't do. Welcome to the Venice of the Orient.

For a first time visitor Japanese customs are unfamiliar and daunting. Elizabeth von Pier has learned some useful lessons, including how to operate their high-tech loos.

Tea in Japan is a very ceremonial occasion. Elizabeth von Pier tucks up on a tatami mat and drinks green tea from a bowl.

Even the new King of Thailand commands serious respect. It's his birthday so Elizabeth von Pier pays her respects.

Good, better best butts with bad, terrible, are you kidding? Bonnie Lynn's Australian tour slips in between the bushfires and a growing Covid epidemic.

Paul Michelson needs crutches to get around. Next year his health might be better - or not. So he travels to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos and does it now.

Ciarán Logue finds and old Toyota Camry perfectly adequate to deal with Australia's fearsome distances.

Thailand expert Philipp Meier says there's still an island that's off the electricity grid - and the tourist trail. Here he introduces Koh Phraphong.

James March finds his first impressions of Hong Kong slightly coloured by the relentless rain. It makes him somewhat philosophical - and wet.

Biran W Fisher has already toured most of Thailand's islands but not, till now, the most accessible from Bangkok. He finds Koh Samet is crowded with a litter issue.

Ian Lloyd Neubauer explains why his motorbike tour of Papua New Guinea inspired him to write a guide to other bikers in this unexplored corner of Southeast Asia.

Cambodia's iconic highlight comes as something of a revelation to Kirsty and Bill Haskins, as they belatedly hobble along the Hippy Trail in Southeast Asia.

A traditional village welcome makes Lindsay Salt feel fully attuned to the proud and sturdy Maori culture. Photos, as ever, by David Grimble.

The sun comes out in South Island for Lindsay Salt as she explores New Zealand's adventure capital. Photos, as ever, by David Grimble.

The Tongariro crossing is one of New Zealand's most challenging day hikes through an Alpine landscape. Lindsay Salt steps out boldly. Photos, as ever and with perfectly straight horizons, by David Grimble.

David Nesbit takes a group of children to the Cikananga Wildlife Center on Indonesia's most crowded island, where they learn to rehabilitate orphaned wildlife for release into the wild.