Asia Pacific

Sankar Chatterjee climbs 770 steps to visit the Temple fo the Split Rock, 50km from Bagan. Photos by Rupankar Chatterjee..

Back in her native Malaysia, Teja uses post-lockdown freedoms to visit some aboriginal tribes - and finds they often retreated to the forest to avoid the global pandemic.

Kate Rae makes the epic journey up to Western Australia's north coast. The remote town of Broome is her destination but the only thing people do here seems to e gaze at the sunset.

Over the years, Kate Rae has visited Australia's iconic surf spot in various moods. As a child, adolescent, and now almost grown up. It retains a timeless charm.

Melinda Malcolm flies into Fiji and is welcomed by 'bulas' right from the start. Over her stay she comes to believe the Fijian word for 'Welcome' is fully sincere.

When Teja tries to get to Tioman Island, one of Malaysia's east-coast tropical gems, she finds it isn't easy. And that, she thinks, is just as well.

The first thing visitors down under will realise is that Australia is huge. This is why Jasmine Gruber says a campervan is the way to explore

In a post-Covid world, Sankar Chatterjee finds sunrise over Angkor Wat a transformative experience.

A campervan - or RV to our brothers across the Atlantic - is ideal for exploring Australia. Jasmine Gruber has all the details you need to plan an epic Aussie road trip.

Liveaboard dive boats offer intensive dives in limited time. But health issues mean Teja can only snorkel: will this ruin her time on Australia's Barrier Reef?

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 an 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.