Latest Asia Pacific Headlines

The limestone islands and sheltered caves of Thailand’s beautiful Andaman Sea coast is the perfect setting for Tim Morch’s latest waterborne adventure.

The world’s biggest lizard kills with the sheer filth of its spit. Luckily it’s only found on one island in Indonesia. Bonnie Lynn heads to Flores and finds realism and surrealism come together in the daily life of the Komodo Dragon.

Spas are often seen as female domains, perhaps because the process is so dull. But Adam Jacot de Boinod says all that should change as he tries Thailand’s finest.

Love it or loathe it, cockfights take place in several southeast asian countries. Crystal Wilde brings a video insight into a largely hidden sport.

Brian W Fisher takes a tour of Southeast Asia’s most reclusive country, tiny landlocked Laos. Distressingly he observes, in the end, it’s a ‘Land of Linear Litter’.

Should you be using Changi Airport as a far-eastern hub, Singapore resident Rosie Milne suggests you break your journey for a while. There is plenty to see and do.

When Dustin Grinnell spends three nights in China’s capital he finds it strangely hard to sleep. Two traditional Chinese doctors go to great lengths to solve his insomnia but in the end he decides he just doesn’t care.

Thailand’s capital has a huge range of public transport, with boats and ferries on the rivers and canals, tuk-tuks, scooters and taxis as well as buses and trains. Christian Cummins, however, takes an alternative approach: he pedals a bicycle on an inner-city tour.

It’s easy, according to Jacob Laukaitis, to climb Japan’s iconic volcano. Just wait for closed season when there’s no-one on the mountain to tell you to get off.

Jacob Laukatis takes an unusually outward-looking tour around Japan on a very basic rented bike. Take a pillion seat on a ride along the the Shimanami Kaido route that includes several different bridges and at least one meal.

In 1950’s Malaya A J Box finds his rubber-tapping tedium relieved by a surprise invitation to a religious ceremony. This involves several more beers than are quite compatible with a motorbike ride home.

Too many people spend their whole time in the Barrier Reef diving. Ciarán Logue goes the other way, taking to the sky for a thrilling sky-dive.

Myanmar’s photogenic highlight lures Brian Fisher to its shores. But a chartered boat trip becomes a nightmare when the weather turns.

When Brian Fisher decides to travel to Myanmar, he plans carefully. He seems to find Burma without any trouble, and books himself a private tour.

Indonesia’s tourist paradise proves a visual feast for Jacob Laukaitis’ 21st century scrapbook, a video selfie binge for the youtube generation.

While the Northern Hemisphere shivers it’s summer down under and you still get a white Christmas, just with sand not snow. Jen Thames presents the ultimate guide to Australia’s fabulous Whitsunday Islands.

In Southeast Asia Laura French finds here western complexion ruins her attempts to pass as a savvy local. But she has plenty of fun as she travels through Camrobya and Vietscam.

All hotels are full in downtown Dunedin, but Benjamin Rietama comes up with a cunning plan. He signs up for Airbnb and finds himself totally immersed in Kiwi life.

Once of the least-visited countries in the south Pacific has great beaches, fascinating cultures and dramatic volcanoes. Lucy Barker explores Vanuatu.

There’s birdlife aplenty on Australia’s long southern coast. Anthony Toole starts out on the outskirts of Melbourne and continues along Victoria’s Great Ocean Road.

In a land that seems to be obsessed with scooters, Janet Myers worries she might feel out of place. But she has no trouble getting around the cities and even spends a night on a junk as she tours the country.

Will Ottley explores the Buddhist/Hindu temples of Cambodia’s Angkor Wat complex and discovers that ancient wisdom lives on in the temples and monuments they left behind.

There’s so much to see in Australia and New Zealand that it’s hard to know where to spend your time. Lucy Barker suggests the best things to see and do.

Japan’s longest river flows through the island of Honshu: miraculously clean, ultimately tidy and teeming with fish. Sze-Leng Tan finds a serene simplicity on its elegant banks.

South Australia’s capital city has a world image that generally ranges all the way from dull to genteel. But Mae Demdam says it’s anything but. Her bachelorette party in Adelaide finds bars and speakeasies that are bang on trend.

Australia’s most popular city has beaches to suit every mood. Paul Watson outlines three of the best.

On a solo trek across Japan’s central Alps, Sze-Leng Tan finds a series of chance encounters give her plenty to think about. Fortunately she’s also got plenty of space for reflection.

Seasonal rains do nothing to spoil the soothing influence of Indonesia’s Buddhist enclave. Lisa Power finds the cares of the world ebb away as she relaxes in a Balinese villa.

A brief stopover in the Far East leaves Janet Myers needing more. The Far East’s slickest city enchants and enthralls.

Australia’s third-largest island provides plenty of opportunities for Anthony Toole to get off the beaten trail. But his most vivid experience was at best questionable and, under local regulations, illegal.

Her first job in Australia ends badly for Jemilla Russell-Clough, due to a possibly naive refusal to flirt. They might have told her that was part of a miner’s job description. But it gives her a chance for a long aimless road trip through the endless outback.

Despite a year which included a stroke and an extended stay in hospital, Brian W Fisher casts aside his Zimmer frame and flies off to Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Krabi. Even after the recent coup Thailand’s smiling welcome remains.

Though Tahiti might be the largest of the Society Islands, it’s Bora Bora that captures Marc Tomlees heart, as he meets the green turtles of a private lagoon.

There’s a lot that’s different about daily life in China. And after many years in the country Scott Ballantyne has come to understand just how attitudes differ. Here he examines the delicate subject of death.

The famously stinky durian is banned in most Malaysian hotels and few westerners dare go near it. Leslie Sinclair, however, is made of sterner stuff. She searches out ripe durian and – naively hoping no-one will notice – smuggles it back to her room.

When Kathleen Poole sees tourists wearing flower necklaces on a plane out of Yap, like any normal person she reacts with some horror. But during her visit to the Pacific Islands her attitude changes, and at the end of her time in Micronesia she wears her lei with pride.

On a remote cattle station in Australia Scott Naylor learns a lot about cattle, a little about racing, and a whole lot more about beer.

On Kiribati Island Andy McGinley settles in to an undemanding routine. Daily life proceeds at its usual, tropical Pacific pace, but when his departure date looms the stresses of the West aren’t slow to kick in.