Latest Central Asia Headlines

Adam Jacot de Boinod takes a seasonal tour of Sri Lanka, dangling like a pendant in the warm clear waters of the Indian Ocean.

Kit Mayers follows early explorer Anthony Jenkinson as he travels from Russia’s northern coast to Moscow, deep in the reign of Ivan the Terrible.

Myanmar might have problems accepting its Muslims, but it’s not widely known there are also Jews in Burma. Sankar Chatterjee explores Yangon’s (once Rangoon) only synagogue.

With little spoken Russian but a native taste for local wines, Gabi Gimson travels from Tiblisi to Yerevan, taking in the sights, sounds – and plenty of experiences – along the way.

India’s infamous traffic holds no fear for Jacob Laukaitis as he travels, with a friend, by motorbike through the world’s most chaotic traffic.

Paul Michelson finds his first sight of Pamukkale, Turkey’s famous postcard highlight, something of a disappointment. But he gives it time and finds plenty to appreciate,

A gentle hike through the Bhutanese Himalaya proves a rewarding challenge for Sankar Chatterjee as he makes a pilgrimage to the world’s most remote and enchanting Buddhist Monastery, Taktsang.

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.

“It’s a good game, hey.” Christian Cummins finds that cricket has come to symbolize the pride and resilience of India’s southern off-shoot, the ‘Pearl of the Indian Ocean’, Ceylon.

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’.

A new travel book by John Gimlette is always quite an event. Despite being possibly the best of Britain’s travel writers he still has to keep his day job (shame) so only writes when he can. His new title describes his travels through Sri Lanka.

Anyone who thinks China is modern and dull should check out the Songtsam region in the Chinese Himalayas. David Abram comes back with this captivating video.

Deep in the jungles of the Chitwan National Park, Alex Jones tracks a rhino by elephant, jeep and finally foot, braving the area’s tigers and snakes. Success, hard-won, is all the more valued.

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

Leon Harwood shows a video where a Jaguar XJ competes with public transport to deliver a lunch to India’s elite. The car wins, but at a cost.

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.

When Kris Mole hitchikes into the Armenian town of Gyumri he wasn’t expecting much from the couchsurfing experience. But then he’s taken for an unusual night out.

So long sheltered from the outside world, Burma is shyly emerging onto the travel scene. Thomas Dowling says now is a great time to visit Myanmar.

Rails and fast trains make easy work of the great distances involved in travelling through China. Anna Rugg has some tips for travelling on the Chinese rail network.

Laura French heads into a world of nomads, yurts and galloping horses in china’s remote north. It’s an experience that overshadows all her travels in the cities of Beijing and Xian.

As a rare foreign tourist in Iran’s capital city, Savka Andic finds her biggest challenge is coping with the traffic. It’s scary enough as a pedestrian but even a taxi ride becomes a bizzare experience of a huge difference in expectations.

Matt Norcini is ready for most things when he explores southeast Asia’s wet season forests. But he hadn’t foreseen being lunch for bloodsuckers.

On the back streets of Calcutta Alex Jones books a boat safari through the Sunderbans, the swampy waterworld between India and Bangladesh. Though there’s no guarantee of spotting an elusive royal Bengal tiger there’s a good chance of seeing action as rival tourist boats crash – and clash.

Ben Sicker volunteers to help a team of wildlife biologists search for endangered species in Mongolia, despite having changed majors from environmental science to philosophy. But the power of thought stands him in good stead.

Despite having recently lost a leg – and most of it too, from above the knee – Issy Kingdon finds it easy and rewarding to travel round Sri Lanka. She has some advice for anyone following her footstep.

For some reason India seems to take to religion with passion. Chetan Datta Poduri surfs the diversity of faith in the subcontinent.

Decades of communist rule all but wiped out the ancient Lazakh art of hunting with eagles. But Philip Iglauer finds that since independence in 1991 the nomadic tradition is making a comeback.

What to do and see in South India? Returning resident Uma Muthuraaman has all the most-informed answers to the best things to see and do around Chennaiin the summer school holidays.

In 1995 Xiapu, in the north east of Fujian Province, was a firmly restricted part of China. Scott Ballantyne managed to get permission to visit the Shê village of Nui Zhai and becomes the first white face they’d ever seen. His visit was to change lives – thankfully for the better.

Unzbekistan’s great cities of Bukhara and Kiva are threatened on every side by the sandy desert wastes of the Kyzyl Kum desert. But when Ski Krieger arrives, amidst snow and ice, the open-hearted locals welcome them into their world.

David Jenkins leaves Baku and heads to the interior of the country, to the mountain village of Lahic, where everyone assumes he’s just another Russian.

A family Christmas always has the potential to be traumatic, but Jenny Seth finds the celebrations in India are subtly different. But still great fun.

The state of Orrisa, now renamed Odisha, is an often overlooked region or India just south of Kolkatta. Bijoy Mishra takes time to explore a small village dedicated to traditional arts.

At the frontier between Europe and Asia, Ben Lambert settles down to a sundowner coffee. In Turkey’s largest city he also is treated to an impromptu blast of street music.

As sanctions crumble a new wave of travellers are flooding into Myanmar. Laurie Daghigh is among them, and reports the traditional Burmese welcome has not yet lost its shine.

The glory days of Asian travel have to be the 1970’s, when an early wave of backpackers flooded into a whole new world of drugged-out colour. Donal Conlon digs out an old diary entry of his journey from Delhi to Kabul.

Once important as a major part of the historic Silk Road, Uzbekistan makes a huge play of its heritage. After feasting on mosques, minarets, museums and medrassas, David Jenkins finds a new ‘m’ to wonder at: mausoleums.

Whether you call it Myanmar or Burma, there’s no doubt that the newest entry on the southeast Asian travel circuit is an untouched charmer. Ellie Williams has the scoop.