Travel Destinations - Exploring China and Asia

Trans-Mongolian Express: A Rail of a Time

Cameron Wilson rides the Trans-Mongolian express, sipping tea and snacking on fish eggs, and finds it really is better to travel than to arrive

Where can you spend six days relaxing in a warm room with a selection of books and endless cups of tea, while a third of the entire globe rolls by just outside your window? On the Trans-Mongolian railway, of course.

The route stretches from the industrial suburbs of Moscow, through [ read more ]

Asia: Too Many Cooks

Budding cooks at The Boathouse experiment with the basics of Thai cooking before settling down to a fi ve-dish feast with matching wines from the hotel
Nuo Wen checks out Asia's best culinary holidays and finds his inner foodie

According to the celebrated 19th-century French gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, "the discovery of a new dish does more for human happiness than the discovery of a new star." Whatever about stargazing, hands-on culinary courses are definitely popular among today's culture-hungry travellers. Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai runs its own Cooking [ read more ]

Asia: Hot to Trot

Several stables throughout New Zealand offer day-rides into the countryside
Kristi Lanier provides further proof that it's not just where you go but how you get there, in her guide to Asia travel on horseback

Aside from inventing the wheel, domesticating the horse might have been one of humankind's smarter moves. In the sweep of history, the horse changed our lives – altering everything from migration to warfare. And let's be frank – history's horse riding tough guys like Genghis Khan wouldn't have looked nearly [ read more ]

Asia: The Grass Is Greener

Asian golf courses are friendly, affordable and, very often, spectacularly located. Against a backdrop of paddy fields, azure bays, lush rainforests and soaring high-rises, Damien McDowell sinks his putts into the best the region offers

Playing golf in Asia offers as many unique, high quality experiences as you would expect in a continent of such geographic and cultural diversity. From the mountains of China to the cliff-tops of Bali, from luxurious Thailand to regal Brunei, there truly is something for everyone.

THAILAND

Any review of [ read more ]

Asia: The Big Blue

A shoal of fish butterfl y seeking refuge in the reef
The oceans and islands of Southeast Asia offer a myriad of underwater experiences for scuba veterans and aqua-amateurs alike. Steven Schwankert dives in for a closer look, and comes up with the pick of the crop

We are blessed with the world's best diving virtually at our doorstep. The bluest waters, the whitest sands, fish of every colour and species, WWII wrecks, sunken cities and the opportunity to visit island paradises yet to be experienced. Leave the Peter Benchley novel at home. It's time to take [ read more ]