Asia

Travel Challenge: A tour of Rajasthan

Every week we invite competing companies to give us their best deal for a specified holiday. Today: a private tour of Rajasthan. Prices are for two people and include flights to Delhi departing Heathrow on 20 March.

Inside Asia

On The Road: Wobbly walkways and water taxis - everyday life in a Borneo village on stilts

Saturday, 13 February 2010

This tiny nation on the north coast of Borneo is best known for its Sultan, who is one of the richest men on earth; his brother Prince Jefri, whose yacht has tenders named Nipple 1 and Nipple 2; and oil wealth that has propelled this country to the world's fourth-highest GDP per capita in the IMF's 2009 rankings. However, the capital, Bandar Seri Begawan, isn't a gleaming high-rise testament to wealth and commerce like Singapore and Hong Kong, but is extraordinarily green, decidedly sleepy and with a downtown dominated by the golden dome of the elegant Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque.

Best for weather-watching: India

Saturday, 6 February 2010

It's the winds that bring it. They come in from the east, a cool rush that lifts the dust of a long dry summer and a lock of hair from your head. You lift your head, too, and the air darkens; a shift in pressure that strokes its way down your back. You didn't realise how taut the air was until now. A rumble, a crack, the splashdown of a heavy droplet as big as a fingertip and then it's on you. Words drown in the roar of water streaming through gutters and rushing through streets. At night, flashes of lightening turn mouldering skies an electric, quasar purple. This is a weather event.

Best for animated adventures: Tokyo

Saturday, 6 February 2010

Inokashira park is a tranquil patch of green located in Mitaka, a west-lying suburb in Tokyo about thirty minutes by train from the centre. But from first glance, you wouldn't think hidden behind the t'ai chi groups and bandstands lies one of the city's most cultured attractions: the Studio Ghibli museum. Primarily thanks to the animated films Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke by the Oscar-winning Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli has become known as "the Disney of the East". But any thoughts that this beguiling museum devoted to his work is like a Japanese Disneyland are swiftly banished as soon as you approach the museum's entrance.

Kate Humble treks into Afghanistan

Saturday, 6 February 2010

A new trek through north-eastern Afghanistan offers travellers the chance to enjoy breathtaking landscapes far from the conflict in the country.

For a flavour of South-east Asia, eat local

Sunday, 31 January 2010

Look for the long queues and order seasonal dishes. Andrew Spooner offers some tips for budget diners

Cambodia: Beautiful, haunting and heart-breaking

Saturday, 30 January 2010

The country has a history that is both inspiring and depressing

Trail Of The Unexpected: The root masters of India

Saturday, 23 January 2010

The extraordinary bridges over the Khasi river valleys are living works of art

See Japan – without breaking the bank

Sunday, 17 January 2010

This intriguing country is renowned for being expensive. Susie Rushton tries out a new 'Price Cruncher' tour that could put it within your reach

On The Road: Battling snow and wind in search of the perfect surf

Saturday, 16 January 2010

The sat-nav screen illuminates the dark cab of the Land Rover. We sit in the lay-by just off the coastal road cocooned in down-filled jackets, the hammer of the diesel engine replaced by the ticking of the motor as it cools. The road traces a narrow line between the deep crystalline Japan Sea and fractured, vertical rock faces. At times there's enough room for two cars to pass, just. The single strip of cracked asphalt weaves through cavernous, twisting tunnels only to emerge into the bright light of yet another hidden cove.

The highway at the top of the world

Sunday, 10 January 2010

A new mountain road is bringing big changes to Nepal's prime trekking territory. It's a lifeline for locals but what impact will it have on tourism? Amar Grover reports

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