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Singapore bling: Is the city-state ready to party?

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:00:01 GMT

An island attached to an island attached to an island: that was where I was heading. What concerned me was that I had control over neither my speed nor my direction and was attached only to a piece of string (well, a steel wire), spinning involuntarily to get a full 360-degree view of the gravity of my situation.

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

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 00:00:01 GMT

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.

Travel Challenge: A tour of Rajasthan

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 00:00:01 GMT

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.

War and peace: Kate Humble treks into Afghanistan

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:00:01 GMT

'No part of Afghani-stan should be considered immune from violence," warns the Foreign Office. "The potential exists throughout the country for hostile acts. Visitors travelling to Afghanistan do so at their own risk and without protection from Her Majesty's Government."

Best for animated adventures: Tokyo

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:00:01 GMT

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.

Best for weather-watching: India

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:00:01 GMT

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.

For a flavour of South-east Asia, eat local

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 00:00:01 GMT

Sup noodles at a Bangkok market stall, devour rotis on a Penang street corner, or nibble on a buttery croissant in Vientiane. Adventurous visitors can embark on an epicurean journey of some proportions in South-east Asia. In fact, tasting the region's street food isn't just a delicious diversion, it also offers an insight into local life.

Cambodia: A beautiful, haunting and heart-breaking country

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 00:00:50 GMT

I was greeted with the smell of lemongrass. After a night flight to Bangkok, and a dawn flight to Phnom Penh, and a car-ride through the chaos that is the Cambodian capital in rush-hour – a chaos full of miracles, like entire families perched on mopeds and apparently surviving – we arrived in an oasis of calm. There were mint cocktails waiting for us, and giant, carved elephants and men in pointy hats and purple knickerbockers, and grand staircases that you could imagine yourself swishing down, in evening dress, before meeting some Ernest Hemingway-type figure for martinis in the bar.

Trail Of The Unexpected: The root masters of India

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 00:00:01 GMT

I was in the wettest place on earth: Cherrapunjee, a region in the verdant, little-visited north-eastern Indian state of Meghalaya. Now, though, the skies were a clear, brilliant blue. I'd come to trek to Cherrapunjee's mysterious living-root bridges. These structures are as much works of art as examples of environmentally friendly bio-engineering.

See Japan – without breaking the bank

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 00:00:37 GMT

Horrid slimy things, mushrooms. I've never liked them. So I'm not tempted by a box of three pale brown fungi on sale at a stall in Kyoto's food market.

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

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 00:00:01 GMT

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

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 00:00:01 GMT

Walking through a broad river valley of bleached grey stones, I paused. Soaring cliffs of loose rubble gave way to steep slopes of scree. Higher still rose dark crags and bluffs, jagged ridgelines and finally the snow-dusted peaks of the Himalayas serrating a brilliant blue sky. Raw, stark beauty, I thought – much as I had 22 years ago when walking in this very spot.

Traveller's guide: Indian palaces

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 00:00:19 GMT

Why palaces?

Few structures evoke the majesty of the Indian courts as splendidly as the country's numerous palaces and ancient forts. Each one offers a fascinating window into India's immense historical and cultural diversity, from the haunting remains of the erstwhile Hindu Empire at Hampi to the many grand royal residences of the maharajas dotted throughout the state of Rajasthan.

At the time of independence in 1947 there were more than 550 princely states extending across the subcontinent. India's "great kings" enjoyed extravagant lifestyles and, more often than not, expressed much of their wealth in spectacular buildings.

Mayon: the world's most dangerous tourist attraction

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:00:01 GMT

When one of the world's most active volcanoes blows its top, the obvious course of action is to give it a wide berth. Not so in the Philippines, where thousands of tourists are risking their lives to get close to the spectacular flow of lava.

Shanghai: There's a new kid on the Bund

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 00:00:18 GMT

The World Expo comes to Shanghai in spring 2010, and new buildings are going up at breakneck speed to welcome some of the estimated 70 million visitors expected to descend on the city.

Singapore: The great taste of a cultural melting pot

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Every morning at 6am, Murah Mansyah and his sister Devi raise the shutters of their stall at the Tekka hawker centre in Singapore's Little India district to serve up a mouthwatering selection of Malay and Indonesian specialities. According to my guide, Winnie Ubbink, their little shop is a popular place for breakfast. She recommended starting the day with a fiery bowl of lontong (rice cakes) in a broth of coconut milk, chopped red chillies, cabbage, potatoes and a boiled egg. Nothing gets the heart pumping like a mountain of chopped chilli first thing in the morning and at S$3 (£1.30) it seemed like a delicious steal – but breakfast didn't end there.

The Maldives: Enjoy the splendid isolation while it lasts

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:22:38 GMT

My eyes are stinging from the salty water which is seeping into my snorkel as I navigate the shallows. The odd fish flits past. I’m heading, I hope, in the direction of the renowned house reef at the Lily Beach resort at Huvahendoo in the Maldives. So far so pleasant, but unspectacular.

Stay the night: The Chedi, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The fresh, crisp air of Chiang Mai, at the heart of Thailand's northern hills, offers cooling relief from the heat of Bangkok and the south. An ancient walled centre, several stunning temple complexes, and a thriving arts and crafts scene also make it one of the country's biggest draws.

India embraces eco-luxury with new hotel

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:30:05 GMT

Is there such a thing as an environmentally friendly, 5-star behemoth of a hotel in the heart of a city? Probably not. The ITC Royal Gardenia in Bengaluru, India, knows this, carefully choosing the term ‘Responsible Luxury’ to describe the ethos of their 55m high, 292-room citadel.

On the trail of snow leopards in India

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 00:00:30 GMT

I'm sitting on the floor wrapping dough round my fingers. Alongside me, my hostess pulls and pinches her paste into delicate bows, all the while watching my fat-fisted efforts with a gap-toothed grin you could post a parcel through.

Indian trail of 'the ghost of the mountains'

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 00:00:30 GMT

The Big Six: Luxury Indian camps

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:00:07 GMT

Bangkok: Real Thai tranquillity

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

It's early on a bright tropical Thai Sunday morning and I'm standing at what many Thais consider to be the centre of Bangkok: Victory Monument. It is here – where a dramatic single-pronged monument rises out of the swirling cacophony of buses, tuk-tuks, mini-vans, noodle stalls and thousands of rushing Thais – that Bangkok reaches its fierce crescendo.

Travel challenge: A wellness holiday for 2010

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Every week we invite competing companies to give us their best deal for a specified holiday. Today: a seven-night wellbeing holiday departing on 16 January 2010. Prices are for two people and include return flights from Heathrow and transfers.

City Slicker in Shanghai

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Why visit?

Shanghai is gearing up to host the six-month-long World Expo, which opens in the Pudong district in May 2010 – a staggering 70 million visitors are expected, bringing with them around 300bn yuan (£26bn) to spend.