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Travel / Asia Pacific

Palace of the Winds in Jaipur, India

Jaipur via The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

A delightful new film takes viewers to India’s picturesque western state of Rajasthan

For the traveler to India: film and literary preparation

The Great Books and Movies to Read and Watch Before Visiting India

A list of some of the best books and films about the subcontinent to take in before you go

Bottoms up: Wineglass Bay on the Freycinet Peninsula.

Nudity, Art, Sex and Death – Tasmania Awaits You

With one big bet, an art-loving professional gambler has made the Australian island into the world’s most surprising new cultural destination

A view from the train on the way to Tibet

All Aboard the Beijing-Lhasa Express

The writer casts aside concerns about comfort and political correctness to take the rail trip of a lifetime

Sunrise at Cape Tourville.

The Top 10 Places to See in Tasmania

With Tasmania’s 3.4-million acres of protected wilderness, this alluring isle feels close to heaven—Tasmanian devils included

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The Forest Of The Future

An ambitious project in Singapore will boast 18 supertrees, climbing up to 160 feet tall

This scene from Lake Wanaka captures much that is great about New Zealand, like the Southern Alps and the country's many gleaming lakes.

New Zealand: What’s Hot and What’s Not

From Stewart Island in the south to the Surville Cliffs in the north, New Zealand is a country almost as geographically diverse as the United States

On April 15, North Korea will open the tallest and swankiest building in Pyongyang, the Ryugyong Hotel.

A Fabulous New Luxury Hotel—In North Korea?

The 1,080-foot-high Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, opening in April, has also been labeled the “Hotel of Doom”

Caravans cram this campground in Akaroa in a scene typical of New Zealand. Cyclists and hikers, when camped among such fleets of vehicles, may wish for a patch of privacy somewhere in the nearest forest—if only there were access.

Free Camping in New Zealand: Don’t Bank on It

Wild camping isn’t just a pleasure; it’s a necessity for many cyclists

The author facing off with the edge of the world, where the gray and blustery waters of the Southern Ocean meet the rocks of Curio Bay, in the Catlins.

Halfway to the Bottom of the Earth: The Catlins

To see this place on a globe, home of the world’s southernmost tapas reastaurant, one must lift it upward to expose the underbelly of the planet

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Is New Zealand Too Dangerous for Cycling?

A Christchurch gentleman claimed to have knocked two cyclists off the road with his black H-2 Hummer and threatened to “nail” more

One of thousands of properties destroyed by the February 22, 2012 Christchurch earthquake

Shattered: Christchurch After 10,000 Earthquakes

The abandoned boulevards and blocks of condemned buildings look like a scene from an unhappy future

This oversized replica reminds passersby that sandflies could be a lot nastier than they are.

New Zealand’s Darkest, Bloodiest Secret: The Sandfly

Kiwi recommendations for stopping the biting beasts: DEET, geranium leaves, garlic, rancid bacon, Marmite, Vegemite. Does anything really work?

The author's bicycle patiently poses in a land of "beauty, heartbreak and challenge" in the Molesworth wilderness.

Questing for Calories in New Zealand’s High Country

There is something liberating in running out of food. Concerns about rationing are out the window and the world is simplified into a foraging playground

Felicity Aston looks back on her journey across Antarctica.

To the Bottom of the World—and Back Again

When Felicity Aston caught sight of Antarctica’s coastal mountains, she told me, “they were like a neon sign flashing at me saying, ‘You have finished!’”

Pauline Symaniak, shown here before Volcan Lanin in Argentina, has been pedaling around the earth for 18 months. Much of New Zealand has failed to amaze her.

New Zealand: Too Orderly, Tidy and Tame?

After leaving her job and home to bike around the world, a cyclist finds New Zealand a little too comfortable

Andrew Bland casts for trout during a moment’s peace between passing power boats and jet skis on Lake Wanaka. Mount Aspiring stands in the background, untroubled by the commotion.

Hunting Trout in Haunting Waters

Andrew was sullen, silent and soaked to the skin after spending eight hours in the rain standing in a river waving a stick

Note the shocking price of this basket of fruit at a roadside stand in New Zealand

New Zealand and Other Travel Locales That Will Break the Bank

New Zealand is worth visiting, but I’m not sure how long I can keep traveling here while claiming to be “on the cheap”

Brushtailed possums, shown here in their native Australia, are among the most destructive pests in New Zealand.

Waging War on Mammals in New Zealand

The family spent days in a cabin eating food, provided by the New Zealand Department of Conservation, which requested to stomp on kiwi-killing vermin

Andrew Bland, brother of the author, shivers and shakes after a frigid abalone, or paua, dive in Akaroa Harbour.

Into New Zealand’s Strange Waters and Prehistoric Forests

The absence of native mammals, aside from bats and pinnipeds, gives the impression that New Zealand is still in the age of dinosaurs

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