Lake Gardens, Brickfields & Bangsar
One of KL's most distinctive colonial buildings, this grand 1910 train station (replaced as a transit hub by KL Sentral in 2001) was designed by British…
Must-see attractions in Asia
Heilongjiang
Walk astride the Russian border in this quaint Chinese village 100km from Beijicun, where wandering souls are welcomed with a glancing smile. No tourist…
Roppongi, Akasaka & Around
This shrine honours General Nogi Maresuke, a famed commander in the Russo-Japanese War. Hours after Emperor Meiji's funerary procession in 1912, Nogi and…
Taipei
Fulfilling the lifelong dream of Taiwanese paper-maker Chen Su-ho, this stylish four-storey museum displays a working traditional paper mill and temporary…
Kinmen
This three-storey tower, built in classical Chinese form, is an iconic local landmark that has often featured on Taiwanese stamps. Yet it only dates from…
Chinatown
Located at the southeastern edge of Chinatown, Bangkok’s main train station was built by Dutch architects and engineers between 1910 and 1916. It was…
Northern Honshū (Tōhoku)
Jagged, green-fringed cliffs plunge into the deep-blue Pacific Ocean along this 8km stretch of coastline known as the Kitayamazaki coast. Stunning in…
Shanghai
Set on the former site of the World Expo China Pavilion, this 160,000-sq-metre, five-floor, modern-art museum hosts some excellent international…
Ladakh
Rising above Basgo village on a surreal collection of eroded earthen pinnacles are the photogenic stubs of a once-great palace dating from when Basgo was…
Ha Tien
This Buddhist cave temple is 4km northeast of town. Scramble through the cave chambers to see the funerary tablets and altars to Ngoc Hoang, Quan The Am…
Issyk-Köl Oblast
A small collection of Tibetan-script petroglyphs and accompanying Soviet-era graffiti make for a nice 3km walk (one-way) from the nearby highway, but the…
War & Women's Human Rights Museum
Seoul
In Korea the survivors of sexual slavery by the Japanese military during WWII (known euphemistically as 'comfort women') are respectfully called halmoni …
East Java
The park’s major attraction is the protected turtle beach at Sukamade, one of Indonesia’s most important turtle-spawning grounds, where several species…
Loei Province
If you want to harden up your legs for Loei's national parks, Phu Bo Bit gives you about 1400 steep steps to practise on, and rewards your effort with…
Mohanlal Ishwardas Modi Haveli
Rajasthan
On the northern side of Nehru Bazaar is Mohanlal Ishwardas Modi Haveli (1896). A train runs merrily across the front facade. Above the entrance to the…
Suzhou
Before the communists took over, this college was China's oldest private university, founded by missionaries of the Methodist church in 1900. The…
Galle
The Amangalla was built in 1684 to house the Dutch governor and officers. Later, as the New Oriental Hotel, it was the lodging of choice for 1st-class P&O…
Inle Lake Region
A wide channel leads south from Ywama to the village of Tha Lay and Phaung Daw Oo Paya, the holiest religious site in southern Shan State. Enshrined…
Nikkō
Just to the left of the entrance to Futarasan-jinja is a 1km wooded path leading to Takinō-jinja, part of the greater shrine precinct. Just in front is…
Outlying Islands
This colourfully restored temple from 1783 is the epicentre of the annual Cheung Chau Bun Festival, held in late April or early May. The most important…
Bangkok
Author and statesman Mom Ratchawong Kukrit Pramoj (1911–95) once resided in this charming complex now open to the public. Surrounded by a manicured garden…
Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences
Hong Kong
Although this museum's focus is medical sciences, there are several interesting exhibits for tourists – in particular the section dedicated to the history…
Loei Province
The actual 'Beautiful Rock Garden', which lent its name to the greater region, is a strange patch of eroded rocks known to Thais as Kunming Mueang Thai, …
Jiangsu
To the south of the Twin Bridges, this beautiful 60-room, three-hall structure was built in the Ming era and bought by the Zhang clan in early Qing times…
Rajshahi & Rangpur
About 100m beyond Sona Masjid, turn left down a signposted lane and keep walking for about 250m until you reach this small complex of ruins overlooking a…
Dunhuang
About 180km south of Dunhuang, the 40-plus caves of the Yulin Grottoes face each other across a narrow canyon. The interior art spans a 1500-year period,…
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
Shanxi
Built in 1870, the neoclassical house of worship was badly damaged during the Boxer Rebellion but today stands magnificently amid modern buildings. The…
Negombo
Even though it could never compete in a beauty contest against many Sri Lankan beaches, Negombo's beach, which stretches north from the town right along…
Plain of Jars
The biggest and most accessible, Site 1 of the Plain of Jars features over 300 jars relatively close-packed on a pair of hilly slopes pocked with bomb…
Mon State
Known to the locals as 'Banana Mountain', there's no hill to climb here. Instead, it's an ever-expanding Buddhist complex of shrines and an attractive…
Myanmar (Burma)
Dee Dote Waterfall, a fairly picturesque spot 24 miles southeast of Mandalay (on the road to Pyin Oo Lwin), opened to foreigners several years ago. Water…
Sikkim
A few partially rebuilt wall stubs are all that remain of the palace complex at Rabdentse, which was Sikkim's royal capital from 1670 until it was sacked…
Kowloon
Hugging a street corner is this beautiful four-storey Chinese 'shophouse' belonging to a school of Chinese medicine. Constructed circa 1931, it features a…
Mongolia
Literally ‘Almsgivers Wall’, but also known as ‘Chinggis Khaan’s Castle’, this 3.2km-long stone wall, believed to date from the 8th century, stretches…
Panaji & Central Goa
About 5km north of Goa Velha, in the small village of Talaulim, the massive Church of St Anne (known to the local people simply as Santana) is an imposing…
Trang Beaches & Islands
A beautiful limestone tunnel leads 80m into a cave on Ko Muk's west coast. No wonder pirates buried treasure here. You have to swim through the tunnel,…
Kansai
This kofun was discovered by accident in the 1960s, painstakingly excavated in the 1970s and then sealed for preservation. What you'll see is a grassy…
Kazakhstan
This well laid-out museum incorporates the wooden house where the exiled writer lived from 1857 to 1859 with his wife and baby. The displays range over…
Kathmandu
Seto (White) Bhairab’s horrible face is hidden away behind a grille in an earthquake-damaged pavilion opposite King Pratap Malla’s Column. The huge mask…
Phetchaburi
Construction of this elegant summer palace, an incredible art-nouveau creation, began in 1910 at the behest of Rama V (who died just after the project was…
