Tag archives for Asia
Rumble Om from Peter McBride on Vimeo.
Photographer Peter McBride followed in the Beatles’ footsteps on a recent trek into the foothills of the Himalayas to heal his ailing back in Rishikesh, India and wrote about it for National Geographic Traveler. Traveler photo editor Krista Rossow interviewed Pete about his experience in “the yoga capital of the world.” Here’s what he had to say.
Where Is Shangri-La?
Posted by Intelligent Travel on August 21, 2012 
Since James Hilton imagined Shangri-La in his bestselling 1933 novel Lost Horizon, a host of Himalayan areas have laid claim to this earthly Eden. But only one place—Zhongdian in China’s southwestern Yunnan Province—has officially gone by the name Shangri-La County since 2001.
The Radar: Spiritual Escapes in Europe, Istanbul’s Best Museums, Explore Phnom Penh
Posted by Erin Spencer on July 27, 2012 
The Radar: The top travel news, stories, trends, and ideas from across the web. Got Radar? Follow us on Twitter @NatGeoTraveler and tag your favorite travel stories from the Web #ngtradar. Check back on the blog for our roundups.
Food Fridays: Hello, Dumpling (A Taste of Taipei)
Posted by Intelligent Travel on June 29, 2012 
Auspicious symbols of wealth and good fortune, dumplings have long graced Chinese New Year banquet tables. Today, tender jiao zhi sate appetites any time of day in Taiwan’s capital, Taipei, where dumpling restaurants are ubiquitous.
Behind the Lens: Macduff Everton in Japan
Posted by Krista Rossow on February 7, 2012 
Travel photographer Macduff Everton has been around the world to cover stories for National Geographic Traveler magazine. His most recent assignment took him to the island of Shikoku in Japan for a January/February feature story. Photo editor Krista Rossow asked Macduff to tell us more about his experience while photographing the island. Krista Rossow: You…
The Radar: Europe’s Toughest Rail Stations, U.S. Eases Visa Process, Museum of Making Music
Posted by Giovanna Palatucci on May 16, 2011 
Longest, tallest, busiest, and deepest. These nine rail stations in Europe are some of the toughest to navigate, including the Gare du Nord station in Paris which services around 200 million passengers a year, making it one of the busiest stations in Europe. [SharingTravelExperiences] The U.S. Travel Association recently announced a plan to streamline the…
Tours of a Lifetime: Rafting in Siberia
Posted by Karen Carmichael on May 13, 2011 
Ready for the ultimate rafting trip? ECHO River Trips’ “Rafting Siberia’s Kaa-Khem River,” one of Traveler’s 2011 Tours of a Lifetime, takes white water rafting to the next level. The 15-day tour features 9 straight days of powering through rapids on the Kaa-Khem River, located in the Sayany region of Siberia just north of the…
From the Killing Fields to a Future
Posted by Intelligent Travel on April 6, 2011 Shelley Seale writes about a foundation in Siem Reap, Cambodia where tourism and education come together to offer a brighter future to local children.At the age of 14, Ponheary Ly died and came back to life. At least, that’s how she describes it. The year was 1977, and the Khmer Rouge was on its deadly…
Daring Dining: Cambodian Tarantulas
Posted by Intelligent Travel on April 1, 2011 Catherine Price, author of 101 Places Not to See Before You Die, takes us on an adventurous eating experience in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. When my husband Peter ordered the fried tarantulas at Romdeng, a restaurant in Phnom Penh that specializes in traditional Khmer food, he was hoping that he wouldn’t notice he was eating spider.…
Take the Silk Road to Philly
Posted by Marilyn Terrell on February 17, 2011 Beginning this Friday, February 18, for a very limited time, there will be an exhibit of remarkable Silk Road treasures (including some extremely well preserved and somewhat controversial mummies) making an exclusive East Coast stop at the Penn Museum of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Called Secrets of the Silk Road, the exhibit will…
Send Your Teen to Peru
Posted by Marilyn Terrell on February 15, 2011 Or New Zealand, China, Greece, the Galápagos, India, Iceland, Costa Rica, or Tanzania, among other destinations. Not on their own, of course, but with National Geographic Student Expeditions. Each participant picks an assignment: (photography, marine biology, filmmaking, community service, creative writing, wildlife conservation are some of the choices), and are guided over the 10-day to…
Family Diving in Palau: Part 2
Posted by Rainer Jenss on February 9, 2011 Last week, Rainer Jenss shared how he prepared his children for their first diving trip to Palau. Read the first post here. When I told friends our family was traveling to Palau this past Thanksgiving, I usually had to include a brief geography lesson as part of the conversation. The truth is, it’s not enough…
Scuba Diving With Kids in Palau
Posted by Rainer Jenss on February 4, 2011 Anyone with young kids certainly knows about the lifestyle modifications that need to be made in order to raise children. Among other things, you just can’t go out as much or stay up as late as you did BC (before children). And when it comes to traveling, most parents somehow feel obligated to forgo their…
Revisiting Vietnam With Photographer Catherine Karnow
Posted by Intelligent Travel on January 12, 2011 Contributing editor and photographer Catherine Karnow, who has shot for both National Geographic magazine and National Geographic Traveler, shares a wonderful example of how social media can reconnect us. A few weeks ago the most extraordinary thing happened. I received a message from someone whose mother I had photographed two decades ago. I wondered whether…
Tracing The Ganges River…
Posted by Intelligent Travel on December 24, 2010 ….by cycle-rickshaw, foot, rowboat, and any other means possible. Last weekend National Geographic Weekend host (and Traveler columnist) Boyd Matson interviewed documentary filmmakers JJ Kelley and Josh Thomas about their current trip: traveling along the Ganges River in India. Their videographer, journalist Dave Costello, gives an overview of their trip. Most people who visit India…
Places Rated: Hainan’s Overdeveloped Coast
Posted by jking on December 21, 2010 The November/December issue of Traveler features our annual “Places Rated” survey of destination stewardship, and this year 340 expert panelists rated 99 coastal destinations around the world. Here on the blog, we’re going to highlight some of these coastal destinations and are interested in adding your feedback to the mix. What do you think? China:…
The Elephant Buffet
Posted by Intelligent Travel on December 8, 2010 Catherine Price gets up close and personal with 300 elephants in Surin, Thailand. For most of the year, there are not many reasons to visit Surin, Thailand. More than seven hours northeast of Bangkok by train, it’s the capital of a province whose claims to fame are sweet radishes and fragrant rice. But Surin has…
My Perfect Day: In Beijing
Posted by Janelle Nanos on December 1, 2010 During my recent trip to China, I had the chance to catch up with Iain Shaw, a well-connected Scotsman who’s been living in the country for six years and acts as the deputy editor at The Beijinger, and runs the travel and nightlife sections at the excellent and informative local city guide. I asked him to share his perfect…
Strange Planet: Macau’s Cat Fancy
Posted by Intelligent Travel on November 16, 2010 Lawrence Ferber uncovered a confluence of kitty kitsch and a caring cause in Macau. Is Asia the cat’s meow? Pardon the pun, or don’t, but Asia is home to a few unique, even peculiar, cat-themed attractions. Tokyo and Taipei’s “cat cafes,” where one can mingle with a bevy of kitties while sipping a cuppa…
Slide Down the Great Wall
Posted by Janelle Nanos on November 12, 2010 The Great Wall of China is mythic. When people talk about it they almost always–erroneously–note that you can see it from space (NASA’s take on the subject: You can’t see it with the naked eye, but you can detect it in certain radar images if you really know where to look). Or they say how…
Visiting With National Geographic Traveler China
Posted by Janelle Nanos on November 9, 2010 I’m just back from a trip to Guilin and Beijing, China, which I’ll be blogging about over the next few weeks. But one of the highlights and things I was most looking forward to was visiting with the staff of National Geographic Traveler China. The monthly magazine, published by the Trends publishing group, is doing…
Tibetan Food and the Tourist Treatment in Western China
Posted by Intelligent Travel on November 4, 2010 Former Traveler staffer Ashley Thompson gives us a glimpse of travel and food in Western China. Out the bus window, the Wild West of China began to unfurl, as did lush peaks towering over muddy rivers. We whizzed past tiny Sichuan mountain villages, whose daredevil residents sell exotic fruits mere inches from the highway, affording…
Your Isolated Islands
Posted by Janelle Nanos on October 14, 2010 Last week, we featured Jenna Schnuer’s write-up of the new book Atlas of Remote Islands: Places I Have Never Been and Never Will, and asked you, dear readers, to write in and tell us which remote island most intrigued you and why. And to be honest, it was one of the most vibrant, thoughtful batch…
Japan’s Maid Cafes
Posted by Rainer Jenss on October 5, 2010 Last year, Rainer Jenss traveled around the world with his wife and two sons, and blogged about his experience here on Intelligent Travel. Now he’s writing a column that focuses on traveling with kids. During a recent visit to Japan, I had a chance to explore a side of Tokyo that was quite different from…
Hong Kong’s Cultural Kaleidoscope
Posted by Intelligent Travel on September 30, 2010 Mystified by Hong Kong? The city offers a series of cultural programs to help Westerners explore Chinese culture. Meaghan Mulholland has the details. Hong Kong‘s reputation for glamour is well-established – from the Peninsula Hotel’s fleet of Rolls Royces, to the So-Ho clubs packed with models and bankers, to the dramatic neon pinnacles of its…
