From the category archives:

Asia / Middle East

Top Tips for Foreigners (Gaijin) Travelling to Japan

EDITOR: After 4 trips to Japan, my friend Kat Clancy has come up with some great tips that foreigners (gaijin) should keep in mind before travelling to Japan.

welcome to japan photo credit: scottgunn

Japan Rail Pass
GUEST ARTICLE: If you are going to venture outside of Tokyo, you will very likely benefit from a Japan Rail Pass. [...]

5 comments

Armenian WW1 Genocide by Ottoman Turks: Ghost from the Past

While Australian diggers were fighting in Gallipoli in 1915, and of course we honour them every year on Anzac Day (25 April) there was another war being waged in the Turkish heartland where hundreds of 1000’s of ethnic Armenians were driven out of their homes.
Many were slaughtered, others starved, historians say as many as 1,000,000 [...]

1 comment

Why Angkor Kingdom Collapsed and Modern Cambodian Corruption

At the height of its power, 300 years before its collapse in the 15th century, the kingdom of Angkor controlled a large part of what is now Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, Laos and Vietnam and its capital was the largest pre-industrial city known to man.

Angkor Wat Collage photo credit: meilyn

Australian ABC TV foreign correspondent Eric Campbell [...]

6 comments

Chinas Racquet Town – Longmen, Zhejiang Province

Stringing badminton racquets – Longmen Villagephoto credit: Alexandra Moss
Practically every manufactured item you buy in shops these days is “Made in China” or “Fabrique en Chine” but have you ever wondered where all these things are made?
If you’ve ever played the sport of Badminton, then the odds are pretty good that your badminton racquet was [...]

1 comment

Saudi Arabia: The Magic Kingdom

GUEST ARTICLE: You don’t go to The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a tourist. In fact, there’s no such thing as a tourist visa in Saudi. The only holiday makers are on their religious pilgrimage to Mecca for the Hajj. If you are not Muslim, the only way to get into the country is with [...]

15 comments

Hong Kong: at the Doorstep of China

GUEST ARTICLE: Hong Kong was the stop-over point for my trip to and from Europe so I was there for 2 days in September and 3 days in October.
Hong Kong Airport is just enormous. So big, in fact, that you need to catch a fast train from the arrival gates just to get to the [...]

10 comments

Istanbul, Turkey: Where East and West Meet

GUEST ARTICLE: To borrow a phrase from my old Roman Law lecturer, late on Friday during the Autumn of 2007, I arrived in Constantinople, or Istanbul as the Turks insist on calling it. Personally, I prefer Byzantium, simply because “Byzantine” is such a great adjective.
West
What would you expect to see from an Istanbul Hotel window? [...]

16 comments

Kopi Luwack : Extreme Coffee in Sumatra

It’s the most exotic, rare and expensive coffee in the world. Kopi Luwack which comes from the dung of the Common Palm Civet or Luwack is so rare some believe it doesn’t exist.
Much of the coffee which can sell for more than $50 dollars a cup in New York, Hong Kong or Tokyo has been [...]

2 comments