ROMAR TRAVELER ASIA

MALAYSIA’S ANG THONG NATIONAL PARK

Snorkeling, hiking, sea kayaking, diving, sailing and simply relaxing are the main activities to enjoy for visitors to the pristine islands of Ang Thong Marine Park.

Exploring MYANMAR by LongTail, Trishaw and Tuk-Tuk

World travelers multi-media provider Paul Ross and his wife explore a Myanmar (Burma) only recently welcoming tourism. They do so by employing a variety of vehicles that are not your average tour bus.

The Dao of Being Jewish: LESSONS from CHINA

Does the idea of Chinese Jews sound like an anachronism? The author came to Kaifeng in the Henan Province of China in search of a Jewish story and what she found was much more than she could have anticipated.

REFLECTIONS ON FINDING INNER PEACE in MYANMAR

Writer and lecturer Judith Fein and photographer Paul Ross learn about finding inner peace in Myanmar (Burma), a fascinating land just now coming out from the shadows of political oppression.

Houseboating in the Vail of Kashmir

The Nagen and Dal Lakes of Srinagar in the Vale of Kashmir were once the watering place of the Moghul Emperors of India. Once again luxurious houseboats ply these waters.

BEIJING: A Night at the Opera

“On stage you don't just see actors, but real warriors, emperors, dragons, demons, courtiers, all chameleons of an impertinent beauty”.

DAWAIPANI VILLAGE: Tranquility in the Indian Himalayas

'If you would love to find a quaint tranquil place in the hills where nature, people, animals and plantations are brought together harmoniously, then 'Dawaipani Village' has treasures to offer.

Mount Kailash Circuit: 'Parikrama' for the Adventurous soul

'Parikrama' is a term that describes the circuit around Tibet's Mount Kailash, believed to wash off the sins of a lifetime. It is a unique tour for adventurous travelers.

Getting to Know Them…
" / Experiencing Village Life in Vietnam

Just an overnight sleeper train ride away from Hanoi and located near the Chinese border town of Lào Cai, Sapa is one of Vietnam's unspoiled treasures.

THE INDIAN FESTIVAL OF HOLI: A Joyous Celebration of Life

Photographer Vishal Goyal's remarkable slide show marks the Hindu religious spring festival of HOLI, also called The Festival of Color, celebrating the joy of life.

IMPRESSIONS OF VIETNAM

A Vietnam experience should encompass both north and south. Here are impressions collected during a three-week tour with a group of five who said "yes" to whatever the guide proposed

Welcome to MYTHO CITY, Vietnam

MyTho City, is the real Vietnam. There are few Westerners here unlike the popular tourist destinations such as Ho Chi Minh City.

The Durbar Squares of Nepal

Nepal breathes heritage and lives history. It is a treasure trove of architectural marvels beginning with its three most famous durbar squares.

A SPECIAL FILM SHOWING "Where The Wild Pandas Are"

Noted nature film maker Kevin Freeny joins a very special tour that begins in the city of Xi'an and continues to visit the wild Giant Pandas of China's Foping Nature Preserve.

IT'S ALL ABOUT CHINA:
FOR THOSE READY TO EXPLORE THE HINTERLANDS

YUNNAN PROVINCE
Lijiang, the best preserved ancient town in China is located in Yunnan Province, and its old town has been listed as a World Cultural Heritage site by UNESCO. It is home to the Naxi people who preserve the world's only living pictograph language.

QINGHAI
Qinghai Province, China's "Green Island" is a vast and stunning landscape of majestic Himalayan mountains and endless grasslands populated by nomadic Tibetan farmers.

SICHUAN PROVINCE
Jiuzhaigou National Park containing turquoise lakes, giant Pandas and Tibetan villages is the geological and cultural gem of Sichuan Province, a region appropriately known as "the land of abundance".

SHAANXI PROVINCE
Xi'an City in China's Shanxi Province is considered to be the richest archaeological site in all of China and the location of one of the twentieth century's most spectacular finds, the buried terra-cotta army of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi.

MONGOLIA: Six Days in the Gobi Desert

The Gobi Desert has been described as one of the harshest landscapes on the planet.

KATHMANDU: Freak Street Comes of Age

The hippie allure Freak Street once had has faded. It is now a picturesque Nepalese street, attracting world travelers who seek a more authentic stay in Kathmandu.

ISTANBUL: Straddling Europe and Asia

Straddling West and East, Istanbul and Turkey are exciting, contradictory and enchanting.

Bhutan: The Last Untouched Himalayan Kingdom

MBhutan is now a parliamentary democracy. Still largely unblemished by Western ways, the country's well being (Gross National Happiness) has been established by its young king as the as the new standard for measuring GNP..

Myanmar - Purify The Soul with A Smile

Myanmar is under oppressive rule, but going there, it is good to remember that its government is not the ancient and historic culture or its beautiful, smiling people.

The Festival of Durga Puja: Good Overcomes Evil in India

Durga Puja is an annual Hindu festival observed in South Asia to celebrate the eternal battle of good over evil. It is the worship of the power of good which always overcomes evil.

The AJANTA CAVES of India

Recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, the Ajanta Caves contain some of the best masterpieces of Buddhist sculpture and painting in India, many dating from the 2nd century B.C.

Going Too Far: A Cycle Ride from the U.K. to India

Fearless Brit Danny Bent puts his school teacher life on hold and heads out across continents to India on his faithful bicycle.

KHURI VILLAGE / Rajasthan, India

Khuri is a village, surrounded by desert hills, in the Sikar district in Rajastan. It is located 40km southwest from the main city in the outskirts of Jaisalmer. Khuri is away from the masses of tourists, and away from the active touts trying to sell fancy camel safaris. Khuri gives opportunity to those seeking adventure in the desert with a personal touch..

THE HORNBILL FESTIVAL: Opening Doors to Nagaland

A remote corner of India, little known to the outside world, is opening to inspection by adventurous travelers during its annual Hornbill Festival.

NORTHERN LAOS: Blessed and Untamed

The road north from Vientiane to the royal city of Luang Prabang via the stunning mountains of Vang Vieng touches the true soul of this beautiful and captivating kingdom.

IMMORTAL BENARES

The cremation ghats of Benares may be the most pervasive impressions as you step into India's Holy City, but they are unavoidably there for you to accept as an unavoidable part of life.

Winter Season in South Korea

Saunas, Mountain Climbing and Catching Fish by Hand

Spring Season in South Korea

Cherry Blossoms, Bungee Jumping and Holy Birthdays

Summer Season in South Korea

Mud Festivals, Live Snacks, Beach Time and Holy Birthdays

Fall Season in South Korea

Surrealist Cities, Ancient Fortresses and the Fine Art of Fermented Cabbage

KHAO YAI NATIONAL PARK, Thailand

Khao Yai National Park, only a two-hour drive away from Bangkok, one of the world’s busiest cities, is a startling contrast with its natural habitat containing elephants, bears, tigers, deer and packs of wild dogs. This beautiful park is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site..

Trekking Nepal’s Langtang Valley

Three friends spend eight memorable days trekking through the Langtang Valley National Park in Nepal not far from the China border.

Trekking Kashmir’s Markha Valley

The author and three hiking companions trek the Markha Valley in the Hemis National Park, south of the Indus Valley, between the Stok Range and Zanskar in India’s Kashmir.

Shanghai World Expo: The Transformation of a City

With the fastest growing economy in the world and a tour of the Shanghai World Exposition grounds and surrounding area visitors can conclude that China has graduated from the ranking of a developing economy to that of a fully developed one.

Zanskar: Trekking India's Jammu & Kashmir

If you are a recluse you might feel at home in Zanskar, a portion of the Indian districts of Jammu and Kashmir that lies within India's northernmost state of Ladakh. It is cut off from the rest of India by a series of high ridges on the east, west and north and is reached only by a week long trek or a 14-hour drive along a rock strewn and potholed road. Zanskar lies within Kashmir, the territory disputed by India and Pakistan.

Living Village Life in India

The words 'Adventure Travel' usually bring to mind white water rafting, elephant rides or helicopter skiing. But there is another kind of adventurous travel that may be more meaningful for avid travelers who happen to be retired.

The Slow Life in OKINAWA

The bright night lights and busy work schedules and blaring car horns of urban Okinawa give voice to the industrious lifestyle of its cities, but there is another style of life in Japan’s southernmost island: Okinawa's Slow Life.

Closing Out the Year in Okinawa

The end of the old year and the beginning of the new is celebrated around the world by all cultures. For Christians it is a time to celebrate Christmas. Okinawa, the main island of the Ryukyu Islands of Japan has melded the festivities in its own unique way.

The Adivasi: Visiting India’s Indigenous Tribes

The truly indigenous peoples of India are known collectively as the adivasi, yet relatively few people outside of the province of Orissa have heard about these exotic people of India. They live less than 150 kilometers from tropical Visakhapatnam, a major port city on the east coast of India half. It is the perfect starting point for your journey into the India of old.

Varanasi: India’s City of Death and Life

Varanasi is one of the oldest cities in the world. The oldness is to be seen in the buildings, temples and statues, but more than that, the smell of oldness is in the streets. It is the city of death and life, of extremes, just like India itself. But at this place the soul of India comes at you more quickly and more intently.

Special MONGOLIA Issue:

Featuring 3 women who explore Mongolia in 3 unique ways:

• Living With the nomadic herdsmen of the steppes.

• Riding across Russia on the Trans Siberian Express.

• Driving to Mongolia across Europe and Central Asia.

Fall Season in South Korea:

Surrealist Cities, Ancient Fortresses and the Fine Art of Fermented Cabbage…

Trekking Thailand’s Rainforest

In the hills and mountains of Thailand thousands of people live traditional tribal lives. At least ten different ethnic groups still practice their ancient livelihoods, animistic religions and sometimes bizarre rituals and practices.

Romar Traveler's Angkor Wat Issue

• Angkor Wat, Cambodia’s magnificent archaeological park
• Siem Reap, the principal.gateway city to Angkor Wat.

The Food of Chiang Mai: From Market to Table

Long a backpacker haven, Chiang Mai, northern Thailand's largest city, has recently seen a surge of high end travel as luxury resorts have sprouted up in the hills outside of the city. To serve the interests of guests of these resorts, numerous culinary schools have been established that provide the opportunity to learn to create and appreciate northern Thai cuisine.

North Korea: One way in, One way out

North Korea, the Northern half of the Korean peninsula, is a rarely penetrated communist fortress, totally shielded from the modern world. Stripped of home comforts and under the watchful eye of the secret police, James Hendicott, a long time resident of Seoul, South Korea, enjoys a short, insightful but intimidating glimpse of life on the other side.

East Malaysia: Cat City, Bat Caves and Orang Utans

Sharing the island of Borneo with the Indonesian state of Kalimantan and the sultanate of Brunei, The East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak offer culture, adventure, and ecotourism along with Borneo’s remaining rainforests and wildlife.

Malaysia Celebrates A Divine Birth

Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur is a handsome metropolis with all the trimmings of a 21st century city. It also is the focal point in Malaysia of Thaipusam, a festival celebrating the birthday in the Hindu pantheon of Lord Subramaniam, also known as Muruga, the first-born son of the God Siva.

Vietnam/2008

VIETNAM is becoming a travel hot spot in spite of itself. It has no monuments or cultural sites on the scale of those you will find in Thailand and Cambodia. Ha Lon Bay, is its only major geographic attraction. It's not a place that will dazzle and amaze you. What Vietnam and its people will do is charm you.

Rajasthan: Rural and Regal

In Rajasthan Province, the opulence of the old India of the Maharajahs is in dramatic contrast to the simple existence of the Bishnoi peoples, whose lives have been attuned for millennia to the natural demands of the starkly beautiful but unforgiving desert land in which they live.

INDIA's Hill Stations

For the traveler new to India, a good starting place is in the northern highlands along the border with the Himalayan kingdoms and China. Once the watering places of the British Raj escaping the intense heat of the plains, the hill stations are a cool and pleasant area from which to begin a tour of this fascinating land.

GOA: There's Good News and Bad

Located on the southwest coast of the Indian subcontinent, Goa is a former Portuguese colony that became famous as a hippie hang out in the 60's and 70's and has recently become one of the largest charter tourist destinations in the world.

Sacred Rivers of India – The Ganges

Two photojournalists make an unforgettable pilgrimage along the length of India's two most sacred rivers, recording what they see with the penetrating eye of the camera lens. Their tale is also about the despoiling of these holy waterways by human ignorance and insensitivity.

Sacred Rivers of India – The Yamuna

Two photojournalists continue their unforgettable pilgrimage along the length of India's two most sacred rivers, recording what they see with the penetrating eye of the camera. Their tale is also about the despoiling of these holy waterways by human ignorance and insensitivity.

Kathmandu Today

Kathmandu, the capital of the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal has held exotic connotations for outsiders all through the ages. These connotations cover an amazingly wide range of fields; be it the landscape, religions, politics or even local handicrafts. Now, even in this once remote corner of Asia, times have changed.

Sri Lanka: After the Tsunami

Devastated by one of nature's most potent forces, Sri Lanka is rebuilding its damaged shores. One of this lovely island nation's most important sources of income is tourism, and its people want you to know that Sri Lanka's most interesting attractions are inland and were not directly affected in any way by the tsunami.

Kerala: Southern India's Eden

India's southernmost state of Kerala is known as "god's own country" to its inhabitants. It's difficult to disagree with that description.

The Forbidden City

No longer forbidden, the fabled home of China's emperors for five centuries is now called the Palace Museum. Its grandeur somewhat diminished, this magnificent city within a city remains a testament to the splendid civilization of ancient China and a contrast to the burgeoning industrial giant around it.

Sri Lanka: A Place Like No Other

Here is a country that is a microcosm of almost everything that can be found in Southeast Asia to interest tourism but without the negative sights that leave some travelers to the region in culture shock.

Xi'an: Home Of China's Clay Army

Xi'an (pronounced She-ahn) in central China, now a fairly modest city by Chinese standards, was the first dynastic capital of China and remained so for more than 1,000 years. Today it is possibly the richest archaeological area in all of China and the site of one of the twentieth century's most spectacular finds, the buried terra-cotta army of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi, by some accounts, the most powerful man in the world in his day.

Sabah: A Land Below The Wind

Malaysia is a land that stirs the imagination. On the Island of Borneo, 400 miles from the mainland, is the East Malaysian state of Sabah, known as the gateway to Borneo's wildlife. The reality matches the image, but changes are coming rapidly.

Brunei Darussalam: The Abode Of Peace

One of the last absolute monarchies on Earth, the Sultanate of Brunei is moving with style into the twenty-first century

India's Golden Triangle

There still is a place in the world where you may have to step past a genuine snake charmer and his bobbing hooded cobra as you get out of your taxi to enter your five-star Sheraton Hotel. That place is India, and, in an increasingly homogenized world, it's interesting to note that this country has not lost its exoticism as it acquires the trappings of the computer age.

Southern China's Goat City And Guilin

Old Canton (Guangzhou) has been going about its business and has been associated with trade routes passing through its province for centuries. The origins of Guangzhou in Southern China are not specifically known, but perhaps the fable of its beginnings recounted to every school child tells us something.