This list is for you that have always been wanting to explore South Asia.

The list of course not a complete one, but it’s a start that can give you an idea where to go in South Asia.
South Asia region includes:

• Most of India
• Pakistan
• Bangladesh
• Nepal
• Bhutan
• Tibet
• Sri Lanka, and
• The Maldive Islands.

The major cities in South Asia: Mumbai (Bombay), Karachi, Kolkota (Calcutta), Chennai (Madras), Kathmandu, Lhasa, Dhaka, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Delhi, Lahore

PLACES TO VISIT

» KATHMANDU - Kathmandu and its sister-cities of Patan and Bhaktapur in the Kathmandu Valley are sometimes overlooked as travel destination because of all that Nepal has to offer. This capital city of Nepal and it is also the largest city in Nepal. It stands at an elevation of approximately 4,265 ft (1,300 m). It is an urban and suburban area of about 1.5 million inhabitants in the tri-city area in the Kathmandu Valley in central Nepal, along the Bagmati River.

• Kathmandu Wikipedia Link
• Kathmandu Official Website

» THE TAJ MAHAL - The Taj Mahal (sometimes called “the Taj”) is generally considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements of Indian, Islamic and Persian architectures. Located in Agra, India, with white marble brought from Rajasthan, the building took 22 years to construct between 1631 and 1654 by a workforce of 22,000.

• Taj Mahal Wikipedia Link
• Taj Mahal Wiki Travel Link
• Taj Mahal India.net

» GOLDEN TEMPLE is the focus of the Sikh religion. Its official name is Harimandir Sahib or Darbar Sahib (also Hari Mandir, Harimandar and other variants) is the most sacred shrine in Sikhism, located in Amritsar, Punjab, India. It is a place of peace and scenic beauty well worth seeing; but it also has a history of bloodshed and, possibly, a future that includes a renewed struggle for an independent Sikh state.

• Golden Temple Wikipedia Link

» GOA’S BEACHES - Of the 75 miles of coast line in the Indian State of Goa, over 50 miles of it is beach. Internationally renowned for its beaches, Goa is visited by hundreds of thousands of foreign and domestic tourists each year, and has become one of the most popular holiday destinations for European travellers. Warm, inviting, near-tropical beach. And while the rest of Goa - its culture, food, inland scenery, and cities - are all well worth visiting, Goa’s beaches are what makes the state one of India’s major tourist attractions.

• Goa Wikipedia Link
• Goa Wiki Travel Link
• Goa Government Site
• Goa Official Tourism Site
• Info about Beaches in Goa

» LHASA is the gate way to one of the most fascinating places on earth. Lhasa literally means “place of the gods”, although ancient Tibetan documents and inscriptions demonstrate that the place was first called Rasa, which means “courtyard place” or “goat place”. Its altitude is about 3,650 m (12,000 ft), making it one of the highest cities in the world. The city is home to about 200,000 inhabitants.

• Lhasa Wikipedia Link
• Lhasa Official Website

» MUSTANG - It is the Forbidden Kingdom. Or, at least it was forbidden until 1992 when the government of Nepal decided to reopen it to tourists — in very limited numbers. Once an independent kingdom, although closely tied by language and culture to Tibet. From the 15th century to the 17th century, its strategic location granted Mustang control over the trade between the Himalayas and India. By the end of the 18th century, the kingdom was annexed by Nepal.

• Mustang Wikipedia Link

» CHANG TANG WILDLIFE PRESERVE - also known as the Qinghai-Tibetan (Qingzang) Plateau, is a vast, elevated plateau in East Asia covering most of the Tibet Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province. It occupies an area of around 1,000 by 2,500 kilometers, and has an average elevation of over 4,500 meters. Called “the roof of the world,” it is the highest and biggest plateau in the world, with an area of 2.5 million square kilometers. Located in Northwestern Tibet, the Chang Tang Wildlife Preserve is the second largest wildlife preserve on Earth. Some 300,000 square kilometers of Tibet’s wilderness have been protected by the preserve since it was created in 1993.

• Chang Tang Wikipedia Links
• Chang Tang Tourism Page

More info from GoAsia.About.com: South Asia 101

Related Posts:

Videos are the next big thing on Internet, specially with the spread of broadband connection and the recent buy out of YouTube by Google for $1.65 billion on October 9, 2006.

YouTube are full with popular tv series, short funny clips, music videos and generally whatever people put and uploaded there, but one area that can be greatly benefit from video is travel.

People always want to see first the places they are going to go, the destinations that they plan to visit and the hotels they are going to stay.

Enter Travelistic, dubbed itself as “Videos for Travelers”, Travelistic is basically YouTube but for Travel Videos only.

There you can upload your videos, gives comment, rating etc.

You can embedd the videos to your blog or your website ala YouTube.

Other than user uploads travel videos they are also hosts professional content and tourist board videos.

So the next time you travel somewhere, create a video of the place (the new digital camera now all came with video recording function), upload it to Travelistic and put it on your blog so you don’t have to carry the bandwidth.

Here are direct links to some travel videos about Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia, Malaysia, Hong Kong and China
Here are two embedded videos:

Bus & Taxi in Bangkok, Thailand

Related Posts:

ROYAL FLORA RATCHAPHRUEK 2006, the International Horticultural Exposition for His Majesty the King will be held on 1 November 2006 - 31 January 2007 in Chiang Mai, Thailand to celebrate celebrate the most auspicious occasions of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 60th Anniversary or the Diamond Jubilee of His Majesty’s Accession to the Throne together with His Majesty’s 80th Birthday Anniversary.

The 3 months flower festival (92 days), a one-of-a-kind event, is being organized to present to the world the marvels of plants and breeds of over 2,200 species of tropical plants and flowers, in total of 2,500,000 plants.

Situated on 80 hectares of land at the Royal Agricultural Research Center in Mae Hia sub-district, Muang district, Chiang Mai Province in Northern Thailand, the royal festival will be joined by over 30 countries to participate in ‘Gardens for the King’ and expected to draw an audience of over 2 million visitors from around the world or approximately 20,000 to 50,000 visitors a day.

Highlights

“Gardens for the King” comprises of “International Gardens” and “Corporate Gardens” are the main attraction of the event, with other exhibitions competing for the visitors attentions mainly: Thai Tropical Garden, The Royal Pavilion and Orchid Pavilion

The area for International Gardens is allocated for exhibitions of national blossoms, blooms, and horticulture as well as the cultural arts and architecture of 30 countries, each garden will reflect a historic diplomatic, cultural and trade ties between nations, people or, where possible, royal families of the two countries.

Among the participating countries are:
Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Indonesia, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, China, Brunei, Turkey, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Bulgaria, Mauritania, Kenya, Nigeria, Gabon, Sudan, Morocco, Tunisia, South Africa, Burundi, Qatar, Iran, Yemen, Trinidad & Tobago, Canada

Ratchaphruek Flower
‘Ratchaphruek’ — the Golden Shower Tree (Cassia Fistula L.), is considered to be an auspicious tree.

The dazzling yellow flowers signify two out of the three most important institutions of the Thai nation – the national religion, Buddhism, and His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej who was born on Monday. Yellow is the color associated with Monday.

The shape of the pollen resembles the Thai numeral for nine; another fascinating characteristic that is symbolic of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Rama IX, the ninth ruler of the illustrious Chakri dynasty.

More information over at the official Website

• Royal Flora Ratchaphruek 2006

• Programs and Activities

• Visitor information

• International Conferences, Symposiums and Workshops

Related Posts:

In the night of 19 September 2006, the Royal Thai Army staged a coup against the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra started what now known as 2006 Thailand coup d’état.

More information about the coup and its progress can be read here [wikipedia]: 2006 Thailand coup d’état

What this coup means to the travel industry here in Thailand?

New York Times summed it up on this piece: Thailand Tourists: ‘Coup? What Coup?’

Basically saying that all are normal and work regulary as if there’s no coup in Thailand:

Coup? What coup? That seems to be the attitude among travelers and travel professionals as the recent political turmoil in Thailand appears to have had little or no effect on tourism there. After all, the embattled prime minister, who had led a grudgingly accepted social order campaign in 2001 that mandated a 1 a.m. closing time for most of Bangkok’s bars and nightclubs, was not very popular among the city’s residents.

In fact, when tanks rolled into Bangkok, Thais presented soldiers with flowers and candy, and many troops gladly posed for photographs with foreigners. In Phuket, unperturbed beachgoers sipped “coup cocktails” at beachside bars. And if the opening of a new international airport (Suvarnabhumi) outside Bangkok on is any indication, the provisional rulers seem intent on making sure that the tourism industry — which Thai officials say draws more than 11 million tourists a year — continues apace.

Complete article here: Thailand Tourists: ‘Coup? What Coup?’

Several pictures from flickr:

Related Posts: