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

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For majority of people, Asia is just a big foreign continent. The Oriental, the Far East, but what exactly to go if you want to visit “Asia”?

Check out this list of 12 Destinations in Asia that make the continent what it is.

1. Guangzhou, China. To the British it was Canton. The city is over 2200 year old. It is littered with temples and pagodas - and with old markets and new shopping malls. If Shanghai is the Whore of the East, this is where she bought her dress.

2. Goa, India. On this former Portuguese colony, 75 miles of its coast line, over 50 miles of it, is beach.

3. Suzhou, China. Perhaps the most beautiful place in China. Suzhou. The city could remind a Westerner of Venice. Canals and street are interlaced.

4. Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It has become famous in recent years for its seven star hotel, perfect beaches, and relaxed atmosphere.

5. Beijing. Possibly the most visited city in Asia. Places to see in Beijing:

• The Confucius Temple
• The Summer Palaces
• Tiananmen Square
• The Ming Tombs
• The Western Qing Tombs
• The Great Wall

6. Xi’an, China. Six thousand year of history. And perhaps most famous for the Terracotta Warriors discovered there in 1974.

7. Henan Province, China. The cradle of Chinese civilization. The attractions in Henan are numerous. Among them:

• The Shaolin Temple
• Dengfeng and the Songshan Mountains
• The Longmen Grottoes
• Kaifeng: Memorial Temple of Lord Bao, the Iron Pagoda (Tie Ta) and Xiangguo Temple.
• Luoyang: Guanlin Temple, Ancient Tombs, and the White Horse Temple.

8. Tibet. The roof of Asia. Tibet’s capital, Lhasa, is a fascinating city of history and culture.

9. Bangkok, Thailand. Its reputation for fast living combine with traditional values and easy atmosphere has made it an exciting place to visit. The world comes here to wheel and deal, to shop and relax.

10. Angkor, Cambodia. The great temple-city complex of Cambodia is bigger in reality, the complex alone covers some 500 acres of land and is rich enough to spend much more than a single day at without actually wasting your time.

11. Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam. Famous for slim young girls walking elegantly down the avenues in the white ao dai suits unique to Vietnam - pants with a knee length shirt that has a slit up to the belt line. Despite all the things to do, it is the people, the hospitality, and the street scenes that make this city an essential Asian experience.

12. Bali, Indonesia. The island is Asia in a capsule in many ways: Idyllic beaches and lofty mountains together in one package. Bali is a Hindu culture left over from the days before Indonesia because the world’s most populous Islamic country.

For more destinations and travel guide of Asia, check out this page from Wikitravel Asia.

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KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Low-cost carrier AirAsia hopes to launch more flights to China and subsequently to India as part of its ambitious plans to become an Asia-wide airline.

Southeast Asia’s most profitable budget carrier is also looking at forming new joint-ventures in the region to boost revenue, group deputy chief executive Kamarudin Meranum told AFP over the weekend.

“We continue to talk to various parties to explore the possibility of establishing joint-ventures,” Kamarudin said.

Kamarudin said Indochina countries and the Philippines were on AirAsia’s radar to form joint-ventures.

“From our experiences in Thailand and Indonesia, we can set up joint-ventures fairly quickly.

“But it must fit into our strategic plan to make AirAsia become an Asian carrier and to provide easy and affordable access for people to travel in the region,” he said.

The Malaysia-based AirAsia has already managed 49 percent-owned joint venture low-cost carriers in Thailand and Indonesia since 2004.

Kamarudin declined to state with which Indochina country — Cambodia, Laos or Vietnam — the carrier would establish a joint-venture.

“In any joint-ventures, we will try to retain as much stake as allowed by the law of the country without contravening the air services agreement,” he said.

The AirAsia official also declined to comment on a report in January that the carrier had partnered with privately-owned Spring Airlines in hopes of tapping China’s budget travel market.

Kamarudin said with the arrival of new Airbus 320 aircraft, AirAsia hoped to increase both flights and frequency to China and other destinations.

“Our Thai hub will cover China and may look at the possibility of going to the Indian subcontinent of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

“It is a natural plan of action to capture the leisure and business market in that region,” he said.

Kamarudin said AirAsia Thailand hoped to mount daily flights from the Thai capital Bangkok to Xiamen in southeast China, up from four flights a week now.

“We want to have a minimum of one flight a day to all our destinations. From there we will increase the frequency,” he said. Besides Xiamen, AirAsia flies to the southern Chinese territory of Macau.

But with the arrival of the A320s, airline officials said AirAsia would consider flying from Kuala Lumpur to China’s southern cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen, which neighbours Hong Kong.

Kamarudin, however, said AirAsia now faced a shortage of aircraft but when more of the A320 planes arrive, “we will increase the frequency and routes.”

Since last December, AirAsia has taken delivery of five of the 100 A320 aircraft it had ordered. By end of 2006, it will have 15 in service along with the Boeing 737-400s that would be slowly phased out.

AirAsia, which has welcomed the Malaysian government’s domestic rationalisation plan, Friday said that it would hold talks with flag carrier Malaysia Airlines to acquire its 737-400 aircraft and staff.

AirAsia on Thursday secured approval to fly most of Malaysia’s domestic routes.

Under the rationalisation programme, AirAsia would operate all secondary domestic services while also operating on perhaps the five-10 busiest routes with Malaysia Airlines.

The government has ordered both AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines to identify and workout the division of routes by March 27.

Malaysia Airlines has 39 737-400 aircraft which are primarily used for domestic and regional routes.

AirAsia was launched as a budget carrier in December 2001 with just two aircraft. It offers more than 100 domestic and international flights to Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Source: Yahoo! News

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Nepal is a mecca for trekkers, with the world’s 12 highest peaks and unparalleled combination of natural beauty attracting them. While trekking on these paths, you will come across many people and places and get to see their way of life and live a part of their culture.

If you came overland from India by plane, these flight offer a panoramic view of the Himalaya, in just one hour.

During the flight you will see the mightiest Himalayas including Shisha Pngma (8,013m.), Dorje Lakpa (6,966m.), Phurbi-Ghyachu, Choba- Bhamre (5,933m.), GauriShankar (7,134m.), Melungtse (7,023 m), Chugimago 6,297 m), Numbur (6956 m), Karyolung (6511m), Cho-Oyu (8,201m.), Gyachungkang (7,952 m), Pumori (7,161m), Nuptse (7,855m), Mt.Everest (8,848+2m) - the highest peak in the world (also known as ‘Sagarmatha‘ in the Nepali Language) and many more, including a glimpse of Kanchanjunga.

Trekking Seasons:
Although it is possible to trek at any time of the year in Nepal, the main season begins in Autumn (October and November), when there’s minimal rainfall and crystal-clear, mountain views.

During the Winter (December to Febuary), it’s freezing above 4,000 metres and the high passes may be snowbound. Winter is an ideal season for a lower trek.

March to May marks the beginning of the Spring trekking season, which peaks around mid-April.

Other options for trekking:

Heli Trekking:
While the whole point of trekking is using your feet, not everyone can climb the heights to appreciate wonderful, panoranic views of the Himalayas.

For those who are restricted by time (or other constraints) from going trekking, helicopters fly swiftly into the core of any trekking zone.

Ballooning:
Ballooning is quite a popular sport in Nepal and a good enough reason to view nature at its best, from a height of 1,200 to 1,500 metres.

From this altitude, the entire Himalayan range will be in sight, with 360 degrees of visibility and fantastic downward views of the Kathmandu valley itself.

For more information on visiting Nepal, visit Himalayan Glacier Travel Advice.

Source: Himalayan Adventures in Nepal

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New York Times Editors’ picks for the most intriguing places in the world to go in 2006 is listed here: The Destinations of 2006

From the list, destinations in Asia:

• China: Friendlier Skies, With Nonstop Service
• Himalayas: Teeing Off Amid Peaks at 8,000 feet
• India: Exploring Beyond Kerala
• Kuala Lumpur: Out of the Shadows

travel, world, china, himalaya, india, malaysia, kuala lumpur

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