Colonial charm and Southeast Asian mystery come together in Myanmar, finds Brett Atkinson.

Belinda Merhab travels to an ashram in Northern India to find herself, but discovers something else entirely.

Immerse yourself in the sacred, inky chaos of the Ganges River in Varanasi, writes Heather Ramsay.

Fondly described as 'the king of the roads' in the subcontinent, the Hindustan Ambassador is on its way to extinction, writes Peter Calder.

The hairs on Jim Eagles' neck prickle at the tomb of a terrifying Uzbek conqueror.

Pakistan has test-fired a ballistic missile able to carry a nuclear warhead to every part of India. Yesterday's test was another escalation in Islamabad's effort to keep pace with its neighbouring rival's formidable military advancements.

It is spring in Tokyo, but Toshiko Takagi cannot bear to see office workers sitting beneath cherry blossom in the parks that dot the Sumida district where she lives.

To repent for his misdeeds, Tibetan monks tell Jim Eagles he must do circuits of Labrang Monastery for about two months. He makes a start.

From architectural wonders to nature reserves, excellent restaurants, its shopping scene — and even a Grand Prix circuit — there's plenty to wow tourists in Singapore, discovers Sam Wylie-Harris.

Liz Light walks the Great Rann of Kutch.

In a style that acknowledges the extravagant comforts of early 20th-century travel, Sarah Marshall sips prosecco on a train trip from Bangkok to Vientiane.

In Dubai, Peter Calder looks on enviously as the well-heeled browse among $12,000 bottles of wine.

Thirty years after he fell in love with Japan, author Edmund de Waal returns to take his family on an intense tour of its urban and rural charms.

Gayle Dickson stays at The Chedi Muscat, Oman.

Weird adventures with mushrooms and a winery visit are unexpected surprises for Pamela Wade in Thailand.

An absent millionaire's place can be your home away from home, writes Tamara McLean.

On the island of Maafushivaru, in the Maldives, Sam Wylie-Harris and her husband savour a holiday befitting a king and queen.

Turkey's largest city is a place of grandeur and contradiction, writes Nicola Lamb.

Modern history is a presence in Turkey that confronts visitors, writes Brett Atkinson. For Kiwis, though, the welcome is always warm.

A couple and their toddler who survived the crash of a TransAsia Airways plane in Taiwan changed seats just before the plane took off.

"This pilot decided to land in a narrow river without buildings because there is a residential area nearby. He did all he could do."

Katelyn Catanzariti enjoys Thailand far more now than she did as a backpacker.

Malaysian officials finally call disappearance of the aircraft an "accident". But this means that there are many things we will - probably - never know.

In the midst of one of the world's greatest metropolises, Sarah MacDonald goes on a quest for the ultimate urban sanctuary - Tokyo's natural hot spring.

The hunt for the man-eating Komodo, writes Rachel Williams, makes for one heart-stopping cruise excursion.

Vo Van Duong's bamboo and coconut leaf house looks much like others deep in Vietnam's Mekong Delta.

So far, a good number of Chinese families have been less than enthusiastic about the partial relaxation of the one-child policy. Why?

Luxury meets location at Singapore's Four Seasons, as Grant Bradley discovers.

Singapore thrives on its fascinating mix of races and customs, writes Tori Mayo.

Divers have retrieved a black box from the crashed AirAsia flight from the bottom of the Java Sea, officials say.