Awesome Asia

It’s a place we all dream of – a remote island miles from civilization, the sun, sand and sea and all the time in the world to do just nothing! The tiny and remote Drawaqa island in the Yasawas group of Fiji is just the place to relax and unwind. The Barefoot Lodge on this island is perhaps the closest one can get to nature when on a holiday and it offers a genuine Fijian island village experience. No electricity, running water, phones or TV to distract you. The only sound you hear is the gentle lapping of the water and a soft wind blowing in the coconut palms. Accommodation is simple and the only way to reach the island is by ship or boat.

The roof of the world is back on the tourist itinerary with China reopening Tibet to foreign tourists three months after violent riots rocked this Himalayan region. A note on the tourism bureau’s web site announcing the lifting of the ban states ‘Tibet’s society is stable and harmonious, its markets bustling, and its environment beautiful.’ But there are still signs of nervousness and the Tibetan activists abroad are not a happy lot.

The Chinese government had banned foreign tourists visiting Tibet following violent anti-government riots ahead of the Olympics in Lhasa and the nearby provinces, which have a predominantly Tibetan population. The restrictions were put, according to government officials, for the safety of foreign tourists and journalists.
The Chinese reaction was swift with troops sent in to stifle the demonstration. They performed drills in town squares and set up checkpoints around sensitive areas including Buddhist monasteries, which were surrounded by security forces and closed off.

In an astonishing revelation, the archaeologists have unearthed the most ancient and long ago buried faith and spirituality. We are talking about the ‘World’s First Church’ that has been unearthed recently by the archaeologists, as reported by The Jordan Times. The excavated church dates back to as far as 33 AD i.e. nearly 2,000 years back. It was located underneath the Saint Georgeous Church, near the Jordanian border with Syria, which in itself is believed to date back to 230 AD.

The country best known as the hotbed of religious zealotry, the hater of the west and the sponsor for terrorism, Iran earlier known as Persia is located in the Middle East between Iraq and Pakistan. The string of controversies attached to it discourages about a 5,000 British tourists from visiting it every year amounting to a big loss for the nation in terms of foreign exchange that can be generated by tourism. The vast aesthetic architectural structures spread across Iran lures many but the fact that it is an Islamic republic and highly controversial puts it behind on the to-visit places list of travelers. However, a visit to this place of historical treasures is a must and promises to be extremely satisfying.

Valentine’s or not, chocolates are a way of life! While some get their fix by sipping hot-chocolate or popping exotic chocolates, Japanese get their high by soaking in hot chocolate tubs! Couples in Hakone Hot Spring Resort have their sweet melting moments in a warm bath filled with flavored chocolate bath powders.The staff pour jugs of real creamy chocolate to indulge the couples. While aphrodisiac chocolate baths works its charm on the couples, the anti-oxidant property of chocolate leaves them glowing. The resort is not off-the-limits to singles or children; every one is welcome to jump into the chocolate bandwagon. The creamy chocolate is edible, so the clients can have their chocolate and eat it too. That’s what I call calorie-free indulgence, yummm!

Now, you get your fix by watching Japanese having their sweet moments in the hot chocolate tub!

Source: 3yen

Now it is the turn of China to register its name in the race of famous buildings and construction of new and different designed structures. The architecture group, Atkin has uniquely designed and constructed water filled quarry in Songjiang, China and has won the first prize in an international design competition. The quarry has a beautiful 400bed resort hotel with all the natural beauty around. The whole construction is done underground with all the facilities along with the water sports, restaurants, cafes etc.

I remember my dad dangling fried snacks in the rat-trap every night and showing off his prized catch to excited kids before throwing them on the roadside for the crows to savor them. Had he known that rodent dishes were in demand, he would have made a fortune by now!

If you have a taste for weird and exotic food and are bored with the regular meaty fare you get in the eateries, then you must try the exotic rat dishes served in one of the two Taiwan village restaurants. The Ho-la diner and Jiashing restaurant together dish out about 18 kg of rat fare every day. While Ho-la serves ten varieties of rat platters including rat soup and battered, black pepper-dipped, deep-fried rat, Jiashing serves 12 rat platters, focusing on one similar to the more common kung-pao chicken.

Rat meat became popular among people who could not afford poultry or meat way back in 1940’s and the flavor seems to have caught on with fervor. Wait, don’t smell a rat yet; the rats that are hunted grow up on crops from the surrounding fields and are not from the sewerage and drains. So, you can safely conclude that were hale and hearty before they reached your platter! The place is so much in demand at the meal times that you have to book table hours in advance if you don’t want to wait.

When William Blake penned down about ‘Tiger’, he did say:

Tiger! Tiger! Burning bright,
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

People can interpret those lines in any form of philosophy or psychology, but the simple matter of fact is that, probably Blake was also marveling at god’s creation by looking at this powerful and splendid creature. Not for one moment did the poet imagine it to be weak, loving or tender. It was always a symbol of force, might and all conquering raw passion and energy. So, very rightly, Blake says that it is a creature to roam with majesty ‘in the forests of the night’.

But then the ‘Tiger Temple’ in Thailand is a place where you find these mighty creatures roam with unabated freedom among human company. Tigers in this temple have been bred by the monks and have always spent their lives in the quarry that is adjacent to the temple. While the whole thing started way back in 1999 when the temple found an abandoned tiger cub, it slowly lead to the locals giving the temples a few more cubs that were found in the surrounding forests. Now the temple has nearly 35 tigers, many of them full grown and as powerful as any.

France has been transported to China, with the Eiffel Tower and Even Napoleon Bonaparte. No, I am not rumbling...tourists visiting the renowned snow carving festival in the Sun Island in Harbin, a city in northeast China, would feel just that.

The festival goes back a long time. It was started off in 1963 and rejuvenated in 1985 following the cultural revolution in China. Hundreds and thousands of wander-thirsty tourists throng the festival every time, braving the sub-zero temperature.

The theme of this year’s ice festival happens to be France. The culture and history of France has been etched on snow with unparalleled skill, marked by incredible accuracy, down to the minutest intricacy. The snow replica of the Eiffel Tower looms high and proud, while Napoleon Bonaparte on his horse looks as powerful and vigorous as he must have when he ruled. A larger-than-life sculpture inspired by Rodin sits contemplatively, dwarfing all those in the vicinity.

It is the most renowned and looked for global contest that celebrates individual and team athletic excellence. Preparations of the next edition of Olympics, scheduled to take place in Beijing from August 14-24, 2008 is starting to get underway. In a bid to encourage and participate in the spirit of the games’ languages abroad, an non-profit organization based in the US has organized a unique volunteering programme. Titled ONE WORLD, YOUR ADVENTURE language touring package, the programme is designed for those who would like to be in Beijing during the lead up excitement of the Olympics.

Who says ‘Living in caves’ was outdated? The phrase that suggests that you are not in sync with the times, took a new meaning when a cave was literally transformed into a school.

Mid-Cave Primary School is aptly named so because it lies in between two caves is situated in a poverty-stricken village in Ghinzou province, Southwest China. The people found an innovative way to make the best use of nature’s resources when they lacked funds to build a school for children. They turned one of the three caves nestled on a mountain into a school so that their kids are not denied the basic education.

The kids have to spend over six hours trekking up and down the hills in order to quench their thirst for knowledge. Could there be a better example of ‘Practical Environmental Sciences’?

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Cambodia’s magnificent temples in Angkor Wat are globally renowned and attract more visitors than most other locales in the country. But what is virtually unknown is the clean, unspoilt, golden and idyllic beaches of the Buddhist country.

The best beach in the country is perhaps at Koh Tonsay, where a midnight Swim is like taking part in your own personal light-show. The island sited just off Kep, south of Cambodia has crystal clear seas around it. Once you get into the water you are in for a treat of fireworks, marine life flits past you like a school of fireflies under the water. Biologically speaking it is just phosphorescence emitted by plankton on contact. The best draw of this wonderful tropical island is its solitude.

The market is almost full of toys made out of plastic, but Japanese traditional toys still make their mark. They are charming and they have been used as toys for centuries in Japan. The toys are made of wood and are colorful. This beautiful art has been practiced since the 18th and 19th Century.

Takeji Nakagawa of take-g toys uses this art and mingles it with his own innovation to create beautiful and modern toys. Like all cultural art, Kyuodo Gangu has been confined to Japan and its surroundings only. Some people argue that the reason behind this is the conscious efforts of traditional thinking people.

When you visit Sri Lanka, you are pretty much touring a war zone. At least that’s the impression that some tourists like Mian Ridge get. As you sip your drink, you might be greeted by a couple of soldiers on there gun boat, giving you the feeling of being in a war zone.

With the ongoing battle between the military and the Liberation of Tamil Tigers Elam (LTTE), it is a full on Civil war like situation in Sri Lanka. Successive check points on the road are just an added hassle for the tourists visiting the region.

Forget fine dining, weird dining is the ‘IN’ thing today! Isn’t it boring to eat in the same old formal décor where you expect a boring routine and same old menu? Well, not anymore, entrepreneurs are finding ways to attract clients by creating themed restaurants that could be way beyond your imagination.

A hospital themed restaurant that recently opened in Xinzhu, Taiwan, attracts lots of diners there and mind you, none of the diners are sick. The restaurant is a complete hospital with waitresses in nurse’s apparel and the décor in pristine white, complete with x-rays and prescriptions adorning the wall. The theme is not just about the décor, you get served on the hospital beds with drinks and beverages served from a vat suspended from the ceiling.

Now that you are in it, you might as well play along being a patient, so request for a wheel chair to be wheeled around to your table by the nurse or opt for crutches and walk to your table as the nurse-waitress helps you along. At your table, request for beverages to be injected into your mouth with syringes!

Oh yes! You can rush into one of the ‘emergency rooms’ (aptly named so) in case you need a wash room.

Hopefully, you don’t fall really sick while you try ‘Sick Dining’!

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