Destination: Asia
Interview With Lawrence Osborne: ‘Bangkok Days’
by Frank Bures | 05.27.09 | 11:10 AM ET
Photo by Christopher Wise Frank Bures asks the author about why Thailand is so hard to capture in words and why its sex trade isn't really about sex
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Yahoo! BuzzColombo, Sri Lanka
by World Hum | 05.26.09 | 4:06 PM ET
REUTERS/David Gray Dancers dressed in traditional costumes perform during a street parade in central Colombo, part of continuing celebrations following the end of Sri Lanka's 25-year civil war
It’s a Reality TV World, After All
by Julia Ross | 05.26.09 | 12:49 PM ET
Is reality television a viable conduit for cross-cultural understanding? It’s an interesting question now that the world has gone reality TV-mad. Global versions of “Big Brother” have sparked discussions on everything from racism to AIDS, and wacky game shows continue to fascinate foreigners trying to understand Japan.
Karachi, Pakistan
by World Hum | 05.20.09 | 3:32 PM ET
REUTERS/Athar Hussain A man, his hair dyed with henna, sells mosquito nets on a side street in Karachi
From Scenic River to a Stream of ‘Black Gel’
by Joanna Kakissis | 05.20.09 | 1:31 PM ET
The great master of riverine prose, Norman Maclean, was haunted by the crystalline waters of Montana’s Blackfoot River. But the residents of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, are haunted by the stench of the Buriganga, a river so polluted by human and industrial waste that it’s turned into a dead stream of “black gel,” Reuters reports.
Drink a Microbrew, Save the Planet, Taste the Culture
by Joanna Kakissis | 05.19.09 | 1:29 PM ET
I’ve said before that travelers who want to walk the talk of environmentally responsible living must also seek out sustainable food (i.e. no Chilean sea bass!) when on the road. I’m adding locally brewed beer to my list.
Making and transporting beer doesn’t produce nearly as many carbon emissions as boutique wines, which are often flown by overnight air, says Pablo Paster in his column for Treehugger. Still, Paster advises eco-imbibers to drink a local brew over that beloved German beer.
China’s Sex Theme Park That Wasn’t
by Julia Ross | 05.18.09 | 12:50 PM ET
Maybe it was the red thong. Officials in Chongqing, China, ordered the country’s first-ever sex theme park—set to open this fall—demolished over the weekend after news of its opening drew global media coverage and embarrassment among locals.
The park—dubbed “Love Land”—promised the chance to see giant replicas of genitals and exhibits on sexual history, with the goal of improving sex education in a country where open discussion of the topic has traditionally been taboo.
Can Korean Food Break the ‘Top Five’?
by Julia Ross | 05.18.09 | 10:51 AM ET
When it comes to kimchi, the government of South Korea means business. The Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries recently announced a $40 million fund to enact its “Global Hansik” campaign to make Korean food one of the five most popular ethnic cuisines in the world.
The Ministry’s rather methodical strategy includes introducing Korean cooking classes at Cordon Bleu-affiliated culinary schools worldwide; promoting celebrity Korean chefs; and increasing the number of Korean restaurants overseas to 40,000 by 2017.
Kabul, Afghanistan
by World Hum | 05.15.09 | 9:42 AM ET
REUTERS/Ahmad Masood Boys fly a kite from a crumbling wall in Kabul
Karachi, Pakistan
by World Hum | 05.14.09 | 11:24 AM ET
REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro A man walks down Karachi's Clifton Beach, offering rides on his camel
Tokyo, Japan
by World Hum | 05.13.09 | 3:03 PM ET
REUTERS/Issei Kato Visitors watch as Pacific bluefin tuna swim in a fish tank at Tokyo Sea Life Park
The Heat Seeker: Spicier, Please!
by Alison Stein Wellner | 05.13.09 | 10:34 AM ET
iStockphoto Alison Stein Wellner likes her food hot and spicy. To find out how hot and spicy, she searched the world for heat. Part three of five: Into Kumarakom.
A Poet’s Last Words: Haikus for the Traveler
by Julia Ross | 05.12.09 | 12:05 PM ET
Sad news from the world of poetry: University of Wyoming professor and award-winning poet Craig Arnold, who disappeared last month while traveling in Japan on an arts fellowship, is now presumed dead. Japanese rescue teams have called off their search on the assumption that Arnold fell from a cliff on the volcano where he was last seen hiking.
I’m not a huge poetry reader and hadn’t heard of Arnold before his disappearance made the news in recent weeks, but I was charmed when I read some of his recent blog entries. The haikus he wrote to accompany his posts—some lighthearted, others contemplative—are a nice way to chronicle the Japanese experience and now resonate as the last impressions of a traveling poet.
The Heat Seeker: ‘This Raita Will Be Your Savior’
by Alison Stein Wellner | 05.12.09 | 10:46 AM ET
Alison Stein Wellner likes her food hot and spicy. To find out how hot and spicy, she searched the world for heat. Part two of five: Getting Hot in Mumbai.
Video: Alison Stein Wellner: The Heat Seeker
by World Hum | 05.11.09 | 11:16 AM ET
Alison Stein Wellner traveled around the world to eat the hottest food she could handle, a quest she chronicled for World Hum