In the past few years, Singapore has gone through a kind of renaissance, it was once considered quite dour, but now offers a wide choice of activities both familiar and exotic. The arts are booming, the theaters are vibrant and the nightlife is pumping. Locals enjoy a high standard of living, and ‘fun’ is always on the agenda. Outdoor activity is not something that’s immediately associated with this small south-east Asian nation, but the Hast Coast Park, with its 11-kilometer stretch of beach and parkland is perfect for rollerblading, jogging, …

In the cold, dusky dawn outside the old British Consulate at Kashgar, in Western China, pony carts slowly gather, their bells lightly jingling. Street sweepers work in the moonlight, stirring up a whirlwind of dust as the first cry of the muezzin sounds from Id Kah Mosque. Suddenly there’s a burst of firecrackers, and a lorry packed with boxes lurches onto the street. The lorry is bound for Pakistan. It’s a 400 kilometer journey from this remote town in Xinjiang Province to the Khunjerab Pass, at 4,800 meters the highest …

When I think of Tuscan hill towns and the countryside surrounding them, an ideal stretch of roadway comes to mind. Off to the left is row after row of gnarled olive trees, limbs spread in arthritic helter-skelter, to the right, vineyards neat and laden with grapes. Dirt roads, white as chalk, run cursively through dry grasses and fields of grain. In the middle distance, upon one of those soft rolling hills that are verdant in the spring and sere by August, there is a straight line of dark cypresses marking …

Taj Mahal, a monument of love between a beautiful queen and a great Mughal emperor. It is no ordinary monument of love. It is one of the seven wonders of the world. A colorful brochure of Taj Mahal says: “Before she died, Mumtaz Mahal made Shah Jahan promise that he would build a tomb that would remind the world of their great love.” Many people have visited the great Taj and have written volumes on its majestic beauty and its architectural wonder. The many expert tourist guides who take tourists …