Travel Guide Asia
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From the vast frozen stretches of Siberia to the steamy jungles of Borneo and the dramatic peaks of the Himalayas in the northern part of the Indian sub-continent or the vast deserts of the Arabian Peninsula, Asia is a diverse region that defies categorisation. Modern cities like Tokyo, Shanghai and Singapore herald a growingly urban landscape, but this move towards modernisation is negotiated with the desire to maintain cultural tradition.
The Asian land mass is huge and with almost 45 million square kilometres it covers around 30% of the world's land area (just under 9% of the total surface of the planet). This section focuses on the area most travellers know as Asia, not the Middle East and Europe, which many geographers consider part of greater Asia or the Eurasian continent. The Asian land mass goes from the frozen dry Arctic in Siberia to the lush and wet jungles of Indonesia and Malaysia. Most of Northern Asia is plains and steppe that gave birth to many amazing empires like the Mongolian Empire. Between North and Central Asia are the Gobi and Taklaman deserts, the latter bordering the Tibetan Highplains. Central Asia is a series of high mountain ranges like the Himalayas, Tianshan and the Hindu Kush with deep depressions that stab way below sea level, making for some very remote cultures and people.
Further south are mountains covered with dense jungles, home to fascinating peoples that live along side wild elephants, tigers and rhinos, although not always in a good way given the extinction of the Java and Bali tiger. Kanha and Bandhavgarh National Parks in India are two of the best parks to see the great Bengal tiger in the world. Asia's geography gives birth to some of the most densely populated places on earth and some places that see a person once every few hundred years. The diversity on this land mass allows any traveller to find what they want.
|Central Asia||Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan|
|East Asia||China (including Hong Kong, Macau and Tibet), Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan|
|South Asia||Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives Republic, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka|
|Southeast Asia||Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vietnam|
|West Asia (Main article: Middle East)||Bahrain, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, State of Palestine, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen|
|Brunei||Bandar Seri Begawan|
(including Hong Kong and Macau)
Note: For countries in West Asia, see main article: Middle East
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Asia is home to some of the largest and fastest growing cities in the world. Many of these cities have upwards of 15 or 20 million people living in or around them. It is expected that in China alone during the next 15 years, about 150 cities will have an additional 2 million inhabitants each! A visit to a massive Mega-Asian city can be a bit overwhelming especially on a first trip. Although seeing that many people living, working and operating in such a close area is truly stunning. Many of the cities have great public transportation systems in them making it easy to get around. Here is a list of some of the major cities in Asia:
See also: Famous Landmarks
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How do you create a short list of the most amazing landmarks on the largest continent and one of longest inhabited places on earth? Asian landmarks range from modern buildings to ancient temples, some abandoned and some that have been used for thousands of years. Then on top of the human accomplishments are some of the most stunning natural beauty the world has ever seen. Therefore no matter where you visit in Asia there is some sort of landmark to be experienced. Here is a short list of just a fraction of what Asia has to offer:
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Asia is one of the most popular continents for travellers and as a result, flight connections to other areas are extremely good, especially to India, South East Asia, China and Japan, which all have direct flights from Europe, North America and Australia. There are few, if any, ferry options to get to Asia from North America or Australia, other than hoping for a ride on a cargo boat or yacht. Popular overland routes usually start from Europe, either through Russia by Trans-Siberian Railway towards Mongolia and China (the northern route) or by taking the popular overland route from Istanbul through Turkey and Iran to India (southern route).
These language phrasebooks were created by Travellerspoint members to help travellers pick up some basic phrases, grammar and pronunciation skills before their trip:
Find out about contributing to or starting a new phrasebook on our project page: Project:Language phrasebooks.
Ask balhannahrise a question about Asia
Have travelled Japan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore and would like to help with travel questions.
Ask vanbest a question about Asia
I spend 8 month backpacking in Asia, Nepal - India - Sri lanka - Malaysia - Thailand - Cambodia - Laos - Vietnam - Indonesia - China - South Korea - Japan - Phillipines - Mongolia - Russia Kazakhsthan.
I can advise lets say pretty much about anything usefull you need to know, local transportaion, connection between countries, safety, general questions, etc
Ask Degolasse a question about Asia
My interest tends to lie in India, where I spent half a year travelling in 2004. I love to talk about it, so if you got some question, send me a message.
I have also travelled to alot of Southeast Asia (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and China)on a few different trips. Though I'm sure my info on accomidation and stuff is out of date, I can give lots of advice on the highlights and what to see and do.
Ask onofigor a question about Asia
Seasoned traveller. Going overseas twice yearly
Ask anuj1975 a question about Asia
Hi...I have travelled extensively in India and would love to share my experiences , give any suggestions....whatever you want to know of this beautiful country.....
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