Travel To Asia

Rawalpindi

Rawalpindi was used as the provisional capital of Pakistan from 1959 to 1967, while construction was being completed in Islamabad. I still an interesting place to visit and take some excellent pictures back home.

islamabad

The capital of Pakistan, is in the north of the country; on the Potwar Plateau, near Rawalpindi.     The site of Islamabad was chosen to replace Karachi as the capital of Pakistan in 1959. Urban planners set to work, and the new city became the official capital in 1967.     A lot of the construction work wasn't completed until the mid-1970s though.     Of the modern buildings in Islamabad, the most notable are the National Assembly Building, and the home of the President; known as Pakistan House.     The Faisal Mosque, built in 1985, was designed to look like a desert tent. Its four surrounding minarets are all about 90 m high.

Chrysalis

Located upstairs from the Northfield Café, this shop has nice quality casual wear in natural fabrics such as silk and linen. You can also have your clothing custom made.

The Central Zoo

The mainly reason to ever visit this zoo is to get in a quick elephant ride. Of all the places in Nepal where you can ride one, this is the cheapest at only Rs100 ($1.50) per ride. If you want to take an elephant for a spin around town, you can even hire one for the reasonable fee of Rs1,000 ($15.15) per hour. The zoo itself is an incredibly depressing place, with animals kept in small, dirty, cement-floored cages.

Casa Del Art

Placed downstairs from the Festive Fare restaurant, this is one of the better thangka shops in Kathmandu's Durbar Square area. The quality is high and the prices are surprisingly reasonable.

A' Famosa

In 1808, the British decided to level it and folks in town were thrilled because "at last all the poor people of Malacca could become rich from the money they earn demolishing the Fort." But spades, picks and crowbars were useless against a fortress which reportedly had walls fifteen feet thick, measured 60 feet at its top and had foundations as deep. They had to use gunpowder. Stamford Raffles saved what tourists pay to see today.

Batu Ferringhi

It's hard to believe how this highly commercialised strip of scenic beachfront could have fared as a fabled haunt of the seventies' hippies. Any discernible concrete substances on the coast today are unmistakable edifices of mass tourism. A dozen or so five-star joints, and many more down the grades, betray over 20 years of package tourism designed specifically for Japanese travellers of the bubble economy era. A nocturnal bazaar of trinket shops, budget restaurants, rowdy bars and discos have now been added to the list of unforgettable experiences that the cant slogan promises. A must in Malasya

Lake Garden

This botanical garden, set amid lakes in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, is the city dweller's favourite rendezvous. Nestled deep in the city centre are 104 hectares of close-cropped lawns, undulating hills and carefully cultivated gardens. Placed near Jalan Parlimen, Lake Gardens offers locals and visitors a wide range of facilities such as playgrounds, jogging tracks, exercise stations and rowing boats.

Mount Ophir

Known as Gunung Ledang, this is a rugged mountain forest reserve. Clear trails leading to the  summit make it a popular school holiday excursion destination. At the base of the mountain is the Sagil Waterfall, a perfect picnic spot that is also good for a swim with its cool and cristal clear waters. A resort provides affordable chalets for extended stays, while amenities like resting sheds, changing rooms, campsites and food stalls are also available for the visitors.

Penang Bridge

This is the bridge that leads to the "Silicon Island" in geographical and economic terms. This 1985 impressive feat of 13.5km of engineering is the first land link to mainland Malaysia. Beyond an unabashed showpiece of progress, its economic significance manifests itself in the factories of top global IT names in the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Park, from which the Californian comparison is drawn.