Showing results for "William" in Asia

It was 1956, and Eric Newby was earning an improbable living in the chaotic family business of London haute couture. Pining for adventure, Newby sent his friend Hugh Carless the now-famous cable - CAN YOU TRAVEL NURISTAN JUNE? - setting in motion a legendary journey from Mayfair to Afghanistan, and the mountains of the Hindu Kush, northeast of Kabul. Inexperienced and ill prepared (their preparations involved nothing more than some tips from a Welsh waitress), the amateurish rogues embarked on a month of adventure and hardship in one of the most beautiful wildernesses on earth.

Here is William Dalrymple's highly praised and greatly entertaining account of his 1986 trip made while a student at Cambridge, which retraced Marco Polo's route across land from Jerusalem to Xanadu. With him, he took a phial of Holy Oil, 600 pounds and Laura until Lahore, and Louisa from there to Xanadu.

On his 44th birthday, Eric Newby sets out on an incredible journey: to travel the 1,200-mile length of India's holy river. In a misguided attempt to keep him out of trouble, Wanda, his lifelong travel companion and wife, is to be his fellow boatwoman. Their plan is to begin in the great plain of Hardwar and finish in the Bay of Bengal, but the journey almost immediately becomes markedly slower and more treacherous than either had imagined - running aground 63 times in the first six days.

Take a trip to old Japan with William Scott Wilson as he travels the ancient Kiso Road, a legendary route that remains much the same today as it was hundreds of years ago. The Kisoji, which runs through the Kiso Valley in the Japanese Alps, has been in use since at least 701 CE. In the 17th century, it was the route that the daimyo (warlords) used for their biennial trips - along with their samurai and porters - to the new capital of Edo (now Tokyo).

In 1983, Ma Jian turned 30 and was overwhelmed by the desire to escape the confines of his life in Beijing. Deng Xiaoping was clamping down on 'Spiritual Pollution'; young people were rebelling. With his long hair, jeans and artistic friends, Ma Jian was under surveillance. One day he bought a train ticket to the westernmost border of China and set off in search of himself.

In 1976 James Crowden left his career in the British army and travelled to Ladakh in the Northern Himalaya, one of the most remote parts of the world. The Frozen River is his extraordinary account of the time he spent there, living alongside the Zangskari people, before the arrival of roads and mass tourism. James immerses himself in the Zangskari way of life, where meditation and weeklong mountain festivals go hand in hand, and silence and solitude are the hallmarks of existence.

This is probably Madame Blavatsky's most listenable book, usually published under the title From the Caves and Jungles of Hindostan. It contains much of her spiritual travels throughout India with a number of keen observations. In many ways, this is a pioneering work by a feminist intellectual way ahead of her time.

India is one of the oldest places to inhabit civilization, with a history dating back thousands of years. Since time immemorial, people have visited this country for various reasons - to work, shelter, tourism, spiritual uplifting and the like. India is surrounded by the great Himalayas in the north, Arabian Sea on the West, Indian Ocean in the South, and the Bay of Bengal in the East. India is a very diverse country in terms of people, climate, locales, languages, customs, cuisines, cultures and beliefs.

Now tell us - did you ever like Japan? Do you know anything about its history, or just what you learned from television and anime, in general? That's a good starting point, anyway. If you want to delve deeper into Japanese history, in chronological order, and see the main events that transformed Japan into what it is today, you've just hit the jackpot.

Go-go bars as a cultural asset, dentists, chicken's feet, soapy massage, trousers, being struck by lightning, tattoos, luck, breast enhancements, beards, and being a foreigner. These are just some of the aspects of living in Pattaya, Thailand's most exciting city, that come within range of this lively and revealing book. Originally published in the leading fortnightly Pattaya Today, each chapter takes a lighthearted but incisive look at the quirky side of living in a city that is unusual even by Thai standards.

Despite their contrasting characters, Islamabad and Rawalpindi harmoniously complement each other like a well-orchestrated symphony. Rawalpindi's Raja Bazaar offers a pure taste of Pakistan's vibrant culture, while Islamabad's relative tranquility provides a oft needed retreat. The metro-bus system, a lifeline connecting these cities, symbolizes their unity, seamlessly blending tradition with modernity. As it courses through the urban landscape, it not only transports people but also merges the old with the new, showcasing the beautiful synchrony in a land of contrasts.