Asia

| Green Travel Paragon | As we hope you know by now, we absolutely believe that green travel will thrive only if it is great travel. And in our global search for the greatest in green travel, we’ve encountered no one who understands this better than Sonu and Eva Shivdasani. And no one who masters […]

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Vientiane green

14 January 09

| Laidback Capital City | Compared to teeming, polluted capitals elsewhere in Asia, Vientiane is a fresh breeze. Prettily situated on a broad bend in the Mekong River, it has fewer than 450 thousand residents, and most attractions in the city center are easily reached by bicycle or on foot. As elsewhere in Laos, most […]

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| A Green Giant | The town of Vang Vieng in Laos, about midway between Luang Prabang and the capital city of Vientiane, is a head scratcher. Whose idea was this anyhow? It’s got a pretty river running through it, and it’s surrounded by dramatic, saw-toothed karst limestone peaks. Thus we can easily understand its […]

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| World Heritage Gem | At the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Kham Rivers, Luang Prabang is among the best preserved and beautiful of the ancient cities of Southeast Asia. The U.N. named it a world heritage site in 1995. For centuries this was the royal capital of northern Laos, and French colonial rule […]

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| The Mythic Mekong | What better way to make the transition from touristed Thailand to laidback Laos than on that most famous of Southeast Asia’s rivers, the Mekong? And among the numerous “slow boats” that make the leisurely 2-day journey from the Thai-Lao border town of Huai Say in the Golden Triangle to the […]

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| High On Green | Thailand’s cities and towns can be fascinating. They can also become a bit much. The sooty belch of tuk tuks. The hordes of motor scooters. The visual hodgepodge and crowded sidewalks. Yearning for some serenity and clean air? How about a healthy dose of pampering, too? So treat yourself. Head […]

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| A Greensome Threesome | We’ll say it again: for green travel to thrive, it must be great travel. Slapping the word green or eco on a brochure ain’t nearly enough. High standards plus high integrity—now, that’s the winning formula. In northern Thailand, an eco-lodge operator called Asian Oasis has got it right. Two of […]

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Chiang Mai green

4 December 08

| Northern Green Scene | Chiang Mai is Thailand’s 2nd-largest city after Bangkok but that’s like saying Lilliputians are 2nd-tallest after Gulliver. At some 200 thousand residents, it bustles without Bangkok’s frenzy. And, for the green traveler, Chiang Mai offers a concentration of earth-friendly attractions that all but make up for the ever-present noise and […]

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Green street, Bangkok

24 November 08

| A Place Apart | Yes, the food in Bangkok is generally good to great, and tempting street eats beckon everywhere. But if it’s great green and organic you’re seeking, well, not so easy. Health food markets are few in this raucous, sprawling metropolis where getting across town can literally take hours unless you’re on […]

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| A Paradise Recycled | In our wildest imaginings, Indonesia of our forefathers was never like this, but are we complaining? Certainly not. We are instead humming contentedly on the veranda of Rumah Mandau, a solid teak, handcrafted antique dwelling home in traditional rumah tinggal style that once stood in western Java. Now it sits […]

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