Features - Asia

Relax in Japan’s cultural heartland, the chilled-out ancient capital of Nara.

The city of Ahmedabad used to be called the ‘Manchester of the East’ for its thriving textile industry. But Ahmedabad’s vibrancy beats that of any piece of cloth

Commonly described as the ‘Pearl of the South’, Phuket offers some of the finest beaches in Asia, spectacular limestone towers, a sophisticated hospitality industry, and excellent opportunities for golf, sailing, snorkelling, and diving.

A city of close to 20 million people, Mumbai was fashioned from an archipelago of islands, reclaimed over five centuries. Often dismissed as grotty and overpopulated, this metropolis has an indomitable spirit and an unquenchable thirst for progress.

No other city encapsulates modern India like Delhi does. Whilst unmistakably a product of its 5,000-year history, the speed of the city’s transformation into a dynamic urban metropolis is unparalleled on the subcontinent.

Few destinations hold more allure as archetypal tropical islands than the Seychelles archipelago, famous for its huge, smooth granite boulders, lush vegetation, and powder-soft sand, where divers are drawn like magnets to the turquoise crystal-clear waters.
 

Few cities on the Indian subcontinent are often defined by the presence of a single building. But then the Golden Temple in Amritsar in the state of Punjab is no ordinary construction. Adorned with 750kg of solid gold, the ‘Harmandir Sahib’ is the spiritual centre for the entire Sikh religion. Perhaps only outdone in splendour by Agra’s Taj Mahal, the architecture is a distinct mixture of Hindu and Islamic design.