South East Asia’s Soft Adventure
A couple of years ago the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) revealed a series of tourism trends in Asia Pacific[1]. A few of those are relevant for South East Asia’s tourism development. To start with, a very positive trend for the region is that Asia’s tourism is growing comfortably above the world average and will […]
Adventure Tours in Southeast Asia
To extreme thrill-seekers, life without the imminent risk of death is as boring as a box of cauliflower. (How else do you explain something as blatantly mad as base-jumping?) But you don’t have to risk losing limbs to get endorphins pumping. There’s plenty of safe adrenalized action, well-organized by experts, to be had in Southeast […]
“La Procession”: the Luang Prabang Half Marathon
The Luang Prabang Half Marathon melds three things into one unlikely combination: charity work, sporting competition and sightseeing down one of Laos’ most culturally significant settlements. Nicknamed “La Procession” (after Luang Prabang’s daily morning ritual procession of monks receiving alms from devotees), the charity race accepts no more than 500 competitors, all of whom run […]
Taking The Plunge
Screams of anxiety fill the air when a small, capsule-like open cabin with four people on board is catapulted into the Singaporean sky with a speed of 120km/hour: welcome to the world of reversed bungee jumping![1] Surely, it’s not the launch of a spaceship, the cabin being tightly held by cables securely connected to two […]
Race to the Top at Kinabalu Climbathon
The sport of sky-running may be in its early days yet, but its enthusiasts look to Sabah’s Mount Kinabalu for one of the major events of the calendar: the Kinabalu Climbathon that takes expert sky-runners to the peak and back, in the space of four hours. The International Skyrunning Federation places the Kinabalu Climbathon as […]
Heaven on Two Wheels: Bicycle Tours in Southeast Asia
Bike in Sukhothai, Thailand. Image courtesy of Nancy Nguyen If seeing the best parts of Southeast Asia from behind glass is your thing, then by all means, go on that tour bus. But if you prefer coming down from the antiseptic atmosphere of the bus, instead meeting face-to-face with the region’s temples, villages and people […]
Sports Activities in the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam
PHILIPPINES: In the Philippines, the most popular sports refer to a list of sports that enjoy a significant following among majority of Filipinos either as actual participants or as avid spectators. These sports are either individual or team in nature and have become part of the Filipino way of life. These are basketball, boxing, billiards, football, chess, bowling and volleyball. Other sports […]
Going Solo: Exploring the Indonesian City of Surakarta
It didn’t take long for me to wish that I was back in Solo. The neighboring city of Yogyakarta—a mere 40 miles away—may attract tourists with its kraton (palace), taman sari (water castle) and cultural performances, but it isn’t exactly a restful place. Walking down a typical street means turning down half a dozen cycle rickshaw drivers asking inflated […]
Mandalay by Bike: History & Culture on Two Wheels
Using the historic town of Mandalay as a takeoff point, bikers can venture into the heart of truly authentic Myanmar: from the city’s narrow alleyways and bustling markets, to temples, rice paddies, and the world’s oldest teakwood bridge further afield. The city centre is only a short bike ride away to Mandalay’s cultural treasures, including […]
Rise to the Mount Apo Boulder Face Challenge
Every summer, the country’s highest peak Mt. Apo in Davao del Sur poses a challenge to extreme sports enthusiasts: can your bodies take a treacherous 120-km race to the menacing boulder face at the peak and back within 24 hours? The Boulder Face Challenge requires competitors to bike to the Tibolo-Kapatagan Junction, trek up to […]