Perhaps, like me, you’ve found yourself caught in a torrential downpour in the middle of nowhere, and that well-worn “waterproof” jacket you’re wearing isn’t so waterproof anymore. I now carry one of those emergency disposable rain ponchos in my backpack, just in case, but if you don’t want to look like you’re wearing a giant garbage bag, there’s another option. To read the full story, click here.

Photo Credit: Granger’s

When most people think of ancient ruins in Southeast Asia, they think of Angkor in Cambodia – but there’s actually another site that rivals Angkor in scale and scope and is, perhaps, even more impressive. There are literally thousands of temples in Bagan, an ancient city in Myanmar (aka Burma), set in a vast plain along the Irrawaddy River. To read the full story, click here.

Photo Copyright @ 2010 VH Media

Whether or not you’re seeking enlightenment in this lifetime, Borobudur is a UNESCO World Heritage Site worth visiting if you’re in Central Java, Indonesia. Located near the city of Yogyakarta (a pretty cool city in its own right), the 9th century temple is the world’s largest Buddhist stupa, with a surface area of 2,500 square metres, which represents a cosmological model of the universe. To read the full story, click here.

Photo Credit: Elaphurus @ Flickr

Perhaps it’s because I recently saw Cairo Time, a brilliant movie by writer/director Ruba Nadda, at Canada’s Top Ten film festival, that I’ve had ruins on my mind. I have yet to see the Pyramids of Giza, but I’ve spent years traveling to destinations to see what remains of ancient civilizations. To read the full story, click here.

Photo Credit: Chi King @ Flickr

Over the past few decades, Beijing has been intent on tearing down the old and putting up the new, an effort that only increased during the buildup to the 2008 Summer Olympics. Many of the city’s ancient hutongs – narrow alleyways in the city’s centre – were torn down and replaced with modern apartment blocks and roads. The hutongs, however, have defined Beijing culture for hundreds of years and give the city its unique character. To read the full story, click here.

Photo Copyright @ 2010 VH Media

Whether you’re an experienced diver or looking to become one, why hone your skills at home when you can do it in one of the best diving destinations in the world? While you can take your PADI scuba certification at home, if you’re not near a large body of water (or if it’s frozen over this time of year), you’ll be relegated to a swimming pool. If that’s the case, you may want to consider taking your certification (or logging some dives) abroad, whether that’s Koh Tao in Thailand or the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. To read the full story, click here.

Photo Credit: Tourism Australia

Scuba diving in Australia is synonymous with the Great Barrier Reef, and for good reason – the world’s largest coral reef stretches almost 2,000 km along the Queensland coast, comprising more than 3,000 individual reef systems and hundreds of tropical islands. Here you’ll find more than 400 types of coral and 1,500 species of tropical fish – even giant clams that are 120 years old. But it’s not the only diving destination in the Land of Oz. To read the full story, click here.

Photo Credit: Tourism Australia

This photo was taken a few kilometres from Everest Base Camp in Nepal, during a brief moment when the setting sun turned the tip of Mt. Everest bright pink. A friend ran to grab his camera, but when he returned a few minutes later, the peak had already retreated into the shadows. At 8,850 metres, Mt. Everest – known locally as Sagarmatha – is the highest peak in the world. Even if you don’t plan on following in the footsteps of Sir Edmond Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, trekking to the first base camp is challenging enough and requires a decent level of fitness. To read the full story, click here.

Photo Copyright @ 2010 VH Media

Nowadays, most people want to stay connected – to some degree – when they’re traveling. The question is whether you want to lug around your laptop or netbook or smartphone when you’re backpacking in Laos or Bolivia or Azerbaijan. I once brought my laptop with me as I traveled across Cambodia in the back of a pickup truck along with about 30 other people (plus sacks of rice and live chickens), and it occurred to me that perhaps it wasn’t such a smart idea. To read the full story, click here.

Photo Credit: Citrix

The Annapurna Circuit is one of the most popular treks in Nepal – perhaps in the world – despite the fact it takes three weeks to complete, if you’re lucky. The 300 km circuit follows ancient trade routes between Nepal and Tibet that have been in use for well over 1,000 years – and it’s a trek that’s relatively easy to do on your own. To read the full story, click here.

Photo Copyright @ 2010 VH Media