CURATED BY US, COVERED BY MEDIA

"When I was young, my father used to talk about a magical place called Trincomalee. Just the name sounded exciting, like soft breezes blowing through palms or a chime of temple bells..."

Discover how Joanna Symons found authentic Sri Lanka in the places that were once off-limits.

FINDING THE REAL SRI LANKA

"It is one of nature’s truly heart thudding, soul shuddering experiences. No one forgets their first sighting of a Komodo dragon in the wild... Today, though, humans are the dragons’ biggest threat." 

Find out what happened when Robin Mckelvie met the modern-day dinosaurs, and how tourism will affect their future.

"Ahead lie three weeks of travels that will sweep me from the maelstrom of India’s cities, through to the elegance of her temples and on to bucolic national parks where tigers and leopards roam wild..."

Delve into incredible, intoxicating and infuriating India with Robin Mckelvie.

 
"This hospitality and food remains in my memory long after my visit to the teardrop-shaped island. Along with my new-found passion for fresh curry leaves."

Follow Audrey Gillan's culinary tour of Sri Lanka for National Geographic Traveller (UK) and find out her top 5 Sri Lankan staples. 

"Finally I sat down with my family for a proper feast: green papaya soup with christophene (a knobbly gourd), chicken satay, steamed mahi mahi… And lots of rice. Yes, I’d found proper Balinese food, all right – and I’d cooked it, too."

Discover Les Dunn's journey to authentic Balinese cuisine, from the best restaurants to learning the ropes himself.

"There are spirits at the top. Good spirits" (said guide Wayan). 'They give you luck and blessings.' We'll be needing them."

 
"We’re en route to Wackwella village to cook egg hoppers when the clouds erupt. In seconds, we’re soaked to our undies! The villagers laugh out loud at our soggy state. But on we pedal, through paddy fields and puddles. The wettest, funniest bike ride ever AND egg hoppers? It’s going to take more than warm rain to stop us." 

Take a peek inside Abi Flanagan's holiday to Sri Lanka with her husband and 15-year-old son.

 

"We set off through rice paddies that aren’t as neat as those at Jatiluwih, but it’s the same chlorophyll-drenched riot of greens. They’re there for the people who farm them, not for tourist show."

In this article for the Sunday Times Travel Magazine, Liz Edwards shows you how to navigate the crowds and discover Bali's hidden magic.

"My declaration duly arouses a small cheer, which is swiftly drowned out by the rumble of an urban train, rattling down the road, two yards from the door of this splendidly ramshackle bar, hidden away in the kinetic, mazy, twilit streets of central Hanoi in Vietnam."

Read all about Sean Thomas's trip to Vietnam to research the country's hottest new luxury hotels. 

LUXURY VIETNAM

"Her mummified body lay within a four-metre-tall duba-duba, a litter gilded with icons of buffalos, around which her encircled clan chanted a rowdy requiem."

What happened when Mark Stratton explored the fascinating funeral rituals of the Toraja people, Sulawesi?