Joe Corner
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Modern day Cambodia is the successor-state of the mighty Khmer Empire, which during the Angkorian period, ruled much of what is now Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. | |
| Vietnam, a country of traditional charm, rare beauty, unique civilisation and highly cultured society. |  |
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The Land of a Million Elephants, Laos is one of the least developed and most enigmatic countries in Asia. The lack of foreign influence offers travellers an unparalleled glimpse of traditional South East Asian life. | |
| Myanmar, one of the world’s least western-influenced countries, an enthralling glimpse of a culturally unique country, that exists in a social, political and economic time warp. |  |
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A country of great contrasts, with picturesque rural landscapes and congested cityscapes, natural beauty from the untamed to the idyllic, and deserts, sacred peaks, astounding caves, and imperial ruins in between. | |
| 'Shangri La’ or 'Rooftop of the World’ - Locked away in its Himalayan fortress, Tibet has long exercised a unique hold on the imagination of the West. |  |
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Draped along the greatest heights of the Himalaya, Nepal is a land of sublime scenery, time-worn temples, and some of the best walking trails on earth. | |
| India is a litmus test for many travellers - some are only too happy to leave, while others stay for a lifetime. |  |
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Pakistan contains some of Asia’s most mind-blowing landscapes, extraordinary trekking, a multitude of cultures and a long tradition of hospitality. | |
| For centuries, the Karakoram Highway over the Khunjerab Pass, was used by caravans plodding down the Silk Road, where local bandits took advantage of the terrain to plunder caravans and slaughter the merchants. |  |
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Situated in the hinter-land of the Eurasian Continent and known as “Xiyu” in ancient times. The ancient Silk Road was divided into major branches after it reached the area of Xinjiang, along with lot of ancient monuments. | |
| Miles from nowhere, this exotic oasis used to be the last outfitting station on the centuries-old Silk Road. Trade remains timeless still, at least on Sundays, when the entire community gathers at the world's liveliest market. |  |
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Magnificent ruins of ancient cities, glorious mosques and mausoleums . . . | |
| A crossroads for different cultures and religions in this intriguing and complex land, Israel is an endlessly fascinating destination. |  |
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Jordan has always been a crossroads for the great civilisations of the Middle East, although usually only as a means of securing more prized possession elsewhere. | |
| Egypt, with it awe-inspiring monuments left by the pharaohs, the legacy of the Greeks, Romans and early Christians, and the profusion accumulated from centuries of successive Islamic dynasties. |  |
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Modern Republic of Turkey is from those empires, that carved Asia Minor between them over the past 10,000 years, each left their distinctive mark, layering history upon history. | |
| Greece boasts an unrivalled legacy from smoggy Athens to blindingly bright islands to fallen columns galore on the sacred island of Delos . . . |  |
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Set in the heart of Europe, Poland has been a bridge between the East and West for centuries. | |
| Slovakia, the former Czechoslovakia's less glamourous partner, emerged dishevelled and sleepy after the 'Velvet Revolution' of 1989. |  |
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Hungary is a heart-stealer; it has all the luxury of Western Europe with a magyar twist and at half the cost. | |
| Austria has some of the most impressive and overblown architecture in Europe and an unrivalled musical tradition . . . |  |
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From the pulsing capital Prague to plenty of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque facades in other towns . . . | |
| Bikes, dykes, windmills, blazing flower fields and endlessly flat landscape . . . |  |
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Home of the post office, country pub and vicarage. England is loaded with cherished icons of a past era, from colonial empire to member of the EC . . . | |
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