Viator Travel Blog

Meet Kumar, one of Viator’s local experts in Kathmandu, Nepal (and a highly rated licensed tour guide you’ll find at Viator Private Tour Guides).

For the fourth week of our Viator’s 2011 Ultimate Holiday Giveaway, we’re giving away tickets to one of our most popular Thailand tours!

Long thought of by globe trekkers as the literal and figurative pinnacle of the great outdoors, many travelers quickly find that culturally rich Nepal is not just a country of natural attractions, but a historically affluent testament to anthropology, whilst being both encouragingly and (through poverty) disastrously subversive to modernity. Either way, Nepal is an adventure, full of all the right elements that make it an ideal destination for the adventurous traveler. Below are 5 places you simply cannot miss.

What do you get with a three-wheeled auto-rickshaw, two weeks, 72 teams and a tentative route through India that spans nearly 2,000 miles?

You get the Rickshaw Run, that’s what.

For the explorer with a keen nose for early Southeast Asian anthropology, there are not many peoples that can exceed the historical and cultural significance of the Mon, one of the region’s earliest. With a large denomination currently residing near to and long the Thai-Burmese border, they have remained through time protecting their heritage as best they can.

There are not many experiences quite liking riding an elephant. Doing it at a carnival or when the circus rolls in to town is one thing, but doing it in Thailand is entirely another!

The Phuket Elephant Jungle Trek is an hour on top one of the world’s most respected and majestic animals through the renowned regional jungles. With an insightful and friendly guide taking you around, get ready for an exotic adventure you will not soon forget.

Angkor in Cambodia is known world over as one of the greatest archaeological sites to grace the planet. With its most famous temple, Angkor Wat, getting all of the attention, some people don’t realize that the whole of the site spans over 150 square miles (about 400 square km) and can take a week to explore the known crevasses.

One day in the summer of 1991, I rode my bike to Tony’s Pizza, a whopping $5 in quarters jingling heavily in my pocket. I was headed there not for lunch, but to play the Street Fighter II arcade game. I was never particularly good at that game, despite devouring every magazine article and memorizing every joystick motion that would produce the characters’ super moves, defeat the last bosses and allow me to enter my initials in tribute to my prowess.

Hanoi is a city with the charm of exotic marketplaces, modern amenities and a buzzing street life. In contrast, Hanoi is also a city with the serene natural beauty of the Red River and Hanoi Bay – tranquil pagodas, and downright tasty cuisine. All mixed in with the complications of foreign colonialism, a recent history of drawn-out wars, and the uniquely Asian problem of highly compact quarters catering to an exploding population. Hanoi with all its rich culture, history and tradition is undoubtedly one of the world’s poignantly distinct cities. Although a city of such esteem needn’t such a list, here are five reasons to see it for yourself.

Beijing is a city that embodies China’s ancient civilization and rich political and cultural history. Alongside all of the historical buildings, temples, and gates is the juxtaposition of a modern China filled with skyscrapers, luxury shopping malls, and a vibrant art and music scene. Here are suggestions of what to do when you come to the capital of one of the world’s oldest civilizations.