ALL S.E. ASIA HAPPENINGS

One of the most amazing archaeological sites in the entire region, Myanmar’s Plain of Bagan is home to hundreds of temple relics and is an incredible area to explore. Whether your preferred mode of exploration is by foot, oxcart, bicycle or hot air balloon, we can help set you off on the right track.

Visitors to Vietnam will find a wide variety of sacred spaces throughout the country - temples, pagodas, churches and memorials. Spaces for reflection, perhaps solitude, supplication and rejuvenation, visiting these spaces while traveling abroad helps us understand the differences and appreciate the similarities between us all. This can be part of your experience in Vietnam.

Deep in Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains you may find yourself paddling a kayak down a quiet channel through dense jungle, the only sounds the occasional bird call and the thrust of your paddles in the water.
Yes, it will be possible! Contact us for details!

Central Bhutan’s Phobjikha Valley is well known as the winter home of a migratory flock of Black-necked cranes. A festival celebrating the birds, an endangered species highly revered by the locals, is held annually on November 11 at Gangtey Monastery in Phobjikha Valley amidst the vast grandeur which so typifies Bhutan, a country of epic views and natural splendour best seen on its wilderness treks, and unbounded friendliness.

Flowing through the heart of Hue, in central Vietnam, the Perfume River offers a broad, placid byway for dragon boats to carry visitors upriver to the iconic Thien Mu Pagoda, as well as the impressive sprawling mausoleum compounds of various kings of the Nguyen Dynasty. Step aboard and join us!

Le Thatluang D’oR is a newly launched hotel in the heart of historic Vientiane, the sleepily charming capital of Laos, offering luxury accommodation in a quiet neighbourhood. When designing holidays, Haivenu Tours offers a range of accommodation options to choose from to suit your preference. Our ever-evolving partner list includes the newest options and focuses on accommodations that accentuate the local experience. Contact Haivenu Tours for your options!

See a nose job coming?? These enigmatic stone faces dominate countless photographs by visitors to Cambodia’s Temples of Angkor. However, as of January 2020 restoration project will begin and the upper level of Angkor Thom will be temporarily closed to visitors. Access will remain open to the lower levels, but the closest viewing area will be closed for the project duration. There is still time to get there this year - contact us for details!

Kata Beach in Phuket, Thailand, positively glows at sunset. The sun sets everywhere but, yes, let’s admit it, Thailand has some very special beaches. Let us help you explore your beach options - on Phuket, in Thailand, and all across Southeast Asia. 

Myanmar is a destination where the usual search for authenticity is largely unnecessary once you enter the country. Many in Myanmar wear thanaka on their faces. Made from ground tree bark, thanaka paste is applied for cosmetic beauty, offers sun protection and is said to promote healthy skin. With a scent akin to sandalwood, thanaka has been used by women in Myanmar for some 2,000 years and the tradition continues today. Contact us to find out more about experiencing Myanmar.

The cool lush Cameron Highlands are the heart of Malaysia’s tea growing region, as well as being home to many flower and vegetable growers. Throughout this region you still find colonial era British style mansions and cottages, one of the area’s primary attractions, along with some good walking trails and one of Malaysia’s few pleasantly temperate eighteen-hole golf courses. To find out more click here.

It was in 1997 when the first kayak expedition reached the country. The expedition consisted of a team of international kayakers. The team were hosted by the Tourism Council of Bhutan, which was known as Tourism Authority of Bhutan at that time. The team were invited to look for other adventure activities for western tourists. One of the kayakers of the first expedition was Gerry Moffatt from the United States. During the month-long expedition, Gerry and the team mapped the major river systems and kayaked down the unexplored gorges and crystal-clear rivers of Bhutan.

Singaporean Carmen Kok regrets that she never made it to university. She’s not letting her daughter make the same mistake, even if she has to send her abroad to get a place. 
“You can’t rise up in Singapore without a degree,” said Kok, 47, who plans to spend three times what she makes in a year as a hairdresser to send her daughter to college in South Korea. “She may be able to get a job if she doesn’t go to university, but she can get a higher salary if she goes.”

Cambodia has imported 15 rats from Africa for the purpose of locating landmines and unexploded ordnance in the country, a senior landmine official told Kyodo News on Thursday. Heng Ratana, director general of Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC), said the rats were imported from Tanzania in April and are now undergoing training in the northern province of Siem Reap. He said testing of the rats is set to begin by the end of this month or early next month to see if they are qualified. 

The Dayak Cultural Festival (DCF) this weekend will feature an art and tattoo exhibition by renowned Dayak artists, cultural shows and various traditional delicacies from throughout Borneo. To be held at the Dayak Bidayuh National Association (DBNA) centre at Jalan Kumpang, organisers Sarawak Dayak Graduates Association (SDGA) and Dayak National Congress (DNC) are inviting the public to experience the best that Dayak culture has in store.

It took the Wildlife Conservation Division (WCD) officials more than three hours to tranquillise the gaur bull at Chamkuna’s Toorsa embankment in Phuentsholing yesterday. After sedating, it took the officials another two hours to medicate the injured animal. With its right eye completely blind and an injured foot, the gaur was first sighted dawdling in the grassland over the river mounds on June 6.  Foresters in Phuentsholing have been monitoring the animal since then.

With a total land area of just 687 square kilometers, Singapore is among the smallest countries in the world. Therefore, the city-state has always been challenged with two big limitations – space and population size. Despite these challenges, Singapore is home to more than 5.5 million people and has a GDP per capita equal to that of leading European nations – paving the way globally for countries now facing rapid urbanization. With a skyline recognized across the world, the story of Singapore – past present and future – can be told through its buildings.

Many people in Vietnam have come up with inventive ways to help them stay as cool as possible during the persistent hot spell, which is the longest in the past 40 years. Residents in a number of localities in the country, including Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, have been writhing in the sultry, stifling heat of the past few months, with a peak felt in recent weeks.

100 volunteers planted an average of eight trees a minute to beat the Guinness world record. These 100 men planted an average of eight trees a minute or 496 trees an hour to beat the Guinness World Record of most trees planted in an hour (team).  Bhutan not only managed to beat the previous record of 40,885 trees in an hour in Assam, India, but also set a new record.  The motto of the record, according to the organiser, is, “Let’s begin a greener Bhutan.”

More people in Myanmar have mobile phones than use electricity to light their homes, many more rely on bullock carts than possess cars or vans, and there is still a serious deficit of toilets and potable water. These are these are some of the striking – and useful – findings that emerge in the 2014 census, depicting a country of extreme differences and pronounced rural-urban variations.

Samkol Sangvar’s rice porridge eatery is just one of many new businesses putting traditional Cambodian street and market foods in a restaurant setting. At Khmer Chicken Porridge, which opened near Kandal market earlier this month, kitchen staff in clean, bright green uniforms serve up the classic Cambodian comfort food to hungry diners seated at varnished wooden tables. It’s not exactly fine dining, but it’s still a far cry from the rice porridge carts that prowl the city streets serving up the dish, known as bobor, in Styrofoam bowls.

Vietnam’s future depends on the efforts and priorities of its postwar generation, especially how they apply technology, panelists said at a Forbes summit Tuesday that honored rising stars in technology.

Deforestation threatens one of the largest evergreen forests in south-east Asia but local patrols are powerless to stop loggers whose livelihoods rely on the timber. Sok Plok and his fellow forestry activists are surprisingly fast for men in flip-flops as they navigate through the thick, thorny vegetation. They have been alerted by the distant humming of tractor engines; a sound that, in this part of Cambodia, normally means illegal loggers are afoot.

Next month, Pek Mith will head to Kallang, Singapore with a very ambitious goal in mind. "I'd like to help put Cambodian basketball on the map," said Mith, a 29-year-old Lowell resident and jeweler.

From Bhutan's first independent newspaper to the rise of social media, Sydney journalist Bunty Avieson documents the Kingdom's unique journey.

Myanmar and Laos on Saturday formally opened the first-ever friendship bridge across the Mekong River that links Myanmar's Tachileik in Shan state and Laungnamtha Province of Laos, according to the live report of MNTV Channel.

When Eng Bunhuoch joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the late 1990s, there were just a handful of families practicing Mormonism in Cambodia. Today, the Salt Lake City-based church claims more than 12,000 parishioners in this predominantly Buddhist nation.

The Philippines has just become the first country to develop nationwide ride-hailing regulations, making it legal for app-based transportation services like Uber operate anywhere in the nation.

A pig strayed from its usual rural haunt and into a Chai Wan shopping mall last night, leading to a four-hour stand-off with police and animal control officers. The case was the second porcine incursion of the day, after a boar was spotted taking a dip in a pool at a Tsuen Wan Park before being returned to the wild by Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department officers.

Thirsty for change, a new breed of artisans are challenging legal restrictions and industry giants with their DIY amber nectar.

What is the most important wildlife species on Borneo? Depending on whom you ask this question, answers will surely vary. A forestry official might argue that any tree of the dipterocarp family is obviously most important, because that’s where the timber cash is. And for the same reason, an oil palm grower would likely reply that the oil palm tree is by far the most important species. Many people in Australia, Europe or North America may reply “the orangutan,” or maybe “the rhino” or “proboscis monkey,” because, after all, those species are highly threatened and many worry about their survival. But ask a person from Borneo and the dominant answer would likely be quite different. In fact, I think that many would argue that the Bearded Pig is by far the most important. Are you surprised? Had you even heard of Bearded Pigs? Bear with me and I will explain.

More than three decades ago, Amy Chanthaphavong's parents fled their home country of Laos. But, 35 years later, his daughter Amy made a life-changing decision. She left San Diego, California, for the small South East Asian country, intent on becoming part of its rapid economic development.

Filmmaker Cyrus Moussavi and Jacob Russell of Raw Music International travel around the former Burma, now Myanmar, searching for traditional music and the stories that come with these songs.

The Bako National Park is the oldest and smallest national park in Sarawak, but it offers some of the most spectacular views. The 27 sq km park has stretches of white sandy bays, rocky shorelines and fantastic rock formations that are the result of millions of years of sandstone erosion. Its rainforest is also home to almost every type of plant life found in Borneo. The beautiful jungle trails lead to secluded beaches and breathtaking waterfalls. The park, established in 1957, is located some 37km off Kuching and faces the expansive South China Sea.

More than 50 jugglers, acrobats, magicians, dancers and stunt artists from Asia and Europe are set to join Cambodia’s circus performers for a tour around the Kingdom starting this week.

Read more: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/siem-reap-insider/circus-festival-brings-acts-all-over-world

Poor small-scale farmers are the world's biggest risk takers. Imagine a poor farmer who owns a small plot of land. She buys seeds with cash she borrows from a trader and must find a way to manage pests without killing her vegetables. She must guess when and when not to plant because weather patterns are no longer predictable. She farms even if she knows her produce will compete and probably lose to cheaper ones imported from state-subsidized industrial mono-crop farms elsewhere. In her 50s to 60s (the average age of farmers), she gambles season after season, because agriculture is the livelihood – and the life – she knows. Southeast Asia is home to poor small-scale farmers like her who, despite hardship, prop up the region's agriculture sector.

Read more: http://www.thanhniennews.com/commentaries/how-the-risktaking-farmers-of-southeast-asia-will-survive-climate-change-43819.html

A helicopter tour around the world-famous Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park in the north-central province of Quang Binh will begin operating at the end of this month. Three trips for 60 tourists will depart on April 26 or 27, Saigon Tiep Thi (Saigon Marketing) newspaper quoted the tour operator, Oxalis Adventure Tours Company, as saying.

Read more: http://www.thanhniennews.com/travel/helicopter-tour-of-national-park-to-take-off-in-vietnam-25571.html

Before the communist takeover, the Cambodian ruler embraced music. Various Western influences blended with tradition for a rock scene like no other.

Following Amazon’s model, Singapore Post is building 24 warehouses in 12 countries to store products for companies.

Over 10,000 square metres of fishing nets discovered in a protected fishing area of Kratie’s Sambor District were seized and burned over the weekend in an effort to crack down on illegal fishing and protect the endangered Irrawaddy dolphin.

The son of the Sultan of Brunei, one of the world's richest men, has wed bride Dayangku Raabi'atul 'Adawiyyah Pengiran Haji Bolkiah in a spectacular ceremony at the monarch's 1,788-room palace in Brunei's capital, Bandar Seri Begawan.

The Royal Ploughing Ceremony, held yesterday in Battambang province, has forecast a promising outlook for the production of beans and corn in the coming year, although observers say that much still depends on the weather. The ceremony, conducted under the presence of King Sihamoni, marks the beginning of the agricultural production and rainy season.

In the country’s highlands, economics, cell phones and young love are fuelling an increase in early marriage.

The price of pepper has risen every year but one since 2009, while coffee has swung between gains and losses. Coffee farmer Bui Van Trong is planning to switch as much as 15 per cent of his five-acre farm to pepper after prices more than tripled in five years.

Wars are fought twice, once on the battlefield and later in the remembering. In that way, the Vietnam War – though it ended on the battlefield four decades ago – continues as a battle of memory, history and truth. And the stakes are still high. Honest narratives about important past events can shape our destinies, helping to determine whether there will be more wars or maybe peace.

The Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Street in downtown Ho Chi Minh City, the city’s first of its kind, is open to the public on Wednesday, just in time for the Reunification Day, April 30.

Practically isolated from the global market for 50 years, Myanmar is still largely dependent on agriculture. But the country is one of the most at risk from climate change and no one feels these pressures more than the rural smallholder farmers who make up the backbone of its food system and rural economy.

After an estimated 35% of Burma’s largest city was destroyed to make way for new development projects, Moe Moe Lwin is looking to preserve its heritage.

Sandwiched between India and China, the Kingdom of Bhutan is most famous for its ranking as the happiest country in Asia, it is best known for measuring Gross Domestic Happiness instead of gross domestic product. But is there a dark side? Dr Bunty Avieson lived there for over 12 months helping to establish the country’s first independent newspaper and got to see the other side of this hitherto unknown nation.