Seeing Asia in Detail

We highly anticipated your article, “Asia Up Close 2011” (March 20), since we visited four Asian countries in January. Though we know it was a limited overview, we were disappointed at the superficiality of some recommendations. In Cambodia, for example, how could one “conquer” Angkor? One could spend days experiencing the Bayon Temple and Ta Prohm, the “jungle temple,” among others.

In Laos, there is a wealth of magnificent fiber art. In Luang Prabang, the cooperative “Living Craft Center,” Ock Pop Tok, is not to be missed. Boat tours on the Mekong take you to remote villages and craft artists. Vientiane deserves mention for its wats alone, and the restaurant, Cinnamon, where expats gather to enjoy an array of international dishes cooked up by the husband and wife team of Danish and Sri Lankan chefs.

Most outstanding in Vietnam is Halong Bay near Hanoi, where you can stay a night or two on a junk, enjoying Vietnamese cuisine and exploring sea caves beneath limestone islands via sea kayak. And where was Saigon, with it’s amazing French-Vietnamese restaurants, such as Lemongrass?

Seoul was given short shrift, though the photos of the Art Gallery and the few restaurants were lovely. At the very least, there is Seoul Tower, with its vast overview of the city; a trip to the DMZ would have been worth a mention, where visitors can visit perhaps the largest unused train station in the world, built for a possible reunification of Korea, when a traveler might take the train all the way into China.

Source = nytimes