Some favourite images from my travels in India and Asia

Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, ("the land of kings"), is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert.

Set deep in the Indian Himalayas on the western edge of the Tibetan plateau, Ladakh, or 'Little Tibet', is one of the highest and driest inhabited places on earth.

The Andaman Islands are considered one of the best places on earth for sub aqua tourism, one of the few places left where the coral reef and its fish are as pristine as nature intended. Havelock island is almost totally enclosed by miles and miles of the most perfect, natural, deserted beaches. You really can have a whole beach to yourself.%0AHowever it seems even paradise is impermanent, the islands days are numbered, rumour has it that the Taj hotel chain is ready to move in big time, and although still a rare sight, the ubiquitous plastic bottles and tourist debris are beginning to make an appearance. The islands local Solar Power station hasn’t worked for months and the reef fish scatter each time Raj double spins his waverunner through the surf, down on elephant beach.%0A%0AAs a photographer/tourist perhaps I’m part of the problem and maybe there is no such thing as sustainable tourism in paradise%3F

Every year, millions of Buddhist pilgrims, mainly from Asian countries, flock to Bodhgaya to be inspired, dissipate negative karma and earn merit by visiting the holy site where the Buddha became the Buddha ("Enlightened One"). Throughout the day and night in the height of the pilgrimage season, monks in colorful robes can be seen meditating where the Buddha did, studying dharma texts, making offerings to the many statues and stupas on the site, and circumambulating (walking around) the sacred Mahabodhi Temple.

Kashmir- a land of sleepy lakes, sparkling rivers and of wonderful gardens, Kashmir is world famous for some of the most beautiful flowering meadows and snow-capped peaks. The eternal natural beauty has earned the valley a nickname of the 'Paradise on the Earth'. Lake Dal an urban lake in regional capital Srinigar is the Jewel in the crown of the Kashmir and is eulogised by poets and praised abundantly by the tourists. the lake is 6x3 Kms and is divided in four parts by causeways known as Gagribal, Lokut Dal,Bod Dal and Nagin. The Dal Lake is host to world famous Shikaras and Houseboats which vie with each other with eye catching names.

Kerala is a top tourist destination in India. Backwaters, Beaches, Ayurvedic tourism and tropical greenery are the major attractions. National Geographic's Traveller magazine names Kerala as one of the "ten paradises of the world" and "50 must see destinations of a lifetime".Travel and Leisure names Kerala as "One of the 100 great trips for the 21st century".The Kerala Government Tourism Department, a government department in charge of promoting tourism has adopted the slogan God's Own Country for its campaigns.

Rishikesh, sometimes nicknamed "the world capital of Yoga". It is believed that meditation in Rishikesh brings one closer to attainment of moksha, as does a dip in the holy river Ganges that flows through it. %0AIn February 1968, The Beatles visited the now-closed Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram in Rishikesh. %0AIn 2003 I visited this Yoga metropolis for the first time.

The Taj Mahal - Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India, was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan to house the worldly remains of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, the Taj Mahal stands on the southern bank of the Yamuna River. The mausoleum is widely recognized as "the jewel of Muslim art in India" and remains as one of the world’s most celebrated structures.

The Valley of Flowers is a high-altitude Himalayan valley that has long been acknowledged by renowned mountaineers, botanists, and in literature. It has been recognized internationally for over a century and is referenced in the Hindu religion. Local people have visited the valley since ancient times. Indian yogis are known to have visited the valley for meditation. The Valley of Flowers has many different colourful flowers, taking on various shades of colours as time progressed. The valley was declared a national park in 1982 and now it is a World Heritage Site.

Varanasi also known as Benares, is a Hindu holy city on the banks of the Ganges River in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.. Hindus have long believed that bathing in the Ganges or dying in the holy city of Varanasi circumvents reincarnation and hence provides a permanent place in the Swarg (Heaven). This belief that has encouraged the establishment of innumerable nearby geriatric homes and also the disposal of half-burnt corpses into the river. This latter practice continues to cause great damage to the river's ecology, but the ministry of water resources has finally taken up the restoration of the Ganga by banning cremation on the city's ghats.

Hill tribe is a term used in Thailand for all of the various tribal peoples inhabit the remote border areas between Northern Thailand, Laos and Burma. These areas are known for their thick forests and mountainous terrain. The six major hill tribes within Thailand are the Akha, Lahu, Karen, Hmong/Miao, Mien/Yao and Lisu, each with a distinct language and culture.

Since 2000, Vietnam's economic growth rate has been among the highest in the world. However, the country still experiences high levels of income inequality, disparities in access to healthcare, and a lack of gender equality.

The Vietnam War extended into Cambodia, giving rise to the Khmer Rouge, which took Phnom Penh in 1975. Cambodia reemerged several years later within a socialistic sphere of influence as the People's Republic of Kampuchea until 1993. After years of isolation, the war-ravaged nation was reunited under the monarchy in 1993.

Sri Lanka, is an island country in the northern Indian Ocean off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent in South Asia. Known until 1972 as Ceylon. A troubled country still dealing with the fallout from a bloody civil war. Through it all Sri Lanka remains a tourist paradise as these photographs show.