The Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tokyo is a run-down testament to the ambition of some of Japan's most celebrated post-war architects.

The small coastal city of Joetsu on Japan's north coast highlights some of the problems facing modern Japan.

Earlier this year I tagged along with the Australian/International off-pissed ski team to the slopes of Myokokogen.  Matt chose Myoko because the guidebook gave it four and half snowflakes out of five in the 'powder' category.  Also because our plan called for us to go from there to Kyoto and then onto Tokyo and we wanted to make sure our itinerary doubled as a tongue twister.

The old capital of Kyoto is home to about 1600 temples and countless smaller shrines.

The National Library of China holds an artifact that represents what must be the most ambitious attempt to control information in history.

Beijing incorporates all of the contradictions of Chinese society.

Huashan is a mountain located  about 120 kilometres east of Xi'an- China's old capital.  It's home to some very dicey walking tracks, a really spectacular set of cable cars, a tea house perched on a cliff face and a photo studio with some genuine occupational health and safety issues.

The entry point for my brief tour of China was the southern Province of Sichuan-famed for its incredibly spicy food and baffling theatrical performances.  I flew into the capital Chengdu at the start of October and explored the city between bouts of rain before venturing out into the nearby mountains.

When I first decided to visit Ton Sai ten or so years ago I discovered getting there was a little tricky.

On South Africa's western cape we visited the coastal towns of Kalkbaai, Hermanus and Gaansbai.

In South Africa, the saying goes, 'wildlife must pay its way'. It's not enough to be endangered you have to generate revenue to be conserved.

Another bleary-eyed morning spent rock-hopping in the pre-dawn light to get to a vantage point before sunrise.

Sani Pass is a stretch of road on the border of South Africa and Lesotho. The stretch of road between the South African border post and the summit is one of the most treacherous roads I've ever come across.

Between Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth we spent a few days exploring the great Drakensburg Escarpment that cleaves its way way along the eastern cape and forms the border of South Africa and Lesotho.

Across Europe and Russia you can find the remains of bunkers and air-raid shelters- a legacy of the Second World War and the Cold War that followed. In Cappadocia, in central Turkey, you can find much older and much more extensive underground shelters.

In the valleys of Cappadocia are hundreds of cave churches from the early years of Christianity.

On a cliff overlooking the small town of Cavusin a Turkish flag flies amidst the ruins of a village.

After the fall of Constantinople the two remaining Byzantine states- the Despotate of Morea and the Empire of Trebizond- came under renewed pressure.