Kate Whitehead

Myanmar might be on the hot list of places to visit, but visitors should be wary of touching down in Yangon without a hotel reservation.

The Hong Kong International Literary Festival has had a shake-up – it has a new manager, new faces on the board and a good line-up secured for the festival, which takes place November 1-10.

Change is happening fast in Myanmar. For 50 years the country stagnated under the thumb of the ruling military junta, weighed down by tough economic sanctions, but the window to the world blew open in March 2011 when a new government took office and with it came sweeping reforms.

With 95 food outlets across Hong Kong and Vietnam, Parfitts’ empire is a real family affair. Starting with a pizzeria in Sai Kung, Hong Kong, the Parfitts have built a hospitality empire in the city and in Vietnam. Now Wayne Parfitt is helping the next generation learn the business

British journalist Isambard Wilkinson, inspired by his Indian grandmother’s tales of life before partition, visited Pakistan as a teenager and fell in love with a complex place, a love he shares in his book Travels in a Dervish Cloak

A dearth of nightlife options and a series of power outages leave Kate Whitehead and her tour group wandering round Pyongyang looking for some fun