By Shelley Seale

Three decades after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, its legacy remains: over 30% of Cambodia’s population is under age 14 and uneducated. Nearly all of these post genocidal-era children work or beg in the streets rather than attend school. Without proper education this cycle of poverty cannot be broken and the suffering merely gets passed from generation to generation. That’s something that Ponheary Ly wants to end – with the help of an Austin, Texas-based nonprofit called Windows of Wonder Institute (WOWi).

By Melanie Jae Martin

If you want to see great apes in the wild, Sumatra’s rainforest is one of the most accessible places to do just that. However, you need to know how to visit them responsibly or you could introduce illnesses, since they share over 97 percent of our DNA. Less than 7,000 Sumatran orangutans live in the wild, and they’re an essential part of the rainforest ecosystem, helping seeds to germinate and even pruning the canopy.

By Cynthia Ord

Living in splendid isolation in the remote mountains around Luang Namtha in northern Laos, the country’s most traditional ethnic groups have for centuries cultivated rice and inhabited small rural villages. These tribes, however, are at a crossroads between traditional ways of life and the forces of modernity and tourism. In 1993, the surrounding region was declared the Nam Ha National Biodiversity Conservation Area, and since then, streams of tourists plan treks to enjoy the outdoors of Nam Ha and the culture of Laos’ ethnic groups.

In the past decade, Pakistan has continued to face significant challenges and barriers to healthy development of the country’s tourism industry: the great tragedy of 9/11 in 2001; the horrific earthquake in 2005; the devastating floods that once again wreaked havoc on most of the country in 2010. As the nation struggles to recover from these catastrophic events, Pakistan has now lost its Tourism Ministry, halting the country’s efforts to re-develop its tourism sector before it has even had a chance to begin.

By Hollie Tu

Last month I headed out on a tiny plane into the interior of Borneo to spend 10 days with the Penan. The Penan are one of the indigenous peoples of Sarawak and were, until recently, the only people to live a nomadic lifestyle within the rainforest. Today, most Penan have settled in villages where they primarily cultivate the land yet still utilize their hunter-gatherer skills to supplement their diet.

By Chris Barclay

I first came to Yangshuo, China in 1996 on a rock climbing trip with some expat friends from Guangzhou, where I was living at the time. Back then Yangshuo was a sleepy western backpacker’s hangout, with only a few local guesthouses, and cafes serving strong coffee and banana pancakes. What drew my friends and I to Yangshuo were the dramatic limestone karst towers, perfect for climbing, and the unspoiled countryside, with its fresh air and river water so clean you could swim in it.

By Melissa Lim

The Borneo Ecotourism Solution and Technologies (BEST) Society is a non-profit foundation formed by Borneo Eco Tours, a leading tour operator specializing in regional ecotourism adventures and accommodation. The BEST Society was established in 1995 in Sabah, East Malaysia, when Borneo Eco Tours joined hands with the Sukau Rainforest Lodge to organize a large environmental protection project in Kelananap oxbow lake.

By Marcus Cotton

Tiger Mountain Nepal has been working closely with a research graduate of the International Centre for Responsible Tourism (ICRT), Jenefer Bobbin, who has designed a unique and excellent scheme called Responsible Tourism Reporting. Responsible Tourism Reporting, or RT Reporting, is a method of audit which can be used to validate the claims made by eco-tourism operations.

Every year, eager travelers set off to experience the legendary Golden Triangle of Southeast Asia. A journey along this leg of the famous ‘Indochina Loop’ is virtually guaranteed to provide a good balance between adventure, cultural awakening, natural beauty and just plain good fun. One major destination in the Golden Triangle is the historic city of Chiang Mai, Thailand. The second-largest city in the country, it is a vibrant gateway to the spectacular northern region.

Yurts – rounded wooden structures, canvas covered, comfortable, spacious, more like a home than a tent – are easily dismantled and moved (in theory). Mongolian yurts evolved as the home of choice for the nomads of Central Asia. In Mongolia, one of the regions yurts originally hail from, an innovative foundation called Ger to Ger (or ‘Yurt to Yurt’) is working with nomadic families to invite adventurous soles to discover their world.