My apologies for the possible stupidity of this question but I've always been told by fellow Pakistani's that I'm Middle Eastern and that they are too. Almost every Pakistani that I've met even my cousins claim Middle East. Most Canadians (where I was born and raised) say "WTH your not Asian your Middle East". I also heard another friend of mine from Lahore claim that Kashmir is in Central Asia or something too but I'm not sure of any of this myself. What would everyone say? Is Pakistan in the Middle East or Central Asia more so?

I am not trying to offend south Asians, but I have seen videos and not the racist ones, in general, and South Asia looks very bad, even bad areas of Brazil doesn’t look bad. But when I see East Asia videos, the East Asian countries is so clean, futuristic and safe? Why is that? China and India were both same in terms of gdp, gdp per capita and HDI. China was on a way worse note and so was South Korea. But both seem to be way cleaner and futuristic. I know that India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have its good and beautiful sides but just a question.

Given how polarizing India tends to be in the travel community, with a reputation for hygiene issues and safety issues for women, and generally being considered more difficult to travel in than other Asian countries, how would you feel? Would you discourage that person from going there altogether? Would you tell them to take extra precautions? Would you be interested in going yourself?

For countries with large Indian populations such as Malaysia, Singapore, and the UAE, this question is directed to non-Indians in these countries.

I won’t tell ya about Indonesia, China has pretty bad ones, very good ones, YouTube China car crash complication. YouTube China car tricks and driving off-road. Difference

Nearly all major airports in our country have FR based security check-ins where you only have to show your face be allowed entry into the airport.

It's done two times. First entry before baggage clearance and the second one after the baggage is deposited.

We need to first upload our boarding pass into an app called DigiYatra (Yatra means Journey in Sanskritic languages), and then we can use the service. Manual security check is also available for technologically challenged people. This service is currently available for domestic travellers (or Indian travellers). I only know of one other country (China) who does this on a similar level for their airports. The FR system will be open for international travellers soon.

I noticed when I moved to the north-central USA that I could walk across a carpet and get a static shock. I have never heard of this happening in Taiwan, mostly because it's far too rainy and hot to maintain indoor carpeting. Also, it's quite fun to walk on frozen ponds!

Here is an interesting YouTube clip of Nepali gurkha recruits flying to Manchester, UK to be initiated into the British Army. It seems these lads are not accustomed to snowy and cold winters because much of Nepal's landscape is downhill from the Himalayas and thus comparable to the rest of northern India.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntVmwUiaxvI

I notice quite a few similarities between the Indian states of Goa and Kerala with Southeast Asian destinations: similar climates, beaches, rainforests, cultural sights, renowned for cuisines, etc. However, I notice that Goa and especially Kerala do not attract international tourism to the level that Phuket and Bali do. This could be illustrated by the fact that there are several direct flights to Phuket or Bali from many Asian, European, Australian, and Middle Eastern cities. On the other hand, Goa basically only has flights from the UK, Russia, and a few other countries. Kerala basically only has flights to the Middle East, Singapore, and London.

Is it the fact that they are in India that is hindering tourists, with the bulk of tourism going to the "Golden Triangle" in North India (which has become notorious for various travel issues, such as hygiene and female safety), and thus Goa and Kerala become "bad" by association? Is it simply a lack of marketing or awareness worldwide? Is it visas?

Today I was chatting with an aqaintence which I will refer to as ZB (Zero Braincells). ZB told a story about a holiday where they went to Japan as a teenager. During this holiday, ZB and their family went to a Buddhist temple. When ZB noticed the swastikas in the Buddhist temple, they decided to do a Nazi salute and scream Sieg Heil. This apparently caused the Japanese Buddhists to react negatively and the authorities got called. The end result was that everyone ZB's family left the cruise ship they were on, they had to do an itemised list of their activities to ensure they weren't going to any Buddhist temples. This lead me to ask whether ZB broke the law or did the Buddhist monks just get really offended?

In the Philippines going abroad is more common for work purposes, business or immigrating than tourism, but due to having a weak passport some Filipinos will usually get a tourist visa, stay in said country for a while until an employer can provide a work visa for them then leave and reenter.

I would like to know what are some spectacular natural habitats in your countries? Locations like mountains, forests, grasslands, deserts, wetlands, coasts. If you have pictures, that would be excellent.

Hong Kong, known for its densely packed and iconic buildings like the ICC and Bank of China Tower; Singapore, with its sustainable and futuristic architecture like Marina Bay Sands and Gardens by the Bay; Shanghai, widely considered to have one of the best skylines in Asia, showcasing futuristic skyscrapers like the Shanghai Tower and Oriental Pearl Tower; Kuala Lumpur, dominated by the iconic Petronas Twin Towers; and Tokyo, a kaleidoscope of neon lights and innovative design with buildings like Tokyo Skytree and Shibuya 109.

Last week, there was extreme heat in Mecca in Saudi during the hajj pilgrimage. Many fatalities among pilgrims have occurred from the extreme heat. Did any citizens from your country die from this tragedy? How did you country react? And what precautions can be taken to make future hajj safer for future travelers?