WHAT: "The Asia Book: A Journey Through Every Country in the Continent," edited by China Williams, Lonely Planet, $40.

Is travel always a good idea? To a continent of "candid contradictions, unmatched mayhem and mystery, and where just one experience will never quite articulate the magic of the place?" Definitely!

You don't have to have been to Asia to have experienced it, an observation particularly true in Hawai'i where influences of Korea, Japan, China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Laos and Thailand infuse our day-to-day lives. Farther afield, American cars are fueled by Arabian oil, Europeans love Japanese sushi, more than 100 million people worldwide practice yoga. Next year, the 2008 Olympics will induct Beijing into the pantheon of global destinations.

Asia remains a mystery, in part, because no one is sure where it truly begins and ends. It's home to the highest mountain on Earth (Everest), the lowest place (the Dead Sea), the tallest building (Taipei 101), the longest river (the Yangzi), the largest ethnic group (Han Chinese), the most epic rail journey (the Trans Siberian Railway), the planet's only dragon species (the Komodo). Three of the greatest man-made constructions: the Great Wall, Taj Mahal and Petra) are in Asia, and the best night sky (above the Gobi Desert).

Much of travel is hard work, meaningful only in retrospect. Yet, this is our world, to see it is to be one with it — the mission of every traveler and certainly that of Lonely Planet.

WHAT'S INSIDE: Suggested journeys, essential experiences for each country, travelers' insights, random facts and, of course, stunning photographs: A family traveling home from market on an elephant, fishing junks floating in the mist on Halong Bay, dawn above the stupas of Borobudur, the silence of the vast steppes of Kazakhstan, a camel's kiss in Saudi Arabia, a marching mile of red hats along the Great Wall road.

Beyond the information and pictures, however, toward the end of the book are thoughtful essays that address the continent's most complicated themes such as the practice of ancient desert cultures in a modern world, survival among rugged landscapes and temperatures, clashes of religion, and the place of pop culture in Asia.

Lonely Planet founder and author Tony Wheeler's flashback account of wandering along Asia's hippy trail in the 1960s is a true marker of how travel has changed (back then China was closed under Chairman Mao, and Singapore was yet to explode into an economic powerhouse). Turning the pages of Lonely Planet's visual feast of Asia today, it's tempting to immediately go online and make a reservation.

"The Asia Book" is part of Lonely Planet's "Continent" series, comprising Asia and Africa (with Europe and the Americas coming soon); each is a one-stop guide to all corners of the continent via historic and life-changing journeys.

Take one soon, even if its from your armchair.

Reach Chris Oliver at coliver@honoluluadvertiser.com.

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