New Zealand photographer Amos Chapple visited the remote, near-vertical Iranian-Kurdish village of Palangan last winter. The images he captured paint a picture of life in this remote region, which is one of the main routes for smugglers seeking to bring alcohol across the mountain passes from Iraq into Iran.

A trip to Bali is also a social lesson for the whole family, finds Donna McIntyre.

Megan Singleton feasts on Chinese delicacies and snaps up some bargains.

Kieran Nash gets off the beaten snow tracks high in the avalanche country of the mountains of India.

The Himalayan region of Kashmir is usually in the headlines because of political tensions and violence, but amid the trouble lie an awe-inspiring landscape and some of the best back-country ski areas in the world.

Donna McIntyre gets intrepid and takes two teenage boys on a holiday to Bali.

Cambodia's coastal areas provide just as much of an insight to the Cambodian psyche as the more popular temples of Angkor Wat, writes Neda Vanovac.

Two New Zealand Defence Force personnel have been killed and six injured in Afghanistan. The NZDF said in a statement the two were serving with the New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team.

Europe and Japan gain, but US makers take a hit as buyers turn away from the thirsty monsters that have ruled the market.

Live Chat replay - Doing business with China - BNZ economist Tony Alexander