wrote:
"Nepal. Stay away from the self-proclaimed "travellers" (translation:
stoned out of their gourds bathe once a month 1960s hippies) and
you'll
love Kathmandu."

Nepal is in turmoil and is on the brink of civil war. Strikes,
bombings, and blockades are regular occurences, and Communist rebels
control many of the mountain districts where the trekking routes are.
This is not the time to go there.

True. The situation is a bit dicey right now. But I'd still consider
it. Beautiful country. No trekking this week, though.

"Hong Kong is kind of dull."

It's only dull if you stick to the skyscraper part. There are a lot
of
interesting places and things in other parts of the city, in Macau,
and
in the "outlying islands".

Macau isn't in Hong Kong, is it? Macau was much more interesting than
Hong Kong, IMO..

"Seoul have their points, but they'll probably be out of your budget
as
you describe it (fairly expensive)."

Seoul has no good points.

Every place has *some* good points. (Except maybe Singapore.)

"You can get their on a ferry from Algeceiras (sp) using a Eurail
Pass."

When you consider the cost and time involved in taking a train or bus
to Algeciras and then a ferry to Tangier and then a train to the
interesting parts of Morocco, you might as well just fly directly to
Casablanca.

If you're on a Eurrail pass all that extra train, bus cost is already
there. I rented a car in Tangier and drove around.

Casablanca was useless. I had to go there so I could say I'd been
there, but that was about it. Fez is the top attraction.

"Taipei is worth a trip."

Maybe if you've already visited the other 172 countries in the world.

I'd take Taipei over Tokyo or Seoul.