Turkey, and Istanbul in particular, are considered to be both European and Asian. Divided by the Strait of Bosphorus, European Istanbul is on the western side and Asian Istanbul is on the eastern side. Most of the historic sites are located in the old city which is in European Istanbul. To confuse things even further, some consider Turkey part of the Middle East.

The top ten list here was in response to those posters who complained that the Conde Nast and Travel and Leisure Gold lists were meaningless because the people that voted probably did not visit those places recently or at all etc. So I thought lets see what Fodorites would do with a simple request.
SidB and Mrwumfr did what I asked (although Mrwumfr did exactly what I was looking for). Lets keep the voting going (refer to first post for the ten destinations). No clear winner yet for number 1.

The 'Georgetown' being referred to was obviously Georgetown Penang and not Georgetown Guyana.

I guess you can only vomment on places that you have stayed in, so:-

1 Bangkok
5 Hong Kong
2 Singapore
7 Sydney
6 Bali
Shanghai - Never Been
Beijing - Never Been
3 Kuala Lumpur
4 Hanoi
Tokyo - Too many years ago

Rank them i to 10- it doesn't matter if you have not been to all the places- surely people have read reviews, lists, comments, articles, etc.

Kuranosuke...The new Indochine Restaurant location is not outside of the Amara as you posted to me earlier...it's on the sidewalk level outside of Ngee Ann City Mall on Orchard Road. You said that you went to Indochine in Bangkok? I didn't know there was one in Bangkok...where is it located? Happy Travels!

guenmai; the indochine in bkk is located on sukhumvit soi 23, and is just great. i had an interesting experience there, and i will post my story shortly.

jamesa; i see your postings are getting fewer and fewer. thanks for the clarification on georgetown. i was hoping orgy7 would chime in on that one, as he probably knows that town very well.(i think mrwunrlf knew where i was referring too, and just wanted to keep this thread stimulating(not that it isn't)). :-).

I know that there is a George Town in Penang, Malaysia. There's a Georgetown there also?

Kuranosuke...Thanks for the address of Indochine in Bangkok...when I go back in August, I'll DEFINITELY check it out. Happy Travels!

Istanbul has the distinction of being split - part lies in Europe, part lies in Asia - thanks to the Bosphorous.

As for this ruling them out opf joining Europe? Israel got into the Eurovision song contest and that's in Asia

I believe that most people accept that although it's not strictly a continent it's a significant geographical area, similar to the Caribbean.

I think it's more acceptable to think of Israel as being part of the Middle East. Turkey is "The Gateway to the East", ie partially in both areas. This could also be applied to countries like Egypt. Although strictly speaking it's an African country most consider it to be a Middle Eastern country.

I guess that Israel is considered to be part of the "Western" world, as is Australia. Boy is this complicated.

I'd be interested to hear people's views on which continent Saudi Arabia sits.

Anyhow, great thread Bill.

There is deffinately a 'Georgetown' in Penang, but not heard of a 'Geroge Town', Georgetown seriously is the way it is used/spelt, well at least here is Asia!

Hi

I can say a bit about the places that I have been to :-)
Thailand: great vacation destination, great food, excellent for combining a city vacation (Bangkok) with a beach vacation, it is pretty cheap

Maldives: my wife and I went to Sun Island in the Maldives. Amazing beaches, crystal blue water...an amazing experience if you are just looking for sun and beach

China: Beijing was a surprise to me. Lots to see and do, pretty cheap, a lot of history.

Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur are destinations that have been an OK experience but I'm not dying to go back :-)

On the list: Want to go to Japan and see Tokyo. I also dream about going to Sydney of course.

I have posted trip reports and pictures from our trips on my homepage <font color="blue">gardkarlsen.com</font>.

Regards
Gard
Stavanger, Norway

Only one or two Fodorites responded per my request to rank the 10 destinations listed from 1 thru 10. I wanted to get a survey - a simple one- done but it appears that is not going to happen. So guys we are stuck with Conde Nast and Travel and Leisure best lists as we can't get enough polling done here to generate a Fodors best list.

Maybe a top three list would work. Or top two - can't mess that up.

bill are you saying that we are stupid??

Ok, I can't take any more abuse - although I haven't been to all of these places, here are my rankings:

1. Bangkok
3. Hong Kong
9. Singapore
10.Sydney
2. Bali
8. Shanghai
7. Beijing
6. Kaula Lumpur
5. Hanoi
4. Tokoyo

Bravo Craig!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

craig---that's a good ranking

whats the tally so far?