There’s the 2 weeks of vegetarian food and yoga lessons in India, but I’m thinking of something more relaxing. I don’t want to have to cook or have a hassle finding vegetarian food. I’d like a varied and healthy diet, too.
Does anyone have any great ideas for a vegetarian vacation in Asia?
I’d advise going to the spa on lamai beach, ko samui…you can do a cleanse, the food is delicious, and the massages there or up the hill at another place (forget the name as am tired) are great. Search the net, or contact me for more info.
That’s a tough one, if you want to travel in N, E, or SE Asia. Taiwan is probably the best spot in the area for vegetarian food. Food in Thailand is decent, and there’s plenty of veggie fare to choose from.
And then there’s Japan, with some excellent veggie dishes (super tofu, tempura, udon, soba, etc). But, if you don’t speak or read any Japanese, then you’ll have a problem, since few menus are in English, and few staff speak any English. Most of the sauces are fish based in some way, so you need to be able to ask them about that. Actually, if a tiny amount of fish based stuff in your soy sauce bugs you, well, there may be very little at all to eat in Japan.
At the very very bare minimum, you must learn to say, “Is this vegetarian?” (The easy version being, “Kole wa begetarian desu-ka?”) You might follow or preface that with, “I don’t eat meat or fish.” (“Niku to sakana wa tabe masen”) I ALWAYS follow this by asking if they understand. (“Wakari masu ka?”) People are generally very nice and responsive after I offer this mandatory set of phrases before ordering.
In recent years, there has been a higher awareness of vegetarianism in Japan. Five years ago or so, it was much tougher to get someone to understand that you don’t eat fish or meat AT ALL.
Then again, I have to say the 3 month Japanese course I took in Taiwan has really helped in my trips to Japan over the last few years!