Today, Norm Goldman, Editor of Sketchandtravel and Bookpleasures, is pleased to have as a guest, John Shors, author of Beneath a Marble Sky: A Novel of the Taj Mahal, that is now being made into a major motion picture.

Good day John and thank you for agreeing to participate in our interview.

John: You're quite welcome. It's truly a pleasure.

Norm:

I understand you spent four years in Asia and you backpacked across multiple countries.

Could you tell us which countries you visited, and what impressed you most during your adventures?

John:

Yes, I was lucky enough to spend a good chunk of time in Asia. During the early to mid 90s I traveled across Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Nepal, India, Indonesia, and Hong Kong.

These adventures showed me that we truly live in a global society. More important, spending time with the rich and poor, educated and uneducated of Asia taught me that none of us are as different as we think. We all have the same fears, hopes, strengths and weaknesses. Even our religions arent as dissimilar as people believe.

Norm:

If you had to choose 5 of the most unique romantic destinations in Asia, which ones would they be? Why?

John: