TRAVEL & FOREIGN COUNTRIES
Martinique mellows the taste of rum  The French Caribbean island of Martinique has many things to recommend it: Black-sand beaches and lush landscapes go hand in hand with all the amenities of a bustling part of France, from bakeries to roads filled with the latest Renaults and Citroens.
Deals to Bermuda’s pink-sand beaches Thanks to its Atlantic setting, the pink-sanded island chain of Bermuda is only coming into high season now, at the same time as northern states kick into high gear. While this British-owned archipelago is renowned for its high price tags, deals can still be found to this refined spot, where Old World charms, historic towns, and plentiful golf courses abound.
Surprising South Africa  As I stood bleary-eyed in the Avis office in Johannesburg airport after a 12-hour flight, rental car keys in hand, exhausted kids and luggage at my side, I had only one thought: my husband has been murdered.
Simply the best TEENAGE rebels living on the remote Indonesian island of Alor bleach their hair orange in patches. Sometimes they lash out and colour it lime green or egg yellow. One young tough in a black T-shirt, who may have misread his punk magazines, likes to paint his toenails pale pink. These kids pretend they're in the thick of things, pulsing to the heartbeat of urban culture, in tune with the zeitgeist. This could be seen as a brave denial of reality. Manifestly, Alor is a long way from anywhere.
As fuel prices rise, some slow down
(AP)
 AP - As other cars zipped by at 70 mph or more, Mike Papin and his wife, Joann, kept rolling along just below the 65 mph limit as they made their way from their winter home in Florida to a summer place in Vermont.
Portland, Ore: Perfect day-trip destination
(AP)
 AP - Some cities are hard for the casual visitor to handle. Traffic, confusing maps, far-flung attractions, and too many chain stores can make the tourist's quest for a hassle-free yet authentic connection to the local vibe all but impossible.
Where to travel on a weak dollar  Debbie Trevino, a travel agent at Naperville, Ill.-based Hobson Travel, who specializes in international luxury destinations, says that despite the weak dollar, she's still making sales. "Luxury travel hasn't quit, but it has changed," says Trevino. "People want more value — they're looking for more inclusive, personalized, one-on-one experiences."
Rotorua, New Zealand - The road to Rotorua We stopped in Orewa for 1 night, then moved on to Rotorua, where the first thing you notice is the smell!!! A motel up the road from where we stayed summed it up well - Sulphur City!!
There's loads to do here, so we stayed for 4 nights. We went to visit "hells Gate" which is a geothermal reserve with steaming geysers and an even stronger smell!!; to the "Buried village" to see where they had excavated some of the village buried by the volcanic erruption in 1846; and drove around looking at the lakes. At one point if you looked 1 side of the road the lake was blue, and on the other side the lake was green!! And I hadn't even been drinking!!! Honest!
We had booked on a trip one evening to go and experience life at a traditional maori village. We were entertained by singing and dancing, and then ate a fantastic meal cooked in the ground, surpringly no bugs to chew on though!! How disappointing!
The guide we had was amazing and had us all when at ...
Tourism Agency, upgraded transport safety panel to start in October
The Diet passed bills on Friday for the establishment of the Tourism Agency and an upgraded transport safety board, both of which are scheduled to be inaugurated in October. The Tourism Agency is expected to play a role in achieving the government's targets such as increasing the number of foreign visitors to Japan to 10 million per year by 2010 as well as boosting spending on domestic holidays to 30 billion yen.
more articles
Luang Prabang, Lao Peoples Dem Rep - Thailand to Luang Prabang to Vientiane After our hillside trek we rushed to the Laos border to try to get to Cambodia in a few days. We hopped a slow boat down the Mekong which was going to take two days to take us to the UNESCO town of Luang Prabang. The boat trip was really a great experience because most people on the boat were poor backpackers like us and we all bonded. By the end of the second day we all knew each other very well (including body odors and bodily noises) and were traveling together for the next few days. The float down the river was very scenic and undeveloped. The local villages we passed usually consisted of a few small bamboo shacks and the people lived off the river and surrounding mountains. Most the hillsides had been stripped of timber and burned to clear the way for agriculture. It really looked as if the area was bombed but I guess this is just normal land use. Almost everywhere we looked someone was fishing with an old cast net or some makeshift bamboo poles.
We hit Luang Prabang at the ...
ABCS of traveling with baby Beyond making sure that your baby has something to suck on during take-off and landing, here are 26 tips for traveling with a flier younger than 2. A Always use the restroom yourself as your final move when you're still in the presence of another adult who can watch your child. B Remember to buckle your seat belt on the plane before you get your child settled on your lap.
|
Aussie bars among the worlds best
SIX Australian watering holes have made it onto a survey of the top 100 bars: and one has in the crept into the top five. Guess which city it's in?
|
