Travel Guides

Photo by Tom Corser www.tomcorser.com. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.0 England & Wales (UK) Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/uk/deed.en_GB

Imagine a hotel built from snow and ice by artists.  The rooms are beautiful and  icy and cold.  You sleep in a warm thermal sleeping bag on a bed made of a block of ice topped by a thick mattress and  reindeer skins.   You could be in a simple snow room, or in a room filled with ice sculptures. You are at the Ice Hotel in Sweden.

Located 200km above the artic circle ICEHOTEL is literally at the top of the world.    It seems distant and remote, however it is easy to get to with the nearest airport and train station only 15km away in the town of Kiruna.  From year to year the ICEHOTEL is never the same.  Every year artists from around the globe come to build and sculpt the beautiful hotel, only to see it melt away come spring.

African Penguins

The award-winning domestic airline, Etihad Airways has recently announced that it is to start flying to its second destination in South Africa – Cape Town.  Explaining an increase in demand for holiday and business travel, the airline’s chief executive also stated that the move was in preparation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup starting on the 11th June next year.

In the past. Cuba has been viewed as a pretentious and rebellious nation thanks to the countries colorful history.  but did you know it is one of the few countries in the Caribbean which actually saw growth in tourism this year? 

With white sandy beaches and an unmistakable pride, Cuba is a country like no other. As more and more people discover this amazing Latino nation, Cuba’s tourism industry is going from strength to strength.

The World Famous Floating Market

Hidden away in a corner of Southeast Asia is the wonderful and rather unique country of Thailand.  Often a much over-looked holiday destination, one can be assured of a once in a lifetime experience when visiting this award winning holiday destination. 

The capital of Thailand is a city known as Bangkok and it is the largest Southeast Asia and one of the largest cities in the world. There is nothing like quite like a trip to this amazing metropolis which seems to be a sprawling mass of building after building.

The local people of the Fijian islands typically make food that can be eaten without silverware or other utensils. Pillows and mats are used for sitting during meals instead of chairs and the whole meal is worlds apart from a typical American dinner table. Their dishes are typically made up of brown rice, root vegetables like potatoes and turnips, coconuts and various types of fish. Fiji is also highly renowned for its extremely pure water aquifers. Fijian artisanal water is sold all around the world.
The way traditional Fijian food is prepared is very unique to the area. The Fijian “Lo-vo” or clay oven is very common for preparing meats, fish and other dishes. Typically the food is buried in a large clay pot a few feet underground, and covered with hot stones so that the ground itself acts like a large oven, cooking the food inside the pot. It usually takes quite a while to cook in a clay oven, but more stones can be added to the ground to speed up cooking times. Lo-vo festivals and feasts are very popular in the Fijian islands. Typically, meats such as chicken and fish are cooked along with turnips and plantains to slow-cook in the pot. The raw foods are wrapped in aluminum foil or banana leaves to absorb and distribute heat evenly. Lo-vo festivals are most often held in the resort towns of Fiji. Weddings are also another very popular time for Lo-vo feasts.

Vilnius is a very old town, and one of the traditionally biggest and most influent cities of the Northern Europe. Its name comes from the River Vilna, on whose banks Vilnius proudly sits since the XIIIth century. Vilnius counts 500 000 inhabitants and this year is a special one for Vilnius: it was chosen the European Cultural Capital 2009, together with the Austrian city of Linz.

St Anns Church is a landmark of Vilnius and an example of Gothic architecture

Along the centuries Vilnius met more periods of flourishing, but also very tough times. Vilnius has been occupied whether by the Russians, or by the Poles, or by the Swedish. During World War I and World War II Vilnius was occupied by German troops. In the XVIIth century Vilnius suffered 5 destructive fires, and also the bubonic plague hit the city, killing 20 000 people. After all these sad events Vilnius came back to life, showing a lot of character.

There is no better way to unwind from a hectic busy lifestyle then by having a
vacation in one of the many yoga retreats around the world. These retreats are
aimed specifically at balancing your mental, physical and spiritual well being, and
combine beautiful, serene locations with healthy food, meditation and yoga tuition.
Most yoga retreats provide classes for all levels of experience, from beginners to
professional looking for some quiet time out, and there are often additional
entertainments provided if you want to bring a partner who is not so interested in the
yoga itself.

The wet sand on any beach is a favorite place for yoga practice

If you are interested in gardening, and want a holiday that is active without being
exhausting, why not try one of the horticulture holidays that are now on offer from
many of the different tour operators. These holidays can be an excellent opportunity
to experience the challenges of gardening in completely different climates and soils,
as well as working with new and exotic plants and pests!

The famous Giverny gardens will animate the gardener from you

Some horticulture holidays take in scenic tours of regional gardens and parks, such
as group tours of beautiful gardens of Giverny in France, including the famous
garden of impressionist artist Claude Monet, and the contemporary ‘Chateau de
Miserey’ garden, which features highly original planting themes of heaven, purgatory
and hell, and is open from April through to November. Other holidays can be aimed
at study and research on specific species of plants such as orchids or roses, or even
the many different varieties of salt and fresh water plants.