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Enchantment of Darjeeling

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 04:41:06 +0000

(Photo: davaodude)Fondly known as the ‘Queen of the Hills’, Darjeeling is a scenic hill station in the Eastern state of India, West Bengal. Darjeeling is located in the Mahabharat Range, also known as the Lesser Himalayas at a magnificent altitude of about 2050m. Darjeeling, which is now known as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, is also famous for its tea estates which produce delicious tea. There are a number of trekking tracks which cover both high and low altitudes, offering splendid views of Mounts Kanchenjunga and Everest. The railway which is popularly known as the ‘Toy Train,’ connects Siliguri town to Darjeeling. It runs for about 86km and at altitudes from 328ft to 7218 ft.

While at Darjeeling, do not miss the Tiger hill, which is located 2590m above sea level, especially at sun rise. From Tiger hill, you will be able to soak in the breathtaking view of Mount Everest along with the Kanchenjunga mountain ranges. Also visit the Batasia Loop which is a railway loop, located 5km away from Darjeeling. Upon reaching Batasia Loop, you will be amazed by the efforts that have gone into constructing this loop. There is also a war memorial in memory of the men who died for country while fighting for Independence. There are also shopping landmarks in Darjeeling, known as The Mall and Chowrasta. You should also visit the tea gardens where you can see how Darjeeling tea is manufactured. There are also many important Buddhist monasteries around Darjeeling, with the oldest one being the Yiga Chilling Monastery.

The best time to travel to Darjeeling is from March to May or September to November. This is when temperatures are pleasant and free of landslides, monsoon or extreme winters. As a tourist to Darjeeling, you will find a wide range of accommodation like hotels, international youth hostels, English style villas and estates and so on.

London Calling

admin — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 16:30:03 +0000

(Photo: 30830597@N08)London is a destination that has built itself to carry the reputation of being classy and fashionable. The capital city of England offers many sights and sounds to satisfy the travel bug in you. Tourists can experience the class and style in the air soon after stepping into London. London is a perfect blend of the tradition, history and modernity. This is what makes the city a quintessential metropolis in the world. Anyone who has been to London can vouch for the fact that London is distinctly the world’s most emblematic cities. The proud owner of the Big Ben, London also has attractive double-decker buses, the Tube and the Queen herself!

What is more, London is home to the Buckingham Palace, Tower of London and Westminster Abbey and more. These are some of the sights that a tourist to London should never miss. Impressive sights are the Changing of Guard at the Buckingham Palace and Horse Guards Parade. These colourful royal processions can enthrall visitors, allowing them to soak in the atmosphere of the English tradition. If you travel to London in August and September, the Buckingham Palace itself is open for visitors to see. You will enjoy the sights of the clocktower and Houses of Parliament. Other sights include the London Bridge, Princess Diana’s memorial and the gorgeous Madame Tussauds. Of course, you should also not miss the London Eye, London’s finest observatory wheel. London is home to a variety of shopping locations and is good enough to rival any other shopping city in the world. With the wide range of goods available, it is understandable if you end up feeling overwhelmed. Oxford Street, Bond Street and Regent Street are some of the places you can go to for your shopping needs.

Unarguably, summer is the best time to visit London. During this time, the weather is stable and it is also the time of festivities. If you want to avoid the huge crowds, you could visit at the end of the year but will need to be prepared to deal with the capricious climate.

5 provinces of Bangkok

3 different ways to be successful as a Travel writer

admin — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 03:09:01 +0000

There are a number of people who are very much interested in writing articles and making money out of these. The fascinating thing about this writing process is that you can easily do it anywhere even in the comfort of your home. For these people, there are some techniques that you will need to develop in order to be successful. After developing these techniques and using them effectively you will surely be on your way to making money out of your travel writing. Here are four of the techniques that could prove very useful for you.

One of the ways to make money as a travel writer is to complete writing project on the numerous ‘project’ sites that are on the internet. There are a host of them out there and include sites like DoMyStuff, Guru, and Elance. All these websites and others have hundreds of writing projects posted on them each and every single day. It is very simple to accomplish this task on the websites. All you have to do is to set up a free account as a content provider, and then you will be able to respond to requests for writing projects. After successful completion of the writing project the funds that accrue from it will be directly deposited into your bank account. You can easily withdraw it from any ATM in the world, especially if it is MasterCard or VISA.
Indeed another simple technique is to be writing for your own blog. This way you will be able to use your travel stories to generate traffic to it. This is because there are a host of people who are very interested in getting enough information about travelling. If you are able to gradually develop your blog space, in not time you can attract a lot of people to the point where you will then sell ad space or products related to your blog. Even it seems very simple; there are a number of people who have thousands of dollars through this process.
One of the most common methods is to sell your stories to travel newspapers and magazines. However, this is the method or technique that pays the least of all. What you can here is to place a query to the newspaper or the magazine about the subjects of interest they like to receive. From there you can do your own research as to how to write your topics or materials before writing and selling it to them. You can easily find these newspapers and magazines from your library or more simply the internet. These days the latter provides the most effective means of locating some of these institutions. The only risky thing about this technique is the fact that you can never be sure as whether the company will guarantee the payment. For most of them your articles will be easily rejected if it is considered as a low grade article.

5 travel tips to take of note during your stay

admin — Mon, 03 May 2010 13:07:30 +0000

Most of the time when we travel, we tend to concentrate too much on the safety of facilities and other minor items. However, there is the need to make sure that you focus on the things that are of necessity before looking at the luxurious ones. In this regard, you will have to protect your valuables to the highest level possible. Some of these valuable include your passport, extra keys, credit cards and most importantly your money. Here are a few things you can do to ensure that protection.

What you can do is to keep all those valuable things and other documents in a pouch that can be worn under your clothing in a protected manner. Make sure that the pouch is worn in front of you. As an alternative you can equally put the pouch in the pillowcase and could even take it along with you as you go to the bathroom. Moreover, you must make sure you do well to hide a small cache of your traveller’s cheques or cash in more places just in case the main one is stolen.
You must also be very careful with the usage of cash purse straps. If you are going to carry some of your items in a backpack make sure that there are no valuables in there. This is because the easiest way for these items to be stolen is to cut your packs or slash your rear pants pockets and wait for the items to fall as they pick them up.
Your room in the hotel that you choose should mostly be between the 4th and 6th floors. For the rooms that are on the upper floors it is very difficult to get there with fire ladders. It will also be good to stay near the elevator even though the place could be quite noisy. More so, you could go in for rooms that are away from the parking lot if you decide to stay on the ground floor.
Furthermore, you must ensure that anytime you are signing in for your hotel room, you use only your first initial and last name. If you are a single woman you should then consider using the Mr. And Mrs. Make sure no one knows the room that you are occupying. You could also get two hotel business cards with the name of the hotel on it. Here one will be for the room and the other will be for you to carry on yourself as you go about the town on sightseeing.
When you get to your destination, make sure that you are careful of all those who wander on the hallways. Also make sure you examine the room you are supposed to stay in as well as any holes that are drilled through the walls. You can insist in a heavy combination padlock alongside the secured locks that have been put in place.

4 tips on how to do an effective travel research

admin — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 19:04:52 +0000

These days a number of people are very much interested in making a trip to places of their choice. However, most of them do really take time to do some research on the places that they are visiting. The following are some four tips that could really help you to do that effective research on the favourite place you want to visit.

One of the first things that could help you in your research is to know what you really want to do. For those who are really interested in food, then it will be helpful to make sure that you find a lot of information about these. You can find out about cooking classes, restaurants, and also speciality markets. For those who are someone who is fond of shopping, then do some research about the best deals in the shops and the favourites for the locals. For those are interested in going on adventure, then do some research about places of interest in the area where a lot of people like to visit.
You can also do well to speak to people about your upcoming trip. At all cost, you will be able to get someone who has got some kind of information about the place. In addition, you could find someone who knows a friend or family member in the area. With an email address, you can easily get information from these people about the cultural attractions, activities, transport, hot spots and accommodation facilities. You will be fascinated about the kind of information you will get from these people if you can just ask.
When it comes to safety, you will also have to get a lot of information about the area you are travelling to. You should do well to check out the tourist guides in your local library as to the kinds of people that visit the place. In order to prevent the violation of any laws in the area or country, ensure that you are abreast with all the customs, especially with regards to dressing, gender attitudes and other stuff. These will ensure that you are drawn into any protracted squabbles, arguments or quarrels in the area. When you take a place like Saudi Arabia, as a lady you cannot transfer the kind of dressing you put on in the United States here. This is because there are very strict rules guiding the kind of dressing in this country.
When it also comes to health you must make sure that you are very much abreast with every kind of information. Before going there, you must let your doctor give you all the necessary immunizations and injections that will make you immune to any form of disease. You should do well to check the health directorate website of the country concerned and even narrow it down to the area that you are visiting.

There is no doubt that all these tips will make your travel research an easy one.

Travel in India information

admin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:05:20 +0000

Before one plans to travel to India, it is necessary that the basic information regarding the places you are likely to visit is gathered. It is also advisable, in order to, make the journey comfortable follow certain Do’s and Do-Not’s.

Information:

• Information about the Places to be visited can be obtained from the Indian Embassy in your country as well as it can be looked at by surfing India Travel related sites.
• Staying in India is no problem. There are plenty of Hotels with categories ranging from Five Star Hotels to One Star Hotel, No Star Hotels, Budget Hotels, India Tourism Hotels, Resorts. In each big town there is Tourism Office, which gives information and Assistance.
• Foreigners staying in hotels are required to make the payment of their bills in Foreign Currency.
• English is the most commonly spoken language. For other languages you can seek the help of an Approved Guide knowing the Language you speak.
• People of India have a friendly nature and show their hospitality in welcoming you. Do not get disturbed if some one looks at you with some curiosity. You shall find them helping in nature and where ever necessary they shall go out of the way to guide you.
• Need not to mention, if you are using some of medicines, carry them with you, because the medicine or the brand you are using ay not be readily available. How ever the equivalent substitutes are available.
• The Religious places require that you remove your shoes and deposit them at the Shoes Counter. The Shoes are safely kept here and you are given a token in lieu if shoes. By surrendering the Token you can collect your shoes after you have finished with your visit to the temple. You are also required to cover your head with a cloth.
• The electric current supply in India is AC 220/ 250 volts and 50 cycles. If your equipment uses different current supply, obtain a converter.

Do’s :

• Always carry with you a Bottle of water. Col Mineral water is available at the Railway Stations, Bus Stands and in the Shops every where.
• Buy Railway Tickets from the Railway Station Booking Counter or authorized Travel Agent
• Keep your Pass Port, Travel Documents and Tickets safely.
• Keep your money safely.
• Hiring a Taxi or an Auto Rickshaw should be from a Pre Paid Booth present at Railway Stations, Air Ports, Bus Stands. If no such service is available from the place you are hiring Pay only by Fare Meter or settle the amount to be paid before starting the journey.
• Make your Travel Reservations well in advance especially during peak season from the month of October to month of March.
• Use Phone Call booths for making Inland and International Calls. There are plenty of them at the Public Places and in the markets with a Public Call Office Board Displayed or STD/ISD Board Displayed.

Do-Not’s:

• Do not hire a transport service from an unauthorized agency.
• Do not eat on the road. Always dine at a good restaurant.
• Do not give money to beggars they shall surround you and shall face a problem in dealing with them. More over it is illegal to give money to beggars.
• Considering the safety aspects it is advisable not to go to isolated places late hours.

4 Ways in which you can safely travel with your children

admin — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:22:11 +0000

There is no doubt that if you have a family that contains children then it is highly possible that you will make a trip of some kind with them. As such there is the need to make sure that you are abreast with all the necessary mechanisms that need to be put in place to make your travel experience one to savour. This is because children are very vulnerable and also injury prone with their high level of curiosity. If you are going on a cruise, flying abroad in a plane or driving across the country, you will have to bear these safety precautions in mind. Here are some of the few steps that could be taken to help you take care of their safety concerns.

The most important thing is the fact that your children should be taught how to act in public and indeed how to follow simple rules. You need to be able to explain to them why some rules are made for their own safety. Make sure that they are well vexed with regards to how to behave on an airplane such as not shouting or even how to safely board a plane. Ensure also that they have enough knowledge as to how to put on their seat belts if using a car and how to take them off. This is to prevent them from getting seriously injured in case of any accident.
In addition to the above, you could also hire a babysitter to take care of them when staying in hotels. You must, however, ensure that they have good referrals and the policies that govern hiring in such hotels. Sometimes you can leave them behind in the hotel whiles away with the babysitter. On other occasions, you could also take them with you when going out so that they enjoy themselves also. You must, however, take their safety outside into consideration.
There is the need to keep your children busy when traveling especially in a car or an airplane. For the former, it is very crucial as there will be no need for disturbances especially if you are using your own private car. It can really be stressful for you if they are left with no activity as such have all the time to cause some havoc in the car. Most of the time if children are not engaged in any activity, they become bored and thus cranky leading to all kinds of irritable behavior.
One other thing is to make sure that your car is in the best of conditions before making the trip to your destination. Make sure that all the various systems are checked for their safety. When you have faulty brakes, for instance, you cannot then rely on the seat belts to support the children when pulling the brakes. You must ensure that all those kinds of mechanical fittings are in the best of conditions for use.

5 reasons why the use of travel agencies will save you money

admin — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 12:58:55 +0000

A number of people have nowadays developed the habit of using travel agencies, whenever they decide to travel. This is because of the numerous benefits that they derive out of their services. Aside the benefits there are also cost savings that one can enjoy from patronizing their services. Let us take a look at some five reasons why the travel agencies will help you to save money.

One of the advantages that travel agencies have is their ticket consolidation. A number of them have a large database that contains the discounted tickets. Therefore, you will get the opportunity to access some of these discounted tickets if you patronize their services. Sometimes just because of lack of people, they are forced to throw away the unutilized discounted tickets for the season to make way for the next season’s tickets. Moreover, they will help you to do a simple comparison of the price of airline tickets across the board. This will help save the tremendous amount of money in going round to do such an activity.
The travel agencies will also help you to do some simple comparison shopping. Since a number of these travel agencies are on the internet it is pretty easy to do a comparison of the tickets that are marketed by the numerous airline firms. Apart from this you can also do a comparison shopping in terms of group discounts, travel insurance, coupons and freebies and other package deals. There is indeed no need to move from one travel office to the other. You will save money by doing a diligent search and narrowing it down to three or five.
Also they will offer the opportunity to do your one-stop shopping in relation to your travel activities. In fact, within a very short period of time your travel agency will be able to make all the necessary arrangements for your travel. These will range from tour excursions, ticket reservations, and shuttle service from the airport, accommodation, rental cars and even the services of a personal tour guide.
Aside all the above reasons there is also the chance to have access to a wide network of travel related services. Since these agencies have been able to work with those in the travel industry for a long time, they have all the information to make your travel easy. They know all those who work in the railway and restaurants, bed and breakfast, hotels and other great services for your comfort. Because of their constant interaction with these people, they are able to squeeze the best deals from them for your benefit thus helping you to save money.
Since most of the travel agencies have no physical location where you can go and utilize their services, there are no real overhead costs associated with their business. All the money that is saved on staff salaries, rent, utilities are non-existent. This means there is no need to pass it on to the consumer.

4 Health tips for Airplane travel

admin — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 12:55:32 +0000

It is very important to maintain a healthy body even during travels. Certain health precautions and preparations prior to the trip are needed to ensure a healthy and illness free travel. Of course, everyone wants to return home in the same state of health and disease free. We don’t want to acquire certain diseases that you can get during travels. And of course, we don’t want additional bills due to health problems acquired during a trip. Avoiding all of these problems is very easy if you know how to. That is why I listed below some easy measures that you can follow to have a safe and healthy trip.

1. Hydrate your body by taking in large amount of water: Humidity is higher inside the plane as compared to that in the desert. Caffeinated and alcoholic drinks dehydrate the body faster, so stay away from drinks like cola, beer, iced tea and such. If you can’t fight the temptation in drinking these kinds of beverages, be sure to take a lot of water to compensate to the expected dehydration.

2. Herbal supplements and your daily vitamins can help: I’ve heard a lot of good things from fellow travelers about vitamins and dietary supplements like “Airborne”. This helps the body to fight against health problems that you may get in plane trips.

3. Have a lot of rest: Have enough sleep the night before your flight schedule. If your flight arrives at night, this will help you get some sleep at the place of your destination. On the other hand, if your flight arrives in the morning this will ensure you that you can sleep in the evening and stay awake during day time. This will avoid problems in your normal circadian rhythm or your normal internal clock and the body’s sleep wake cycle.

4. Avoid infection and germs: One of the most crowded places in the world is air ports and airplanes as well. People are too close to each other which increase the risk for the spread of infection. This is always true unless you are in the First class accommodation. You may also bring hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes to avoid infection, you may also want to wipe your seat and seat belts to kill germs and bacteria. To prevent airborne bacteria from infecting you, you can cover both your mouth and nose with clean handkerchief or wear a mask.

With all these suggestions, you can be sure that you can stay healthy and avoid health problems during trips and travels.

10 Things to Bring When Travelling With a Baby

admin — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 01:14:00 +0000

I found 10 most important things to bring when travelling with a baby. It is easy to jet set and travel all over the world if you are alone or with your friends, and you are all adults. You can survive even with the barest necessities that come with when you travel light. Being all able-bodied adult travelers, you could all simply just go backpacking all over Europe where your feet may take you and perhaps find a rest under a shade for a little while and still not worry about not having enough food in your stash since you could simply find one on the road. However, when travelling with your baby everything becomes a different story. There are a lot of things to be considered starting from the things to pack and bring.

10 Things to bring when travelling:

1. Milk – A baby needs to be fed per demand. If your baby goes crying while you are on the plane or on the road you have no choice but to feed it. Being on the road means that it is highly unlikely for you to breastfeed in a public place where a lot of bystanders and onlookers can see you as you breastfeed. Hence, bringing enough milk is very important. The amount to bring varies upon your rough estimation of how much milk your baby can consume on the road. In any case, you should bring the entire can to be sure that you do not run out of supply and your baby might go hungry.

2. Diapers and wipes – What goes in must come out. As long as your baby drinks milk, it will continue to pee and poop. Unlike adults, babies cannot hold their pee or poop. They simply go. Fortunately, gone are the days when cloth diapers that soak are the only ones available. However, there is still a need to continuously change the baby’s diapers since you do not want your baby soaked in its own pee or poop right?

3. Baby clothes and bibs – While adults may go on for over a day without changing clothes. That is simply not advisable with babies who have sensitive skin. They also need to be changed when they accidentally get spilled with milk.

4. Baby sling – It is tiring to simply carry your baby at all times. If you do so, you will hardly feel your arms at the end of the day. Having a sling to hold your baby will help distribute your baby’s weight as you carry him.

5. Baby bottles and pacifiers and portable sterilizing equipment – You can’t simply let your baby use just one bottle and pacifier during the duration of your travel. It would be very unsanitary and unhealthy for your baby. If possible, always sterilize the things your baby put’s in his mouth.

6. Toiletries such as baby wash and shampoo – Even while travelling your baby needs to have a proper bath, especially since he gets to be exposed to foreign dust that he may not be used to at all.

7. Diaper rash cream and sunscreen and emergency medicines – While you are on your travel your baby may still get exposed to the harmful rays of the sun which is not good for the baby so having a sunscreen for baby is really advisable. Furthermore, diapers may cause diaper rash no matter where you go so have a diaper rash cream at hand during diaper changes. Having medicines at hand is also necessary while travelling.

8. Baby toys and baby blanket – The baby need’s his security object to make him feel at home and safe during the travel.

9. Changing pad and plastic bags for garbage – Your baby might need a change in diapers while you are on the road. You can’t just let your baby lie down on any surface to change diapers. Bringing a changing pad is necessary. You also have to bring a garbage bag to dispose of used diapers.

10. Breast pump – A manually-operated pump will do. Breastfeeding is still the best for babies after all.
All these are essential needs of your baby. Travelling is not an excuse to compromise the care for your baby. Packing light may be applicable for adults but certainly not for babies.

Do you know any more things to bring when travelling with a baby?