Elephants are a very important part of Thailand’s culture and over the centuries have become one of the countries most important animals and a symbol of power and strength. Their admiration can be seen in Thai symbols, buildings, statues and the like. Still today elephants are used in many traditional roles including working in the forest and mountains, used for transportation and are an important tourist drawcard to the country. Today most of the 2600 or so elephants live and in many cases work in elephant camps. One of the more popular elephant parks for tourists at Mae Sa which is outside of Chaing Mai here visitors can see the elephant’s amazing skills and even visit the elephant nursery where the little elephants grow up. Several tour groups also offer elephant trek tours where you can ride elephants through the farmlands and forest of Thailand.

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Many people would know Khe Sahn from the classic Australian song of the same name by Cold Chisel or for references in Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA. Khe Sahn was the site of a very bloody battle fought in the Vietnam War. In 1968, Khe Sahn was one of the most remote outposts of the war and ended in one of the biggest sieges of the war between the American Forces and the People’s Army of Vietnam. Today Khe Sanh’s horrid history has been mostly overgrown with wilderness except areas including the old airstrips which were poisoned during the war. The old combat base now houses a small museum of relics from the war and the area is extensively farmed for with coffee and banana plantations. There are several tourist operators from Dong Ha which offer tours to Khe Sahn and the DMZ and give you a good insight into this terrible time in Vietnam’s history. Just as a post note the term sappers refers to the people who extracted sap out of rubber trees.

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Charters Towers is about 130km south west of Townsville in central Queensland Australia. It is known for its rich mining fields of gold and tin and also its tasty beef. Visitors to Charters Towers can call in and see the trill of the weekly cattle sales every Wednesday at Dairymple Saleyards just out of town. Charters Towers is not only the beef capital of North Queensland it is home to some beautiful historic properties which are reminders of the rich times of the Gold Rush. The town was one of Australia’s richest towns in the late 1800’s Today the region has so much to offer, heritage, friendly hospitality and some of the coldest beers and freshest steaks you will find anywhere in the world. Read the rest of this entry »

The world’s most beautiful Chinese restaurant is Lau Yee Chai in the Waikiki Shopping Centre at the Ambassador Hotel in Hawaii. How do we know you may ask, well the huge neon sign out the front says so. Inside you will see why this restaurant has made such a claim, because it probably is the worlds most beautiful. Decorated in rich reds and some of the most lovely artwork and furniture it is truly magnificent.
The restaurant is also Hawaii’s most exquisite and has been around for about 75 years serving authentic Chinese cuisine like their signature dish the Hong Kong Style Roasted Garlic Lobster, which is deep fried to perfection and roasted with diced red pepper and spring onions.

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If you went to a plant nursery in most countries and bought some cannabis seeds probably both you and the shop keeper would have a few problems with the law but not in Amsterdam. The lovely flower and garden shops along the canals sell some of the most beautiful flowers and also cannabis seeds and plants. Growing and the smoking of cannibals for personal use in Amsterdam is quiet legal and there are many cafes and coffee shops around the city where you are quiet welcome to light up and enjoy without the fear of prosecution. It might explain why the Dutch wear clogs?

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The Trabant has had a bit of a dodgy history, it was a East German produced vehicle which was pretty awful but has now gained a cult following of a icon of the former communist Germany. For visitors to Berlin there couldn’t be any more fun than going on a Trabi Safari in one of these weird little cars. This great tour takes in many of the Marxism and Leninism’s of Berlin where you pass some of the remaining Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie and other interesting memorabilia from a time gone by. The cars are pretty special they have a whopping 26 horsepower and will do 30km through the Berlin streets and there is a great commentary with directions on the Trabant’s not so state of the art radio. You will see Berlin from a totally different perspective and you even get your own Trabant driving license on completion of your tour. Read the rest of this entry »

The Goldenes Dachl is one of Innsbruck in Austria’s most popular attractions. There isn’t too much to do here just take a photo of the beautiful gold leaf roof and then go find some Schnapps or maybe some of Austria’s beautiful crystal or chocolate. The building was built for the Tirolean sovereigns in the early 15th century. A royal balcony was built at the front of the residence so the royals could sit in luxury and watch tournaments in the square. To make the balcony even more special the roof of it was covered with more than 2600 gold plated copper tiles. Today the beautiful golden roof still glows in the bright Austrian sun and is well worth a visit, even at night the roof glows in the lit square and is quite spectacular.

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The Melbourne Cricket Ground or MCG or even more familiar the G is Australia’s favorite sporting arena. It has served as a home for the 1956 Olympic Games, 2006 Commonwealth Games, Its seen the Pope and huge music artists including Madonna, The Rolling Stones and U2 play there but it is best known for its sport in particular Cricket and Australian rules football (AFL). Known as the peoples ground, the arena has recently been upgraded with state of the art facilities and can hold close to 100,000 fans and has one of the world’s largest playing surfaces measuring 174 x 149 metres. There are 6 massive light towers with 884 computer controlled lights to eliminate any shadow in night games. Two huge LCD screens and some of the worlds best corporate and hospitality facilities. The MCG is also home to a great sports museum where many Australian sporting treasures live and the centre also offers tours of the ground when it isn’t game day. But to experience the MCG at its best catch a game of Aussie Rules Footy or some international cricket.

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You have got to hand it to Disney they sure know how to make a great themepark. Disneyland is known as the happiest place on earth so Disneysea in Tokyo must be teh happiest place on sea. It is one of Disney’s most spectacular and fun parks with fun for young and all. Situated right next door to Tokyo Disneyland this new park features seven themed worlds and some of the best rides and atttractions Disney has to offer including an Indiana Jones ride better than the one in California, an amazing Tower of Terror exerience and centrepiece of the park Mount Prometheus an ‘active’ Volcano which features an adventure ride to the centre of the earth. But the highlight of Disneysea would have to be the incredible nightly spectacular called BraviSEAmo! here dragons of fire rise from the waters, smoke, lights, fireworks and music come to gether in an amazing show which leaves everyone brethless.

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Venice is one of the most amazing places you could ever visit, but like all popular spots it is geared for the tourist, over commercialised and geared to catch the tourist dollar. But there is an easy fix just get yourself lost, go for a walk up some of the more backstreet lanes- they are relatively safe and you are sure to find a ‘real’ Venice cafe or restaurant the people will be friendly and the prices will usually be much lower than what you will see around the square and best of all there wont be thousands of tourists. Try some real Venice pasta, not the mass produced bland stuff made for the tourist’s taste buds. Many of the smaller establishments are family ran so you will enjoy some traditional cooking and friendly faces it will really make your trip to Venice more memorable. Read the rest of this entry »