Read the new New York Times piece on Bali: 36 Hours in Bali

The writer’s story, writen almost hourly, on how she spent her time in Bali, one of the island in Indonesia and an internationally famous tourist destination.

SAY Bali and most people think paradise. There are stunning sunsets, sculpted rice terraces and a temple on almost every corner. And for less-spiritual seekers, this steamy Indonesian island also has great surfing and a rollicking nightlife. Sure, it’s gotten pretty touristy, especially on the pub crawl along Kuta Beach, where beer-swilling Australians rule. And while recent terrorist bombings have rattled Bali’s blissful pace (it is a Hindu-majority island in a Muslim-majority nation), they have done little to temper its popularity or discourage super-chic resorts from being built. Paradise, after all, is as close as the nearest temple, finding yourself on your knees with a blue flower pressed between your fingertips, asking for blessings from Brahma or one of the other gods.

Her travelogue in Bali:

Friday
3 p.m. MONKEYING AROUND
4:30 p.m. FOUR HANDS BEATS TWO
7:30 p.m. DANCE, DANCE, DANCE
9 p.m. GO FOR THE GRILL

Saturday
9 a.m. GET DOWN IN THE RIVER
2:30 p.m. MUSEUM MILE
5:30 p.m. BEST SHOW IN TOWN
7 p.m. BUST THAT BIKINI
9:30 p.m BLING IS THE THING

Sunday
10 a.m. ESPRESSO IT
11 a.m. PARADISE WITHIN PARADISE
2 p.m. SARONG AS ART

Complete info: 36 Hours in Bali (NYTimes.com)

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Inbound tourism to Bali is rebounding strongly, with a record-high 472,000 foreign visitors for the first four months of 2007.

Due to several bombings (the last on Sept 2005) in Bali, the Bali’s tourism situation have taken a roller-coaster ride in the past years.

But looking at the current number the it seems that recovery is well underway, with international arrivals for the 12 months to April 2007 growing to 1.39 million, only 10% behind the September 2005 peak.

President of Bali Discovery Tours Mr Jack Daniels:

Bali is benefiting from strong growth from India and Russia due to improved air access and visas on arrival. But, Australia, one of Bali’s biggest source markets, was still down on 2005 levels but recovering slowly.

Info source: PATA Newsletter

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White sandy beaches, islands, sun.

All of that makes me thiking whether The Caribbean Island is similar travel destination to Asia, which also famous for its beaches, islands and the sun.

One of the major advantage, specially for US traveler is that its proximity to North America which makes traveling and time that people took to travel is so much effiecient, perfect for last minute holidays.

The Caribbean is a region of America consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (most of which enclose the sea), and the surrounding coasts. Comprises more than 7,000 islands, islets, reefs, and cays, the region is located southeast of Northern America, east of Central America, and to the north and west of South America.

Famous travel destination in the Caribbean, include: Aruba, Barbados, Bahamas and the Cayman Islands.

For more information about holidays to the Caribbean visit these links:

• Wikipedia Carribean
• Carribean Wiki Travel
• Carribean.com

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Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is seeking partnerships with businesses and organisations that believe the travel and tourism industry can and must play a leading role in the fight to reduce global warming.

On march to do this, PATA has placed an advertorial in the April 2 editions of TIME and FORTUNE magazine titled “Our quest for sustainable tourism partners“.

On it PATA recognized the reality of global warming, and describe its vision of a travel and tourism industry that offers tangible economic value to the very things that are at risk from climate change — environments and cultures.

This ad is a continuing of the previous communication which also appeared on the same magazines: February 20, 2006 edition of FORTUNE and the year-end 2006 edition of TIME, and the year-end 2006 and March 5, 2007 editions of FORTUNE.

You can download the full advertorial (PDF 2.3 MB) on PATA site and visit: www.PATA.org/sustainability

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After featuring Pnom Penh, the NY Times Travel section now published a review on another Southeast Asian city: Hanoi, Vietnam

On the piece “The Awakening of Hanoi” the writer described Hanoi with these words:

A stylish, European-influenced metropolis with manicured lakeside promenades, tree-lined boulevards, ancient pagodas and French-colonial buildings painted in a peeling palette of jade, turquoise and burgundy.

Located at the northern part of the country, this current capital of Vietnam was once was was the capital of North Vietnam from 1945 to 1976 and home to about 3 million people.

Check out these links for more information about Hanoi:

• Hanoi, Vietnam (Wikipedia)
• Hanoi, Vietnam (Wikitravel)
• Traveling to Hanoi (Lonely Planet) 

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New piece from New York Times travel section about Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia you can find here: In Phnom Penh, Hopefulness Replaces Despair

Tourists came to this part of the world usually visits Cambodia more famous tourist attraction Angkor Wat on the northern part of the country near the city of Siem Reap.

But apparently, Phnom Penh is now becomes a discovery for most of people, especially the young ones.

In fact, after a few days in this city, you notice that Phnom Penh has something of a “next Prague” vibe about it — a place where many young people from around the world, heady with excitement and the thrill of the unknown, are coming to reinvent themselves.

More about Phnom Penh and its history you can find it here:

•  Phnom Penh, Wikipedia
• Camboda, ThornTree, Lonely Planet Forum

Links from the article:

Where to stay:

• Raffles Hotel Le Royal,  www.phnompenh.raffles.com
• The Pavilion, www.pavilion-cambodia.com

Where to eat:

• Friends, www.streetfriends.org
• Boddhi Tree Umma, www.boddhitree.com
• Foreign Correspondents’ Club

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This list is for you that have always been wanting to explore South Asia.

The list of course not a complete one, but it’s a start that can give you an idea where to go in South Asia.
South Asia region includes:

• Most of India
• Pakistan
• Bangladesh
• Nepal
• Bhutan
• Tibet
• Sri Lanka, and
• The Maldive Islands.

The major cities in South Asia: Mumbai (Bombay), Karachi, Kolkota (Calcutta), Chennai (Madras), Kathmandu, Lhasa, Dhaka, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Delhi, Lahore

PLACES TO VISIT

» KATHMANDU - Kathmandu and its sister-cities of Patan and Bhaktapur in the Kathmandu Valley are sometimes overlooked as travel destination because of all that Nepal has to offer. This capital city of Nepal and it is also the largest city in Nepal. It stands at an elevation of approximately 4,265 ft (1,300 m). It is an urban and suburban area of about 1.5 million inhabitants in the tri-city area in the Kathmandu Valley in central Nepal, along the Bagmati River.

• Kathmandu Wikipedia Link
• Kathmandu Official Website

» THE TAJ MAHAL - The Taj Mahal (sometimes called “the Taj”) is generally considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements of Indian, Islamic and Persian architectures. Located in Agra, India, with white marble brought from Rajasthan, the building took 22 years to construct between 1631 and 1654 by a workforce of 22,000.

• Taj Mahal Wikipedia Link
• Taj Mahal Wiki Travel Link
• Taj Mahal India.net

» GOLDEN TEMPLE is the focus of the Sikh religion. Its official name is Harimandir Sahib or Darbar Sahib (also Hari Mandir, Harimandar and other variants) is the most sacred shrine in Sikhism, located in Amritsar, Punjab, India. It is a place of peace and scenic beauty well worth seeing; but it also has a history of bloodshed and, possibly, a future that includes a renewed struggle for an independent Sikh state.

• Golden Temple Wikipedia Link

» GOA’S BEACHES - Of the 75 miles of coast line in the Indian State of Goa, over 50 miles of it is beach. Internationally renowned for its beaches, Goa is visited by hundreds of thousands of foreign and domestic tourists each year, and has become one of the most popular holiday destinations for European travellers. Warm, inviting, near-tropical beach. And while the rest of Goa - its culture, food, inland scenery, and cities - are all well worth visiting, Goa’s beaches are what makes the state one of India’s major tourist attractions.

• Goa Wikipedia Link
• Goa Wiki Travel Link
• Goa Government Site
• Goa Official Tourism Site
• Info about Beaches in Goa

» LHASA is the gate way to one of the most fascinating places on earth. Lhasa literally means “place of the gods”, although ancient Tibetan documents and inscriptions demonstrate that the place was first called Rasa, which means “courtyard place” or “goat place”. Its altitude is about 3,650 m (12,000 ft), making it one of the highest cities in the world. The city is home to about 200,000 inhabitants.

• Lhasa Wikipedia Link
• Lhasa Official Website

» MUSTANG - It is the Forbidden Kingdom. Or, at least it was forbidden until 1992 when the government of Nepal decided to reopen it to tourists — in very limited numbers. Once an independent kingdom, although closely tied by language and culture to Tibet. From the 15th century to the 17th century, its strategic location granted Mustang control over the trade between the Himalayas and India. By the end of the 18th century, the kingdom was annexed by Nepal.

• Mustang Wikipedia Link

» CHANG TANG WILDLIFE PRESERVE - also known as the Qinghai-Tibetan (Qingzang) Plateau, is a vast, elevated plateau in East Asia covering most of the Tibet Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province. It occupies an area of around 1,000 by 2,500 kilometers, and has an average elevation of over 4,500 meters. Called “the roof of the world,” it is the highest and biggest plateau in the world, with an area of 2.5 million square kilometers. Located in Northwestern Tibet, the Chang Tang Wildlife Preserve is the second largest wildlife preserve on Earth. Some 300,000 square kilometers of Tibet’s wilderness have been protected by the preserve since it was created in 1993.

• Chang Tang Wikipedia Links
• Chang Tang Tourism Page

More info from GoAsia.About.com: South Asia 101

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ROYAL FLORA RATCHAPHRUEK 2006, the International Horticultural Exposition for His Majesty the King will be held on 1 November 2006 - 31 January 2007 in Chiang Mai, Thailand to celebrate celebrate the most auspicious occasions of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 60th Anniversary or the Diamond Jubilee of His Majesty’s Accession to the Throne together with His Majesty’s 80th Birthday Anniversary.

The 3 months flower festival (92 days), a one-of-a-kind event, is being organized to present to the world the marvels of plants and breeds of over 2,200 species of tropical plants and flowers, in total of 2,500,000 plants.

Situated on 80 hectares of land at the Royal Agricultural Research Center in Mae Hia sub-district, Muang district, Chiang Mai Province in Northern Thailand, the royal festival will be joined by over 30 countries to participate in ‘Gardens for the King’ and expected to draw an audience of over 2 million visitors from around the world or approximately 20,000 to 50,000 visitors a day.

Highlights

“Gardens for the King” comprises of “International Gardens” and “Corporate Gardens” are the main attraction of the event, with other exhibitions competing for the visitors attentions mainly: Thai Tropical Garden, The Royal Pavilion and Orchid Pavilion

The area for International Gardens is allocated for exhibitions of national blossoms, blooms, and horticulture as well as the cultural arts and architecture of 30 countries, each garden will reflect a historic diplomatic, cultural and trade ties between nations, people or, where possible, royal families of the two countries.

Among the participating countries are:
Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Indonesia, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, China, Brunei, Turkey, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Bulgaria, Mauritania, Kenya, Nigeria, Gabon, Sudan, Morocco, Tunisia, South Africa, Burundi, Qatar, Iran, Yemen, Trinidad & Tobago, Canada

Ratchaphruek Flower
‘Ratchaphruek’ — the Golden Shower Tree (Cassia Fistula L.), is considered to be an auspicious tree.

The dazzling yellow flowers signify two out of the three most important institutions of the Thai nation – the national religion, Buddhism, and His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej who was born on Monday. Yellow is the color associated with Monday.

The shape of the pollen resembles the Thai numeral for nine; another fascinating characteristic that is symbolic of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Rama IX, the ninth ruler of the illustrious Chakri dynasty.

More information over at the official Website

• Royal Flora Ratchaphruek 2006

• Programs and Activities

• Visitor information

• International Conferences, Symposiums and Workshops

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