Latest Travel News

What an adventure! 33 days, 4 continents, 9 countries, 19 flight legs… Whew, we made it. Sounds like “The Amazing Race”!

The voyage got off to an inauspicious start right from the get go. Exiting a West African country is never a picnic and is typically good for some stories in itself. We arrived at the airport over 3 hours in advance of the flight time (Flight 1: Luanda - Lisbon) and then waited in line for over an hour just to get to the room where you check in where we got to watch the Portuguese/Angolan fine art of line cutting at its best. Another 30 minutes in a second line and we were finally checked in. Luckily passport control and security had no line - everyone was still in the first line. Steve’s years of transatlantic flights and United 100K status got us into the lounge where were at last got to relax. Of course the flight was late - there was no way all those people could get through the line in time. Initial panic about making our connection in Lisbon was relieved when our Lisbon - Zurich (Flight #2) flight was also late. However, Steve’s suitcase still did not find its way onto the connecting flight. The fellow at baggage assured us that it would be delivered to our hotel in Delhi. Steve would have to make do with 1 change of underwear and socks until then. Flight leg #3 had a shaky start the next morning as the airport folks directed us to the wrong line where we waited for an hour before informed of “our” mistake - we then rushed to the correct counter, managed to get checked in on time but alas, not sitting together. We finally made it to Delhi for the beginning of our Indian adventure.
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Karen and Colin - two travelbugs

Guys engraving Buddhist scripture at a small temple by the Killing Cave
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Rick and EvaAfter a leisurely brekkie, and fond goodbyes to some of the departing group, Eva and I asked at the desk about getting to the intersection of YongKang Rd, Taisay Rd, and Fenyang Rd. These correspond to Remy Rd and Rue de Lestre of 55 years ago. It was quite cool and dry this morning, and never got above about 18C. We took a taxi at about 10am.
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John Bridges

Auckland at Night
I can’t say that I slept particularly well what with the city traffic, Friday night revellers and jet lag, but I did stay in bed until 08h45. One look outside at the blue sky sparked me into action - and to define the day’s events.
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Sanje WoodsorrelI have wanted to go white water rafting for a long time, so I figured why not do it in New Zealand? It was so much freakin fun!! I totally loved it and can see why Tim did this for a living for so long. We rafted along the Rangitati river which runs right down the middle of the South Island. Rangitati means “river from the sky” and the name is immediately apparent once you see the water. It is the purest and clearest light blue I have ever seen in water before. The river is formed from the melting glaciers, which accounts (along with a large amount of minerals from the eroding rocks) for the color and the ICY coldness. We rafted through a couple Class 3 rapids to get warmed up before heading through two Class 5’s back to back. We got through the first one with no problems (we totally looked like pros) but the second one had some “carnage” as our guides called it. The raft in front of us got caught in the current and stopped, so we ran into them which caused our raft to turn 90 degrees on its side. The two people in the the front were thrown into the water and I got tossed into the back. I scrambled back to my post while the raft continued to charge between the rocks. We got one of the guys back in pretty quick, but the poor girl was tumbled in the rapids for a couple minutes before we could pull her back out again. She was slightly traumatized, but completely unharmed. To celebrate, we all jumped off a HUGE rock (maybe 50 feet?) into the FREEZING cold water before heading back to the lodge for yummy BBQ. They got some really great photos of our raft up on its side, but I didn’t feel like paying $40 for the CD, so you will just have to take me word for it
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The European colonizers of South America wiped out entire indigenous populations with what we know in the UK as the “common cold”… well now it seems those ghosts of the Americas past are eventually getting their revenge on an innocent group of European students in La Habana. Almost everyone has had some kind of flu-stomach-fever virus… I wont go into too much detail but several of my friends have tested out the highly acclaimed Cuban health system… Corina was “lucky” in that she got to go to a private clinic (basically for tourists, in Miramar, the district where all the embassies are) although this was in the middle of the night with a fever and after being rejected from a Cuban hospital. Tomas on the other hand got to stay a couple of nights in a public hospital. He’s German and I think she shock of the difference between the private health system he is used to and the Cuban one jolted his body into sorting itself out… after he was tested for dengue and if I’m correct was put on a drip. No-one knows what was to blame… was it the refrescos naturales made with unboiled water? Was it the now highly suspicious and definitely avoided “vegetarian” (but specializing in pollo - chicken) restaurant? Defrosted ice cream? … the possibilities are endless but I think it wasn’t food poisoning but a nasty Cuban bug that our feeble (or just unadjusted) bodies cant fight… although I have to say (proudly but with fingers crossed!) I had some of the symptoms but managed to get rid of them in a day with the help of some Ibroprofen and sleep. Get me.
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Sea lions
So I’m writing this from the Intercontinental in Santiago rather late at night as I can’t sleep since its hot and loud. Well, it WAS hot. Now it IS loud. Because they still have their system set up for winter in this tower, despite the fact that spring (summer?) is here. As such… the ‘ac’ which was already on in the room made it super hot inside despite being set on 15 degrees. We came in late, dropped our bags off and then went straight to dinner. We came back to the sauna. Now we have the window open, which is slowly cooling the room down, but, well, gives us all the sounds of a city on a Saturday night.
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A view of a bridge
Yes, Bayonne is supposedly the home of the Bayonet. Not many photos from here - I had the wrong shutter speed set on my camera - schoolboy error.

Bayonne is quite rugby mad.
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Lac d’Annecy

When I talk about Annecy I use words as charming, beautiful, picturesque, gorgeous, attractive, pleasant. Describing Annecy without using clichés isn’t easy. I first came to this French city in the Rhône-Alpes an early Autumn morning a couple of years ago. I went into a small café near Lake Annecy to have a cup of coffee and followed the French customs by ordering a warm croissant.  

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Baglioni Hotel & Rácz Thermal Spa, a luxurious 5 star boutique hotel, opens its doors in Budapest during the Spring 2008. The hotel is located in a park in the center of Buda close to the well-known Castle district. With 35 deluxe rooms, 8 executive rooms and 20 suites including the 168 sqm Presidential Suite, guests can expect nothing but the best in comfort and style. The exclusive Rácz Thermal Spa, the elegant Brunello Restaurant & Bar and the Italian Brasserie offering modern Italian dishes will make Baglioni Hotel the new hot spot in the Hungarian capital.

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