Category: Asia

Travel Ideas

When people travel, the biggest topics and highlights are often unique, funny or offbeat experiences that make great dinner party conversations. That’s the best thing about travel for most of us – experiencing something that’s unusual when compared to ones own culture.  So here are seven unique travel ideas from around the world – ranging from activities to eating and other just plain crazy stuff – and all of which will have your friends fascinated.

Unique travel idea 1: Visit the shoe fence

The Shoe Fence, Waihola
You’ll find the shoe fence on New Zealand’s South Island, on the drive south from Dunedin towards Invercargill, near a place called Waihola. The fence has been steadily collecting shoes over the years, with many travellers adding their worn out pairs. And having accumulated so many pairs over the years, the Shoe Fence is now an enormous collection that would easily put Imelda Marcos’ stash to shame. It’s not uncommon to find bizarre fence collections like this all over New Zealand – there’s even a bra fence in a town called Middlemarch!

Unique travel idea 2: Drink coffee made from cat poo

Kopi Luwak from Bali is the world’s most expensive coffee – with prices often reaching the $500 per kilogram mark. But the main reason Kopi Luwak is famous isn’t its price, it’s because it’s made of cat poo (well, the Civet isn’t actually a cat – but they’re referred to by locals as ‘cats’ or ‘weasels’). The coffee beans are eaten and digested by the Asian Palm Civet, then they’re extracted from the Civet poo, washed thoroughly, lightly roasted – and made into coffee, or Kopi Luwak (Kopi = coffee, Luwak = the Civet). There are theories as to why the coffee tastes so good; the strongest argument being that the digestive tract of the Civet removes some of the bitter coffee taste, but leaves the beans intact.

Unique travel idea 3: Paint the town red

La Tomatina, Buñol
La Tomatina has got to rank as one of the world’s most bizarre and downright infantile fiestas on earth. This world-famous summer spectacular sees thirty thousand or so participants try to dispose of the entire EU tomato mountain by way of a massive hour-long food fight. It’s an event especially appealing to repressed northern Europeans, Americans and Japanese, who swarm to the otherwise unremarkable Spanish town of Buñol each year on the last Wednesday of August, accompanied by legions of TV crews and photographers to document the carnage. Hurling 130,000 kilos of over-ripe tomatoes at each other until the streets are ankle-deep in a sea of squelching fruit is a strangely liberating experience. At the very least, it’s the one fiesta where you can truly say that you’ve painted the town red.

Unique travel idea 4: Have dinner with the devil

Tasmanian Devil
Forget the spinning, raspberry-blowing Looney Tunes stereotype – the Tasmanian devil is a famously elusive character. So if you want to get up close and personal with one on your trip to Tasmania, you’re going to need the skills of Geoff King. You’ll be taken in a small group to King’s remote fishing hut, where he’ll tempt out the devil with road kill staked to the ground. When one appears – and it usually doesn’t take long – you’ll be in the front row for a show few experience, as the Tasmanian devil guzzles down the fresh carcass in front of your eyes. You’ll literally be at dinner with the devil.

Unique travel idea 5: Cockroach racing

Cockroach Racing is a popular event that takes place every year in Brisbane on Australia Day – the 26th January. The alleged story of how these races started is that two old punters sat in the Story Bridge Hotel bar arguing over which Brisbane suburb had the biggest and fastest cockroaches – so they decided to race them. Nowadays, a jar of cockroaches is placed in the middle of the racing arena and the first cockroach to reach the outer edge of the circle wins. While it may seem silly to race cockroaches, it’s all for a good cause – proceeds from the day go to charity.

Unique travel idea 6: Tuck into a Spam supper

Filipino favourite Spam
Spam Jam is a restaurant in Manila, the Philippines, which specialises in Spam recipes. The restaurant, which you’ll find in the Makati City area of Manila, has delights on offer like the Spam burger, Spam and eggs, Spam spaghetti and Spam Caesar Salad. But whilst the menu might sound like something from a Monty Python sketch, Spam is actually part of the staple diet in the Philippines because it’s a relatively inexpensive, readily available and doesn’t spoil quickly.

Article courtesy: roughguides.com

Places to see in India

By Abhik Dutta

If variety is the spice of life then India surely must rank as one of the most exotic and rare concoctions ever devised by God. In the cultural and historical cauldron that makes India so special, there is unity in diversity – a saying that every child must learn at the history classes in school and one that he will swear by for the rest of his life. During your travels in India, at every step you will be faced by this diversity – in the people, the geography, history, the architecture, the language and the lifestyles of the people.

It is a land that is steeped in history; where every stone has witnessed the passage of time and has a story to tell- of 33,00,00,000 Gods and Goddesses prancing in their playgrounds, of Kings and Queens, brave warriors, faithful stallions, courage and treachery and noble deeds; of freedom fighters and Godmen, sages and saints, preachers and poets –  the list is endless.

It is a land whose parentage can be traced back to more than 3500 years. And since then various dynasties and Kingdoms have shaped its turbulent and checkered history down the ages. It is all still evident in the ruins, monuments, forts, battlefields and palaces that still reverberate with the sound of battle and distant war cries.

Geographically, India has everything that a visitor may seek. From the remote high altitude regions of the high Himalayas to the mesmeric coast that overlooks two seas and an ocean, from the fertile plains of the Gangetic belt to the arid desert in Rajasthan, India has everything. Crisscrossing the length and breadth of the country are rivers, most of which are associated with the many Gods that Indians worship today – the most venerable being the Ganges and the Yamuna. The other great rivers that flow from the Himalayas are the Indus, the five sisters of Punjab- Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej and Beas – the river Teesta that tumbles down Sikkim and the mighty Brahmaputra that flows through the North East bringing both wealth as well as destruction in its wake. In the plains, the other great rivers are the Narmada that originates in Madhya Pradesh, the Cauvery in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and the Mahanadi in Orissa to name a few.

The mesmerising beauty of the Himalayas has over the years attracted sages, explorers and adventurers alike. It is here that the Gods resided and till date this region is associated deeply with religion. The peaks and the passes continue to draw the mountaineer in search of the final climb that will give them ‘moksha’ or liberty. The pilgrims come here each year in search of peace and enlightenment. Exotic and challenging trails draw thousands of trekkers to the Himalayas that swing like a necklace from Kashmir in the West to Arunachal Pradesh in the East. The rivers attract the rafters and kayakers who wish to tame the deadly rapids. Undoubtedly, the Himalayan range is nature’s biggest gift to India. It has a vast coastline and pristine and little known beaches dot the coast. Goan beaches rake in the tourist moolah each year in the beach category alongwith Varkala and Kovalam in Kerala.

The harsh and fascinating desert regions of Rajasthan continue to be one of India’s biggest attractions. Fairy tale fortresses, richly adorned palaces and havelis and eternal love stories of beautiful princesses and brave Kings draw tourists by the thousand every year. There are jungles that reverberate with the roar of the tiger and the lion and no two of them are similar. From Corbett in the North to Periyar in the South, from Gir Forest in Gujarat to Namdhapa in Arunachal Pradesh each of them is distinct climatically, geographically and in the rich diversity of the flora and fauna.

The people of India are diverse and fascinating too. From the Gujjars in the Himalayas who rear their sheep and cattle in the bugyals (high altitude meadows) to the Adi tribe in Arunachal Pradesh, from the santhals of Bengal and Bihar to the fishermen of the Konkan coast, from the friendly Kinnauris of Himachal Pradesh to the fierce and primitive Jarawas of Andaman, each of them is unique. There are sub castes within each caste and inspite of intercaste problems, nowhere is unity in diversity more apparent than in India. The different strains of religions range from Hinduism, Islam, Christianity to Sikhism, Judaism and Zoroastrianism.

Temples, Churches, mosques can be found everywhere and as you roam the length and breadth of the country, you will be amazed to see that a temple in the North is so different from a temple in the South; that the Dilwara temple in Mt Abu has spectacular carvings and yet is so different  from the masterpieces of Khajuraho or the Sun temple at Konarak. The Golden Temple of the Sikhs at Amritsar is beautiful yet different from the lovely Rumtek Monastery of the Buddhists in Sikkim or Sanchi Stupa in Madhya Pradesh.

Great minds from Gautama Buddha to Vivekananda have influenced the cultural and religious unity of India. Great leaders from Chattrapati Shivaji to Mahatma Gandhi have struggled for Independence and fought in their own ways against colonial tyranny. During your travels you will step on their footprints and follow their tracks. At each turn you will face at least a  hundred years of history. You may hate India and despise the filth, poverty and oppressive red tape that will leave you frustrated but once you have experienced India, it is unlikely that you will remain unchanged.

To travel with us click here