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The Noosa Farmers' Market, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, has grown to be one of the biggest in Australia |
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This article details things to do and see in Penang and includes information on accommodation provided, local food and cuisine. |
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Can the sound of a temple bell call forth a mountain range? It would seem unlikely. But in the case of Korea's "holy of holies" Mount Kumgang (aka Kumgangsan, Geumgangsan National Park, or the Diamond Mountains), nothing appears to be impossible. |
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When Roderick Eime packed his bags for the Nürburgring, he thought he was off to cover one of the world’s great Touring, GT and Production Car races. Well he was, sort of.. |
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Cape York is one of the most enduring 4WD destinations in Australia. Roderick Eime jumps into a showroom condition VW Touareg for the ultimate road test to the top. |
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On a whirlwind tour of Shanxi province, Fiona Harper sits down to a Chinese banquet with a sting in the tail |
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A stopover in Frankfurt can be a rewarding experience as Karen Halabi discovers. |
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As Hanoi gears up to celebrate its 1000th anniversary in 2010, city planners are trying to ensure that the city’s fine architectural heritage is not compromised by haphazard development.. |
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Sisowath Quay, in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh, is emerging as one of the world's great boulevards |
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Overhead flies the original hang glider - a giant condor. Its three and a half metre wingspan lends it an unsurpassed grace and flair, as it rides the thermal currents with effortless ease. It may not be the grandest canyon in the world, but the Colca Canyon (over twice the depth of America's Grand Canyon) is a place of sublime beauty. |
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In New York, Christmas surprisingly rises above crass commercialism |
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Hit the road to explore Thailand’s holiday island of Phuket.... |
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The mountainous reaches of northern Thailand – until recent years isolated from the rest of the country – shelter many scenic and cultural treasures. |
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A journey from Delhi to the ancient cities of Jaipur, Johdpur, Udaipur and Jalesmere in Rajasthan. Wide selection of images available. If you would like to purchase this story or similar, submit via the form. |
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The people of the Seychelles - of English, French, Asian and African origin - have blended their influences into one potent Creole concoction. |
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Exploring Korea’s border province of Gangwon-do |
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In Bali, place and direction are fluid in the extreme- particularly around inland Bedugul |
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Amateur aquanaut, Roderick Eime, packs his flippers and trunks for an underwater look at Australia's fabled Great Barrier Reef.
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Exploring the bayous and byways of French Louisiana |
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Alaska's vibrant capital is fun in all seasons |
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Taveuni Island, straddling the International Date Line, is a lush getaway |
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This article continues with details of champagne – the region and the drink.and includes information on accommodation provided, local food and cuisine, things to do and see. |
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Alice Springs' Desert Park breathes Life into the Australian Outback |
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Abu Dhabi is rapidly emerging as the most powerful of the United Arab Emirates. |
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South Australia’s capital sheds its “City of Churches” image |
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Seeking the ultimate adrenaline rush in New Zealand's South Island |
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As Jessica Watson approaches the sailors Everest, Cape Horn, on her solo round the world record-breaking adventure, Fiona Harper chats with Jessica to find out what motivates this remarkable 16 year adventurer. |
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Today, the plains of Kenya are ideal hunting grounds for wildlife enthusiasts who do their shooting through the lens of a camera, rather than a barrel of a gun. |
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Long distance cruising onboard a yacht can be a leisurely, personally satisfying lifestyle. Until one runs aground on an unseen sandbar that is.
Join Fiona Harper on a yachting adventure that sees her 15m yacht aground in far northwest Australia. |
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Western Australia's oldest town becomes a city |
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An interview with Aboriginal singer/songwriter Ali Mills |
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Alice Springs, in Central Australia, combines cultural and adventure tourism in one exhilarating package. |
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Glenn A Baker uncovers Goths, Punks, Space Cadets, Little Misses Muffett and Bo Peep among the Harajuku hangers. |
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There’s an unusually large amount of gold in Japan's east coast city of Kanazawa |
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Near-record rainfalls along the Zambezi River in 2006 and early 2007 have transformed the landscape into a nature wonderland |
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Alsace, just over the German border in France, is a fascinating ethnic mix of languages, cultures and cuisines |
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Some fresh ideas for spending time out in Sydney |
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Impatient tourist, Roderick Eime, learns the lore of the jungle - and that the jungle is a law unto itself. |
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The Amazon amazes in its ever-changing majesty.... and the best way to travel the River is in majestic style, aboard the expedition cruise ship the MV Explorer. A unique feature of Explorer trips is the onboard inflatable Zodiacs, sturdy rubber dinghies with outboard motors that can negotiate the narrowest tributaries. |
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Within easy reach of America’s eastern cities, you can drift back to a gentler era, turning the clock back to the dawn of the industrial era, before the sparks and steam of the railways replaced the gentler motions of water pouring into locks and mules plodding along towpaths. |
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Cruising the Interstates, negotiating Tinseltown’s spaghetti junctions, raising the dust in the Mojave Desert....images made familiar by the silver screen. What is the reality? |
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The island of Pulau Selingaan in the Sulu Sea off Malaysian Borneo is a declared marine park that sits in ancient turtle migration and breeding lanes. |
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Russia's surprising city of Khabarovsk, on the Amur RIver |
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Karen Halabi reports from an elephant sanctuary in the remote hills north of Chiang Mai, Thailand, where an Elephant Nature Park and the woman who runs it, are attracting international attention. |
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So much has changed in Nepal since the heady days of the great Asian overland journey in the Seventies, let alone since Kipling evoked this description of the semi-mythical city he had never seen. |
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Not that long ago there was no such thing as a ‘holiday’ in India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands. A visit to this remote, 700 km long archipelago in the Bay of Bengal was nearly always a one-way affair. |
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Call it the peace dividend: the ancient capital of the Khmer Empire now teems with tourists. Here are some tips for getting the best from one of Asia’s great monuments - and a different way to get there from Phnom Penh, the capital. |
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The Samburu of the Northern Rift Valley of Kenya are intriguing cousins of the better-known Masai of the south. |
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The over-water stilt village of Buli Sim-Sim (Sabah, Malaysia) |
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The Middle East, in particular Saudi Arabia, is hot. Saudi is one of the hardest places in the world to visit. The country does not accept tourists and in fact has no such thing as a tourist visa, much less a tourist office. But things are changing says Karen Halabi.
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Towering above Arequipa, the recently active volcano Mt Misti, 5,822 metres (19,100 feet) high, looks strangely out of place. At the foot of the mountain, Arequipeños go about their daily lives in sub-tropical conditions, despite the devastation caused by the earthquake of early 2001. |
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It is hard to escape the lure of Buenos Aires, one of the most stylish and fashionable cities in the world (at least until the recent currency crisis). The real challenge for visitors is to venture into those parts of the country which accommodate the other two thirds of the 30 million population. |
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Discover the story behind the oldest landscape on the planet |
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The Austrian city of Graz, the birthplace of California’s Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, is a surprisingly sophisticated city with many hidden layers. |
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‘Going Troppo’ and where better than on an utterly remote desert island at the farthest extremity of the Arabian Peninsula? |
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Karen Halabi escapes the madding crowd for the peace and contemplation of a Korean tea house. |
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Tee off in an extinct volcano, alongside Moghul monuments or just beyond the stone wall of a centuries old Spanish-built fort. |
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Sheriden Rhodes discovers retro furnishings and a personal chef in Australia's most alluring seaside retreats. |
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Words can not properly describe and photographs can not adequately capture the breathtaking beauty of Aitutaki. |
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A tour through the relics of Thailand's glory days |
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Culture Schlock in East Timor |
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on Amorgos Island, Greece |
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The American West opens up ahead as you cross the Missouri, westbound to South Dakota |
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Better known for its jade green rice paddies, powder sand beaches and hauntingly beautiful scenery, Bali has stand-out golf courses that incorporate all of these highly scenic appeals. |
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Bandung’s biggest drawcard is ugly, smells bad and often can’t even be seen at all. |
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Bangkok's new network of sky-trains, underground trains, river ferries and dedicated bus lanes makes getting around this sprawling city a breeze. |
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Bangkok’s Chatujak Weekend Market - perhaps the largest open air bazaar in all of Asia - is a maze of amazing bargains. |
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A trip through Basque country, in SW France and western Spain |
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Now it has finally opened, the Thermae Bath Spa Complex aims to re-establish Bath’s rightful place as Britain’s pre-eminent spa destination.
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Western Australia's sparkling Batavia Coast, running north from Perth to Geraldton, is now more accessible than ever |
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The Maldives is a beach destination every inch as good as the postcard-perfect images you’ve seen |
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German Heritage in the Adelaide Hills |
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On the surface, Saudi Arabia appears a lot like other Muslim countries such as Iran or Iraq. There are many similarities - the wall-to-wall desert and the women clad head to toe in abayyas, but then you start to notice the differences - the obvious wealth and corresponding lack of poverty, the big flashy cars and the obsession with everything American. |
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The surprising city of Belém, gateway to the lower Amazon |
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Karen Halabi visits a once divided city to report on how reunification, as well as a huge reconstruction program which turned Berlin into the largest construction site in Europe, have seen it become Germany’s most exciting tourist attraction. |
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A former leper colony now makes a most attractive getaway from Carnarvon, on Australia's mid-west coast, discovers Fiona Harper |
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This Singapore-sized island kingdom offers the ideal stopover introduction to the Middle East - sunshine and sparkling turquoise waters, smart shopping and a few sights, six hours short of London. |
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Singapore has a fascinating cultural history. Part of this history can be appreciated on a guided walk through Kampong Gelam – also known as the “Arab Street” precinct. |
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With seesawing oil prices, Brisbane's new pedestrian- and cycle-friendly transport network has arrived at just the right time. |
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In the Victorian gold rush city of Bendigo, Russell Jack, Chinese Australian community leader, has never let the lack of a few million stand between him and his vision. The museum that Jack built is home to the world's oldest and longest Chinese imperial dragons. |
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Rub shoulders with millionaire fish farmers and other larger-than-life denizens of the Outback around the rugged coast of South Australia’s little-known Eyre Peninsula |
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Some time after midnight. Three naked males, the others virtual strangers to me, are sweating profusely in the 80-degree heat of a Russian banya or bathhouse. One grabs a swatch of aromatic birch branches and starts systematically beating another. This is male bonding, Russian style. |
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From just one course in 1984, the total number of golf courses in China has grown to over 200 in 2008. After the Olympic Games take to the gold class golf courses of Beijing. |
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Within another year this dusty ribbon of gravel will become another busy touring route for weekend warriors, when the last stretch across the high plains is tar-sealed. Now is the time to experience the magic... |
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For nearly 300 years, France had a presence in southern India. Four Former French enclaves still have an aura of colonial charm. |
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Philip Game meanders along the Welsh border in search of... books |
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Bosnia-Herzegovina stories |
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Slovakia's capital Bratislava is a laidback hangout |
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They’re native-born Spaniards but their first language is Catalan, not Spanish. For what it’s worth, the bullrings have fallen into disrepair. |
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Queensland's surprising capital re-invents itself |
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Musicians from northern Australia's Arnhem Land are building cultural bridges in trailblazing collaborations with artists from Indonesia and East Timor |
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Switzerland’s Bernina Railway turns 95 |
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Here are five (or more) fresh-air things to do in and around Brisbane |
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Whack! The sharp snap of club connecting with ball cracks through the stillness of the forest. The noise startles a deer that lopes across the jade green playfield. Welcome to golf, British Colombia style! |
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British Virgin Islands stories |
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Broome, in the north-west of Australia, is about as far away from Sydney and Melbourne as you can get without a passport. |
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Glenn A Baker is blown away by Brunei - and finds much more than oil and Sultans. |
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Melbourne’s Coastal Art Trail around Port Phillip Bay celebrates the generations of Australian artists who have painted our favourite coastal landscapes. |
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The awesome seascapes of Western Australia's Buccaneer Archipelago |
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Forget the old Iron Curtain nasties; one of Europe's least-known countries is one of the most scenic and hospitable |
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Munich's Oktoberfest beer festival is justly world-renowned. But the rest of Bavaria has an equally enticing beerscape. |
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Test-driving a gutsy Volkswagen EOS convertible along Victoria’s Ocean Road is a real challenge. |
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On the "Stevenson Trail" in south-eastern France |
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The most luxurious way to see England’s picturesque Cotswolds region is from behind the wheel of a Morgan sports car. |
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Visitors to Byron Bay, the most easterly town on the world's most easterly continent, sometimes wonder if they are still on planet earth. |
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Perfect surf breaks, world class food and a laidback lifestyle unlike anywhere else. It must be Byron. |
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Caloundra, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, is powering ahead |
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We all fall in love with Cambodia... |
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Phnom Penh tour guide Bun Nguon knows every step of the bone-shaking road journey from the capital up Route 5 to Battambang: from the Khmer Rouge labour camps of the Cardamom Mountains he trudged 400 kilometres home and pick up the pieces of his life. |
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The staging of the first-ever international golf tournament in Cambodia in late November 2007 put the sporting spotlight on a nation that’s never been associated with the great game. |
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Whilst the British may disparage ‘Oxbridge’ as the home of an ivory tower elite, England’s two venerable university cities are quite different places.
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The sign at the town entrance tells it all: “Welcome to Cunnamulla, settled in the Dreamtime.” Aussie towns don’t get much older than that. Nor do they get much more welcoming and community-spirited.
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Australia's capital bristles with artworks - both good and bad |
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Try and describe the unique southern African metropolis of Cape Town without mentioning its imposing Table Mountain backdrop and it would be like describing an elephant without its trunk. |
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Capricorn International Resort, near Rockhampton (Australia) offers low-cost holidays to handicapped and underprivileged guests |
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The volcanic Krakatoa Island is now staging a menacing re-growth |
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The walled city of Carcassonne, in the south of France, revels in its colourful but grisly history |
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From Roman amphitheatre to Muslim Medina, ancient Carthage to Saharan salt lakes, Tunisia offers much more than sunshine and sand. |
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French Catalonia takes the lead of the Spanish Catalonian heartland |
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Topped by a white sail, a traditional felucca slowly and silently makes its way down the Nile. Just beyond, the cacophony and chaos of Cairo couldn’t be more contrasting. |
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These days all that’s left of the Wall is a short 100-metre section which stands curiously alone in a suburban street just off Potsdamer Platz, metres from Checkpoint Charlie. Open-topped tourist buses file by and tourists crane from their upper decks to take videos and snaps of this last remaining remnant. |
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Visitors to Chennai, the former Madras, can unwind on a choice of two veteran golf courses and both of them have interesting tales to tell! |
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KAREN HALABI visits Shanghai and discovers the new modern face of 21st century China, where things are changing at a rapid pace. |
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Nepal’s Chitwan National Park preserves a tract of lowland forest – tiger, rhinoceros and elephant country – far removed from the snow-capped Himalaya for which the landlocked nation is so well known. |
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The chaotic Chinese quarter of Ho Chi Minh City, in Vietnam |
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There are two sides to Churchill’s burgeoning tourism coin. In winter this tiny Canadian outpost on Hudson Bay is visited by those wanting a (not too) close encounter with polar bears; in summer tourists come to see Beluga Whales frolicking in tranquil waters. |
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Glenn A. Baker presents a Bakers' Dozen of cities worthy of cruising through, with all antennae twitching |
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"The world's southernmost city has the look of a frontier town. The architecture is eclectic, with buildings in progress, some half finished, and many roads pockmarked, obviously damaged by the severe weather. The warmer season, roughly from November to March, seems hardly long enough to catch up on all the jobs which accumulate during those colder months when, in the depth of winter, there are only seven hours of daylight each day." |
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Soak up the waters in Budapest, a city famous for its health and thermal spas, and the only place in Europe you’ll find Turkish baths, says Karen Halabi. |
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Having sailed along the coast of Arnhem Land, traversing the Gulf of Carpentaria and into one of the most remote towns on the Australian coast, Fiona Harper hungrily anticipates a return to civilisation, dropping anchor at Seisia on Cape York, Queensland.
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The climb to Tiger’s Nest, in Bhutan, is breath-taking – literally. |
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This is the way to enjoy Galician barnacles: take hold, twist and withdraw the edible portion, not much bigger than your thumbnail. |
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Colombia's Amazon settlements belie the country's image as a drug-'n-crime capital |
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Gujarat is the land of the Mahatma - the birthplace of Ghandi - and the only place on Earth where you can still see the Asiatic Lion, says Karen Halabi. |
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The deserts of northern South Australia produce most of the world's precious opal, gouged out of the ground by ruggedly-independent miners. |
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There are some things you should do once in a lifetime. Well, that's what I was told when they suggested sleeping out on the ice in Antarctica. |
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Exquisitely manicured, the halcyon Cotswold villages of Painswick, Broadway, Bibury and Bourton-on-the-Water could easily be stage sets. |
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The villa accommodation boom is leading Bali's renaissance as a top-end destination. |
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Crocodiles can raise welts in more ways than one, at the Sepik River Crocodile Festival |
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The four-hour cross island walk began as a single lane road winding into the foothills, past ramshackle villages struggling to keep the fast growing jungle at bay. Rarotongan village kids ran beside the road giggling and waving while the dogs were as laid back as the adult villagers, barely lifting their heads in the tropical heat to give us more than a brief glance as we passed by.
Fiona Harper fights tropical lethargy in the Cook Islands. |
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Queensland's lush rainforest retreat |
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Cruising around the palm-fringed motus or islands of Rangiroa atoll in the Tuamoto Archipelago of French Polynesia takes a lot of beating |
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Thanks to the actions of protesters a quarter of a century ago, we can now enjoy the pristine World Heritage forest of western Tasmania. Roderick Eime investigates this 'no dam' wonder. |
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Karen Halabi sails the Whitsunday islands off Australia’s eastern coastline on a cruise ship that once sailed the Mediterranean. |
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The thylacine, the Tasmanian tiger, has been declared extinct: but many prefer to believe a few survive, and where else but deep in the forests of the Tarkine wilderness? |
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There is a constant, inescapable sensuality to the entire Cuban experience. |
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A cycling trip around Samoa's "big island", overnighting at some inexpensive and supremely relaxing beach resorts. |
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Cycling Tasmania's rugged west coast is a real challenge - in contrast to the gently rolling hills of the island's east coast |
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The visitor to Austria finds an unrivalled eye-feast along the shores of the Danube - and the Danube cycle path is one of the best ways to experience the River's ever-changing moods |
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Never a dull moment on the long, dusty road which follows Australia’s largest river, even when the drought-stricken Darling is little more than a string of stagnant pools. |
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Since East Timor gained its independence, everyone from UN peacekeepers to local entrepreneurs wants a piece of the action in this brand-new nation. Darwin is the boomtown gateway to East Timor |
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Darwin - Frontline Australia, as the license plate slogans put it? Australia's most unusual city, Darwin has always been first landfall for visitors from the north: Macassan trepang-hunters; the Imperial Japanese Air Force and the boat people. Today the only hostile invaders are the box jellyfish and the saltwater crocodile. |
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Mauritius was uninhabited when the Dutch landed on the Indian Ocean island in 1598. Only awkward looking flightless birds greeted their arrival. |
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Originating in the Tibetan highlands the mighty Mekong River nears the end of its 4500 km journey as it flows through the extensive delta lands of southern Vietnam. |
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Saudi Arabia is a country of vast distances and huge expanses of desert, where ancient forts and citadels dot the landscape. |
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For a truly invigorating experience, take a trip to this warm island paradise in French Polynesia. Visit the colorful Papeete markets, swim with friendly stingrays, find a deserted island or have breakfast delivered to your own over water bungalow. |
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Archaeologists have yet to determine the origin of the bizarre bronze artefacts in Sichuan's Sanxingdui Museum |
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In East Timor, the world's newest nation |
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Cunning dingoes roam Fraser Island, in southern Queensland, often getting just a little too close to visitors who long for a gentle wildlife encounter. Visitors are advised to keep a close watch on their belongings, particurlarly their passports. |
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The sleepy tropical island of Diu clings like a flea to the underbelly of the Gujarati elephant, teasing its giant neighbour’s itch (or rather, its thirst). |
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Fiona Harper questions the wisdom of the old proverb 'it is better to travel than to arrive' after a coastal passage that ends in Melbourne's Docklands district. |
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Where better to start exploring London’s past than the banks of the Thames, for centuries the main artery of the greatest mercantile city the world had ever known? |
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You need a holiday - well, maybe Spot (or Fido or Tiddles) does too. Sheriden Rhodes takes a tour of some pet friendly places that have all earned a paw star rating! |
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Tourists come from as far away as Korea Japan and China to see blue nosed dolphins at Port Stephens on the coast, just north of Sydney. |
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Dominican Republic stories |
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This is Uluru, not any old rock in the centre of Australia. The world's largest pebble (that's official) was, until 17 years ago, universally known as Ayers Rock, named for the boss of the white discoverer, Gosse. It’s the world's largest cleanskin monolith |
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As Fidel Castro fades from the Cuban stage, now is the best time to visit |
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The sublime "Culture Capital" of the former East Germany rises from the ashes of World War II |
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While it was the British who introduced golf to India in the 1820s it’s only been in the past few years that resort courses of international standard and style have started to green the vast Indian countryside. Many of these are to be found in and around New Delhi. |
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When they changed Calcutta's name to Kolkata, the city persona changed just a little. But what remained unchanged is the staggering Durga Puja festival in mid-October, when millions of Calcuttans take to the streets |
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From an obscure colony to a war zone patrolled by UN peacekeepers… it sounds like somewhere in Africa. But the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste lies almost at Asia's furthest extremity, one half of an island a short flight from Bali or from northern Australia. |
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Foodies and fashionistas delight at the Spitalfields market in London's East End |
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Piestany, an authentic spa town in Slovakia once favoured as a health retreat by Austrian emperors and composers, is now frequented by international celebrities and sportsmen, including soccer teams. |
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Where else to Eat, Pray, (and) Love? Elizabeth Gilbert’s personal journey in search of self-fulfilment reached its conclusion in Ubud, the spiritual heart of Bali. |
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Brunei’s “national dish”, Ambuyat, has the colour and consistency of wallpaper glue. |
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Yachting and golfing go hand in hand with the opening of the Whitsunday Islands' first resort golf course and sophisticated yacht club. Perfect for superyacht owners with a penchant for sweeping fairways amid hilltop greens, stylish elegance arrives in the Whitsundays.
Fiona Harper takes on 18 holes at Hamilton Island Golf Club, followed by sundowners overlooking Dent Passage at Hamilton Island Yacht Club |
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At Echuca, where the Campaspe and the Goulburn run into the mighty Murray, floods –and drought – were always been a way of life for Australia's largest inland river port. |
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Thomas E King journeys from the Thai island of Koh Samui, in the south of the country, to Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai in the far north-west |
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Edinburgh’s New Town remains arguably the world’s finest example of Georgian town planning and architecture, but two centuries on, the austere terraced townhouses and the luxuriant private parks wear a comfortable patina. |
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The people of Futuna Island, in Vanuatu, are the Polynesians in this overwhelmingly Melanesian country |
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Country England has never been so good. |
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Five quick getaways from the world's most dynamic city |
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From the fiery brick-red of Marrakech to the lemon tints of Meknes, Morocco’s older cities seem to be colour-coded. |
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Estonia is much more than just its mediaeval capital Tallinn |
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Shrug off the winter woollies and soak up the warm embrace of Noosa. |
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Ethiopia has its own religion, a non-colonial history, and a cultural life-support system that could come from another planet. . |
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Eumundi: Spirit of the Rainbow Serpent: Ngumundi, the black snake credited with creating the landscape around the Queensland Sunshine Coast town of Eumundi, seems to have done a great job. |
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The Eurail Pass can be used to explore some of the most fascinating and hidden corners of Europe |
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At dawn on December 3, 1854, thirty or more men died when British redcoats and colonial police attacked a makeshift stockade manned by rebel miners on the gold fields west of Melbourne.
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When a cruise ship gets stuck on Germany's Main River, the result becomes an exercise in "What if...?" |
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As Zimbabwe fades off the tourist stage, the new star on the southern Africa stage is Zambia. |
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From rivers to rhinos in India's northeast |
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Amidst Java’s teeming millions, a comfortable express train is a capsule of calm, if not without hazards of its own... |
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The Fishing Boats of Malta.
The coastlines of the Maltese islands of Gozo, Malta and Comino are littered with harbours bays and tiny fishing villages where old men sit in the afternoon sun untangling fishing nets…
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This article details the amazing Fraser Island off the coast of Queensland and includes information on accommodation provided, and cuisine, things to do and see. |
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Laos is rapidly emerging as a prime cultural and eco tourism destination with golf also gaining a devout following. |
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Little more than a decade ago there were just three golf courses in Egypt. Today there are nearly 20 fields of green as this sophisticated and sports-friendly African nation becomes a hot bed for golf tourism. |
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They say the best holidays are those with an element of romance. They also say that sometimes the best romances are those that end with the holiday, leaving nothing but happy memories. That's the kind of romance you get when you fall for sea lions, discovers Fiona Harper. |
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Kamchatka is the show-stopper of Russia's Far East, a 'wild west' frontier region |
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Over 25 years on from the war between Britain and Argentina that claimed nearly a thousand lives, the Falkland Islands town of Stanley - the world's smallest and most remote capital - is once again an important port. |
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Stories from the Faroe Islands |
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Fiji's many island resorts truly offer a little tropical bliss for everyone. And, for special treatment, be sure to bring the kids. |
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Discover a do-it-yourself Fiji away from the big-name resorts... |
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4WD or kayak are the best means of transport in the rugged interior of Fiji's main island, Viti Levu |
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Following the collapse of Communism in 1990, Hungary was faced with the task of finding a new identity for itself. Unlike some other former eastern bloc countries, Hungary has "capitalised" on its Communist past. |
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You don't have to go searching for Dylan Thomas in Old South Wales. Quite the contrary - Dylan Thomas will come looking for YOU. |
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Get out of Taiwan's main cities and you'll encounter a nature-feast without peer |
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A road-trip through the heartland of Aragon, with its rich Moorish heritage |
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India's oldest and largest tiger reserve is the legacy of the last of the Great White Hunters |
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The manic movie director Werner Herzog back in 1982 made a film about the fictitious and equally eccentric Irishman Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, whose dream of an opera house (based on the famous Manaus Opera) in the Peruvian jungle somehow necessitated the moving of a ship across a mountain. Fitzcarraldo's memory is still perpetuated in the Amazonian city of Iquitos. |
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You know that there's something special about a place when you've hardly arrived there, and already you are planning how you'll return. Soon. Flinders Island is like that. |
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The vibrant Miraflores precinct is one of Lima's redeeming features |
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What better summertime drive than to follow Virginia’s Appalachian parkways through some of the finest countryside in the eastern United States? |
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On the "Fortress Trail" in the Sultanate of Oman |
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Four-wheel drive is the best way to tackle the rugged inland of Fiji |
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Offroad in Oman reveals a stunning landscape of rugged mountains, lush green valleys and tortuous rock formations |
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The Aboriginal heritage of the world's largest sand island |
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Rent a farm cottage somewhere in Normandy, Brittany or the Loire, then spend the next week exploring towns and villages harking back to William the Conqueror. |
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Fancy setting up a bucolic retreat in the French countryside? |
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This article outlines the various activities on the islands and describe the atmosphere of this tropical South Seas country. |
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Beechworth's colourful Celtic and Chinese heritage |
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Back to the future in India's IT hub |
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The ancient Inca city of Cusco attracts rave reviews from all who visit there. Nominated by UNESCO as a "centre of world patrimony", Cusco stuns with its sheer beauty, with baroque Spanish architecture layered upon Inca and pre-Inca foundations. Yolanda van den Berg, from the Netherlands, was deeply influenced by Cusco - so much so that she has established a foundation to provide a refuge for some of the street kids of the city. |
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Easter Island relives its glorious past |
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Scotland's waterfront city of Dundee used to be known as “the city of jute, jam and journalism”. Now. all this has changed |
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Explorations of Bach country, in the former East Germany |
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After civil strife, earthquake and tsunami, the Solomon Islands are on the rebound |
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Across Africa, low-key technology is propelling the continent into the 22nd Century |
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The astonishing architecture of Brunei |
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Make a list of the most remote, isolated and fascinating places on the planet that you'd ever want to visit. If the Galápagos Islands are not on that list STOP READING NOW. |
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Hwange National Park is the largest and best gameviewing area in Zimbabwe and, some say, all of Africa. With roughly 15,000 sq km of protected parklands, it's around the size of Wales or Belgium. During a short stay here it is not impossible to see up to 50 different species of animal and bird life... |
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Looming out of azure blue waters at the gateway to the Mediterranean Sea is one of the world's most unmistakable landmarks, the Rock of Gibraltar. |
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The passengers have clattered downstairs to the ferry’s dimly-lit hold, squeezing back into dozens of cars, trucks and vans which have spent the journey packed into line, front to back. Now… not exactly the chequered flag, but the ramp has lowered into place, the crewman waves each vehicle forward in turn. We accelerate up onto the ramp, out into the daylight, clattering ashore onto virgin territory. |
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Newcastle, "capital" of north-east England, has for the fourth consecutive year been nominated as the country’s favourite city-break destination |
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Georgia (Caucasus) stories |
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A road trip through the new Germany |
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They said it could never happen – a peaceful democratic transition in West Africa. But Ghana, which has just celebrated its 50th anniversary of independence, is different. |
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Ghanaian drumming and dancing are the biggest things on the world music stage |
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Will it still be there next year? |
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Many of the rough-hewn shelter huts scattered across the Australian Alps represent the legacy of earlier, more innocent visitors, including the now-banished mountain cattlemen. |
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An unlikely cultural capital, Glasgow's uncomprisingly Victorian streetscape provides the setting for an assemblage of fine galleries and museums. |
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Stockholm's glorious (but short) summer |
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Will global warming affect Bostwana's unique wildlife habitats? |
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Rajasthan's World Heritage Keoladeo National Park is no longer bird-friendly, as its wetlands dry up |
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This article details the history and background of Lindeman Island as well as what is available on the island and includes information on accommodation provided, the food,and activities for all ages. |
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Cruise the wonders of Patagonia, from Punta Arenas in Chile to Ushuaia in Argentina |
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"Welcome to my home", said the beaming taxi driver at Harare airport in such warm, lilting tones that I should have realised the pull had already started. "To my home" I kept thinking on the drive into the Zimbabwean capital, not to Harare or even Zimbabwe, but "to my home". In all my years of travelling, no-one had ever said that to me before.
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A loop trip from Christchurch taking in the South Island’s two main mountain passes takes in some of the world’s finest high-country scenery |
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Monkeys cavorting on well crafted fairways that skirt a royal forest and views of the mighty Annapurna Range means that golf in the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal is an exciting experience. |
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Kolkata, the better known Calcutta, is the not only the home of golf in India, the mega city has the oldest golf club in all of Asia. |
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The blossoming capital city of Yunnan, a province in southwest China, boasts a 2,400-year history. The development of golf is far more recent, with Kunming hosting some of the finest courses in Asia.
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The little Tasmanian village of Bothwell is home to one of the world's top golfing museums |
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Three outstanding fields of green have made Bali the world's best golf island. And one of them is located inside a volcano! |
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Offering more than 20 places to play the great game, Melbourne's Mornington Peninsula has become the 'golf coast' of Australia. |
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The twin courses of Port Douglas, a lush resort north of Cairns, provide stimulation to those who want more than just listening to the waves wash across creamy sands. |
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Victoria's touring route for all seasons |
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When the vast island continent of Madagascar wrenched itself free from the mighty Gondwanaland tens of millions of years ago, it took with it a veritable Noah's Ark of plant and animal species. |
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Experience one of Australia's most dramatic landscapes: a cliff-hanging scenic drive around Victoria's southwestern coastline on the Great Ocean Road. |
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Forget the flamenco. What about some stirring reels from a Galician piper? Spain is a land of many parts, the more so since the blessed departure of the dour Franco years. |
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Stories from Greenland by Glenn A. Baker |
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At first sight it’s an unlikely destination: Waikiki West perhaps, an Hispanic Hawaii, America transplanted to a dot in the ocean due north of New Guinea. |
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Tucked away in the mountainous hinterlands of south western China, unpolluted and relatively sparsely populated Guizhou Province is untrammelled by international tourism. |
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Yesterday we stalked one of India's last lions and her cubs; later that evening we joined in a garba, a neighbourhood carnival, joining in a Gujarati folk dance. |
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Here lie kings... inside the grassy hemispherical mound the temperature drops as the passage burrows into the heart of the tumulus. |
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Odense - the birthplace of famous Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen |
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The high-rise Reef Hotel, on Queensland's Hamilton Island, is the only thing that blots this otherwise pristine environment. |
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If your idea of a holiday is hanging by the neck in a medieval style torture chamber then a Slovakian spa is for you. |
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Pull on your leathers to explore the Mornington Peninsula, ‘Melbourne’s backyard’, suggests Philip Game |
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Harpers Ferry village, today so peaceful, was in the 1800s the touch-stone for events that launched the American Civil War. |
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Hainan is one of China’s fastest emerging holiday destinations. |
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Victoria’s heart of gold is a land of faded glories, of dreams which won’t quite die. |
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Since the time of the Shang the Yellow River basin has nurtured one Chinese dynasty after another, their capitals rising and falling in turn. |
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Thai'd of Mediocrity? These Hip New Thai Hotels will leave you inspired. And not only are they super cool, they beat with a very warm heart.
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Founded in 1589, the state capital of Hyderabad is better known for its distinct cuisine and the rich heritage left by the Nizams. Sample these aspects of the largest city in Andhra Pradesh and then take to the tees of two interesting golf courses. |
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Bac Ho, Uncle Ho, presides over the square facing the gingerbread French town hall and the red flag flies above the dictator’s palace which the Viet Cong tanks gate-crashed in April 1975. |
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Hanoi, where the late leader lies in state, is the true Ho Chi Minh City |
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The vibrant and bustling seaport of Hong Kong has enjoyed a prominent part in the grand opera of Asia. Roderick Eime travelled to Hong Kong for a whirlwind tour of the sights, sounds and smells of the former British colony and discovered a bright and brassy city with a long and colourful history |
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The Ballinasloe Horse Fair in central Ireland is the oldest in Europe |
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The Hunter Valley is Australia's first and still one of its best wine-growing regions. |
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This article details the food and wine of the Hunter Valley and also includes information on accommodation provided, local food and cuisine, and the wealth of things to do and see. |
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Hundreds of rudimentary huts dotted throughout Victoria's majestic alpine areas have provided shelter and succour for generations of cattlemen and casual visitors alike. |
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The once treacherous seas of the polar regions are almost tamed by these modern marvels. Roderick Eime ventures aboard the world's most famous passenger-carrying icebreaker. |
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The golf course at Brunei’s Empire Hotel and Country Club is one of the world's most challenging courses. |
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Bohemia, in the Czech Republic, has it all - ancient town squares, Gothic spires and bell towers, castles. music and lazy rivers to boot. |
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The human fabric of the remote Kutch region of Gujarat provides a dazzling spectacle. |
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Ireland is Guinness-steeped in music |
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Coming to terms with the South Korean capital |
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Oman, Zanzibar and eastern India are the last places on earth where traditional wooden dhows (sailing ships) are still built |
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The Spanish city of Valencia, renowned as the home of paella, is also known as "the rice bowl of Europe" |
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A search in Assam, India, for the world's hottest chilli. |
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The province "West of the Mountains" is a land of loess, the rugged dun-coloured country sandwiched between the Great Wall and the Yellow River. |
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Australia's legendary "Black Outlaw" |
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Some getaways simply inspire romance. |
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On the camel's back in Central Australia |
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A live geography lesson in wide screen, Zimbabwe is an ideal place to take kids on a family holiday but check first - many lodges won't take children under 12 and they often aren't allowed on game drives. |
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First time travel to India can be a daunting experience. Debutant Roderick Eime shares his experience and tries to alleviate your concerns about travel to the mysterious subcontinent. |
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Indonesian Papua is Australasia's last frontier: a little-known land where Muslim Asia coexists uneasily with Melanesia; a land which long concealed the world's richest deposits of copper and gold. |
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Stepping into the workshop at the Wooden Boat Centre, waterside on the Huon River at Franklin in southern Tasmania, Fiona Harper inhales the sweet aroma of Huon Pine permeating the air. |
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Isaan, in the far north-east of Thailand, is one of the most little-known parts of the country |
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As Karen Halabi discovers, Malta is an island built entirely of stone. The buildings, the streets, the cliffs and the whole island are the same honey-coloured stone on this small island which lies in the middle of the Mediterranean. |
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Fiji’s islands are a dream escape for anyone, where you can laze under a palm tree or snorkel to your heart’s delight. |
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What do three widely separated islands have in common? |
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Halfway down to sub-polar Macquarie Island lies a cluster of five subantarctic island groups, scattered across the Southern Ocean to the south and east of New Zealand. |
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Israel's small size belies its wealth of historical treasures |
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I’m soaring over the Lion City! Tucked away in air conditioned comfort some 165 metres above a dynamic city my 360° view from the Singapore Flyer, Asia’s largest observation wheel, encompasses the ever changing cityscape and well beyond to parts of neighbouring Malaysia and Indonesia. |
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The Hokitika Wildfoods Festival, held every year in March on the rugged West Coast of New Zealand's South Island, takes gastronomy to new limits |
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Crowning a soaring column in the green heart of Jakarta is a ‘flame’ that never flickers. It can’t because it’s made of gold! |
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South East Asia’s favourite fruit provides an apt metaphor for a city which no longer deserves to be dismissed as squalid, dirty and charmless. However, a rich feast of sticky, custard-like flesh awaits those eager enough to withstand the noxious smell of this football-sized fruit and wrest open the formidable spiked carcass. |
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A venerable coffee plantation has been reborn as a boutique resort in the mountains of central Java |
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Stories from Jersey (Channel Islands) |
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To travel aboard Malaysia's East Coast Railway is more important than to arrive. |
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Aircruising gives you a whole new perspective on Australia. |
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Jute, once the mainstay of Dundee's economy, is staging a surprising comeback in some surprising places. |
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Kaohsiung, venue for the 2009 World Games, cleans up its act |
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Karelia, between Finland and Russia, opens up its borders |
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Ghosts still roam parts of Estonia's Hiiumaa Island, renowned for its wilderness and heritage. |
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Thailand's Andaman Coast, three years after the tsunami |
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Savusavu, on Fiji’s second biggest island Vanua Levu, is dressed to kill. |
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Korean schoolkids are keen to learn English |
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When stacked up against regional tourism powerhouses like Japan and China, Korea is often not considered a contender. Yet on closer inspection, any visitor will discover a rich, historic culture quite distinct from its neighbours. |
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A booming city which was once a tin miners’ camp; Kuala Lumpur mingles Malay, Chinese, Indian and other cultural strains in a 21st century metropolis sometimes futuristic. |
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Russia's remote Kuril Islands are not a people place |
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One of the world's newer tourist destinations has actually been receiving visitors since the 4th century BC. |
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The British introduced the great game of golf to Lahore’s sporting scene in the 1890s. Have a great game at a veteran course and then tee off on a modern challenge. |
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FONDLY referred to as 'Windy Wellington", the winds of change have swept through New Zealand's capital, making it arguably the country's most sophisticated and funkiest city. |
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Come clean. You don't know where the Baltic countries fit on the map, or which capital is which. I didn't either. |
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There is something decidedly exotic about hopping onboard a private jet and being whisked away to a far-flung South Pacific Island. Particularly so when your destination has been declared one of the 100 most beautiful hotels and resorts of the world.
Reporting from an exclusive retreat on a privately owned island in Fiji, Fiona Harper discovers that perfection has a new name. It's called Laucala Island. |
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Trek with Roderick Eime amongst the smoldering outflows around Hawaii's Kilauea volcano |
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Aloof from the world, Burma / Myanmar remains a land of mysteries, some dark, others whimsical.
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Stories from Lesotho (southern Africa) |
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Some mysteries are best left unsolved. Roderick Eime laments that the enduring mystery of Easter Island's great moai is solved. |
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This article details the lead-up to the games, where to stay in the city and other things to see and do before and after the Games. |
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Libya reveals its astonishing secrets |
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This story runs to around 1000 words and explains what goes on inside the world’s strangest houses, how to find them, and what else there is to see in the vicinity. |
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Japan's Hida region is Japan's heartland |
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Live like a modern day Maharajah when you visit Rajasthan. |
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The opening of new championship courses in Lithuania during 2009 has been a key factor in establishing this Baltic nation as a desirable golf destination. |
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A sweep through the rich textures and enticing history of the Portuguese capital, the first true world city, from a base of sumptuous luxury atop one of its seven hills above the Tagus River. |
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Within sixty kilometres of Seoul, a conurbation of twenty million, Stalinist troops stand ready to shoot on sight in defence of their hermit kingdom |
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Buda and Pest, facing each other across the Danube, together make up one of Europe's most intriguing capitals |
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Slumbering beside the Mekong amidst the mountains of northern Laos, Luang Prabang must be the only Asian city in which one hardly need look before crossing the street. |
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Rummage through the rocks and pebbles around Rubyvale and you might just turn up a small fortune. Here in outback Queensland, the streets are paved, not with gold, but with emeralds, rubies and sapphires. Share a yarn with the drifters and fossickers who came for a weekend and stayed for life. |
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Stories from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia |
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There is no elegant way to climb up onto an elephant. Tricia Welsh learns this at a mahout’s course in Northern Thailand. |
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The efforts of one extraordinary teacher are bringing hope to one of Australia's most disadvantaged communities |
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No customer is too picky for this boutique butcher in an unlikely corner of London's East End |
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Art and nature make for a heady mix in eastern France |
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India dances to a different beat throughout the Malabar, a culturally rich and scenically diverse region of northern Kerala. |
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A relative backwater today, Malacca formed the crucible for much of the recorded history of this multiracial nation |
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On a long, hot stretch of road I’d begun to nod off, when the bus stopped abruptly. A pair of phantasmagorical figures, masked and costumed in feathers, technicolour rags and war-paint were prancing at the roadside, strolling players in search of a gig. |
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Waiting for a bus is rarely fun, but on the Mediterranean island nation of Malta... |
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The city of Manaus, capital of the Brazilian province of Amazonas, is growing so fast that no-one can keep up with the changes taking place. |
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Where’s the oldest golf course in the southern hemisphere? Mauritius proudly claims this veteran with gusto and also offers a golf bag full of other championship challenges. |
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‘A Sunday landscape’ was Mark Twain’s appraisal of Mauritius in his 1897 book, “More Tramps Abroad”. He wasn’t being rude, merely expanding on his clutch of impressions of this island which included ‘a dainty little vest-pocket Matterhorn’ |
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Maharao Sri Pragmal Sinhji III is the 19th in a lineage of maharajas who have governed the remote Rann of Kutch for the last four hundred years. He makes some pithy remarks on current world problems, including terrorism. |
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Melbourne's street art sometimes has visitors wondering whether it's their eyes or Melbourne itself that is playing tricks on them. |
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Look to the sophisticated state capital of Victoria for some of the best shopping Down Under. |
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This article details the Metro, the underground rail system that efficiently links all of Paris, as well as its history and use, and the unique decor of some of the stations. |
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Mountains loom up from the canyon floor, dwarfing the 17th-century mission church. Cacti reach for a hot, china-blue sky; children scrabble in the dust outside the church whilst stetson-hatted figures come and go in battered utility trucks. The quintessential Mexico… |
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The lush dairy country inland from the Great ocean Road is milking its rich natural assets for the benefit of the hungry visitor. The official name is Corangamite Shire - Sheriden Rhodes simply says its delicious. |
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Mongolia, 'The Land of Blue Sky', no longer wants to conquer the whole world. But still evident everywhere is the spirit of Genghis Khan.
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Sabah's Kinabatangan River is a wildlife refuge without peer, home to both orang-utans and the endangered Proboscis Monkey |
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While the rest of Australia bakes in a dry heat, Darwin welcomes the summer months with bracing showers which reveal the Territory's staggering natural beauty. |
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There's much to explore in the Russian capital, deservedly one of the world's great cities, declares Philip Game. |
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Back to the Future, in a remote corner of eastern Arabia |
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Living in one of the world's most mountainous territories, the people of Sikkim have had to learn how to adapt to nature’s whims. But the whims of nature are as nothing when compared with the escapades of Sikkim's politicians |
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Exploring India's remote northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh |
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Karen Halabi discovers that sun, sea, sand and ancient buildings are why Hollywood is in a sweaty love affair with Malta. With a bit of art direction it can be ancient Rome, Africa or Asia. |
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Birthplace of the revolutionary movement that tore Mozambique apart in the 70s and 80s, the northwest of this country is a spectacular landscape of twisted rock forms - the background to one of Africa's most colourful rail trips. The trip by road to the coast concludes a fascinating journey of discovery |
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Anhar Setjadibrata, one-time medical student and lawyer, developed a consuming interest in preserving Indonesia's cultural heritage... |
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Norfolk Island's first instance of major violent crime propels this tiny island nation into the world spotlight. |
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Often overlooked by their media tart cousins, the Whitsunday Islands, Fiona Harper explores some of the lesser known islands of north Queensland. |
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This article continues with details of modern Vietnam and includes information on accommodation provided, local food and cuisine, things to do and see. |
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Enigmatic ruins of a floating city, built by a lost civilisation, survive on the remote Micronesian island of Pohnpei |
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Tee off amid koalas and kangaroos on a classy course outside Noosa, the chic capital of Queensland's Sunshine Coast. |
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Queensland’s striking Sunshine Coast lazily arcs north from the tongue twisting towns of Caloundra and Mooloolaba, past Maroochydore and Mudjimba to end at Noosa.
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Surprises in store in Australia's most ethnically diverse town |
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Explore a mysterious landscape of deserted mountains, black lakes and red earth, an ancient terrain which conceals an exceptional ecological diversity. |
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Experience the exotic flavours of India's northeast |
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Tourist Police or policing the tourists? |
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Cricket and stunning architecture are the drawcards of Sharjah, just down the road from Dubai |
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Hush... the first notes of the flute waft through the balmy air. Two hundred pairs of hands wave gracefully - keeping time with the flies, rampant after recent rains. |
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Expedition cruiser, Roderick Eime, climbs aboard Western Australia's premier adventure yacht, True North, for a unique and intimate sampling of our west's own special character. |
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The beach at Bolivia's Copacabana is a far cry from its Brazilian namesake |
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Journey by train on the real ‘orient express’ down through Malaysia to Singapore at a tiny fraction of the price and five times the fun. Rice paddies, rubber trees and rainforests glide past your window... Colourful local trains traverse the heart of the Peninsula. |
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Glenn A Baker journeys to Finnish Lapland to spend time with the Jolly Red Gent who receives and answers over a million letters a year from children in more than fifty countries. |
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A journey of exploration through Franche-Comté, France |
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Whether it's spelled Guipuzcoa or Gipuzkoa, this Spanish province is the heartland of Basque identity |
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In the desert you can hear your heart thump... |
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Modernity doesn't mean abandoning tradition, in the Sultanate of Oman |
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A gourmet tour through France's Basque Country reveals more than just sensory delights |
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Don a safari suit and take off like Livingstone, either in five-star luxury, cocooned in some of Zimbabwe'sfinest hotels and resorts or sleeping out under the African stars in a tent or thatched tree-house. |
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Sniffing out ancient scents, in Oman |
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From Scotland to Russia via Scandinavia, traces of the Vikings are everywhere |
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he Marquesas, subtitled appropriately 'the land of men' is said to be the most remote island group in the world, and are composed of twelve islands. Six are inhabited but the remainder are rocky dots in this forgotten corner of the Pacific Ocean. |
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A serendipitous trip through the four southern provinces bordering Hanoi is a true voyage of discovery. The only thing that will slow down the traveller is being constantly plied with the local firewater |
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The Outback is a state of mind, not simply a line on the map, and western Queensland proves the point. |
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An innovative Melbourne-based company offers tours of the Outback by air, condensing what might normally take four weeks into just four days – without losing the essence of an authentic Outback experience. |
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Visitors to SW Queensland in the Australian outback are invariably stunned by the richness and abundance of nature-treasures. |
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Rural South Australia is somehow… different. |
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The voodoo markets of Togo, in West Africa, are a "bewitching" experience |
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With an eye to colour and a nose for design a brush applies paint to a canvas. The only thing unusual is that this artist has four legs and a long trunk. |
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Pink elephants are not uncommon after a long night of partying. They eventually go away but imagine a three-headed pachyderm that’s still there in the morning! |
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Not too big and not too small, the hill town of Pai offers a delightful retreat for travellers of all ages. |
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From the bean stews and mountain cheeses of Asturias to the cured ham and virgin olive oils of Extremadura, the Paradores offer an introduction to the best of Spain.
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Australia’s tropical Whitsunday Islands reveal their treasures |
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Tricia Welsh finds that a four-day ‘bush skills’ adventure on Phinda Private Game Reserve in South Africa can somewhat spoil it for regular safaris. |
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During its pre 1970 glory days Phnom Penh was known as the Paris of Asia. The moniker is still deserved. |
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Galicia’s capital, Santiago de Compostella, is the goal of devout pilgrims who, since medieval times, have followed the Camino de Santiago across northern Spain to reach the legendary tomb of St James.
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Manila offers a golf course built around a Spanish fort and another golf resort with a course inside a volcano. |
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This article details of the amazing Silk Road, its history and its fascinating route today and includes information on accommodation provided, local food and cuisine, things to do and see. |
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Roderick Eime returns from a series of voyages to the remote islands of PNG. |
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Discover an island of rain-drenched forests and coastal mangroves, whose mysteries deepen through the bottom of a glass of stupefying sakau, a drink made from pepper bushes. |
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The mighty Himalayan Mountains span some 2560 km from northern Pakistan to China. Eight of its colossal peaks are often visible from Pokhara, Nepal’s largest second largest city. |
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The remote Svalbard (Spitsbergen) Islands of Norway are a nature wonderland |
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Want a love potion to make that special person find you irresistable? It's here in the Witch-doctors' Market, in the Bolivian capital of La Paz |
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Gutenberg's marvellous invention on display in Mainz, Germany |
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Each year a dusty throng of Rajasthanis, pious Hindu pilgrims, holy men and spectators from far and wide descends on this normally somnolent desert outpost. |
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Beaches, shopping, nightlife, golf ..... Phuket excels in all departments. Putt around Phuket and enjoy its fine fairways. |
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Karen Halabi explores the palace and fort hotels of Rajasthan, royal retreats which have become upmarket historic hotels, where you can breathe the rarefied gentile air of a bygone era. |
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Qualia, a truly Australian resort on the Great Barrier Reef, joins Australia' s luxury resort scene. |
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Fiona Harper jumps onboard a yacht at Sunferries Magnetic Island Race Week, Queensland. |
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With its astonishing landscapes and fascinating history, South Australia’s Flinders Ranges is just begging to be explored. |
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The history of the Grampians, the oldest National Park in Victoria (Australia), has just undergone drastic revision. |
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Central Australia's new Afghan Mosque commemorates the Afghan cameleers who opened up the heartland of Australia's outback |
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Visitors to Bali now have a new reason to visit with luxury spas cropping up all over the island. |
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Glenn A Baker discovers a new kind of cool in Iceland. |
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Ride ‘The Ghan’ through the desert to Alice Springs… and on to Darwin. Named for the Afghan cameleers who worked the route, the first steam train in 1929 took two days to reach Alice Springs. |
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The Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, straddling the border between New Mexico and Colorado, is a scenic delight |
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Well worn cobblestone lanes lead from one architectural treasure to the next in the Old Town of Riga. |
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It’s eleven at night, but who wants to sleep, anyway? |
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1968: 'Fab Four' seek eastern wisdom at Rishikesh, joined by a young Canadian photographer |
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Victoria’s Ballarat is best known as a gold rush town, but one of Australia’s largest inland cities is also undergoing a gourmet metamorphosis, as Sheriden Rhodes discovers. |
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Is the Finke the world’s oldest (and driest) watercourse? |
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A journey through the surprising Mediterranean country of Syria |
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Set smack on the imaginary Tropic of Capricorn everything else is real in Rockhampton. |
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We could be in Brittany, or Wales, or any other Celtic country. But here when someone or somewhere is prefixed Pen-, Tre-, Treg- or Trew-, you could be nowhere else but Cornwall. |
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Gentle sea breezes brush over towering palm trees. An islander strums a guitar; another sings a tune. The romance of Rarotonga has begun. |
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This article details the fresh produce, wildlife and other things to see and do on this unique island close to Adelaide in South Australia. It includes information on accommodation provided, local food and cuisine. |
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A trip on the Royal Scotsman is a perfect blend of past and present as you and your select group of fellow-passengers clicketty-clack along the rails.
That’s just the beginning of this story. Castles, lochs, distilleries, a knees-up ceilidh, and more food and wine (and whisky!) than you could shake a bagpipe at.
Five-star amenities, attentive staff. That’s what wins people. Royal treatment, all the way.
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From the somnolent museum town of Suzdal to the Volga River port of Yaroslavl, the historic towns and cities northeast of Moscow exert their gentle charm |
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A two thousand-year-old touring route crosses the heart of Spain |
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Never let a beetle piss in your eye, warns Philip Game |
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It seemed like the ultimate desecration - a motor car rally in the Sacred Valley, homeland and heartland of the once-mighty Inca Empire of Peru. But when the cars had left, the peace returned. The superbly scenic Sacred Valley runs over 100 km from Huambutió to Ollantaytambo, and contains ruins to rival those of Macchu Pichu. |
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The annual Tahiti Pearl Regatta is a race of sorts that takes participants through the reefs and islands of the French Polynesia's Leeward Islands. Fiona Harper joins the fleet in 2011 on their way to Bora Bora. |
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With 40 of Australia's top jazz musicians supported by highly acclaimed up and coming stars, the Great Tropical Jazz Party is a melting pot of jazz in tropical north Queensland. Following closely on from Sunferries Magnetic Island Race Week, Fiona Harper takes in some cool jazz beneath the palms. |
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Though Haji Latif Abdulla has never had his business devastated by fire much of his life’s work has gone up in smoke! As I slowly sauntered down Rabindra Sarani exploring an alluring sector of Calcutta where the city’s rich Muslim heritage is readily visible he beckoned me into his shop to explain such a seemingly contradictory statement. |
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When you think of samba, chances are you don't immediately think of Finland - which is why Helsinki's annual Samba Festival comes as such a pleasant surprise |
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Handcrafted outrigger canoes, whitewashed churches, the occasional cricket pitch, beehive-shaped fales, the 45 minute drive from Samoa’s international airport to its South Seas capital is an excellent introduction to the very heart of traditional Polynesia. |
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While the great game has been played in idyllic Samoa for over 90 years, it’s only since the opening of two designer courses in the past few years that the tranquil South Pacific nation has become a golf destination of distinction. |
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On December 3, 1894, a “cloud of gloom” drifted over Samoa as Robert Louis Stevenson was laid to rest on a peaceful hillside outside of the quaint capital of Apia. |
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The mountainous hinterlands of Samui seclude and nurture one of the most scenic golf courses in Thailand. |
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Grinders cut and polish and welders spark and flash … another ‘monster’ is born at a unique workshop on the Thai island of Samui. |
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The Caribbean's "Silk 'n Satin" Port of Plenty stuns its privileged visitors |
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Like sand through the hourglass, these are the days of our long-suffering feet. Eschewing the need for a 4WD to explore Fraser Island, Fiona Harper decides to explore by foot instead, walking the sand trails that crisscross the worlds largest sand island. |
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Whatever your inclination, there's a beach to suit your fancy. Sheriden Rhodes presents six of the best and what makes them sparkle. |
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In Santa Fe even the parking stations are built with adobe in the Spanish colonial style. |
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It’s not necessary to pack an alarm clock when preparing for a golf holiday at the Borneo Highlands Resort, a foliage swathed sports sanctuary located an hour outside Kuching in East Malaysia. |
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Say “Fromage” at the Cheese Museum of Chaource, in France |
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City-dwellers recharge their batteries – and graze on nature’s finest – within an hour or two of metropolitan Brisbane |
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The seaside towns of South Australia’s South-East cling to a sun-scorched coast, a shadeless landscape of low limestone crags, dunes and lagoons. |
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There's a handful of beaches in north Queensland that are everything you'd expect from this part of the world - except there are no crowds. |
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The Welsh do share that English passion for privacy… finding a sea-front inn on the Llyn Peninsula becomes quite a challenge. |
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Cruising the D'Entrecasteaux Channel, Bruny Island reveals a few of her secrets to those who linger long enough to look beyond the wildlife and the laidback lifestyle.
Fiona Harper takes time out in southern Tasmania. |
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The art of Australian Aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira |
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This article starts with the Seine River and continues with details of Paris. It includes information on accommodation provided, local food and cuisine, things to do and see. |
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Glenn A Baker extends the boundaries of retail with a visit to the amazing markets of Seoul |
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This article tells of the traffic, the constant horn-tooting, beautiful scenery and even more lovely people, their religion, and the tea plantations for which this country as Ceylon made its name. |
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By the eager people's bureaucrats of South West China's remote Diqing Region, that is... |
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The Red Sea's premier resort still entices, even given the occasional terrorism threat |
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Head south of Sydney for great games on two lovely golf courses outside Shellharbour. |
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The English port city reinvents itself. |
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Show week in Mount Hagen is a riotous celebration of the highland cultures of Papua New Guinea |
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In 1860, French naturalist Henri Mouhot was trudging through the steamy jungles of Indochina in search of rare orchids. He found something far more exceptional. |
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THE Lion City continues to shed its sterile image to reveal its hip side. Sheriden Rhodes takes a look at the city's burgeoning string of chic restaurants and ultra cool bars. |
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Singapore’s resort-dotted, attraction-studded and activity-oriented holiday island of Sentosa is a stylish and sophisticated golf getaway that offers sweeping vistas over a spectacular city skyline and the mighty expanse of the South China Sea. |
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There is something magic about flying across Africa, bound for the world’s largest wildlife reserve. |
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Bojnice Castle in Slovakia looks like it’s straight out of the pages of a Hungarian fairytale. |
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Glenn A Baker settles into his room at the fabled Vila Bled and enjoys the view all the way to Italy |
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STRAP on your designer shades, pull on your trendiest threads and rub shoulders with the glitterati at resort towns dotted along Europe’s rivieras. |
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This article visits the forgotten medieval town of Stanjel, as well as Slovenia itself and includes information on accommodation provided, local food and cuisine, things to do and see. |
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The rugged Dhofar region of southern Oman |
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Fiona Harper shares her solutions to a busy lifestyle with a yacht charter through the Whitsunday Islands, Queensland. |
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Tricia Welsh takes an exhilarating ride on a zip-line high above the treetops in Costa Rica |
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Don’t overlook one of the last frontiers in the South Pacific, writes Philip Game |
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This article details travel through the South of Italy, the discoveries, staying in agriturismo farm stays and includes information on accommodation provided, local food and cuisine, things to do and see. |
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Although much has changed in South Africa since the breakdown of apartheid, I'll wager most of Soweto is pretty much as it's always been - a hot, motley, dusty settlement for struggling black Africans. |
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The twin towns of Daylesford and Hepburn Springs, in Victoria, are united by the outstanding healing qualities of their natural mineral springs |
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Stressed out 21st century travellers are heading to the Swiss Riviera to restore mind and body at lavish new wellness centres that have sprung up on its shores. |
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Honey skinned therapists apply aromatic oils, soothing hands and years of experience to ease body and soul at an increasing number of sophisticated spas in Mauritius. |
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The country’s past is steeped in colonial history and a colourful spice and tea trade, but a spirited revival is giving it a chic new vibe. |
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Conceived from the first to be one of Europe's great cities, St Petersburg grew from the vision of just one man, a monarch who engaged the finest architects of the day. |
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A quick guide to Tha Pae Road, Chiang Mai, Thailand |
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Visitors to Stockholm can’t say they know Sweden’s stylish capital until they’ve experienced a quartet of one-off lures. |
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Billed as “the last great race in the world”, the Iditarod dog-sled race runs well over 1600 km from Anchorage to Nome, through some of the world’s most inhospitable territory. |
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This article gives details of the history and location of Bristol and includes information on accommodation provided, local food and cuisine, things to do and see. |
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The Outback sets its own priorities. If you get it wrong out here, you may not see home again. Is the easy availability of camper vans and guidebooks creating a false sense of security? |
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China's "renegade province" forges its own identity, while at the same time developing trade ties with the mainland
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Often overlooked, Taiwan - the other China - can certainly overturn the preconceptions of a first-time visitor |
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Mix green from verdigris; blue from precious lapis lazuli, transported from the Orient; yellow from orpiment, a sulphide of lead; collect and crush cochineal beetles to make a rich red... |
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Enormous, square white sails billow against an impossibly blue sky. Her elegant bow plunges upwards into the gentle ocean swell.
Join Fiona Harper for an Indian Ocean crossing onboard luxury tall ship Star Clipper. |
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Ghosts and opium dens are just a part of the colourful history of Maryborough, Queensland |
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Time to pick my way back down to street level. But as I turned, I found the spiral staircase enveloped in darkness... |
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The ancient port of Tangier is described by its partisans as the White Dove on the Shoulder of Africa: white cuboid buildings tumble down the slopes around a horseshoe-shaped bay. |
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Six years ago (in 2002), you got just one Argentine peso for a US dollar. Now, you get three. But even with massive devaluation, this vibrant tango capital seems more like a pocket of Paris than a South American city [TW]. |
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Kiribati hold its head high, in the face of rising sea levels |
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his article details the various crops and produce of this fertile island and includes contact information for vineyards, cheese-makers, restaurants, bakers, and oyster growers among other things. |
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This article details food producers and wineries in the north and north-west of this island-state and includes information on accommodation, dining and things to do and see. |
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The British introduced golf to Colombo’s sophisticated sporting scene in 1879 with the construction of the Royal Colombo. Though there are a handful of courses spread throughout the tiny, teardrop shaped island, interest in the great game continues to flourish today . |
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The tranquil wine region of the Hunter Valley, 160 km north of Sydney, has a trio of gourmet golf courses including a signature playground blueprinted by Greg Norman. |
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It's not every day you get to narrowly avoid falling into a volcano - even on Tanna Island, in Vanuatu |
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Sunny Samui and cultural Chiang Rai are tempting destinations providing superb places to relax and recharge after exploring dazzling heritage attractions. |
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Cross the river at Mae Sai, and step back fifty years into Myanmar |
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This article highlights all the other Ss that can be applied to Singapore: strict, sleek, savvy, sixty…. and many more. |
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Alexandria the Great sailed the Mediterranean stopping at many sun-specked islands in the fabled sea. Just one was named after the intrepid adventurer. |
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India's Sasan Gir National Park |
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This article details the custom of these men who bring their caged birds to a cafe so they can learn from each other how to sing beautifully in order to win singing contests. |
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Karen Halabi explores what lies "behind the veil" in Saudi Arabia, a land of contradictions where strict Muslims traditions come face to face with designer labels. |
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In Henan and Shanxi provinces, China's rich Buddhist heritage is once more delighting and astonishing the world |
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Sri Lanka's capital Colombo is an intoxicating mix of cultures |
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The west coast village of Tiendanique, in New Caledonia, is the birthplace and home village of Jean-Marie Tjibaou, architect of Kanak independence. |
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The noise was deafening. The roar of blood pumping through my head as we charged forward, hell bent on hitting the start line milliseconds after the gun went, was drowned out by the commands of our tactitian.
Fiona Harper jumps onboard a chartered pocket maxi yacht at Hamilton Island Race Week. |
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The chieftain of Kundu Hite (Skull Island) in the Solomon Islands is last in a long line of headhunters |
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Preconceptions of Antarctica are shattered like the pack ice beneath a ship's bow. |
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The old imperial city of Hué, in Central Vietnam, seems to have sprung direct from a colour designer’s palette. |
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Glenn A Baker retraces Bligh and Cook and overtakes John Wayne and Cary Grant on his way to Rarotonga |
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The Ainu people of Hokkaido (Japan) want not just recognition but land rights and hunting rights too |
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This tiny principality, home to the rich and infamous, seems determined to show that it still has plenty of "green space" |
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Startling contrasts in the former Portuguese enclave just across the water from Hong Kong in the Pearl River estuary - casinos, lavish hotels and Grand Prix excitement on one hand and languid, family-based villages with famous traditional junk building yards on the other. |
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Alaska's great sled-dog race |
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Entranced by horses in mystical Indonesia |
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European holidaymakers flock to Malta for the sunshine, but the rest of us savour fine food with an Italian touch, and other legacies of a long and tortuous history - including the post-War exodus of emigrants. |
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An avant garde heart behind the stern exterior of Zurich's historic Widder Hotel. |
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Glenn A Baker rejoices in the delights of Dalat - a very different Vietnam |
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The son of Zambia’s first President Kenneth Kaunda reminisces about his days growing up at "The Mushroom House", where Africa's history was shaped |
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The souks of Marrakech are colourful and vibrant |
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"Bigger is better" appears to be Dubai's philosophy, and the city is clearly out to impress. |
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Ever since the Middle Ages, Nile cruises have been de rigeur – but never so stylish as they are now.
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Got a couple of days to spare? Wind down unearthing the ACT's rural riches.
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One year older than New York, it sits spectacularly beneath the imposing Table Mountain (with its oft-present cloud cover, ‘the tablecloth’), seen from a hundred kilometres away as a great smoky, grey-blue shadow, a brooding, commanding presence which draws the eye like a hypnotist’s watch chain. |
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The day begins early for those saffron-robed legionaries... |
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Famous for its surreal landscapes and underground dwellings, Turkey's Cappadocia is more than just a tourist destination |
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Nauru, the world’s smallest island republic, searches for a sustainable future... but is money laundering or hosting Australia's unwanted boat people the answer? |
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Nine nights of non-stop dance, Navaratri in Gujarat (India) is the planet’s oldest, biggest and most spectacular dance celebration. |
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The Yavarí, the very first passenger steamer on Lake Titicaca (the world's highest navigable lake, on the border of Peru and Bolivia) has been restored to her former glory, and is due to re-commence service on the Lake early in 2007. |
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This article starts with the Seine River and continues with details of Paris. It includes information on accommodation provided, local food and cuisine, things to do and see. |
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The Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Ganzi, now a part of China’s Sichuan province is the homeland of the Khampa people. The atmosphere here is totally relaxed – hardly a Chinese soldier is to be seen, the visitor can wander freely without having to worry about permits, and images of the Dalai Lama are found in the most surprising places. |
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Cultural bridges along the Amur River, in Russia's Far East |
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...in Yunnan's Tiger Leaping Gorge |
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Tallinn’s terrific Old Town tantalises travellers with a mix of medieval charm and modern comforts. |
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A "meeting" with the ex-President of Yugoslavia |
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The ruins of the great pre-Inca city of Tiwanaku display a genius that seems to carry through into every aspect of everyday Bolivian life. |
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Australia is home to some of the world's best country markets. From the grand dame of craft markets, to bustling farmers markets, Sheriden Rhodes takes a look. |
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Gravetye Manor (it isn't even pronounced as you would expect – it's Grave Tie) is deliciously off the map, a flowery hidden estate. But of course, when a place has been around for 500 years or so you do expect people to have learnt your location. |
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This article details the luxury accommodation and dining at Wrotham Park Station Station on Cape York Peninsula and its history and also includes information on the activities available. |
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Riding the rails across Thailand and its near neighbours
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Sandakan Memorial Park commemorates the infamous Sandakan Death March of World War II |
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The Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, one of the most important nature reserves in Mongolia, is true wilderness country where yaks meander and stocky Mongolian horses graze. |
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A stroll through three of the English-speaking world's great museums - ones designed to inspire rather than merely inform: the Te Papa Museum in Wellington, New Zealand; the Buffalo Bill Historical Centre in Wyoming; and Shakespeare's Globe Exhibition. |
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A day's drive northwest of Hyderabad is a wilderness that few foreigner visitors to India have ever seen. |
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Trieste: the end of an empire, or two |
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Fiji’s exclusive Turtle Island hideaway came into being through one man’s journey of self-discovery. |
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The two approaches to northern Italy's Gran Paradiso National Park reveal a huge diversity of landscapes |
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A staggering number of spas have opened in Thailand since the new millennium, where you can experience everything from rice body scrubs, organic facials, traditional Thai massage through to sublime spa cuisine. Sheriden Rhodes checks out what's on offer. |
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Woodwark Bay, in Queensland's Whitsunday Passage, is an undiscovered gem |
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Walking in Central Australia is rewarding when you rise with the sun! |
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This article details hot-air ballooning in Australia, the facts and figures and safety issues, and includes a breakout box on the history of ballooning. |
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Glancing over my shoulder at our driver, momentarily I wonder if I've stepped onto the wrong long-tail boat. Her face fully covered by a menacing full-faced balaclava, she navigates our vessel away from the dock. Fiona Harper takes a journey upstream to the floating markets of Bangkok, Thailand. |
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Stories on the US Virgin Islands |
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In a spectacularly scenic part of America, Utah really stands head and shoulders above the rest |
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Visitors to Valencia this year for the America's Cup will find more than just oranges in this chic Mediterranean city of just 800,000 people.
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Fiona Harper discovers the cruising grounds of volcanic Vanuatu. |
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To see Venice at its best go in winter. Few places can claim to be more beautiful in winter than in summer, but Venice is an exception. Cloaked in mist and fog she wears her wintry cloak like a grand dame dressed for the opera. |
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The masks of Carnevale personify Venice, a fantasy city whose real life is hidden behind a tourist veneer and hardly ever revealed to strangers. |
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On the outskirts of Newhaven, Phillip Island, stands an unlikely visitor attraction, housed within a starkly industrial aircraft hangar. |
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While Vilnius is a modern city in every sense of the word it’s the baroque beauty of the medieval Old Town that beguiles every visitor. |
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Shiny new cars from Russia, Belarus, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and a reunified Germany rumble across the cobblestones: glimpses of eastern Europe reborn.
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Tableland retreat of an Australian artist still bears his unmistakeable imprint |
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What is it about this remote Victorian community with its handful of residents? |
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A Jeepney takes me along a bumpy road that winds through the hills a few km out of Banaue to a vantage point that has a sweeping vista over what’s been called the ‘eighth wonder of the world’. |
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The world's wettest town runs out of water during the dry season |
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The ancient water temples of Gujarat are architectural marvels that have something in common with the pyramids |
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Bali's priceless treasures are at last recognised by UNESCO |
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Lafayette’s annual (April) Festival International de Louisiane, deep in Cajun Country of Louisiana, is a celebration of all things Francophone. |
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Roderick Eime travels to the scenic east coast of NZ's South Island to investigate the 'deep secret' of Kaikoura |
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Unlike their mother, Ba Vuong’s five daughters never need submit to the ordeal of teeth blackening. |
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In Kyneton’s Piper Street the vision, the drive and the creativity of a handful of people has created a dining and shopping strip as alluring as any in metropolitan Melbourne. |
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Hunting regally striped felines has long been banned in India but that doesn’t stop enthusiastic camera clutching tourists from actively ‘shooting’ tigers on wildlife safaris. |
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Australia is a wildlife paradise full of some of nature’s oddest creations says Karen Halabi. |
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Alaska offers some winter options not found elsewhere, including access to unique wildlife and native culture, and sports including skijoring (ie dog-towed skiing) |
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Wrangel Island is an enigmatic landmass trapped in the fringes of the permanent Arctic ice pack. Born out of legend and maintained by tales of hardship, endurance and tragedy its apparently austere appearance hides a UNESCO World Heritage-listed, self-contained island ecosystem. |
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Most southerners shun Australia's Top End during the hot, expectant time of year around October. Yet there is no better time to to visit, for now the Yellow Waters wetland becomes an Ark of browsing waterfowl, crocodiles half submerged like floating logs and the odd bird of prey, all jostling for space in a habitat which shrinks daily.
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Gold! Gold! Gold! On August 16, 1896 George Washington Carmack’s announcement echoed through the vast expanses of Canada’s Yukon. The Klondike Gold Rush had begun.
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The legendary spice and slave port of Zanzibar, just off the African coast |
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Finland's semi-independent Åland Islands have strong links with Australia |
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