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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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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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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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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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Alaska's vibrant capital is fun in all seasons |
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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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Western Australia's oldest town becomes a city |
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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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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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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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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 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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‘Going Troppo’ and where better than on an utterly remote desert island at the farthest extremity of the Arabian Peninsula? |
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A tour through the relics of Thailand's glory days |
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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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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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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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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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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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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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Explore the mystique, the adrenaline rush, the paranoia even, peculiar to border towns around the world |
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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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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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Glenn A Baker is blown away by Brunei - and finds much more than oil and Sultans. |
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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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On the "Stevenson Trail" in south-eastern France |
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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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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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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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From Roman amphitheatre to Muslim Medina, ancient Carthage to Saharan salt lakes, Tunisia offers much more than sunshine and sand. |
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Few people think of Shetland as part of Britain. And that is exactly what the locals want, for these hardy independent northerners see themselves as more Scandinavian than Scottish and relish their ties with Norway. |
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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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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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The chaotic Chinese quarter of Ho Chi Minh City, in Vietnam |
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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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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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This article describes the P&O Pacific Princess cruise along Australia’s eastern seaboard to Cairns and the Whitsunday Islands. It includes information on the accommodation provided, seafaring language (staterooms, not cabins), the abundant food and even a peek at the galley, as well as the various shore trips, and an updated factfile. |
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Queensland's lush rainforest retreat |
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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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There is a constant, inescapable sensuality to the entire Cuban experience. |
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Offroad in Oman reveals a stunning landscape of rugged mountains, lush green valleys and tortuous rock formations |
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In the last few years, New Caledonia has become less reliant on tourist arrivals from France and more regionally focussed, whilst stubbornly retaining its quaint French colonial heritage. |
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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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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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The astonishing architecture of Brunei |
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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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Quick, wet your shirt and cover your mouth! |
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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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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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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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"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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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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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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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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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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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 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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Coming to terms with the South Korean capital |
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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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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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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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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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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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To travel aboard Malaysia's East Coast Railway is more important than to arrive. |
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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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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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One of the world's newer tourist destinations has actually been receiving visitors since the 4th century BC. |
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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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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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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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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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Art and nature make for a heady mix in eastern France |
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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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‘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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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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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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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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China's "Holiest of Holies", the sacred Mount Wutai (Wutaishan) has just received UNESCO World Heritage listing |
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Central Australia's new Afghan Mosque commemorates the Afghan cameleers who opened up the heartland of Australia's outback |
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Glenn A Baker discovers a new kind of cool in Iceland. |
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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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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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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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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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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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In Santa Fe even the parking stations are built with adobe in the Spanish colonial style. |
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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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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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The English port city reinvents itself. |
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With the development of a Las Vegas-styled strip, glitzy casinos and more five star hotels than you could shake a stick at, Macau is rapidly establishing itself as a rich man’s playground. |
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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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There is something magic about flying across Africa, bound for the world’s largest wildlife reserve. |
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Alaska's great sled-dog race |
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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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Glenn A Baker rejoices in the delights of Dalat - a very different Vietnam |
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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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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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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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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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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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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 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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The two approaches to northern Italy's Gran Paradiso National Park reveal a huge diversity of landscapes |
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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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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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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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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 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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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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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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