Hanoi and Halong Bay

I wanted to check out Hanoi and Halong Bay but prefer a tour, especially when I am travelling alone.   I find you enjoy the place so much more when someone is telling you about it,  the culture,  the history,  the reason that things are the way they are.    

So I am using G Adventures independent tour of Hanoi and Halong Bay,  which means it will just me me and the tour guide.     I even get to spend a night on board a boat in the bay, take in the sunset and the sunrise.  Sounds amazing 


https://www.gadventures.com/trips/hanoi-and-halong-bay-independent-adventure/TAVHHN/

A city of Parisian charm and grace with an Asian edge, Hanoi is an enthralling blend of East and West and a rising star in Southeast Asia. Check out the local cuisine and buzzing bars with a night in this busy city. Next, visit stunning Halong Bay and overnight on a junk boat (a traditional Asian vessel) while cruising among the bay's 3,000 islands that rise dramatically from the emerald waters. Get a closer look by cruising the waters in a kayak or dive right in for a refreshing swim.

Heading to SE Asia :)

Starting my trip to SE Asia with an 11 hour layover in Hong Kong.    

I decided not to waste the time sitting in the airport lounge but instead I am going to do a 5 hour city tour. 

Toronto direct to Hong Kong,  leaving at 1am and arriving the next day at 6am, although it's only a 14 hour flights,  I loose more than a day - time travel is weird. 

I have to take the Airport express train to Kowloon,  I'm sure this will all make more sense when I do it.   It takes 25 minutes and then I pick up the tour close to the train station at 8.10am.    

This is the tour outline that I have prepaid using Viator; You will go to Sky Terrace on the summit of Victoria Peak and enjoy a Peak Tram ride. In addition, you will visit Aberdeen Fishing Village, Tse Sui Luen Jewellery Factory and Stanley Market.

Airlines comparisons

As I sell flights I like to try out the different Airlines whenever I travel,  just to see how they vary so that I can pass the information on to my clients. 

It turns out that you really get what you pay for. 

I have dreamed of flying with Virgin as it is always promoted as such a different experience but I never get the chance living near Toronto, Canada which isn't on their route.   But fortunately last year I was in India and decided to fly to the UK,  a route which Virgin flies.  
  
I wasn't disappointed,  having flown Air Canada to Delhi,  then Jet Airways to and from Nepal, Virgin was like being upgraded.   The seats seemed more comfy,  the inflight entertainment was fabulous with so many movies or music to choose from,  a menu was handed out before the meal service and ice cream bars delivered to your seat half way through the really boring part of the flight.  It really was a wonderful experience and I wish I could fly Virgin all the time. 
At the other end of the scale was Wow Airlines which I took as a budget flight from London via Iceland to Toronto.    Now I know that it was a cheap flight,  and maybe going from Virgin to Wow wasn't a fair comparison, despite having a week inbetween,  but it really proves the point that you get what you pay for.    No entertainment, no food, nothing extra at all,  and of course you have to pay for checked luggage.  It seemed like the longest transatlantic flight I have ever taken.  Since then I have flown via Iceland with Icelandair which was actually less expensive than Wow and it was a much better flight.  

I am trying out Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong this week,   I hear very good things about them.  I hope I'm not disappointed. 

Annapurna, Himalaya, Nepal - simply amazing

Last year I hiked with G Adventures to the Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) high in the mountains of the Himalaya.    It was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had.   Reaching basecamp was very emotional so much so that it has pushed me to crave that feeling again. 

I have just booked to climb Mount Kilimanjaro,  Africa's highest mountain next Feb, 2019.     I have arranged a private group with G Adventures, with a friend from Norway who climbed to ABC with me.     If you would like to join us please check out the info. 

http://www.littletravel.co/kili.html 

This was the G Adventures hike we did; 
https://www.gadventures.com/trips/annapurna-sanctuary/ANAS/ 

Don't just visit the roof of the world – climb all over it. Take a ten-day trek through the remote and imposing mountains of the Annapurna Range. Begin and end the journey in Kathmandu with its colourful temples, city squares, and great shopping. With the support of a team of expert Sherpas, the challenging trails of Annapurna will reward you with a stunning combination of towering peaks and dramatic valleys. Rest and relax overnight in teahouses, where you’ll reconnect with ancient ways long forgotten by the modern world.

My visit to Delhi #gadventures #goldentriangle #salaambaalaktrust

When you tell people that you are going to India they often ask Why?    I think a lot of people are nervous of the crowds, the dirt, the smells, of something so different to what we are used to in North America and Europe that it scares them.     But to me that is part of the attraction, the charm, the fascination.

However, I was a little nervous flying in Delhi for the first time myself.    As I boarded the plane for the 14-hour flight I was saying in my head why, why can’t you just go and sit on a beach like other people?   Why do you get these ideas of going on an adventure?   But the answer is, I want to experience the culture and the people for myself.

Landing in Delhi airport was quite disappointing, it looked like any other international airport, nothing different at all, even leaving the airport to get the taxi to the hotel was less intense than I had anticipated.  I had expected hoards of people, kind of like in the movie ‘Eat, Pray, Love’, but it was quite normal really, except that the lines on the highway and the traffic lights are more for decoration than rules to be obeyed.

Touring Old Delhi with our amazing guide was fascinating, an assault on the senses, absolute chaos, from every sort of mode of transport, going in every direction, to the chaotic maze of electrical wiring above your head, to the smells of spices, incense and food.  

We were fortunate to visit the Salaam Baalak Trust, a non-profit organization which provides shelter to street kids.   We were shown around by a young 16 year old man who had been kidnapped as a 6 year old and taken to Delhi to beg on the streets.  Fortunately, he was able to get away from his captives, but then found him self alone, with no knowledge of where he came from and no way to get back.    He was helped and sheltered by the Trust and now gives back by giving tours and educating people about it.  It really gives you a different perspective on life.  

http://www.salaambaalaktrust.com/

Get your (Science) Geek on in Switzerland

If you, or someone in your family, has an inner science nerd, Switzerland is where you can feed your appetite for exploring the mysteries of the universe (as well as your appetite for chocolate and cheese  - but you already knew that!)

CERN

Professional scientists, enthusiasts, and even your favorite TV comedy physicists all have Switzerland's CERN (pronounced 'Surn') on their travel bucket lists.  CERN is the world's largest physics laboratory.   The site straddles Switzerland and France outside of Geneva. Thousands of scientists from member European countries work together at CERN on questions of matter, anti-matter, the particles that make up all things in the universe, and the forces that link them.

It's best known for the Large Hadron Collider, a ring 27 kilometres around and 100 metres under the earth's surface.  The LHC accelerates particles into extremely high energies, making them smash into each other.  Scientists use very precise instruments to collect information about what happens during those collisions. 

Visitors can discover the mysteries of the Universe and the work of the world's biggest physics laboratory as a group, with friends, individually, on foot, on your bike, or virtually. CERN's 2 permanent exhibitions are free to visit.

(Above photos courtesy CERN)

CERN's gigantic Globe of Science and Innovation is a symbol of the Earth, and, at 27 metres high and 40 metres in diameter, bigger than the dome of St. Peter's in Rome!  Inside, the 'Universe of Particles' exhibit takes you on a journey of the building blocks of the entire Universe, where those particles come from, how they behave, and the questions of modern physics that scientists are exploring at CERN.  The 'Microcosm' exhibit allows you to discover the wonders of CERN's monumental experiments using the Large Hadron Collider, and meet the people who built and operate it.

(photo credit)

The Sphinx Observatory

From underground to 'The Top of Europe'.  Jungfraujoch is a UNESCO World Heritage Site: a glacier 'saddle' at the top of Europe's largest glacier, connecting two four-thousand meter peaks.

Take the historic Jungfrau railway from Interlaken to Grindelwald, a scenic glacier village that is one of Switzerland's oldest and most popular resort areas at the base of snow-capped mountains.  The view gets even more breathtaking from there to Europe's highest train station at Jungfraujoch.

(Photo credit)

Don't settle for the  spectacular views here.  Do what scientists do and aim higher.  The Sphinx Observatory dates from the early 1900's and is named after the 'Sphinx' peak of a breathtakingly steep ridge where it's perched at a height of 3572 metres (11, 719 feet). The Sphinx Observatory is the highest construction on the continent.  Amazingly, there's an elevator tunneled into that rocky mountain peak connecting the Jungfraujoch railway station to the observatory.  The observatory serves researchers in fields as diverse as glaciology, medicine, cosmic physics and astronomy, with multiple laboratories, weather observation station, a enormous telescope and even electricity, water, phone and internet! 

Check your vertigo at the door and inhale pure mountain air, as well as unmatched views of the Alps, the glacier, the scenery over 11,000 feet below, and sometimes, all the way to Italy and Germany.

Stay in a 'Space Suite' in Zurich

Zurich's Kameha Grand Zurich boutique hotel is in up and coming Glattpark.  The growing neighborhood is a new business center in Switzerland's global city of banking and finance, so business travelers who value lifestyle have a place near their meetings with solid design credentials.  And its proximity to the Zurich airport makes it perfect for a stay on leisure travelers' way into or out of a wider tour of the country.

The hotel's design creativity extends to themed suites.  If you were the little kid who wanted to grow up to be an astronaut, or you're traveling with that little kid, the Kameha Grand Zurich's space suite is the hotel equivalent of sleeping in your favorite space hero pajamas.   The little kid will love the treat.  The little kid inside you will grin at the tongue in cheek design.  It leans on 'space age' without being kitsch.  

Designed by artist Michael Najjar, the Space Suite transports you to the stars with silver, black and moonscape textures, a gravity-defying, sleek. floating bed, pictures of galaxies, hovering astronauts and models of rockets, together with curated selections of literature, music and films about space travel, as well as original works by the artist.   

Culinary School in Provence, France

Has it been your dream to go to a cooking school in Europe?  Immerse yourself in local produce, ingredients and culinary secrets shared by a chef in a scenic destination?

BestTrip.TV traveled to Provence in the South of France, a region famous for its sun, breathtaking vistas, vineyards, beaches and cuisine.  Our culinary school experience was learning to make aioli, which you sometimes see on menus called 'garlic mayonnaise'. But silky, mellow, aioli, made by your own hand - a glass of ice-chilled local rose wine in the other - as part of a Provencal meal on the terrace of an historic manor house?  Incomparable.


A memorable way to experience hands-on the cuisine of one of the legendary destinations in Europe for couples, a group of friends, even a girlfriend getaway.
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