The 6 Must Visit Hot Spots In Thailand

November 4th, 2011 by admin No comments »

By Samantha Greer

The sights to see and places to go in Thailand are nearly endless. It literally can take years to experience all the wonders this little country has to offer. Now what you’ll be able to do, is entirely dependent on your time and budget. But this article will cover some of the most popular, not to be missed destinations.

Visit The Waterfalls
If you make your way over to Ko Samui, visiting the waterfalls is a must. There are actually many falls to choose from and all are stunning and pretty easy to get to, either by jeep or on foot. Taking a dip in the swimming holes at the bottom of the falls on a hot day (which is every day!) is definitely on the ‘must do’ list.

Take An Elephant Ride
If you find yourself in Chaing Mai, riding an elephant in his natural habitat is a once in a lifetime experience. The elephants used to be used to clear fallen trees from the jungle paths but now that machines have taken over, they are used to entertain the tourist. These are gentle giants that, for the most part, are well taken care of. They have ones that even paint pictures and can sign their names!

Tour The Tiger Temple
I happen to be a huge cat lover, so this is on the top of my to-do list. Head over to Kanchanburi and spend the day feeding, bathing and playing with wild tigers. The story is – a monk found a baby tiger after its mother had been killed by poachers and brought it back to the temple to care for it. It became like a mascot and word spread. Other’s began bringing orphaned cubs to them and it soon became a sanctuary. The tigers roam freely and interact with tourists (with the monks’ supervision). All money collected from the tours goes to support the monks (and the tigers of course). A must do!

The Reclining Buddha
Bangkok houses the Wat Pho, or Temple of the Reclining Buddha. Wat Pho is one of the oldest and biggest temples and it contains a 150 foot reclining, gold-plated Buddha statue with its feet inlaid with mother of pearl. Extensive grounds, the original Thai massage school and lots of history here. definitely go see it.

The Long Neck Women
In Chiang Mai you will find an area called Mae Hong Son, where you will find the tribe of the Long Neck Women ( also called Brass Ring women or Giraffe Tribe). A custom of the Karan tribe is to add brass rings to the necks of their women to literally stretch their necks. These are poor tribal people and are completely supported by tourist now. It’s a great photo opportunity and one of those rare things to see in person. » Read more: The 6 Must Visit Hot Spots In Thailand

Rome Adventure – Even the Thieves Are Artists in the Eternal City

November 4th, 2011 by admin No comments »

By David C Baird

No matter how you approach the Eternal City, it leaves its mark on you.

Visiting Rome on a repeat of our honeymoon, we saw all the historic sights, enjoyed the opera. Every morning we breakfasted on a “cappuccino e cornetto” in the busy bars on the Via del Corso, near our hotel. The cornettos, Italy’s equivalent of the croissant, were hot and delicious.

At other times we grabbed snacks in one of the thousands of pizza spots. Rome is not a cheap city, but in a tavola calda (literally “hot table”) snackbar, you could enjoy a pizza and a beer for five or six bucks.

Wandering through the narrow streets of the old quarter of Trastevere, we took shelter from a rainstorm in a cosy restaurant. It was your authentic trattoria, with check table-cloths and photos of illustrious clients on the walls.

The only other diners, occupying a long table, were certainly not tourists. Dark-suited and tough-looking, they were a confident bunch, joking, backslapping, occasionally talking into their mobiles. Outside the narrow street was lined with their late-model cars, all illegally parked.

When the group started quaffing Asti Spumante, one came over and filled our glasses. Some special occasion, I asked. He smiled, winked, and whispered in my ear.

“Polizia.”

As I digested this and my fettuccine, I could not help thinking these guardians of the law bore a disturbing resemblance to extras from The Godfather.

I had cause to remember them a few days later. We were heading for the Termini station and, in the absence of taxis, jumped on a bus. There was standing room only and a brown-suited little man obligingly made way for us.

As we swayed through the streets, Signore Brown Suit seemed to have difficulty keeping his feet and several times he shifted his hands from one strap above his head to another, and bumped into us.

Then, at one stop, he abruptly departed. Seconds later, a nasty thought crossed my mind and I felt my securely buttoned breast pocket. The cash I had just drawn from the bank was gone. At that point, I wished I had asked for the telephone number of our Godfather friends. » Read more: Rome Adventure – Even the Thieves Are Artists in the Eternal City