2010 July travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises spa and resorts

Wat Chalong is Phuket’s most important Buddhist temple and is the biggest and most ornate of Phuket’s 29 Buddhist monasteries. The architecture is typical of wats found throughout Thailand. Wat Chalong is associated with the revered monks, Luang Pho Chaem and Luang Pho Chuang, both of whom were famous for there work in herbal medicine and tending to the injured. During the tin miners’ rebellion of 1876 they mobilized aid for the injured on both sides. They also mediated in the rebellion, bringing the warring parties together to resolve their dispute. Statues honoring them stand in the sermon hall (viharn). Many Thais come here to be blessed by the monks and receive a good luck charm in the form of a string tied around the wrist, which they believe protects them from injury and illness.
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Tuvalu’s tiny capital of Funafuti is just 2.8 sq km and has a population of 4,500. Vaiaku village on Fongafale Islet is the main business centre and home to the International airport. The largest of Funafuti’s islets, Fongafale is 12km long and very narrow. It was formerly a base for American bombers during World War II, and there are still some old war relics. The atoll is renowned for its vast lagoon – 24km long and 18km wide – which has several reef passages. The Funafuti Conservation Area on the atoll’s western side is a great place for snorkelling. There is limited accommodation at Funafala Islet in the south.
Continue reading Funafuti Atoll in the Pacific Ocean

Length: 11 miles round trip
Difficulty: Strenuous
Description: Chesler Park is a relatively flat grassy area surrounded by amazing rock formations, located in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. This trail provides excellent views of The Needles and it drops into a series of narrow fractures along what is know as the Joint Trail. There is a campground adjacent to the trailhead. Five designated backpacking campsites are located along the trail, for people who want to do more than a quick backpack. There is no water along this trail.

Continue reading Chesler Park Loop, Utah, USA

Located approximately 50 km East of Esperance, Cape Le Grand is one of Western Australia’s best known and most spectacular National Parks. Pristine and perfect are two words that reflect the absolute beauty of Lucky Bay. Here you will find an ocean coloured all imaginable shades of blue, sand so white and fine it squeaks between your toes and the extraordinary sight of kangaroos sunbathing on the beach – just incredible!

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Approximately 120 kms to the east of Esperance by good road is the Cape Arid National Park featuring magnificent granite headlands, crystal clear waters and sparkling white sands. Two camping areas at Thomas River and Seal Creek. Limited facilities. Gravel roads, pit toilets, barbecues. No power or water. Camping fees will likely be applied during 2006/07.
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Pearl of the South, Jewel of the South, The Rose City—just a few of the nicknames Marrakesh has acquired over the years. The pearl and the jewel symbolize its importance as the center of Morocco ever since it was a trading and resting place on the crossroads of ancient caravan routes from Timbuktu. The rose attests to a city still painted entirely in salmon pink, in keeping with the red-clay earth below. Once called Morocco City by foreign travelers, Marrakesh eventually lent its name to the country itself. Part Berber, part Arab, part African, Marrakesh is the heartbeat of Morocco, where palaces and monuments of unrivaled refinement sit calmly alongside the snake charmers and Gnaouan drums pulsing constantly from Djemâa el Fna Square—the most exuberant marketplace in the world.
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The Grand Palace adjoins Wat Phra Kaew in a common compound, and is where you will end up after exiting Wat Phra Kaew. Despite the proximity of the two, there’s a distinct contrast in style between the very Thai Wat Phra Kaew and the more European inspired designs of the Grand Palace (the roof being the exception). The Grand Palace is nowadays used only for occasional ceremonial purposes and is no longer the royal residence. The present King Bhumibol (Rama IX) lives in Chitralada Palace (also closed to tourists), which is located not too far away in Bangkok’s Dusit district. Though the interior of most of the buildings remain closed to the public
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Today the London’s cycling subculture has reached the level of a populist movement. Bike cafes like Container Cafe, Lock 7 and the summer pop-up Rapha Cycle Club are the city’s latest hip hangouts. A recent addition is Look Mum No Hands, a bar, cafe and workshop in a lofty garage space on busy old street in Shoreditch. Vintage bikes and heirloom tomatoes dress up the window displays, and a scattering of desks and built-in benches fill up most of the room.
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This is a single, flowing, red resin surface that doesn’t constrain those using it to a single route and the only structure connecting the canal to the city in Glasgow. The 14 hectares of Speirs Locks was a thriving trading center that has now become deserted land due to the decline of the industry and the construction of M8 motorway in the 1960s. The team of architects decided to repair the severed ties between the canal and the city, transforming the space into a new public realm fit for cyclists and pedestrians.
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The Caldor Hotel is a fallow land, just 8 minutes from the city border of Vienna City and very close to the biggest shopping centre of Austria, gave the landlord the idea to create a self check in hotel. The site is next to a main road – B16. The structure of the hotel emerges along the road. From the centre cross point the hotel is buckling. The buckling gives the hotel a high profile from the main road – both directions. At the cross point you find the lobby, the main access, the check in machine, etc.
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