Gregory Smyth asked:


Bangkok has quite a few luxury spas and lounges for manicure, pedicure, Thai massage and aromatherapy. The luxury spas can be within luxury hotels or independent spas with the facilities like scrub tables, steam bath, etc all offering luxury and indulgence. Private manicure and pedicure, Thai massages, aromatherapy, etc all included in the spa experience you expect in Bangkok or in any major tourist spot of Thailand for that matter.

There is no dearth of leisure activities in Bangkok. From receiving a massage from a spa to cycling through the tracts of Koh Kret, the activities can pamper you, exhaust you and leave you refreshed – all at the same time. You may try Muay Thai (Thai Boxing), ice-skating, bowling, a tango class, golf, time at a water theme park, just watching people out in the streets – all are great options, each coming with its own possibilities and wonders.

Spread across an area of 188,800 square metres, the zoo houses some 1,600 animal species. Ideal outdoor location for family picnics, the park inside zoo premises has beautifully landscaped gardens and a fine cafeteria.

If you have a good taste to Thai food, you can take a Thai cooking class offered at the various hotels. You can also easily find several cooking schools, where you can get great lessons to cook Thai style.

A cruise along the river Chao Phraya (River of Kings) is always going to be a cool way to explore Bangkok’s famous landmarks like the Grand Palace, the Temple of Dawn, etc. You feel the stillness of life while cruising along the river as a cool breeze caresses your face and hair.

Most visitors to Thailand, who concentrate on urban centres, miss this secret. An islet in the Chao Phraya River, this place has no motor traffic and is great choice to explore on a bicycle. The lush greenery, some fine architecture and shopping of handmade earthenware and pottery, special delicacies of local people, etc make sure you won’t easily forget the trip.

If the swimming pool at your hotel is not just enough, you can try the entire facilities dedicated to splashing and having fun for the whole day. Hit the variety of water parks in the city and you won’t know how fast time flies past you.

If golf is your reason of getting out into the nature, rest assured that you are welcome to the scenic golf courses of the capital.

The best place to practice yoga is in the fresh air of outdoors. Take a yoga class on wide green turf, at one of the several yoga studios in the city. Experienced yoga teachers are available at a nominal fee.

Get the lessons of Thai boxing (Muay Thai), under an expert teacher. If you don’t want to make your clothes dirty, you can just watch a boxing match.

Luxury hotels and clubs offer variety of music and dance programs. Clubs, rooftop bars, etc make sure you have nightlife choices.

Would you like to explore ‘The Beach’, as you have seen in the Hollywood movie? Head to Khao San Road, where millions of visitors reach every year. Take a look at the diversity in the dressings of people and try to differentiate the number of languages you hear.

From an aromatherapy cum massage session at a spa to scaling the trails of the river island on a bicycle, you find variety of activities, which you find extremely difficult to fit them all into your schedule. Once you start looking for leisure facilities and spas in the heart of Bangkok, the only problem you face is buying time to fit all the variety of activities that is on the platter.

Margaret Winfrey asked:


China vacations involve more than just travel to Beijing – the country has opened up over the past few years, and many of China’s secrets are now open to the west, even those on a Chinese vacation.

Vacations to China are becoming increasingly popular and a growing number of travel operators are offering China vacations at cut prices to those wanting to find out the secrets of the Orient that have been hidden from western eyes for so long. However, cheap vacations come at a price, if not in hard cash. 

First, it is a long flight to China, and can be very uncomfortable if you are packed into a chartered plane seated to pack as many people in as possible so as to keep the costs low. There is nothing wrong with that if it is what you want, and most people are able to withstand the discomfort of little room to stretch out on a long haul flight. For others, however, it is a problem. Then there is the transport once your vacation has started.  If you are sharing your holiday with 49 others, the needs of the average are catered for, and these might not be your needs.

The same is true of hotels that are chosen because they can offer the number of rooms needed to meet the needs of a large party, and the menu for many of the meals will be set to be easily cooked for a large number of people at the lowest possible cost. If these arrangements don’t appeal to you, what are your alternatives?

Some people try to arrange and book their own China vacations, but find it too difficult, considering all the arrangements needed, airport taxes, hotel bookings, entrance fees, local travel and so on. The best way by far is to deal with a travel company that can offer you the luxury and personal attention that China vacations need if you are to enjoy your travel to Beijing and everywhere else in China you want to visit.

Your flights should at least be business class to allow you the leg room and cabin staff attentiveness that you need on a longer flight. Travel should be personal, and not as part of a crowd.  You and your partner should have a car to yourselves, driven by your own guide, not share a 52 seater bus. Your hotels should be individually booked, and chosen for their excellence, not their cheap price, and you should be able to choose your own menus.

You might think that such travel companies are difficult to find, or if you did find one, your travel would be severely restricted to allow such a high level of personal service.  If so, you would be wrong on both counts.  However, for now, let’s consider what good China vacations should involve, apart from the personal service and luxury travel.

Travel to Beijing is a must, with a visit to the Forbidden City, the ancient seat of the Chinese emperors that sits right in front of the famous (or infamous) Tiananmen Square. Not as part of a large group, but privately, just you and your partner. With 9,999 buildings, it was forbidden for a non-aristocrat or royal to enter it prior to 1911. A visit to the Peking Opera is also a must, as is a delicious meal of Peking duck!

Many Chinese vacations stop at Beijing, or perhaps include a brief visit to the Wall, and if you want more you have to look around and make sure that the vacation you book involves more than just travel to Beijing and the Forbidden City that seems to satisfy many people.  You must at least visit the Summer Palace with its marble boat built by the Empress Cixi with funds embezzled from the navy, and the Temple of Heaven, larger than the Forbidden City. You must also visit the Great Wall and enjoy a traditional Chinese banquet of several different course.

Everybody has heard of the terracotta warriors in Xian: thousands of them, life-size with horses and chariots, and you must also pay a visit to Chengdu to see a real live panda. Also, don’t forget that China is close to Tibet, and you could pay a visit to Lhasa and see Mount Everest and the palaces of the Dalai Lama.  Visitors are allowed to visit the chambers and to look out on Lhasa from the seven storey White Palace. However, back to China.

All China vacations should allow you to spend some time on one o China’s many rivers and watch the cormorants that are trained to dive for fish:  their necks are slightly constricted to prevent them from swallowing the fish.  It might sound cruel, but it seems to do them no harm.  A visit to Shanghai should also be included on your itinerary, along with a cruise down the Huangpu River. In fact there are many rivers in this part of China that you should visit by boat, but you have to get all this organized in advance.

The main problem with Chinese vacations is that if you want anything more than just to travel to Beijing, you can’t just head off anywhere you want when you feel like it.  China is not France or the UK.  Tourism is allowed, but only if organized in advance and all permissions are granted. That’s why it is so important to seek out the type of Chinese vacation you want prior to setting off.  You can’t change midway.

Chinese vacations can be magnificent and awe-inspiring, and they can also be pretty boring if you have already visited Beijing. Which you get is your choice, but remember that you are generally stuck with what you book, although there might be some tours you can book when in Beijing.  Generally, however, vacations to China are best organized in advance with a good travel company experienced in providing you with luxury travel and comprehensive travel to make sure that you visit as many places as possible in the time available to you.

Muna wa Wanjiru asked:


For the person who wants to relax with the wind blowing in their face there are some interesting traveling options available. These options will include traveling by land yacht. These yachts are perfect for individuals who have a love of speed. While your usual ocean going yacht is built for comfortable sailing, a land yacht is an entirely different story.

You will find that there are different styles of land yachts which are fantastic for yacht racing. You will be able to find these yachts on the internet, in yachting magazines, and also in showrooms of land yachts. These yachts which are made for land yacht racing are sleek and fast. You will need to understand however that these yachts are specialist yachts. For this reason you might find that buying these yachts is an expensive hobby.

Now even though land yacht racing is one of the more well known yachts you will find that there are many people who enjoy racing across the surface of the land in land yachts. For these people this yacht racing which takes place on the land is the ultimate test in speed racing.

These land yachts which are primarily used for yacht racing are sleek vessels which have been designed for pure, raw speed. Since these yachts are designed primarily for speed you will not find too much in the way of luxury. This will not curtail your enjoyment of land yachts or the speed they are capable of generating.

This lack of comfort and luxury will not a problem for the people who have bought these yachts with racing capabilities in mind. In land yacht racing you will find that the entire yacht has been designed to catch the maximum amount of wind. This along with the sleek design of the hull will help to propel land yachts across the surface of the land during the periods of racing.

For the people who are involved in this sport with land yachts they need to be capable of handling the quick changes and rapid movements of the yacht to get that extra burst of speed. What you will find in land yacht racing is the joy of pure freedom that the crews of these land yachts face.

With land yachts racing over the surface of the land will seem to be effortless. You can see different styles of these land yachts if you are a spectator or taking part in the land speed race itself. With the wind blowing in your face from yacht racing you will wonder why you have never taken part in this fantastic sport before