Concierge’s IT List: Places for upscale tastes, but maybe cheaper

by Jamie Rhein on

There’s The New York Times list of 53 places to go in 2008 (see post), the 40 travel tips and suggestions from London’s Times (see post )and now Concierge.com has an IT List of 10 more suggestions, all with sound reasoning behind each one.

The way a destination ends up on this list is that it’s had enough people show up to increase the odds that it has some sense of what travelers like, therefore it can deliver a vacation to write home about–or it’s a place people have gone to for years, but has something new to offer. In the case of this list, it’s luxury.

When I looked over the Concierge list, it occurred to me that there are places I’d like to go on a vacation if I had A LOT of money. Any place could be spiffy.

Oman, a place I never thought of going, but now that I’ve seen what it has to offer, I think it’s an option. For one thing, everyone I know who has gone to the United Arab Emirates talks about how expensive Dubai is. Oman, from Concierge’s description, seems to be a cheaper version of a place to travel in the Middle East that can provide some Western comfort, at least when it comes to lodging. Oman, like the UAE has luxurious hotels that I’d venture to guess are less expensive because a lot of people are not heading there yet.

The history of Oman is what attracts me the most.The 14th century explorer Ibn Battuta passed through here and from what I read, even though tourism is being developed, it’s possible to get a healthy dose of traditional culture.

If you’re looking for something tropical–like Bali, but not Bali since much of Bali has loads of tourists, one suggestion is Hainan Island, China. You can stay in luxury here too, but what caught my attention was the description of mountain villages. I’m not a more than a day or two beach person, but give me an afternoon of wandering through a village and I’m happy. Since I’ve been to several places in South East Asia, this would be a choice based on a place that would be different but familiar.

Mozambique is also on the list. I love the word Mozambique. Say it. Doesn’t that sound lovely? The trendy hotels and a beach scene are part of the draw, and the political stability has helped it excel. I’m intrigued by the Portuguese influence, plus the national parks and the music. I bet the traditional architecture is also fabulous. Besides that, I’d like to see how it compares to the other African countries I’ve been to.

Although I love Tuscany, Sicily, the Concierge.com’s suggestion of where to head in Italy this year, would be the place I’d pick to go if I could pick just one. The thing I like about this choice is that there is so much variety in not such a big place. I have a tendency to want to see everything. If there’s not so much ground to cover, it feels like the vacation can be interesting and restful.

After watching the Amazing Race teams navigate Croatia, Montenegro, a country that has been compared to it in looks and feel, seems as if it would be a fabulous choice. It’s also supposed to be cheaper than Italy and Croatia.

Paris, San Diego, Ecuador, St. Lucia, Puerto Escondido and the Oaxacan Coast are also on the list.

For some more details about what Ecuador offers, check out Aaron’s post on his trip there. For St. Lucia, check out Adrienne’s series St. Lucia There & Back. She has the ins and outs about all aspects of travel here. She did it all.

As for San Diego, Erik presented a list earlier in 2007 that tells you what to see there, a good place to start. He’s a guy who lived there, so he should know.

If you head to Paris, another possibility is a houseboat stay on the Seine, as Martha did with her mother.

As for the Oaxacan Coast, my dad, who has been to Mexico several times loves this section of Mexico. If I ever go to Mexico on an extended trip, Oaxaca is where I’m heading.

Why wait a year for your next New Year’s Eve?

by Brett Atkinson on

How was New Year’s Eve in your neck of the woods?

If you were a little disappointed with how it turned out, don’t wait a full year before your next opportunity for end of year shenanigans. Just hop on a plane/train/taxi or chartered donkey and head overseas to intercept the coming of the new year in a different culture.

Chinese New Year kicks off on February 7 in 2008. Welcome to the Year of the Rat.

Around March 21, the Persian New Year or Nowruz is celebrated in Iran and across Central Asia. The traditional meal is Sabzi Polo Mahi, rice with green herbs and fish.

The indigenous Maori people of New Zealand celebrate Matariki or Maori New Year on June 5 2008. In the 21st century Matariki has been celebrated with renewed interest.

The Ethiopian New Year or Enkutatash falls on September 11. Because the Ethiopian calendar is seven years behind the western calendar, the Millennium was only celebrated in Ethiopia last year.

That’s by no means a definitive list. Let us know about other opportunities for celebrating the New Year in other cultures and countries.

Thanks to kenyaoa on Flickr for the pic of Times Square

Touring the Silk Road atop a motorcycle

by Neil Woodburn on

One of those travel regrets I still look back on and wish I had done was when I was contemplating buying a Russian motorcycle and sidecar and hightailing it through Siberia.

And it is therefore with great regret that I came across a similar story of adventurous motorcyclists traveling across another rugged territory: the Silk Road of China.

In what has been one of the best travel articles in the LA Times this year, journalist Susan Carpenter joined an 11-day motorcycle tour of northeastern China that took her from the fabled city of Kashgar (another travel regret of mine, by the way) to the city of Turpan 1,700 miles away.

I’m not sure who I’m fooling because I don’t even know how to drive a motorcycle, but I’m not lying when I say that I would do anything it takes to plant my butt atop one of these things and cruise the Silk Road–although the perfect journey would start in Persia, naturally.

To give you a little taste of what to expect, check out Carpenter’s tantalizing summation of the journey:

“We encountered mostly foot traffic — women balancing buckets of water on sticks across their shoulders and men in embroidered caps herding sheep, goats and yaks — as we worked our way toward the military checkpoint that granted us access to the Karakoram Highway and scenery so spectacular I could have crashed.”

Wow.

Oh, and incidentally, hat’s off to the LA Times for incorporating video onto their website. If the above description doesn’t get the travel bug biting, the video certainly will.

The Onion explains Our Dumb World

by Aaron Hotfelder on

To correspond with the release of their book Our Dumb World, the Onion has set up an online atlas to “reveal mind-expanding factoids about the lesser, conquerable nations of the Earth.” The atlas is loads of fun, just like most everything related to the Onion, and it is updated with new content every week. It’s somewhat reminiscent of the “Conan O’Brien Hates My Homeland” series, though the Onion’s atlas seems slightly (only slightly) less offensive.

On China: “With over 700 billion citizens manufactured since 1892, China is the world’s largest mass producer of Chinese.”

On Brazil: “Boasting some of the sexiest people ever to be stabbed repeatedly at night, Brazil is home to perhaps the most attractive victims of carjacking, robbery, and violent assault in the world.”

On Jordan: “From many years of regional conflicts to a recent shortage of natural resources, Jordan has had a long and troubled history. On the bright side, however, King Abdullah II made a very wise choice when he married Queen Rania.

So, so true.

Budget Travel on the 2008 Olympics in Beijing

by Aaron Hotfelder on

I am a huge fan of the Olympics because they combine some of my greatest passions: athletic competition, international travel, and, of course, unscrupulousness. In fact, one of my favorite parlor tricks is to name all the members of the 1996 U.S. Women’s Gymnastics team. (Tip: Don’t forget Amy Chow. Everyone always forgets Amy Chow.)

For all the other Olympics fanatics out there, Budget Travel has a terrific assortment of links designed to prepare you for the 2008 Summer Games in China. They detail the nuts and bolts of making it to Beijing, like how to obtain a visa, where to stay, and how to purchase tickets for the Games. They also showcase some of Beijing’s newest landmarks (check out the bird’s nest known as the National Stadium) and offer some pointers on Chinese etiquette. Finally, there’s a terrific slideshow documenting all the changes the country is undergoing to prepare for its time in the spotlight.

For even more on the most rapidly changing city in the world, in the most rapidly changing country in the world, take a look at Ember Swift’s feature from several months ago, A Canadian in Beijing.