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- 7 great alternative Spring Break destinations
- Travel’s new gold mine: China-centric hotel brands
- Cheers: Sydney Harbour Bridge turns 80
- iReport: Gorilla trekking in Uganda
- 7 myths about traveling in Thailand
- People on planes do the weirdest things
- Insider Guide: Best of Kuala Lumpur
| 7 great alternative Spring Break destinations Posted: 19 Mar 2012 09:00 AM PDT by Jordan Rane Miami Beach. Aspen. The lido deck of a 10-story cruise vessel bound for St. Thomas. The nearest tanning bed. America is full of well-oiled Spring Break routines you already know enough about. Looking for something a little different for this Spring Break? Here are seven worthy alternative Spring Break destinations that won't break the bank or, worse, land you up in a giddy throng of pool boozers rehearsing for an MTV spot. Get down at the Grand Canyon
Another option: losing the gawker crowds and making that once-in-a-lifetime descent to the bottom of the world's most famous hole in the ground. read more     |
| Travel’s new gold mine: China-centric hotel brands Posted: 18 Mar 2012 09:02 PM PDT by CNNGo staff China is expected to become the world's largest hotel market by 2025 and the second-largest business travel market, after the United States, by the end of 2020. International hoteliers are doing what it takes to secure a foothold in China's business travel market, and an obvious trend has emerged: building dedicated brands to cater to Chinese business travelers. Accor re-brands Grand MercureFrench hotel group Accor is re-engineering the Grand Mercure brand in order to appeal to the upscale Chinese market, especially domestic business travelers. An upmarket version of Mercure, Grand Mercure first entered China in 2005 as Accor's stand-out hotel brand in a market yearning for high-end accommodation. Although the brand is not officially starred in the country, all Grand Mercures are tagged as four-star establishments. read more    |
| Cheers: Sydney Harbour Bridge turns 80 Posted: 18 Mar 2012 08:39 PM PDT A bonus point to whoever knows what Bruce Willis, Glenn Close, Ursula Andress and Patrick McGoohan all have in common with the Sydney Harbour Bridge. As every joey knows, they all, of course, share a birthday -- the fact that March 19 this year sees the Coathanger mark 80 years of getting locals and tourists across Port Jackson is probably the most significant of the bunch, we'd say. Google Australia has even marked the day with a Google Doodle of the bridge taking pride of place on its Aussie search page. Swash and buckle too
The fact that they saw a sword-wielding Captain Francis De Groot leap in and slash the ribbon ahead of NSW Premier Jack Lang's more traditional scissors only adds to the fame. read more    |
| iReport: Gorilla trekking in Uganda Posted: 18 Mar 2012 08:28 PM PDT by L. Craig Smith With fewer than 800 mountain gorillas alive in the world today -- spread over four national parks in Uganda, Rwanda and the Congo -- getting a close look at these beautiful creatures is an experience few will ever have. As part of a CNNGo iReport assignment asking for adventure travelers to share their favorite memories, iReporter L. Craig Smith of Mission Viejo, California, provided these fantastic photos of his 2010 trip to Uganda's Bwindi National Forest, an UNESCO World Heritage Site. But getting there isn't easy. Smith says it took three days of flights before he landed in Entebbe, Uganda. "It is the same Entebbe airport where Israel rescued its citizens in 1976," he says, referring to the celebrated Operation Entebbe. "There are still bullet holes in the passenger departure area." After a drive to the capital city, Kampala, and a tour of former president Idi Amin's palace, Smith made the overland drive to the border of Uganda and the Congo. read more    |
| 7 myths about traveling in Thailand Posted: 18 Mar 2012 07:05 PM PDT by CNNGo staff
Not many Thais drink tap water. Nor do they make ice with it, so there's really no need to spend your holiday drinking warm Coke. If you're worried about contamination, the safest thing to do is look for the circular ice cubes with a hole through the middle. These ones are made in a factory with filtered water and are perfectly safe for consumption. Most wait staff are so accustomed to tourists not wanting ice they automatically leave it out of drinks. On the other hand, many beer-drinking Thais like to toss a few cubes into their mugs so if you go to an outdoor bar the waitress will likely pass you a bucket of ice with your bottle of Singha.    |
| People on planes do the weirdest things Posted: 18 Mar 2012 11:00 AM PDT by James Durston Stick a sane man (or woman, but then you're really asking for trouble) in a padded room for long enough and he or she will eventually go a little mad. The same appears to hold for air travel. Put someone on a plane and the unnatural sensation of flying through the sky seems to make us behave strangely -- suddenly the normal rules of acceptable behavior are sucked down the pan, along with all that startlingly blue liquid. Here are some things that many of us do in flight, but at ground level avoid like a Rush Limbaugh fund-raiser. Got your own strange plane behaviors? Tell us about them in the comments. read more    |
| Insider Guide: Best of Kuala Lumpur Posted: 18 Mar 2012 09:30 AM PDT by Tan Hee Hui Kuala Lumpur is one of Asia's most enticing destinations -- but where do you find the best of KL? The buzzing Malaysian capital offers a collision course of experiences, fueled by the country's diverse multi-ethnic groups, such as the majority Muslim-Malays, Chinese and Indians. To experience the best of KL, you need to know where to find the most delicious Malaysian cuisine, hunt down the city's top bargains and experience a wild night out. Start below. Hotels Luxury
Set deep in the city's historic Lake Gardens, this heritage hotel was the official residence of the highest British representative to the Malay States from 1904 to 1941. read more    |
Step off the beaten path. Most of the five million annual visitors to Grand Canyon National Park come to gape into its perspective-busting, 1,800-meter-deep, 446-kilometer-long, 29-kilometer-wide abyss during the summer, without venturing more than 100 steps below the steaming canyon's rim.
Get it while you can -- the Coathanger's Google Doodle tribute.The bridge has been an Aussie celebrity since well before its opening in 1932, when a million people reportedly turned up for the opening ceremony.
Nobody wants a rock-free gin and tonic. If there's a hole through the middle of the ice, fear not. 
You can't go wrong with the lodging of choice for Queen Elizabeth II, who visited Kuala Lumpur in 1987. Carcosa Seri Negara| You are subscribed to email updates from CNNGo.com To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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