Thursday, August 30, 2012

CNNGo.com

CNNGo.com

So kneady: Thailand takes mass-massage record

Posted: 30 Aug 2012 01:56 AM PDT

Guinness World Records can be baffling (most toilet seats broken by the head) or worthy (fastest hurdles wearing swim fins). But none is more impressive for a weary traveler than a mass-massaging world record.

The latest has been taken by a group of 641 masseurs in Thailand, who massaged 641 people simultaneously for 12 minutes on August 30, 2012.

The most impressive part of the event was arguably the absence of any string-vested tourists with gnarled toenails and salacious grins, whom you might expect to be the first volunteers when free Thai massages are being given out.

This event however took place in the clinical setting of the Thailand Medical Hub Expo 2012, at the Impact Mueangthong Arena in Bangkok.

Both the expo and event are supported by Thailand's Ministry of Public Health and presided by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

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Is the party over in Vang Vieng?

Posted: 29 Aug 2012 09:53 PM PDT

by CNNGo staff

Drugs, alcohol, loud music and crazy games on the river. Laos' notorious party town Vang Vieng may sound like a teenager's holiday heaven, but it's become too much for the country's authorities. 

Officials are clamping down on Vang Vieng's hedonistic ways, shutting 24 riverside entertainment venues "being operated in contravention of regulations, including the provision of unsafe drinks to customers, while some also had no business licenses," reports the Vientiane Times.  

The English-language newspaper said the closures follow the findings of a task force made up of senior tourism, health and public security officials.

The group was sent to Vang Vieng to refocus the popular tourist destination following reports of problems in the district, from bars openly selling cocktails made with hallucinogenic mushrooms to several tourist deaths.

"We have set ourselves the target to bring a new face to Vang Vieng district by October," said the leader of the task force, Boualy Milattanapheng.

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IFC Mall opens in Seoul

Posted: 29 Aug 2012 03:20 PM PDT

by Frances Cha

Seoul's Yeouido financial district finally offers major shopping and entertainment in the midst of all those shiny skyscrapers, in the form of the new US$2.2-billion IFC Mall Seoul. 

The mall opens today following its final few days of frenzied construction.

The self-proclaimed "first international-style shopping mall in Korea" is one of the most ambitious retail projects in Korea in recent years, with 100 brands spread out over three lower levels totaling 40,000 square meters of floor space. 

In addition to Korea's first Hollister store and a Banana Republic flagship store, the mall also houses a nine-theater CGV complex, 35 new restaurants and the first Apple outlet (Frisbee) in southwest Seoul.

Developed by AIG Global Real Estate Development in conjunction with Seoul City and operated by Taubman Asia, the mall is part of the larger IFC project, which includes two office towers and Conrad Seoul Hotel, which is slated to open in November.

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Sento spectacular -- Tokyo's amazing public baths

Posted: 29 Aug 2012 03:00 PM PDT

by Mark Buckton

Does the thought of getting nude with the neighbors or starkers with strangers in your local sento, or public bath, raise a smile or make you cringe?

Whatever your personal take, most reading this will be aware the process of bathing in true Japanese form has long been a communal, often social, activity.

Even so, it's still one part of traditional life that can put some visitors, and nowadays Japanese too, on edge.

Still, if you're not too far on the shy side, we recommend you swallow your pride, understand that your own bits and pieces are of little interest to anyone else and take off the towel.

Then and now

To most Japanese people, sento are a thing of the past, born of an era when houses did not have their own bathrooms in the decades and centuries up to around 1970.

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9 places to go native

Posted: 29 Aug 2012 11:40 AM PDT

by Daisy Liu

Can a tourist's experience ever be truly authentic?

If you talk with the locals, share their cuisine, and, heaven forbid, even do a little work while you're traveling, you can get pretty close. 

Many tour companies out there make an effort to submerge their guests in a local culture, sharing stories, sampling the food and practicing traditional customs.

Some of these programs also help to boost rural development and raise awareness of environmental sustainability. 

  1. Stay with an Amazon tribe, Ecuador


The Huaorani Ecolodge immerses visitors among one of world's most isolated ethnic groups in the Amazon.

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