Travel people are telling me that I should go to Tibet before it becomes too commercialized. For my 8th tour of China I am planning to add Tibet to the itinerary. I have traveled to China in Nov, Dec, May, June and July. November and December is far too cold. July is like one huge sauna. May is spring and the weather is perfect is many ways. I like June because you get a combination of spring and summer weather and all the tourists have not come yet. Choosing where to go is difficult. I hope to have some experienced China travelers plus some new people. My favorite place are Guilin and Yangshou because of the tropical weather, the rural areas and the less touristy atmosphere. Plus we can get close to nature with bike rides in the country, rafting down the river and hiking. Beijing is always exciting and I never tire of seeing the Forbidden city and Tiananmen Square. I also like the summer palace and the Hutong ride. The Great Wall is visually so dramatic. I want to plan a trip to a lesser traveled part of the wall. Xi’an, where the Terracotta Warriors are is a great thanks to the Tang Dynasty Theatre dinner we have, the trip to the Muslim Market, the bike ride on the city wall and the cigar bar. I am not sure about going to Chengdu. Seeing and touching the pandas was fun but other sites to visit are more limited. The Yangtze River tour is relaxing and he sights are amazing. Shanghai is what I call the George Jetson city – love the Bund and Yu Gardens. Hong King is great shopping as well as scenery.
Anyway, talking to my travel guide buddies in China now so if you are interested in coming, let me know. Once I get an itinerary I will start posting on my web www.billhowe.org. Go there to see past tours pictures. Budget is hard to say but with a small group – 15 to 18 people it is safe to put $10 a day into a cookie jar. Past trips have run about $2,500 for the trip not counting airfare. Airfare is anywhere from $1,200 – $1,350 depending on where you fly from. Subscribe to this blog is you want to get updates or email me.
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By Amanda Ruggeri, Budget Travel
You have good manners, right? After all, you (usually) keep your elbows off the table and say “Please pass the salt,” right? But when you head abroad, things get a little more complicated. Case in point: Rest your chopsticks the wrong way, and you might remind a Japanese friend of their grandmother’s funeral (Rule 2). But knowing what the etiquette rules are won’t just save you from some awkward situations, says Dean Allen, author of the “Global Etiquette Guide” series. It can also help you make friends. “It’s really a statement of your openness and awareness of the fact that the people you’re with … may in fact see the world differently,” he says. “It’s simply going to get you out of the tourist bubble.” Sound good? Then here are 15 rules to keep in mind.
In Thailand, don’t put food in your mouth with a fork.
Instead, when eating a dish with cooked rice, use your fork only to push food onto your spoon. A few exceptions: Some northern and northeastern Thai dishes are typically eaten with the hands — you’ll know you’ve encountered such a dish if the rice used is glutinous or “sticky.” Also, stand-alone items that are not part of a rice-based meal may be eaten with a fork. But, says Leela Punyaratabandhu, a food writer who blogs at SheSimmers.com, the worst thing to do at a traditional, rice-based meal would be to use chopsticks. “That is awkward and inconvenient at best and tacky at worst,” she says.
In Japan, never stick your chopsticks upright in your rice.
Between bites, your chopsticks should be placed together right in front of you, parallel to the edge of the table — and nowhere else, says Mineko Takane Moreno, Japanese cooking instructor and co-author of “Sushi for Dummies.” (If there is a chopsticks rest, you use it, putting the tips you’ve been eating with on the rest.) But sticking them upright in a bowl of rice is even worse: During funerals in Japan, the rice bowl of the deceased is placed before their coffin … with their chopsticks upright in the rice. So what would she rather see: Someone doing that at a meal, or asking for a fork? Mineko doesn’t hesitate. “Asking for a fork,” she says.
In the Middle East, India and parts of Africa, don’t eat with your left hand.
In South India, you shouldn’t even touch the plate with your left hand while eating. That’s largely because the left hand is associated with, um, bodily functions, so it’s considered to be dirty. In fact, says Allen, don’t even pass important documents with your left hand. A lefty? Then it’s okay to use your left hand — as long as you take your right hand out of the game.
At a traditional feast in Georgia, it’s rude to sip your wine.
At what Georgians call a supra (traditional feast), wine is drunk only at toasts. So wait for those … and then down the whole glass at once. On the upside, says Georgia-based photographer and videographer Paul Stephens, the glasses tend to be on the small side.
In Mexico, never eat tacos with a fork and knife.
Worried about spilling refried beans and salsa all over your front? Tough. Mexicans think that eating tacos with a fork and knife looks silly and, worse, snobby — kind of like eating a burger with silverware. So be polite: Eat with your hands.
In Italy, drink a cappuccino only before noon.
Some Italians say that a late-day cappuccino upsets your stomach, others that it’s a replacement for a meal (it’s common to have just a cappuccino, or a cappuccino and a croissant, for breakfast). Either way, you won’t see Italians ordering one in a café at 3 p.m. — and certainly not after a big dinner. Do so, and you’ll be instantly branded a tourist. If you need that coffee fix, though, an espresso is fine.
In Britain, always pass the port to the left — and remember the Bishop of Norwich.
It’s unclear why passing port on the left is so important; some say it has to do with naval tradition (the port side of a boat is on your left if you’re facing the helm). Regardless, passing the decanter to the right is a big gaffe. So is not passing it at all. If you’re at a meal and the decanter stalls, then ask the person with it, “Do you know the Bishop of Norwich?” If they say they don’t know him, reply, “He’s a very good chap, but he always forgets to pass the port.” It sounds weird, but it’s true. This is such a nationwide tradition, the Telegraph newspaper wrote an article on it.
In France, don’t eat your bread as an appetizer before the meal.
Instead, eat it as an accompaniment to your food or, especially, to the cheese course at the end of the meal. That said, one thing that would be a faux pas anywhere else — placing bread directly on the table and not on a plate — is perfectly acceptable in France. In fact, it’s preferred.
In China, don’t flip the fish.
Although you might be used to flipping over a whole fish once you’ve finished one side, don’t — at least not when you’re in China, especially southern China and Hong Kong. That’s because flipping the fish is dao yue in Chinese, a phrase similar to “bad luck.” Plus, says Allen, “to flip the fish over is like saying that the fisherman’s boat is going to capsize.” The most superstitious will leave the bottom part untouched, while others will pull off the bone itself to get to the bottom.
In Italy, don’t ask for parmesan for your pizza — or any other time it’s not explicitly offered.
Putting parmigiano on pizza is seen as a sin, like putting Jell-O on a fine chocolate mousse. And many pasta dishes in Italy aren’t meant for parmesan: In Rome, for example, the traditional cheese is pecorino, and that’s what goes on many classic pastas like bucatini all’amatriciana, not parmesan. A rule of thumb: If they don’t offer it to you, don’t ask for it.
Don’t eat anything, even fries, with your hands at a meal in Chile.
Manners here are a little more formal than many other South American countries. So while it might be the most practical to just pick up those fries with your fingers, don’t do it. “The greater need is to identify with European culture, so food is [eaten] with a knife and a fork,” Allen says.
In Korea, if an older person offers you a drink, lift your glass to receive it with both hands.
Doing so is a sign of respect for elders, an important tenet of Korean culture. After receiving the pour with both hands, you should turn your head away and take a discreet sip, says Stephen Cha-Kim, a Korean-born worker’s rights advocate who regularly visits family in Korea. “To this day, if anybody hands me anything, both hands shoot out instinctively,” Cha-Kim says. Similarly, don’t start eating until the eldest male has done so (and don’t leave the table until that person is finished).
Never mix — or turn down — vodka in Russia.
The beverage is always drunk neat — and no, not even with ice. Adding anything is seen as polluting the drink’s purity (unless the mixer is beer, which produces a formidable beverage known as yorsh). But there’s another faux pas that’s even worse, says Allen: when you’re offered the drink and you turn it down. Since offering someone a drink is a sign of trust and friendship, it’s a good idea to take it. Even if it is 9 a.m.
When drinking coffee with Bedouins in the Middle East, shake the cup at the end.
Typically, anyone Bedouin — or Bedouin-related — will continue to pour you more coffee once you’ve finished unless you shake the cup, meaning tilting the cup two or three times, when you hand it back. It’s such an important tip, says Middle East-based freelance correspondent Haley Sweetland Edwards, that last year, Bedouins she was eating with in Qatar made her practice it until she got it right.
In Brazil, play your tokens wisely.
At a churrascaria, or a Brazilian steakhouse, servers circle with cuts of meat and diners use tokens to place an order. If a server comes out with something you want, make sure your token, which you’ll have at your table, has the green side up. If you don’t want any more, flip it with the red side up. Since the meat can be never-ending, it’s important to strategize — if you leave that token green side up you could end up ordering a lot more than you intended.
Posted by Jennifer on September 28, 2011 — see more
If you plan to travel overseas or even across the borders into Mexico or Canada, your plans need to include foresight and caution if you want to enjoy a hassle-free and healthy trip. Knowledge about public health issues such as advisories, vaccines, environmental hazards and natural disasters and weather can eliminate surprises in your travel and help you be prepared in case you need to travel despite warnings. This primer can help you pinpoint your responsibilities and can make your travel plans easier by providing topics to heed and links to more expansive information about international travel.
To simplify your efforts, you might ask yourself the following questions and seek answers for your specific travel plans:
- Do you need a passport and visa? If you’re traveling across U.S. borders, this information is helpful in your identification and can ease travel snags. You may need to plan for these documents up to six months before you travel.
- Do you need immunizations or vaccines? Learn this information, ideally, about two months before your trip.
- Do you have any health issues that you need to address before travel? Learn more about what you may need for your current health issues and about other problems that you may encounter during your trip. This site also contains information about travel kits you might pack to address specific problems.
Other issues include whether or not you need travel insurance and if your destination is under any travel advisories or warnings. These advisories can occur at the last minute, even on the day you plan to leave…so plan ahead.
About Travel Advisories
Advisories are public notices issued by government agencies to provide information about the relative safety of traveling to and from foreign shores. Advisories can range from epidemics to natural disasters and from environmental issues to political upheavals. If your travel is necessary, be sure to check with officials locally and learn about the consulate available at your destination so you are prepared with a plan of action.
Note that advisories issued from the United States Department of State are called warden messages. U.S. embassies or consulates within foreign countries may issues advisories, which then are relayed to the U.S. Department of State and broadcast to U.S. citizens. The U.S. Department of State provides a list of U.S. embassies, consulates and diplomatic mission Web sites that you can peruse well before you plan your trip.
Traveling With Others
Finally, traveling with the elderly or with children poses special problems. Learn more about how you can make the trip enjoyable for yourself and for your companions. Everyone who travels with you must follow the same immunization plans, obtain passports and heed the same advisories. But, other issues may occur that you cannot possibly fathom. Web sites devoted to these issues, such as International Travel, Passports, Visas and Children & Family Issues can help you iron out those problems in advance.
Finally, the following list of ten excellent international travel sites can help you determine what you need to do when you make your plans.
Governmental Travel Health Links
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Travelers’ Health: The CDC is interested in saving lives, protecting people and saving money through prevention. They offer topics that range from information about destinations to vaccinations, diseases a way to find a clinic and resources and training.
- Foreign & Commonwealth Office Travel & living abroad: The country advice offered by this UK site is full of useful information for countries throughout the world. The Foreign & Commonwealth Office offers support to UK travelers in emergencies, and a range of services for businesses including document legislation.
- Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada Traveling and Living Abroad: This guide out of the Canadian government offers travel reports and warnings, information about consular services and more positive outlooks such as how to handle children and travel and a safe travel planner.
- Government of Western Australia Department of Health’s Healthy International Travel: This link leads to information from another perspective half a world away. Look at how this governmental health agency approaches international travel risks.
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security Transportation Security Administration: The Transportation Security Administration protects the Nation’s transportation systems to ensure freedom of movement for people and commerce. Although the TSA has come under fire recently for various harsh measures on travelers, they provide information on this site to help make your encounters with TSA more tolerable.
- U.S. Department of State Travel: A quick and easy guide to worldwide caution, including travel warnings and alerts, is provided in the left column on this intensive overseas travel site. Other helpful information includes tips for traveling abroad, advice for older travelers, and information about child abduction to child adoption.
- U.S. Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security: OSAC provides daily news, reports, events and incidents that can effect travelers and expatriates. They include a resource library and searches by countries and cities.
Other Helpful Travel Links
- International SOS [PDF]: This document contains information about a 24-hour worldwide assistance and emergency evacuation service for travelers and expatriates. Only members enrolled through a corporate membership or standard group members and paid for by the subscriber are eligible for services.
- Johns Hopkins Travel Center: This site is maintained by Supply Chain Shared Services and has been developed to provide faculty and staff with up-to-date information regarding University travel policies, services, and information. Look for travel warnings, useful sites and information about various agencies.
- Nations Online: Nations Online Project collects travel warnings around the world to help travelers and citizens to take their own decisions about their travel plans.
- UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health Office of Global Health Travel Requirements for UNC Public Health Students: Although intended for public health students, this page carries some great tips and information for anyone who travels. Scroll down the page to find a list of necessary items to take when traveling.
- World Health Organization’s Travel and Health: WHO carries general information about how to travel safely and provides specific information on infectious diseases and current updates on international health regulations. They also approach various issues such as food safety in attempts to educate the traveling public.
By Sean O’Neill, Budget Travel
The Web should make things easier for travelers, but the sheer volume of services out there is often more overwhelming than useful. Unfortunately, you don’t always know which outfits pay off until you’ve already invested your time.
The Budget Travel team puts websites — new and established — to the test every day. So when it came time to line up our favorites, the task was easy — we just turned to the sites we keep revisiting because they’re so darn helpful.
Our top picks can help you avoid overpaying for airfare (Bing Travel), bag the primo room at a hotel (Hipmunk), and never miss a deal on a rental-car reservation again (AutoSlash). Some of our favorites are as useful as a mind-reading tour guide (Plnnr); others are as handy as having a personal secretary track your frequent-flier balances (Award Wallet).
Put them all together, and they become Budget Travel’s picks for the best the Web has to offer.
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Mount Fuji Facts – Appealing and Amazing
Mount Fuji is the highest mountain of Japan; a distinguished natural wonder of Japan, it holds a height of 3776 meters, and is a part of Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. Absolutely perfect in shape of a cone, this sleeping volcano is one of the great tourist attractions of Japan travel. According to location related Mount Fuji facts, the mountain stands at the border of Shizuoka and Yamanashi and the its distant air view can be enjoyed even from far-off places like Yokohama and Tokyo provided the climate is clear. However, better visibility of Fuji can be enjoyed during summer season in the early mornings or in the late evenings. According to general Mount Fuji facts, the temperature of this mountain remains very low at the higher altitude and often the peak of the cone is found snow-covered, which looks amazing in its hedonist beauty.
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August 24th,2011
Japan2012 |
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March 9, 2011
By KEVIN SALWEN
I’VE long considered myself a relatively generous person.
Here in Atlanta, I carry around McDonald’s gift cards for encounters with homeless men and women, build Habitat for Humanity houses and donate 3 to 5 percent of our family’s annual income to charity. In short, I’m logical about my giving on United States soil.
But when I travel to developing countries, all that logic disappears. The expanded power of a dollar, combined with what seems like infinite need, creates so many situations in which no answer seems appropriate. I find myself feeling like either a deep-pocketed patsy or a skinflint.
In Palmyra, Syria, I once refused to buy a $4 T-shirt from a child hawker, prompting his outraged query: “Why are Americans so cheap?” On the other end of the spectrum, at a roadside stand in rural India, I handed a man with a trained monkey the equivalent of $10, a ridiculous amount that would support his family (and the chimp) for days. And in Accra, Ghana, I was bargaining for a mask and thought the shopkeeper would burst into tears because I had no more cedis (he accepted my final offer of every bill I had).
Each situation left me wondering: did I do the right thing? Is there a “right” way to spend, tip and give money when traveling?
The idea of “responsible tourism” has taken hold in recent years, largely in the guise of eco-travel, in which environmental factors become central. But one stumbles into many other ethical issues when traveling. One of the most unavoidable — especially when in the developing world — is how to help. Some groups are making this easier, notes Martha Honey, executive director of the Center for Responsible Travel in Washington. Many tour operators and hotels help travelers work with charities that improve life in local communities, connecting them with orphanages, farms or schools.
Other companies focus more on education and raising funds. Lindblad Expeditions, for example, which operates cruises to eco-sensitive destinations, has raised over $6.3 million for environmental partners like Galápagos National Park by soliciting passengers during trips (and offering credits for future travel). And a British nonprofit, TravelPledge.org, allows users to donate money to nonprofit organizations in the areas they have visited.
But what if you travel on your own? Are there ways to make your spending matter? How much should we tip the bellhop? How aggressively to bargain? When to give to panhandlers?
Repeatedly confounded by these questions, my wife, Joan, and I started to compile an informal rule book for what we call “econ-travel.” Rules are breakable, of course — and many of these have been — but by having them, I find myself less caught up in the decision-by-decision anguish of what to do.
1. Fix a daily or weekly budget. You may not be able to avoid feeling like a patsy or a skinflint, but a budget of how much to spend, tip or give will create a structure for your own sanity. The goal is to walk that tricky line between helping and having every encounter turn into a negotiation. You’ll never make everyone happy, but at least you’ll have a framework.
2. Overbuy gifts for yourself and others. This is our favorite method of economic development. It helps fuel employment (the most dignified form of money transfer) and it has the residual benefit of having something to bring back home. On a trip to India, we bought a gorgeous hand-woven rug in Jaipur, a piece that we were told took more than four months to make. As our guide, Ashok Verma, later told me in Varanasi, India: “Crafts are the best thing to buy; they have people’s dreams woven into them.”
3. Don’t bargain down price, bargain up quantity. Joan wanted to buy a set of colored stamps with bindi (Indian forehead dots) for her students (she teaches seventh grade). One hundred rupees, the vendor said. No, too expensive, she replied, following cultural norms of bargaining. The negotiation was on. Finally, Joan bought three sets for that same 100 rupees (about $2). The man got his price, she got more stamps. Ms. Honey urges travelers to stop bargaining before they are the only winner. “Let people earn a real wage,” she cautions.
4. Try to be more than a consumer. Local citizens “may be economically poor but they are often culturally rich,” says Harold Goodwin, professor of Responsible Tourism Management at Leeds Metropolitan University in England. So, engage in their culture by getting off the large bus and taking an interest in how they make their living. It’s O.K. to take photos of individuals who capture your interest — but only if you ask first and pay if requested, he adds. The rule is simple, Mr. Goodwin says: “Treat them as you would like to be treated.”
5. Let others earn a living by helping. In American airports and hotels I never get help with my luggage; wheeled bags roll, don’t they? But overseas, I’ve learned to relax and let someone else carry my suitcase. It’s a rational way for local residents to feed their families, and certain people have turned luggage-carrying into an art: when we were leaving the Varanasi train station, a man offered to carry our bags, then stacked both my and Joan’s roller suitcases on his head for our 200-yard walk.
6. Don’t give to panhandlers. Handouts send a multitude of wrong messages about dependency and the value of work. Plus, handouts encourage more begging, often by children (an awful alternative to school). Long-term change never starts with a quarter or even $10 stuck into someone else’s palm. Still, even Ms. Honey concedes she breaks down sometimes. “I tend to give to women and children because they are the most vulnerable.”
7. Instead, buy stuff on the street. The hawker’s life is a tough one, always a fight against weather, traffic and crime. So if you want to help, buy more than you usually might. Granted, I acted counter to this by not buying that T-shirt from the boy in Palmyra, but, as I think about it now, what would it have harmed if I had? Since then, I’ve purchased boiled eggs, bagged water, toys, even a novel. (I politely said no on the kitchen strainer.) Why not bolster that small-business spirit?
8. Sample local food. Tourists in the developing world often eat at a limited number of hotels or restaurants deemed safe by guidebooks. There’s logic to that, especially where food-borne illness is concerned. But you’d be missing out on part of the reason you travel in the first place.
“Buy food and beverages from local producers, taste the locally produced foods and enjoy this as part of your holiday experience,” Mr. Goodwin says. For instance, you haven’t really tasted a banana if you’ve never had one grown for immediate consumption (compared with ones modified for export and sold blemish-free in United States supermarkets). Peels help keep the fruit safe, as does boiling in the case of a cup of local tea. The winners are the farmers, who often are at the bottom of the economic pyramid.
Kevin Salwen and his daughter, Hannah, are the authors of “The Power of Half: One Family’s Decision to Stop Taking and Start Giving Back.”
Going to Japan? Here are some Japanese phrases to memorize on the plane.
Some of these Japanese phrases are practical. Some of them are funny. All 10 will greatly enhance your trip to Japan.
All of the phrases are pretty informal, especially the one about crapping your pants.
Note that I spell the phrases phonetically in the bold text, but spell them with the most common romanization of the Japanese characters when explaining a point.
Confused already? Don’t worry about it.
1. “Yo-ro-sh-ku o-neh-gai-shi-mus.”
This phrase is absolute magic. Say “yoroshiku” to any Japanese person in any situation and they will help you with anything and everything you need. It’s impossible to translate literally, but means something to the effect of “please do your best and treat me well”.
If you memorize nothing else before going to Japan, remember “yoroshiku” and you’re totally set. “Onegaishimasu” is a common word that means something similar to “please”.
2. “Yosh. Gahn-bah-di-mus.”
This phrase means something like, “OK, I’m going for it,” or “I’ll do my best”. A Japanese would say “Ganbarimasu” before taking a test, or leaving the house for a job interview.
Japanese people will crack up if you say it before walking outside, eating noodles or using a vending machine. Try saying it before using useful phrase # 8.
3. “Ara! Onara suru tsu-mori datta keh-do, un-chi ga de-chatta.”
The literal translation of this useful phrase is “Oops! I meant to fart but poop came out”.
Saying this useful phrase never gets old, especially in public places, especially on a first date and most especially if it’s clearly one of only 10 Japanese phrases that you’ve memorized.
When in Southeast Asia, I especially enjoy muttering in Japanese about crapping my pants while walking past Japanese tourists. The reactions are priceless.
4. “Mo da-meh. Yoh-para-chatta. Go-men.”
At some point during your stay, Japanese people will probably try to make you drink past your limit. That’s when this phrase comes in handy. It means something like, “No more, I’m already drunk, sorry.”
5. “Ko-ko wa do-ko? Wa-ta-shi wa da-reh?” Na-ni mo wah-kah-nai.”
Where is this? Who am I? I don’t understand anything.
This is what you say after failing to use useful phrase # 4 in time.
6. “Ee-show ni kah-rah-o-keh ni ee-koh ka?”
Shall we go to karaoke together? This is a good line to use if trying to pick someone up from the bar. Think of karaoke as a transition point between the bar and the love hotel.
Note – please don’t pronounce karaoke with lots of EEE sounds. It should sound like “kah-rah-o-keh” not “carry-oh-key”.
7. “Hon-toe ni oh-ee-shee des yo!”
Use this one when eating. It means something like, “For real, it’s delicious!”
Hontou ni means “for real” or “really” or “I’m not kidding.” Japanese people are always telling sweet little white lies, so dropping a “hontou ni” from time to time is very much appreciated.
8. “Ah-nah-tah wa ha-ruh no ee-chee ban no sah-ku-rah yo-ree u-tsu-ku-shee.”
This classic Japanese pick-up line means “You’re more beautiful than the first cherry blossom of spring.”
9. “Ni-hon dai-skee”.
Japan is the best. I love Japan. When in doubt, just smile, nod and repeat.
10. “Koh-nah ni kee-ray na to-ko-ro wa hah-jee-meh-teh mee-tah!”
Japanese people love it when you gush about their country. This phrase means, “I’ve never seen a place so beautiful before”.
Bust it out at famous attractions and you’ll meet with instant approval.
January 18th,2011
Japan2011 |
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