Intrepid has a legacy of bringing travellers to some of the world’s most intriguing regions and with this in mind we are very excited to recommence trips in Burma. Before opting to return it was important that we could ensure as much money as possible would go directly into the pockets of the locals and fortunately Intrepid’s grassroots trip style lends itself to targeting where tourist dollars are spent. A great deal of research has gone into planning our first Burma trip since 2003 and Intrepid’s Cathy Walken was amongst our advance party…
“Going to Burma was a tough decision. I’d been putting-off travelling here until it was considered more appropriate to do so. Recent changes in the country have meant that there’s been some ‘relaxing’ of the attitude about travelling to Burma and I’m pleased, as it was such a delight to travel here. Though there were too many highlights to mention, I wanted to share some of them here…
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Staycations, babymoons, mancations. It seems a holiday just can’t be a holiday these days without jargon tagging along as a travelling companion! In defiance of the trend to er… create travel trends, Intrepid Travel has released a list of travel trends that we hope don’t enter the urban dictionary in 2012.
A vacation is awesome just by virtue of being time spent relaxing, exploring new sites and cultures and spending time with friends. No matter what you do, we don’t think it needs to be dressed up with a fancy name…
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Ever wondered firstly how you can explore Vancouver Island on a budget and secondly, do Canadian’s really play curling? Diana McDermott answered these questions and more on her day trip to Victoria, the beautiful capital of British Columbia…
“Arriving into the picturesque harbour, my boyfriend and I set off on foot to the Empress Hotel for the traditional scones and tea. Our $20 budget was not that of my parents’ when I had been there as a child some ten years earlier, so we enjoyed the scaled-down version in the downstairs cafeteria. We then visited the Royal BC Museum, where a replica of a frontier mining town was complete with a bakery wafting clove-scented smells.
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When Intrepid’s Graham Stanley gets to spend some extra time in Beijing, the first thing he loves to do is get on a bike and discover new corners of the city…
“Bicycles are generally available for hire from most hotels, but if not there are a few bike hire places around town. Or if you have any local friends they’ll be glad to loan you their bicycle. Needless to say – there are a lot of bicycles in Beijing. Some of my best adventures in the city have been while slightly lost on a bike.
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What can you get for $10 these days? In most cities the answer would be “not much!” But Shelley Seale made it her challenge to spend less than this during a whole day in Bangkok…
“If you’re traveling on a budget, South East Asia is a great place to do it. Once you get here, it’s easy to keep the cost of living very low, and have an amazing time on just a few bucks. Take your pick from our recommendations to build your itinerary for a great day in Bangkok, for less than $10 – and easily around $5:
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Who better to ask about packing tips than our Intrepid team? We’ve travelled extensively over the years and managed to refine our packing into a precision operation that saves time and space and most importantly, the weight of our backpacks…
1) Buy a waterproof toiletry bag that has a hook, so that all you have to do is take the whole bag to the bathroom and hang it on the door or the shower rail. The temptation is often to buy a pretty bag with lots of seemingly useful pockets and zips, but over time these become impractical, they break, are fiddly to get at items and they don’t fit everything.
2) Buy shampoos and other creams with a screw-top lid – instead of a flip-top or pumps. This will save you hours of cleaning up leaking bottles and you can re-fill the same screw-top bottles for years.
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A trip to Rome wouldn’t be complete without visiting the Colosseum, and around 20,000 people a day agree! This week the exciting, yet somewhat controversial, news from this ancient amphitheatre is that in an effort to relieve crowding, visitors are now able venture into the bowels of the Colosseum. For the first time guided tours can enter the dark tunnels where the gladiators prepared to do battle, walk on the Roman bricks that still line the floors of the dungeons and see the remains of a sophisticated sewerage system.
To help you explore the Colosseum and more of Rome’s incredible ruins, Intrepid’s Chotie Moloney has put together a little walking tour that stretches your imagination as well as your legs…
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Strategically located with a view over the city below, the Alhambra is a highlight of any visit to Spain, but as Intrepid’s Christophe Rooseboom explains, there is even more to explore in Granada…
“Created originally as a fortress, palace and small city, there’s no doubt the Alhambra is the place to visit. Many enjoyable hours can be spent exploring the palace complex, with its distinctive architecture and beautiful central gardens known as the Generalife. Locals refer more commonly to the Alhambra as the Red Fortress. Funnily the complex isn’t red, but one explanation for the name is because it lies at the end of the Sierra Nevada, the mountain range which contains a lot of iron.
In my opinion, while a visit to the Alhambra is a must, more interesting is to walk around in El Albaicin.
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A great way to get to know a place and its people is having a local show you the best bars. Recently we asked Intrepid Express readers to tell us their favourite place for a beer, so our thirsty travellers have done the leg work for you and now all you need do is sit back and enjoy a cold ale or two…
Spain: “One of the most vibrant and interesting bars I have been to was one we stumbled upon in Granada, Spain: Bodegas de Castenada. Stood at the bar, often four deep, we thought it was going to take a while to get served. And then from behind us orders were being shouted over our heads. We realised the only way to get served was to lose our English reserve and do as the locals do, by shouting our order at the bar man: dos calicasas por favour!
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