What to Do In Dubai

Cities Look on the map! Is it Las Vegas? Is it New York City? Is it Miami? No, it is Dubai, the city that is experiencing the biggest construction boom of any city in the world. The most lavish and progressive emirate of the UAE obviously is thinking big, as everything raised here is the largest, the grandest or the most luxurious ever. Dubai currently boasts having the largest shopping mall, the largest manmade island and marina, and the tallest five-star resort hotel in the world. Building marinas and islands on deserts is a majestic feat that is a phenomenal accomplishment.

Since this enclave may one day soon be the most luxurious destination on the planet, we thought a little intelligence on lodgings, fine dining, and things to do would be appropriate.

Luxury Hotels in Dubai

Crowne Plaza Dubai is, that is, at least for now, Dubais most centrally located five-star hotel. It is on Sheikh Zayed Road and directly opposite the World Trade Centre, the International Convention Centre, and the Emirates Towers. Dubai International Airport is a 15-minute drive from the hotel, and a short distance from the Media City, the Internet City and the Knowledge Village. The hotel is part of the InterContinental Hotel Group. The Montgomerie, Dubai, features a championship golf course, a full service spa by Angsana Spa, an array of fine-dining options, and great proximity to daytime and nighttime fun activities. The Jumeirah Beach Hotel, which was built to resemble a breaking wave surging through the blue frothy waters, has its own private beach on the shoreline of the Arabian Gulf. The visually and physically exhilarating Wild Wadi Water Park also is on the premises. Jumeriahs striking architectural imagery is on display twice in Dubai with the Burj Al Arab. The billowing sail-shaped hotel was named the best hotel in the world by the Institutional Investor Magazine and the 2007 World Travel Awards.

Best Restaurants in Dubai

Century Village is a modern-day food village with an array of fine dining restaurants located in a central courtyard with fountains, rocks, benches and greenery. Restaurants include menus and influences of Portugal, Italy, Persia, India, the Mediterranean, Japan, France, Britain, and Arabia. The Yakitori House, which is located in the Ascot Hotel, is regarded as one of the best Japanese-themed restaurants of Dubai. The decorum and the menu share the same level of excellence. Ashas offers contemporary cuisine of India. The opulently designed complex puts patrons in an Old World ambiance in the middle of some of the most futuristic manmade environments ever raised.
To Do in Dubai

The entire city is a tribute to visionary architecture and ingenuity. There is the World Trade Centre, the Wild Wadi Water Park, and the Mall of the Emirates. The Mall of Emiates is the largest shopping center in the Middle East with approximately 6.5 million square feet of shopping space. It is so large that there is an indoor ski slope, Ski Dubai, inside the mall. The mall is a shoppers haven with more than 450 upscale stores and boutiques, such as Dolce & Gabbana, Ermenegildo Zegna, Hugo Boss, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Company, and many more. Dubai has several major malls. It is one of the largest importers of luxury goods. The majority of nightlife occurs at the major resorts that offer fine dining and nightclubs. There are numerous manmade parks to enjoy.

When completed the Dubai Marina will be the largest manmade marina in the world. It is a city within a city. There are skyscrapers and moors for megayachts. The marina will have more than 200 high-rise buildings around it. Charter a motor or a sailing yacht with the Bristol Middle East Yacht Solution.

Dubai has many outdoor attractions. There are championship golf courses, spas, water sports, and desert adventures. Sporting events in Dubai include the world's richest horserace at the Dubai World Cup at Nad Al-Sheba; the Dubai Desert Classic Golf Tournament, the Dubai Tennis Championships, Rugby Sevens, the Emirates Grand Prix power-boating; the UAE Desert Challenge, and camel racing.

Author: Phoenix Delray

Travel Deals to India

by: Mandy Chagger


So you want to visit India? Well, good choice: you'll need to access cheap flight India opportunities. Wild tigers, Buddhist Monasteries, the Lotus Temple and the Taj Mahal ' India is a country rich in beauty, culture, color, and sound. The problem, of course, is getting there ' and finding travel tips to India can be done with just a little thought and preparation.

As always when looking for cheap flight India offers, there are a few things to keep in mind. The biggest key to getting discounted airfare is flexibility: off-season, weekday, or after-hours flights will always be cheaper than a Friday afternoon 4:00 flight to Paris. Enter multiple dates when searching for tickets; Monday and Wednesday may be the same to you, but have a hundred-dollar difference to the airline carrier. Flying right around holidays can be difficult, but flying on a holiday ' such as Thanksgiving ' can be a major steal, since the day itself is a slow one for airlines. Being flexible with your route ' for example, stopovers in Bangkok or Taipei ' may also save you money; instead of looking at it as an extra long flight, see it as an opportunity to experience even more places!

Another tactic for saving money and finding a cheap flight India offer is flying in to a major city in India even if it's not where you're ultimately trying to go. Big airports in Bengal or Calcutta will cost a lot less than a private charter plane to Mynokaleesh, and public transport ' such as train, taxi, or jeep ' is relatively cheap. With this method, of course, you have the added benefit of seeing even more of the country ' something no smart traveler would say no to.

India is a fascinating and vibrant country, with a huge span of culture and diversity. Start in the south, perhaps in Calcutta, and make sure you take a guided tour into the heart of the lush jungles. One of the last places where wild tigers, wolves, and elephants still exist, these vine-entangled forests set the scene for Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book, an author well worth reading if you are going to his beloved country.

From the south you will want to work up ' and the north is as different from the south as the east is from the west, so much different. Where on one end you find tropical flowers and exotic spices, on the other you are immersed in towering mountains, Himalayan peaks and steaming cups of fresh-picked Darjeeling Tea. The tea, of course, is a facet in itself of Indian culture; everywhere you go vendors selling hot pots of creamy chai will meet you.

India is chosen as a destination by thousands every year, coming for reasons as varied and complex as the country itself. Student backpackers flock to the country for the rich, delicious and inexpensive food, as well as cheap lodging and amazing sights. Older tourists may come for the history, beauty, and architecture, admiring the stunning expanse of the Taj Mahal and Indian Palaces, while others may come for spiritual reasons, giving honour to the ancient traditions of Buddhism and Hinduism that have made India a Mecca for many spiritual seekers. Hikers and Bikers also come, eager to tackle those royal peaks, scaling the Himalayas and looking across to neighbouring Mount Everest.

India is a country of sharp and striking colours; destitute poverty alongside riches and wealth, dirt and grime against silk and beauty, delicious spices mingling their scents with the smell of elephant manure. Not for the weak stomach, India will explode on your palate, your vision, your ears, and your soul. As always when traveling, there are a few things to be careful of: always keep copies of your passport and important documents somewhere other than your wallet, and keep money or valuables strapped close to your body, not on a loose-strung purse or hanging from a backpack. With a few precautions, however, India is both a warm and friendly place, and one of the safest places on the continent to visit.

The food is an experience in itself ' thick breaded naan, spicy mushroom masala, lentil dal, and rich potato somalas will leave you with cravings you may never get rid of. India is unique in its cuisine, specialising of course in heavily spiced dishes fairly exploding with flavor. The exotic quality of the food mingles well with the sights and sounds ' a scitar player sings loudly as he walks down the street, the monkeys screech from the temple, pots and pans jangle noisily on the back of a water buffalo. No matter what your reasons for coming, your experience in India is bound to be more than you expected. Finding a cheap flight to India is more than a quick trip ' it is a discount ticket to a once in a lifetime adventure.


About The Author

Mandy Chagger
Travel deals to India Tel: 08700 490002 or +44 (0)1780 484824 Mon - Fri 9am - 5pm or Sat - Sun 10am - 4pm or visit http://www.jigsawconferences.co.uk/travel/india/cheap-flights-to-india.aspx or for general travel enquiries visit http://www.jigsawconferences.co.uk/travel Our staff are multilingual and very friendly with many years of experience.

UJUNG KULON NATIONAL PARK : The Last Sanctuary of the Javan Rhino

This national park, located in the extreme south-western tip of Java on the Sunda shelf, includes the Ujung Kulon peninsula, several offshore islands as well as the Krakatoa natural reserve. In addition to its natural beauty and geological interest – particularly for the study of inland volcanoes – it contains the largest remaining area of lowland rainforests in the Java plain. Several species of endangered plants and animals can be found there, the Javan rhinoceros being the most seriously under threat. Ujung Kulon National Park is the country’s premier wildlife reserve where the last fifty or so Javan rhinoceros survive. In 1992, UNESCO designated the area as a world natural heritage site.

How to Get There:
Fly to Jakarta and then drive to Serang (Banten Province) via toll road, continue to Labuan, which takes approximately 1.5 hours. From Labuan head to Taman Jaya, where the excursion into the park usually starts, in a 3.5 hours drive.

The Best Season to Visit:
April to September every year.

Contact:
Ujung Kulon National Park:
Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan No. 51,
Labuan Pandeglang 42264
Ph. (0253) 801731, Fax. (0253) 804651
E-mail: btnuk@cilegon.wasantara.net.id

Source: my-indonesia.info

Baliem Valley - Papua

Once you read or give it a deeper study to Danis way of life, dont be surprise that you may find your eye lifting or forehead wrinkling. Why? Because the Dani is uniquely amazing.

The Dani men and women sleep separately in different honai (Danis traditional house). The men sleep grouped in one honai, while the women and children slumber in another honai. As descended from their ancestor, sex is taboo for the women after giving birth, for 2 or 5 years, as the result the Dani generated healthier kids since the women focus on babysitting the kids during the most important phase of growth. This situation makes the men vulnerable to polygamy, its a true fact of life that the Dani men are allowed to have more than 1 wife or as many as he can afford. A man should give 4-5 pigs to the girls parent he wants to marry. For Dani men, his social status are initiated by the number of wives and pigs he has.

Another remarkable custom of Dani is that women will amputate their finger when their relatives die, hence doesnt be surprise when you see women with missing finger.

To enhance the quality of your experience in Baliem Valley, guide is essential since there are no clear maps or signage initiated for visitor. The guide will help to lead the track, communicate with the local people and in advance, the guide will inform the tourist about local dos and donts.

Getting There

Flying might be the only way to access the Baliem Valley through Wamena. Here are some alternatives on carrier from Jayapura to Wamena: (For further info, ask the officers at Sentani Airport Information Center).

• Trigana Air Services provide daily flights into and out of Wamena. Spot the Trigana Air Service Offices at Sentani Airport terminal and Wamena Airport terminal.
• MAF
• AMA
• Yajasi
• Manunggal Air
• Hercules carrier provide by Indonesian army (TNI)

To access Baliem Valley, you can rent car or public bus from Wamena.

Where to Stay

For those who are adventurer and cultural observer in heart, stay and mingle with the Baliem Valley people is possible, just make sure your guide booked it before your visit. Go Show? Affordable.

If the first alternative is way too extreme, you can stay at hotels at Wamena:

• Wamena Hotel at Jl. Homhom 61
• Srikandi Hotel at Jl. Irian 16
• Pondok Wisata Putri Dani at Jl. Irian 40
• Nayak Hotel at Jl. Gatot Subroto 63
• Hotel Syah Rial Makmur at Jl. Gatot Subroto 45
• Hotel Anggrek at Jalan Ambon 1
• Baliem Pilamo Hotel at Jalan Trikora
• Baliem Valley Resort (3 star resort), www.baliem-valley-resort.de

Moving Around

Would you mind if we say ON FOOT? Healthy foot and fit body? Absolutely. Through trekking, you can witness traditional ceremonies, traditional markets and the people of Dani.

Dining Guide

There is no restaurant inside the Baliem- Valley, a guide could bargain the Dani people to provide simple meals. Its stoutly advised, that the visitor bring their own meals and snack during the trekking. Meals and snacks can be found in grocery store at Wamena

Souvenir Tips

• Souvenir can be easily found on the valley and buy the crafts directly from the Dani people.
• Stone blade is a major favorite for the tourist
• Sekan: rattan bracelate
• Noken: made from trees bark
• Head and arm necklace
• Jogal: grass skirt
• And other head decorations

Other Things to See or Do

• The captivating Baliem Fiesta is held on August around 10 - 17 August every year. The festival performs traditional dances, pig races, ancestral fighting and races. Today, Baliem Fiesta is one of the main reasons why tourists visit Papua. Its a magical Fiesta says most of the tourist.
• Join the large and busy local market at Sinatma.
• Spotting mummies at Kurulu Village.

Travel Tips

• Guide is needed to explore the valley
• Dont forget to bring the copy of your Surat Keterangan Jalan
• Best time to visit is between March and August
• If you travel during the rainy season, be prepared with cold weather equipment
• Ask your guide about Dos and Donts in the Baliem Valley

Foreigner must obtain a travel permit letter or known as Surat Keterangan Jalan to get the access into the interior part of Papua. You can obtain the Surat Keterangan Jalan at main town police station such as Jayapura, Merauka, Timika, Biak, Nabire, Monokwari and other main city. The permit of lasts will depend on your request, from 1 week until 1 month or even longer. Please prepare copies of your passport, recent photograph and list of places you wish to visit. Its easy to get the Surat Keterangan Jalan, because the officers are friendly and helpful.

You can ask your travel agent to arrange the Surat Keterangan Jalan.

Further Reading:

www.papua-adventures.com