Jan van Djik looks weather beaten. It looks as if he spent a good part of his 67 years strolling on Calangute beach. The Dutchman has been following a 20-year ritual of visiting Goa twice a year. Except that over the last few years, he has been spending less and less time there. “Doing a lot of travel in other parts, especially in the North… Benares.”
It was travellers like Djik who made Goa the destination that it is. Tourists from sun-starved European countries escaped to Goa to avoid the brutal winter. Sipping beer, smoking marijuana or just playing a game of beach cricket, they bankrolled Goa’s tourism economy. The hotels, beach shacks, restaurants, two-wheeler hire guys, all made money.
Sydney: Vancouver has again topped a list of the top 10 most liveable cities in the world, giving the Canadian west coast city an extra boost as it opens the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the annual survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Vancouver scored 98 percent on a combination of stability, health care, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure -- a score unchanged from last year.
Walking through the Sultanahmet area on an autumn morning, I am accosted by many men offering their services, from proposing to act as unauthorised guide inside the Topkapi Palace to taking me to the cheapest and best place for carpets. Most of them go away when ignored. I don’t think they expect to be taken seriously; it just seems to be one of the things Turkish men do to pass time during the long off-season days.
There is something about Turkish men. And it is not just now. Look at the Topkapi Palace, built in the mid 15th century. The star attraction is the Harem Tour. An entire area devoted to the Sultan’s private proclivities, his wives and concubines and their affairs; that is where I head first. At the entrance to the Harem, the tour guide is saying something in French, his group is in splits at what must have been an obviously lewd reference to the activities within the Harem. Or so I imagine, mentally composing harem jokes as I walk in.
Canberra: Travellers yearning to explore prehistoric Stonehenge or Machu Piccu's Inca ruins better start packing, as both are on a list of endangered destinations, according to a British travel magazine.
Wanderlust Magazine's website second annual "Threatened Wonders List" has identified eight top travel picks that have been over-exploited.
Sydney: After a frenzy of family activities over the holidays, peace and solitude is a dream for many people.
Upscale travel website Jetsetter (http://www.jetsetter.com) has come up with a list of the world's top 10 islands off the beaten track. This list is not endorsed by Reuters:
Singapore: Fancy a cuppa? From highbrow salons to highland plantations, Lonely Planet lists the world's best places to have a cup of tea in its "1000 Ultimate Experiences" guide. This list is not endorsed by Reuters.
Singapore: Looking to tread terrain still untouched by foreign stag expeditions? Want to unwind in luxury or drink up the sun? Lonely Planet lists the world's top 10 party cities in its new guide, the 1000 Ultimate Experiences. This list is not endorsed by Reuters.
1. Belgrade, Serbia
There is finally some good news for tourism in India. Global cruise liners are forming a beeline for the Cochin port. The tourism industry in God's Own Country hopes to revive in the coming months.
Sydney: In a growing campaign to refer to November as Movember, men around the world are being encouraged to grow a moustache for 30 days to raise awareness and funds for prostate and testicular cancer.
Men's website AskMen.com has come up with its list of the 10 most moustache-dense countries to mark the fund-raising campaign that is believed to have started in Australia in 1999.
Singapore: Next year, it may be worth a visit to El Salvador, Lake Baikal or Cork, with these destinations featuring in a new Lonely Planet travel guide for the top places to go to in 2010.
The Best in Travel 2010, released on Monday, is the travel company's fifth in its annual collection of the best places to go and best things to do in the year ahead.
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