Ultimate Vacation Spots

posted by Travel Cat on Jun 30

Nothing quite beats a vacation with a historical twist!

History is what makes places what they are today – so why not explore one that still oozes with that same historical feel as it may have had centuries before.

Looking at a historic castle, exploring an important but empty building or looking around a museum is sometimes the closest we get to the past – we have to imagine the rest for ourselves.

But you don’t need to imagine anything if you find yourself wandering through a frantic bazaar to the smell of frankinscence or watching exquisite rug makers entwining bright silk fabrics into traditional designs.

Welcome to the Silk Road!

photo credit: schmuela

The Silk Road was often thought to be just one well-used path through the mountains and deserts of central Asia – however, it is more interesting than that.

Both northern and southern routes from China to Europe exist along this huge area – with a myriad of other smaller or seasonally used routes, tracks and paths through many countries in the region. All of them were linking up historic cities along the way like Kashgar, Turpan, Damascus and Samarkland – places much in demand even today.

And it wasn’t only Silk which was transported either – satin , spices, medicine, gems, furs, slaves and porcelain were all carried along these routes for over 2000 years!

It was a hugely important and very well organised trade route and could carry virtually anything – unfortunately one of those things was the bubonic plague!

How come I know so much about it? I asked the experts.

Use Local Knowledge:
Rather than try to research everything myself from scratch, I just opened up a great website full of resources, facts and stories all about these routes.

They have experts who are from the region of Uzbekistan, and know the place inside out. They know the buildings, the culture, the history and the language – and so can offer some of the best tours and vacations in the area.

All this information is presented simply on their very informative website, filled with facts, great images and great vacations too.

Whether you want a quick whistle-stop tour of historic sites, or want a slower-paced adventure around the historic, religious and cultural sites – it’s all here!

Central Asia travel just got a whole lot easier!

photo credit: xoque

posted by Travel Cat on May 17

Indiana Jones went there – and so did Sinbad; so why not you?

This city is like no other city in the world! There are many great Italian cities, Greek Cities, monumental buildings and other abandoned cities across the globe – but Petra is something else entirely!

Petra literally means ‘rock’ and that is so apt for this city which is carved into the bedrock of the cliffs. Rather than cut the cliff in pieces and make ‘bricks’ to build a city elsewhere, they just hacked away at the cliff faces to make their homes and buildings right there in the rock!

Some of them have very elaborate fronts and others were very simple dwellings, right in the crevices of this gully between higher land – for added protection from the weather and marauding horsemen. Well you couldn’t see the city unless you walked right past it!

photo credit: guillenperez

The City Of Petra:
Known to be in existance in an early form around 1550BC – this city has grown and changed along with the Rulers that came and went in this area of the World – I mean it is even thought that Moses passed through here during Exodus!

The Greeks, Syrians, Egyptians and the Romans all came and went – leaving their mark somewhere in it’s very essence. But it was the very Earth itself which ruined the city – after an earthquake.

The city was at a great way-mark along some of the better trade routes – and its ability to catch fresh water from flash floods made it sustainable – but the earthquake broke the channels, dams and storage areas – making the city what it really is – a desert!

Places To See:
Well, after the long journey there – you had better plan your route – otherwise you could end up missing out on some of the buildings.

I know it would be lovely to just wander about aimlessly seeing where you found next – but there is so much to see that you don’t really want to waste time if you are only visiting for the day.

And sometimes that is all you leave time for as you think it is quite small – yet there are over 50 buildings, temples, theatres and monuments to see – and explore!

And if you want to learn more while you are there – you need to factor in the all the reading you will be doing in the visitor centre and guide books!

Other Facts:
The site has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985 and is working towards becoming more sustainable as a tourist destination.

In 2006, it had just under 60,000 visitors in just 2 months (!) but since then local organisations have been trying to reduce the numbers visiting at one time to reduce the pressure on the site of 12,000 feet walking all over it in such a short time! And you won’t be able to see much with all those other people in the way anyway!

Within the site there are also 2 full musuems showing finds from the site and recreating a lot of the scenes from times gone by. Well worth popping in to as well – for a thorough overview of the site.

And, once inside you can hire a camel to walk you around the massive site so you can get from one side to the other in style – well, as much style as a grumpy and wonky camel can offer!

photo credit: happyjed1

The Rose-Red City is one of the New Wonders of the World.

posted by Travel Cat on Apr 27

There is nothing more worrying than finding an injured person – and you can’t help!

Would you know what to do if you came across an unconscious person? Or if one of your party suffered a serious injury? What if a colleague started having an asthma attack – what would you do?

If you see someone close by on the ground unconscious, is it best to go and call the emergency services straight away? Don’t know the answer or said ‘yes’ – then you could have just made the situation worse!

Being the outdoor type – and the adventurous person who likes meeting others and taking part in organised activities – why haven’t you taken a first aid course yet? Wouldn’t you like to know what to do?

photo credit: North West Air Ambulance

First Aid At Work:
Most people wait to be told to take one for work or as part of a new job or volunteering opportunity – but why wait until then?

Do you not want to be able to help your friends and family in an emergency? Do you only want to know how to save the lives of other members of staff or complete strangers who pop into your shop for 5 seconds?

Why don’t we take a first aid course because we know it will save lives rather than because someone else has offered to arrange it all or it is free!

Your Choice:
You can take a first aid course when you are still at school these days – so why are you now in your 20′s, 30′s, 40′s or 50′s and have no idea what to do?

And even if you did learn something at school – it might not apply anymore. Medical advances and the success of current techniques can change how we should react to emergency situations – so it is a great idea to take a refresher at least every 6 months to make sure your knowledge is best applied.

Anyone can join a first aid course – but make sure that it is run by an accreddited body like the Red Cross or St Johns Ambulance. They may cost more – but you know that you will be learning the correct techniques rather than someone just running their own course from personal experience.

I mean, tipping the head back for nosebleeds, laying on your back with feet raised for fainting and putting creams on burns are all out of date techniques and are not recommended anymore.

Things are always changing for the better – so make sure that you are up-to-date with your skills – as 1 thing will never change:

Emergency First Aid Saves Lives!

posted by Travel Cat on Apr 9

Would you take a holiday in a jungle that was the scene of a Hollywood thriller?

There are plenty of horror and thriller movies that take place in a named location – but would it put you off visiting? Even if it’s only for this years vacation – would you postpone it for whatever reason – or just go ahead and look at the movie set instead?

Many places like New York, Paris and London have been in such films and we don’t mind going there for a look see – but alone in the jungle or down in a cave – or maybe staying in an abandoned cabin?

Would you be so sure?

Some Films To Scare You:
A classic travellers nightmare was brought to life in the film Paradise Lost (with Josh Duhamel) where a group of random travellers happen to be on the same bus in Brazil that breaks down in a remote location and the replacement will take hours. They see a party on the beach and end up getting drugged and hacked to pieces!

Fancy a trip to Brazil on your own?

Or how about a trip to Slovakia to stay at youth hostel there? Maybe with a group of friends, you could go to a local club with some total strangers you just met and see what happens!

Stay Out Of The Water?
Many people are still too scared to go in the sea after the wonderful Jaws series of films – even though they are now looked on a quite ‘silly’ films. I don’t think they are worried about a giant human-hungry shark – just the fact that it is just a reinforcement of a natural fear.

The same way that Jaws made people stay out of the sea of go to ‘safe’ beaches; ‘helpless tourist’ films can put people off travelling to more remote places and all congregate around the all-inclusive hotels and resorts.

Plane crash movies haven’t ever put me off flying – and I fly quite a bit – however I would never ever jump off the side of a boat and swim in the open ocean. What if I was eaten alive?

photo credit: Loren Javier

But then I haven’t seen a horror film where someone evil (and human) is lurking in a cave waiting to catch people – but I certainly wouldn’t be going underground either!

Why Do We Feel Safe?
However, saying that, I woud be happy to have a tour of a house, castle or wherever in a big city or close to one at least without a care in the world – even though there are more things to be scared of in the city than in the middle of nowhere!

So, back to the question of whether a scary film would put you off going somewhere?

My answer is a big fat ‘Yes’. Unless I was already all booked up to go and would lose a lot of money by NOT going, then I would change plans for the time being and head off somewhere else instead!

There is no way I would be heading off to a remote jungle or island location just after watching a film about dodgy goings on there.

It would just be too risky in the sense of the imaginary headlines afterwards ‘couple go missing on Island X after watching scary Island X film about couple going missing’! or ‘Girl eaten alive by shark in the bay where Jaws was filmed’!

What do you think?
Is it just me being silly – or do a few of you feel the same way??

posted by Travel Cat on Apr 3

If you want to feel like the only 2 people walking around Venice – just go there!

Now this doesn’t mean that Venice is devoid of other people and that you won’t see another soul there – quite the opposite infact – but what I mean is that you will feel asthough only you two are there.

When I went there, I found that everyone else seemed to just be getting on with things in the background – almost like they were setting it up for my trip! I was so distracted by all great buildings, all the passageways, the canals and the shop-fronts packed with delightful masks and glassware.

Nothing else mattered as we whirled our way around the city – there were no queues for anything except the coffee, there was almost no unnatural noise – so our wanderings were not interrupted by anything!

Maybe it seemed like it was just us there becasue there was so much to see and do – and to admire – that we just didn’t have time to see everyone else who was there? I’ll never know.

I just remember Venice as the place where there was just the 2 of us!

photo credit: anja_johnson

The Season:
We went in October, which some said might have high tides (which would bring in the sewage!), but it didn’t and it was perfect. The high tides meant that the canals were always topped up and you didn’t have to climb down into any of the boats we used for transport.

And the weather held up for up too – it wasn’t cold enough for bulky coats and we didn’t have to worry about suncream either – just like being at home!

The Hotel:
We chose to stay on The Lido which is a large island just to the side of the main island. This meant that our room had views of the whole of Venice itself with the tower of St Marks and the entrance to the Grand Canal within sight – which at night was something special!

There are plenty of hotels within the City itself where you could step out of you door and be right in the action – but we found that the action of catching a boat to and from the island made it more fun – and we couldn’t hear the hustle and bustle of the morning rush hour from our room either!

The Streets:
All I think about when I look back at my time in Venice is how we managed to get lost!

Now I don’t just mean scratching our heads at a dead end – I mean we managed to keep walking down all these different paths and streets and then ending up back at the same place – like a bad sci fi movie!

Now this shouldn’t be possible we thought as we tried a different route rather hurriedly as dusk approached – past that old church again and down the side of that canal – but then after a few more turns and past a glass shop – we found ourselves back at the same place!

I still don’t know how even to this day how we managed it – as the second day there, we were fine and didn’t get lost once!

The Food:
I won’t spend to long on this obvious section – as we were in Italy after all!

However I will say that the hot chocolate in my hotel (Hotel Panarama) was the best I have ever tasted, and all the restaurants wherever we ate were perfect – without fault on service, location or taste!

I would re-visit Venice without hesitation.

photo credit: winkyintheuk