Traveling India in the monsoon

There are always advantages to every travel situation in life, and this is never more true than when you are planning a trip to India.

Never forget that this vast country is, geographically, a sub-continent.  From the snowy peaks of the Himalayas in the north, through the deserts to the west, down to the steamy heat of the south, there is a huge range of climatic zones.  So whenever you plan your journey, there will always be the weather factor to be considered.  Given the size of the country, there is no single ‘ideal’ time to visit India.

For example, if you wish to travel to Ladakh, high up in Kashmir, you can only do so during the hot summer months, when the snow melts in the passes, and the road and airport become, once again, accessible.

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Inside Kashmir: Snow scenes at Gulmarg

The little Indian Kashmiri town of Gulmarg is in a class of its own in the prettiness and quaintness stakes.

Nestled at 9,000 feet, accessible only by a switchback bumpy road up from the plains that takes you through miles of pine forest, you arrive in Gulmarg and enter a different world all together.

“Marg” in Hindi means meadow, and “Gul” means flower, and that is exactly what Gulmarg is – a vast circular meadow full of flowers, around which the town has grown.In the meadow horses graze amidst fields of lupins and daisies, looking too ridiculously picturesque for words.

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How to order noodle soup in Thailand

I’m not ashamed to admit it. The first few times that I tried to order a bowl of kuay tiaw (noodle soup) in Thailand, I failed miserably. It’s not that I didn’t end up with a bowl of noodles. I just didn’t have the answers for all of the questions the vendor asked me. Who knew there were so many variables at play?

While it’s certainly not rocket science, your first trip to the local kuay tiaw stand can be intimating. So before you take your first plunge into Thailand’s favorite late-night snack, take a moment to review the formula. While the order of your selection doesn’t really make a difference, the following ingredients are listed in the order that most people choose them.

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London Weekenders: Olympic Escapes

So, you are already in London or planning to be there later this summer ?

There will be one thing and one thing only on everybody’s minds, of course: the 2012 Olympics. But just suppose you want to do a spot of sightseeing before and after your London visit? Or if you feel like escaping Olympic mania for a few days?

England in the summer is idyllic – pretty villages, gardens in full bloom, lush green countryside, plus it stays light until very late at night, so there is no excuse for not exploring the countryside and the historic cities that all lie within a comfortable radius of London.

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agoda Insider: India for foodies

To describe Indian food as ‘curries’ is as sweeping and uninformative as, say, describing Chinese food as ‘noodles’ and Italian food as ‘pasta’.

Yes, of course, curries are an integral part of Indian food, but there is so, so much more than just that. 

First and foremost, what exactly is a curry?

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The Blue Mountains: Australia’s most famous sisters

A short drive from Sydney’s outer metro area are the Blue Mountains: an undulous range of sandstone escarpments, gorges, rivers, rock formations and waterfalls, all covered by a thick carpet of eucalypt-scented Aussie scrub. From the best vantage points in the area, these mountains seem to stretch on forever.

Part of the Great Dividing Range – the world’s third-longest mountain range, and a thing of great national  pride and beauty – the Blue Mountains get their name from the purpleish hue of the eucalyptus trees, as noted by the area’s early colonial explorers: Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson.

How this trio managed to navigate such unforgiving terrain – they were the first colonists to cross the range – is inconceivable. This serene yet treacherous area, like much of the Australian bush and outback – still regularly takes the lives of visitors through falling, drowning, starvation, and overexposure.

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Insider View: Majestic Marseilles

Marseilles, the iconic port city on the French Mediterranean coast, can truly be described by that overworked cliché, ‘a melting pot’.  Ever since the Phoenicians sailed in to the city’s wonderful natural harbor in 600 BC, generations of travelers from all over the world have been drawn to the city.  Greeks, Romans, and Arabs from North Africa were all drawn to the city over the centuries.

Blessed with a natural harbor, sheltered by a scattering of offshore islands out to sea and with ranges of mountains behind, and bathed in a warm sunny climate, it is hardly surprising that generations of travelers over the last 2500 years chose to settle here, all adding their little contribution to the cultural melting pot that the city is today.

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Focus on London 2012: Shad Thames

London’s iconic Tower Bridge has been much in the news lately. Tower Bridge marked the final dramatic moments in the rain-soaked Diamond Jubilee pageant in early June, which celebrated Queen Elizabeth’s 60 years on the throne. 

The panorama from Tower Bridge looking back up the River Thames towards Westminster is, for want of a better word, breathtaking. Cutting-edge new architecture like the GLA building (known rather irreverently to everyone as The Egg) and the Shard, the tallest building in Europe, with the contrasting Tower of London and historic ships, all combine to make a true fusion cityscape. The river is constantly busy, with water taxis, pleasure boats, booze cruises and even working barges.

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The delights of Sri Lanka

For a small country, Sri Lanka has so much to offer, from game drives in the national parks to world-class surfing beaches, from ancient Buddhist sites to misty tea plantations.

Most visitors arrive by air in Colombo, so after a day or so settling in and perhaps sleeping off jet-lag, it is time to explore a charming, friendly, picturesque country.  The choice of where and what to see is, naturally, very personal. Some visitors may well opt to lie on a beach for their entire stay, which is fair enough, but a bit of a crying shame, when there is so much waiting to be explored.

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Top tips for traveling in the tropics: India

In a perfect world we would all travel when the weather was horrid back home and fabulous in our destination.

That weather would always be temperate and a little sunny, but not too much, and not too rainy.  As a result, we wouldn’t need to schlepp woollies and umbrellas around the globe.

However, as it stands, we all need to travel regardless of weather, and so for travelers heading towards India at this time of the year, there are basic precautions to take against the heat.

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