25th Southeast Asia Games, Laos 9th-18th December 2009

For the first time in its rich 50 year history, this colourful and fast-growing event will be held in Laos. The inaugural games took place in Bangkok in 1959 and constituted of 12 sports and 6 countries, today there are over 25 sporting categories and 11 participating countries. The Southeast Asia Games includes a wide variety of sports, ranging from Athletics and Tennis to Muay boxing and Petanque. Past winners of the games include Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines. 

This is a great event to witness the unity and sportsmanship of Southeast Asia whilst experiencing one of its most fascinating countries, Laos. Why not combine this sporting spectacle with our Laos Adventure for a great holiday.

The Official Mascots of the games, Ms Champee and Mr Champa, symbolize the once "kingdom of million elephants".

Vietnam: Festival of Culture

The Vietnam film festival will take place over 3 nights at the Cine Lumiere, French Institute, in South Kensington. Running from 29th-31st October, it will provide the exclusive opportunity to see some of the most exciting and celebrated films to come out of Vietnam, which include ‘The Black Forest’, ‘Don’t Burn It’ and ‘The Story of Pao’. To experience these films it is advised to book early.

 

You can experience some of the films’ locations on our Grand Tour of Vietnam or our Bonjour Vietnam Tour.

Chiang Mai Zoo 2009

World’s longest tunnel aquarium

This new aquarium has just been opened in Chiang Mai and is fast coming a major attaction. It is 133 meters long and 66.5 meters wide and houses around 8,000 aquatic animals of 250 different species, both fresh salt and fresh water species. This is a great way to experience a vast array of marine creatures and be educated about them at the same time.

New-born Panda Bear

Panda cubs are possibly the cutest animals on earth and only a handful of zoos around the world can boast having one, Chiang Mai Zoo is now one of them. On 27th May the female panda Lin Hui gave birth to her healthy baby cub.  The Panda Bears are on loan from China and they will be in Chiang Mai for the next 2 years, so to view the first panda born in Thailand you have to act soon. 

 

You can experience the Chiang Mai Zoo on our Discovering Thailand Tour or combine these 2 phenomenons with our Siam in Style Tour.

Michael Buerk and Sir Mark Tully will be giving talks on the Maharajas’ Express in 2010

Michael Buerk

 

The 11-night ‘Royal India’ journey from Delhi to Mumbai, departing the UK on  14th February, 2010 and including 6 nights aboard the Maharajas’ Express, will be accompanied by the multi-award winning journalist and broadcaster, Michael Buerk, who will give a series of talks en route.

 Michael Buerk has probably won more international awards for television reporting than any other British journalist, most notably for his coverage of the Ethiopian famine for BBC News in 1984/5, which alerted the world to the extent of the tragedy and inspired the Band Aid and Live Aid fundraising efforts of Bob Geldof. He was named “Television Journalist of the Year” by the Royal Television Society in 1984 and won a second RTS award that year for foreign reporting. He has won the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) award for factual broadcasting. He has been awarded the “Golden Nymph” at the Monte Carlo Film and Television Festival, Europe’s premier prize for television journalism, and the United States “National Headliner” and “George Polk” awards, two of the three most important honours there are for broadcasters. Michael has reported for BBC TV News in various roles since 1973. He also presented BBC Television’s flagship news programme, The Ten O’clock News. He is chairman of the BBC’s discussion programme on moral and ethical issues The Moral Maze (BBC Radio 4).

Sir Mark Tully

 

The 11-night ‘Celestial India’ journey from Calcutta to Delhi,  20th March, 2010  and including 7 nights aboard the Maharajas’ Express, will be accompanied by distinguished writer and broadcaster, Sir Mark Tully, who will offer his expert insights on Indian history and culture during a series of talks en route.

Sir Mark Tully (born in Calcutta, India in 1935) was the Chief of Bureau, BBC, New Delhi for 22 years. The son of an accountant, he was brought up by a strict European nanny in Calcutta and did not come to Britain until he was ten. He was educated at Marlborough College and at Trinity Hall, Cambridge University, where he read History and Theology. He joined the BBC and quickly became India Correspondent in 1964. Whether it was dodging the bullets on the India-Pakistan border, describing the poverty of Calcutta’s street beggars or detailing the horrific aftermath of the Bhopal chemical disaster, he gave a unique insight into the life of the subcontinent. Sir Mark left the BBC in 1997 and now, still based in Delhi, he works as a freelance writer and broadcaster. His books include No Full Stops in India, Heart of India, India in Slow Motion and India’s Unending Journey. He was made an Officer of The Order of the British Empire in 1985 and was awarded the Padma Shree in 1992, a rare distinction for a non-Indian. He was knighted in the 2002 New Year Honours.

 

 

 

Annual Events in India

30th-31st December 2009 – Camel Festival – Bikaner, Rajasthan

Dedicated to the indispensable ship of the desert, the festival starts off with a magnificent procession of bedecked camels. Several competitions are held, marked with typical Rajasthani colour, music and gay festivities.  Camel dances, races and rides are also available.

14th January 2010 – Kite Festival – Jaipur

Kite flying is generally popular in Jaipur but on this day the sky becomes next to invisible as innumerable kites cover it. People form groups and fly kites, to enjoy the event to its full. If you are in the area this is an event that has to be experienced.

28th February 2010 – Elephant Festival – Jaipur

During the festival, Jaipur comes alive with elephants, dancers and musicians which draw visitors from all over the world. The elephants stride majestically for everybody by parading their decorated trunks and tusks. Elephant polo and elephant tug of war can also be experienced during the festival.

1st March 2010 - Holi – All over India

Holi, celebrated mainly in North India, is a very popular festival of colours. It heralds the end of winter and the beginning of spring. People throw coloured powder at each other and make merry at this two-day festival.

These are only a small handful of colourful Indian festivals that are taking place over the next 6 months, however plenty more can be experienced in every corner of India. Do something different and celebrate these wonderful events with the locals!

London’s Fascination with India

Britain has always had a great interest in Indian art, culture and history and people who have travelled to India, even those who haven’t, love to visit the exhibitions in London’s popular art institutions.  The popularity of Indian themed exhibits can be reflected in 3 past, present and future exhibitions.

The British Museum have just closed their exhibition entitled Garden & Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of Jodhpur. They displayed 56 on loan paintings from the royal collection of the Mehrangarh Museum Trust, Jodhpur which had never been exhibited in Europe so far.

Internationally acclaimed artist and sculptor Anish Kapoor was born in India, Bombay and currently has his new exhibition Anish Kapoor Exhibition showing in London. It includes pieces such as ‘Svayambh’, ‘Giant Wax Installation’ and ‘Shooting into the Corner’ and it is the gallery’s largest ever exhibition dedicated to a single living artist. The exhibition is running from 26th September - 11th December 2009 at the Royal Academy of Arts, nearest tube Piccadilly Circus. The exhibition will be open from 10:00 – 18:00 daily with late openings on Friday until 22:00 and Saturday until 21:00.

The Victoria and Albert Museum have just opened their newest exhibition Maharaja: The Splendour of India’s Royal Courts. They are exhibiting are number of royal collections from Udaipur and Jodhpur and various priceless paintings and artefacts which examine the changing role of the maharajas and reveals how their patronage of the arts, both in India and Europe, resulted in these splendid and beautiful objects. In conjunction with this exhibition Ampersand Travel have recently launched a new itinerary, Made for Maharajas, which takes you to some of India’s finest palaces. The exhibition opened on 10th October 2009 and will close on 17th january 2010 and is open from 10:00 – 17:45. The nearest tube is South Kensington.

Dalat Classical Music Festival 2009

The Dalat Classical Music Festival will take place in Dalat from 27 February to 1 March and from the 6 - 7 March 2009. The event will feature talented musicians including Dang Thai Son, Maryvonne Le Dizes, Darius Quartet, Hae-Sun Kang and many more.

Many of the performances will take place at The Dalat Palace and The Evason Ana Mandara which are a restored French colonial hotel and villas respectively. Ampersand Travel can arrange itineraries to include the festival and or the two properties.  Our Bonjour Vietnam itinerary includes a 3 night stay in Dalat.

Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival

 

Last week saw Nepal host the eighth annual Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival (KIMFF). It is the only mountain film festival east of Suez and the only one in a developing country, mountains were central to some of the 66 films shown and nearly all were linked to mountain countries, 15 of the films shown were provided by Nepal. Many of the films have dealt with issues regarding cultural practices, lifestyles, conflict, wildlife, mountain-climbing, environment, globalization, and gender, among many others.

 

The festival director, Ramyata Limbu told the BBC  ”What we really want to do is also inform, educate, make the Nepali public aware about issues around the world and in Nepal and how it affects them here”.

 

KIMFF has now become a competitive festival, with 20 films judged by a three-member jury from Nepal, Australia and India. The first three prizes went to films about women in Nepal, cotton farmers in India and international Peace Day in Afghanistan.  Over the years, the festival has attracted not only filmmakers, film enthusiasts, and critics, but also scholars, journalists, activists, and mountaineers.

 

Not that another reason was needed to visit Nepal which already has dramatic scenery, is home to the world-famous, 8,848 metre high Mount Everest, has seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the Kathmandu Valley alone and has the serene Phewa Tal Lake which is dominated by the sacred and unclimbed Fishtail Mountain plus much much more. View our adventurous itineraries to Nepal here.

Is long haul travel becoming better value?

 

With the dramatic fall of the pound against many of the world’s currencies, and many of the Sunday Papers reporting the probable decline of travel to American and European destinations, longer haul destinations are beginning to look  more attractive than they have for a long time.

Unfortunately flight prices have not yet fallen however there are a few special deals to India and the Far East with BA and Jet Airways flying around. Hotels in the Far East and India are beginning to bring out some stay 3 nights pay for 2 night offers as well as value added offers with extras like free airport transfers, complimentary spa treatments and meals. Contact Ampersand for more information.

 

Although the flights are not cheap to India and South East Asia, once you are there the cost of living can be very inexpensive. Certainly in South East Asia, eating in local restaurants can be a great experience, the food can be just as good, if not better than the restaurants in 5 star hotels, the prices are often 10 times cheaper and the atmosphere will be truly authentic, giving you more of a local flavour.  If you are careful, then even street food from stalls and kiosks in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam can be a great experience. South East Asians love their snacks so try green mango and chilli sugar in Laos, spicy raw papaya salad Som Tum in Thailand or steaming Pho noodle soup in Vietnam, all can cost as little as a dollar.

Shopping in Asia also remains good value, especially for local goods from markets and smaller shops and getting around by taxis and pedicabs is also very good value.  

Whilst getting to Europe still costs less than getting to India or South East Asia, with the pound currently buying just 1 Euro, once there Europe is no longer good value. In Asia however, it is possible to take advantage of the lower costs of living and spend much less on eating out and shopping. So why not travel a bit further and experience a completely different culture for no more than a trip to Europe?

 

Discover New Species in the Mekong

According to a new report launched by WWF, scientists on the Greater Mekong Programme have discovered over a thousand new species within the Mekong Region of Southeast Asia within the last 10 years. The region comprises the six countries through which the Mekong River flows including Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Vietnam and the southern Chinese province of Yunnan.

While most of the 1068 newly identified species were discovered in the previously unexplored jungles and wetlands of the Mekong region, some seem to have been in full view all along; the Laotion rock rat, thought to be extinct 11 million years ago, was first found by scientists in a local food market, the Siamese Peninsula pitviper was found in the rafters of a restaurant in Khao Yai National Park in Thailand.

Ampersand Travel Gumprecht Green Pitviper

 “It doesn’t get any better than this,” said Stuart Chapman, Director of WWF’s Greater Mekong Programme. “We thought discoveries of this scale were confined to the history books. This reaffirms the Greater Mekong’s place on the world map of conservation priorities.”

You can discover the Mekong Region on our Meandering down the Mekong Tour, spot the Siamese Peninsula pitviper slithering through the rafters on our Thai Adventure itinerary and possibly encounter more new species in Laos’ markets on our Grand Tour of Laos trip.