Ultimate Travel Experience

Mauritius, an island in the vast Indian Ocean, is offering nice tropical paradise to tourists from around the world. It’s situated off the east cost of Africa. Its closest neighbor is Madagascar. It’s predominantly Indian population is heavily influenced by British and French. French and English are widely spoken on this island.

Mauritius is a popular tourist destination for French tourists since it was a former French colony. Many tourists came by flights from France, European and Asian capitals. There are also tourists who come from Australia and Americas. Some tourists came by yachts or cruise ships originating from Africa.

The best time to visit this nice island is between May and November when it’s going through its ‘winder’. With less rain and humidity, it’s a nice time to visit and enjoy all the attractions in this island.

December to March is the best time for diving when the water is at its clearest. Yet again, the water in Mauritius is very clear most of the time. Surfing is best from June to August. Big game fishing is best from October to April.

The beaches on the island are often not crowded. Most of them has only a single resort hotel on each beach. The hotels provide most of the sea activities for free except for scuba diving. You can learn water skiing, snorkeling or even wind surfing from the instructors provided by the hotels free of charge.

Mauritius’ airport is the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport, near Mahébourg in eastern Mauritius, which is about 2 hours from capital city, Port Louis. Port Louis is a small capital city compared to western standard. It’s situated on the northwest of Mauritius.

The earliest and largest tourist town is at Grande Baie (Grand Bay) which is 30 minutes north of Port Louis. At Grand Baie, you can find some nice hotels, shopping malls selling branded goods and roadside stalls selling all sort of sea activities such as scuba diving, catamaran ride, underwater walk, submarine ride or even a round-island sight-seeing trip.

Tags: Africa

Dao Cao Dai (Caodaism in English) is the third largest religion in Vietnam after Buddhism and Roman Catholicism. This religion has elements from other great religions of the world like Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Confucianism, Islam, Judaism, Taoism and one of its local religions, Geniism. In Vietnamese, ‘Cao’ means ‘High’ and ‘Dai’ means ‘Palace’. In other words, CaoDaism refers to a supreme place where God reigns.

Caodaism started when Ngo Van Chieu, a civil servant of local government, began to receive messages from a spirit names Duc Cao Dai, whom is believed to be God. After receiving the messages from God and studying it for 3 years, he started to share his spiritual believes with others in Saigon City (old name of HoChiMinh City). In 1926, the spirit Cao Dai instructed a groups of followers to found a new religion based on this believe. Le Van Trung was names by Cao Dai as the acting Gio Tong (Pope) to lead the religion. Hence, Caodaism was founded on 26 Sept, 1926 by a group of 247 disciples.

There are many interesting aspects of this religion which is worth mentioning.

On their altar, they worship God who is symbolized by the Divine Eye, Buddhism is represented by Sakyamuni, Taoism is represented by Lao Tse, Christianity is represented by Jesus Christ, Confucianism is represented by Confucius and their local religion Geniism is represented by Khoung Thai Cong.

They appointed three saints. These saints were prominant people in the history which relates to Vietnam. Sun Yat Sen, the father of modern China, Victor Hugo, a poet and author from France and Trang Trinh, a poet and prophet from Vietnam.

Caodaism administration structure has 9 ranks for it’s members starting with Pope, Censor Cardinal, Cardinal, Archbishop, Bishop, Priest, Student Priest, Sub-dignitaries and Followers. However, women can only move up the ranks as far as Cardinal.
Today, the main center for Caodaism is in Tay Nihn which is at north west of HoChiMinh City.

This temple is located close to Cu Chi tunnels. A one day trip to this area should be able to visit both of these attractions.

Tags: Asia · Historical

Travelling through the state of Georgia in east coast of America, one of the most scenic and romantic stop is the Jekyll Island. It’s one of the many Golden Isles of Georgia. The beaches are often frequented by picnikers and tourists seeking for their ultimate travel experience. There are many trails for hiking and biking, sandbars and Summer Waves, a water theme park, for tourists to enjoy themselves.

 The Jekyll Island has many 19th century buildings. One of the most famous builiding is the Jekyll Island Club which start in 1885. Jekyll Island Club offers the best romantic getaway in Georgia where many couples and honeymooners spend their vacation. It also offers excellent wedding package, dining and meeting facilities. It has one of the best golf course on the east coast of America.

The environment of Jekyll Island is managed by its own Jekyll Island Authority who is responsible for operations and well being of the island. The island has a Historic District which is registered with the National Historic Landmark. By legislative mandate, sixty five percent of the island is and will remain undeveloped, and left in its natural state.

Jekyll Island Club is famous for the scene from the show “The Legend of Baggar Vance” starring Will Smith and Matt Damon. In this movie, we can see the beautiful scenery for this island and its famous club.

Tags: America · Island

Coffs Harbour shares the same legend with many of the first Australian towns and cities – their first European settlers were convicts or escaped convicts taking refuge there. At that time, the primary industry was timber. Timber getters were the early settlers in the are in 1841. Coffs Harbour owes its name to Captain John Korff who took shelter from storm in this area in 1847. It was known as Korff Harbour. The name was changed to Coffs Harbour in 1861.

With the arrival of railway in 1915 and its link to Sydney in 1923, the economic landscape of this area has changed. Tourists start to visit this place in thousands and Coffs Harbour hotel and other type of accomodations grew in numbers.

Coffs Harbour offers a wide range of accommodation options to tourists ranging from hotels, luxury apartments, resorts, budget motels, B&B and country retreat. These places are located a various places of interest to suit your taste. Some are located by the beach, some are by the famous banana plantations, and some by the hillside.

Tags: Australasia · Beach

A journey by road from Sydney to Brisbane is approximately 1000km and this is really long journey. Usually one will do an overnight stop over at one of the towns along the journey. The most scenic place that I always stop over is Coffs Harbour. Coffs Harbour is a very beautiful and scenic town by the sea. It is a costal town north of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 540km north of Sydney and 440km south of Brisbane. The location itself is attracting thousands of visitors each day from both cities. It’s an ideal getaway vacation for the weekend.

Coffs Harbour accommodation is easily available since this is a famous holiday spot for tourists. Tourists flock to this place because it has many nice attractions such as beaches, marine park and seeing one of the Big Things in Australia.

There are 3 main beaches which are located close to Coffs Harbour. North of Coffs Harbour is the Park Beach which is popular for surfers. Part of this beach is patrolled by the local life saving club. Jetty Beach is located close to the Marina. It is protected from the ocean’s swells by the Marina’s breakwall providing a safe swimming spot for picnickers. Boambee Beach , an open beach, is located south of Jetty Beach. Since it’s an open beach, picnickers should expect variable conditions when they are enjoying themselves in the water.

The Solitary Islands Marine Park preserves a diverse underwater ecosystem that mirrors the terrestrial biodiversity between the northern limit of the southern temperate species and southern limit of the northern tropical species. The Marine Park runs about 75 km from Muttonbird Island to Sandon Bluffs in the north. This area covers estuaries, beaches, beautiful headlands, rock platforms and most importantly, the Solitary Island.
Since the Marine Park is located between north and south temperate, diving in this area provides the best of the both worlds. A diver can see species that are similar to Great Barrier Reef and one can also find the Blue Groper and Red Mowong which are temperate species.

Coffs Harbour is famous for its thriving banana industry. This industry provides one of the best attractions – The Big Banana. This is one of many Big Things in Australia. This is the first of the many Big Things in Australia.

Tags: Australasia · Beach

Las Vegas – City of Entertainment. The City That Never Sleeps. These are words that can never fully describe how vibrant Las Vegas can be in the evening. Everyone is full of life. Everyone wants to be seen on the street or partying away the night. You may be gambling in one of the many casinos, go for the many extravagant shows or just go pub hopping the night away. On the first evening, I was ready to party. My friend and I got a Las Vegas map and got ready to leave Excalibur Hotel at 9PM. The first group of people whom we saw on the street was a couple going to get married the Las Vegas style. Then, we saw a group of people going for costume party. Some are dressed like Freddy Mercury, Elton John, doctors and nurses in nursing scrubs.

When we hit the Las Vegas Boulevard, we realized that no one needs a map to stroll on “The Strip”. One needs to walk on one side and walk back from the other side to see the whole strip. There were the humongous hotels, colorful neon lights, happy and sometimes, drunk people on the street.  Many people are handing out call cards for sex related services along the street. Many people, including us, just took the cards for the fun of it.

Along The Strip, there are 3 major stops in front of Bellagio, Treasure Island and Mirage hotels and casinos. These hotels offer free shows by the street side. Bellagio with its Fountains of Bellagio which performs every 30 minutes starting from 3:00PM - 8:00PM and then, every 15 minutes till midnight. The fountains will dance to the rhytm of the music. Add it with colorful lights and wonderful music, the show is really amazing.

Treasure Island Hotel & Casino’s “Sirens of TI” show is performed on every evening at 7:00PM, 8:30PM, 10:00PM and 11:30PM. The show is about 17th century clash between a group of beautiful and sexy sirens who fought against a group of renegade pirates. The Sirens charmed the renegade pirates with their powerful songs to overcome their bigger and stronger opponents. The show is located outside of the hotel at the Sirens Cove. Its comes with a full size version of at 17th century ship.

The Mirage Hotel & Casino offers its Volcano that erupts hourly from 7:00PM til midnight daily. The Volcano has been one of the many attraction in Las Vegas since it started in 1989. It continues to mesmerize audiences with its thunderous display of water and fire which shoot up to 100 feet above ground.

The rest of the evening is filled with photo shooting and hotel hopping with regular stop at the many pubs and night clubs along The Strip.

Tags: America · Nightlife

When Sept 11 attacked took place, many people in Las Vegas turned to their Statue of Liberty as show their respect to those who perished in the attacked. People placed flowers and lit candles around the wall the encircled their Statue of Liberty. Firemen, who are famous for their beautifully worked-out bodies by pumping irons and using chin-up bar, are now honored as the heroes of Sept 11. They are honored at wall surrounding the Statue Liberty. On this wall, artifacts from fire departments like badges, t-shirts, etc are kept in glass display cases cemented to the wall. Among the contributors are the firemen from Palestine. 

The replica of Statue of Liberty in Las Vegas, Nevada which is part of New York New York Hotel & Casino decorations to depict the landscape of the real New York. Besides Statue of Liberty, there are facades of other famous landmarks like Brooklyn Bridge, Empire State and Chrysler buildings in Manhattan. Their size was one-third that of the actual size. Around the Statue of Liberty, there were two tugboats spraying water around the ‘harbor’.

Strangely, the façade of New York New York Hotel & Casino coincidently left out the World Trade Center from its fake skyline. I wonder what will the owner do if WTC is on its skyline as it has turned into Ground Zero.

New York New York Hotel & Casino is located the junction of south end of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue. Its immediate neighboring hotels are Excalibur, MGM Grand and Tropicana Hotel and Casino.

Tags: America · Sightseeing

Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France, is standing on Ellis Island off New York, America. It was a gift to recognize their friendship which was established more than a hundred years ago established during the American Revolution.

Sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartoldi was commissioned to design Statue of Liberty in 1876 to commemorate the American Declaration of Independence Centennial Celebration in mind. He roped in Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (designer of Eiffel Tower) to assist in the design of iron pylon and skeletal framework for the Statue. However, funds were short and the construction was delayed. Many fund raising activities were organized to pay for the construction of the statue. Meanwhile, similar effort was on-going in America to collect funds to build the pedestal on Ellis Island. Pedestal was completed on April 1886

Statue was completed in July 1884 and shipped to New York on board the French frigate “Isere’. It reached the shore of America on June 1885. On October 28th, 1886, the dedication of the Statue of Liberty took place in front of thousand of people. It was a gift that arrived 10 years too late.

Today, tourists can visit the State of Liberty everyday. The Statue of Liberty tickets are known as Time Pass Tickets, which are issued free, to visit this magnificent place. I was one of many million of tourists who had the opportunity of visiting the Statue of Liberty. From New York, take the Circle Line ferry which will bring you to Ellis Island. If you have New York Pass, you can get the ferry ticket for free from Castle Clinton bookstore.

Tourists can experience the great engineering work from 19th century on Ellis island. From inside the Statue, tourists can view inside the Statue through a glass ceiling with enhanced lighting and audio system. Tourists can walk out to the Statue’s observation deck to enjoy the panoramic view of New York City and its famous habor.

Tags: America · Historical

Chuchi is located about 75 km outside of Ho Chi Minh City (previously known as Saigon) and it was one of the strongholds of Vietcong during the Vietnam war. This place is famous for the complex tunnel system which was hand-dug by volunteers with hoes and baskets. This tunnel was constructed during the war against French and the construction continued when Americans arrived. This tunnel is about 250km long and it stretches to Cambodia border in the east and goes into Ho Chi Minh City in the south.

The tunnel was designed to withstand enemy attacks. The tunnel was not constructed in a straight line. It has corners between 60 to 120 degrees. So, there is no straight line for fire and it can deflect the blast of any bomb thrown into the tunnel.

This tunnel system is more like a small community area where Vietcong will hide during the day and emerge in the dark to tend to their crop. The tunnel system is really complex and at certain places, there are three levels of tunnels serving various functions. In the tunnel, there are facilities for Vietcong to conduct their daily activities like kitchen, dining area, bedroom, meeting, hospital and operating theater, toilets, air raid shelters, workshops, store rooms, ammo dumps and escape routes. These escape routes are dug into the rivers.

When it’s high tide, the escape ‘door’ is cover by water during the day. At night the ‘door’ is open and Vietcong can move about through these ‘doors’. Ventilation holes were dug through the ground for air. Smoke vents were constructed to disperse smoke coming from kitchen to areas far away from the tunnel systems. This is to prevent any direct attack from enemy. Larger vents were constructed to enable Vietcong to listen to the sound from helicopters to monitor their movement in the areas.

The size of the tunnels is really small and it suited the size of the Vietcong soldiers. It would be too narrow for the American or Australian soldiers to move comfortably and really slowed down their movement. Hence, the Vietcong can easily escape from their enemies.

Since 1988, the tunnel was opened for tourists. Special entrance was made for tourist to get into the passage was. It was impossible for any tourist to get into the tunnel using the way Vietcong soldiers did. I had the opportunity to visit this place twice - 1997 and 2007. In 1997, the original entrance to the tunnel which I tried was so small that I could not get beyond my waist. In 2007, the tunnel which I tried, I could get into it till my chest. 

During both trips, the experience crawling through the passage in the tunnel was interesting and yet, it was really amazing to imagine how the Vietcong were able to live in such condition. Temperature on the ground was 95 degrees with very high level of humidity. We were sweating so much while crawling less than 100m in the tunnel.  It will be advisable to bring a change of clothes if you decide to be a Vietcong for the day.

You can easily visit Chuchi tunnel from Ho Chi Minh City by joining one of the many day tours. A tour to ChuChi tunnel is usually coupled with a visit to CaoDaism temple. It cost about US$40 per person for this 10 hour trip.

Tags: Asia · Historical