Of course you can stick to the tried and true historical monuments like the Taj Mahal and Angkor Wat, but if you really want to mark your holiday as something extra special, why not consider a few of the more unusual sites and experiences that Asia has to offer?

In this article we will try to step outside the square and stimulate your appetite for something a little different by listing five unusual things to do and see when visiting Asia.

• Delhi, India. Okay, so you’ve been to visit Gandhi’s grave, you’ve visited the Red Fort and you’ve taken hundreds of photographs of the crowd steaming through the streets. Why not try something different and visit the Khan Market? This unusual market is a drawcard for well-heeled Indians and is also popular with overseas consulate representatives! One of the features of the market is a famous Fabindia, a store with an amazing collection of housewares and clothing. While you’re there you can feast on mutton and chicken tikka kebabs which are simply melt in the mouth delicious.
• Hanuman Temple. Of all the Hindu temples in India this is one you want to place at the top of your list. What Westerners find interesting about this temple is that it is a tribute to Hanuman the monkey god. You will be amazed at the displays of the re-enactments of his life, but make sure you maintain your reference as locals take this very seriously.
• Learn Krabi Krabong. This little-known martial art is a unique fighting style only practised in Thailand. If you take the time to spend a few weeks practising at one of the many schools you will master a variety of weapons and be an expert in open hand combat.
• On the flip side of the coin, Thailand is also a great place to practice meditation and to learn how to cook. To make this easier you can spend a few days at Wat Rampoeng in Chiang Mai. Typically there are 10 and 26 day retreats but you will need to book a long way in advance.
• If you have never had a chance to visit the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, why not do it in Ho Chi Minh City? This might sound like a crazy question but you’ll be surprised to know that an exact copy of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was actually constructed in Ho Chi Minh City out of materials imported directly from France.

This is just the start when it comes to finding unusual things to do in Asia. It’s just a matter of using your imagination and doing some exploring on the Web. Don’t forget to arrange your holiday insurance before you leave home so you can really enjoy your holiday free of the worry of any unforeseen events.

5 Unusual Things to See in Asia is a post from: Travel Insurance Articles

If you are of a historical persuasion, there will be plenty to occupy you as you travel from town to town building up a picture of a long history of conflict that has marked Vietnamese history over the past thousand years.

Alternatively, if you are an everyday tourist who is looking forward to enjoying the sights and sounds and food of an exotic country, then Vietnam will serve it up to you in platters.

Without wanting to crowd your itinerary, let’s look at a shortlist of three destinations that offer you a broad cross-section of Vietnam and which capture the essence of the country as a whole.

• Halong Bay. This stunningly beautiful bay has a collection of over 3000 islands which seemed to emerge from the water like a flotilla of green emeralds. Now a world Heritage site, Halong Bay is the place to take a boat cruise so you can get closer to the spectacularly beautiful beaches and grottoes that are dotted around in their hundreds. If you choose the right cruise, you will also have time to explore the magnificent caves which have been illuminated for the benefit of tourists. After that you can relax on one of the many sandy beaches and soak in the atmosphere.
• Nha Trang. There are some wonderful contrasts in this indisputably beautiful town. On the one hand you will witness a bustling, Metropolis driven by commerce, and on the other Western-style resort town with hotels and restaurants strung out along a beautiful beach. Nha Trang will keep you busy with boat trips and scuba diving both popular pastimes. Add to that the famous mud baths all surrounded by dozens of historic sites and you have the complete tourist package in one place.
• Phong Nha cave. Located in the Ke Bang National Park, these 400 million-year-old caves are the oldest in Asia. To get there in need to take a charter boat which departs early in the morning arriving back late in the afternoon. After travelling the 55 km you’ll be able to marvel at the limestone formations as you wind your way through the kilometres of underground passageways. The main underground cavern is nearly 8 km long and you will be able to choose from 14 other caves to explore in what must be one of the wonders of Vietnam. The caves are often closed during November and December during the rainy season, so make sure you schedule your visit outside of these months.

These three must see destinations are not generally on the itinerary of most tourists. Do yourself a favour and make sure you include at least one of these exciting destinations on your list of must see places. Most important of all, make sure your holiday insurance is arranged well in advance.

3 Must See Destinations in Vietnam is a post from: Travel Insurance Articles

With so many places to choose from however, it is often difficult to know which destinations to include on your itinerary. So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at five top tips to help you plan your trip.

• The best time to visit Thailand is any time except the rainy season from July to October. The monsoonal season which dominates the weather over that period doesn’t mean it is impossible to visit Thailand at that time it just means that you will have to get used to short bursts of heavy rain at any time of the day. Apart from that, you will find the weather in Thailand is good although it can be extremely hot in summer. Most tourists tend to travel between November and February when it is at its coolest.
• Customs regulations are very strict in Thailand and any breaches are treated harshly. Make sure you check with your travel agent to make sure you’re not carrying too many cigarettes, wine or spirits. When it comes to drugs, Thailand is notoriously harsh and you will no doubt be aware of the death penalties which have been handed down to anyone involved in the narcotics trade.
• When you travel to any new country it is always exciting to explore the culture and to see how other people go about their daily lives. Although this is welcomed in Thailand, make sure you are respectful of some of their closely held beliefs. The royal family is held in very high esteem by all Thais, so you should never criticise the monarchy. Images of the Buddha are also treated as sacred no matter where they are situated in or how big they are. Buddhist monks are also treated with great respect and should not be touched under any circumstances. Also, don’t forget to take off your shoes when visiting someone’s home or a temple.
• One of the quirky things you should be aware of is the Thai treatment of the head and feet. The head is sacrosanct in Thai culture so you should avoid patting anyone on the head, including children. As opposed to this never use your feet to point at anything and never allow the palms of your feet to point towards an image of the Buddha.

If you bear these tips in mind you will enjoy your hollow even more, and once again that figure to organise your holiday insurance well in advance.

5 Top Thailand Travel Tips is a post from: Travel Insurance Articles

In Thailand, it is possible to go on a backpacking tour and never talk to a local! Whilst this may suit some people, including some locals, there are still plenty who are looking for an adventure and a taste of the local lifestyle. In this article we will look at the five top backpacker destinations in Thailand to help you plan your trip.

• Ko Pha Ngan. Although the beach here is legendary there’s much more to do than simply lie around on the sand. You can drift from beach to beach if you wish as there are over a dozen to choose from, but with a little more effort it’s worthwhile exploring the interior jungle where you will find waterfalls and miles of hiking tracks. You can stay for a few days in luxurious accommodation or go a bit downmarket and stay for a couple of weeks.
• Ko Tao. This is probably Thailand’s top destination for scuba divers. The crystal clear water and the stunning coral reef make this one of the world’s most popular places to obtain a scuba licence. It is also extremely cheap and you can have a really awesome holiday here whilst doing a little business on the side.
• Sangkhlaburi. This fascinating Bordertown is the only place in Thailand where you will see such a diverse ethnic spectrum. Each of the Burmese, Non, Karen, Thai and Lao inhabitants insist on speaking their own language but if English is your native tongue it won’t make much of a difference anyway. Although it is bereft of most of the tourist trappings you may become used to in other parts of Thailand, you can relax and watch the fishing boats on the lake and simply relax and immerse yourself into an unusual part of the country.
• Khao Sok National Park. This unusual National Park is a welcome contrast to the sand and jungle that shrouds most of Thailand. You can walk alone through the thick rainforests and stand in awe of the waterfalls splashing over limestone cliffs. It is simply breathtaking.
• Mae Hong Son Province. Located in the deep north west of Thailand, the province is mostly mountain and forest. It has been a hidden jewel until the last couple of years as more tourists, prominently backpackers, have become aware of this “off the beaten track” destination. Without saying any more, make yourself a promise and visit this remote part of Thailand.

Remember to organise your holiday insurance before arriving in Thailand and take the time out to visit at least one of these unusual destinations for the trip of a lifetime.

5 Top Backpacker Destinations in Thailand is a post from: Travel Insurance Articles

There are plenty of useful objects you can buy to make your trip more enjoyable, like neck cushions to help you relax on a long overseas flight; or a currency converter that helps you stay within your holiday budget. But in this article we are going to take a light-hearted look at some of the crazy objects that some retailers try to ram down the throat of an unsuspecting tourist.

• Ever heard about the air-conditioned T-shirt? This unusual item still retails for well over $150 and claims to pump cool air into your shirt via a battery-powered USB drive. This must be the most expensive alternative to a bottle of cool water that ever hit the market.
• The StashCard. This ingenious device which you hide your valuables inside the PC card slots in your laptop. Hmmm.. I thought thieves were more likely to steal laptops!
• The Urinelle. This is one for the female traveller who has everything. It saves you the trouble of going to the toilet, and all you have to do is pee into this paper cone while standing up. The problem is, you have to carry around with you until you can dispose of it properly. I think it might be easier just to squat behind a tree.
• Disposable underwear. Why on earth anyone would want to wear scratchy paper underwear instead of enjoying the comfort of fresh underwear is beyond me. And imagine what would happen if you got a paper cut.
• Wearable sleeping bags. Yes, it’s true, some crazy manufacturer actually came up with the idea that you could walk around all day in a sleeping bag so you wouldn’t have to jump into it at night-time. This will be fantastic for those tropical holidays you’ve got planned! Oh, and what about a quick visit to the toilet? Guess not.
• The Personalised Airline Seat Cover. The manufacturer of this little gem tries to convince you to pull this cover over your airline seat to protect you from the germs and crumbs left by previous passengers. This will probably work for people who travel in the nude, but for now I think I’ll just trust my jeans thanks very much.

When you read through this list you get an idea of the lunacy that can pervade the retailing industry, but to keep things on even keel just make sure you have your holiday insurance and leave the gadgets out of it.
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Top 6 Most Useless Travel Gadgets is a post from: Travel Insurance Articles

Paris for beginners

This is a jaw-dropping trip into the worlds of Chagall, Cezanne, Monet, Piaf, Renoir, Sartre, Voltaire, The Hot Club, the Impressionists, Van Gogh and a virtual encyclopedia of other world culture phenomena. The city itself is a huge cultural statement. This is also where the true Bohemian culture was born, and it can prove it.

Paris for fun and culture

Paris is famous for being one of the great cultural explorers of the world. Since the 19th century, Paris has actively gone looking for culture, as well as producing its own. Paris fashionable elites were the first to develop the taste for Asian culture and art. The Chinoiserie of France was the first popularization of the world outside Europe since the Middle Ages. Since then, the world’s cultures have rolled through Paris.

Paris took up jazz before it became the giant music phenomenon of the mid 20th century. Cinema, art, dance, and literature have been regularly hit by France’s giant talents. This is culture, Parisian style, and Paris likes to have fun with its culture.

Cosmopolitan Paris- Eternal cultural synthesis in progress

This is one of the world’s most cosmopolitan cities, too. Paris takes many forms, and every arrondissement is a discovery. The Parisian Melting Pot is like the New York version, but the result of the melting process is a Parisian, every time. You’ll meet most of the world in Paris, sooner or later.

The endless cultural synthesis has done a lot to broaden the cultural palette of a city which was already very well stocked with culture, and it produces a range of hybridized art forms which are on a par with the historical giants. Artists are endemic, musicians are everywhere, and the performing arts are practically unavoidable.

Don’t plan your Paris trip to death- Explore!

It doesn’t take much planning to see Paris. You already know the places you want to see. Don’t miss the Louvre, and try to organize a way of checking out the historical wonders, but don’t plan your trip to the point where you can’t do anything else. This is a city which has to be experienced, as well as seen. Paris itself is a bon vivant, and it’s worth partying with what’s happening now.

(Note: If you want to plan anything for your trip, plan on brushing up on your French. Try to get it up to a respectable conversational speed, with good idiomatic usage, because you’ll miss a lot if you don’t talk to the Parisians about their culture and their city.)

Grab your plane ticket, your full coverage online travel insurance, and enjoy one of the world’s most fantastic cities.

The Cultural Best of Paris is a post from: Travel Insurance Articles

New York picks up media and creative art at the same speed it’s made. It’s also the marketing centre of global media marketing in many ways, and the creative products get distributed around the world faster from New York than anywhere else.

That basic reality attracts a lot of musicians, artists, production people and promoters. If something’s new or emerging in any creative medium, it’ll head to New York. At any one time, you can expect to see the latest in most media, all the time.

The big name places are all worth seeing

If you’ve ever met someone who knows New York, you’ll have noticed that they sound like a street directory when they talk about it. That’s how you find your way around the city. Particular streets and areas have special features and places. It’s like a mental GPS system.

If you’ve never been before, some orientation is a good idea, and the big names in the city are all useful landmarks to help you navigate. It doesn’t get dull, either.

Greenwich Village: A must see, full of interesting things, and better still, a shopping zone. Bring money, and an encyclopedia, because you can find anything in these places.

Central Park: A navigational aid for Manhattan, and a pretty interesting place.

Chinatown: Complicated, fun, and has everything, including food, markets and lots of interesting things. Even the travel guides aren’t too sure what else is there, but it’s definitely worth a visit or several.

Picking and choosing your New York experience- You can do everything online in New York

The great thing about New York is that everything is online. If you want a pizza or a yacht, you can get it. Settle down with a good cup of coffee and search to your heart’s content. You will find whatever it is.

A trip from Damon Runyan to Woody Allen- New York cultural tones and shades

New York’s local culture is famous for its humor, pathos, and the ability to turn itself into an icon. Damon Runyan was a true New York storyteller. His successors, including the Marx Brothers, (native New Yorkers), Woody Allen and the virtual Facebook of big household names the city has produced are all part of that culture.

Just hit the links, book the ticket, grab the travel insurance and go. There’s nowhere like New York.

How To Enjoy a Cultural Tour of New York is a post from: Travel Insurance Articles

When you approach the city, you’ll see a huge modern city rising out of the horizon. San Francisco look like it’s built right in to the surrounding areas of coast and mountain like a tailored suit. From NASA satellite photos, it looks like crochet work next to San Francisco Bay, one of nature’s most spectacular harbors.

The old and new architecture, the hills and the quirky nature of getting around make San Francisco a very interesting place to visit. The famous street cars lumber up hills past elegant old style houses which were once the symbols of the future and now symbolize the past in this constantly evolving place. The big skyscrapers tower in the background, a meeting point between the desert sky and the sea.

Old San Francisco

San Francisco, like the rest of California, was originally an outpost of Spanish/Mexican culture. The original Californios brought with them some very elegant buildings, and styles of architecture that keep coming back in California. Old San Francisco was the most developed of these areas, and a lot of it has been preserved despite history and the Great Fire of 1906 which destroyed much of the new American city.

Old San Francisco was where the Gold Rush built fortunes overnight and lost them. It was where the Pacific trade began, and the Chinese laborers who built the western continental railroad came to take a “Chinaman’s chance” to make their money in America. The old city has been preserved lovingly, and is very special to the San Francisco natives. It’s something you need to see to understand.

The countryside

Outside the city is the tough country of legend, and it earned its reputation as being very difficult land to travel. It’s solid rock, it’s beautiful, and if you can imagine traveling a few hundred miles of that sort of territory on horseback or wagon, you’ll see what the early settlers had to deal with. This is fantastic country, perched on the side of a continent which is still moving, and it’s some of the most dramatic scenery you could wish to see.

The coast

The California coast doesn’t need to explain why it’s so famous. The coast people are as fond of their shores as the inlanders, and this is one of the most ecologically conscious places in the world. The coast includes the fabulous sea otters, Orcas, and giant kelp forests, as well as the surfing beaches. Grab a ticket, some good online travel insurance, and come and see for yourself.

The Best of San Francisco is a post from: Travel Insurance Articles

Hong Kong was a fishing island that was turned into one of the great cities of Asia. It soon became one of the great trading ports in the world, and everyone owned something “Made in Hong Kong” by the mid 20th century. Hong Kong is a mix of modern Western and Chinese values, with a very strong streak of the southern Chinese culture throughout.

Hong Kong is also a match for the booming Chinese culture of today. It’s a financial and trade centre, and it’s a very beautiful place, even as the “Shanghai Effect” becomes noticeable. Hong Kong’s skyscrapers stand like a stone forest, big, modern and impressive, but they also match the Chinese coast, which in this part of the world is an interesting mix of mountains, islands, and a lot of green space in the parks in the New Territories around Kowloon.

So much in one place

Hong Kong Island and its surrounding islands are like several different worlds. The island includes its own big park on Victoria Peak, a Trappist Monastery, colonial museums, a bewildering supply of local markets, a zoological park, Hong Kong Disneyland, and a lot of temples, and that’s practically next door when you’re staying there.

It’s no wonder so many writers were so fascinated, and so many movies have been made in Hong Kong. Junks and sampans still ply the harbor, next to huge bulk carriers and luxury cruise liners. It’s a mystical place by nature, as much as by design.

The Hong Kong coast and hills, tourist heaven

For tourists, Hong Kong has always been and remains a great place to go. It’s quite cheap, by world standards. You can really explore the place, and you’ll find Hong Kong lives up to its reputation as a real experience.

Anyone who’s ever seen the South China Sea coast at its best will appreciate the comfort, the modern luxuries and the deep Chinese character.Like the rest of China, the only real risk to your budget in Hong Kong is the desire to buy all the beautiful things you can find. Hong Kong is one of the major distributors of the fabulous Chinese art, cultural items and furniture around the world, and Hong Kong shopping for Sinophiles is positively addictive. The trick to a cheap trip to Hong Kong is to pay all your travel insurance, accommodation and fares for Hong Kong up front, and make sure you’ve got enough in your budget to shop carefree. You can buy everything else when you come back, anyway.

Visit Hong Kong on a Shoestring is a post from: Travel Insurance Articles

Beijing for a price you can trust

The really good news for travelers is that China is a very efficient travel destination. Everything is usually very well organized, and you can do all your costing upfront. You can literally cost a Beijing tourist package to the cent.

The other great advantage is that in Beijing, you’re well within tour range of most of northern China’s many great tourist destinations. It’s an excellent place to base yourself to see the country.

You’ve got the Great Wall practically next door, and the ancient capital Xian, another major tourist spot, in the neighboring province of Shaanxi. This is the home of the Terra Cotta Warriors, and you can see the whole saga of China’s glorious past from the comfort of a bullet train.

Travel on a budget that works

There’s no guesswork involved in your basic travel and accommodation prices. China is one of the most popular places on Earth for tourism. This is a huge country, and it’s got 4000 years of an incredible past and an equally incredible future to see.

The real risk to your budget is the need to buy everything in sight. Beijing can sell you a few container loads worth of beautiful souvenirs. It takes a while to get used to shopping in places like Beijing, because everything looks good, and you need to know where to find the things you want.

China in one place- What Beijing has to offer

Beijing itself as a place to visit is a real epic. This is one of the world’s great cities, and it can prove it. If you want to see a snapshot of modern China, this is where you’ll find it. The city has some really fascinating places to see:

The Summer Palace: The home of Kublai Khan in the hot northern summers, on a beautiful lake. This is the classic Chinese setting. If you’ve never seen the principles of Chinese gardens, architecture and landscaping, you’re in for an education.

The Forbidden City: The Imperial residence was designed to awe, and it still does. The artwork alone is astonishing, one of the few examples of this highly ornate and symbolic decorative style surviving intact. This is where the Manchu Qing Dynasty rose and fell, and where modern China looks back on hundreds of years of turmoil.

Getting around and seeing the sights

This is a place where you can roam happily for days and watch an emerging super power at work and play. It’s history in the making, and you’re right in the middle of it. China is a place nobody ever forgets. Getting full coverage travel insurance for Beijing tours is easy. All you need to do is get there.

How to See Beijing on a Shoestring is a post from: Travel Insurance Articles