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Showing posts with label south korea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label south korea. Show all posts
Monday, August 29, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
Word Travels Forum Round-Up #29
It's Monday and we've got the hottest travel questions on the internet for you, courtesy of the Word Travels Forum. It's also Nelson Mandela's 93rd birthday, so we'd like to wish a very happy day to Madiba!
You can ask your own travel-related questions on the forum, and our local experts will be right there with the answer!
Photo by Banjo Brown.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Word Travels Forum Round-Up #24
Happy Monday, and here's hoping everyone in the US and UK are enjoying fine weather on their day off! Here are the most popular travel topics on our forum this week:
Don't forget to visit the forum to find answers to your travel questions!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
5 Best Places to See Cherry Blossoms (besides Japan)
With the recent tragic events in Japan, there aren't many tourists making the journey to Sakura and Kyoto for the cherry blossom festivals there. Many people don't know, however, that there are other cities that have spectacular displays of pink blossoms each spring, and events and festivals to go with them. Here are a few of the other best places to see cherry blossoms:
San Francisco – California’s best city for pink flowers, San Francisco hosts a cherry blossom festival every April. The best places to go are Golden Gate Park, and the San Jose Heritage Garden, which is a little out of town but has an entire field of cherry blossom trees.
Vancouver – Vancouver is Canada’s cherry blossom capital. Their events run from mid-March through the end of April. The best streets to see the flowers is 7th Avenue in Mount Pleasant, but the city offers a cherry blossom viewing map that you can download here.
Honolulu – Hawaii has its own tradition of cherry blossoms, which bloom in Honolulu, and Waimea on the Big Island. The best place to see them is in Church Row Park, where the cherry blossom festival is held. Hawaii’s cherry blossoms bloom early though, so this event is usually held in February.
Seoul – If your heart is set on going east, South Korea has spectacular displays each April. The best place to go is Seoul, which has beautiful pink and white vistas at Mount Namsan and Seoul Forest. For a real treat, visit Children’s Grand Park, which lights up its more than 1,000 cherry blossom trees each night.
Washington DC – Outside of Japan, Washington DC is the place to go to see cherry blossom trees. The landscape positively explodes pink everywhere you look, and it becomes nearly impossible to take a bad picture. It all stems from 3,000 cherry trees given to the US by Japan as a sign of goodwill, and each spring the city hosts the National Cherry Blossom Festival. The best place to see the cherry blossoms is in Tidal Basin in West Potomac Park.
Image by katmere.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Impact of the Japan Earthquake on Travel
The devastating earthquake in Japan has sparked a chain reaction that shows no sign of stopping: first a tsunami, then a nuclear crisis, contaminated food exports, etc. The impact the Japan earthquake has had on the travel industry is huge as well, with shockwaves spreading throughout Asia and the Pacific Ocean. Here's the lowdown on how the earthquake has affected travel:
First there's the obvious. Travel to Japan is just not happening right now. Most governments have evacuated their citizens, and all are advising against non-essential travel to Japan at this point. It's not just about traveller safety, though; there is a scarcity of resources as more then 200,000 people have lost there homes and basic services like water and electricity are scarce. Business and leisure travel has ground to a halt, and even those who want to help are discouraged from going unless they speak Japanese and are associated with an aid organisation. Most cruise lines, including Oceania and Royal Caribbean, have cancelled port calls in Japan, and many airlines have reduced the number of flights, especially to Tokyo's Haneda Airport.
Then there are the ripples: Japanese tourists are a huge market for destinations like China, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand, Guam and Hawaii. Many Japanese tourists aren't going anywhere at the moment, and are cancelling planned holidays. Thailand, as an example, has seen a huge number of cancellations over April and May, when they usually rely on large numbers of Japanese tourists. Hawaii is expecting losses of tens of millions of dollars from missing tourists from Japan.
Image from News.com.au.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Travel Book: Holidays in Hell
There are places that even adventurous travellers fear to tread, but American comedy writer PJ O'Rourke has managed to create a hilarious travelogue out of truly horrid trips to destinations like Lebanon, Poland, Panama, South Korea, Palestine, Disneyworld, and others. His timing is always impeccable, arriving in time for military coups, political protests, and Jerry Falwell.
Written in the 1980's, the political references might seem a bit dated at times, but the author's humour will strike a chord with anyone who has ever been made to travel someplace they didn't necessarily want to be.
Verdict: Borrow it
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Word Travels Forum Round-Up #07
It's round-up time! Here are the most popular travel questions of the week:
If you have any questions, be sure to ask our local experts on the WT Forum!
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