Travel Movie: The Beach

The Beach (2000), with Leonardo Dicaprio and an array of impressive supporting actors (Robert Carlyle, Tilda Swinton), directed by the famous Danny Boyle, suffered serious criticism on a number of counts but its status as a classic travel movie has never been disputed. The Thailand locations had armchair travellers the world over slavering in ecstasy, and the desire for freedom and escape encapsulated in the movie appealed to generations of backpackers keen to travel off the beaten track.

The film was shot largely on Ko Phi Phi Leh, an island near Phuket, Thailand, and the famous beach is actually called Hat Maya. The beautiful waterfall featured in the movie is not on the island; it is Haeo Suwat Falls and can be found in Thailand’s  Khao Yai National Park.

Haeo Suwat Falls

The great controversy of the filmmaking process, and a serious gripe for eco-warriors, was the apparent necessity to make the Hat Maya Beach more ‘perfect’ by bulldozing parts of it to make it flatter, and planting imported palm trees. This modification actually led to a number of court cases. Extra mountains were also added digitally in post-production to make the scenery more dramatic.

Hat Maya Beach

Any superficial damage the film may have done to this Thai paradise was swamped by the devastation of the 2004 Tsunami. The island has thankfully recovered fully since then and is once again a popular tourist excursion. Although at the time it came out Thailand’s authorities threatened to ban the film – because they thought it portrayed their country unfairly as a drug haven – it has since been noted that The Beach substantially increased tourism to the region.

The actual beach is not remote and inaccessible and you can reach it without swimming long distances in open ocean, sneaking through marijuana plantations, and leaping off waterfalls. There is a daily ferry from Phuket Pier and Krabi which will get you there in about 90 minutes.

The bay of Ko Phi Phi Leh

The film has survived in pop culture mainly because its locations so captured the collective imagination. It was a great disappointment to fans of Alex Garland’s eponymous book which had a far more complex plot. It was a book, however, which begged for a movie version and although it met with serious complaints from reviewers you will struggle to find a film more visually enticing.

Verdict: rent it

Word Travels Forum Round-Up #31

Here's the latest from the Word Travels forum, with some great stuff this week, especially if you're looking to travel to Cuba or Ireland!

Dublin travel advice

Can Americans travel to Cuba?

Trains from China to Vietnam and Thailand

African puppy scam

If that doesn't answer your question, sign up for the travel forum today to ask for yourself! It's quick, easy and free!

Image from here.

Word Travels Forum Round-Up #30

This is our 30th forum round-up, which makes it a sort of birthday I suppose. In honour of the occasion, I've dug up some of my favourite forum posts that need help! If you know anything about these topics, weigh in and help us out!

Route 66 road trip

Hiring a car and driver in Dubai

Food in Ho Chi Minh City

Booking cheap Thailand accommodation

You can also ask your own questions on the travel forum... jump right in!

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!

Best time to travel to Thailand

Is Jordan friendly to Americans?

Getting a Cuba Tourist Card

Deported from Korea

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.

Word Travels Forum Round-Up #25

It's time for the Word Travels Forum Round-up! There's been a lot of activity on our forums this week, and here are the most interesting topics under discussion:

Online Travel and Love Scams

Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand Itinerary

Is Cape Town Safe?

Travelling with Kids in Madrid

Remember you can ask your own travel question on the forum, and get answers from local experts in your destination!

Travel Movie: The Hangover 2

What do Las Vegas and Bangkok have in common? They're both commonly thought of as wild party destinations, and they've both gotten the Hangover treatment.

Last time four guys went to Vegas for a bachelor's party, and one nearly didn't make it back. In The Hangover 2, the ultra-responsible quartet of Phil, Stu, Alan and Doug are heading to Thailand for Stu's wedding. He wants a quiet pre-wedding brunch, but what are the odds of that happening?

Slim to none. Now they've lost Stu's fiancee's 16-year-old brother.

The plot is pretty much the same as the first film, with no one remembering the previous night and one man missing, so if you enjoyed the first you'll probably enjoy this one too.

Don't expect to see much of glamorous Thailand though. The focus is on the seedy hotels, backstreet drug dealers and generally less savoury parts of Bangkok.

Verdict: See it (if you liked The Hangover)

Word Travels Forum Round-Up #21

Happy May Day! As spring makes its way through the northern hemisphere, here are the travel topics people are discussing on our forum this week:

A week in Norway

Theme parks in California

Best time to travel to Thailand

Religious brainwashing on Intercape buses

If these aren't the answers you need, search our travel forum for posts related to your next destination!

Travel Movie: Brokedown Palace

Some travel movies are hard to imagine as the kind that entice you to visit the country, and Brokedown Palace is one of those.

The film tells the story of Alice (Claire Danes) and Darlene (Kate Beckinsale), two American teenagers who take a spur-of-the-moment trip to Thailand, only to become unwitting drug mules for a handsome con man. They are arrested and lost within the harsh Thai legal system, which has no tolerance for drug smuggling.

While the movie may not give you the travel itch, it serves as a stern warning to tourists who think they can get away with misbehaviour in foreign countries. The idea that 'it doesn't count on vacation' is not only disrespectful, but dangerous, and could potentially have disastrous consequences like those shown in the movie.

Verdict: Download it (and show it to any teenagers about to take a solo trip!)

Top 5 Strangest Food Festivals

There are a lot of food festivals around the world, but some focus less on enjoying a good meal and more on playing with their food! Here are our top 5 strangest food festivals around the world:

Night of the Radishes (Noche de Rábanos) - There's a large radish found in Mexico that can grow up to 6.6 pounds (3kg) and 20 inches (50cm) long. The people of Oaxaca do something interesting with these radishes each December, carving them into people, animals, and anything else they can think of. The carvings are judged, and the winner gets their picture in the paper.

Sea Worm Festival (Bau Nyale) - Each year the people of Indonesia rush into the ocean to collect as many sea worms as possible, and then they cook them and eat them. Although there's nothing pretty about sea worms, there's a romantic legend associated with this festival. Long ago, a beautiful princess had so many determined suitors that she threw herself into the ocean to prevent their going to war over her. When she died, her hair turned into sea worms, now the symbol of the Sasak people.

La Tomatina - One of the world's biggest food fights, La Tomatina takes place in Spain each August. The festival starts with participants trying to knock a ham off the top of a greased pole. Once that happens, people throw tomatoes at each other until the streets of Valencia run red. No one knows quite how it got started, but people like it so it continues to happen each year.

Gloucester Cheese Roll and Wake - A tradition in Gloucester for hundreds of years, this popular event in the Cotswolds involves competitors rolling a large, round Double Gloucester Cheese down a steep hill and attempting to catch it. The first person over the finish line wins the cheese. Unfortunately, this event was cancelled in 2010 and it is uncertain if it will return.

Lopburi Monkey Buffet - This annual feast in Thailand is unusual, simply because no one who attends gets to eat anything. Well, no people get to eat anything. The guests of honour are the local Macaque monkeys, who chow down on fruits and vegetables, and even get to enjoy a soft drink or two. The monkeys live in the ruins of local temples, and are huge tourist attractions. The Buffet is the village's way of thanking them!

Word Travels Forum Round-Up #18

It's the first Monday of April, and here are the busiest travel questions on our forum this week:

Floods in Thailand

Gorilla safaris in Uganda and Rwanda

Nigerian scams

Travel in Morocco

Our travel forum is always busy with people planning holidays, and is a great resource for anyone with questions about their next destination. Visit the forum to find answers to your own travel questions!

Image from here.

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.

Top 5 Places to Travel in March

You've got some vacation days saved up, and it's time to use it. What are the best places to travel in March? We've found them for you:

Colorado - One of the best times to go skiing in Colorado is March when most of the tourists have left for the season. The prices are significantly reduced, not only in hotels and lodges, but also ski lifts, food and even shopping. With heavy snowfall, blue skies and moderate temperatures, carving through the silky powder down soft white slopes is enough to make any traveller weak at the knees. From Telluride and Steamboat to Aspen and Vail, there are plenty of resorts to enjoy some spring time snow.

Rio de Janeiro - Always a party destination, Rio de Janeiro kicks things into high gear in March with the famous (or infamous) Rio Carnival. Dazzling bright colours, hot samba music, elaborate costume balls and thousands of people having a great time are the order of the day. You can also enjoy Rio's other attractions, like Ipanema beach, the iconic Christ the Redeemerstatue, and a trip to Iguaçu Falls.

Cambodia - Cambodia’s dry season is by far the best time to visit this land off the beaten track. From majestic ruins in Angkor to temples in Phnom Penh and beautiful beaches and islands, Cambodia is a treasure trove of delights just waiting to be discovered. Spend a few days cruising the Mekong River from Phnom Penh taking in the Cambodian landscape along the way. Pass through Kompong Chhnang to visit the market and pottery village, marvel at Southeast Asia’s largest lake, Tonle Sap, and shop at the largest floating village at Kompong Luong before descending on Siem Reap and the World Heritage Site of the Temples of Angkor.

Thailand - While Thailand is a popular travel destination at any time of the year, March hits the sweet spot of low season and you'll benefit from the smaller crowds and lower prices. March can be warm, but not as warm as April and May. Take advantage of the ideal weather by sunning on a beach in Phuket, exploring the nightlife of Bangkok, and soaking up the culture of Chiang Mai.

Ireland - When one thinks of Ireland, there’s only one month that springs to mind: March 17th is St Patrick’s Day, which has become synonymous the world over with all things Irish. Although the weather may not be the best, the atmosphere and energy is electric with much revelry, Guinness and craic surrounding the annual St Patrick’s Day celebrations. Dublin is always heaving in March when the biggest and best St Patrick’s Day Festival sees thousands of visitors flocking to the Irish capital. For a 100% authentic Irish experience, head to Galway or Cork to enjoy some traditional dancing, a single malt whiskey and a hearty meal.

5 Surprising things that are illegal in other countries

Over the weekend, a rather dim Canadian tourist was arrested in Berlin. His crime? Giving the Nazi salute while posing for a photo in front of the Reichstag. While he had to know that his pose was in poor taste, it's true that most tourists don't know that it is illegal to do the salute in Germany.

It pays to do a little research before you visit another country, or you may find yourself in a lot of trouble for something you didn't know was banned. The website DumbLaws.com has some rather funny examples, but there are a few that you might want to know about. Here's our list of 5 surprising things that are illegal in other countries:

Driving a car shirtless in Thailand. If you rent a car on your holiday in Thailand, better remember to throw a top on after you leave the beach or you may find yourself in a prison uniform.

Kissing on railways in France. So much for the city of love! While I'm sure this silly law gets broken all the time, it's probably best to restrain yourself on the Paris metro. Funnily enough, it is legal to touch a woman's breasts on a train (with her consent, of course)!

Valentine's Day in Saudi Arabia. If you want to be romantic around February 14th in Riyadh, best find a non-traditional way to do it, as red roses, wrapping paper, teddy bears and hearts are removed from the shelves by authorities. Oh, and remember not to kiss or hold hands in public either.

Publicly removing bandages in Canada. We know Canadians are polite, but apparently they're also squeamish. Although maybe they do have a point... who wants to see that? Do it in private.

Flushing the toilet after 10pm in Switzerland. The Swiss just love regulating things. They have rules about when you can hang your laundry, mow the lawn, wash your car, and also flush the toilet. This law applies to anyone staying in an apartment or flat. Oh, and guys? You can't urinate while standing after 10pm either. Love to know how they enforce that one...

Photo by Stewart

Where Can You Afford to Travel?

Sometimes it can be confusing figuring out where you can afford to go, given your travel budget. Maybe your dream destination is within your grasp, or maybe not. There may be a fantastic alternative destination you hadn't considered. You wanted to go to Thailand, but have you considered the Philippines?

Wanderfly lets you search for travel destinations based on your location and budget, as well as desired activities and interests. The site is still in beta, so the hotel booking function and a few other gadgets are a bit spotty, but it's a great way to find inspiration!

Word Travels Forum Round-Up #03

Here are the hottest topics burning up our travel forum right now:

Thailand Itinerary Ideas

Bahrain Visa Requirements

Travel Safety in Mexico

Is it Safe to Travel in South Africa?

Why not take advantage of our network of experts to ask your own questions?