Traveling to Thailand - 8 Places to Start Your Thailand Holiday

Bangkok the big mango

Bangkok is the ideal starting point for any Thai holiday and countless monstrous shopping centers and hundreds of clubs will keep you busy forever. The tourist's sights around the grand palace will be done in a weekend and if shopping is not your thing Bangkok have exit in all directions for very cheap prices by air, bus or train. It is also the home of Khosan Road the mysterious street that is the big starting point for every person who wants to be called a true backpacker in Asia. You will feel right at home with backpackers delight such as Star Bucks and Mac D that moved in a few years ago.

Pattaya the black pearl on the east coast of Thailand

Pattaya, discovered by the Americans during the south east Asia wars, built up by sun hungry men from the United Kingdom during the 1980s, invaded by Vikings in the 1990 and put to sleep until around 2000 when the Arab invasion started but was stopped by the Russian take over in 2006. People come to Pattaya to live, to play golf, to visit the many girl bars but they don't come to swim in the sea. Pattaya is not a ideal family holiday destination but Thai family's still flock her on big weekends to sit under huge parasols with their cloth while playing cards and eating sea food.

Issan the forgotten Kingdom

Not many tourists travel further north then Ayutthaya but more to the north east is the forgotten tourist destination if Issan (essan). Issan is what many people call the real Thailand and people from north east are the work horses behind all factories and rice farms in Thailand. On the big holidays you can see Bangkok shut down and the bus stations overfill with people trying to get back to the forgotten Kingdom. For people that want to travel where not many tourists have traveled before this is the perfect place to start your exploration of Thailand. Most backpackers skipped the north east of Thailand and headed straight for the northern parts so this is a hidden gem. You will not see many other white people besides the older settlers and their younger native wife's. Don't be surprised if some villages never seen a white person and that you will see Thai genuine smiles and hospitality. You can travel by bus but the best way to travel is by car or motorbike if you have the possibility.

Samui island the rebel outpost

Samui was from the beginning a big farm for Coconuts but most of them have been cut down or died in a disease and nothing is done to save them. Now Samui in south Thailand is a place for backpackers that could not leave Thailand because they did not want to back their suite job. They also could not get enough of trance music that coming from the island of Koh-Phangan. The former backpackers' have set up spa, yoga centers, cologne centers, wellness centers and just feeling happy because I smoke to much weed centers. Samui has real unspoiled beaches and bungalows by the sea and in the wet season the whole center get flooded. You can compare it a bit to Christiania in Denmark since the motorbike gangs also found their way here, it just more sunny.

Phuket the Andaman Pearl

Phuket is the starting point of every island hopping tour in south Thailand and many low cost carriers fly here every day from around the world. It the home too many expat and you will find the most ridicules prices ever for a house on this Island. Phuket is a perfect holiday detention for everybody because it has the nightlife, the clean beaches and cheap hotels if you look for it. Phuket has never really recovered after the Tsunami 2004 and the many hotels are empty most of the low season and real bargains can be found.

Krabi the Island kingdom

Who can forget the old James Bond movie "Gold finger" and the hidden Island near Krabi in south Thailand? If you want beaches, underwater exploring and quiet nightlife then Krabi is the place to go. It is also the place people go for rock climbing. Krabi has many spectacular five star resorts where the beach really belongs to you and not many tourists bother to travel down here.

Chiang Mai the northern realm

It does not matter how you spell it Chiang Mai, Chiangmai, Cheng Mai or Cheang Mai it is still the capital of northern Thailand. Many artists and culture personalities from both Thailand abroad have built homes here and they create a unique atmosphere in this northern part of Thailand. If you want to travel further north and visit the hill tribes of Thailand Chiang Mai is your starting point. The town has lost some of its charm to traffic jams and forest burning but in the cold season Thai travel so they can try on the glows and winter clothing's they bought in Bangkok. If you want to buy cheap Thai style furniture imported from Burma this is the play to go.

Hua Hin the new charter Paradise

Thai people think of Hua hin like a high society place and like to travel there by car and stay in posh hotels and visits expansive spas. The sea side resort is most famous because it's where the King of Thailand like has his summer castle. The tourists that come here are mostly charter and Hua Hin is perfect for families even it's is a bit difficult to get there. The beach stretches forever and ever year they play elephant polo here.

Samal Island's 5 Best Beaches

Aside from being the metropolitan society of the Davao region, Davao City also holds a remote island vibe that's undeniably captivating and calming at the same time. Housing an adjacent island that boasts pristine shores, crystal clear waters and world-class accommodations, a quick escape from the city is possible at any time of the year.

Samal Island is Davao's pearl as its beauty never fails to enchant its visitors. A tiny spec of land within the Davao gulf, many beach resorts are widely accessible by boat rides from the city's wharfs. To name a few of the most visited beach resorts in the island, here's a list below:

Paradise Island Park and Beach Resort

Just five minutes away from the city's wharf, this resort is the most accessible in Samal Island. Developed with top of the line accommodations, visitors can enjoy a day trip or a booked accommodation in the vicinity. The Paradise Island Park and Beach Resort is also perfect for those who just want to squeeze in a beach trip from their busy schedules. Because of its nearness, people prefer to take a quick break and just have lunch in the area. Moreover, the resort proudly features its bird sanctuary and mini zoo as well as its Bali themed huts that's all perfect for an island getaway.

Maxima Aquafun

For a different beach trip, Maxima Aquafun is something to put on one of your beach trip schedules. Forget about sun bathing and go for a water adventure as the resort is situated on the island's cliff areas. Featured on several national travel shows, Maxima's facilities are really something to look forward to. Get that adrenaline rush as you try the resort's water sports most especially the largest water slide in Samal.

Kaputian Park and Beach Resort

Perfect for the backpackers and those who are longing for paradise but are on a budget. Samal Island only proves that the beach is for everyone. Owned and managed by Samal's local government, guests don't need to spend a lot just to achieve the ultimate beach getaway. Bask in the sun and lie on the white talc-like sand as you enjoy the sea breeze and majestic horizon.

BlueJaz Beach Resort and WaterPark

For yet another quick escape, head on to BlueJaz, a gem within the island. Filled with amazing amenities and a wide variety of accommodations, the resort services perfectly whether it's only for a day trip or for a couple of days. With pools, giant water slides and a zip line adventure, there's a lot in store for everyone in BlueJaz. Moreover, the food is just delectable.

Buenavista Island Resort

For those who want to splurge a little for the ultimate privacy, Samal features Buenavista Island Resort. A posh island resort where you get to rent the entire island, you'll be able to enjoy an island escape like no other. Fees on this island are inclusive of transfers, accommodations and food.

Malaysian Food and Top Ten Must Eats

Eating is a favourite pastime in Malaysia. I don't know if it was a Malaysian who coined the term 'live to eat', but other than visiting the mall, Malaysians eat, eat and eat. In fact, we eat at anytime of the day. Or night. Or even midnight. Yes, there are plenty of 24 hours restaurants called 'mamaks' that cater to our midnight hunger pangs. In fact, the stereotype of a Malaysian is that he eats not just during breakfast, lunch and dinner, but in between as well! This used to be such a problem in civil service that the government had to eliminate brunch time in order to increase productivity!

In fact, in Malaysia, very often people do not say, "How are you?". Instead, they say, "Sudah makan?", which means, "Have you eaten?"

It's not surprising that Malaysia is truly a paradise for food lovers. Being a multi cultural and multi racial society, not only do we have the best food from each culture, cultural integration produces even more types of foods.

Let me introduce to you the cuisines of the three main races in Malaysia- Malay, Chinese and Indian. If you have tried Chinese or Indian food before and think you've tasted it all, think again. Malaysian Chinese and Indian food have adapted to the local palate and have evolved into cuisines of their own. And like other cuisines, there are many regional variations, but here I will give you a general overview.

Malay

Cooking Style

Let's begin with Malay food. Malay cuisine uses many types of fresh aromatic herbs and roots such as lemongrass, ginger, garlic, shallots and chillies. Many of these herbs and roots are native to this region. Spices are also important and they are called 'rempah'. Another important ingredient is coconut milk, which is added to make a dish creamy and rich. There is also a key ingredient called 'belacan', which is a fermented paste made from tiny baby shrimps mixed with salt and chillies.

Typical Meal

You can find Malay food everywhere in Malaysia. A typical meal that you might order is a rice dish with dried anchovies, cucumber, peanuts and a hard boiled egg, together with the meat of your choice, called 'nasi lemak'. The rice is cooked in coconut milk. You might even order plain rice and usually accompanied by three side dishes of your choice, such as chicken, mutton, or beef and a variety of vegetables- all cooked in Malay style. Accompanying your dish, you could have beef soup which is called 'sup lembu'; or mutton soup which is called 'sup kambing' - two very popular Malay soups. To wash it down, you may order a refreshing cordial drink called 'air sirap'; or a cordial drink with condensed milk called 'ais bandung'.

Other Delicacies

Other Malay delicacies include fish mousse, grilled slowly over a fire, called 'otak-otak' and a noodle dish garnished with cucumber, onion, and lettuce served in savoury fish soup called 'laksa'. There are many regional variations of 'laksa', so try one in every state. There is also a Malay salad, which is called 'ulam'; consisting of a combination of fresh aromatic herbs; mint, basil, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, turmeric leaves, and raw vegetables like bean sprouts, long green beans, shallots, and cucumber. Instead of Thousand Island dressing, the topping is a combination of salted fish, dried prawns, fish crackers, fried grated coconut, and other savory garnishes.

If you're in Kelantan, which is the north-eastern state of the Peninsula, try this regional dish that serves blue rice with a variety of side dishes, It's called Nasi Kerabu. The blue colour is a result of the cooking process, where certain types of herbs are thrown into the water during the cooking of the rice

Dessert

For dessert, try a bread-like puff with sugar, corn, and coarsely chopped nuts in the middle called 'apam balik'.

Chinese

Cooking Style

Next, we move onto Chinese food. Chinese food is typically considered milder in spiciness, but Chinese cuisine in Malaysia has taken a spicier touch. Chinese cuisine is varied, but in Malaysia the style is generally the Cantonese style of cooking. A common way of cooking is stir fry. Cantonese cuisine balances the yin and the yang, of food, a difficult concept to describe. You may hear people refer to it as the cooling or "heaty" effects of food. For example vegetables, some fruits and soup are considered cooling and meat is considered heaty.

Typical Meal

A typical Chinese meal can be found easily in many restaurants and hawker stalls in Malaysia. You can also go to a 'kopitiam', which is a traditional Chinese cafe. You might order 'economy rice', which has rice and a variety of side dishes. A common practice is to choose three side dishes- one meat, one vegetable and the last, a dish like tofu or egg. You might also order a noodle dish. There are many styles of cooking noodles such as Cantonese or Hokkien style. You can try the fried noodle with eggs, cockles and bean sprouts called 'char kuey tiao', or Chinese noodles with dumplings and roast pork called 'wan tan mee'. You could also order thick noodles fried with black sauce and pork lard called 'hokkien mee'. Chicken rice is also very popular in Malaysia. To wash it down, you could order Chinese tea, or herbal tea.

Other Delicacies

Other delicacies include Chinese spring rolls stuffed with steamed vegetables, bean sprouts, turnip and carrot, called 'popiah'. Another popular dish here is the pork rib soup called 'bak kut the'. The soup is cooked for many hours with garlic, pork ribs and a variety of herbs. Chinese dumplings are also a must-try. They are glutinous rice wrapped in a leaf along with pork, mushrooms, nuts and salted duck egg yolk. if you have heard of 'dim sum' before, you must try the Malaysian version. It is basically an assortment of bite size dishes, including seafood, meat and vegetables. Dim sum is usually eaten in the morning.

Dessert

For dessert, a well-loved Chinese dessert is curdled soy bean milk topped with syrup called 'tao foo fah'.

Indian

Cooking Style

Indian cooking is of course, very spicy and hot. it has also adapted to the local culture to create a new type of cuisine. Most of the Indian food in Malaysia (comes from) from Southern India, but North Indian food is also widely available. Spices are the heart and soul of Indian cooking. Spices like coriander, cumin, turmeric, fennel, cardamom, clove, cinnamon and star anise are widely used.

Typical Meal

Indian food is easily available in Malaysia. For a typical meal, you might want to have rice served on a banana leaf, accompanied by a variety of spicy hot dishes such as mutton, chicken, fish, squid and crabs. Or you might order bread, and there are many types of them. To name a few, thin rice pancakes or 'thosai', fermented rice and dhal or 'vadai', wheat bread or 'chapati', flour bread or 'roti canai'. Or you may also be interested in chicken tandoori- that's chicken slowly grilled in a clay oven.

Other Delicacies

There are 24 hour restaurants open if you're suffering from a midnight hunger pang. Affectionately called 'mamak', they have been institutionalized as a Malaysian icon. Mamaks are run usually by Indian Muslims. If Westerners hang out at bars, Malaysians hang out mamaks. Mamak food is distinct, and a popular drink here is the 'the tarik', or tea with condensed milk. Other popular food you can order in a mamak is the 'maggie goreng', which is fried Maggi instant noodle with eggs, vegetables and meat.

Dessert

For dessert, you may be interested in a sweet dish of rice noodles topped with coconut and coconut palm sugar called 'putu mayam.'

Other Cuisines

There are many other types of cuisines in Malaysia, such as Nyonya cuisine, which is the cooking of the Straits Chinese. Straits Chinese trace their ancestors to Malays and Chinese, and their cooking combines the styles of these two races. I'd recommend a chicken stew cooked with salted soy beans and coconut palm sugar called 'ayam pongteh'; and a chicken dish cooked with nuts from a type of mangrove tree found in Malaysia, which is called 'ayam buah keluak'.

The Portuguese, one of the many colonialists who set foot in Malaysia, left their mark too on local cooking. One (example) is the Devil's Curry, a dish made from vinegar, herbs and nuts and plenty of chilli- hence its name Devil's Curry.

Top Ten Must Eats

Alright. It's now time for the top ten must try foods in Malaysia. As with all cuisines, it is very difficult to compile a list of only ten, especially in Malaysia where there are definitely more than ten foods you must try!

However, if I were to compile a list, it would look like this:

Number One.Nasi lemak. This is the national dish of Malaysia. Nasi lemak literally means 'rice in cream'. There are many regional variations, but the most common ones consist of steamed rice that is cooked with coconut milk and pandan leaves, which is a kind of plant indigenous to this region. Traditionally served on banana leaf, the rice is topped with cucumber slices, dried anchovies, roasted nuts and hard-boiled egg. But the most important ingredient is the 'sambal', a kind of hot spicy sauce made from chilli, pepper and spices. In fact, how delicious a nasi lemak is really depends on how well the 'sambal' is made! Most people will eat nasi lemak accompanied by a dish like chicken, cuttle fish, cockles, beef, or beef rendang which is beef cooked in dried spices, and vegetables.

Number Two. Bak Kut Teh. The name translates into 'meat bone tea'. This Chinese dish is a soup with pork ribs, herbs and garlic cooked for many hours. Other ingredients include mushrooms, internal organs, and dried tofu. Green onions and fried shallots are sometimes added in as well. Bak Kut Teh is served with rice and 'you tiao', which are long fried pieces of dough. Chopped garlic and chilli in soy sauce served in tiny plates often accompany this dish. Chinese tea is a very important part of this dish and is drunk to balance the taste. Try Bak Kut Teh for an authentic Chinese meal.

Number Three. Laksa. Yet another favourite Malaysian dish, laksa has many different regional variations. The more common one is the asam laksa. It is a sour fish- based soup where the main ingredients are shredded fish, usually mackerel, and finely sliced vegetables including cucumbers, onions, red chillis, pineapple, lettuce, mint, and ginger buds. Thick white noodles are then added into the soup. To top it off, a thick sweet shrimp paste is added. Other variations of laksa are Laksa Sarawak, Laksa Penang, Laksa Kedah, Laksa Ipoh, Laksa Kuala Kangsar, Laksa Kari, Laksa Johor, Laksa Kelantan, Laksam, Laksa Lemak and many more.

Number Four. Satay. You might have heard of this one before. It's basically skewered meat served with peanut sauce, cucumber, onions and rice cakes. The choice of meat is varied- you can choose deer meat, rabbit meat and even fish, but the most common are chicken and beef. The marinated meat is skewered on bamboo sticks and grilled over charcoal.

Number Five. Char Kway Teow. It literally means 'stir fried rice cake strips'. Flat rice noodles are fried together with chilli, prawns, cockles, eggs, bean sprouts and vegetables. Sometimes it is fried with pork lard. It also has many regional variations, but the most famous one is the Penang Char Kway Teow.

Number Six. Nasi Kandar. A popular north Malaysia meal that originated in Penang, nasi kandar is widely available. It has rice, and a variety of spicy side dishes to choose from. In fact, it is the spices that make nasi kandar so unique. The dishes are laid like a buffet and you have to point to the side dishes that you want. After you have chosen your side dishes, the waiter will pour a variety of curries onto your plate, and this process is called 'banjir' or 'to flood'. If you can't take spicy food, ask for less curry.

Number Seven. Roti Canai. One of the most (widely consumed foods) in Malaysia, roti canai is a type of flatbread that is available everywhere. It is round and flat, and is eaten with lentil curry called 'dhal'. You can ask for your roti canai to be made in many ways. The more popular variations are: with eggs or roti telur, with banana or roti pisang, made smaller but thicker or roti bom, made thin and flaky like tissue paper or roti tisu. You can even be more adventurous and ask for roti kaya, spread with Malaysian jam made from coconut; or roti Milo, with chocolate powder sprinkled on top. Try a few and find your favourite roti!

Number Eight. Cendol. An all time favourite Malaysian dessert, cendol consists of shaved ice, smooth green rice noodles in chilled coconut milk and coconut palm sugar, or gula Melaka. Sometimes, red beans, glutinous rice and corn are added. If you have a sweet tooth, ask for more gula Melaka, as many Malaysians do!

Number Nine. Teh Tarik. The national drink of Malaysia. It is tea sweetened with condensed milk, and can be ordered hot or iced. Teh means tea in Malay and tarik means to pull, jerk or tug. The milky tea is prepared by using out-stretched hands, pouring the piping hot tea from one mug to another several times. The higher the pull, the thicker the froth, the thicker the froth, the more delicious it is.

Number Ten. I've saved this until the last because there are few things more divisive than this fruit. It is the durian. Known as the King of Fruits, you either love the durian or you hate it. Its smell has been described as sweet, heavenly, fragrant, or disgusting, revolting and downright offensive. The smell evokes either deep appreciation or intense disgust. Some have compared the smell of the durian to the civet, sewage, stale vomit, skunk spray and used surgical swabs. The British novelist Anthony Burgess describes the durian as, "like eating sweet raspberry blancmange in the lavatory". Chef Andrew Zimmern compares the taste to "completely rotten, mushy onions." Anthony Bourdain, while himself a lover of durian, says of it: "Its taste can only be described as...indescribable, something you will either love or despise. Your breath will smell as if you'd been French-kissing your dead grandmother." Travel and food writer Richard Sterling says that its odor is best described as "pig-shit, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock that can be smelled from yards away." It's no wonder durian is banned in most hotels and airlines.

The durian is green in colour and has sharp thorns on the outside. Inside, the flesh of the fruit is usually yellow, but the colour varies from species to species. Durians used to be seasonal fruits, but with genetic modification, durians are now available all year around. This is either good news or bad news, depending on your feelings towards durians. The best place to get durians is directly from the orchards, but if you'd like to just sample a bite or two, you can get them at major supermarkets. Just ask around.

I encourage you to be adventurous and try the durian. However, if you are too overpowered by the strong smell, you can always try durian ice cream or durian cakes, though purists will swear it is not the same at all.

So there you have it. The top ten must eats in Malaysia. I hope you'll manage to try all ten.

Go out and explore. Ask the locals where to find the best nasi lemak or bak kut the. Everyone would have their favourites. It's time to find some Malaysian food and start digging in. Or as we say in Malaysia, 'makan-makan' or 'let's start eating'.

End

This is the end of Malaysian Food guide. I hope you've enjoyed learning about Malaysian food. Hopefully, this will give you a better understanding of the cuisines in Malaysia, and a deeper appreciation of its food.

Choose the Best Camping Style For You

I can imagine what you are thinking at the moment. The summer is in full swing and it is the most preferable and adorable season for those who love nature and love to be in the middle of natural beauty. Thus, you may well be considering a camping adventure. It can be such a sweet and lovable pastime as I feel if you ever tried camping, you are more open to return to it. However, there are some people who only know camping as idea or notion and need to experience it in order to understand it or to know how much fun it can be. So, let's chat about camping as it is great fun and most defiantly a real adventure. Before we start the camping tour, we need to provide you with some information on camping types. After identifying the kind of camping you would prefer we can then decide what suits you best.

The first type is Recreational Vehicle Camping or RV Camping

This by definition is rather comfortable way of camping. From the name you can see that it is like home on wheels. You can bring everything you want and need in this vehicle: food, clothes, personal things, furniture pieces etc. This category is ideally suited for those who like their creature comforts at all times.

The second type is Trailer or Camper

Actually it s very close to the first type, the difference is just minor things fro example some trailers do not have toilets or showers, refrigerators etc.

The third type is Tent Camping

It is a given here that you are ready to sleep on the ground, though covered by a tent. In this case you have to think about all the necessary things like additional warm clothes or additional blankets and of course all the hygienic items you will need in advance. It is also required that you look for a place you can shelter for the night. Depending on your individual preferences you can choose a camping site or maybe just a place near a village or a local green area, however, if you are really fed up with everything and want to have a rest away from society, and then a distant place away from everyone may well be your cup of tea.

The next is Hiking or Backpacking

This type is for the advanced, sporty and experienced adventurist, because everything you need you will carry on your back, so you need to be fairly fit. Your rucksack must be full of only the most needed things; it must be light and packed properly so that you can carry it for long distances. Before you go hiking- think twice about this kind of camping.

The last style of camping is Canoe or Kayak

This is a most specialist and comprehensive type of camping. In addition to all things you need to carry also you have to think about the extra component of the canoe. As well as taking care of all things so as for them not get wet and keep them safe.

Hopefully we have now given you some food for thought and even some answers to your questions. Of course, this is just a starting point.There is still a great amount of other questions you should still want to ask, such as what equipment you have to take with you, what other advice do I need, what are the recommendations on the various camping sites and places do I need? If you want to know more follow our articles. If you want to find an idyllic place for camping, then try travel Isle of Wight as it is the best place to have a great holiday.

Hotels in Goa - Choice Of Comfortable Stay

Goa a major tourist hub of India oozes a distinctive charm unique this place. Having been under Portuguese rule for 451 years the state looks visibly different from rest of India. As different is the state such is its tourist population and hotels that come in all shape and sizes catering to all the sections of the society.

For people looking for some indulgence and money is not a matter of concern then they can easily opt for the Five star deluxe hotels that pamper its guests to the tee. Some of these super luxury hotels are the Goa Marriott Resort, Cidade de Goa Hotel, Majorda Beach Resort, Park Hyatt Goa Resort, Taj Exotica and Spa, Radisson White Sands Resorts and many more.

Some of the facilities that guests can look forward to at these lavish hotels are restaurants and bars, banquets, conference rooms, spas, room service, laundry service, car rental, shopping arcade, doctor on call and much more.

Scaling down a little Goa also has tremendous choices in terms of its 5 star hotels. Some of them are Taj Holiday Village, Bambolim Beach Resort, Hotel Goan Heritage, club Mahindra and many more. Some of the standard facilities available with these hotels include multi cuisine restaurant, bars, 24 hr cafe, conference rooms, business center, Money changing, secretarial services, safe deposit lockers, Doctor on call and much more.

There are also wide choices of budget hotels available for tourists traveling on a budget. Hotels under this category also enjoy massive popularity as the majority of travelers to this part of the country are young adults, students and backpackers who do not like to shell too much on accommodation. The budget hotels offer basic amenities and friendly services getting you through the day. Some of the popular budget hotels include Alor Holiday Resort, Hotel Delmon, Ronil Beach Resort, Hotel Villa Sol, Ronil Royale and others.

Facilities at these economy hotels are complete value for money and you will not be disappointed. Some of the facilities available at these hotels generally include multi cuisine restaurant, bar, conference facilities, Foreign exchange, laundry services, communication facilities, doctors on call, Sightseeing assistance and much more.

A word to remember is that Goa is comparatively on the expensive side as per Indian Standards, hence these budget or economy hotels are popular tourist choice and offer great packages. Also do remember to make advance hotel bookings if traveling to this region as rooms are difficult to get during peak tourist season.

An Overview of London Hotels

London, being the capital of England and the United Kingdom, is one of the top tourist destinations in the entire world. It is a melting pot of art, culture, fashion, and society. That is why it should come as no surprise why the city has thousands of hotels and lodging establishments to cater to the sheer demand of people visiting the city.

There are London hotels that cater to the entire gamut of tourists, especially given that the London Development Agency says that the amount tourists spend in London amount to over £15 billion ($23.64 billion) annually. That is definitely a lot of tourists, and that entails a whole lot of revenue. London has all types of hotels that suit all sorts of needs and budgets, ranging from luxury hotels to more affordable bed & breakfasts and even backpacker hostels.

For those who have quite a lot of money to spare, there are only 3 can't-miss luxury hotels: The Ritz Hotel London in Piccadilly, Claridge's in Mayfair, and the Savoy Hotel located in central London's Strand. Staying at these opulent hotels entails a steep price-up to £1,000 (over $1,500) per night.

The prices of accommodations in London largely depend on the location. Those with a good measure proximity to the city's center and nearness to other landmarks and tourist attractions will of course tend to be more expensive. Even 2-star or 3-star establishments can fetch upwards of £150 (nearly $235) per night if the location is right in central London. This scales higher as the stars go up.

Cheaper accommodations can be had, however. As with other major metropolitan areas, London offers hostels and apartments that are highly cost-effective if a tourist isn't too particular about room size, quality of furnishings, and sharing with others (for groups). Sometimes, during the summer when school is out, certain university residence halls are made available for visitor accommodation. This is another option for those seeking budget accommodations.

Here's one good tip for visitors to London who want to save money on accommodations: more savings can be had by staying in a hotel somewhere farther from the central area of the city. Even if the costs of transportation are factored in, there's a big difference compared to the amount one would spend on hotel rooms near the center. What's more, tourists can get to see more places by staying in the periphery.

For those with cash, however, it is safe to simply say "go to town." It would be a shame not to experience the best of the best when it comes to London hotels. A night at The Ritz or at the Savoy would provide a memory to last a lifetime. Moreover, getting to rest and relax at these famous establishments, with all the lavish furnishings and high-end services and world-class dinners, can be an adventure in itself.

With the sheer number and variety of people visiting the UK capital of London year in and year out, it is only natural to have establishments that cater to every possible need of tourists and sightseers. It is only important to determine which aspects of London hotels to prioritize-cost versus convenience and comfort, among other things. Regardless, one should be able to have the vacation of a lifetime.

Nana Hotel Bangkok - Is it Worth Staying In?

The Nana Hotel in Bangkok is arguably one of the most talked about hotels in Bangkok. The major draw to this hotel is obviously nearby Nana Entertainment Plaza, which is a 4 story den of sex and booze, and the parking lot outside of the Nana hotel which is full of freelance prostitutes. There is so many mixed reviews about this place that it almost makes it impossible for anyone to decide whether to stay or not in this hotel. But most will agree, Nana Hotel is one of the most well known guest friendly hotel in Bangkok. This means registered guest do not have to pay an additional fee or joiner fee for bringing in unregistered guest for an overnight stay.

How do I know this? After living and working in Bangkok for over five years I have become the unofficial tour guide for friends and friends of friends and so on. All of them eventually ask me "Is the Nana Hotel a good place to stay in?".

And my honest answer at the time was "I don't know, I live in an apartment." Since I knew I was going to get asked that particular question time and time again I decided to follow along my friends (or guinea pigs) and see personally how the hotel looks from the inside out.

The Nana Hotel is located on Sukhumvit Soi 4, in a mixed commercial zone that doubles as red-light district. Scores of freelance prostitutes congregate in the surrounding areas especially outside of Nana Hotel's parking lot. This is definitely not a place to bring your family especially kids and grandparents. However, I do see them often, mostly Europeans who are not so uptight about such spectacles. You can easily access the Sky Train at Nana BTS station with a 5 minute walk. The Sky Train will easily take you to the other attractions in Bangkok.

Now, I'm not sure when the hotel was built exactly, but it's safe to say the 1970's is the first thing that comes to mind. The lobby is usually filled with backpacker types, young guys looking to sow their oats and a smattering of older folks looking for company that they otherwise never find back home. Once I've seen a group of Australians wearing rugby uniforms. Are they actual athletes is a whole different subject. Obviously a far cry from the days the hotel was first opened. I've read previous reviews about reception staff being rude and obnoxious to guests who are checking in.

After living in Bangkok for awhile I know the reason why. Thai society follows a strict social order and is very class based. The better you look and present yourself, the more respect you get. So if you're checking in dressed like you're heading straight for the pool, forget about that much talked about gracious and beautiful Thai smile. I'm not saying you have to dress like your heading to an important business meeting. A nice clean button shirt, pressed pants and clean shoes and you'll see your respect meter shoot up. You'll even get a better chance of scoring an upgrade or a room in excellent condition. By the way, this is true in any hotel in Asia, actually most likely everywhere.

It works time and time again whenever my friends check in. They don't always get a room upgrade, but they get rooms where they've never had to ask for a room change or find questionable carpet stains.

The rooms here are the absolute bare basics. After-all the Nana Hotel is considered in the budget category. A bed, color television with international channels, mini fridge and a decently clean bathroom is what you get for around 1400 THB including taxes and a free buffet breakfast. A free daily newspaper is a nice added touch. Housekeeping did there job quite well, or as best as they can, after all they have to clean up after piss drunk guests half the time.

The Nana Hotel doesn't offer much in terms of facilities for guest use, just an adequate pool on the fourth floor and free Wi-Fi in the lobby. In the lobby is also where you can find Angel's Nana Disco, a frequent freelance hangout. And since ladies enter for free you're going to find a lot there. Definitely worth a visit.

My final word here is the Nana Hotel in Bangkok is a good choice for you if you want to mess around and have fun. But I wouldn't recommend staying here throughout your entire trip. It's best to stay there for 3 nights, enjoy the nightlife, and shift over to another hotel in a more quiet area. It's what I suggest to friends who come visit me in Bangkok as the unofficial tour guide.

Bangkok Budget Hotel Guide - Travel Tips From an Insider

The great city of Bangkok in the Kingdom of Thailand is one of the most popular exotic destinations in Southeast Asia. To accommodate the millions of tourist a year, Bangkok has hundreds of hotels of that cater to the most pampered tourist to frugal backpacker.

The room rates in all Bangkok's hotels are heavily influenced by the seasons. The high season is typically between November through March, where the weather in Thailand is cooler, much cooler in North Thailand, less humid with less rainfall. The low season is between April which is the hottest month, through October which has the most rainfall.

If you plan to book your stay in particular hotels in Bangkok during holidays such as Christmas and New Years you might have a compulsory dinner charge tacked on top of your room rate. So make sure you check your booking details.

Most people ask me which season I prefer to go visit Bangkok for vacation. My honest answer is any season is fine. If I had to choose I would say low season. During the low season Bangkok's hotel room rates can get reduced by 20%. In most extreme cases room rates in Bangkok can get slashed as much as 40%.

The next question I get asked is do I recommend staying in budget hotels in Bangkok. My answer is yes, I absolutely recommend it. There are many budget hotels in Bangkok that are close to main attractions such as cultural sights, city train stations,  shopping malls and nightlife hot-spots. Most people think budget hotels equate to rooms with blood stained mattresses and bathroom sinks with missing faucets in the middle of nowhere.

So how would you react if I told you that most budget hotels in Bangkok have rooms with LCD TVs, CD/DVD player, free Wi-Fi, electronic room safe, a small swimming pool and gym. All of those amenities and facilities including a great location can be enjoyed in a budget hotel in Bangkok for $40 USD per night including taxes and free daily breakfast.

Now that you know all the good stuff there are trade offs to staying in budget hotels in Bangkok. One is hotel staff may not be highly trained and proficient in English or any other foreign language. From what I've noticed budget hotel owners put most of their money towards the design and functionality of their hotel property and less in qualified staff. This does not mean you'll get poor service. It means be patient with hotel staff. They have a job to do and they will perform it to the best of their ability.

Another trade off is is that not all rooms in budget hotels are the same in quality. Some are better then others in terms of room conditions. Hotel's reception staff know which room gets the most complaints, but there job is to keep the hotel full so management discourages room changes. So here's the biggest tip you should remember. And this tip applies to all hotels in Bangkok. If you ever check in to a room that you don't like for whatever reason, here's a great way to get your room change.

Before you go downstairs to speak to reception or the hotel manager, you should dress as sharp as you can. Put on a nice long sleeve button down shirt, suit pant and shoes. When you're speaking, speak with confidence. Thai society is class based and the better dressed you are the better treatment you'll get as they think you're successful when they see you. If a room is truly available you'll get it. If you're wearing swim short, tank top and flips flops then your request for a room change might be turned down with the answer that there aren't any rooms available, even if there is.

Top 5 Luxury Vs Top 5 Budget London Hotels

London has a reputation for being one of the most expensive cities in the world to visit and live in. The best choice of hotel usually involves its proximity. The best budget hotels tend to be in areas like Bayswater, Victoria and Kensington. Victoria is the more ideal location because of its proximity to London's airport and rail networks. Most luxury hotels tend to be found in areas like Park Lane and Mayfair. Therefore people may prefer taste over cost, or people may prefer cost over luxury.

The top 5 budget hotels that offer good hotel deals in London include the following:

Hoxton Hotel, Hoxton - This is luxury-free, which people may prefer. The hotel is very much back to basics - bar, restaurant, WiFi and more than 200 rooms. There are also shower rooms that are clean and with doubles priced at £59 with breakfast thrown in, it is a great example of comfort at a low cost.

Base 2 Stay, Kensington - A low cost experience, but stylish in its own way. It offers good beds, quality showers and reasonably priced broadband and phone connections. Rooms come with kitchen spaces, which is great if you do not want to spend all your time dining out.

Piccadilly Backpackers, Piccadilly - A 700-bed hostel in the centre of London, it has great showers, laundry facilities and an internet cafe. The best rooms on the third level have been rebranded as part of the Hostel Art project. There are also dorms in a Japanese style, ranging from just £12.

The Queen's Park Hotel - A large Victorian-era structure in Queensborough Terrace, offering a Victorian experience without the modern luxury of the Langham Hotel. One thing it will guarantee is a good night's sleep and is good value for its heritage.

The Henley House Hotel, Earl's Court - Located in a hidden side street and near Earl's Court Station with comfortable and well equipped rooms. Also look out over the gardens. It has a welcoming atmosphere and breakfast is served in the conservatory, which gives a hint of luxury.

These are in marked contrast to luxury hotels of London which give a feeling of exclusivity to people who can afford them:

The Montcalm, Park Lane, Marble Arch - This is the newest luxury hotel in London. It has a fresh and contemporary design priding itself on luxury and comfort, and this is reflected in the contemporary designs of the bathroom and bedrooms. Also has a spa, swimming pool and gym, and two high-quality restaurants within it. It is in the heart of London, which means you are close to luxury shopping centres like Oxford Street, Marble Arch and Park Lane.

The Dorchester Hotel, Mayfair - A hotel in the heart of Mayfair, overlooking Hyde Park. A contemporary twist on a 1930s character is the height of luxury. Its beautifully designed rooms are notably spacious. The restaurants and bars within it attract the wealthiest of society. The newly-transformed Dorchester Spa offers a truly pampering experience.

The Langham Hotel, Regent Street - This historical Victorian-styled hotel has been newly restored. It has 380 luxury rooms, 15 function rooms, and Palm Court which spawned the birth of afternoon tea. This hotel has entertained royalty, celebrities and high society types since 1865, when it opened as the first Grand Hotel in Europe. Its reputation sets it apart from other hotels, priding itself on heritage values.

The Ritz, Piccadilly - For over a century, this has been one of the most popular and well-known luxury London hotels. Home to many guests like intellectuals, glitterati and celebrities since 1906, The Ritz offers five types of suite with period interiors, and five banqueting rooms for any important event.

Claridges, Mayfair - Known for stunning design and service to match. This sophisticated hotel is known for hosting celebrities, afternoon tea and fine dining. It is both glamorous and elegant and attracts and provides true luxury.

There is marked contrast between luxury and budget hotels. The five budget hotels allow people of any background to enjoy London at a good price and are situated in areas which have access to the centre of the city. These are better value in terms of somewhere to stay than luxury hotels that are more likely for business trips and wealthier people. If you are staying in London for a few days then budget hotels are a good way of saving costs and being able to appreciate the sights of England's capital. These hotel deals make visiting the capital more affordable.

Backpacking in Japan

Japan is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Asia, thanks, largely, to the wealth of things to see and do in the country. For budget travelers and backpackers from the West, Japan has also emerged as a very popular recently - budget travelers flock here to sample its unique culture, excellent food, and impressively cheap accommodation.

Thanks to its mix of bustling metropolises and countryside idylls, Japan is a perfect travel spot for just about anyone. Here, then, is a quick round-up of how to go about spending your time in the country...

Traveling in Japan
There are many ways in which you can travel in and around Japan. The most popular tourist attraction is the bullet train. These trains, though now in use in many countries around the world, were initially made famous in Japan. For tourists from all over the globe, the experience of traveling at speeds of about 300 kilometers per hour is one for the scrapbook. Another great thing about travel in the cities of Japan is that commuter trains have special cars reserved only for women. Especially during the rush hour, when the trains are crowded, these cars offer respite for women travelers who can travel hassle-free.

Cities in Japan
For the budget traveler in Japan, there are a number of cities that veritably scream for attention. Tokyo remains a very popular city with tourists thanks to its cosmopolitan culture and great vibrancy. This is the capital of Japan and it's a city so full of life it inevitably leaves an indelible mark on the minds of those who visit. For those who are more inclined to view the traditional aspects of Japanese culture and society, Kyoto is perhaps the city to be in, as it offers a range of memorable traditional experiences (it's also marginally cheaper than Tokyo, which always helps for those traveling with money on the mind!). Kanazawa is also a city that retains a strong sense of history and any backpacker interested in Japan through the ages would be well advised to include a stay here on their itinerary.

What to see in Kyoto?
Once you are in Kyoto, the Imperial Palace and its beautiful gardens are a must see. Quite simply, this is the stuff backpackers' dreams are made of, featuring beautiful architecture and chilled-out tranquil grounds. The ideal time to visit the gardens is during the spring when the cherry trees are in full blossom, resulting in a riot of colors that make for great photo opportunities.

Things to do in Kyoto:

Meditation is a great thing to do for the backpacker in Kyoto. Meditation is a part of Japanese culture and for those who want to experience it to the fullest, it is a must do. You can try it out in Taizo-in or Shunko-in, which have Zen meditation sessions that are free to attend. All you have to do is to make reservations well in advance.

Make it a point to visit Kyoto during the cherry blossom season. This is the time when you get to see the best of nature in Japan. For the backpacker who is intent on seeing the best sights of the country, the walk along the road known as the 'Philosopher's Path' (from Nanzen-ji to Ginkaku-ji) which abounds in cherry trees and shrines, is certainly one worth taking.

Where to stay in Kyoto?
Located close to the Imperial Palace, the Kamo River and the university, the Kyoto Globetrotters Hostel is a cheap and clean hostel for backpackers. It is a Kyoto hostel that is ideal for budget travelers because it offers the basic facilities at a very good price. Among Kyoto hostels, the Urban Hotel Kyoto often proves a popular choice thanks to its facilities and all-round comfort. This is a three-star hotel that nonetheless comes at an affordable price.

Backpacking Information on the Maldives

Population: 338,000 (UN, 2005)
Capital: Male
Area: 298 sq km (115 sq miles)
Major language: Divehi
Major religion: Islam
Life expectancy: 67 years (men), 66 years (women) (UN)
Monetary unit: 1 rufiyaa = 100 laari

Republic of Maldives is the epitome of a dream that is "a sunny side of life." The Maldives islands conjures an imagery of a string of white glorious pearls afloat a cobalt blue of infinity, which is the Indian Ocean. Its paradise beauty is utterly stunning and the shores are in the purest white that it has in the last couple of years earned the prestige of the "World's Most Romantic Destination." The world's true jewel, it is a destination beyond all destinations. Unfortunately, such a paradise that bathed in crystal blue waters and washed in pristine blue waters comes with a price (a hefty one too!) with its appeal almost exclusively affordable to everybody well-heeled. Acknowledged on paper as possibly South Asia's richest country, the locals, however, suffer a different side of life that translates to dark and cloudy. Indeed, the local lifestyle in a land battered by storms, possessing too thin a soil to carry out a harvest, is a far cry from the brochure pictures of honeymoon suites and first class service. But of the multi-billion dollar travel industry, the 300,000 or so islanders reap no benefits. It is the government's battle now to integrate progress within the society.

GEOGRAPHY & CLIMATE

In Maldives, life is a beach, with around 1,190 corals strung afloat a total area of 90,000 km2 in which a greater part of which is water, and only 298 km2 is land mass. The paradise is endowed with the deep blue of the ocean, white of the sands and corals, gold of the sun, and the marriage of colours from different species of foliage and marine life. The terrain of the lowest country in the world is generally flat beaches with the highest point only at an elevation of 2.4 metres on Wilingili Island in the Addu Atoll, thus causing some recent green concerns and policies to surface and be open for dialogue. In truth, it is one of the most vulnerable places, if not the most, to rising sea levels. The Kingdom of A Thousand Isles is on the geographic coordinates (3 15 N, 73 00 E) right in the middle of the vast Indian Ocean, sunny as ever with a tropically warm climate and a just-right temperature of 24 °C-30°C balanced out by the cool of the constant sea breeze. As the ultimate "winter escape", the Maldives is heavily-touristed from the months of December to April but a little caution, from the months of February to April, the island is at its hottest in all sense of the word, and from June to August, the monsoon effects on the island with heavy rainfall. Regardless, there is absolutely no wrong time to visit the Maldives. As a nation that prays for future safety among the ocean where it lies, there can never be an exceptionally better time to explore this crown jewel than now when the sun is high and the waters are low.

PEOPLE & CULTURE

The small archipelago of South Asia holds a small community of 396,334 (July 2009) Maldivians from the ethnic groups of South Indians, Sinhalese, and Arabs with culture and traditions of their own. More than 300,000 of the population are faithful of Sunni Islam. Adult literacy stands at 99%, and while MALDIVIAN DHIVEHI, a dialect of Sinhala, is the language of the islands, ENGLISH is widely spoken, not only by the elite and government officials, neither for business and state matters alone, but by the general public. The traveller will be amazed at how engaging and conversant the locals are that you can have a chat wherever you are in the archipelago. They aim to entertain as hospitality is comes naturally to the Malidivians.

ATTRACTION

So, no prior visa is required, and a 30-day visa is free upon arrival for all visitors, but the immortal question remains for the independent budget traveller. What is in store for the backpacker, our modern explorers? It ought to be known even at the bottom end, the Maldives still is not cheap. Well, Male has great budget choices coming in midrange at $50 for boutique brands to economically and ecologically sound hotels, and top-of-the-bottom range at $90. The backpackers are a rarity in these parts really, but we're talking a "holiday of a lifetime" and "best value for money". The Maldives archipelago is worth going to more than once if possible before the 23-inch sea level rise (that is almost 2 feet of water). The Maldives is the place for the "package tourist," but getting to know the islands is by going independent. Good planning and a sweet decent financial lubrication will just about do it for the budget traveller. As 40% of Maldivians live on less than US$1 a day, so can you. Tourist policies tend to restrict contact with the locals and the tourists, so it just makes perfect sense to have your authentic Maldives vacation in any of the 200 inhabited islands like Male, if you cannot afford to stay in one of the 80 resort islands. The honeymooner or the sun worshipper may find a paradise in other few inhabited non-resort islands like Viligili, Hulhumale', Thila Fushi and Himmafushi.

FOOD

It is in these non-resort islands you will find a real taste of Maldives. Maldivian cuisine is another word for exotic gourmet, or so they say. The first wave of European travellers did not like the food so the history of a Maldivian-sophistication begun. Traditional Maldivian cuisine, is entirely different from the Maldivian gourmet introduced in hotel restaurants, and is based on fish (tuna), coconut, and rice and other forms of starch. Dessert is another cultural experience because instead of a sweet jam or chocolate filling, fish meat nestles inside a puff pastry. Desserts show a tamer side to Maldivian gastronomy like Foni boakibaa, a baked sweet square dessert made with coconut, rice, flour, water, sugar and rose water. Banana in coconut milk, and watlappan, which is like a coconut custard with nuts are mild and lovely as well.

For more valuable travel information on backpacking and various destinations throughout the world please visit our website Backpacking Addictz.

Josh

Backpacking Addictz
Email: admin@backpackingaddictz.com

Backpacking - The Travel Insurance Debate

When planning a backpacking trip, travel insurance may be the last thing on your mind.

The result is that many backpackers leave the UK without such a policy in place despite carrying an average £600-worth of luggage, according to a survey carried out by one travel insurance company.

In the consumer society we live in it is quite usual for a backpacker's luggage to contain mobile phones, digital cameras, laptops, mp3 player and other expensive items. The minimum value of the gadgets carried by the average backpacker currently stands at £200 - with many carrying far in excess of this amount.

Yet a third of travellers fail to take out any insurance policy, which means these items are uninsured against loss or theft.

Statistics appear to show that one in 10 tourists have found themselves the target of thieves whilst travelling abroad. The average loss in these cases stands at over £100. It may not sound a lot but when you're travelling on a budget £100 can go a long way.

In addition, 8% of travellers have their luggage stolen from the baggage carousel in the airport - without travel insurance in place this can be very hard to replace without using a large amount of the spending money you originally set aside.

Finding travel insurance for a backpacking holiday is not that hard - in fact many companies offer cover aimed specifically at this type of vacation. You will usually find that it is very cost effective, with the average policy costing less than £5 per week on a 12-month trip.

The majority of those who fail to take out cover do so purely because of the cost which is really a false economy. With over £600 of luggage and a 12-month policy costing a fraction of this, they stand to lose a lot if they should become the unfortunate victim of a crime.

It seems that the biggest reason for failing to take out travel insurance is not so much the cost as lack of awareness and understanding. If you take some time to read the key features of a policy you will find you are covered for many eventualities and the benefit of the policy becomes self-evident.

Finding cheap travel insurance is easier than you think, as long as you are willing to spend a little time researching the topic and visiting several sites to get a good spread of quotes. Aim for a minimum of three quotes.

The same applies when looking for hotels and accommodation in advance. There are now many comparison sites that make the process of finding and booking accommodation online considerably easier.

You can usually find an internet café on your travels and you can often book just a day or two ahead. You may find that using this method makes your backpacking trip that little bit easier - and your money stretch further still.

Enter the Serpent - Notes on the Ascendency of China

The many recent books and commentary extolling China's lightening fast economic climb are right about the nature of China's spectacular rise and how the outside world is making it happen. A mere 25 years ago China was a backward, poverty-stricken totalitarian waste, and for many just the mention of its name would conjure up images of an iron-fisted police state hiding behind a bamboo curtain concealing an esoteric dominion of tyranny and human desperation. Now, thousands of leading American, Japanese, European, Korean, Taiwanese and Australian companies have and are racing to transfer plant, technology and modern manufacturing expertise to China, and in doing so they are quickly hallowing out the manufacturing bases of their home countries. They are being seduced and drawn into China by the appeal of extremely low labor rates, non-existent labor and environmental regulations, the desire to position themselves within the enormous future potential of China's consumer markets as well as the oftentimes necessity of just being there in order to be included on the supply chain of one of the many global manufacturing and technology giants that have already made the move to China in a big way.

The Chinese will say about themselves and it's true, that for every person in China there are actually two people; the outer personality reflecting tailored conformity, and the inner person that is not easily, if ever, exposed. China itself is like that too. Like anything else here, the 'boom' cities one sees are to a large extent illusory, with 70% unoccupancy rates in quickly constructed slip-shod buildings meant to impress with architectural flamboyance, but that will typically last for only about 20 years before falling apart. Glitzy government shopping malls and highly visible, neon-illuminated designer boutiques abound and dazzle newcomers, but as I've carefully noticed, other than tourists no one ever buys anything. More illusion-it's mostly for show. China's big façade of garish modernization serves the purposes of bloating citizens with nationalistic pride and providing them with visible assurance that things are moving forward, while impressing potential foreign investors and naïve journalists who rarely bother to dig beneath the surface. The streets of China's cities are now clogged with traffic and the number of cars is growing fast, but most of those cars are not necessarily a reflection of the rising living standards their presence might seem to convey, and were not purchased privately. They were actually procured through government purchasing schemes financed by loans from a corrupt national banking system that is known to be insolvent, with new cars being channeled to those with connections. Note: Using deception based on creating illusion is adapted from the ancient, classic text on Chinese military strategy " Art of War" by Sun Tsu, and is now being applied by China to great advantage in waging economic warfare.

A walk down any street in any of the 'miracle' cities of China and many of the people seen can be counted among the burgeoning hordes of the unemployed that have been laid off from thousands of shuttered, inefficient and non-competitive S.O.E.'s, with many more thousands yet to be closed. For the masses of ordinary people who do have jobs, it's most probably in one of the huge new factory complexes housing labor-intensive industries financed with foreign capital. The massive 'city within a city' complexes that are oftentimes surrounded by high walls ringed with razor wire have a severe though functionally modern appearance when viewed from without, but from within are more reminiscent of 19th Century Europe industrial sweatshops. They serve as homes to untold millions of workers toiling through twelve-hour, six or even seven day a week shifts, and who have no rights, no protections, no guarantees, no safety review boards, no benefits in the event of layoff or injury, no dispute resolution panels, no bargaining power, no pensions for those retiring and no mechanism for venting complaints, because no one who needs a job ever dares. The death penalty can be and is doled out for practically any reason deemed deserving, it's a matter of judicial discretion, and by official admission there are more executions carried out in China every year than in all other nations of the world combined (Amnesty International estimates the actual number of executions to be much higher than the official rate). The existence of huge, sprawling, unmapped and unacknowledged prison camps in China's interior interning millions that are forced to work in harsh, slave-labor conditions has been well documented. Among their unfortunate numbers are many (a majority?) who simply held a disapproved religious conviction, or who spoke or criticized out of turn. Almost all government support for housing, food, medical care, education, unemployment compensation and other assistance associated with China's previous, now mostly dismantled communist welfare system has been eliminated, and reports of starvation are now being heard from poor, rural areas. Note: In the past, executions were carried out by single gunshot administered to the back of the head, with a bill for the bullet then presented to the next of kin. Following a trend set in other countries, today things are more humane with a 'modified' form of lethal injection being used. It's actually only semi-lethal to start with, and works by rendering the condemned merely unconscious enabling a waiting medical team to extract generously donated organs for use in transplants while in the ideal state of viability.

At one point I almost came to believe that any woman in China, married or single, would be willing to sell sex for money. Although it's a suspicion I've since come to relinquish, perhaps due to people's purely atheist* training and upbringing together with the overwhelming tidal flood of materialistic values and wealth envy that has engulfed the social consciousness, it does seem that there is a very flimsy connection linking sexual fidelity to the Chinese version of morality. Even among married men, 90% visit hookers regularly and it's common among college girls to spend weekends with businessmen, or anyone with money, in order to finance their tuition or growing appetite for fashion, or both. Prostitution is everywhere in China, it's in every hotel and barbershop, along every street, around every corner and it's an important industry accounting for an economically significant percentage of GDP. In business, the practice of offering prostitutes, oftentimes underage, to clients, partners or potential customers is very common to being the norm even among small operations, and it's used as a way of currying favor and clinching the deal, or of expressing appreciation, or just as often as a bribe-or as bait-the Chinese have learned well that for many naïve westerners the Eastern female holds an enticing, seductive allure. Although most women of childbearing age have had several abortions each, those who can't stomach the procedure or afford an ultrasound test to determine their child's sex will drop their new-born baby girls off at giant state orphanages, strongly suspected by many to be fronts that in actuality serve the dual functions of extermination centers and clearing houses for the unneeded and discarded. Owing to the one child policy and a strong cultural preference for baby boys, it's estimated there could now be up to 100 million young men in China who will never be able to find wives and start families of their own. The hugely disproportionate levels of ineligible males do their part in fueling prostitution, but there are also high rates of homosexuality and even bestiality spawned by this unnatural imbalance. The widespread practice of bestiality is especially troubling since it is theorized by some epidemiologists to be the route of transmission taken by many newly emerging viruses to gain an initial foothold in the human species, of which HIV, Ebola, SARS, Avian flu and other particularly virulent flu strains are just some examples. Of course, like anything else that could reflect negatively on China's 'face', this problem is mostly ignored or denied by officialdom and the news media. Note: *China is an atheist state that vigorously promotes and encourages atheism, with all members of the ruling CCP being avowed atheists.

China's officially cited population of 1.35 billion is known by everyone within China, and strongly suspected by many without, to be vastly understated. Any children born in excess of the one child per married couple limit imposed on those living in cities, or two for those in the countryside, are never able to obtain national identity cards and so therefore simply do not officially exist and are never counted. In addition, bureaucrats at all levels of government responsible for monitoring and enforcing the rate of population growth often feel pressured to falsify and underreport population statistics in order to retain tenure, or to gain approval so as earn perks and promotions. For these reasons and several others the true population of China has been estimated by independent demographers using computer generated models based on statistical sampling methods to be closer to 1.6 billion or even more-a number in excess of the official rate that's nearly equal to the entire population of the United States, the third most populous nation on earth! China's 'uncounted' are often left with few options for survival and turn to criminal rings as their means of support. Many others drift from city to city in search of irregular, informal employment among China's floating, transient worker pool estimated to number up to 150 million, but are otherwise reduced to a life of servitude tantamount to slavery as members of a permanent underclass with no other choices. Note: It's feared that the overwhelming weight and pressure of China's enormous population could distort rational decision making processes at the highest levels of leadership. For years Chinese diplomatic personnel have issued threats to their US counterparts stating that China would be more than willing to use nuclear weapons against the US should it attempt to intervene militarily with a mainland invasion of Taiwan. In a twisted assessment of the risk to benefit scenario of a nuclear exchange with the US, it might be reasoned that China would be left having taken possession of Taiwan, while also having greatly diminished the strength of its US adversary, with the added benefit of having simultaneously reduced its crushing population burden by 600 million!

The race toward modernization at any cost has resulted in a China that's been blackened, fouled and poisoned. It's the most polluted nation on earth and by far the world's number one polluter (when all categories of pollution are combined), with 16 of the world's 20 most polluted cities. Drinking water from virtually any lake, river or well in China may very well kill immediately, water from the tap brings a slower death, and on bad days the air is like toxic soup. A huge, continental sized poisonous haze several miles thick known as 'Asia's Brown Cloud' perpetually drapes itself over China's cities. The cloud's consistency includes noxious atmospheric particulates that mix with the rain and are absorbed into the soil to enter the food chain, and it is permanently blocking a small but significant percentage of sunlight to all the nations of East and South-East Asia resulting in the reduction of arable farmland at an alarming rate, especially in China and India. Long-term health consequences from the effects of the brown cloud on humans will not be known until it's too late, when it may come to be called the cloak of death. Since all sources of information and mass media are stringently controlled and all negativity that may reflect badly on government management is minimized, serious national problems such as pollution issues are only gently mentioned in passing, and always in the context of how the government is making great strides at solving them. Note: Moon shiners commonly counterfeit brand labels and sell for big savings to unethical small retailers, but it can be of poor quality and deadly, and is responsible for causing thousands of cases of partial to total blindness and severe liver and kidney damage in those who drink it every year. No Amazonian or African tribe has a better-attested tradition of cannibalism than China has. Even today human placenta is a delicacy and aborted human fetuses fetch astronomical prices (it's said to work miracles for the skin). In a country with nearly two billion people to feed, an aversion toward squeamishness (rat fetuses are eaten raw at exclusive restaurants*), and no moral or religious qualms, fresh human corpses can easily and profitably represent over 100lbs. of weighted protein additive each, especially if they're discreetly thrown in with the mix at small and very poorly regulated beef processing operations. For those who don't believe-enjoy. (*Rat fetuses are freshly plucked and still alive when served-"Eat Three Squeals" is the name of the dish for those who see it on the menu and want to sample. Squeezing with chopsticks produces the first squeal, sauce dip evokes the second, chomp down for the third-enjoy again).

To be observed is how everyone has iron bars installed on their apartment windows, with double steel doors barricading the entrances that are each triple locked. Upon entering department stores all customers are usually required to leave purses, handbags, backpacks, attaché cases and sometimes bulky outer wear with attendants in an effort to reduce the horrendously high rate of shoplifting. In most Chinese cities, taxi drivers are isolated from passengers by being required to sit within built-in steel cages, since too many of them have been killed, and after dark it's illegal for passengers to sit in the front seat. Surprisingly, the official, police reported homicide rate in China is now nearly twice that of the United States. All the more noteworthy is that this is in a country where gun ownership is strictly banned and possession can result in imposition of the death sentence! The appalling crimes of serial killers, mass murderers and sex criminals occur with increasingly shocking frequency now so that these aberrations are no longer a western phenomenon, and China may very well soon out-do the West in this regard. Child abduction is one of most common crimes and it's much more serious here than anywhere else in the world. Every week in China thousands of children are kidnapped and sold, with some Chinese cities reporting well over one hundred cases per day (this is known and can be verified through information revealed by individual police precincts as a cautionary public service to residents, and not reported in the media). Some kidnapped children are sold into sexual slavery, some as slave workers to farmers or to underground sweatshops, and there's gathering credibility to the rumor that some are sold for the harvesting of their internal organs. Producing babies for sale is a major cottage industry. As one entrepreneur explained, "It costs a lot to raise a pig until it's six months old and I can only sell it for $5, but a human baby costs me very little since I can sell it at birth, and I'll get $50", (I've been offered children for sale on several occasions, once by a complete stranger while eating in a restaurant). While China's cities are stressed, in the countryside deeper cracks can be glimpsed. In 2005 foreign observers witnessed and recorded over 75,000 major demonstrations by farmers protesting corruption, high taxes, set pricing on government crop purchases that are seen as confiscatory, and compliance with WTO mandated policies allowing foreign competition to enter China's agricultural markets. Note: An hour's walk in any of China's cities will probably reveal an occurrence. Street fights start suddenly without any warning and they're almost always between two or more women. The blood-curdling screams along with the slapping, kicking, biting, tearing, pulling of hair and gouging of eyes that spills from out of buildings or store fronts and on to the street would scare vicious, rabid dogs away. It was unnerving for me to first witness this-I got used to it.

For the Chinese today, nightly TV viewing is enjoyed watching ultra-nationalistic programming that elevates former and current leaders, and the Chinese Communist Party, to the level of God, and the best of Hollywood couldn't improve on it for theatrical display. Popular music is oftentimes characterized by militaristic marching themes meant to arouse intense feelings of patriotism, or it can be religiously inspirational in singing of the deep love that the Chinese people feel for each other, and especially for the CCP. Only persons who can prove their ancestral Chinese lineage can be accepted as citizens of China. In Hong Kong, hundreds of thousands of people of Indian, non-Chinese Asian and middle-eastern descent who had resided there for generations were stripped of their citizenship after the handover to China from Britain in 1997. The Chinese pledge of allegiance that all students are required to recite daily, and all citizens weekly, is so nationalistically and racially partisan and intense as to be frightening! Note: Recently, museum curators in Beijing forcibly removed an exhibition surrounding the life and accomplishments of Albert Einstein from display after a mere 4 hours of opening. The intensive promotion of nationalism requires that people be made to feel that practically every invention or discovery of value in human history, every scientific achievement or medical advance of note, the most brilliant minds of history, every truly beautiful art form and all ultimate truth that exists, originated in China.

The glue that currently holds Chinese society together is comprised of government promises connected to the hope of a better tomorrow, resigned submission to authority that is culturally ingrained, an entrenched fear (with teeth) that is systematically projected by the government into people in many complex overt and subtle ways, and the aggressive promotion of a blind form of ultra-nationalism that could have been plagiarized from Peronist fascists, even Goebbels would approve. China is a messed up, morally and sociologically confused country that has completely lost its ancient soul, and whose uncountable, unknowable, God forsaken teeming masses have been abandoned to the avaricious exploitations of domestic and world-wide business and commercial interests, while its own pathologically insecure, prestige and power hungry aristocratic elite celebrates the process and cheers it along with vigor.

In pondering China-what it was, what it is, what it very well may shortly emerge to become and what that emergence will mean for the human race and the shaping of world civilization and our common destiny, the most troubling aspect is to realize that the western world is now to a large degree responsible for lifting China to its full potential as a world superpower, and at break-neck speed, even though that country's government and government inspired culture does not uphold or share any of the West's values, ideals or visions, openly scorns the West, and beneath the surface feels toward it a loathing resentment based on envy, as well as for past grievances.

Over the past century China and her people have suffered possibly as no other nation and people ever have, or could imagine to have. Today many hundreds of millions are suffering still, with the worst possibly yet to come. Pray for China! Entirely aside from its people however, deeply entrenched within China I have strongly sensed that there is a sinister dynamic lurking, and if and when that mysterious, monstrous, tortured albeit angry dragon hiding inside of its box is let out, assisted by the rest of us in achieving its ambitiously stated goal of world domination. Pray for the world! Note: Dragon imagery has long played a prominent role in Chinese culture up to the present, and it permeates China's cultural landscape. Dragon depictions are seen on buildings, paintings and murals everywhere, and they're used as decorations on clothing, calendars and many other objects. The dragon is actually associated with being the unofficial national symbol of China, supposed by some to embody the spirit of the Chinese people. The Chinese dragon's origins can be traced to the ancient Sumerian Civilization (Babylon), from where mythologies and legends were carried into China and absorbed. Accepted by most historians as being the first civilization of recorded human history, Sumeria's rise predates that of Egypt. It is known that the Sumerians were snake worshipers who exalted their deities through the artistic creation of fanciful carvings and statues depicting huge, bizarre and fearsome serpents with wings, sometimes possessing gnashing fangs and flailing, clawed appendages. As a matter of dark fascination, a disturbing, arcane connection has been made between this great Eastern symbol and a prophetic passage taken from the highly allegorical Bible book of Revelation (Apocalypse), a Christian text usually associated with Western Civilization: "So down the Great Dragon was hurled, the Original Serpent, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth. He was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him...Woe for the earth and for the sea, because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger". - Revelation 12: 9, 12

Business Travel Management -- Travel Tips In A Terrorist World

No longer relegated to film noire roles, real-life bad guy terrorists troll constantly for new and sinister ways to disrupt global trade. Major targets? Transportation, energy, trade, and capital. Reality check for business travel management is that government can no longer provide complete protections for the traveling public.

Results? Business travel management is forced to enter a sobering re-thinking of priorities including keeping track of personnel, evaluating political risks in international travel, refining travel insurance risks and even incorporating corporate security and training programs in order to upgrade skills and responses to threats.

Yes, money matters and corporate travel management policies will constantly focus on discounts and expense control. But what's changed is now money factors have become dilute against the backdrop of 9/11 attacks in America, London subway bombings, Bali nightclub bombings, train bombings in Spain and even more grisly examples where organized society is confronted by non-state independent terrorist militia and suicidal fanatics.

Corporate Travel Management Specialists For A New World -- Travel Safety And Travel Intelligence. Security, employee training, business traveler tracking and more are being conducted through technology-enabled centralized corporate travel management firms. No longer is business travel management merely the hunt for group travel discounts and frequent flyer miles programs. Lives are at risk.

Learning The New Ropes -- Business Travel Seminars. Businesses regularly use seminars to teach the latest techniques in travel security. For example, Westerners are taught to avoid placing identifying stickers on luggage, or to wear clothes with logos that might readily identify themselves as Americans or Brits. Low key anonymity equals lower risk business travel.

What Happens When Terrorists Attack -- Surviving Captivity. What about being captured by terrorists? Travel management pros now regularly pass along detailed guidelines for surviving captivity, how to cope, what to expect, what to say, understanding political and ideological motivations of terrorists.

Travel Intelligence -- Real Time Employee Tracking Data Access. Business travel management experts stress real-time data access, beginning with meticulously planned and documented business travel plans...providing hour-to-hour movement details in advance...along with hotel and meeting venue contact access information, cell phones, names of customer contacts and more.

Pre-Flight Advice -- Tip On Carry On Gear. Check to verify with your travel management advisors, but you'll soon be restricted to bare-bones carry on gear. Cell phones, lap tops, food, beverage, backpacks, even books may become banned as permitted carry on gear, following attempts in August by Pakistani and British terrorists to plant IED's (improvised explosive devices) in 10 flights departing to the USA.

Pre-Flight Advice -- Tip On Airport Parking. Leave nothing to chance. Security delays, busy flights, limited on board services means that business and leisure travelers need to pre-book airport parking needs at least several days in advance of your scheduled departure. Get your business travel management experts to lock-in reservations for airport parking, car rentals and related needs throughout your travel itinerary.

Pre-Flight Advice -- Tip On Airport Hotels. Airport security restrictions plus limited carry on allowance means significant "down time". You'll need to identify airport hotels that are technology enabled, offering you high speed web access to your business files, emails, as well as webex video conferencing so that you can contact customers, home office, prepare reports and presentations, plus stay in contact with family.

Cheap Hotels in Bangkok, Thailand

The Western tourist can come unstuck when looking for cheap hotels in Bangkok. Ideas of basic standards of accommodation vary according to where you come from. Hiram and Hettie from Houston may be expecting better facilities than Han from Hanoi - or even Henry and Hannah from Harrogate (UK). Let me guide you. To be sure of western-style luxury stay at one of the many familiar western chains. The only problem is that they can be very expensive. And, let's face it, stay in a Hilton or Marriott in Bangkok and you might as well be in New York, London or Cairo.

You want to stay in Bangkok, right? The good news is that there are plenty of independent hotels in Bangkok that offer reasonable standards of accommodation at bargain rates, Who needs a wardrobe, after all? Hangers are the important part - right?

You'll probably know that Bangkok is the capital, and primary city of Thailand. In Thai it's called Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (or Krung Thep for short, which means "city of angels"). Bangkok has a population of over six million. The dominant religion is Buddhism, practised by all but 5% of the city's population. The majority of what remains are Muslim with a scattering of Christians. Bangkok is choc-a-bloc with temples and gardens, plus (lest we forget) a thriving sex industry. One of Bangkok's strengths is its fascinating mix of old Thai culture with western-style capitalism.

This is my personal choice of the best Cheap Hotel (Bangkok):

New Siam River Side

21 Soi Chanasongkram Phra-A-Thit Road, Chanasongkram, Phranakorn, Bangkok 10200.

Here is an upmarket guest-house with great views, located beside the Chaophaya River, very near to the Grand Palace. Fully air conditioned, it boasts a coffee bar, decent restaurant, and large swimming pool. As in most good Thai hotels, the beds are foam rubber. Every room is equipped with bedside control, cable TV, and refrigerator. High-Speed Wi-Fi is available in all rooms. All rooms no smoking..

Take care when booking because the New Siam River Side has two other "branches. Prices for rooms start at 1390 bahts (single). A non-air conditioned room with a fan in one of the other guest houses starts at only 590 bahts ($20).

Silom City Hotel

2 Soi Prachum (Silom 22), Silom Road, Bangkok 10500

Formerly called the Silom City Inn, this hotel can be found in the middle of Bangkok's business centre, close to every key shopping centre. The Silom City within a short walk of the major nightlife and shopping areas as well as Suan Lumpini Park, the Bangkok Railway Terminal, and the river. It has 70 guest rooms, all of which come with air-conditioning, a personal safe, connections for PC and fax, the in-house music system, colour TV with satellite, and en suite bathrooms. The advertised weekly rate starts at 1,150 baht a night (around $40) for a single room, but we are told it is possible to barter.

TakeANap

920-926 Rama4 Rd. (At Surawongse Junction, Opposite Red Cross Society), Silom District, Bangrak 10500,

The cutely named TakeANap is a family-run hotel that has its fanatical supporters. There is a mix of single, doubles and dorm-bedded rooms, starting at 350 baht a night ($12). Singles come in at approximately 1,000 baht ($34). Great for backpackers, not so good for business travellers or tourist families. The 30 single and double rooms are all decked out in different themes, most of them designed to give you a headache after too much beer! TakeANap is very central, just a few metres from the sky train (BTS) and subway (MRT). TakeaNap is also near to the nightclubs, city centre, and market area. Wardrobe freaks should note that rooms come sans their favourite furniture item, but with hangers and a rail. You'll also be very lucky to get a fridge,

Sivalai Place

168 Isaraphab Soi 33 Isaraphab rd Thra Pra Bangkok-Yai Bangkok 10600 Thailand

This apartment house offers tremendous value for anyone on a budget. Their smart studio apartments range in price from 1,450 baht a night (under $50) and double apartments come in at a mere 100 baht more. Expect queen-size beds and en suite bathrooms with shower panels equipped with six (count them) massage jets. The facilities are better than Bangkok's average, ranging from a fully-equipped karaoke room to tennis, restaurants, cafés and a gigantic swimming pool without chlorine, filtered instead by an eco-friendly 'O-zone' non-chemical filtering system. Then there's the sauna, the "good karma" library and a well-equipped games room. The Sivalai Palace comes highly recommended.

Those are my recommended cheap hotels Bangkok style. Have a brilliant time and let me know if you find any other gems.