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Where's
the Maze?
Just above these words in
the header to this newsletter you will notice a hedge maze (big
picture).
Since our last newsletter I
have been asked about this maze on a few occasions. It seems that we sparked your curiosity. Let me put an end to the
suspense.
This particular maze is on the grounds of the
Sofitel Hotel in Hua Hin, a beach resort town about three
hours drive south of Bangkok in Central Thailand. The hotel is a
beautiful colonial-style place nestled in a tropical garden
alongside a four-mile-long beach.
This hotel is only one of
dozens of wonderful properties along this beach including the
stunning Anantara, the stimulating Hilton and the supremely
enjoyable Hyatt. If you are looking for a beach within easy
reach of Bangkok, we highly recommend Hua Hin.
Getting
there can be half the fun
Whether you're heading for
Hawaii, Hungary or Hua Hin, there are good and bad ways to get
there. Flying in economy class usually means being cooped up in
a traditional airline seat for hours but paying business class
fares is beyond most of our budgets. What to do?
Enter Premium Economy.
The introduction of this
"middle class", somewhere between economy and business, has been
a quiet revolution and even though our staff and our clients
have been using this service for a few years now, we still find that many
travellers are unaware that it exists.
Generally, for only a few
dollars more than an economy fare you can escape to a separate
cabin on board your aircraft and settle down in a wider seat
with much more legroom.
Air Canada has finally
introduced this service on a few of their international routes
but they are a relative latecomer. Popular international
carriers such as Singapore Airlines, EVA, British Airways, Thai
and others have offered Premium Economy for several years now
and the service has proven to be extremely popular, especially
on long non-stop flights such as the 18 hour monster from Newark
to Singapore.
As frequent users of the
service, we highly recommend that you consider Premium Economy
for your next flight. Call us first and we'll help you decide if
it's a good option for you.
'Daphne'
is just about full!
For those of you considering South
America this spring we'd like to bring to your attention our
popular
private journey through Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands
departing in April. We have only one cabin left on our
luxury yacht, the "Daphne" and we expect it won't last long.
If this is your year to visit
Ecuador, join Lenore and John as they travel into the Jungle, up
to the Otavalo Indian Markets, through the Avenue of the
Volcanoes, into the UNESCO protected city of Cuenca and out into
the Pacific Ocean for a week-long cruise through the Galapagos
Islands. A wonderful way to spend the month of April!
If you're interested please
call
Lenore at 789-1900.
This month's
pictures
The images at the right were taken
this past summer at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.
If it's not on your top ten list, it's time to add it!
To fully appreciate
these pictures you should see them in their full size. Simply click on
each picture.
The Danube
Many months back we mentioned that
we had ten cabins on hold on "Symphony", one of the newest and
finest vessels cruising the rivers of Europe.
Well, we have now been notified by
the cruise company that it's almost time for us to give back any unclaimed cabins,
so this is truly your last chance to claim one of the remaining
spots on this
magnificent voyage.
This
two-week journey
covers the very
best of Europe's highlights including its art, history and
culture. From Budapest, a famous haven for musicians, writers
and artists, we cruise through the stunning cultural cities of
Bratislava, Vienna, Passau and Regensburg
through the countries of Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Germany and
the Czech Republic.
Along the way we visit magnificent cathedrals and baroque
abbeys. We explore the charming Wachau Valley and traverse
Europe's Continental Divide made possible through the
engineering masterpiece of the Main-Danube Canal.
On board you'll
be treated to fine cuisine and the great wines of the
region.
If you would like more information
check our website then call us to reserve your cabin. But don't wait too
much longer.
New Brochures!
The new year brings more than just resolutions; it also
brings New Brochures!
It's one of our favourite times of the
year and we love looking at all the new small-group journeys,
walking and cycling holidays, volunteer projects, family
adventures and expeditions all over the world.
You can take a peek at the covers of
a few of the brochures that have just arrived by visiting our
website.
If you're interested in getting your
own copy of one or more of these brochures, simply call us or better yet drop in for a coffee and take time to thumb through a
few yourself.
A
sneak preview of our new Private Journeys
Many of you have been
asking which locations we're targeting for our newest crop of
Private Journeys. Our tentative schedule is shown below. (It's
very tentative at this point!)
If you have comments
or suggestions on any of these proposals or would like us to
consider an alternate schedule, please let us know soon. Then
watch our website over the next few months as we reveal details
of these trips and various booking discounts.
| Blue
Danube River Cruise |
August 2006 |
| South
Africa & Namibia |
Oct/Nov 2006 |
| Northern
India |
Feb 2007 |
| South
America Cruise (Santiago-Buenos Aires) |
Feb 2007 |
| Southeast
Asia |
Mar 2007 |
| Ecuador
Jungle, Peru and the Galapagos |
Apr 2007 |
| Canadian
Arctic |
Jul/Aug 2007 |
| Turkey in
Style |
Nov 2007 |
| Southeast
Asia |
Jan 2008 |
| Southern
India |
Feb 2008 |
What our staff are
up to...
It's been crazy in our office since
early November and things continue to get busier as we all try
to deal with the highest demand for travel services we've seen
in years.
Coping with this workload is always
a challenge, but it's especially difficult at this time of year
since one or more of our staff is usually in some far-off land
with our "Private Journey" guests!
For example, Daxa has just
returned from a few months in India after escorting our guests
through Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and then
spending some well-earned vacation time in Gujarat.
Miral accompanied her for
part of that time and is now back in Ottawa, but not for long.
She departs this week to Southeast Asia where she'll escort a
small-group of our guests through Thailand. Laos, Vietnam and
Cambodia on our Classic Indochina Private Journey.
Rick also departs this week
for Bangkok and heads off to a series of meetings and inspection
trips in parts of southern Thailand and Indochina in order to put together our
2007-08 series of Private Journeys through the area.
Then in about four weeks Lenore
departs for Cape Town and spends a month in South Africa and
Namibia with her guests and then returns just long enough to
repack for Ecuador in early April.
Just behind Lenore by a few weeks,
Janet will head for Ecuador on a whirlwind tour of Quito,
Cuenca, Guayaquil and the Galapagos Islands.
All this activity may sound like a
lot of fun and of course it is, but make no mistake about it,
it's also a lot of hard work. For example at the end of this
week I'll be inspecting 30 hotels in four different locations in
three days and trying to remember every aspect of each one. Combine this
with numerous restaurant, bar and site inspections and you can
imagine how busy these trips are.
Thanks for taking the time to read
our newsletter. We sincerely appreciate your interest.
Kind regards and, as it says on
those big plastic suitcases...
"Happy Journey"!
Rick
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