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Imagine the horizon in the distance basked in the evening sunset. You are standing on a deck of a cruise ship enjoying the margarita mix, the glamorous ladies around you and the cool breeze of the ocean. If you are thinking or actually dreaming of a vacation like this, should take a voyage to Mexico!

From the deck of a cruise liner headed to Mexico, you might get to see some whales as well. It will almost be like swimming with the whales along the coast of Baja California.

The cruise liner is not your regular ferry boat. So, there is plenty to check out on board the vessel. Libraries, lounges, dance floors and a myriad of other things are there to surprise you aboard a 50,000 ton cruise liner. It’s just like a floating city. I kid you not. The liner is sprawling with activities all over.

What can you expect during a cruise?

Well, the answer is anything and almost everything. Here’s a brief glimpse at the services of carnival cruise ship. First thing is food.

The fine dining option lets you select from a wide variety of menus. The feature that best appeals to me is the availability of round the clock ice cream. Also available is the 24 hour pizza. With the change of hour, the leisurely casual dress of the people on board changes to formal tuxes as they get ready for the formal evening dinner.

Next up, the facilities include spas, variety theme bars and unique lounges. I think this is great. After enjoying a great day on the deck you can chill out in the lounge and enjoy a classic drink while you mingle with the opposite sex. Some cruise liners offer dance floors for the passengers, while others offer deck games.

If you are lucky you might even get to paddle a boat along the coast line. Of course, this will be a guided trip to the shore. At least that’s what I gather after reading about the MS Ryndam. This kind of activity only works when the ship is anchored closed to the shore.

As of now, there’s plenty of cruise liners. However, you need to pick the best to get the bank for the buck. The Holland America line is a pretty good one. It offers a 12 night sea of cortex Mexican Rivera trip starting at pound 1500.

There’s the Carnival cruise line which offers similar deals for sea bound folks as well. However the max number of days/night with Carnival is about a week. So, next time you see a cruise liner holiday offer in your mailbox, please don’t disregard it as junk mail. Do some research on this, and I am sure you will have a great time on board a cruise ship to Mexico.

Image Credits: Telegraph, Sealetter, Travelwithkids about

From thirty thousand feet in the air when the KLM airbus was passing over the Lake Baikal, I wondered how it is down there. Baikal is a place of Wonder. It’s a place where you get mountains, forests, cheerful and hospitable people and some wild roaring rivers.

But, even before I get into the details, first question is: Why go to Baikal? You are probably wondering what does Baikal offer to visitors?

First off, Russia’s Lake Baikal hold the natural treasures. It is a picturesque area of immense beauty. So if you are thinking about fishing in the deepest and almost bottomless lake of the world, do it here in Lake Baikal. Only 50 species of the fishes available in Baikal are suitable for eating.

Second, you can check out the Icy river. An unique fact is that this river is frozen most of the winter due to a climatic oddity.

Third, this is a mecca for eco tourism. You can go on a horseback ride, hike around in the hills or check out the wildlife in the nearby forests.

Ecotourism will not solve all the problems concerning Baikal. But it is a great opportunity for hundreds of people to survive and to save the unique nature of sacred Siberian Sea.

The Cape Cheremshany is also an unique place to check out. This is basically a landing spot after visiting the Icy river. Back in the day, the natives used to light campfires to attract the members of the opposite tribe and opposite sex from across the shore.

Well, now that you have enough reasons to visit Lake Baikal, I am sure you are wondering how expensive it will be to visit here?

Aeroflot and Delta operates flights to Moscow. Fares start around $1080 i.e. if you book your tickets online. Round trip fares are obviously cheaper. They will still cost you about 400 USD.

The lake can be reached by bus from Irkutsk. The bus charges 70 rubles. The cab will charge you 1000 to 1700 rubles. I would stay off the taxi if I were you.

Originally an English teacher Leonid Batorov, now runs a boat rental service in Lake Baikal. You can check out his website at www.baikalex.com . Leonid also runs a guided tour service along with this ‘ferry service’. It’s clear from this that Lake Baikal supports the livelihood of the people living in the region.

If you are still planning your next vacation, I suggest you book that Aeroflot flight down to Russia. You will never forget the memorable vacation in Lake Baikal. It will be a time well spent.

Image Credits: Nytimes, ABC NT ,and Studyrussian

The wait is over and the results are announced. The new Seven Wonders of the World are here to stand tall, giving you the most spectacular of sight as they take you for a journey back through the time line.

The competition, which was the brainchild of a Swiss man, Bernard Weber, generated a huge response and the results were announced in Lisbon, Portugal on Saturday, July 7, 2007.

More than 100 million people voted via SMS, internet and telephone to select the new Seven Wonders of the World that would represent global heritage throughout history.

Here are the new Seven Wonders of the World:

The Pyramid at Chichen Itza, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico: The last, and the greatest, pyramid of all Mayan temples, representing the ancient civilization of Mayan dynasty.

Christ Redeemer, Rio De Janerio, Brazil: A 38 metre tall statue of Jesus Christ that stands atop the Corcovado mountain overlooking Rio de Janeiro, welcoming visitors with open arms. It was designed by Brazilian Heitor da Silva Costa and created by French sculptor Paul Landowski. A symbol of the Brazilian city.

The Roman Colosseum, Rome, Italy: A symbol of joy and suffering, the grand Colosseum of Rome stands out for its architectural excellence and represents the glory of the Roman Empire. A place where gladiators once fought for their pride.

The Great Wall of China, China: The largest man-made monument ever built and the only one visible from space. This colossal structure was built to keep the invading Mongol tribes out of China. Obviously, a symbol of perseverance and protection!

Machu Picchu, Peru: The remains of an ancient Inca city built by Emperor Pachacútec 2,430m (8,000ft) up a mountain slope in the 15th century. It is believed that the Incas abandoned the city because of a smallpox outbreak, and after the Spanish defeated the Incans. The city remained ‘lost’ for more than three centuries until it was rediscovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911.

Petra, Jordan: The famed Rose City of Jordan stands witness to the amazing Nabataean empire of King Aretas IV (9 B.C. to 40 A.D.). A great symbol of engineering and an impressive example of Middle Eastern culture.

The Taj Mahal, Agra, India: A symbol of love and passion, this mausoleum was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in the memory of his beloved late wife Mumtaz Mahal. The structure is built out of white marble and stands on the southern bank of the Yamuna River, outside Agra.

Lets celebrate the new Seven Wonders of the World!

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Patrick Blanc’s Vertical Gardens is the hot new trend in gardening. The lush wall plantings, which are often several stories tall, require no soil and come equipped with a self-sufficient watering system. The vertical garden could rather be called eco-art, or greener architecture consisting of a variety of plants trailing gently up any interior or outside wall.

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Blanc’s works can be seen at the Pershing Hall Hotel and Musee du Quai Branly in Paris, the Marithe and Francois Girbaud store in New York and the Hotel Byblos in Saint Tropez, among other places.



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Far away from the fancy horticultural show, Patrick Blanc overgrows the vertical surfaces of buildings in the most beautiful way. His gardens are ingenious works of art, planted without soil on a durable frame of PVC, metal, and non-biodegradable felt, with a built-in pump watering system that allows them to thrive for years.

No doubt, Blanc has created customized living walls all over the world.

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Source: Gridskipper

Luxury travel is probably not the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Amtrak. But soon the passengers will get the luxury service while they board the train. To increase the rider-ship and provide luxurious service to the passengers, Amtrak has joined the forces with GrandLuxe Rail Journeys. The service is dubbed GrandLuxe Limited and is scheduled to begin in October.

There are plans to attach seven special luxury cars to the back of Amtrak’s regular trains. The sleeping cars will be equipped with a lounge featuring a live pianist and a dining car offering five-course meals. Moreover, there will be mahogany interiors, five-course meals and personal butler service available.

Initially, Amtrak will offer the luxury rides on just three trains: the Silver Meteor (Washington to Miami), the Southwest Chief (Los Angeles to Chicago), and the California Zephyr (Chicago to San Francisco).

Ticket prices range from $789 to $2,000 per person for one to two-night journeys. Regular seven to 10 days GrandLuxe’s tours range about $4,000 to $8,000 per person.

Source: MSNBC

Do you want to buy an antique cave house? Yes I do have an option for you as buying this exclusive unique cave home will fulfill your wish of a ‘dream house’.

Situated in the county Worcestershire near Wolverley the home, ‘Rock Cottage’ was last occupied in the late 1940s.

Once occupied you will feel as though you have gone back to the stone age as there is no electricity in the pantry, sitting room and bedroom of this house but it boasts a front door, windows and fireplaces. Even you will be devoid of basic necessity, water as there is no supply for it.

At a price of £25,000 ($50,000), it will have three adjoining caves and has generated more than 50 requests for viewings.

With the cave comes nearly five acres of mixed woodland and garden land.
Daniel Lovatt is auctioning the cave on July 4 following the death of the previous owner.

So hurry up and become the proud owner of the cave home.

Source: Spluch

Eating healthy while traveling is truly a challenge but need not be impossible. While traveling we can’t put our current healthy diet on the back burner. Can we?

Here, I’m giving you various tips to ensure good nutrition and healthy eating while on the road. You don’t need to sacrifice good nutrition to have a good time! You can choose to eat healthy when you travel.

The best way is to pack a brown bag full of goodies. Raw fruits and vegetables, string cheese, bottled or boxed juices and nuts are some delicious choices. Other healthy food choices while traveling are energy bars, peanut butter crackers, raisins, and trail mix.

Try to stick with foods that are easy on the tummy, like bread, bananas, crackers, and yogurt. The small boxes of cereal make good snacks.

Eating on Airplanes:

While we fly, we are exposed to many stressors such as poor air quality, dehydration, and germ exposure, a variety of chemicals, extended sitting and inactivity. Can we afford to take further stress from eating the wrong foods and drinks? Obviously we can’t.

It’s no big deal to get a healthy meal while traveling by plane. Food portions on airlines are extremely small but some are still loaded with calories. Instead of eating what you’re offered you can order something different. You can order a kosher meal, vegetarian dinner, low-fat selections and even low-cholesterol choices.

You can pack your own food from home if it’s a short flight. Even if it’s a lengthy flight you can choose foods that can be kept for long. You can ask for drinks like juice or milk while on the plane.

We need to take extra special care of our bodies when we travel. I’m sure these tips will help you maintain your diet no matter where you go. Have a safe and great trip!

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Source: CNN

If you enjoy traveling through the natural surroundings and love cooking out, the Grilliput is sure to become your new trusty companion. It’s a nifty gadget that is ideal for the people on the move.

The Grilliput has high quality stainless steel barbecue that is small enough to fit in your backpack for easy transport. It measures less than a foot in length when packed away. When fully organized, sturdy grilling area of nearly 100 square inches.

A collapsible Compact Fire Bowl is a perfect accessory with Grilliput. It enables you to light a fire anywhere without scorching the earth. Also, there are adjustable fins that allow you to create a chimney effect so that heat can be directly aimed at the desired point. You just have to shell £25.00 to get this smallest portable barbecue.

Source: Gadling

With the space tourism industry heating up, we can certainly think of a hotel in space. But, it’s not just a thought now as a Las Vegas hotel tycoon has already shared his plans of building the world’s first space hotel. To check the feasibility of the dream hotel, Genesis-2 satellite has been launched by Russia today. The construction of the hotel is anticipated to begin in 2011.

There is another person Robert Bigelow, a US tycoon who wants to offer a dream holiday destination for tourists, Nautilus orbital station. Bigelow aims to build the hotel by 2015. The cost estimated to build this hotel is US$500 million ($A597.48 million).

A series of satellites like Genesis and Guardian are being sent up to check strength of inflatable structures and other processes.

The Genesis-2 satellite is the smaller version of Nautilus orbital station and was shot into orbit by a Dnepr rocket designed on the basis of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Source: The Age

Kurt Repanshek launched the National Parks weblog back in August 2005. This has become a great medium to share news, views and thoughts on National Parks. Although Repanshek claims the blog not to be a travel log, the blog is still a sort of travel log. Recently, the NPT website got revamped.

The latest website does have cooler stuff in it. But, the bottomline remains the same. The main objective of the website is to share news, views, and educate the public on America’s National Parks. The 2.0 version of the NPT was released in collaboration with ParkRemark. I think this is a good deal for like minded individuals to share stuff about parks online.

What’s new ?

Those who have been visiting NPT website on a regular basis must be aware that the site was pretty overloaded until recently.

The home page alone has been updated until recently in order to accommodate more posts.This is great.Earlier the user would have to figure out the location of the scattered posts.

Looks like the featured article box will stay in a new area so that it’s easy to find important stories.

Currently, there’s a visitor center. However, this will get further updated as time goes by. Eventually this will be a show off for National Parks photography.

There’s also the photo of the week section. Obviously, here the best photo will be displayed along with a story. As of now the Devil’s tower picture is highlighted.

This site is a great asset for outdoor lovers like climbers, bikers, hikers and campers. So, the hosts of this site are welcome to comments, suggestion and advices from the users.

Image Links: Blogsmithmedia and NPT