Once a sleepy holiday outpost, Queensland’s Gold Coast in Australia has grown to dazzling proportions and now attracts more than three million visitors annually. And this splendid stretch of coast well deserves its glittering name, it shines both day and night and basks in the glory of being the most sought after holiday spots on the eastern seaboard. With an average temperature of 24 degrees celcius, the days spent here guarantee hours and hours of wonderful daylight to enjoy everything this splendid area has to offer. Just a short step …

Ruta 40, the longest road in Argentina, which runs 4,928 kilometers from Patagonia to the Bolivian border, and leads into emptiness. This is a region that has always been at the outer bounds. In the Quechua language, Tucuman, the name of one of the Noroeste provinces, means “toward where it ends.” The north of Argentina was the south of the Inca Empire. The road crosses through a land of red deserts and white salt lakes. Once covered by the sea, the timeless landscape is today dotted with volcanoes. For ten …

Circled by rugged mountain peaks, Seoul itself is an ancient city built in the late 14th century under the Chosun Dynasty. With a population of nearly 11 million, it boasts a blend of well preserved antique buildings and palaces juxtaposed with state of the art skyscrapers, deluxe hotels and shopping complexes. Beautifully landscaped parks, temples and fortresses vie for attention with museums, art galleries, and shopping arcades bristling with bargains.
Including historic sites, and tourist attractions, sightseeing on your own is relatively easy in Seoul, where the public transport system is …

Every morning you can see Vietnamese women pushing bicycles loaded with white, red, yellow and orange roses, water streaming from their baskets. Vietnam’s capital grew by absorbing the inhabitants of the surrounding countryside. “The neighborhoods in the city center, along the Red River, were the business districts,” explains historian Philippe Papin in his remarkable book Histoire de Hanoi. “Each one was named for a specific trade: the Street of Sugar, Hemp, Cards, Chicken, Platters, Tin, and so on. To understand the unique aspect of Hanoi commerce, you have to distinguish …

The excursion which forms a part of the so-called agro-tourism program, was first introduced in 1987. The tea plantation tour was initiated by the government of Indonesia through the cooperation of several state-owned plantations and various travel bureaus. Different agencies offer a different package of the tour. Some opt for the simple visit the plantation and factory program followed by tea and lunch. Others add a cultural show to their tea and lunch hour. Some even offer an overnight stay at the plantation villas. The price offered by agencies in …