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Discover the treasures of Russia without spending a Tsar’s fortune
TweetSave hours on your travel research. Get brochures delivered to your door for free. Digital option too. Bentours, Australia’s specialist in travel to Scandinavia and Russia, is offering discounted rates on its 2014 Volga Explorer Russian river cruise. The 11 day cruise which traverses the beautiful Volga River, takes in Moscow’s majestic architecture, the splendour […]
New Zealand: Mount Tarawera’s Legacy
By Michael Travers In 1886, New Zealand’s Mt. Tarawera violently erupted killing scores of people under tons of red-hot mud and ash, destroying then creating a lake, and obliterating the famous Pink and White Terraces in the process. Today the area is a geological and cultural wonderland and one of the most popular tourist attractions […]
Driving the Swiss Alps: Passing Through
Everything you have ever heard and seen about the beauty of Switzerland’s alpine regions is true. Surrounded by the mighty alps and filled with rivers, alpine meadows, quaint centuries-old houses and steeples from the many churches that fill the valleys, how could it not be? By Michael Travers This year more as a convenience than […]
Kawah Ijen. Worst job in the world?
Kawah Ijen, 2,799m. East Java. By Michael Travers Antok has a hernia. He has dropped his basket of sulphur and sits against a rock on the mountain path. “Obat, obat – medicine, medicine,” he calls as he clutches his stomach in obvious agony. We have nothing but cameras, passports and crackers. I give him my […]
Strong and Dark : A Turkish Coffee Morning
By Michael Travers In a culture that eschews alcohol, caffeine is the Islamic stimulant of choice. Turks, like most Middle Eastern cultures, love to while away the days with conversation, tobacco, backgammon and lots of hot sweet coffee so, while in Istanbul, Michael Travers gets a taste for this very agreeable form of time management. […]
Krakatoa: Playing With Fire
Krakatoa has the dubious distinction of being the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history. It sits on the crux of the Indonesian subduction zone and is a pressure valve for the immense tectonic forces that have and continue to shape Indonesia. Michael Travers went to see if it is all that it is cracked up […]
Cruising Kerala’s Backwaters in the President’s Boat
by Michael Travers A Chance Skype chat and a mention of India was all it took to get the ball rolling on a sailing trip through the backwaters of Kerala. Michael Travers reports. The Kerala Backwaters are a 900kmlong chain of brackish lagoons and lakes in southern India, which are interconnected by a labyrinthine series […]
Ternate and Tidore: A Spicy Tale of Two Islands
Ternate and Tidore – the fabled Spice Islands of the Indies, two names whose very mention once enthralled the royal courts of Europe with dreams of exotic lands and unimaginable wealth. The only source of cloves and nutmeg, man’s desire for control of their trade ushered in the golden age of exploration that lead to […]
