Diving Republic of Maldives

 

Par adise on earth exists. Not exactly on Earth's surface, mind you, more like several dozen feet below it. To be precise, paradise lies in the middle of the Indian Ocean, 700km from the coast of Sri Lanka, in the shallow lagoons of the Maldives archipelago. As an island country, fragmented into 1,200 islets, huddled in 26 atolls, the Maldives is an outstanding diving destination.

It is in its transparent, warm waters, that the marine world was revealed to me. "Revelation" is no understatement here. The first day I scuba dived, I swam into an enchanted and hitherto unsuspected universe of iridescent colors, fantastical shapes and unhurried movements.

Now don't get me wrong. The bit of Maldives that does emerge from the ocean is idyllic – a modest bit really, since ninety percent of the country's official surface is covered with water and the largest island doesn't exceed eight square kilometers. In fact, the islets are so postcard-perfect that a description summons every cliché in the book about Robinson Crusoe-style islands: palm trees leaning over fine white sand, turquoise water, gentle waves, tropical heat, fragrant hibiscuses, azure skies. 

Then on the 80 or so islands which have been turned into exclusive resorts, foreign guests can sip cocktails under a parasol all day long – a hedonistic treat forbidden to Maldivians, who are Muslims. Since I was not lucky enough to be on a luxury honeymoon, I was stuck working in Malé, the capital island.

It is a compact, polluted concrete jungle of just a few square kilometers, onto which 100,000 people – and possibly an equivalent number of scooters - are crammed, without an inch of palm-fringed beach. Mercifully, other expats quickly pointed me towards the one available escape: scuba diving.

Initially, I was a little worried about getting claustrophobic underwater and strapped into all the gear, so my friends first took me on a snorkeling trip. We rented a dhoni, the traditional wooden fishing boat of the Maldives, and sailed to a spot an hour away from Malé. I slipped into the deliciously warm sea and, floating on my belly, gazed at the depths through a mask.

The visibility was stupendous: I could see shimmering shoals of fish perhaps ten meters below, above undulating sea anemones, eels poking their reptilian heads from holes in the reef, all this in a greenish space of muted sounds. When a turtle glided past, close enough for me to distinguish its scaly face, I knew I had to learn to dive.

And so learn I did. With a funny back-to-school feeling, I sat through hours of "open water" instruction. I became familiar with the tanks and regulators, figured out how to use the dive tables (which tell you how much surface time is required after so many minutes at certain depths), memorized the symptoms of nitrogen narcosis, choked through my first underwater exercises, and finally got PADI-certified.

My first real outing was at a reef called Bolifushi. One by one, harnessed to our clunky equipment, we dropped over the side of the boat, then went under all together. We slowly sank away from the twinkling surface, towards the sandy bottom. Once we had exchanged the necessary safety hand signals, the instructors led the way.

As I followed everyone's paddling flippers and streams of bubbles, I felt like I was in a science-fiction story. We were explorers, adventurers of a new world, prospecting a totally alien environment, enclosed in our precious survival spheres.

We reached a wreck, at a depth of 25 meters, and my awe intensified. The other divers swam over and around it, like curious insects swarming around an unknown carcass. The wrecked ship lay on its side, and though the structure was recognizable, it had been transformed by its years underwater: fish crossed its portholes and spindly algae grew from the deck.

Over my next dives, I grew so confident that I almost never had to worry about the technical aspects and just focused on enjoying my new playground, the lagoons of the Indian Ocean. I learned to recognize the numerous species of fish: the red and white lionfish, with its antennae-like crests, the big-foreheaded napoleon, then my favourite, the blue surgeon fish, with a round, black-trimmed body the size of a plate and yellow fins.

While no other location can beat the teeming wildlife of the Maldives, I now have the ability to experience other countries around the world differently: underwater.

Thailand Travel Guide

The jewel of the southeast Asian travel circuit, Thailand offers astonishing diversity and a truly fascinating and accessible culture that, along with the revered Thai hospitality, makes it an incredibly popular destination.

With an enticing mixture of established destinations such as Phuket and Hua Hin, and out-of-the-way palm-fringed islands, Thailand has a very exotic appeal. It caters for grungy backpacking types wanting to party into the wee hours through to those who prefer white tablecloth dining and clinking wine glasses. From staying on a converted rice barge, clambering into a jungle tree house or bedding down in a hill tribe village, the country offers a wealth of choice for all tastes and budgets.

For divers, snorkellers, and those who just like swanning around on white-powder sand there are postcard-perfect beaches, and the extraordinary metropolis of Bangkok in the south, while the north offers the sublime delights of culture-packed Chiang Mai with its temple-studded old town, and cooling forests and mountain retreats.

One of the best ways to access Thai culture is through a 'Monk chat' session in a local wat (temple) in Chiang Mai, where you get the opportunity to quiz the dignified saffron-robed monks about anything you like. And in the early morning, all over the country, the monks leave the sanctuary of their wats to receive alms from the people, be it in a dusty village or on crowded city streets. Buddhism is a way of life here and the Thais are also strong supporters of their monarchy.

And don't forget the food! A culinary adventure awaits with tempting morsels on virtually every street corner, from traditional Royal-project run restaurants to delicious piping hot street food. Eating is as much a part of the culture here as anything else and definitely the key to local hearts. If you're lucky enough to catch a local festival, it will probably be dominated by food.

The most welcoming of countries, despite being inundated with tourists and expats, it's the gentle hospitality of local people that is the strongest memory of Thailand for many visitors. And what a wonderful memory it makes.

Thailand The Medical Hub of the World

Apart from ancient heritages, breathtaking temples and palaces, wonderful beaches, friendly people and delectable cuisines, people from all corners of the world come to Thailand to avail of its medical service. Hospitals and services that abound in the country are on par with the world’s best with their skilled doctors, medical staff and up-to-date technologies. As a result of the country’s capable medical personnel, good basic infrastructure, the quality of life of foreigners in Thailand and the credibility of medical trials, the transformation of Thailand into the medical hub of the world is not too far from the reality!
What is more, with the constant growth of health-related research and medical technology innovation,Thailand is soon to become the fantastic venue for discerning foreigners both to obtain first-class medical care and to seek sound medical investment opportunities. Today, Thailand has apparently become a medical hub for patients from the United States, Europe, the surrounding countries and the Middle East including the United Arab Emirates. The country has a universal health program with more than 600 accredited hospitals and 400 medical facilities which are globally well-known for their adeptness.
Interestingly, overseas patients who aspire to recover from illnesses can enjoy magnificent sightseeing and travel, soft adventure options, sports and activities that Thailand can offer. Some lifestyle centers, spas, golf courses and accommodations will be helpful not only to the would-be patients but also to their accompanying friends and family. In Bangkok, patients can also marvel at a choice of health and beauty like aesthetic centers, wellness centers, lasik centers, plastic surgery centers and dental clinics which are the unique experience in the city. (Patients can find out more details on www.iguidebangkok.com)
The “Land of Smiles” can provide the patient with the same kind of treatments as back home whilst enabling him or her to revel in the holiday of a lifetime as the country is blessed with many intriguing attractions and activities. The uptrend of medical tourism in Thailand is growing to dramatic heights. Westerners are presently arriving in Thailand in exciting numbers to undergo medical treatments at an affordable cost as that charged in their home countries. On top of having treatments performed by highly trained doctors, patients can also relish a marvelous holiday in one of Asia’s prime tourist destinations.
There are several reasons why visitors come to Thailand to get medical treatments. Not only is Thailand a superb destination for stunning beaches, islands, mountains, cuisines, low costs and hospitable people, there are other reasons too. The country is home to some of the best hospitals in the world.
The country has established over 30 English-speaking hospitals, numerous dentistry clinics and other alternative healing centers. Some are accredited to prominent boards including the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and the International Organization for Standardization.
Significantly, Thailand has incredible service, extraordinary value for money and unique healing procedures. Namely, some of Thailand’s hospitals have been known for performing outstanding treatments for various procedures whilst producing excellent outcomes. Thailand is also amazing for relaxing. After the treatment, patients can experience spas and resorts which are internationally famous for exceptional service and comfort, whilst looking over attractive virgin beaches or verdant jungles and mountains. Thailand’s top hospitals even provide prompt response in any emergency situation and are recognized outside of Thailand as having standards equivalent to that of those in the West.
International accreditation also contributes to make Thailand the medical hub of the world. The standard of treatments in Thailand is considered being one of the highest in the world with most of its doctors graduating, training and holding Europe and US professional certification. All of Thailand’s hospitals also have to be licensed by the Health Ministry and the same applies to the doctors. Last but not least, the world-class technologies have been introduced in Thailand to enhance medical facilities and treatments. Of course, with these reasons and factors, Thailand can easily be the medical hub of the world.

Article Source: http://www.travelarticlelibrary.com

 

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Phuket fantasea show offers real adventure of Thailand’s ancient historical culture and tradition

Phuket Fantasea show is one of the famous cultural entertainment night located on the Kamala Beach. This show offers a wide range of opportunity to people to discover the various parts of Thailand. It is show that is blend with sound and light, different types of food, architecture and magnificent special effects technology. Phunket Fantasea show offers real adventure of Thailand’s ancient historical culture and tradition. Here you can watch Thailand’s classical dance form that is really unique. This show is a production of Las Vegas and a blend of beautiful Thai culture with sparkling illusions, aerial ballet, pyrotechnics, acrobatic, elephant performances and outstanding shows. You can see one hundred acre theme complex that is filled with several of entertainment activities. Well, it can be said as a Carnival spot that is packed with shopping, games and Thai handicrafts. If you are a real food lover then taste some of the best Thai and international cuisines in the four thousand theme restaurant.
Phuket Fantasea show is actually a Las Vegas style show that uses special effect to glow the attractiveness of Thailand’s mysteries, myths in an amazing extravaganza. Here you will get a huge stage and the performance place is huger. You can watch the real Thai traditional dances, shadow puppets and outstanding wardrobe. The best thing and the major attraction about Phunket Fantasea show is elephants. Thai people love elephant very much and here you can see elephant actors. In supporting roles you will get water buffalo, goats, doves and roosters. You can see all these animals in glamorous costumes and showing their unique performances. Buying tickets are really easy, as you can get that in front gate. You can also get Banquet combo tickets and in the Banquet palace you will get five thousand seats. There are lots of junk food stalls inside, where you can junk your favorite food and can have a sip of different fizzs.
You can your family can have a great time here at Phunket Fantasea show and can also try different cultural performances. The most unique act you can see by the bartenders. They flip, spin and toss bottles while grooving their body with techno music. All these bars are open air and any one can watch their performance absolutely free. If you want to get involved in shopping activities then you can shop in various stalls. These stalls are specially designed to fit your taste and truly affordable. You can dress yourself in Thai traditional costume and don’t forget to click some pictures in photo studio available here. Phunket Fantasea show is one of the best shows in Thailand and you can enjoy different fun filled activities. Your time here will be unforgettable and pleasurable one. Feel the hospitality of Thai people and have a nice tasty buffet at Golden Kinnaree Restaurant. Therefore, plan your next traveling holiday to Thailand and come to Phunket Fantasea show. This place can be your dream destiny and coming here make you feel to come back again. Grab the best, as this show will provide you all those things that you wished.

 

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Rio San Juan, Nicaragua

Skimming the history of Central America's mightiest waterway

By Andrea Davoust

The conquistadors explored it in the 16th century. English pirates sailed up it in the 17th century. Epic battles took place on its shores. Soldiers killed by tropical diseases were fed to the flesh-eating sharks of its dark waters. In the 19th century, gold-diggers rushed up it towards California. In the early 20th it nearly became an international inter-ocean canal in place of Panama. Really, the heavy currents of history flow in Nicaragua's Rio San Juan.

This powerful river carries the waters of Lake Nicaragua, Central America's largest body of freshwater, 192km eastward to the Caribbean. The only "road" through this remote rural area, it runs between vast reserves of thick tropical rainforest on its left bank and isolated farming communities on its right bank, which is in fact Costa Rican. The full journey downriver takes twelve hours. Always one for an off-the-beaten-path expedition, I puttered down the river over the course of several days, soaking up the tranquil atmosphere.

I caught my first glimpse of the Rio San Juan at daybreak, as my ferry reached the fishing town of San Carlos after a fourteen-hour lake crossing. In the ethereal dawn light, the water and the sky would have merged their twin expanses of blue-grey, had they not been divided by the dark, mist-covered shoreline. "The threshold of an adventure!" I exclaimed, excited.

The next day, I embarked on a lancha, a long and impossibly narrow wooden motorboat that ferries passengers, sacks of rice and even sometimes a shipment of cows from one settlement to the next. We glided in the wake of Benalcazar, who reconnoitered the river for Cortés in 1525 during the Spanish conquest.

Indeed, the conquistador had figured out the strategic importance of a waterway almost linking the two oceans (the western edge of the lake is just a few hours from the Pacific). But so had English filibusters, among which the infamous Henry Morgan. In the 17th century, he and other pirates repeatedly sailed from the West Indies right up to Granada, sacking what was one of the Spanish empire's richest cities.

In response, the Spanish fortified the Rio San Juan. Only one fort still stands intact, the 1675 Fortaleza de la Inmaculada Concepcion, whose dark mass looms above the town of El Castillo. I spent a happy morning at the museum of the fort trying to picture myself as Rafaela Herrera, who fired cannons from that very spot in 1762.

Since her father, the commander of the fort, had died just as English buccaneers were about to attack, she promptly proclaimed herself head of the garrison and successfully led the defense of the fort – she was 19! Later, an English fleet under the orders of Horatio Nelson did take the fort in 1780, in one of the last battles between England and Spain, but the conquerers were quickly decimated by a cohort of tropical diseases.

Scratching my own mosquito bites, I cursed the surrounding jungle and set off for the mouth of the river, another eight hours away. Once the boat had navigated the frothing rapids just beneath El Castillo, the ride was smooth. En route, we stopped in several tiny communities, really just a handful of thatched wooden farmhouses sheltered by banana trees. Half-naked kids and their dogs watched the farmers in rubber boots and cowboy hats clamber off. It was probably the most dramatic event of their week.

The end of the ride is San Juan de Nicaragua, a small collection of clapboard houses connected by footpaths near the mouth of the river. Its glory days (as Greytown) started during the gold rush of 1848, when an enterprising American set up theRuta del Transito, a route which ferried thousands of gold-seekers from New Orleans to San Francisco by way of Nicaragua's Rio San Juan, avoiding the direct but dangerous overland journey – until the continental railway was inaugurated.

The river's last hopes to become an international shipping lane were destroyed when Panama was chosen over Nicaragua for an inter-ocean canal in 1903, and the town turned into a backwater. In the 1980's it was razed by the Contras and flattened by a hurricane, then rebuilt a few miles away.

To visit the remains of Greytown, I crossed a lovely laguna from which emerged the rusty carcass of a steamer, and strolled through the jungle. In a butterfly-filled clearing, I found all that was left of a once booming town: moss-covered tombstones, testimonies to the long-buried dreams of conquest of so many adventurers.

 

R

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elated Travel Articles

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thailand guide line

< There’s no evidence that the Maori, the indigenous people of the Pacific islands now known as New Zealand, did anything resembling standup paddling in their history, but standing atop the sturdy board, stabbing at the water with our paddles as we glided over the sea made us feel rather warrior-like. In any case, this warrior fantasy helped keep us high and dry in making our shaky start as SUP aficionados.
Videos of famed big wave surfer Laird Hamilton, for example, with his movie-star good looks and warrior-ready ripped body, shooting across the sea on his SUP board as powerful waves break behind him have inspired many to take up the sport, as well as showing that SUP boarding can every bit as challenging and adventurous as surfing.
Given its abundance of bays and beaches, it’s only natural that Phuket has caught the worldwide SUP wave, too, and now there are a number of places around the island offering board rental and sales, and SUP lessons and excursions. In addition to Bangtao, we’ve seen SUP paddlers off several beaches - Kata, Kamala, Layan and Ao Yon beaches, and it seems likely that more Phuket beaches will offer SUP board rental in the coming seasons.
Meditative. Soothing. Sublime. These are some of the words that a group trying out standup paddling for the first time on Phuket used to describe the experience. Standup paddling, or SUP as it’s often called, is a water sport that’s being keenly taken up by more paddlers across the world, Phuket included.
On this particular outing off Bangtao Beach, during the golden late-afternoon hours, our novice SUP group was given some brief instruction before carrying our large boards out to the calm sea, just deep enough to avoid the small waves breaking close to shore. Balancing the boards beside us, we hopped on, or rather flopped on, and tried to crawl up onto our feet. Some of us promptly fell off with a splash.
We were told the key to keeping balance was to look ahead, not look down at the board, once we were relatively steady on our feet. This advice certainly helped, and after a few more attempts we found our balance. It also helped when we started to imagine ourselves as a Maori warrior, setting off for battle on some distant isle.

thailand travel and tour

There’s no evidence that the Maori, the indigenous people of the Pacific islands now known as New Zealand, did anything resembling standup paddling in their history, but standing atop the sturdy board, stabbing at the water with our paddles as we glided over the sea made us feel rather warrior-like. In any case, this warrior fantasy helped keep us high and dry in making our shaky start as SUP aficionados.
Videos of famed big wave surfer Laird Hamilton, for example, with his movie-star good looks and warrior-ready ripped body, shooting across the sea on his SUP board as powerful waves break behind him have inspired many to take up the sport, as well as showing that SUP boarding can every bit as challenging and adventurous as surfing.
Given its abundance of bays and beaches, it’s only natural that Phuket has caught the worldwide SUP wave, too, and now there are a number of places around the island offering board rental and sales, and SUP lessons and excursions. In addition to Bangtao, we’ve seen SUP paddlers off several beaches - Kata, Kamala, Layan and Ao Yon beaches, and it seems likely that more Phuket beaches will offer SUP board rental in the coming seasons.

Meditative. Soothing. Sublime. These are some of the words that a group trying out standup paddling for the first time on Phuket used to describe the experience. Standup paddling, or SUP as it’s often called, is a water sport that’s being keenly taken up by more paddlers across the world, Phuket included.

On this particular outing off Bangtao Beach, during the golden late-afternoon hours, our novice SUP group was given some brief instruction before carrying our large boards out to the calm sea, just deep enough to avoid the small waves breaking close to shore. Balancing the boards beside us, we hopped on, or rather flopped on, and tried to crawl up onto our feet. Some of us promptly fell off with a splash.

We were told the key to keeping balance was to look ahead, not look down at the board, once we were relatively steady on our feet. This advice certainly helped, and after a few more attempts we found our balance. It also helped when we started to imagine ourselves as a Maori warrior, setting off for battle on some distant isle.