travel_stories_files/Korea Incidental Tourist
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1. tresses were stuffed with used hospital bandages It was not a happy time of course but at least she didn t have to stay awake read ing the pillow menu and feeling restless and inadequate that she couldn t choose between Modern Memory Foam Therapeutic Dual Support and Magnetic Health Five star chains are most com petitive with their signature beds and many sell them to guests Lounge it must be admitted has a Sofitel MyBed kit not the mat tress but all the snowy white fluffy puffy accoutrements including a souffle like mattress topper that makes sleeping in win ter akin to bouncing lightly on IN Travel amp Indulgence s regular online feature co contributing editor Christine McCabe presents Amanruya Amanresorts glamorous new retreat on Turkey s Aegean coast Check the T amp I website for the latest hotel resort and villa developments with galleries and insider tips More theaustralian com au travel 4 a dai China March 12 April 3 2012 For more information please contact Travelrite international on 1800 033 436 or Heathmont travelrite com au i Y Diamond Princess Singapore to Beijing Cruise The Singapore to China cruise will be a fantastic opportunity to cruise on the fabulous Diamond Princess and visit wonderful places such as Bangkok Saigon Hong Kong and Beijing where we stay for 3 nights to see the Forbidden City and Gr2. photographs Website T amp I s website includes our weekend edition plus breaking news theaustralian com au travel Advertising Bob Rickey 02 9288 3659 GPO Box 4245 Sydney 2001 T E Man z lt benchinternational com au A ai G69 NS 7 DAYS FROM 1645 CALL NOW FOR OUR 2011 BROCHURE Airfares not included Per person conditions apply bonth Mio A P bi K Li A Off the beaten track in style Small Group Escorted Tours www farhorizons com au Lic No 2TA5922 Call 1300 364 181 your travel agent or www aircalin com Return economy airfare to Noumea Ex Brisbane 577 ex Sydney 589 Based on M Class Bon Voyage fare Prices may vary slightly at time of booking includes all taxes and levies Conditions apply es SS Aircalin International Airline of New Caledonia
3. backpacker flashpacker or five star traveller Lounge who has been travel ling since Paul Theroux was in short pants is quite sure it used to be much easier to get a satisfying sleep Life seemed so uncompli cated in the low tech years of the 20th century At bedtime you just took the phone off the hook and hung up the Do Not Disturb sign which is a DND these days not to be confused with DVD or DVT which the forever perplexed Lounge frequently gets backwards Back in the dark days there were not mobile phones blinking and beeping all night across differ ent time zones and dastardly devices ring a dinging and battery chargers glowing green in the cor ner like tiny hovering spaceships And if sleep did not come easily in your hotel you made a good old fashioned cup of cocoa or Ovaltine and did not have to sit in the lotus position in front of the mini bar weighing up the various benefits of chamomile tea or blends contain ing the frankly unappetising likes of milk thistle and dandelion root Pillows were once just that things you put under your head Foam mostly or cotton filled if you were lucky Now there are sleep concierges and pillow menus offering options with holy duck feathers plucked by temple maidens or who knows stuffings of llama s tears and yak s breath and the entire lavender harvest of Provence Lounge slept in a dive in Cairo once where the pillows and mat HOTEL OF THE WEEK
4. of the morning Relax Melodies free allows you to create a relaxing music mix of tinkle tonkle tunes or perhaps Celine Dion melodies and surely you d force yourself asleep resort ing to a blow to the head with the Gideon Bible just to get away from her Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock 1 19 analyses your sleep patterns and TOM JELLETT wakes you in the lightest sleep phase a more natural way to wake up feeling rested Lounge is particularly interested in this application as after a flying visit to London last week she is brilliantly awake at 3am feeling energetic enough to say climb to the top of the Empire State Building or vacuum Tasmania The fourth is the aSleep Kids Edition 99c which features 15 lullabies When Lounge travelled with her two Little Lounge sons many years past she found they were constantly awake until they both turned 13 and then they slept for four years waking on their re spective 17th birthdays and asking Happy ending to a Seoul search PAULINE WEBBER MY 12 hour stopover in Seoul my travel agent assures me is all organised With no time to visit the city I ve booked a night at a five star hotel near the airport I anticipate a quiet drink perhaps a massage then a good night s sleep to set me up for the long haul flight next day Travel is often about tackling the unexpected so I remain reasonably calm when on pre senting my voucher at the recep tion
5. 2 TRAVEL amp INDULGENCE FOLLOW THE READER Canvas opinions from a camping pro AHMED AL GHARDAQA O MALLEY ACT COMING from the United Arab Emirates to live in Australia I had alot to learn New language new handwriting but when the school announced that Year 10 students were going ona nine day camp I was totally confident After all when you are talking tents you are talking Arab We have been tent experts for thousands of years There are not many stones in the desert and if you can get a tree to grow there you are not going to cut it down to build something Goats on the other hand we have always had a lot of so we make tents from their skins To Australians atentisa shelter To us itis a residence A traditional Arabian tent is home for up to 10 people It has rooms carpets cushions all the comforts of home because it is home Tents are our tradition our heritage So I told Tom and Richard they were in good hands Their friend Ahmed knows about tents But when we got our tent I was shocked Instead of huge poles and masses of material the parcel was the size of a sleeping bag What is this I wondered A free sample That was the tent We must put it up Well OK Maybe it was bigger than it looked Now sand is great for camping Ifa sand dune is not level you can push it around and make it level No sand at the campsite but plenty of rocks and tree roots I
6. desk I m informed I have no reservation and must go back to the airport where Korean Air will sort me out Two hours later when I find myself notin the lap of luxury but in a basic room ina high rise hotel 20km from the airport surrounded by what appears to be a building site I suspect I ve overestimated my frequent flyer smarts The morning dawns bright and clear After breakfast I waste a half hour grappling with the idio TRAVEL amp INDULGENCE THE INCIDENTAL TOURIST syncrasies of an automated toilet There s a user s manual next to the toilet roll holder but it s in Korean and calling housekeeping for assistance with using the baffling array of buttons and knobs would only leave me flushed with embarrassment Finally ablutions over I head out for a bracing constitutional The roads flanked by bare saplings wrapped in sack blankets as protection from the bitter cold run in rigid grid formation into the distance I turn into what looks like a vast park and run smack bang into Jonah and the Whale Jonah clad in a tunic of old gold and reclining on a couch upholstered in foam ing wave shapes is a little bigger than life size So is the whale which is made of thousands of tiny green and blue glass bottles wired together It s recycling of biblical proportions Perhaps this is my reward for the night s discomforts the point at which camera notebook and perfect location meet I s
7. eat Wall and more The Diamond Princess is one of the largest most innovative ships boasting premium quality and comfort A voyage on the Diamond Princess is an experience to be savoured and remembered THE AUSTRALIAN Travelrite International Pty Ltd License number 30858 is the tour organiser Neither News Limited nor any of its subsidiaries nor any of their newspapers have any involvement in the tour and have no liability of any kind to any person in relation to the tour THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN JULY 23 24 2011 www theaustralian com au a trampoline It is rather decadent Travelodge Hotels which has 16 properties across Australia and New Zealand has partnered with the Sleep Health Foundation to promote the notion of good rest and has developed a list of 10 top tips for a great night s sleep The information is pretty basic but the research does identify four types of sleepers according to their usual position assumed in bed and attri butes personality types Lounge is a Starfish apparently from which you can draw your own conclusions Quite how all these lists actually help you sleep Lounge is not sure but the Travelodge Good Sleep Guide does suggest four helpful apps Rainmaker free features soothing rain the rate of which you can regulate which is handy given that a monsoon would be a bit daunting and we all know what the suggestion of rush ing water does to our bladders in the wee hours
8. ee now that the basic hotel 20km from the airport was my destiny Suspended on a tower of scaf folding above the whale s spout old television antennas is Elijah en route to heaven his chariot hauled by prancing white ponies Beyond framed by sparkling new skyscrapers Daniel is addressing an attentive pair of lions And here s Moses presenting the Ten Commandments on tab lets of stone that must be at least 20m high And there in what seems to be a random detour into the New Testament is Jesus bowed before Pontius Pilate flanked by cheerful looking Roman soldiers The piece de resistance is Sodom or is it Gomorrah frozen in mid collapse townsfolk scat for the bedsheets to be changed Whatever sleep hormone is cours ing around the bloodstreams of teenage boys could well be bottled in Lounge s opinion and popped in those essential oil burners and dif fusers so popular in resorts Guests would waft off to the land ofnod and think of the frangi panis we would save Four Seasons Sydney has anew Celebrity Bed package that gives you the bed Apparently Julia Roberts once told Oprah Winfrey her favourite place to sleep was a Four Seasons bed Oprah agreed exclaiming to her audience The Four Seasons bed is the only bed better than my own Cue the sound of an express furniture delivery van rumbling up a mansion driveway reckons Lounge The Four Seasons Sydney overnight deal costs a reviving 3500 f
9. o Holidays 1300 558 987 tempoholidays com is selling a Greek Island Hopping Flexi Pass to build your own itinerary based on an ll day stay from Athens return on a mix of up to four islands from 1156 a CLARIFICATION RE A tentative opening for conscientious visitors Travel amp Indulgence July 16 17 the author corrects Contrary to reports Balloons Over Bagan is not owned by a crony of the nation s ruling generals The crony wealthy businessman Tay person twin share with accommodation fast ferry tickets and transfers Orient Express has reopened Napasai on Koh Samuiin Thailand napasai com after a refurbishment of pool residences and cottages and the resort now hasa large fish filled lagoon and anature reserve check for special relaunch packages SUSAN KUROSAWA Za controls a number of firms in Burma one of which has taken over the Malikha Lodge a hotel once owned by the people who still own Balloons Over Bagan But the firm Balloons Over Bagan has never had any direct association with Tay Za DEPARTURE LOUNGE The restless years SUSAN KUROSAWA RESTS I ve had a few but then again too few to mention Well you get Departure Lounge s drift even if drifting off to sleep seems a step too far for many of us The mad irresistible world of travel comes with drawbacks by the luggage load but perhaps the biggest challenge is to get a good night s kip whether
10. or two and the home deliv ery of a king sized Four Seasons bed by Sealy with plush quilted pillow top and a posturepedic support system to lure you into heavenly slumber Even the cheap as chains are getting into the better sleep act Budget basic Tune Hotels the Asia headquartered group that sells rooms for amazing prices from less than 10 a night for advance bookings is opening in Melbourne at the end of next year and the emphasis is on getting the bed right not any luxury falderals Similarly Accor s successful Formule 1 brand pioneered in France is upping its offering witha fresh fit out and more technology all in quest of a better sleeping experience for guests Its Cocoon Room concept is being showcased at Fl hotels in Canberra and Sydney s Campbelltown and Wentworthville Even airlines are getting into the sleep act with pointy end passengers on board British Air ways for example being pam pered with 400 thread count duvet covers Egyptian cotton is de rigueur it seems whether at high altitude or tucked up at a showy hotel Lounge who suddenly does feel very tired can recall when thread count just meant keeping her needlework basket in order e travelodge com au e fourseasons com sydney e tunehotels com e accorhotels com tering in all directions The city is made entirely of plastic plates in the blue and white willow pattern you see in Chinese restaurants Have I stumbled into a thea
11. t would have taken a bulldozer to make this level I found a spot but it looked a little slanted Never mind We got the tent up but there was a bit left over What is this I asked Rain sheet my friends suggested I had never heard of such a thing Rain is not really a problem in the desert Surely it was a pad or carpet So I put it on the ground That night we learned that the Australian idea of a three person tent and an Arab s idea of a tent big enough for three are very different We learned the bit left over was nota carpet it was indeed a rain sheet and it was raining We learned that even a gentle slant causes three guys to roll down to the bottom ofa tent and end up in a pile I loved caving canoeing and even the 25km hike with pack without camel on our nine day camp But really we still need to talk about these tents oo Sg 20N RANT OR RAVE Send your 400 word contribution to our Follow the Reader column Published columnists will receive a 60 gift voucher courtesy of kikki K to spend on stationery journals pictured travel accessories or stylish Swedish designed gift items More 03 9645 6346 kikki k com Send your contribution to travel theaustralian com au WHAT IN THE WORLD MERCURE mercure com has Ready to Visit deals across Europe until August 3 there s up to 40 per cent off two night stays with breakfast at about 400 hotels in 14 countries e Temp
12. tre workshop It can t be for there must be 50 or more of these dio ramas spread across the park I can see an enormous Noah s Ark at least 3km beyond the canal I m frisking happily with bun nies and tigers in the Garden of Eden when I remember I ve got a plane to catch Hunting about for an exit I chance upon a huge bill board featuring a glossy spray painted version of Christ s feet nailed tothe cross The sign along side it reads Bible Expo 201 Songpo Park Incheon So the mystery is solved Later on the bus to the airport I m reminded of a piece of advice my dear mother in law gave me as she wished me bon voyage Remember to think of every unscheduled change of plan as an opportunity to see and do something you d otherwise never have done Editor Susan Kurosawa 02 9288 2464 Deputy editor Michelle Rowe 02 92881625 Access All Areas editor Merry Kirkwood 02 92881668 Online editor Michelle Rowe Online production Bradley Wynne Online co ordinator Merry Kirkwood Editorial liaison Sharon Fowler 02 9288 2419 Contributing editors Judith Elen Christine McCabe International correspondents Tony Perrottet Stanley Stewart Vijay Verghese Columnists David Carroll James Jeffrey Catherine Marshall Contributor Leonie Coombes Layout Warren Melksham Cover design Jason Bitneris Email travel theaustralian com au indulgence theaustralian com au Please do not send email attachments or unsolicited
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