VardhanVardhan

Travelwell Author: Travelwell

It’s the terrible twos, all right.

And we’ll scream, throw tantrums and hold our breath until you swear to read our magazine – but given the choice, we’d just rather draw you in with another year of poking around the world’s most intriguing places. We’d rather help you plan another year’s worth of holidays you’ll remember forever, and give you plenty of armchair travel to help you dream while you’re stuck at work. We’d rather bring the world to you the way we’ve promised and hope you’ll love us just for that – but you have been warned. Love us or face the wrath of a two-year-old. To help sweeten the deal, we’ve come out with The Hot List 2012, which we believe is our most diverse and packed issue yet, and we’ve really gone a bit crazy this time. Crazy enough to visit the craziest bits of an already-insane Japan, and finding the serious, shockingly beautiful country that hides behind the manga-decked façade. Yes, it is very much safe to go, and
complicated and fascinating enough to spend years getting to know.
It’s coming up to summer, of course, so we have a lot of holiday travel planned. First, there’s Europe, but not the Europe you’d expect. There’s a hidden side of Scotland, with castles and lake monsters and Italian chapels (yes, in Scotland), all liberally doused with whisky. Then there’s Budapest, smallest and wildest of the great Central European cities, where the bars make you sit in bathtubs.
Don’t like cities? Heck, head to Kenya, where gazelles trot stupidly towards lurking cheetahs, where elephants have the right of way, and where even the house cats are special. Or, go a step beyond the delights of Singapore, and land up on the Riau archipelago of Indonesia – beautiful islands that don’t need a visa.
We haven’t forgotten our home, either: we’ve gone and analysed the great tiger sanctuaries of Central India. Which one gives you the most diverse wildlife? The prettiest forest? The best accommodation? It’s all here. And then we have
a list of wonderful, characterful and often luxurious hotels – all for less than ` 5,000 a day. And to top it off, we make a pilgrimage. To Uluru, a big rock in the middle of Australia that makes you weep. Yes, a rock. Which makes you weep because it is so incredibly special.
Like I said, we’re doing our bit. You’d better love us. Or else.
Travelwell Author: Travelwell

2012 is an all-you-can-eat buffet.

We’ve laid out the places you have to see this year, and they’re all weird, tasty and incredibly exotic. Like Cambodia, whose people have left behind a horrific past to bring you an intense cultural experience at a stunning price, or Bhutan, which is pretty much showing the world how a country should be run – by preserving its incredible natural beauty and its picturesque traditions. Or New Orleans, where the party never ends, and where you’ll beg and beg for more of the excellent food and jazz. Even in India, we have the too-often-ignored Orissa, which combines giant crocodiles and dolphins that help fishermen, and centuries-old handicrafts with hidden palaces.
Plus, our calendar of travel tells you exactly where you should find yourself every month – and we bring you brilliant off-season ideas, heads-ups on great festivals, and advice on what weather to avoid where. And you’re going to tell us what you like best on this buffet table: we bring you the Lonely Planet Magazine India Travel Awards, where you can vote for your favourite destinations and experiences, from cultural hot-spots to the homestays you like best. The only question here is your table manners. In Goa last month, I was horrified by how little we Indians seem to care for the places we visit: people were peeing everywhere, chucking garbage around, making a racket and showing zero respect for local culture. Indians have a crappy rep as travellers, despite how much everyone wants our money – perhaps this is the year we can change all that. Most important of all, though, you’re going to enjoy yourselves this year. Whether you like it or not. We’ve laid out the places you have to see this year,and they’re all weird, tasty and incredibly exotic.Like Cambodia, whose people have left behind a horrific past to bring you an intense cultural experienceat a stunning price, or Bhutan, which is pretty much showing the world how a country should be run– by preserving its incredible natural beauty andits picturesque traditions. Or New Orleans, where the party never ends,and where you’ll beg and beg for more of the excellent food and jazz.Even in India, we have the too-often-ignored Orissa, which combinesgiant crocodiles and dolphins that help fishermen, and centuries-old handicrafts with hidden palaces.Plus, our calendar of travel tells you exactly where you should find yourself every month – and we bring you brilliant off-season ideas,heads-ups on great festivals, and advice on what weather to avoid where.And you’re going to tell us what you like best on this buffet table:we bring you the Lonely Planet Magazine India Travel Awards,where you can vote for your favourite destinations and experiences,from cultural hot-spots to the homestays you like best.The only question here is your table manners. In Goa last month,I was horrified by how little we Indians seem to care for the places we visit: people were peeing everywhere, chucking garbage around, makinga racket and showing zero respect for local culture. Indians have a crappy rep as travellers, despite how much everyone wants our money – perhaps this is the year we can change all that.
Most important of all, though, you’re going to enjoy yourselves this year. Whether you like it or not.
Travelwell Author: Travelwell

Travel and romance seem to go hand in hand.

For some, at least. Land up in Paris or Venice with an attractive member of the opposite sex, and sooner rather than later, you’ll find candles and ukuleles and chocolates popping up all over the place. Honestly, you can’t seem to escape it, at times.

I have to confess I’m a bit leery of this. I’d rather go with friends: there’s no shopping involved, the candles can go take a hike, and if you have a bitter argument over the cute local girl you were eyeing, you can always fix things with a beer, rather than live with a broken relationship. Places that are just meant for romance, in particular, worry me intensely. I’d rather have food allergies.

So, this time, we decided to seek out destinations and experiences that, while definitely pretty and romantic, had more to offer than just an opportunity for couples to ooze all over each other. These, we decided, had to give you something to talk about, be sufficiently interesting so you could tear your eyes away from your partner – and if it came to it, arouse enough excitement to distract you from your huffy lover. Ukuleles were definitely optional – great travel was much more important. With this in mind, we landed up in some very special places. Like Tuscany, intensely pretty and wine-soaked, but also filled with horse races in the city and incredible art – and, surprisingly, great surfing. And Sri Lanka, which has bounced back from the war with a watermelon grin, and features lovely little hotels built under enormous rocks, angry-faced monkeys and charming toilet-roll holders (I’m not kidding).

If you’d rather relax after the stress of courting, there’s the Seychelles, so beautiful it ought to be slapped – and with wildlife and people that are too often ignored by visitors who only stay in expensive hotels. And if that isn’t enough, we have 25 whole ideas for you to explore – from hot-air ballooning to spending a night in a machan – which should definitely put the fizz into your date.

And if there’s fizzle instead of fizz, hey, ditch the partner and go explore. It’s more than love that makes the world go round.

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