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Vietnamese Are Not Ugly

Beauty is said to be ‘in the eye of the beholder”.  Someone from the West may think Julia Roberts is charming.  She certainly may be, but some of the older generation in Vietnam may think differently.

I have a friend who broke up with his girl just because of a comment from his Mum about his girl’s high cheekbones.  The Vietnamese think that a girl like that will bring bad luck to her husband – and may even bring death to him!  The round face shape represents prosperity and wealth to Vietnamese.

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La Jolla Calendar of Upcoming Events

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It's January, but the sun is shining and there's lots to do in San Diego's favorite seaside community.

 

Now through April 10 – Join the team from Birch Aquarium at Scripps for naturalist-guided whale watching. Twice-daily cruises will look for gray whales on their round-trip migration. Also search for seals, sea lions, dolphins, migrating birds, and more. Naturalists will showcase gray whale biofacts and will answer your marine animal questions. Dress in layers and don't forget your camera.

 

Now
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Mendoza's Gay Vendimia (Wine Festival) in March

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Located in the Andes mountain range of Argentina, Mendoza is a year-round vacation destination. Renowned globally for being the capital of Argentina's wine making industry----especially the renowned Malbecs---Mendoza is also a center for skiing in the higher peaks during July, August, and September. The annual Vendimia wine festival in March is the highlight of the year with festivities for all ages and a spe

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via Hg2

Marquis de Sade, Prague, Czech RepublicDespite its provocative name — from, as you’ll recall, one of history’s more notorious sex fiends — the Marquis de Sade, once the largest brothel in the Czech Republic’s capital, is a den of no more iniquity and kink than the average student hangout. Is the Marquis de Sade the best watering hole in town? Maybe not, but this Prague bar may well be the one where you feel most comfortable.

Rough, ready and relentlessly bohemian, the Marquis de Sade’s charms include high ceilings, capacious

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A Vacation in Egypt Has It All

by Jimmy Dunn

 

Spending your vacation in Egypt is a great value for money and you have a chance to experience and see 7,000 years of history and civilization.

 

Taking a moment to realize that Egypt is more than 7,000 years old and was home to one of the best documented civilizations of the world is breathtaking on its own. Across the centuries and millennia there have been numerous cultures and peoples who have lived in Egypt and ruled it too. The result of that nowadays, are the leftover monument

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South India Wildlife Sanctuaries

Wildlife Vacations in South India are dwelling place for more than 500 species of mammals, 1225 bird species, 1600 types of reptiles and amphibians and about 57,000 varieties of insects.

Periyar National Park, Kerala
Periyar wildlife sanctuary attracts visitors all over the world for its emerald green forest and lovely Periyar lake. It is a homeland to many wild animals such as elephant, Sambhar, Bison, Spotted deers, tigers, Leopards etc. along with more than 260 species of birds including Nilgir

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Free Travel Medical Assistance

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From NMT Images

Free Travel Medical Assistance

One of the best kept secrets of medical assistance programs for travelers may be the International Association For Medical Assistance To Travelers.

So, say you’ve booked the family trip of a lifetime. You’ve thought of everything, but do you have the name, address, and phone number of a qualified doctor who speaks English in wherever?

It’s estimated that 20 percent of all travelers get sick annually, and of these, five percent require emergency care o

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Every year in November for the past 15 years, I head to London for the annual World Travel Market.
For those of you who do not know of the WTM. The World Travel Market is the second largest convergence of travel & tourism professionals in the world. Held the second week of November at Excel, I attend this travel show to gain knowledge and meet new vendors to join my World Travel List.
Have you heard the saying, "I never win anything." The way I see it, successful guys like myself are destined to p
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The Nile River

by Marie Parsons

The Nile is the longest river in the world, stretching north for approximately 4,000 miles from East Africa to the Mediterranean. Studies have shown that the River (Iteru, meaning, simply, River, as the Egyptians called it) gradually changed its location and size over millions of years. The Nile flows from the mountains in the south to the Mediterranean in the north. Egyptians traveling to other lands would comment on the "wrong" flow of other rivers. For example, a text of Tuthm

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Egypt's Climate and Weather

 Most of the time, Egypt's weather is very pleasant, if hot.

 

by Jimmy Dunn

Throughout Egypt, days are commonly warm or hot, and nights are cool. Egypt has only two seasons: a mild winter from November to April and a hot summer from May to October. The only differences between the seasons are variations in daytime temperatures and changes in prevailing winds. In the coastal regions, temperatures range between an average minimum of 14° C in winter and an average maximum of 30° C in summer.

 

Temperatures vary widely in the inland desert areas, especially in

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http://www.tripadvisor.com/DirtyHotels
TripAdvisor Names The World’s Dirtiest Hotels

It made the news at CNN a few hours ago.

Then Time NewsFeed picked up and amplified the story: TripAdvisor has just come out with its list of the top dirtiest hotels in the world.

And some of them are pretty bad.

Take the Aqua Gumbet Hotel in Turkey or rather in this case don’t take it.

This Aegean Sea hotel had 121 “terrible” reviews and is considered by TripAdvisor to be the worst in Europe. Probably because the po
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What Is Authentic Luxury Travel?

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When I first started writing about Authentic Luxury Travel no one seemed to know what I meant. Most folks thought that ALT was synonymous with five-star resorts and high-end cruise ships. In those days, I spent a lot of time defining “authentic” as it applies to travel.

But times have changed, and now a whole lot of people endorse the concept while acknowledging that it doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone.

Carsten Becker arranges custom itineraries in Germany and other parts of Europe thr

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The Sundance Film Festival screens hundreds of films from January 20-30. Local insiders know that during the festival, the slopes are less crowded than usual. While filmgoers crowd the theaters, restaurants and bars, skiers enjoy shorter lift lines and uncrowded runs. I don't ski but I do eat. For those who are going to watch films, here are some suggestions about where to eat. 

 

With heavy snow falling in Atlanta and New York City where it isn't wanted, there's comfort knowing that snow is also

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Hungary For a Little East Europop?

by Tripatini staff

Meet Gabriella, Ádám, and Zsolt, Budapest thirtysomethings who formed the electro-pop group Unique in 1997 — and who’ve been music-obsessed ever since they were mini-Madyars. Blonde Gabi, for example, made a splash way back in ’92 when she walked away with “best solo singer” on the Hungarian TV show Teenage Star Search. With her on vocals and her pair of wingmen on keyboards, the trio persevered finally hitting the big time in 2001, when a Unique tune was picked as the theme f

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The first thing you should know about the Dominican Republic is that it’s hotter than Hades. A mile-long beach walk in the midday Dominican sun will suck the life out of you quicker than the torture machine from The Princess Bride. Thank god for Willis Haviland Carrier, who invented air conditioning.

 

The second thing you should know about the Dominican Republic is that the drivers are insane. Have you ever stepped on an anthill and watched the chaos that ensued as the little buggers scurried ov

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Want to Fly On the Farmers Airship?

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"I wonder what it would be like to fly on one of those things?” I said to hubby when I saw the Farmers Airship float over the Home Depot parking lot on Saturday.

Well, guess what? I’m about to find out – and you can, too.

The Zeppelin Eureka is in town to cover the Farmers Insurance Open Golf Tournament at Torrey Pines in La Jolla this week, but Tuesday and Wednesday from 10am to sunset, scenic flights are being offered at a cost of $495 per person.

The one-hour tours will begin at Montgomery Fiel

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From NMT Images

 

Princess Cruises’ Facebook Travel Contest May Sink the Ship

In the last month or so, I’ve received a half dozen Facebook Travel Contests offering all kinds of wonderful trips to the winner.

One came from Queensland, Australia, a solid contest that was rendered irrelevant by the horrific floods there.

Then there was the Carnival Cruise Lines Facebook promo we reported on at New Media Travel and now,  Princess Cruises has just launched a Facebook Contest for the “Best Travel Bucket St

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by David Paul Appell

p10606331-e1268076099883.jpg?w=225When it comes to birthday parties in Latin America — these days at least — nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.

Yet here they were, a pretty young Colombian señorita and maybe a hundred or so of her family and friends, happily celebrating her quince (“Sweet 15″) in the walled garden of Cartagena de India‘s Palacio de la Inquisición, now a history museum, where once upon a time, hapless wretches were gleefully tortured by so-called Christians. Off to one side, yellow and w

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Longboat Key's Sandpiper Inn

I love a good Inn. When I'm off taking a break, I really don't want to see staff coming and going, I just want a place to relax and get a good night's sleep. And not a kid in sight.

 

At the Sandpiper Inn, I did just that.  The Gulf was a stroll away--I could hear it from my bedroom window--and it was a quiet and peaceful place to relax and write.  There was a tiny pool, but the temps while I visited didn't merit a cool-off swim; The landscaping was beautiful and several places beckoned me to sit

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Maine is well known for its lobster, lighthouses, mountains and Martha Stewart. A standout among these and many other State of Maine bright spots is our restaurant community. Maine's chefs and restaurateurs have developed a stellar reputation. Dining scene accolades started flowing in years ago and thankfully, buzz about Maine as a place for good food has not slowed. National newspapers and culinary publications have no shortage of positive things to say about our chefs, brewers, specialty food

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