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Luxury Travel, Sustainable Travel and Responsible Tourism

Luxury Travel, Sustainable Travel and Responsible Tourism
I’ve been reflecting upon luxury travel, sustainable travel and responsible tourism following a spate of sumptuous experiences, from Relais and Chateaux luxury lodges in New Zealand to a Borneo cruise on a super-yacht with Orion Expeditions, and an Orient Express Eastern & Oriental train journey. So why have these luxury...
Destination Asia
  • 21 Nov
  • 5
Grantourismo Goes To Sea with Orion Expeditions!

Grantourismo Goes To Sea with Orion Expeditions!
Grantourismo goes to sea! That’s right, we’re about to do our first cruise and in a few days will be embarking upon one of those Orion Expeditions to Malaysian Borneo called Secrets of Sabah. We’ve been sharing our experiences here with you from Sydney, where...
Destination Asia
  • 23 Jul
  • 4
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  • It’s been about a month or so since I was at Angkor Wat and I’m having withdrawal symptoms. I really feel a very pressing need to visit soon. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been yet I can still keep visiting Angkor again and again. There’s something about just being there and wandering about that I find soothing, and life has been so crazy and so intense and so stressful recently that I feel the need to be in this calm, spiritual place. I think I’m going to just go, without a reason, but to just *be* there. When I visit I’m nearly always there with a sense of purpose, taking somebody or doing a story. But I need to go just to be. Yesterday I overheard a conversation amongst a handful of backpackers who were travelling through Southeast Asia and starting their Cambodia trip declare to two new backpackers they’d just met that they were going to avoid Angkor. They felt they’d seen enough temples for one lifetime in Thailand and were “templed out” and planned to spend two days in Siem Reap without temples and head to the coast and islands. I will never understand that thinking - despite my lifelong travels, my decades travel writing and talking to travellers. I’ll never get that need to avoid visiting such magical places. One of them had a full moon party t-shirt on and I bet she’d already booked a Siem Reap bar crawl. Angkor is not just a tourist attraction to be ticked off some country-counting backpackers’ bucket lists - it’s an architectural treasure, rich in history, a site of momentous historical events, a place of worship (although I’m not the least bit religious), and a special spiritual place. Who would want to give up that experience? Particularly when you think that it’s a once-in-a-lifetime-experience for so many. Can someone help me to understand? #angkorwat #angkor #temple #history #siemreap #cambodia #travel #mindfultravel #localtravel #slowtravel #spiritualtravel #experientialtravel #immersivetravel #traveldeeper #grantourismotravels #beautiful #beautifuldestinations #reflections #travelreflections
  • In case you missed it, new post on the site on the Northern Thailand specialties you have to taste in Chiang Mai, from khao soi gai, the spicy Northern Thai curry noodle soup, to gaeng hang lay moo, a Northern Thai pork curry of Burmese origin, and the fiery nam priks (relishes) and herbaceous and sour sausages. Northern Thailand specialties have been on my mind these last days, as I’ve been doing final edits on the new street food e-book we’re about to publish, and have had to drool over Terence’s mouth-watering images of Southeast Asian street food every day. Check out the post if you haven’t yet. Mouthwatering photo by @terence_carter_photography of course 😋 #food #thaifood #thaicuisine #northernthaifood #northernthailand #thailand #chiangmai #lanna #lannafood #chiangmaifood #chiangmaithailand #foodtravel #culinary #culinarytravel #travel #travelforfood #eatlocal #foodie #foodies #grantourismotravels
  • If you’re waiting on an email or some other kind of communication from me, sincere apologies. Power and internet outage (again!) since last night, landlord’s away so no generator, laptops dead, and phones about to die. Using offline time to do some badly needed spring cleaning. Yes, I know it’s almost winter. The pic is from a recent Bangkok trip, taken in the backstreets of the old town. #poweroutage #batterieslow #offthegridintheheartofacity #cambodiayourekillingme #lifeofawriter #needtomove
  • Canvas chef Riley Sanders is creating a cuisine inspired by a city and that city is Bangkok. Sanders’ inventive food is rooted in beautiful, fresh, local produce, sourced from across Thailand. It has earned Riley and Canvas a Michelin star. The 2019 Thailand Michelin Guide was released last week and many of the Bangkok restaurants we often recommend you dine at are in the guide’s second edition. They include some of the ten Thailand restaurants I chose for the Truth, Love and Clean Cutlery guide and some of the restaurants we featured in our story in this month’s DestinAsian magazine on Bangkok’s second dining renaissance. More on that subject soon but for now click through to our site to learn more but Chef Riley Sanders and what he’s up to in his inviting Thong Lor restaurant. Also visit Terence on his IG page @terence_carter_photography where he’s sharing his portraits of chefs, including many in the latest Michelin guide. Portrait above by @terence_carter_photography #food #travel #culinarytravel #restaurant #restaurants #bangkok #thailand #bangkokfood #thaifood #thaicuisine #chef #cheflife #chefs #chefstalk #chefsoninstagram #artofplating #asias50best #worlds50best #michelin #michelinguide #michelinthailand #truthloveandcleancutlery #grantourismotravels
  • Kitchen ‘shop’ (really a stall) at Battambang’s main market, Phsar Boeung Choeuk. I just love this market. Siem Reap’s markets are fab, too, but the stallholders at Battambang’s markets see far fewer tourists so are friendlier and always up for a laugh, and the prices are insanely cheap. It’s best to go early in the morning when it’s busiest and the street food is freshest. #battambang #cambodia #asia #travel #localtravel #localfood #eatlocal #culinarytravel #culinaryjourneys #food #foodie #foodies #foodietravel #foodiesofinstagram #foodlover #cambodianfood #khmerfood #cambodiancuisine #foodtour #grantourismotravels #cambodiaculinarytour #cuisineculturetours #market #markets #kitchenware
  • Handmade dumplings and handpulled noodles by ‘Noodle Guy’ at Lan Chov Khorko Miteanh (145, Street 2, Battambang), a simple, no-frills eatery with a stall-like kitchen with boiling pots and woks on gas stoves at the front of the shophouse. This is where the most unlikely of noodle masters, wearing low-slung shorts, dirty singlet and flip-flops, makes hearty handmade Chinese dumplings and silky hand-pulled noodles each morning. Order a serve of each. Don’t even think about ordering anything else. #battambang #cambodia #asia #travel #localtravel #localfood #eatlocal #culinarytravel #culinaryjourneys #food #foodie #foodies #foodietravel #foodiesofinstagram #foodlover #cambodianfood #khmerfood #cambodiancuisine #foodtour #grantourismotravels #cambodiaculinarytour #cuisineculturetours #soup #noodles #dumplings