Travel | GlobalSalsa: travel writer Belinda Jackson

Jan

The most amazing man-made structures in Asia

Faster, higher, longer and older: there’s no doubt Asia plays the one-upmanship game when it comes to architectural statements.

It’s a tough call, making a list of the top 10 architectural statements in Asia. You could go crazy on weird shopping malls or kooky skyscrapers, or totally old-school with a list of heroic monuments and temples.

I’ve earmarked some of the newest, such as Shanghai Tower and Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay, and sought balance with some of the oldest and (in my eyes) most beautiful, such as Indonesia’s Borobodur and the Bibi-Khanym Mosque in Uzbekistan.

Would love to hear your thoughts on my list, which was first published in the Sydney Morning Herald/The Age newspapers’ Traveller section.

Sunrise at Borobudur temple on Java. Photo: iStock

Jan

The most amazing man-made structures in Asia

Bhutan’s Tiger’s Nest Monastery. Photo: Belle Jackson

Faster, higher, longer and older: there’s no doubt Asia plays the one-upmanship game when it comes to architectural statements.

It’s
a tough call, making a list of the top 10 architectural statements in
Asia. You could go crazy on weird shopping malls or kooky skyscrapers,
or totally old-school with a list of heroic monuments and temples.

I’ve
earmarked some of the newest, such as Shanghai Tower and Singapore’s
Gardens by the Bay, and sought balance with some of the oldest and (in
my eyes) most beautiful, such as Indonesia’s Borobodur and the
Bibi-Khanym Mosque in Uzbekistan.

To read the full list, click here. Would love to hear your thoughts/additions to the list, which was published in the Sydney Morning Herald/The Age newspapers’ Traveller sections.

Dec

Six of the best: Stockholm’s family-friendly attractions

Stockholm fun fair Groner Lund.

I’ve visited Stockholm as a freewheeling adult, and also as a parent
toting tots in midwinter (“Why?” I hear you ask. Trust me, I was asking
myself the same question one deep, cold November. But family and the
Northern Lights were calling. Both were in good form.)

Anyway,
should you find yourself in a similar position of travelling in
Stockholm with the brood in tow, there are plenty of fun free and pricey
options, many gathered on the city island of Djurgården, including
Junibacken, which celebrates Nordic writers of children’s fiction
including the beloved Pippi Longstocking, Groner Lund fun park and the
absolutely unmissable Skansen.

I took the 3-year-old to Skansen on
the last visit, and while she slept blissfully in the hired pram, I
spotted rare Arctic animals, chatted about Sami culture with Swedish
guides and watched old-school weaving. When she awoke, she rode fat
ponies and mainlined traditional Christmas pastries. Win-win all round.

You can read my top six Stockholm adventures for kids’ here.

The feature first appeared in the Sun-Herald and Sunday Age newspapers’ Traveller section. Enjoy!

Dec

Welcome to Australia’s best beach (which you’ve probably never heard of)

Cossies Beach, Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Photo: Rik Soderlund

It’s official: Australia’s best beach is …drum roll… probably nowhere you’ve ever been.

This week past saw a chat with beach expert Brad Farmer, who has
ventured across Australia, boardies on, notebook in hand, to find our
best beach. His new book lists the top 101 beaches in Australia.

He reckons he’s visited about 4000 of Australia’s 11,000-plus
beaches, and the best beach is the newly named Cossies Beach on the tiny
Cocos (Keeling) Islands, about 4.5 hours north-west of Perth.

The
island group is on the extreme fringe of our marine waters, and better
known for border patrols than beach patrols.

Farmer’s research isn’t driven by hotel companies, website stats or
private equity funds, he says. He worked with Tourism Australia, which
says the value of our beaches to the economy need to be appreciated, and
capitalised upon.

Also in the top 10 best beaches are strips on another distant
outpost, Christmas Island. Some people will roll their eyes that the
Gold Coast is underrepresented, or that Bondi should be top o’ list. But
I think it’s refreshing that we explore past the everyday.

As Brad told me,”Australia is one of the last countries you can
actually go and explore. Go a little further, open your eyes, explore.”

It’s a motto to live by.

Click here to read the full story, which appeared in Fairfax Media’s Traveller website.

Jul

Japan’s Hokkaidō tops Lonely Planet’s ‘Best in Asia 2016’ list

The travel lists are coming thick and fast today! Hot on the heels of world’s best airline lists, Lonely Planet has just issued its Asian hotspots for 2016.

Here’s what the Lonely Planet experts have to say:

“Lonely
Planet’s Best in Asia 2016

1.
Hokkaidō, Japan

“Hokkaidō’s perfect
powder snow put it on the international map, but it has also blinded visitors
to the year-round charms of Japan’s northernmost island. Hokkaidō has
become a lot more accessible this year thanks to the new bullet train linking
its southern port city, Hakodate, to Tokyo.”

2. Shànghǎi,
China

“Looking
for the centre of the universe right now? It’s surely Shànghǎi.
This year’s a big one, with the first Disney resort in mainland China opening
here, as well as the completion of the long-awaited Shànghǎi Tower,
the world’s second tallest building.”

3. Jeonju,
South Korea

“Having long flown under the
radar as the country’s top foodie destination, Jeonju has
finally started to make mouths water further afield. The birthplace of Korea’s
most famous dish, bibimbap, now lures a younger crowd thanks to its
fast-emerging street food scene.”

4. Con Dao Islands, Vietnam

“This archipelago now ranks among
Asia’s hottest emerging destinations. With improved flight connections
from Ho Chi Minh City, there is no better place right now to feast on
fresh seafood, explore in search of a perfect beach and revel in a castaway
vibe.”

5. Hong Kong, China

“Hong Kong is
focusing on its natural heritage – specifically, the
UNESCO-designated geopark, a 50-sq km region to the northeast. A shuttle
bus between the geopark’s Sai Kung town and its ancient rock
formations debuted this May, hard on the heels of a ferry service to Lai
Chi Wo Village.”

6. Ipoh, Malaysia

“Malaysia’s lesser-known food
capital has new flair thanks to a crop of boutique cafes that have sprung up in
its historic quarter. At the heart of Ipoh’s renaissance is otherworldly
concept hotel Sekeping Kong Heng.”

7. Pemuteran, Indonesia

“A double bay of beaches
near Menjangan … don’t wait until everybody arrives; catch the
buzz now from this alluring mix of art-filled resorts, inventive new
restaurants and the mellowest vibe around.”

8. Trang Islands,
Thailand

“Trang Islands pack
the same knockout punch as their more famous Andaman Coast neighbours; all they
lack are the crowds. Go, now – while these sleepy islands bask in untouched
splendour.”

9. Meghalaya, India

“Opportunities for hiking,
climbing, caving and rafting abound. After decades off the tourist map, people
are starting to notice this backwater. Meghalaya won’t stay
this quiet for long; go before thrill seekers storm the Khāsi Hills.”

10. Taitung, Taiwan

“Taitung is Taiwan’s
secret wild card. This cradle of indigenous culture is the place to party after
harvest with music festivals and sweet millet wine. Or take advantage of this
rural county’s superb whale watching, stargazing and cycling.” Please
note: Typhoon Nepartak has caused recent devastation; however Best
in Asia is a collection of great places for the next 12 months and
Taiwan has already begun the rebuilding efforts and will be welcoming
travellers again soon.

Visitors to www.lonelyplanet.com/best-in-asia can
also enter a competition for the chance to win a trip for two to Lonely
Planet’s number-one Best in Asia 2016 destination, Hokkaidō,
Japan, valued at AUD $10,000.”

Jul

Emirates named world’s best airline

Ok plane nerds, here’s the list for 2016 – the world’s best airlines as voted by travellers in the annual Skytrax awards.

Again, a battle between the Middle Eastern airlines versus the old fave, Singapore, and Australia’s own Qantas just scrapes in at number 9 in the world’s best. Note that it also took out the best Australia/Pacific airline, as well.

The top 10 best airlines:

1. Emirates
2. Qatar Airways
3. Singapore Airlines
4. Cathay Pacific
5. ANA All Nippon Airways
6. Etihad Airways
7. Turkish Airlines
8. EVA Air
9. Qantas Airways
10. Lufthansa

Other winners included:

Transatlantic Airline: Lufthansa
Transpacific Airline: Eva Air
North American Regional Airline: Porter Airline
Airline Staff in Asia: ANA airlines
Regional European Airline: Aegean
Airline lounge: Star Alliance
Airline in Southern Europe: Turkish Airlines
Airline in Northern Europe: FinnAir
Airline in Western Europe: Lufthansa
Airline in Eastern Europe: Aeroflot
Airline in Africa: South African Airways
Airline in Australia/Pacific: Qantas
Airline in Central Asia: Air Astana
Airline in China: Hainan Airlines
Airline in Central America/Caribbean: Copa Airlines
Airline in S. America: LAN Airlines
Airline in N. America: Virgin America
Airline in Asia: Singapore Airlines
Airline in Middle East: Emirates
Airline in Europe: Turkish Airlines
Low-cost airline in Australia & Pacific: JetStar Airways
Low-cost airline in Asia: AirAsia
Low-cost airline in Central Asia & India: IndiGo
Low-cost airline in China: Spring Airlines
Low-cost airline in South America: Azul Brazil
Low-cost airline in North America: Virgin America
Low-cost airline in Europe: Norwegian
Lounge dining business class: Turkish
First class lounge dining: Air France
Airline staff service Africa: Ethiopia Airlines
Airline staff service Aus Pac: Qantas

May

Beautiful game, beautiful life: Camp Nou, Barcelona

Action at Barcelona’s Camp Nou.
Photo: Belinda Jackson

Big thanks to the man about the house for dragging me to Camp Nou, headquarters of Barcelona Football Club, to see his club in action. My story on the passion and the fashion of the beautiful game was published in the Sydney Morning Herald this weekend. (For the record, I did get him to visit Sagrada Familia.)

Forget Michelin stars, and Gaudi who? There’s only one reason to visit Barcelona.

The message is clear. “I only want to go to Barcelona to see
Barcelona Football Club play,” says the husband, shelving any ideals of
visiting Sagrada Familia or eating at world-famous restaurants.

We’re
staying at one of the best addresses in town – the new suites in the
Mandarin Oriental Barcelona – and the entrance is a dramatic catwalk up
from street level. The lobby is sleek and hushed, the staff as polished
as only five-star staff can be. Yet in Barcelona, football transcends
gender and poshness.

In Barcelona, football certainly appeals to shoppers: the city’s
new-town grids and old-city lanes conspire to walk me into one of dozens
of official FC Barcelona boutiques selling balls and caps, water
bottles and pencil cases. A genuine FC Barcelona shirt will set you back
€80 ($124), even though it’s a sweaty 100 per cent nylon and
manufactured in Vietnam or Bangladesh.


Freedom of expression! Catelan activists at Camp Nou. Photo: Belinda Jackson

To read more about kicking off in Barcelona, click here.

This story was published in the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper’s Traveller section.

May

Tang: Treasures from the Silk Road capital

If you wanted to brush up on your knowledge of China’s Golden Age,
the Tang Dynasty, you could do worse than regressing to a 1970s
childhood. Grab the beanbags and binge on the campy Japanese kids’ TV
show, Monkey.

Let’s leave aside that the lead character, Monkey, is a celestial
monkey warrior and king of primates who’d conjure up an army from a few
plucked chest hairs, ride a white cloud and could transform himself into
a hornet to irritate and defeat evil: the TV program is rooted in fact.

Monkey is based on the 16th-century Chinese epic Xi You Ji
(Journey to the West), which traces the 17-year pilgrimage of the monk
Xuanzang from China to India, in search of Buddhist scriptures. In Monkey,
which was dubbed hilariously into English, the monk is called
Tripitaka, an honorary title used during the Tang Dynasty for those who
had mastered the Buddhist scriptures.

To read more about the Tang: treasures from the Silk Road capital exhibition, on display at the Art Gallery of NSW until 10 July, click here.

Apr

Whales, worship and weird cabaret: the Tongan triumvirate

Humpback whales bring their (very big) babies into the
safe waters of Tonga each year, from July to October.
Photo: Belle Jackson

We’ve all been lamenting the devastation in Fiji from the recent Cyclone Winston, but spare a thought for Tonga, which was in the cyclone’s frontline, and is still picking up the pieces.

The Vava’u archipelago, where I spent most of my time on my recent Tongan visit, was hardest hit.

So if you’re not a Fiji aficionado, preferring something a little more laid back and – to use the word of the decade- ‘authentic’, why not skip one country further east from Australia for whale swimming, a spot of choral singing and the funniest drag shows I’ve seen for many a year.

And if you are a Fiji fan, from this month (April 2016) you can now fly from Australia to Nadi (Fiji) for a little five-star R&R, then fly Nadi direct to Vava’u (Tonga) for said pleasures, with Fiji Airways.

You can read my story about whales, worship and weird cabaret in Sydney’s Sun-Herald newspaper’s Traveller section by clicking here.

Mar

Airline review: Qatar Airways economy class, Melbourne to Doha

A street scene from Doha’s Souq Waqif. Photo: Belle Jackson

Qatar Airways, the newest Middle Eastern airline to service Australia, does the Melbourne-Doha (Qatar) route and recently started flying from Sydney, with Adelaide-Doha in the wings.

I flew Melbourne to Qatar on the way to Stockholm, and reviewed it for the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper. I never seem to draw the A380 card, so plane nerds please note that this flight was on its Boeing 777-300ER.

Great entertainment system (when it got working), good food (except that thing about stuffing kids full of sugar while in a confined space for 14 hours – um, why???) and timely arrival into Doha’s new airport, which is fantastic until you hit the maniacal bottlenecks at the transit area.

Click here to read my review of the rival to Emirates and Etihad.

« First ‹ Prev 7 8 91011 12 13 Next ›Last »

Follow