Do It Go

Waikiki is one of the most popular tourist destinations of Hawaii and it is also a great neighborhood in Honolulu, with a corresponding beach. These beautiful shores associated with Waikiki are well known for being one of the best places to learn to surf and of course also for their incredible beauty. In addition to all of the great water sports and recreational activities associated with the beach, there are an amazing amount of intriguing cultural attractions found in the neighborhood.

Many of the guests in the five star Waikiki hotels also visit some of the primary cultural attractions throughout Honolulu and this includes some of the great restaurants. As might be expected, Hawaii is known for having some of the best sea food and this is one of the most popular aspects of many people’s vacation.

In fact, Hawaii is known for having a large population of tourists who are there primarily to eat great food and enjoy the beautiful beaches , and this is something that is encouraged by the state itself. There is nothing wrong with a relaxing vacation, and Waikiki knows exactly how to make that happen. However, if you’re looking for some excitement and adventure, a whale watching expedition will probably do the trick.

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There is never a loss of things to do while you’re in New York and aside from some of the obvious choices like seeing a great Broadway play or musical and visiting one or more of the great museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art , it is also fun to discover an aspect of New York that you didn’t know existed. There are many great cultural attractions in the city that can be discovered and explored while you are there and some of the most fun things to do are also along a bit more obscure lines of thought. Taking a tour of the city is one of the first things many people who are staying in a fine New York hotel seek out and there are plenty of choose from. The double decker buses and walking tours are popular though an interesting twist on the idea is to take one of the intriguing haunted tours of the city.

As you might expect in the nation’s largest and most dynamic city, and one with such an amazing history, there are more than one interesting characters whose personalities didn’t leave the city with their bodies. Some of the haunted walking tours of New York not only seek out these wayward souls but also take an interesting approach to presenting the history and background of this great city. Greenwich Village is alive with ghostly figures and one of the prime touring areas to find them and their haunts. New York also tends to boast some of the most famous ghosts in history, which is only fitting. Times Square is another popular location to encounter a ghost tour, well any area of the city is likely to be haunted. It’s simply having the great background story and tour guides that makes searching them out all the more exciting and fun. Also, there are ghost story programs that are suitable for children and popular with families. Exploring New York’s culture includes discovering the ghosts of its past.

Tags: haunted walking tours of new york
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There are a few ways to not only get cheap tickets for New York’s Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, but you could also get great seats in the orchestra section as well. One way to get cheap tickets is to find theaters that hold lotteries. A lottery is where a show, about two hours before show time, will let you write your name on a small index card, write down your zip code and circle if you want one or two tickets. Then, you drop the card in a bucket and about a half-hour later, an employee of the theatre will pick a card from the bucket and announce the winners. There usually are about 25 tickets given out for seats in the orchestra section of the theater. You’ll only pay either $25 to $27 in cash. Yes, this is a gamble because the odds are against you, but if you go during the weekdays as opposed to Weekend nights, your odds are improved. Currently, there are two shows that are offering the lottery: Hair and In the Heights , both Broadway shows.

Another way to see plays for less is to go to the TKTS booth in Times Square, located at 46th Street. They have offers for half-price tickets for certain Broadway and Off-Broadway shows for that days performance. The downtown TKTS booth at South Street Seaport is less crowded than the 46th Street venue, but it doesn’t offer matinee tickets. Also, TKTS only takes cash. Before you stand in line, and the line is long, see what shows are available at TKTS’s website.

If you are booked in a hotel , call up the concierge desk and ask if they have any vouchers for Broadway shows, most times, a hotel concierge will have great ticket deals for their guest. You might also see if the human resource department of the company where you work offer discount vouchers for Off-Off-Broadway productions, musical performances and any other events, these discount vouchers can be redeemed at the box office of any of the participating organizations.

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Donovan McNabb was born on November 25, 1976 and is the starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. Sports are popular in Philadelphia, as they typically are with most major cities, and are an essential aspect of the city’s culture. Bars and clubs will frequently have jerseys and photos hung on the wall and of course many places in Philadelphia are named after one of their professional sports teams. It stands to reason that McNabb is an extremely popular person in Philadelphia. He has played with the Eagles since his arrival in Philadelphia in 1999. He was selected as the second overall pick in that year’s draft series and has been with the Eagles since then. Naturally, Philadelphia considers him to be one of theirs.

Generally the guests in the Philadelphia hotels are in town to see the opposing team if they end up going to a game, but that’s just fine with Philadelphians as they like to have some opposition to exchange phrases with during a great football game. And they have more than enough love and support for their team and their quarterback than many cities have for their own. Some people say you can evaluate the support for any major team based on the color of their stands. This of course means that the more support that exists, the more fans will show up in team colors.

The support the fans feel for McNabb is not undeserved. Between the years 2001 and 2004 he led his team to four consecutive division championships, the Eagles are of the NFC east division. He also led them to one Super Bowl against the New England Patriots, though they did not take home the title. McNabb has the all-time career leader status in pass attempts, pass completions, winning games, passing touchdowns and yards passed, which is a pretty impressive status. He attended Syracuse University though he had also been approached by the University of Nebraska and almost went there due to his interest in working with coach Tom Osborne.

Tags: Donovan McNabb, Philadelphia hotels, University of Nebraska
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The dessert is usually something with cream or syrup, and the thicker the better.  There has never been a sad customer after eating a dessert as decadent as these, so they say.  These days, however, it’s never too late to begin, but because I was on a roll, I decided to go with the flow, and the flow here was definitely going uphill.  This kind of backwards logic was certainly getting to be enough for me, and I started to feel a bit like a letter in a poem by Vattacharda Chandan.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained, is another one of those witticisms that are really not altogether witty, when you get right down to it.

The curries were always a process, however, and when that part begins, there’s no telling where the world will go.  You can usually depend on something that, for me, is like heaven, but there might be someone taking you up on your request for extra spice, and throwing in a touch of something rather difficult, but always enticing.  The restaurant with Indian food is always going to be my favorite, no matter which one it turns out to be.  Somewhere in the middle of things, however, I was sensing that I was part of a literary experiment, where things were in reverse order.  It seemed a bit odd, like that episode of that tv show about Harold Pinter, where George was stuffing saris in sacks, and the rest was a sneeze or so.

Time is certainly a different element in poetry, in all cultures.  It is certainly connected to its relationship with music, one that’s been getting further and further away with some of the new experiments.  However, with Vattacharda making work, there was also a sense that the music  was back, even in the highest experiments that worked for the greater good of the avant garde.  India or Singapore, we are all in this together, after all.

Tags: restaurant with Indian food, Vattacharda, Vattacharda Chandan
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For a perfect escape from winter and for true relaxtion, there are few better places than South Florida and the city of Miami.  With just the click of a mouse, you’ll find a place to stay that provides luxurious spas and some of the world’s most dazzling beaches just outside the doors.  You might be content to stay at the hotel all day and never venture out to the internationally known South Beach and its Art Deco District.  You might be perfectly content to stay by the pool all day and not even see the ocean; however, for those who like to explore the world a bit, you’ll find that Miami has a great number of fascinating places to experience.  Here’s five places you should take a look at while in Miami.

The first place would be South Beach itself; this isn’t just about the beach, but about shopping and entertainment.  It’s quintessential Miami.  For number two, I’d say take a trip out into the Everglades.  This National Park is one of the nation’s most unusual, with 1.5 million acres of swamps and jungles and prairies, it’ll definitely take more than an afternoon!  Three and Four?  Go check out the wildlife at the Sequarium and the Miami MetroZoo.  It’s ideal for families, as is the Miami Museum of Science.  I’m a big proponent of this fifth place to go.  If I have a chance to promote the world of science, I want to take that opportunity.  Currently, the museum is featuring Cabaret Mechanical Theater, which are about forty mechanized and amusing puppets that activate at the touch of a button.  There’s also the planetarium here, too, which has some amazing programs that provide a look into outer-space, with over five different planetarium shows a day.

Whether you lounge in your room, hit the beach or the stores, or take a hovercraft into the Everglades, Miami has something for just about everyone.  If these five spots don’t work for you, there’s plenty more.  And doesn’t a trip to Florida sound pretty good, especially in February when the temperature outside is thirty-three degrees, and in Miami, it’s hovering in the seventies!

Tags: Everglades, http://www.hotelsmiami.com, Miami Museum of Science
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Walking into your house and knowing that in a few moments you’ll be soaking in your very own spa is a wonderful feeling that never diminishes.  Putting a portable spa in your yard means that you’ve decided to make pleasure and relaxation one of your top priorities.  The needs of your family are more important than the needs of the outside world, and there is time to calm down, every day.  Keep in mind that other people are very drawn to those who understand how to live the good life, so you may find yourself listening to a lot of old friends inviting themselves over.  Portable spas can make entertaining groups rather easy, and it’s an excellent way to get conversations started.

The spa seems like a modern convenience, and something that belongs to our time in the history of the human race, but actually the roots are very deep.  The tradition of the bath goes back for centuries, and across cultures.  When speaking of baths in antiquity, it is probably more accurate to say they were a bit more like our spas than our notion of a bathtub.  Famous baths in Rome were places where people would gather to enjoy the healthy physical and social benefits of spending time in the water together.  Some of the most elaborate baths belong to Islamic culture, where there is a blend of the Roman ideas with the earlier Asian traditions to make a fascinating ritual with amazing architecture.

There are several houses in traditional Islamic baths, typically three, with varying degrees of water, from warm to hot.  There was also typically a container of cool water.  For the bathers, moving from one temperature to another was supposed to have healing qualities and was excellent for maintaining cleanliness.  Contemporary science suggests that these ideas were all indeed correct, and the old notions of bathing are very similar to our own.  It is a sort of double luxury, then, to have a spa with all the technologies of today, blended with ideas that go back for centuries.

Tags: Islamic culture, Portable spas
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It’s one of the world’s hotspots for the most gorgeous beaches, and it seems only natural that for hotels, Formentera can also offer richness beyond the imagination.  The hotels are known for the generous island hospitality from the staff, the sumptuous amenities, and the sense that one might be staying in one of the most beautiful places on earth.  It could very well be that, as Formentera has long enjoyed a reputation of being one of the best-kept secrets of world travelers in the vault.  Its distance from the mainland of Spain makes it far enough to provide an excellent resting spot, but close enough to maintain a healthy level of international culture.

Some of the world’s biggest celebrities find Formentera to be a wonderland, where they can truly get away from it all and still enjoy the beach.  As supermodel Kate Moss’ preference might suggest, Formentera has a lovely atmosphere of solitude, and the beaches are extremely clean.  The cultural life of the island also has a lot to offer, catering to international guests who know how to party.  This is certainly helping the careers of the young deejays from Moba Sound, who are finding their way into the cultural fabric of the place.  Started by two locals, Gioele Brizio and Dany B., the idea behind Moba Sound is cultural interchange, something that’s definitely natural to the island culture.

Performing and producing all over the Balearic Islands, there is the most activity between Ibiza and Formentera.  Here, Moba Sound collaborate with other artists, work to find acts that they would like to produce, and working as deejays themselves.  They’re creating a very good reputation for themselves, making electronic beats that have new generations of locals and travelers dancing to infectious rhythms throughout the night.  There is always something to do on the island, even with a very small population, and dancing to the world rhythms of Moba Sound will help solidify the connection between the body and the world.

Tags: Deejay, Formentera, hotels, Moba Sound
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There is only one reason my best friend planned our vacation in Ibiza, Spain, the clubs. And we weren’t disappointed. We arrived in Ibiza around 10pm, checked into one of the Best Hotels Ibiza offers, put on our club clothes and headed out with no time to waste. We were ready to party and maybe, just maybe meet our future girlfriends.

We managed to make it to the latest hottest club ‘London’ just around midnight. We were surprised to find everybody was inside, apparently to make to most of the ‘drink all night’ price. We headed immediately to one of the two main rooms upstairs. We were excited to find Jo Mills spinning to a cavernous room crowded with clubbers dancing beneath a white camouflaged cloth suspended from the high ceiling. We caught the club fever as a spontaneous ‘Woo oooh’ broke out among the dancers. Luckily we were dressed appropriately, this was no t-shirt and jeans crowd. We managed to work our way to where most of the clubbers were wearing their luminous accessories and fluorescent painted faces and exposed body parts. We brought our our rave rings, wristbands and the newly popular shutter shades with which Kanye West wears. We fit in quite nicely.

My friend and I danced with a lot of hot girls and we were impressed with how quick we got drinks served to us. After about an hour of intense dancing and flirting, we take a quick chill and find a seat in the main room. We talked to this guy sitting next to us, he was a local and he said he’s addicted the all the colors and clubbers. He comes all the time. We were envious to say the least. We have nothing like this back home. Nothing.

The free drinks kept coming and the girls flowed up to us as well, but unfortunately, there is a side effect to free drinks, a downfall really, we became too drunk and tired. It was only 3:30 in the morning, so we hailed a taxi and headed back to our hotel room, without new girlfriends, but not penniless. Ah, there’s always tomorrow night.

Tags: accessories, best hotels, Clubbing, Ibiza, London, Spain
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My best friend, who is a world-class traveller and stayed in some of the Best Hotels Hong Kong has, gave me a list of places I must see while I’m in Hong Kong on a business trip. She said the list isn’t in any particular order, but that they were what she fell in love with about one of the biggest cities in the world. I wasn’t to sure, but, I do adore my friend, so I did bring the list along with me, even though I didn’t think I’d have time to check any of them out.

When I arrived to Hong Kong, a note was waiting for me when I checked into my hotel. The note stated that one of my business appointments cancelled. The meeting was for the next day, for the whole day actually, so I thought this would give me a chance to check out my friends list of things to do in Hong Kong. First on her list was to check out the midnight shopping. She said the city, like New York, never sleeps and they never stop shopping. I decided to skip that one. I’m not much of a night person.

The next on her list was to see what she considered the coolest bridge, better that the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco. I decided to check this one out, since I am an architect. My friend was right. the Tsing Ma Bridge is the coolest bridge I’ve ever seen. Beautifully constructed, approximately 2 kilometers long and about 55,000 tons of material. It links Hong Kong to the new airport at Chek Lap Kok. Definitely a new landmark for Hong Kong.

I was hungry, and luckily, she had a restaurant for me to dine at.  Mak’s Noodle. I found it to be bright and spacious. The wait staff was extremely pleasant and professional. I had a bowl of shrimp wontons and it only cost me $3.00! She was on the mark about this place. Good inexpensive food with a great atmosphere. For a late afternoon refreshment, I went colonial and walked into the Peninsula Hotel Lobby in Tsimshatsui. I was treated to a traditional English tea, complete with cucumber sandwiches, scones served with jam and cream, and of course one of the best hot teas I’ve ever had.  Now for dinner, I went to the next restaurant she listed, the International Curry House in Wanchai. I can’t say enough about the mouth watering entries. I managed to order a more milder dish, the vindaloo fish, and I’m thankful for that because it was on the hot spicy side, but still a delicious zesty curry dish.

I had to send my friend a postcard from all of the spots I visited which were on her list and I wrote in capital letters, THANKS!

Tags: best hotels, Best Spots, Golden Gate bridge, Hong Kong, midnight shopping, vindaloo fish
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The traditional dance and music of the Andalusian Gypsies of Spain is the Flamenco.   The roots in this art form come from various cultures, the Moors, the Andalusians and the Gypsies and the dances and the songs have been cultivated over many centuries.  In the early 1,800′s this form of expression became very popular and has since that time, become  widely performed and widely viewed,  many shows being done and seen in the coffee shops, the bars, and the restaurants of the five star Madrid hotels,  and the cafes throughout the entire country.  In the city of Madrid there is a wide variety of shows to see.

One of the most fine and most impressive flamenco shows is performed nightly at the Taberna Casa Patas.  Very well known artists, the musicians and the dancers have performed here in the past, such as Chano Lobato, Remedios Amaya, and La Nina Pastori.  This is a well known venue however is not known to be overrun by tourists, it is a very traditional spot.  Dinner is served before the show begins and throughout the show as well.  Casa Patas is famous for the tapas menu as well as their seafood and steaks, and the house speciality, the tail of a bull.

One of the most established and oldest venues for flamenco is located near the Royal Palace in the older section of Madrid.  This is Cafe de Chinitas and it is set in a palace from the eighteenth Century.  Many of the best, local and international flamenco stars have performed here over the years.  The shows here alternate monthly, and as with the previously stated venue the food here is out of this world.  And then there is the Corral de la Moreria, a venue that began in 1956 and has been known to attract many celebrities, artists and famous sportsman and ever a rock band here and their.  Audience members in the pasts have included the band U2,  the boxing champion Muhammad Ali, Picasso and Frank Sinatra.  It is no wonder as the shows performed here are considered by some to be the absolute best in the world.  These are just three of the many venues that will provide one with a night out of the traditional music, dance and cuisine when traveling through Madrid this summer.

Tags: Famous Flamenco, hotels, La Nina Pastori, Madrid, U2
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The focus of the Barcelona’s Botanical Gardens is to be of service to the ecosystem and to society.  This particular garden not only showcases some of the most incredible plants of the Mediterranean, but is dedicated to the documentation and conservation of the heritage of the natural world of Catalonia.  This region, and the city of Barcelona in particular, has a long history of botanical traditions, farming and gardening.  Many of the city buildings and five star Barcelona hotels are surrounding by blooming plants year round.  The Botanical Garden’s staff seeks to ensure that these cultural traditions remain.  They provide educational activities for all, from the amateur home gardeners to the scientists that travel to the Garden for lectures and seminars.  Many schools throughout the city take tours and classes throughout the year.  The Garden receives support of the Botanical Institute of Barcelona.  The Garden boasts and large reference library and one of the most extensive collections in their herbarium in all of Catalonia.

The buildings in the gardens were designed by two well known Spanish architects,  Josep Lluis Canosa and Carlos Ferrater.  The genius behind the design for the landscaping was Bet Figueras, and a horticulturalist and a biologist were instrumental as well, Artur Bossy and Joan Pedrola, respectively.  The team had a few aspects to consider, which was the structural layout of the vegetation, and designing that layout to fit withing the mountain that it was being created on.  The result is one of the most incredible gardens in the world.  The winding paths are a perfect way to spend the afternoon.  And the perfect way to be able to see most of the plants of the region, all in one place.  This garden and the research that has been conducted here has influenced all of the cities parks and created a city that is not only one of the most incredible to walk around, but one that has begun to conserve and protect the environment as well.

Tags: Barcelona, Botanical Garden, Catalonia, hotels, spanish architects
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The term ‘culture jamming’ has become the phrase used when describing the ways that artists intervene with commercialism.  The band Negativland is credited for coining the phrase.  One of the local street artists in Barcelona has been ‘culture jamming’ for years.  Jorge Rodriguez Gerada a Cuban born painter has been living in the city and has been adding to the amazing street art scene in many ways, one of which includes the altering of billboards and other forms of public advertisements of Barcelona, Spain.  Hotel walls, and street signs have been painted over by Gerada in an attempt to parody the ads and to change the messages that are conveyed.  Gerada is known as one of founders of this art form, one of the most creative and skilled.

He has been creating a series throughout Barcelona called ‘The Identity Series‘  for almost seven years.  Beginning in 2002, Gerada put large scale charcoal drawings of people on the building walls in various locations throughout the city.  Charcoal will not stand up to the elements but this fact is all part of Gerada’s process and message.  His intention in creating these works that will be destroyed eventually by the wind and the rain, is to convey the message that memory and place are two important components in the establishment of identity.  He wants to question the control enforced through the use of public property.

He questions commercialism and brand name items, and the way in which these companies advertise their brands.  He states that everyone should question those who appear to be choosing the role models and the icons of culture, and to be aware of the manipulation of corporate companies.  He creates his works using models of everyday people.  His hopes being, that when an anonymous person becomes important, people will begin to become more empathetic and aware, that even though the image will fade the memory will remain.  His works are throughout the city in Spain and should be a part of every walking tour through the street galleries of Barcelona.

Tags: Barcelona, Culture Jamming, galleries, hotel, Identity Series, Spain, street artists
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Last November, a giant sand painting was created in Barcelona, Spain.  Luxury hotels,  cafes, and city walls of Barcelona have long been known to provide the street artists with the ‘canvases’ in which to express themselves, artistically, politically, and philosophically.  This sand painting is no different.  The piece is titled ‘Expectation’ and is the work of Barcelona artist Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada.   The artist had a consultant in architect Alex Gimenez Imirizaldu.  The painting is a portrait of United States President Barack Obama.  Rodriguez-Gerada used a graphics system, and a topographical map to plan the piece of art work, before the 2008 elections took place in 2008.  The artist stated at the time that the work was on such a grand scale because of the sense of hope that Obama’s supporters had felt, and that the entire world felt, about the campaign and about the man that Obama is.  Obama had evoked such a yearning for change that extended the boundaries of his own country and affected most all other countries in the world.

Rodriguez used six hundred and fifty tons of colored sand to create the piece that signifies the impact that the election had for the world, the power that was felt in the idea of a man such as Obama, is in modern times and history, without precedent.  The artist’s choice to create this massive mural with sand has symbolic connotations as well.  Many indigenous tribes of the world such as the Monks in Tibet, the Native Americans in the United States and the Aborigines of outback Australia, all practice the art of sand painting during rituals of healing ceremonies.  This is a metaphor very easy to distinguish as the idea of Obama’s leadership created the idea that with him leading the U.S., not only would the U.S. be able to heal, but again, the entire world would also.  There are many examples of street art in Barcelona,  and this is one piece that is most brilliant and astounding.

Tags: Barcelona, Expectation, hotels, Naitive Americans, Obama, Rodriguez-Gerada, Spain
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Elephants symbolize Thailand, they symbolize power and prosperity and grace, fit for a king.  The elephant’s place in the history of Thailand spans the literature, the legend, the folklore of Buddhism and the architecture and art of the entire country.  Many of the buildings including the best hotels Phuket has constructed over the years, was done with the help of these gentle giants.  This is an animal that is highly intelligent, extremely loyal, and has the abiltiy to learn a remarkable number of tasks and commands.  These animals are capable of forming lasting friendships and thus are treated as one of the family when they are owned by private citizens.  The elephant makes no differentiation between kings or paupers, it is the deep connection they are capable of creating with the humans of whom they serve.

The population of the elephants has decreased over the years.  About half the elephants now in Thailand are domesticated with the other half living in the wildlife reserves.  Tourism has become one the only ways for the owners of elephants to make a living currently.  Logging was banned 10 years ago, and the main occupation for the beasts was the hauling of the trees.  Most of the elephants of Phuket now ‘earn a living’ through tourism.  They do so in the safari sector.  Trips are taken through the jungles and and along the rivers, and most of the elephants from other regions have been transported to Phuket for this occupation.  This is beneficial for the owners, as to feed an elephant is quite expensive and the money made from the companies such as the Siam Safari Nature Tours and those treks set up by the Khao Sok National Park,  provide the means to care for the elephants in the way that they deserve to be cared for.

Tags: Buddhism, Elephants, folklore, hotels, Khao Sok National Park, Phuket island, Siam Safari Nature Tours, Thailand, tourism
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The island of Phuket has so much to offer to tourists, that it is easily becoming the most popular, and populous of all the islands in the Andaman Sea.   This island is so impacted by tourism that the financial needs created by the Tsunami in 2004, have been met and the damages have been completed restored.  Much of the reputation for the island comes from the beautiful beaches, among the most popular are Kata, Karon and Patong.  There are a variety of activities from which to choose and a list of accommodations that one will certainly have no problem finding a five star hotel.  Phuket has an incredible Aquarium that houses a large collection of marine life, of salt water and fresh water fish.  They also have quite a collection of sea turtles sure to thrill children of all ages.

There is an exciting park on the island, which is the Crocodile Farm.  This is not only an adventurous activity center, but one that focuses on conservation, preservation and farming.  This park contains exhibits of alligators, crocodiles and elephants, all of which are part of daily shows that happen all week long.  Many liken the shows to the famous Steve Irwin antics and the scared faces and gasps from the audience are evidence that this is one tense but exciting experience.

For those looking for a bit calmer adventure, the Orchid Garden and Thai Village offers many options.  There are shows of boxing,  sword fighting, and elephants, and dancers performing traditional Thai classical moves, dances that represent the various cities of Thailand, but with a focus on those of Phuket.  Much of the rich culture of the country can be experienced here.  And that goes without saying, that traditional Thai food is outstanding.  There are four very fine restaurants located on the property to choose from.  As well as a market place wherein artists sell their crafts, and can be observed as they are working.  This is an all out cultural experience, of the art, the music, the food, and the soul of this amazing island.

Tags: Andaman sea, boxing, crocodile farm, hotels, Phukiet, Thai food
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The Wildlife Sanctuary and the National Parks are just one of the many aspects of the island of Phuket that attracts lovers of nature and tourists from around the globe.  Most of the major and central districts of the city are filled with an assortment of fauna and flora that not many parks and sanctuaries of the world have managed to collect.  Two of the most visited centers on the island, both close to the five star hotels Phuket offers for accommodations and services are the Gibbon Primate Rehabilitation Center, and the Insectarium and Butterfly Garden.

The rehabilitation center was built in 1990, and focuses on saving the wild monkeys from extinction.  This division conducts research on how to best protect wild animals, that are now living in the major metropolitan areas on the island.  Another focus of the team of researchers is the re-introduction of the Gibbons that were bought for pets and domesticated but are not longer wanted, back into their natural world and habitat.  The center is filled with gardens and parks as well, and is a ‘fun’ experience, but an educational experience as well.

The Insectarium and Butterfly Garden is one of the most visited of its kind in all the world.  This too, is a conservation site, that is one of the most splashy and colorful spots on the island.  Most upon entering, are amazed at just how many colors there are out there in the natural world.  This is an educational trip as well, as in the Insectarium, the various species of plants are shown to influence the cycles of life of the various insects, all right in front of your eyes.  The backdrop for these two gardens is the lush tropical rain-forests along the pristine beaches of Phuket.   The native birds will chirp and the waterfalls will fall, and the entire experience is breathtaking and mind-blowing.

Tags: beaches, butterfly garden, hotels, National parks, Phuket, Thailand, tropical rain forests, Wildlife
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