In my capacity as the UK
Director of Operations for One World Tours Limited, I am often asked what, in
my opinion, are the 5 MUST see countries.
These are therefore my top 5 destinations.
1 - Egypt.
King Tut, The Pyramids, The Valley of the Kings. The
list is endless. But it’s just not the history and the culture, it’s the people
too. Egyptians are some of the kindest and most generous people on the planet.
They will welcome you into their homes in a second and even if they have almost
nothing, they will share it with you.
An afternoon on the Nile with an
Egyptian Felecia captain sailing your boat as the sun sets over the Nile
in Luxury is a once in a lifetime
experience not to be missed. This paragraph is sponsored by travel to Harare from UK.
2 – China.
China is not
somewhere people immediately think of when planning a holiday…but they should,
and hopefully after the Olympics in Beijing
they will. Even if you could only afford 7 to 10 days, an itinerary that takes
in Beijing, Xian, a Yangtze River
Cruise and Shanghai will be a great
introduction.
And for an unforgettable experience, juts visit Guilin.
Guilins landscape is amazing and totally unique. It can’t necessarily be called
Mountainous as such, but the peaks that do rise, rise almost vertically up into
the mist.
If you get a chance take a ski lift up to one of the peaks
and just stare in awe at the view, and if you are fleeing adventurous, take a
kart down a toboggan style run (about 3,000 feet in length)! This paragraph is sponsored by ticket to
Bulawayo from London.
3 – Jordan.
Handily located, if you plan it right you can visit Egypt
and Jordan
together to make a real trip to remember. Amman
is a great city full of atmosphere, Petra
is marvelous, but surely the can’t miss site is the Dead Sea.
The only ocean in the world with so much salt in it, you actually float!
This alone makes Jordan
a must see country and on top of what I have already mentioned, don’t forget
the Wadi Rum, Aqaba, Jerash and the Kings Highway. A
week in Jordan
is good, but 10 days is better.
4 – Hong Kong. Although there is much
more to Hong Kong than just shopping, if you do love to
shop, then Hong Kong is the place for you. A stroll
along Nathan Road and a visit to the Temple
Street market just HAS to be done. And make sure you have your
bargaining hat on as haggling is as big a part of the experience as the
purchases themselves.
There lots more to Hong Kong too. The
great thing is that despite it being a modern city, there is tradition around
every corner. Don’t forget to take a trip to Victoria Peak and enjoy the
stunning views and remember that even if it’s misty, there are 2 guys at the
top who will take your picture and transpose it onto a picture of what you
should see if the weather where not so poor ! I also suggest a couple of half
day visits out to Lama and Lantau Islands
too. A great way to escape the hustle and bustle of the craziness that is Hong
Kong. This paragraph is sponsored air travel
to Victoria fall from UK.
5 – Thailand.
Thailand
suffers a little from its reputation of being a very hedonistic destination and
while it is true that the is a very wild side to Thailand
(especially certain areas of Bangkok,
Phucket etc) there is also an amazing culture to immerse yourself in.
There really is everything there, adventure, culture and
even for the not faint heated, a place about 1 hour north of Thailand where
you can go in, yes go in, with real live tigers. No cages, no chains, just you
and around a dozen tigers. For me it was a thrill of a lifetime and without
doubt it is just one of the many reasons that Thailand
is in my top 5 of places you need to visit in the world