International Travel News

Travel Briefs

September 2008 issue | Appears on page 84

China’s new holidays

To revive ancient culture, the government of China last December revised the nation’s official holiday schedule to include three traditional festivals.

• Qingming, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, takes place every April 4 or 5 and centers around honoring ancestors’ graves and memories.

• Duanwu, or the Dragon Boat Festival, takes place on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar year. (In 2009, the holiday falls on Thursday, May 28; many businesses and workers are expected to take...

September 2008 issue | Appears on page 85

Bathroom directory

The website www.thebathroomdiaries.com lists over 12,000 public restrooms in over 120 countries and allows searches for specific amenities such as “handicap access” and “changing tables.”

September 2008 issue | Appears on page 85

Changing Places, UK

Twenty-one toilets in the U.K. with enough space for disabled people and their caregivers, and with the right equipment, including a height-adjustable changing bench and a hoist, are shown on a map produced by the Changing Places Consortium.

Visit www.changing-places.org/map.asp for news of the campaign and to ask questions and exchange ideas. Call 0808 808 1111 (Mencap), www.mencap.org.uk.

September 2008 issue | Appears on page 85

Butterfly farm, UK

In Stratford-upon-Avon, the Stratford Butterfly Farm (Swan’s Nest Lane, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, CV37 7LS, England; phone +44 [0] 1789 299 288, fax 1789 415 878, www.butterflyfarm.co.uk) is an indoor tropical garden with many butterflies.

Other exhibits show leaf-cutter ants, caterpillars, spiders, scorpions, etc. Open 10-6 in summer and 10 a.m.-dusk in winter. £5.50 (near $9).

September 2008 issue | Appears on page 96

Victoria Falls dinner train

Departing from the Royal Livingstone Hotel at Victoria Falls, the antique locomotive Royal Livingstone Express offers a 6-course dinner aboard and chances to spot elephants, buffalo and other wildlife on a 12-mile, 3-hour trip along the Zambezi River and through Mosi-Oa-Tunya Game Park in Zambia.

The train has a lounge car, an observation car, a kitchen car and two dining cars with wooden interiors plus tables with damask linens, crystal glassware and silver cutlery.

At a cost...

September 2008 issue | Appears on page 96

Kenya whale shark safari

The gentle whale shark, the world’s largest fish, is seen each year off the southern coast of Kenya. Researchers tag them on expeditions from October through March, but peak season is February-March and visitors may watch.

Visitors stay at beach resorts and can join the almost daily 4-hour trips leaving from Pinewood Village in Diani. Whale sharks stay near the surface, and snorkelers can swim nearby during the tagging process.

A donation of €100 (near $158) per person goes to...

September 2008 issue | Appears on page 96

Sydney bike tours

Bonza Bike Tours (30 Harrington St., The Rocks, NSW 2000, Australia; phone +61 2 9247 8800, www.bonzabiketours.com) offers daily bike rentals plus four bicycle tours of Sydney.

Most popular is the 3½- to 4-hour “Sydney Classic Tour,” visiting Sydney Opera House, Royal Botanical Gardens, Chinatown, Sydney Harbour and more. At AU$89 (US$84) per person, including bike rental, it is available Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Renting a bike on your own costs AU$15 (near US$14...

September 2008 issue | Appears on page 96

Langkawi sky bridge

In Langkawi, Malaysia, a 125-meter-long pedestrian-only sky bridge is suspended 2,300 feet above a valley between two mountains. It is curved to accentuate the view, and there is a platform at each end for viewing the surrounding rainforest, the Andaman Sea and Thailand’s Tarutao Island.

A system of cable cars lifts passengers to the top of the mountain for RM25 (near $7.60) adult or RM18 ($5.50) child. At the middle cable car station, a 20-minute hike can be made along the valley...