Widely regarded as the world’s first national park, and certainly its most famous, The USA’s Yellowstone National Park encompasses nearly 3500 miles of stunning and varied scenery. Established in 1872, it’s mainly situated in the state of Wyoming, spreading over the borders into Montana and Idaho. The park is teeming with wildlife and is home to packs of wolves and grizzly bears. Hiking and camping are great activities for getting in touch with nature and the great outdoors.
The landscape varies from rugged mountains, through sweeping pine forests to the world renowned hot springs and geysers. These are one of the premiere attractions and draw crowds of tourists every year. The most famous geyser is Old Faithful, so named for the regularity of its eruptions. The source of these geological marvels is the Yellowstone caldera, a vast underground magma chamber that heats the rocks below the park and forces hot water and gases up through the ground.
Being such a long established and popular park, Yellowstone has an excellent infrastructure, with a high quality road network to provide access to the most popular sites. The park is a must for those seeking a glimpse of America’s rich natural history.
Luxury accommodation in India
Finding the best accommodation in India is quite a challenge, there are so many stunning hotels ideal for every kind of budget, providing everything you could ever want from a break away.
The luxury style accommodation is simply out of this world with stunning hotels such as the Ananda in the Himalayas that looks like a beautiful castle from the outside surrounded by lush forests and boasts an enormous spa that offers over 80 different relaxing treatments. Le Meridien Pune is an incredible hotel set out like an Indian palace with floor to ceiling white marble, it is huge with 177 rooms as well as a spar tennis courts and 6 restaurants and bars all on site, you’d never even need to leave the hotel grounds!
If you have money to spend on a luxury trip then India should definitely be a consideration with fabulous culture, food and sites to see it’s the perfect destination for a once in a lifetime trip.
Things to do in Thailand
Thailand is a great place to visit with many amazing things to see and do, why not start by visiting one of the infamous floating markets? Local market traders sell their wares from little rickety wooden boats, its truly brilliant to see and worth getting a picture of.
The Golden Triangle is very popular with tourists, you can stand on the river bank and peruse the market stalls here as well as learn the drug growing history of the area at the Hall of Opium.
Going elephant trekking is a great experience whilst in Thailand, the elephant is Thailand’s national symbol and they are greatly respected by the Thai people. Trekking is a great way to see an area and be able to get involved with bathing and caring for the elephants.
Places to visit in East Asia
When travelling to East Asia there can be so many places to go and things to see that it’s hard to know where to start. Places such as Bangkok are always popular with tourists, this capital city of Thailand is a buzzing place with lots to see but can be extremely busy and feel quite hectic so you possibly wouldn’t want to spend a long time there.
Beijing in China is also very popular amongst tourists, you can go and see the Forbidden City as well as the Great Wall of China and really immerse yourself in the Chinese culture.
If you’re looking for somewhere truly beautiful and rich in culture then Burma is a great option, its rich in Buddhist beliefs with beautiful temples to see and breath taking mountain top monasteries to discover.
If you travel into India then a must see place to go would have to be Bandhavgarh National Park, with their leopards, tigers and exotic bird life, you can really get a good taste of Asia there.
With so much to see and do your only problem will be fitting it all in!
Unusual delicacies in East Asia
Most countries have their delicacies that are traditional to local culture such as Paella in Spain, Pasta in Italy and Crepes in France, however East Asia is home to some very unusual ones that you may need to be brave (and have a strong stomach) to attempt!
- Birds nest soup – this is quite literally a soup made from bird saliva! It’s extremely high in calcium, magnesium, potassium and iron so is considered very good for you!
- Turtle Jelly – this is made from ground up turtle shells and herbs and is said to have medicinal properties when eaten, but it’s VERY bitter so is often eaten with honey.
- Inago – these are crunchy crickets and crispy grasshoppers seasoned with sugar and soy sauce, particularly popular in Japan.
And possibly one of the strangest….
- Fugu – this is puffer fish that is full of deadly toxins and can only be safely eaten if it is cut and prepared in a very specific way… better hope the chef is not having an ‘off’ day!!