TND West

There are no places on the planet like South Africa.  It is one of the most exciting tourist locations these days, with luscious beaches that have some of the clearest waters on the globe, an exciting night life with a music scene that continues to evolve over millennia of developments, great golf, and cultural festivals and events that mark the enormous diversity of the place.  It also has an enormously rich and complicated history, and today people can visit monuments that remember the years of struggle behind and ahead.  It is a spectacular of memory, culture, and nature, and there are many reasons to visit here.  If travelers are looking for excellent cuisine and fine luxury hotels, South Africa can certainly accommodate.

We’ve carefully selected our hotels to represent the best of what South Africa can offer.  Located in all the country’s hotspots, there is something for everyone, and we’ve chosen our offerings based on their exceedingly high levels of service, comfort, and design.  When traveling in a place as vibrant, heady, and interesting as South Africa, you’ll certainly want lodgings where you can rejuvenate in splendor.  After a lovely meal and and a fantastic rest, you’ll want to have a look around, and see what adventures await you.  If you happen to like music, you’re extremely lucky, because this is where many of the world’s great rhythms and musical styles are born.

The local clubs will more often than not have live musicians playing, as the country draws young hopefuls from all over.  In local music, you may hear some of the bands who get chosen for Woodstock.  South Africa does have a Woodstock, and now in its 10th year, some call it the only Woodstock.  It got its name as a placeholder, when the organizer was putting it together for the first year, and the name stuck.  It’s now too late to call it anything else, because the idea for this turns out to be a good one.  This Woodstock is a four-day festival with 75 bands playing on different stages, and attracts thousands every year.  There are plenty of things to do outside of seeing music, as it was developed with kids in mind.  This is a fantastic way to get to know the local culture, or to simply watch for the bands playing a stage near wherever you might happen to be.

As I was walking out of one of the Singapore Luxury hotels, I noticed in a park across the street that there were people doing something that looked liked Tai Chi, but it was different, so different I decided to be late for my appointment and I crossed the street to watch the interesting movements these people were making. After about a half-an-hour they were finished, so I ask the person leading this group what it was that they were exactly doing. He told me it’s Qigong (pronounced Chee Gong). I’ve heard of it, but never got to see it up close.

The Qigong master, that’s who I was questioning, told me that what I was watching was a different for of Qigong called Zhineng Qigong. It’s a self healing martial arts practice and it’s very popular because it is fairly basic and easy to learn. This form is so popular that there is even a Zhineng Qigong society here in Singapore. He told me that while Qigong has been studied for thousands of years in China, Zhineng Qigong is a much newer form of the ancient martial art. He continued to say that as with traditional Qigong, Zhineng Qigong involves deep breathing and slow deliberate movements that are designed to promote health benefits in those who practice it.

I asked him to explain more about the healing properties of the practice and he said Zhineng Qigong adds the science of mind body to the spiritual and energy, or the chi kung, properties that already exists in Qigong. Zhineng Qigong was developed by Pang Ming who also was the creator of the first medicine-less hospital in China. He devoted his time to study the effects of Zhineng Qigong in all of his patients. Zhineng Qigong is an open system of Qigong, emphasizing the body’s connection to the environment; it’s in where as traditional Qigong is a closed system that emphasizes the isolating oneself from their surroundings.

This information totally fascinated me, I asked if he had time to teach me a little bit, and he suggested I come back to the park tomorrow morning and he would be glad to show me Zhineng Qigong. I headed out to my appointment feeling so energized with just the information, I can’t wait to see what putting it into practice will be for me.

“Let’s take the Palace on Wheels!” Tammy just about shrieked in my ear as she read about the special luxury train from Delhi that goes through Jaipur. This from the gal who refused any of the luxury hotels Jaipur has available to opt for, well, we were not sure. Well it would not be to tomorrow anyway, and I thought, it is just a train, let us spend the money on good food and a golden Buddha to take back to our friend Lola back in Los Angeles. “You know, I think my old high school wrestling coach was from Jaipur. I wonder if he’s here?” That was years ago Tammy said, as we sipped relieving cold beer at a little bar. We were waiting for chapati and samosas and (bravely we thought) a fish curry, for a little respite from all the hub bub that is India.

“You never told me you wrestled,” said Tammy. “I was terrible,” I said. “But it kept me away from home during the long winters in Cleveland. Maybe I should ask the bar tender if he ever heard of Mr. Pravati.” the bar tender looked like a wrestler, low to the ground, thick shouldered. what are the chances. “Hey, Bub, I used to know this guy who was from Jaipur, taught wrestling in the USA. A Mr. Pravati. Ever heard of him?” The bar tender looked at me for a moment, swabbing the inside of a bar glass with a white towel. “There are many Pravatis here, it would be hard to know. But I did know one gentleman who wrestled, but he went to Korea to coach, and no one has ever heard of him.” Just them the food came out all at once, the kitchen doors exploding open, and the silver plates were quickly placed before us. I looked up to see an older man, trim and thick necked, handing us silver ware. As soon as I saw him, I knew it was Mr. Pravati.

I heard Andalucia is a region to check out if one was in the mood for romance. So, I booked a room at one of the Luxury Hotels Seville Spain has plenty of and stayed for a week. I wasn’t disappointed. Andalucia was authentically charming with sandy coastlines, Roman ruins, farmlands and tree-lined sierras. All of these made my trip memorable, beautiful and lavish.

Seville, being the capital of Andalucia, is rich with heritage, like the Moorish Giralda and Torre del Oro. I fell in love with the eclectic combination of Christian-Budejar architecture. The high, fortified walls and the beautiful verdant tropical gardens. It reminded me of those romantic stories I read as a child. I was fortunate enough to be in Seville during the fiesta Andalucian Flamenco. What a treat that was, I even got some free lessons in Flamenco, I wasn’t to good at it, but my tall, dark and handsome dance teacher was all worth it. I don’t think I heard a word he said, I just stared into his eyes the whole time.

I did spend most of my time is Seville, but I managed to take a day excursion to the enchanting town of Ronda. It’s perched on a cliff which is beside this gentle gorge. All the buildings are white, so much prettier than any postcard can convey. I travelled a little longer to the coast of Cadiz, Tarifa which is, apparently, the surf capital of Europe. I would’ve taken surfing lessons, but the weather was not accommodating. Such a shame, really, because the surf instructor was even more enchanting that my Flamenco instructor. So, I had time to check out the new high speed ferry from Tarifa to Tangiers, Morocco! That’s where I met my new boyfriend. I met him on the ferry. He’s what really made my trip to the Andalucia’s the most romantic vacations I’ve ever had.

I’ve decided what I will do for Earth Day, which is today. I will create a tree map of feral fruit trees during my travel through out Australia. I got this idea while I was staying at a Luxury Sydney Hotel. By happenstance, I was walking around the area by my hotel and spotted a Mulberry tree, quite a few of the Lilly Pilly trees, a rogue Passion fruit vine and a some surprising Warrrigal Greens, although it’s not a fruit, it’s still very edible. Spotting all of these edible and wild trees and plants made me want to use these as my way of showing how much nature is in our backyard, so-to-speak.

My classification of a feral fruit is any fruit the can be glean from a public space, like a park, overhangs from a fence or something along a roadside. They have to be free and hopefully organic. My concept for mapping the feral fruit trees is not original. I heard about it over at Milkwood. I believe it’s been something other people have been doing, if only in their heads, of ages. I remember that I always knew where all the feral mulberry trees and blackberry bushes were to be found in and around my neighborhood.

Even my brothers were called the Hunter-Gatherers by my parents and neighbors because they were always seen picking the berries and the fruit from the hedges and trees randomly growing. But, what I remember best about them was they knew where to find a good feral fig tree. Those fresh figs were so good to eat, yummy.

Now, to remember where the feral fruit trees are on my travels, I not only mark on my map where I noticed them, but if they were in season. I will use a traditional map and mark it with a pen. But, after I finish, I will use Google earth and share it with as many people who are interested in my feral fruit tree journey. I will invite people to share and add any feral fruit trees I will most definitely miss during my travels through Australia. There are already excellent feral fruit tree maps, but this won’t stop me from creating my very own. What a fantastic why to see a country.

When savvy travelers are in the south of India, looking for luxury hotels, Bangalore resonates with a splendid sound.  Some of the finest hotels are here, and the amenities are delightful, making for a sumptuous travel experience.  The lodgings are really quite impressive, with a combination of new world innovations and old world charms, giving the guests a perfect place to hide away and rejuvenate the senses.  After a good rest, and an excellent meal prepared by our world-class chefs, venturing into the city of Bangalore is another treat and another feast for the body and spirit.  Bangalore is one of India’s largest cities, has one of the biggest universities in the world, and an impressive track record for technological developments.  It also has a very interesting and lively cultural scene.

One of its most visible writers, and one of the most celebrated living writers in the world, is Girish Karnad.  His fame is for his plays, but he is also a great actor, film director, and does voice work as the narrator of Karadi Tales, a very popular book on audio for children.  He is also a very renowned cultural critic, and speaks out very strongly in favor of freedom of expression.  His views have caused him to become the focus for several threats and attacks, but remains very staunch in his support for the right to speak freely.  His reputation is very strong in the literary world, and he holds a special place in the hearts and minds of fellow residents in Bangalore.

He was born in Maharashta in 1938, to a family that spoke Konkani.  In his early years, Girish Karnad was exposed to local theatrical performances, including works of Yakshanaga.  Yakshanaga is a form that continues to evolve, but its roots are very old.  It is often compared to opera, because of its use of song and dance to accompany the narrator in story-telling, but it is much more improvisational.  This is perhaps some of the source material for his playwriting inspirations, and his plays often make use of myths to make allegorical connections for the audiences.  Interestingly, he had aspirations to become famous as a writer of works in English, and even attended Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and later went on to teach at the University of Chicago in the U.S. However, his muse did not speak to him in English, but in another language, Kannada.  He was the seventh to win the Jnanpinth award, India’s highest literary honor.