PHOTO: Myanmar's Bagan Lodge sees Burmese culture as something to experience with family. (photo courtesy of Bagan Lodge)
While most see travel to Myanmar as something of an adventure destination, the Bagan Lodge just opened last August, is actually reaching out for the family market by offering an educational program in Bagan, a home to more than 2,000 temples, pagodas and stupas.
The lodge is offering the Family Escape deal, which also includes two nights for two adults and two children under 12 in a Deluxe Room with a private veranda, breakfast, airport transfers and a roll-away bed.
"It's no secret that most kids usually want nothing more than to play in a pool all day long, especially when on vacation," said Jon Bourbaud, Bagan Lodge's general manager. "We've got a fantastic pool. But we've also got the ability to provide an experience that gets under the surface of this wonderful culture." Family Escape is priced at $300 including tax and service charge and is valid for stays between March 15 and Oct. 14, 2014.
A traditional face-painting session is part of the package. Under the tutelage of Bagan Lodge's resident thanaka experts, guests learn when the fragrant paste was first employed as a face paint, where it comes from, what its cosmetic benefits are and how to authentically and creatively apply it.
Destination Asia Offers Home Stays at a Vietnamese UNESCO Site
A new Destination Asia home stay program allows travelers to stay in a home in a Vietnamese farming neighborhood just a kilometer from the My Son Sanctuary.
The My Son Sanctuary is what remains of a temple complex that thrived between the 7th and 13th centuries. There were more than 70 classic Cham monuments at My Son, but bombing during the Vietnam War destroyed much of the site.
The home-stay allows participants to remain in the area after a day visiting the area's attractions. Guests can go trekking, cycling, mountain climbing and boating, or take part in a cooking class with the hosts. The My Son Sanctuary area has limited accommodation options - with the majority of hotels and guest houses 18 miles away in the nearest town of Nam Phuoc and 40 miles in Tam Ky City in central Quang Nam province.
Ranch Adventure with Aussie Farmstay
For many Americans, the first appeal of Australia is its frontier heritage and a huge part of that attraction is the Outback ranch experience. Aussie Farmstay & Bush Adventures is giving travelers a chance to experience an Australian bush farm on a four-day, three-night Venture West Tour. Guests eat traditional Aussie bush tucker including fresh damper, Anzac biscuits, Bar-B-Qued lamb chops and kangaroo meat and try their hands at Australian farm and bush crafts.
Participants stay on a sheep farm learning the intricacies of horsemanship, sheep mustering and shearing and dog handling from their hosts. The package, departing from Sydney, takes a maximum of 11 guests per departure. Travel is in a mini coach with a luggage and kitchen trailer. The package costs AU$1,010 per adult and AU$640 per child.
The price includes all transportation, accommodation and activities (except optional horse riding), all meals and snacks (except one dinner), hot showers and more. Guests lodge one night in a country pub in the historic town of Mudgee while sampling local wines, honey and olives; camping under the stars on a sheep farm and spending another night in mountain cottages.
Participants will hear Aboriginal legends while sitting around campfires; visit the fossil museum of Canowindra; tour Abercrombie Caves; experience the life of miners then and artists now at Hill End; pat a koala and feed a kangaroo; walk in the World Heritage Blue Mountains National Park; ride horses through the mountain bushland in the Megalong Valley and journey on the world's steepest railway and take a scenic cablecar ride.
Khiri Travel Works to Open Remote Cambodian Temples to Visitation
PHOTO: A special program puts travelers in luxury tents near the Banteay Chhmar in Cambodia, above Angkor Wat. (courtesy Khiri Travel)
Khiri Travel has found a way to offer an intimate camping experience among the ruins in Cambodia to its guests and at the same time raise funds and awareness of the 12th century Banteay Chhmar Temples.
The luxury tented accommodations are located adjacent to the temples in a remote corner of Cambodia. The initiative is being done with cooperation from the local community who are involved with tent setup, maintenance and providing hospitality.
It also has the support of the Global Heritage Fund (GHF) and the Cambodian Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. The aim of GHF's Banteay Chhmar Conservation Training Project is to save the last great Angkorian temple complex in Cambodia that remains largely unstudied and unprotected. The project hopes to build a sustainable business for the local villagers.
The Banteay Chhmar temples are up for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The custom-designed tents are high quality Gore-Tex and allow substantial comfort including toilet facilities. There are two tents. Each one can sleep two people in comfort. Villagers cook on site using as many local ingredients as possible.
"Guests get an authentic, away-from-it-all Khmer cultural experience," said Jack Bartholomew, general manager of Khiri Travel Cambodia. "I think it's a very peaceful, low impact and rewarding way to enjoy Khmer heritage and give back to the local community," he said.
Banteay Chhmar is a 3.5 hour 4WD drive from Siem Reap and Angkor Wat. Khiri recommends the tented camp as an ideal stopover on an overland journey from Bangkok or Khao Yai national park in Thailand to Siem Reap, or vice versa.
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