Hotel computer club for kids
A club for children aged three to 12 has been opened at The Resort, Mandarin Oriental, Macau. Kids.Co is open from 9.30am until 9pm and costs $15 an hour. For members and guests of The Resort, the first four hours are free. The facilities include an adventure playground with rock climbing and a trapeze, and a range of indoor activities, including computers, with tuition in basic computer skills and how to use the Internet. The resort has organised Kids.Co in conjunction with Camp Adventure Youth Services, a division of the University of Northern Iowa, which was launched 17 years ago and operates in 16 countries.
A fast 'highway' in Bangkok The Grand Hyatt Erawan has become the first hotel in Bangkok to offer broadband laptop connectivity in all 387 guest rooms and meeting rooms. Internet access for guests is now up to 10 megabits per second, more than 175 times faster than a typical 56k dial-up connection.
Trekking the Alps Concorde Travel, which specialises in the offbeat, is offering a 14-day trekking holiday traversing three areas of the French, Italian and Swiss Alps, with connections by cable car, mountain trains and buses. A support vehicle will carry baggage, and accommodation will be mainly tented. The cost is $6,669, not including air fares. Contact Najma Choukry at 2526 3391, or fax 2845 0485 for further details.
Concorde also offers a six-day cycling and walking tour of Tasmania. It will take in the East Coast, Freycinet National Park, Maria Island, colonial Richmond and Hobart. Simple accommodation is offered, and there will be a support vehicle. The cost is $2,200, plus air fares. Ask Isabel Siqueira about this one.
Easter in Burma Travel Advisers, who also do soft adventure, tell me Burma is becoming more popular, and that if the political situation improves there, it will boom. They have come up with a 12 days/11 nights Easter Getaway culture and beach package there (April 17-28) for $9,970 on a twin-sharing basis ($2,530 single supplement). Price includes international and domestic flights, hotel accommodation with breakfast, all transfers and English-speaking guides. Phone 2312 7138, or fax 2312 7231.
A step in the right direction You might find it a bit easier to give directions to Macau taxi drivers soon - and end up in the right place. The Institute of Tourism Education has been handing out bilingual audio cassette tapes which teach simple English, to drivers. About 3,000 taxi-driver licences have been issued in Macau, and about 1,000 taxis are currently in service. Nearly 900 drivers have taken up the offer of free tapes.
Formula One down under Travel Corner Services have a number of packages available to see Australia Grand Prix Formula One racing, which will be held in Melbourne between March 9-12. Packages are from $8,594 and include round-trip air ticket with Qantas, three nights' accommodation, transfers from Melbourne airport to hotel and a three-day Grandstand ticket. For more information, call Jacqueline Kung at 2542 0013.
