Advertisement
Advertisement

Travellers' checks

Neck and neck

Travellers looking for an offbeat summer destination might consider Giraffe Manor, just outside the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. The grounds of this six-bedroom, 1930s English-style house are home to a herd of tame giraffe. By 'grounds' we mean the front lawn, from where these mild-mannered beasts are known to stick their necks through dining-room windows at meal times to be fed by hand. The manor was home to Betty Leslie-Melville, who died last year and is credited with bringing a particular breed, the Rothschild's giraffe, back from the brink of extinction. Accommodation isn't cheap, at almost US$300 a couple per night, but that includes full board with airport transfers, sightseeing car and chauffeur and all alcoholic drinks. Visit www.giraffemanor.com for further information and reservations. Nairobi might seem like a world away from Hong Kong, but at nine hours' flying time it is significantly closer than Europe. Kenya Airways (tel: 2312 0231) flies from Hong Kong to Nairobi every Monday, Thursday and Saturday. An interesting side-trip is Zanzibar, an hour's flight from Nairobi with the same carrier.

Deal of the week

Tiglion Travel is selling a three-night package to Istanbul for $6,090, with round-trip, economy-class flights via Singapore with Singapore Airlines. The accommodation is in the three-star category but the property, in the historic Sultanahmet district, is interesting, having been converted from an Ottoman-era house. Claims by the Best Western Istanbul Obelisk Hotel that its 41 rooms are 'decorated like an Ottoman Mansion' might be optimistic but even standard rooms have Turkish rugs and wrought-iron beds. Another attraction is the terrace restaurant, with views of the Bosphorus. See www.obeliskhotel.com for more details. For an extra $700 to $1,000, you can upgrade to the Best Western Empire Palace Hotel, which is also worth a look (www.hotelempirepalace.com). Breakfast and round-trip private-car airport transfers are included in these prices, which are quoted per person on a twin-share basis and are available until the end of October (with an $800 surcharge from July 14 to August 20). One free stopover is allowed in Singapore in either direction. For further details and bookings, call Tiglion Travel on 2511 7189, or e-mail [email protected], quoting package ID: 1825.

Talk is cheap

The Rough Guide's new phrasebook series, which hit the market a few weeks ago, claims to be the 'only phrasebook series on the market to offer free audiofile downloads'. Each book contains 16 pages of 'scenario' material, the text of which can be downloaded as spoken sound files for iPods and other MP3 players for use at home and on the road. Sixteen phrasebooks are available, in languages including Putonghua, Hindi, Urdu, Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese.

You can listen to all the files before you buy any books (availableat Paddyfield.com

Latest resort

A new Anantara resort opens in the Maldives next month and two packages are available to mark the occasion. Located 25km from the capital, Male, the resort comprises 68 beachfront villas (above), two beachfront pool villas, 38 suites over the ocean, two suites over the pool and a natural, private lagoon. Priced at US$2,600 per couple for a beachfront villa and US$3,300 per couple for an ocean suite, the Romance Spa Escape includes seven nights' accommodation, dinner with wine, breakfast, airport transfers and something called a 'romantic bath indulgence ceremony'. Slightly cheaper is the seven-night Sunshine Escape at US$2,300/US$3,000 per couple. This package comes with a snorkelling trip, breakfast and transfers. Flights are not included. Swire Travel (tel: 3151 8833) is offering return tickets to Male with Singapore Airlines from $4,480. Evening flights depart daily except on Monday and Tuesday. For package reservations and more information on the resort, visit www.anantara.com.

The rail thing

'Maybe you don't like flying, or are concerned about the environmental impact of flying. Or perhaps you just prefer real travel by train or ship, where the journey is part of the adventure,' suggests Mark Smith on his staggeringly detailed website, www.seat61.com. Comprehensive information is provided here for train, sea and road travel for almost 100 countries, including 15 in Asia. Smith was station manager at Charing Cross, London Bridge and Cannon Street rail stations, in the English capital, so he knows his onions and has a trainspotter's obsession with his online project. The China section, for example, includes timetables for major routes, fares, booking advice and photographs of the various seating and sleeper classes. The India archive is even more substantial, covering everything from travelling on the tiny Darjeeling Railway (right) to booking Indrail passes.

Post