Where there's muck, there's money I remember the days when my grandfather used to return from the mine where he worked in northern England and squeeze into a tin bath in the kitchen which had been filled with buckets of water. The purpose was simply to get the muck off. Now a bath can cost US$30 (HK$235), excluding tax and service charge. Ask the Ritz-Carlton, which has introduced the 'baths menu' in its Asia-Pacific hotels with a butler on hand to draw the water, mix aromatherapy essences, light incense sticks, pop champagne and even clip a Cuban cigar for smokers to enjoy as they soak. 'Our baths menu has been so popular we have even had inquiries regarding reservations for baths only,' says Mark Lettenbichler, general manager of the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong. Oh, and if you are feeling romantic, there is a rose-petal bath in which couples can soak together. Enough to make the old man turn in his grave.
Diving course P & O is offering a course in the Philippines that enables participants to obtain the PADI Open Water Diving Certificate. Two evening courses on diving theory are offered in Hong Kong before a four days/three nights' vacation and diving instruction at the Puerto Galera resort on Mindoro Island.
The package is $5,999 and includes return air tickets to Manila, daily breakfast, accommodation, course fees, equipment hire and diving instruction. The course is being arranged by Susanna Leung of P & O, a certified PADI diving instructor.
Phone 2921 8732 for more details.
Ayer's Rock special Ansett has a special to Ayer's Rock in Australia's Red Centre with three nights in a resort adjacent to the sacred site and a complimentary night in Sydney from $6,710. The package is available until December 30. Contact Thomas Cook, tel: 2852 9992.
Cross-border plan South Korea is hoping to build a World Peace Park in the truce village of Panmunjom in co-operation with the North in an effort to promote tourism. It will be part of a five-year tourism promotion plan announced by the Minister of Tourism, Shin Nak-kyun, under which a free travel zone would also be introduced linking Mount Kumgang in the North and Mount Sorak in the South.