Messing about on the river

Perhaps The Road To Mandalay, a luxury river cruise, could satisfy your hunger to discover Asia’s latest exotic destination. Managed by the Orient-Express, this luxury ship is offering a series of 12-day “Gorges of the Far North” cruises in August and September. The cruise sees the Road To Mandalay sail 682 nautical miles departing from the storied city of Mandalay up to Bhamo, near the Chinese border and the foothills of Yunnan, finishing in the spellbinding plain of temples at Bagan. For the price and detailed itinerary, visit www.RoadToMandalay.net.

 

Tourism forum for Chiang Rai

The Mekong Tourism Forum 2012 takes place in Chiang Rai, Thailand on June 13 and 14 on the them “20/20 Vision: Building on Two Decades of GMS Cooperation”. The main focus will be to assess the challenges of human resources, pro-poor sustainable tourism, sub-regional product development and marketing for the next 20 years, in light of achievements in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) over the last 20 years. Visit www.MekongTourismForum.org.

 

Sleeping with the wolves

A German village is offering visitors a chance to spend the night among wolves. The sleeping quarters are located in the Lower Saxony village of Doerverden in tree houses perched five metres perched above the forest floor. Guests reach the unusual accommodation by crossing a miniature suspension bridge. The tourists sleep behind protective glass but can keep an eye on their wolfish neighbours while eating breakfast, relaxing in a whirlpool or sleeping. “You have the impression of being in the middle of a wolf's lair,” notes centre director Frank Fass. – DPA

 

Life aboard the Cutty Sark

The world’s best-known tea clipper, the Cutty Shark, reopens for the first time later this month after it was almost destroyed in a fire five years ago.  At the time of its launch in 1869, the vessel was one of most advanced in existence. It was withdrawn from service in 1922 and has been on show to the public in a dry dock at Greenwich in London since 1954. – DPA

 

All that jazz

Venetian Macau hotel and casino complex will be hosting the inaugural International Jazz & Blues Band Competition. As part of its annual Venetian Carnival, the three-day competition will take place from May 25 to 27 with a New Orleans Mardi Gras theme. The finalists will be flown to Macau, with flights and accommodation sponsored by The Venetian, for a chance to play and to be seen by some of the best in the industry while competing for an impressive cash prize from a pool worth up to HK$500,000 (Bt2 million)

 

Stockholm gets three new museums

Three new museum attractions are due to open in the Swedish capital Stockholm in the next few months. On Tuesday, a museum devoted to the history and influence of alcohol in Sweden will welcome visitors in the island of Djurgarden. The exhibitions include works of art by Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst and Keith Haring. On June 1 the island of Varmdo is inaugurating a new private art museum which also plans to stage concerts and cultural functions. A revitalised Stockholm Children's Zoo “Lill-Skansen” opened in the city on March 31. Since 1955, millions of visitors have enjoyed Lill-Skansen – but only in the summer. The new Lill-Skansen will be open throughout the year.