Of pharaohs and camels

THE GOBI DESERT, camels, nomadic music and hospitality will lure adventure junkies into Mongolia’s hinterland for the famous Ten Thousand Camel Festival. This annual festival, which sees 1,000 camels racing against each other, makes the end of winter in Mongolia way more special than in other part of the world. From March 6 to 7 (days and nights) the festival will take place in the desert town of Dalanzadgad – 550 kilometres from Ulaanbaatar. It gets going with cultural shows on the first day and visitors can expect to see nomadic herdsmen from near and far riding their best camels into town to attend the festival. Camel polo competitions, as well as performances of traditional Mongolian music and dance, are among the highlights of the second day with the race itself taking part later in the day as 1,000 two-humped Bactrian camels show off their best speeds.

THOSE CONSIDERING posting a picture of their boarding pass on social media should think twice –for their own good. The aviation trade magazine Aerotelegraph points out that pranksters and strangers can obtain and abuse your passenger information from the photograph. If the passenger’s name and reservation number is visible, a third party might be able to get access to the booking and even cancel the flight as a prank, the report said. They could also possibly dig out the passenger’s email address and telephone number. There is also a lot of data in the barcode, which can be read out with the help of barcode reading software which is available free online, the magazine warns. So think twice before posting a picture in social networks like Facebook or Twitter of your boarding pass as proof that your exciting trip is about to start. – DPA

“RAMSES - DIVINE RULER ON THE NILE” is at the Badisches Landesmuseum in Karlsruhe, Germany until June 18. The exhibition honours the most powerful of Egypt’s pharaohs through 260 exhibits gathered from notable European museums, some of them on display for the first time. According to the organisers, the last exhibit about Ramses of this size was in Paris 40 years ago. Among the items on display are one of the few monumental statues of the ruler, copies of the oldest peace treaties, documents from his royal household and a three-metre-high plaster cast of a Ramses bust. A reconstruction of the imperial capital city of Pi-Ramesses is also on show. Ramses the Great was the most powerful of all the pharaohs. – DPA

KUALA LUMPUR, Bangkok and Singapore top AirAsia’s Top 10 City Destinations 2016, says the airline’s latest report. AirAsia, recognised by SkyTrax as the World’s Best Low-cost Airline, has carried more than 57 million people this year across its network. The Top 10 City Destinations for 2016 were Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Singapore, Penang, Manila, Hong Kong, Taipei, Sydney, Melbourne and Kota Kinabalu. Kuala Lumpur also topped the Most Visited Destinations list followed by Phuket and Bangkok, then, Singapore. The report also shows the interesting hot spots including up-and-coming cities such as Taipei, Kota Kinabalu, Tokyo and Cebu.

KALIBO, in the central Philippines, celebrates the Ati-Atihan Festival from January 8 to 17. This famous nine-day event features parades and feasts in honour of Santo Nino (Infant Jesus). It’s like the Brazil Carnival though more sober and tribal in nature. Soot-black painted faces, feather head-dresses, and animal bones create an arresting visual impression. Drumming and dancing break out at dawn and continue on until the festival ends three days later at a masquerade ball. A mass outdoor procession follows a sacred image of Santo Nino from the Kalibo Cathedral to Pastrana Park. Don’t miss the masquerade ball. Kalibo is a hub of transportation to the resort island of Boracay.