Australian fire crews are battling massive bushfires on Fraser Island, the world’s largest sand island, which have been burning for six weeks, forcing tourists to flee the island off the northeast coast. The fires have razed more than 76,000 hectares (187,800 acres), nearly half of the island, which is world heritage listed for its tropical rain forests and sand dunes. “Conditions remain unpredictable and can change rapidly,” the state’s emergency services said in a statement, adding that guests and staff at one of the island’s largest resorts should be prepared to leave anytime. Smoke rises from bushfires on Fraser Island, Queensland, Australia, November 30, 2020, in this still image taken from video. Queensland Fire and Emergency Services/Handout via REUTERS Several guests w...
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travelogues, travel articles and news from around the world
Dark Times: Both Holy sides of conflict wall gearing up for dismal Christmas
On both sides of the West Bank Barrier the signs are dismal for the coming festive season. Its dark and gloomy over the region what normally used to be beaming with tourists at this time of the year so close to Christmas. While Jerusalem is yet to come with the terms with the new normal, Bethlehem has announced that it is ‘not going to cancel its Christmas.’ As night grips Jerusalem’s walled Old City, its ancient alleyways become a ghost town of haunting shadows and light. Mornings used to reveal bright picture-postcard scenes of tourists from around the world stopping to buy souvenirs at Palestinian shops as they made their way to biblical sites holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians. A man closes a shop at night amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis, at a market in J...
Read MoreWith the aim of establishing actions and commitments to restart international travel, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and the Spanish Government hosted a hybrid conference, where leaders from the industry both from the public and private sector participated, covering 95 countries and more than 100 Travel & Tourism companies. This event was organised as a result of WTTC's call for the leaders of G7+Spain, South Korea and Australia for an agreement at the highest level, to save the sector and the millions of jobs that depend on it. The Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, reiterated his commitment to the sector and confirmed the leadership of Spain by holding a major conference to discuss key measures needed to revive international Travel & Tourism. ...
Read MoreClose on the heels of mysterious appearance and disappearance of a metal monolith in Utah Desert of USA, another similar monolith appeared and disappeared, this time across Atlantic in Romania, almost half a world away. Shiny metal monolith vanished on Tuesday from Romania’s mountainous Neamt county, four days after its sudden appearance close to an ancient Dacian fortress. In no time this sparked speculation that it may be related to Utah incident. Alien-looking pillar, was spotted in a Utah desert in the United States about two weeks ago. It disappeared after generating much excitement internationally among science-fiction fans, hearkening to Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film, “2001: A Space Odyssey”, based on a novel by Arthur C. Clarke. In the Kubrick movie, an alien monolith is a recurr...
Read MoreA hummingbird sanctuary on the outskirts of Colombia’s capital Bogota is providing a picturesque respite from the noise and stresses of big city living. The Paramuno corridor was inaugurated in recent weeks on Monserrate hill in a forest reserve east of the city, letting bird watchers delight in watching the tiny creatures flutter their wings through binoculars and capturing them with camera lenses. A Hummingbird. FILE PHOTO “Sometimes it doesn’t seem real because we are close to a city of eight million inhabitants who generate noise every day,” said trail supervisor Camilo Cantor, while mixing water and sugar for feeders hung along the 300-metre path. “You can hear noise from the city, the generation of pollution, aggressiveness. This trail in Monserrate is like an oasis, whe...
Read MoreThe exotic animals are confined to small paddocks, the acrobats have been grounded, and the clowns aren’t able to make an audience laugh anymore. The coronavirus has brought the curtain down on the Zavatelli Circus, at least for the time being. Unable to travel or perform across Europe, the French family-run operation is waiting out the pandemic in a car park in the southern Belgium town of Gembloux - and quickly running out of funds to feed its animals. An employee of the Zavatelli Circus owned by the French family Dubois, walks with a camel in a parking lot in Gembloux, Belgium November 26, 2020. REUTERS/Yves Herman “For us, the confinement is very difficult because we are not working. We have no cash flow,” said circus director Kevin Dubois. The Zavatelli Circus typicall...
Read MoreGermany wants Alpine countries to keep ski resorts closed to help fight the coronavirus pandemic, but reaching an agreement with neighbouring Austria is proving difficult, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday. “The ski season is approaching. We will be trying to coordinate in Europe whether we could close all ski resorts,” Merkel told parliament, adding that this might not be possible given resistance from Austria, but Germany would try again. In the first wave of the coronavirus at the start of the year, many Germans were infected at the Austrian ski resort of Ischgl. Germany last month issued travel warnings for popular ski regions in Austria, Italy and Switzerland. Interestingly, in September this year a consumer rights group had taken a legal action against the Austr...
Read MoreNext year’s Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge will take place outside London for the first time since World War Two - because a bridge that passes over the usual course is close to collapsing. The annual event between rowing crews of England’s top two universities usually attracts hundreds of thousands of spectators to the west London stretch of the River Thames, with many standing on Hammersmith Bridge to watch the boats pass underneath. But the suspension bridge, built in 1887, has been closed to motor traffic since April 2019 following the discovery of hairline micro-fractures in the brittle cast iron pedestals. FILE PHOTO: Rowing - Oxford v Cambridge University Boat Race - River Thames, London. Oxford pass under the pass under Hammersmith Bridge as they win the men's rac...
Read MoreThailand recorded its first 1,201 foreign tourists in October since a ban in April aimed at averting coronavirus outbreaks, as the country gradually opens up to a select number of visitors to help its struggling, tourism-reliant economy. Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy contracted 6.4% in the third quarter from a year earlier after the second quarter’s 12.1% slump as most virus restrictions were eased, but an absence of tourists is limiting the recovery. The 1,201 foreign visitors in October is a fraction of the 3.07 million arrivals in the same month last year. Tourism ministry data showed the latest visitors included 471 from China, 231 from neighbouring Cambodia, 178 from Middle East countries and 116 from Europe, all travelling on special 90-day visas that require two...
Read MoreFrom fast food to fine dining, some restaurants in Britain are relying on home kits to keep them afloat during lockdown, turning clients into cooks who recreate favourite meals in the comfort of their own kitchens. For James Knappett, chef-owner of Michelin-starred London restaurant Kitchen Table, the decision to deliver do-it-yourself (DIY) meal kits wasn’t easy, but it was essential. James Knappett, founder and head chef of 'Home', the first at-home fine dining experience, packs food into a box destined for customers in London, Britain, November 18, 2020. REUTERS/Simon Dawson The venue has been closed since the first lockdown in March, because seating is around a kitchen table so social distancing is not possible. “It’s a very hard feeling to have to give this control to the...
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