Vincent Vega said it best. They've got the same things overseas that we have here in America, but as a traveler you notice the little differences, like beer served in movie theaters, French fries served with mayonnaise, and funny names for fast food sandwiches like Royale with Cheese. LA Weekly must have been thinking along the same lines when they published their funny list of American fast food items that you can't get in America. ]]>
If you know even the littlest bit about train travel, then you've probably heard of both the Orient Express and the Trans-Siberian Railroad. Both luxury trains associated with the gilded age, they are now shadows of their former selves, carrying fannypacked tourists on shorter or altered routes instead of the evening gown-wearing, long cigarette-smoking moneyed classes who indulged in a leisurely trip between Paris and Istanbul, or through Mongolia and into Moscow.
Luckily for those who have romanticized these luxury trains, there is a country that still embraces the idea: India. In the new few months, two new opulent trains will launch on routes that aim to cover some of the most famous sites in India, including the Taj Mahal and Varanasi of course. Per person, per night prices for the trips—the shortest trip being a week—begin at a staggering $500. But you'll be getting your money back in spades with these choo-choos... ]]>
While we're busy being happy for the winner of the CN Traveler Awards, plenty of other airlines around the world have news of their own, and mainly in the new routes area. For those of you chilling around Asia like our own Claire Duffett, here's the need-to-know new routes coming your way:
· Air Asia begins low-cost direct flights from their base in Kuala Lumpur to Calcutta, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) in India in November. One-way flights (including tax) begin as low as $32, and these new routes compliment Air Asia's current India destination of Trichy, effectively quadrupling their Indian routes. ]]>
Has Kanye West been reading Eat, Pray, Love lately? It's been reported that the megalomaniacal star is considering going on retreat in India, to an ashram in Pondicherry to "reassess life."
After his famous interruption of Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the MTV video music awards last month, and the open liquor-swilling and outlandish behavior he exhibited in the front row and on the red carpet at the same event, it seems like Kanye is overdue for such a calming vacation. Ashrams are however designed for lengthy stays, without contact with most of the outside world and devoid of all the luxurious comforts that Kanye enjoys. ]]>
We tend to think of Paris or Florence as the places to go for an art hit, but India's largest city Mumbai might be the up-and-coming spot. A new art gallery has just opened there and wants to start showing off India's huge art tradition to the world.
The Gallery BMB is one of the first new galleries in India for a long time—the few that do exist are mostly from British colonial times—but the directors predict it will be the first of many more. It will showcase art from international artists as well as encourage emerging Indian artists to make a name for themselves. ]]>
Filming the movie version of the popular book Eat, Pray, Love, Julia Roberts has been all over the world. Now that she's moved on to the "pray" portion in India, a closed set hasn't been easy. As they shoot in the town of Mirzapur, south of New Delhi, Roberts has been hounded by everything from paparazzi to gawking townspeople to—and these won't relent—asses.
Donkeys interrupted filming the other day when, during a scene, they wouldn't stop braying. Stupid asses, making noise about celebrities trying to work. Don't they know who Julia Roberts is? ]]>
We’ve seen our share of airline delays due to weather, mechanical delays, and even wacky passengers. However, there aren’t too many delays caused by furry critters. Well, that’s exactly what passengers of an Air India flight had to deal with as they were stuck to wait things out for about 11 hours.
Apparently a flight with over 200 passengers from Amritsar, India was supposed to head out to London over the weekend. Early on Saturday morning passengers spotted a rat on the plane, and then the rest of the day was spent searching for the little stowaway. After all, it definitely didn’t go through security. ]]>