What is the result when an Asian country tries to manage the tourism industry by charging a fair amount of entry tax to the adventurous traveller? Plus when it wants to keep far away from the madding backpacking crowds? Take 20.000 visitors a year and mix it with a 100% Buddhist population in a landlocked country with dreamy landscapes that will tantalize every serious travelista. Ok, you have to have a certain budget to get in. But who wouldn’t pay a bit more for a destination where the happiest people in the world live, where chilli peppers are eaten as a vegetable rather than a spice and where the beer, called Red Panda, is devilish tasty? And oh, we forgot to mention the Zhongs where monks live who perform now and the then the most hypnotic chants and dances and the fact that the locals are dressed as if they are huge fans of Dries Van Noten who decided that men also can wear skirts and sexy socks. If this isn’t enough we can give away that one of the best hotels Classe Touriste ever every stayed in is located here. High in the valley of Punaka you can stay in one of the five, fabulous Aman Resorts of Bhutan. In Punaka it’s an old summer palace that is hosting eight guests who will experience Bhutan at it’s best. An experience trough guided visits and tours in comfy jeeps, refined cuisine and mesmerising vista’s over de Punaka valley. And if you wonder after a while why the people of Bhutan are voted as the most happiest in the world, then just smell the air and find out that there grows more marihuana along the side of the road than in Jamaica and that a man AND a woman can have several spouses. Who wouldn’t pay a bit more for that!
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Is the fate of many unique, virtually abandoned villages in the unknown corner of Abruzzo sealed? Not if Swedish-Italian millionaire Daniele Kihlgren can help it. In 1999, a solitary motorbike trip proved to be a revelation for this modern-day idealist. […]
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Until very recently a no-go destination for many travellers, Burma aka Myanmar has now become an absolute favourite. With endearing nicknames such as the ‘golden land’ or ‘land of the smile’, everybody wants to go now. Who wouldn’t want to […]
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Voted as the happiest place in the world, Vanuatu might be the Pacific’s best-kept secret. Here, the ocean is blue, the beaches are white and empty and the smiles of the Ni-Van are big and plentiful. The greatest plus of […]
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Pack your bags (not more than 20 kg please and no Manolo or Gucci needed anyway), hop on a plane for half a day and embark on a trip of a lifetime. Final destination is Botswana where the mighty lions […]
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Close your eyes and imagine Empress Dowager Cixi roaming the century old dwellings of the Summer Palace in Beijing, Wurthering Hights style. If you don’t fancy Chinese concubines, then stay anyway at the magical Aman at Summer Palace, one of […]
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Sizzling hot during the day, freezing cold at night. Not to forget one of the dryest places on earth. Handy for people like me who are used to the rain for almost 8 months a year. A new wave of […]