Posts Tagged ‘Thailand’

Featured Traveler | Peter Shankman: HARO & Airmile Hero

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

How many people do you know who’ve traveled 300,000 miles in their lifetime? How about over 300,000 miles in a year? Meet Peter Shankman. A fearless road warrior, entrepreneur and triathlete. Learn where he goes to get away and why is he might just jump out of his next flight.

Name: Peter Shankman

Tell us a little about yourself:
I run Help a Reporter Out - HARO. I’m a speaker and consultant, and travel about 300k miles a year to about 20 countries.

Favorite city you’ve been to:
Phuket, Thailand. I can lose myself there and just breathe.

Favorite restaurant:
Casabianca Pizza for the best pizza in the world, Ta Cocina for the best mexican and margaritas in the world, and a food cart by the water in Cape Town. Best fish and chips I’ve ever had in my life.

Best place to relax:
15,000 feet in the air as I’m about to jump out of a plane for a skydive.

Best place to have fun:
Anywhere you can smile.

Best trip you’ve ever taken:
20 days - Thailand to Tokyo to Huntsville, Alabama - all for work. Didn’t shave once.

What one piece of advice do you have for travelers?
Smiling gets you incredibly far.

Where else can we find you on the web?
Shankman.com, Facebook, Twitter @petershankman, ayeartotenpercent.com

Yee Peng Festival, Thailand

Thursday, May 12th, 2011

Yee Peng, or Lantern Festival, in Thailand is one of the most incredible visual of lighted lanterns. Traditional belief has it that when these lantern hot air balloons are set adrift and float away, so do the troubles of the persons who launched the balloon.

According to Thai tradition, “the festival is northern Thailand’s version of ‘Loy Kratong’ celebration.” The event also include a Lantern contest, light and sound presentations, raft competitions, row boat races and various kinds of local plays and performances.

Yee Peng literally means the full moon night of the twelfth lunar month and the Chiang Mai ‘Yipeng’ and ‘Loi Krathong’, the Festival of Lights is organised annually by the Chiang Mai Municipality in Thailand. On the full moon night, the “krathong” or banana leaf boat contest is being organised by the Youth Club from various temples in Chiang Mai. While traditional krathong were made exclusively from banana leaves, today the krathong come in all shapes and sizes and are made from a broad range of material including coconut and banana trees. Following the contest, the krathong are set afloat on the Ping River in Chiangmai.

“Yee Peng Festival, Thailand” photo by Sanchai Loongroong.

Travel Photo: Siam Ocean World, Bangkok, Thailand

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

Diver at the Siam Ocean World Aquarium, one of the largest in Southeast Asia.

Want to check out more photos like this? Check out Ben’s Photostream.

Do you have a travel photo you’d like to share? Contact me on facebook or twitter.

introductions from East Asia

Monday, July 13th, 2009

Hi, my name is Rich, and I am a recently graduated college student traveling between jobs. In the past, I’ve backpacked around Europe and South America, but I’ve never been to East Asia (only India). I have always been fascinated by this part of the world, so when my friend Andy and I had some time off between finishing our previous job and starting our new one, we decided to embark on a month-long journey around East Asia. During the past two weeks, we have seen some of the poorest and most densely populated places on earth in Bangladesh (150 million people in a country the size of Wisconsin), and some of the most beautiful spots on the planet in Thailand (mountainous islands covered with tropical rainforests and surrounded by white sand beaches and turquoise water). Now we’re just beginning the second half of our trip to China and Cambodia. In China, we’ll visit the three most prominent cities: Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong. In Cambodia, we’ll see the ancient ruins at Angkor Wat before finally heading back to the States at the end of July.  Stay tuned…