Take a guided food tour with Intrepid
The adventure tour company Intrepid Travel has added eight new destinations to its range of “Real Food Adventures” trips, enabling tourists to get a local expert’s guidance on sampling street fare, local specialities, home cooking and urban food culture.
Travellers who book during December can also save 15 per cent off the new tours.
The company launched its range of culinary trips last year with itineraries in Vietnam, India, Mexico and elsewhere, and has now expanded its range to include Argentina, Cambodia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Morocco, Peru and Sri Lanka.
Some of the new experiences include the chance to try fried tarantulas and sautéed crickets in Cambodia,
indulging in an asado (BBQ) with gauchos in Argentina, tasting the infamous fugu, or puffer fish, in Japan, tasting truffles in Italy and dining at the best hawker stalls and cooking in rural kitchens in Malaysia
The Peru trip is 11 days and includes learning to prepare ceviche, street food tasting in Lima, sampling guinea pig prepared in the traditional way, attending a chocolate-making workshop, learning ancient farming techniques in the Sacred Valley, enjoying a homestay with a local family and visiting Machu Picchu and the region's largest salt mines. From Dh10,700 including ground transport, some meals, hotel accommodation and a guide, but not international flights (www.intrepidtravel.com).
New road link in Sri Lanka reduces traffic
A new 29-kilometre road linking Bandaranaike International Airport and Colombo has greatly reduced transfer times for tourists.
Bypassing the clogged existing road, the Colombo-Katunayake Expressway passes through the open land of Muthurajawela marshes and the Negombo lagoon and has reduced travel time between Peliyagoda and Katunayake to 20 minutes from a previous 90 minutes.
The four-lane toll road is a continuation of the Colombo-Matara highway, which opened in 2011.
Epic adventures with Secret Compass
The expedition-style travel company Secret Compass has unveiled 10 “Epic Adventures” for 2014, including trips to northern Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen.
Starting with South Sudan and Sierra Leone in February; Panama in March; Iraqi Kurdistan in April; Madagascar in May; Kamchatka in Siberia in July; the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan in August; the Simien Mountains in Ethiopia in September; and India’s Arunachal Pradesh and Socotra, Yemen, in October.
Places on the expeditions are limited to a maximum of 12 per trip. Prices vary; for more information visit www.secretcompass.com.
Follow us @TravelNational
Follow us on Facebook for discussions, entertainment, reviews, wellness and news.