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From stunning coast line to a generous smattering of tropical islands, Thailand has long been a behemoth contender in the exotic destinations arena. Many a backpacker has plodded their flip flop on a Thai sandy beach, revelling in the best the world can offer in cultural, lively and picturesque travel. It’s brilliant for backpackers from a budgetary angle, allowing you to find cheap holidays around a relatively large country, making the many attractions around Thailand easily accessible. But this presents a problem, with so much on offer you may find yourself a little swamped when it comes to planning your itinerary.

For the party and hedonistic scene, Ko Pha Ngan and its full moon party or Ko Samui will be pushing for your money, with Chiang Mai or Ayuthaya being contenders to satisfy your desire for experiencing a bit of culture. But if you really want to tap into the laid back, beach living lifestyle whilst still being spoilt for choice for beach front restaurants cafes and bars, Ko Tao is a fantastic option. The island manages to strike a happy medium between keeping you entertained at night without preventing you from getting a good night’s sleep, whilst also creating a relaxing and picturesque scene during the day.

A lot of this is due to Ko Tao managing to maintain a low profile in terms of development. You won’t find the travelling grumblers moaning about it being ruined in the same ilk that other locations such as Phuket in Thailand have been. This is partly thanks to its small size, you can pretty much see the entire Island’s profile in the ferry approach, and there aren’t that many roads on the island. The infrastructure is all pretty basic, and the best way to get around is often strolling along the beach front at Sairee or hiring a mountain bike.

Location
Ko Tao is in the Gulf of Thailand and is well connected to the ferry routes servicing Ko Samui and Ko Pha Ngan, two islands that feature in many travellers Thailand holidays. You can get here easily by bus, plane and train from Bangkok, and its proximity to the other two islands makes it incredibly easy to factor it into your trip.

Sitting in the shadows of Ko Pha Ngan and Ko Samui has actually worked wonders for Ko Tao, as these two islands more than satisfy the local need to party loud and late. Ko Tao therefore has resisted the urge to become just another party destination in Thailand, so if you’re looking to avoid this or nurse your resulting hangover, it’s a great place to head over to.

Claim to fame
The small island first became known as a mecca for diving enthusiasts and beginners with its shallow shores and nearby reefs. Learning to scuba dive may be out of many backpackers’ budgets, but it is worthwhile bearing in mind that this is one of the cheapest locations in the world to get your diving certificate. Because it started as a diving location, it isn’t awash with cheap food stalls or provisions for budget backpackers, but as it is now a popular location for this type of traveller you can easily find a cheap drink and place to stay.

Food and Nightlife
The lack of the nearby hustle and bustle on other islands has allowed a laid back beach front scene to develop. You will not be pushed to find a place on a sun warmed bit of decking where you can order typical delicious Thai food whilst gazing out to sea with the odd long boat spluttering about. This means that you never feel rushed in the restaurants by a demand for places, thus creating the perfect opportunity to order a long drink and chat or wile away the day and late afternoon. It’s also a great location for the sea foodie, as obviously being an island this is a particular specialty here.

As the day gives way to the night scene, there’s no apparent change in set up along the beaches apart from the appearance of fire dancers and extra cushions outside the bars on the beaches. This gives a slower more relaxed feel to the night, as it isn’t overrun by crushed buckets and swathes of dancing revellers. This does not make it entirely quiet though, the fire dancers create the excitement and there are still a few larger bars along Sairee and Mai Haad beaches offering the usual dance steps, beach area and late night tunes.

Beaches
Being so small Ko Tao keeps it simple when it comes to beaches. This size makes it perfect for hiring a long boat if you’re looking to pick out the smaller and more isolated bays which are mainly along the East coast. The West Coast is dominated by Sairee beach, which runs the majority of the length of the island. It is a beautiful crescent shape, offering views at both ends of headland jutting out. It’s also where you’ll find the majority of the islands restaurants and nightlife, as well as accommodation and dive schools. You can check out this all out in the view offered by the approaching ferry and jetty you offload onto.

The island of Ko Nang Yuan is very close to the shore and creates an interesting focal point on Ko Tao. It is a snorkelling and diving hotspot, as well as a unique beach location that can only be accessed by boat taxi from Ko Tao. If you’re looking for truly impressive photos, then this is the spot to head to!

Author Bio – Matthew has been travel blogging since the end of a RTW trip in 2011. Thailand was one of his favourites, and he has now booked his Flights to Australia to continue his travelling later this year.

Are you looking to treat your loved one by taking them away on holiday this year?

Going on a romantic sojourn for Valentine’s Day can certainly be a good way to show just how much you care about that special someone in your life and with so many places making fantastic destinations for this kind of break, you and your partner will certainly be spoilt for choice.

However, if you want to spend some time soaking up the sun then you may want to consider going on Seychelles holidays.

This set of African islands, situated off the continent’s west coast, can certainly be a fantastic destination for an amorous adventure and as it experiences pleasant temperatures all year round, you are sure to find there is plenty of opportunity for you to lie back and work on your tan, even in the middle of February.

Going on holidays to the Seychelles has long been popular among honeymooners but whether you’re newlywed or not, you and your loved one may be reminded of just how deeply you care for one another as you soak up the country’s magnificent scenery.

The islands contain some fascinating flora and fauna so you many want to get up close and personal to it by visiting the nature reserve on the island of Aride or stopping by the Seychelles National Museum of History on Mahe. And as Mahe contains many of the country’s other major tourist attractions, such as the Victoria Clock tower, you are sure to find that there are plenty of things for you to see and do during the course of your holiday.

However, if you want to be a little active during a Valentine’s Day vacation, you’ll be glad to know the Seychelles offers a fantastic range of watersports virtually all year round. During your trip you may want to go snorkeling, diving or sailing.

But if you and your partner fancy going somewhere a little closer to home, you could well find that Paris is an ideal destination for a romantic getaway.

The French capital is widely regarded as one of the most romantic destinations in the world, so you may want to consider taking your partner up the Eiffel Tower on February 14th to take in the city’s panoramic vistas. And to make the break extra-special why not go for a walk along the Seine before indulging in a candlelit dinner at one of the city’s world-famous restaurants?

Amsterdam can also be a great place to head to on a short city break. Taking a trip to the Dutch capital offers you and your partner the chance to see world-class museums and art galleries, while you may also want to stop by one the city’s flower markets to buy your beau a rose.

You may also want wish to consider taking your other half to Venice. The Italian destination is home to some stunning architecture, including the Piazza San Marco and St Mark’s Basilica, so you may want to spend time walking through the city’s streets before going on a gondola ride through its world-famous canals.

If you’re really looking to impress, New York can be a great place to visit for Valentine’s Day. You can take your loved one for a stroll through Central Park, before heading to a Broadway show. And for a particularly memorable break, why not take them to the top of the Empire State Building before you get down one knee and propose?

With so many romantic destinations to choose from, you will be not short of fantastic places to head to for a Valentine’s Day getaway.

Just south of Barcelona in the Balearic Sea is the Balearic Islands, with the largest one named Majorca. The recommended times to travel would be during the months of May and October, keeping in mind that July and August are the most crowded. With a total of three hundred and seventy five advertised beaches between the four islands, you are sure to find a few to your liking.

There are times when deciding on a last minute Balearic Island holidays package would be worth your while, especially if those times happen to be in the slow season. While your weather conditions may not be ideal, your prices would be decidedly less expensive. The beaches are open all year around for your enjoyment and while the water conditions may be slightly cooler, you will have it all to yourself.

At least three of the islands stand ready to entertain you with a day full of fun filled water activities at their water parks. Make sure and check for hours of operation as some do not open all year around. Bring the entire family and enjoy rides on multi-slides, descending water Kamikaze like shoots, lazy rivers or wave pools and a pool designated just for parents and kids.

If you are fortunate enough to come across a last minute Balearic Islands holidays package for the peak season, then you are in luck, because not only will the price be right but so will the fun. Hiking is considered as a favorite past time on the islands and with so many venues to choose from like the beaches, state parks and other sights to see, is their any wonder?

As with other islands, water sports are in high demand. Whether your favorite is on top with Jet skiing, kayaking, under tow on a banana boat, or below with snorkeling and or diving, its all here. Join a group tour and head out for some fishing, or learn to sail while enjoying the sparkling Balearic sea. Nothing could be closer to paradise.

The opportunities are endless, with four islands to choose from, like traveling by bus to Formentor. This ride will afford you picturesque views like never before seen to a cove complimented by a beautiful beach. You can make the trek to S’Albufera des Grau (a nature reserve) or Es Freginal Park where you can enjoy everything that mother nature has to offer while relaxing to some jazz.

In the remote parts of Central Sulawesi of the Indonesian archipelago, an-odd shaped island resembling a hunched-over letter “k”, under the Dutch known as Celebes, there can be found a saddle-roof style house type built on piles. Depicted on Dong Son drums as far back as 500BC-AD100, its origin suggests being of mainland Southeast Asia. The region is known as Tana Toraja, or Torajaland, and the characteristic house style is referred to as “tongkonan” – a traditional ancestral house of the Toraja people that inhabit these mist-shrouded valleys, averaging some 3000 feet above seas level. Visiting Sulawesi’s Toraja region is easily done from Bali and the experience is always a highlight of travel in Indonesia.

Of tongue-and-groove construction, using no nails, bolts or other metal fasteners, the traditional houses are built on solid tree trunk piles high above the ground to safeguard against rodents, snakes and dampness of the tropical ground. It is the massive roofs, covered in a layered bamboo, today often by corrugated iron, that immediately catch one’s attention. The research shows that these proto-Malay peoples have originated from Cambodia. Their own lore and legends claim that their ancestors crossed the high seas to the north, suggesting they embarked off the coast of Southeast Asia. Their stories tell of storm having diverted their boats to shores of Sulawesi, thrown ashore the people used them as roofs.

Fact is the characteristic house type Toraja build over centuries developed only in the interior mountains that surround fertile plateaus and valleys where they live. Due to the remoteness of the region, even today some seven hours by road to the main urban port of southern Sulawesi, the mountains have protected lifestyle and customs, which have changed relatively little to this day.

A legend has it that the roof shape as well as the general shape of the house is patterned on the ships on which they sailed from their ancestral homeland. On another hand, closer look at their culture reveals worship of buffalo, which is a symbol of fertility, strength, and a protection from evil, and its horns decorate the gables of Torajan houses, hence the other theory has it the roof shape is that of a buffalo’s horn.

Whatever the shape’s origin the houses truly look as if they could sail, their sweeping roofs, especially when constructed closely together, the front of the house facing north, the direction of the ancestral homeland, look like ships moored at port. Opposite the houses are rows of granaries, too constructed in the same shape and on piles, often lavishly decorated. The uniform site plan of villages, compact settlements of freestanding structures set in a row, are precisely laid out as if based on well-thought out principles of a subdivision design.

 The house type is always elevated off the ground but in some villages the front of yet longer and broader roof is supported by a massive pillar ever more so giving the house the appearance of a ship.

The interior of the house is quite simple, consisting usually of three rooms – a living area, kitchen and sleeping quarters. As there is no chimney soot of the large fire pit cooking area covers the beams and rafters.

Every house, typically on the front facade but often also on the side of the house, adorn horns of buffalos. The family status is usually shown by the number of horns mounting the house, the more there are the higher the merit and status for the family, attesting to many sacrifices, feasts and ceremonies performed by the family to which many guests have been invited.

In the ancient times, the old, “adat” ceremonies and animistic rites, practiced by the Toraja until the arrival of Christian missionaries, not only buffaloes were sacrificed but people as well. As in many other cultures of the Indonesian archipelago, from Sumatra to Timor, headhunting was part of animistic practices. Its existence shows relationship to headhunting practices of ancient cultures of South and Southeast Asia, further substantiating the roots of origin of the island cultures, whether of Indonesian or Philippine archipelago. Although buffalo and pig sacrifices have replaced human heads and the animistic religion has for the most part been diluted, reasonably strong adat practice still continues to this day and is practiced by about 25% of the Toraja people. Much of the traditional animistic practices take place during the funeral ceremonies called the Feast of the Dead. The practice is sustained by the Toraja inherent belief in afterlife, called Puya, or the Land of the Dead, where everyone is believed will live under the same conditions as he or she did on earth, a belief that spurs every Torajan to attain as much wealth as possible during his lifetime. Another belief of note is that the Toraja people believe the souls of animals will follow their masters into heaven, thus the buffalo sacrifice is in a way not perceived as taking of life as such but rather as an act which is only a temporary state of parting between man and beast and the two will reunite once again at death.

 

 

 

All Toraja houses are richly decorated in a maze of geometric ornamentation in ochre-red, black and white as well as a profusion of symbolic carvings representing aspects of ancestral worship, known as Aluk Todolo. Traditionally people were only allowed to depict motives characteristic of their social status or cast, whether that of the Tokapua or the noblemen, the Tomokaka or a middle-class tradesmen, or the Tobuda, the commoner, usually a farmer. Today people add designs expressive of their lifestyle as well as profession.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

Most Toraja people are Christians, both Catholics and Protestants, and the church spires dot the horizon of the villages. Only about ten percent are Muslim, and in fact Muslim religion dominates the coastal areas as well as many deep valleys surrounding the Toraja region as such. All in all Toraja continue to practice highly ritualistic religious ceremonies including the rites of fertility, marriage, birth and death.

 

 The Torajans believe that when a person dies, the soul leaves the body but remains restless until the burial ritual has been completed. Often a time much of family’s wealth can be spent on staging the finest, most elaborate funeral they can afford, a strange blending of solemnity and celebration. Today the Toraja may bury their dead in the ground but the traditional burial was by placing the body in a casket that was taken into a small structure shaped like their house before being moved to its final resting place inside a cliff-side grave. The caskets were inserted inside cave-like chambers although often left to protrude on specially constructed balconies high above the valley floor. As over time many caskets fell, the ground below is littered with bones and skulls. On the balconies are displayed “tau-tau”, the wooden effigies of the deceased, typically set in rows as puppets they stand gazing over the countryside.

There is definitely more to Indonesia than Bali and visiting Sulawesi and Torajaland should not be missed. On your next trip to Bali or elsewhere in Indonesia include Sulawesi in your itinerary!