Phil Harwood from the UK has become the first person to canoe the entire Congo River from source to sea.
Starting from it’s source in Zambia and flowing through a country which has often been described as ‘hell on earth’ – the Democratic Republic of Congo – he braved machete wielding tribes, hippos and crocodiles to make it to the Atlantic.

‘I only had to get my machete out twice to prevent myself from being robbed,’ he said.
Eric Wong, managing director of Galaxy Stars Ltd., is bringing the sleep box to the city to provide cheap, basic accommodation. Each capsule measures about 90 by 180 centimeters, comfortable for a small adult, but they can also be tailored to fit any size.
An American Express mailer was recently sent out advertising a seven-night cruise touring Italy, France, and Spain for the tantalising price of $749. The only problem was the ship to which American Express referred was the stricken Costa Concordia, which is currently half-submerged off the coast of Italy.
EVA Airways flights from Taipei to Guam will be on Hello Kitty jets. In addition to carrying 57 extra passengers per flight, the jet will also be wrapped in Hello Kitty iconography, from wing to wing, cockpit to tail. These luxurious new aircraft are EVA’s A330-300s. Each one is configured with 30 seats in Premium Laurel Class and 279 seats in Economy Class.

Read more here about EVA Airways.
THAI Smile, the new low-fare airline from Thai Airways International (THAI) will offer routes mainly to region cities, to China, and to India with tickets going on sale in April 2012.

If you want to find out more about THAI Smile then check it out here.
Global arrivals to Korea hit the 9.8 million mark, a growth of 11.3% over the previous year. This year’s inbound global figures are likely to top 11 million.

Korea and its visitors are still enjoying the designation of 2010-2012 as ‘Visit Korea Year’ and has some notable events to look forward to in the coming months, such as 2012 World Expo Yeosu and another exciting F1 Grand Prix. Korea’s ten UNESCO World Cultural Heritage listed sites have impacted on increasing visitor numbers to Korea, as will Jeju Island’s recent success to become one of the ‘New 7 Wonders’ of the natural world.
The body of a Melbourne teenager (Daniel Eimutis, age 19) has been found in a river in Laos, three days after he disappeared while tubing in the popular tourist destination.

Daniel Eimutis, age 19 found dead in Vang Vieng.
Earlier this month, Lee Hudswell, 26, of Cronulla, died after he jumped from a tower and landed badly in the river. Holidaymakers tried to resuscitate him but he died a short time later in hospital.
SITA has taken the air transport industry a step closer to introducing near field communication (NFC) technology with the unveiling of the first proof-of-concept which uses the NFC chip inside smartphones. This SIM-based proof-of-concept demonstrates how passengers’ journeys through the airport can become much smoother as they use their NFC-enabled phone to simply “tap and check-in” or “tap and board” their flight. Read more here.
CNN has compiled a list of the top 50 surf spots in the world. So if you are into surfing (like I am) then read this article.
A project to build a pioneering science centre with more than six miles of walkways will give tourists spectacular views in the heart of the Amazon rainforest.
The £6.4m centre will be built by a British charity and will act as a research base for scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, provide jobs for Brazilian tribes and attract eco-tourists, according to The Sunday Times.
The walkway will be located in Roraima, northeast Brazil.
Panic erupted among passengers on an American Airlines flight last night when it was hit by extreme turbulence that injured six crew members. Staff working on the flight from Recife in Brazil to Miami were taken to hospital in Florida when their plane landed on Sunday at 6:30pm
Ryanair confirmed that it will create over 1,000 new jobs in 2012 for pilots, cabin crew, engineers and sales/marketing people, as Ryanair’s fleet will grow from 270 to 305 aircraft.
Already in 2012, Ryanair has announced 5 new bases in Billund (Denmark), Wroclaw (Poland), Palma (Spain), Manchester (UK) and Paphos in Cyprus. Ryanair expects its traffic to grow from 76m passengers in 2011 to 80m in 2012.
All pilots, cabin crew, engineers and sales and marketing professionals interested in applying for a career with Europe’s largest airline can obtain further information of these 1,000 new job vacancies on Ryanair’s website at ryanair.com/ie/careers/job.
As part of the already planned cost reductions SAS will reduce the number of full-time positions in the administration with 300.
SAS maintains its forecast of a marginally positive financial result for 2011. However as previously announced the implementation of cost reducing initiatives becomes even more crucial in 2012 due to increased economic uncertainty, increased pressure on yields in the airline industry and continued high fuel prices.
The annual list, compiled by Euromonitor International’s global travel research program, shows visitor numbers to Hong Kong surged by 18 per cent this year to 20 million while Singapore welcomed a 16 per cent rise to 18 million.

By contrast London only experienced a 2.5 per cent growth, with international arrivals to the city stagnating around 14.5 million.
Then head on over to Exclusive Escapes website for some extra special treats.
“Foreign terrorists may be currently looking to conduct attacks against tourist areas in Bangkok in the near future. US citizens are urged to exercise caution when visiting public areas where large groups of Western tourists gather in Bangkok,” the US embassy in Bangkok said in an emergency message posted on its website.
A senior Thai intelligence officer also told AFP that the kingdom had been informed before the New Year by Israel of a possible threat. This comes days before Thai immigration arrested a man with ties to Hezbollah militant group trying to cross the border.
This picture is taken for the 10th stage of fourth South American edition of Dakar Rally, proving that there is still beauty in this world.
The Parkes Elvis Festival is an annual event celebrating the music and the legend of Elvis Presley held in early January in the Australian New South Wales regional town of Parkes.The first festival in 1992 was simply a one night performance attracting 300 attendees. From then, it has grown to become a five day long festival of all things Elvis.
This year marking the 20th celebration of the festival there will be more than 15.000 people attending.
If you are a Elvis freak you should click here.
Note: At the time of writing Parkes servers where not loading the pages.













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