Travel: 06/2010

Armenia Travel Guide

Armenia OVERVIEW

Specialists in religious studies and those looking for some spiritual enlightenment will find Armenia a truly eye-opening and informative place to visit.

Samoa OVERVIEW

The Garden of Eden must have looked like the idyllic Samoa, at least this is the ambience you experience once you unpack your cases and start tramping into the amazing interior.

United States Minor Outlying Islands OVERVIEW

A weird creation it is, albeit pristine and unruffled.

Tuvalu OVERVIEW

A South Sea paradise of palm-fringed coral islands barely surfacing the ocean waters, peaceful life somewhere among thatched cottages and a totally laidback pace defined by coconuts dropping to the ground and waves crashing against the sandy shores, Tuvalu is the world's fourth-smallest country with just 26 square kilometers and the most isolated independent nation.

Vanuatu OVERVIEW

Vanuatu stretches for almost a 1000 kilometers dotting the Pacific Ocean with 83 islands.

Christmas Island OVERVIEW

Why would a place be named Christmas Island if the only associable thing is the snow white feather of the endemic

sula sula

, gracefully called red-footed boobies (sic!)? Passing this tiny speck of land on 25 December 1643, Captain William Mynors of the Royal Mary decided to dub it accordingly, but years had passed before the first extensive exploration determined the island's future a phosphate extraction site.

British Indian Ocean Territory OVERVIEW

Never heard of BIOT and Diego Garcia? Rest easy as few could call you ignorant on that point, let alone for not knowing that the former is short for British Indian Ocean Territory and the latter is not an Argentinian soap star.

Bhutan OVERVIEW

Nestling high in the Himalaya, somewhere between the giant China and India, there is a country steadfastly guarding its integrity, culture and traditions.

China OVERVIEW

Forget stereotypes and plunge into a whirl of oriental adventure.

Brunei OVERVIEW

Welcome to the pint-sized but well-heeled sultanate in the corner of Borneo, where the GDP stands at 18 thousand dollars and bottled water is more expensive than gasoline.

Wallis and Futuna OVERVIEW

Each with a fair share of rabbits in the hat, Wallis and Futuna would most obviously vie for your attention .

Tonga OVERVIEW

Here's a bit of etymology before we have Tonga under Opentravel's guide miscroscope.

Tokelau OVERVIEW

Far, far away, half the way between Hawaii and New Zealand there is a tiny group of Polynesian atolls called Tokelau.

Pitcairn OVERVIEW

If you don't have the faintest idea where on earth Pitcairn Islands might be located, don't worry.

Papua New Guinea OVERVIEW

Papua New Guinea is a land of unparalleled diversity and a promise of an unforgettable holiday.

Palau OVERVIEW

No fish feels out of water in Palau.

Fiji OVERVIEW

Close your eyes and imagine a holiday Eden.

Cook Islands OVERVIEW

Should you ever fantasize about sun-bleached, time-forgotten idyllic places swaying with seductive dancing and caressing with gentle wave swoosh and ocean breeze, Opentravel knows where to navigate.

Bouvet Island OVERVIEW

Should you ever be fed up with the civilized world and willing to be left alone and virtually cut off, steer towards the Bouvet Island.

Australia OVERVIEW

OK. It's true that the British exiled thousands of convicts here (and then set them free, alas!), and it's also the truest of truths that it's home to 1500 species of spiders and that each year one or two people are devoured by crocodiles.

American Samoa OVERVIEW

American Samoa has been a dependent state of the USA since 1899.

Zimbabwe OVERVIEW

Not an easy and glossy-brochure destination, Zimbabwe frequently acts as a tourist repellent scaring off potential visitors with its ongoing social and political unrest.

Zambia OVERVIEW

Spectators turn speechless and only gasp in awe as the mighty Zambezi River sends 2 million gallons of tumultuous water down a 300 feet high vertical wall and gushes the spray back up in the air to form a thick cloud of enigma hovering above the world's largest curtain of falling water.

Western Sahara OVERVIEW

If hardcore trips catch your fancy, Western Sahara is a promise of harsh conditions, formal obstacles, and hazy political status.

Tunisia OVERVIEW

When Hannibal was mastering his martial skills and learning to mount war elephants in Carthage, he conceived of North Africa as an insuperable empire.

Northern Mariana Islands OVERVIEW

Sitting on the edge of the world's greatest chasm, the 11 kilometer-deep Mariana Trench, is a sparsely-peopled family of 14 islands shortly known as CNMI.

Norfolk Island OVERVIEW

When was the last time you raised your finger at the police and they waved back at you grinning from ear to ear? Never? Then come to Norfolk Island and learn all about the famous 'Norfolk Wave', which is anything from a regular wag through to a raised index finger from the steering wheel that the drivers here use to greet each other without fail.

Niue OVERVIEW

One of the most far-flung places and tiniest nations on earth, Niue doesn't readily come tripping off the tongue of even the most been-around travelers.

New Caledonia OVERVIEW

Kanaky, as the indigenous Melanesian inhabitants dub New Caledonia, is a one-of-a-kind experience.

Nauru OVERVIEW

Unlike most Pacific islands cherishing a dream-like holiday destination status, Nauru is a land ravaged by decades of mining industry.

Micronesia OVERVIEW

Sculpted by the volcanic activity millions of years ago, the Eastern and Western Caroline Islands or, as they are commonly known, the Federated States of Micronesia, sprinkle over a million of square miles of the Pacific expanse with islands of a thousand shapes, tempting reefs for the supreme diving experience and turquoise waters to delight with shimmering lights and a gentle swoosh.

Marshall Islands OVERVIEW

Think "bikini" and very holiday images start popping up, don't they? Sun-caressed sandy pits, hypnotizing wave swoosh sipping into your ear and golden bronzed bodies in their skimpy bathing suits of myriad colors.

Kiribati OVERVIEW

If you measure Kiribati by land size you'll arrive at a humble 810 square kilometers.

Heard Island and McDonald Islands OVERVIEW

Definitely not a holiday destination if baking in the sun, comfort and some tourist glam is what you're after.

Guam OVERVIEW

To take the real pulse of Guam, don't loiter too long at Tumon Bay, press-agented by gleaming holiday brochures.

French Southern Territories OVERVIEW

Scattered over the South Pacific Ocean, the French Southern Territories comprise a number of sub-Antarctic rugged volcanic islands forming an overseas territory of France.

French Polynesia OVERVIEW

How about some hedonistic fantasy world come real? Pina coladas sipped in palm shade, languid days rolled by waves gently caressing the shores and legendary Tahiti romance whirling with shamelessly seductive dancing and the spellbinding beauties? All within your reach in French Polynesia, a land that epitomizes the Pacific dream best.

Tanzania OVERVIEW

Let's play associations.

Swaziland OVERVIEW

In Swaziland, you might just find yourself bumping into the near-extinct black rhino (Mkhaya Game Reserve), spotting a bride smeared with red ochre, soaking your weary bones in hot mineral springs (Ezulwini Valley), or wandering into thousands of unmarried Swazi women dancing with reeds, which is bound to be a highlight of your trip to the country if it happens to coincide with the Umhlanga festival.

Sudan OVERVIEW

Distinctly split into Northern and Southern Sudan, this largest Africa's country is a land of contrasts and clearly defined differences.

Somalia OVERVIEW

Should you feel an irresistible urge to put Somalia on your African itinerary, hold your horses! Its much undiscovered beauty of 3,000-kilometer-long beach coastline, fabulous corals and majestic mountains as well as world-class rock paintings, unparalleled scuba diving sites and a vibrant hotchpotch of Somali culture need to be put aside and wait for some more favorable and safe time.

Mauritania OVERVIEW

Maybe not as many as sand grains in the Sahara but the reasons to visit Mauritania are numerous.

Mali OVERVIEW

If you had traversed this scorching hot, dust-laden desert territory around 14th century you would have been crossing a famed African empire, one that had an enormous share in trans-Saharan gold, slave and salt trade.

Seychelles OVERVIEW

Yes, the glossy brochure pitch about the islands that goes ‘idyllic', ‘holiday Eden' and ‘a heavenly piece of paradise on Earth' is true.

Senegal OVERVIEW

Senegal resounds with the rhythmical drum tunes of Mbalax and ice cubes clinking in a frosty glass of fruit cocktail sipped leisurely in a palm shade.

Sao Tome and Principe OVERVIEW

If your days are best defined by deadlines and even more deadlines to meet, the omnipresent stress and life lived at a hectic pace, Sao Tome and Principe is the place to pack your bits and pieces and just go.

Saint Helena OVERVIEW

A place of exile is not necessarily a tourist catchphrase, is it? But go to St.

Rwanda OVERVIEW

Rwanda - a Land of a Thousand Hills, as they often dub it, but also of a thousand Kills.

Republic of the Congo OVERVIEW

Congo, or Congo-Brazzaville as it is often called to avoid confusion with its much larger neighbor, the Democratic Republic of Congo, is one of the more developed African countries and also one noted for a number of things.

Nigeria OVERVIEW

One might wonder what the necessary components a country should have to become a desired holiday spot are.