Touring Vietnam By Bicycle

The 12-day, 11-night cycle tour begins in Ho Chi Minh City where the eager cyclists can jump in the saddle and ride to Tra Vinh, starting the guided trip with a gentle 52km introduction ride to ease into the experience.

From there on, the guided cycling tour retains a leisurely, steady pace as travelers move upstream along the Mekong through local villages, lush rice paddies and past waving locals to Can Tho and the Phong Dien floating market, before arriving at Chau Doc near the Vietnam-Cambodia border.

Once travelers have crossed to Cambodia they return to the saddle and peddle their way to Kep on the picturesque coastline. Kep offers a beachfront sanctuary to compensate travelers for their pedal-power efforts thus far – a reward that repeats the following day too, after cycling on to Cambodia’s most luxurious beachfront location, Sihanoukville.

Next it’s on to Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s captivating capital, where travelers can take guided explorations of the city’s famous landmarks and must-see sites. Travelers will spend two nights in Phnom Penh, soaking up insider experiences and visiting the city’s most intriguing cultural sites such as the Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda, Killing Fields and S-21 school which was used as a detention center during the Khmer Rouge reign.

On the way to Siem Reap, travelers will cycle out of Phnom Penh across the Cambodian-Japanese Friendship Bridge to Kampong Chhang, another region of great natural beauty lined with seemingly endless clusters of sugar palm trees.

Siem Reap is the perfect gateway to Angkor’s ancient offerings and is said to be the place that symbolizes the soul of the Khmer people. While in Siem Reap tour takers can take guided explorations of Banteay Srey and Angkor Wat – the latter perhaps the most recognizable temple structure in the world.

For those who’ve always yearned to be Indiana Jones or Lara Croft, the tour also provides the unique opportunity to live out their fantasy with a visit to Ta Prohm Temple which was used as the set of the 2001 film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider starring Angelina Jolie.

The final night of the tour of cultural exploration gives travelers the chance to sample some old-fashioned Khmer cuisine at a local restaurant while enjoying a traditional Apsara dance.

“Our expert team of bike-riding Travel Specialists has carefully crafted an experience-packed biking tour that’s sure to inspire cyclists,” said Backyard Travel’s General Manager Maeve Nolan. “We hope this trip will allow travelers the opportunity to understand a unique side of Vietnam and Cambodia from the Mekong Delta all the way to the majestic Angkor Wat.” About Backyard Travel Bangkok based Backyard Travel is an online travel company specializing in tailor-made tours to Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Indonesia, Japan, and China. For more information about Backyard Travel, visit BackyardTravel.com

---

Jeffrey Dale Starr is a vodka enthusiast, oil painter, and owner of mobile software company Purple Falcon.

Winter Wine and Food Tours: South America and South Africa with BKWine

The wine and food tour specialist BKWine has launched the coming winter’s wine and gourmet tours. There are two tours to New World wine countries: Chile and Argentina in South America in February, and South Africa in March. Both tours extend over a bit more than ten days. They include several winery visits, gastronomic meal, and also other sights and experiences on these two long-range tours. The full programs are available on BKWineTours.com.

The first winter wine tour goes to the two main wine countries in South America: Chile and Argentina, 1-16 February 2014.

The tour starts on the Pampas. From the airport one goes directly to a comfortable estancia to recover from the long flight and to forget quickly the northern winter. This is followed by a few days visits to Buenos Aires, including tango, before it is time to head for the Mendoza wine region. In this Argentina’s biggest and most famous wine region the vineyard visits are mixed with Argentinean asados, the typical barbecue feasts, and with views of the magnificent landscape. From Mendoza the tour continues spectacularly on road across the Andes, reaching more than 10 000 feet, with Aconcagua, the highest peak, not far away.

Having arrived in Chile the winery visits and tastings, as well as the gastronomic meals, continue. There is also a unique opportunity to be winemaker for a day: a wine blending workshop in a winery to blend one’s own wine. Santiago, Santa Cruz and Valparaiso are also on the program.

Britt Karlsson, co-founder of BKWine, says: “This is a ‘full-bodied’ program where we have put together all of the best of what Chile and Argentina can offer in terms of wine, food and sights. I have been to South America several times and I have picked the gems. A very special program.”

The second wine and food tour of the winter is to South Africa, 28 February – 10 March 2014.

South Africa has quickly advanced to become one of the top wine producers in the New World. On this wine tour there will be visits to the classic regions like Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. But the program also includes the “newcomer” Swartland. Some consider this to be the very best wine region in South Africa. The tour starts and ends in Cape Town and will also include the famous Table Mountain and the Cape of Good Hope. There is a possibility to add two days of very luxurious wildlife safari.

The tour also contributes to the development of the South African society. It sponsors a South African school as well as volunteer work at a Red Cross children’s hospital.

Per Karlsson, the other co-founder of BKWine, comments: “South Africa sometimes has a reputation for entry level wines. Forget that! On this tour we will meet personally with some of South Africa’s greatest and most famous winemakers. Since we at BKWine are also internationally recognised wine writers we have unique contacts in the wine world. There will also be some lazy afternoons and luxurious gourmet meals. Not to forget the landscape and the wildlife that will also be part of the tour.”

BKWine is a tour operator specialised in top quality wine tours and gourmet tours. BKWine tours have been named “world’s top wine tours” by Travel + Leisure Magazine. Each year BKWine organises around 30 wine tours, both custom designed and on schedule.

---

Jeffrey Dale Starr is a wine enthusiast, oil painter, and owner of mobile software company Purple Falcon.