HK Magazine

March 14, 2003

Quick Escapes, p. 16-18

It's already mid- March, and it won't be long before Easter. And if you still haven't booked your holiday for long weekend by now, most years you'd be out of luck. But the good news is that this year the travel season is less busy, and hotel room and flight ticket availabilities in general are not very tight. This is partly due to behavioral change, as people nowadays are making holiday bookings on shorter notice- but it's also, of course, due to the bad economic situation and possible war. So HK Magazine has gone hunting for Easter getaway specials for you, and this is what we've found (sorry, no basket this time).

Asian Escapes
Travelex Hong Kong offers a range of hotel and tour packages that will very likely be available during the Easter break. If you haven't been there yet, the city- state of Singapore is a racial melting pot with a diverse cultural and modern city life all wrapped up in one. A three- day hotel package to the Lion City is $3, 380 ($3, 490 if you opt for the five- star Grand Plaza Parkroyal Hotel): Included in the package is a roundtrip ticket valid for a maximum of seven days and two night's accommodation at your selected hotel with breakfast. And the best part is that this package has a "Free for third night stay" offer, meaning you can stay for an extra night at the hotel for free.

If a relaxing weekend away from city life is what you are looking for, a four day package to Bali may be more to your liking, with prices starting from $3, 990 ($3, 740 for children), depending on which hotel you want to spend the nights in.

You can also visit the formerly isolated Southeast Asian states of Cambodia and Burma. Go to Cambodia's capital of Phnom Penh and admire the natural beauty of this city, which is located at confluence of three rivers: The Mekong, the Bassac and the Tonle Sap. A three- day package costs from $3, 600, with a selection of hotels catering to people with a tight budget and those with plenty of money to burn alike. Another must-visit destination in Cambodia is Siem Reap, home of the world-famous Angkor Wat. A three-day hotel package starts from $3,640, and a four-day special Angkor Wat tour costs from $5,110.

The exotic Buddhist country of Myanmar, known to many of us as Burma, also makes a good short-stay visit. Cut off from the rest of the world for more than 40 years, the golden capital of Yangon (or Rangoon) has barely changed, and its colonial heritage is still apparent. The impressive Shwedagon Pagoda, towering almost 100 meters, is an indication of their ancient architectural wonders. A four-day tour package costs $4, 990. (Note: All prices quoted above include a $33 Hong Kong airport security charge, 0.3 percent Travel Industry Council levy and travel insurance cost. Minimum of two persons per booking is required.)

Another country you might want to consider is Vietnam. Concorde Travel provides a four-day basic package to the city of Danang ($4,980), which includes a round-trip ticket and three night's accommodation at the five-star Furama Resort Danang- located ever so conveniently on the beachfront overlooking Danang's renowned China Beach- with daily buffet breakfast. Vietnam's third largest city sports not only beautiful, unspoiled beaches, but also impressive cultural attractions including the World Heritage sites of Hue, Hoi An and the My Son Valley. Plus, you can trace back the city's colonial history through the architecture legacy left by the French, Spanish and American occupations.

Getting It Online
If you can't find any package holiday that suit your requirements, why not book the hotel and flight tickets yourself with the help of modern technology? With only a few (okay, maybe several) clicks, you can find out the prices of all the hotel and tickets available on the World Wide Web.

One of the best places to look for air tickets is www.cathaypacific.com. Register for Fare48 to get sent the best deals straight to your email mailbox- depending on the destination- a week or more prior to the travel date. But you've only got 48 hours to snap them up, so register and hurry. Deals are sent out on a rough weekly basis.

Another good place to look is www.cathaypacific.com/hk/booking/onlinefares, where you can see the airlines' whole range fares. A ticket to Bangkok can cost anywhere between $2, 450 and $3, 820, depending on when you travel, how long you stay, etc. In Bangkok alone there are half a dozen different fares with different restrictions. Look through the entire list of CX destinations to see what you fancy.

As for hotel booking, Asia-hotels.com (www.asia-hotel.com) is online data- base for more than 3, 500 hotels and resorts throughout Asia. The site is simple to search, and you can select and reserve the hotel of your choice online. Their staff coordinates room confirmations with via fax or e-mail absolutely free.

For the coming Easter break, company founder Jon Stonham suggests that the best bet for availability is Langkawi or Penang in Malaysia. He also mentions the hotel booking for Bali is picking up as there are some good deals on offer, but it is still easy to get rooms. However, Vietnam- namely Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Hoi An- is getting a good amount of bookings and is the most likely destination to get filled up. Cambodia's Siem Reap is another that might get booked up if you're not quick enough.