Small Groups, English Speaking
Tailor-made travel with Graham Elsom
Experienced travellers are always on the lookout for something different.
Keep an eye on these columns!
Graham has been travelling all his life and is always seeking something special and unusual.
Mount Danxia National Park and “Old Plum Pass Road” 17-19 January, 2020
The Tower Houses of Kaiping 14-16 February, 2020
“Wuyuan” and Jingdezhen, Jiangxi, in the Spring 16-22 March, 2020
“West Borneo” from Kota Kinabalu to Kuching 16 -24 October, 2020
Bring your friends or travel alone and make new friends.
All of these itineraries can be arranged for individual travellers. You can put your own group together and travel on the date of your choice.
We are just back from a wonderful trip to the atmospheric "Skywells" property in Wuyuan, Jiangxi. The website address is www.wuyuanskywells.com
Apart from the beauty of the Wuyuan villages, there is a "must-see" destination nearby, the city of Jingdezhen. Jingdezhen has produced China's finest ceramics for at least a thousand years and the opportunity to buy replicas of China's finest pieces and contemporary porcelain, at rock-bottom prices, cannot be missed.
We are making a return trip in the Spring 2020. The fields will be covered in yellow rapeseed and Wuyuan will be looking its best. For more information, go to “Wuyuan” and Jingdezhen, Jiangxi, in the Spring 16-22 March, 2020 below.
The Meiguan Ancient Post Road or “Old Plum Pass Road” has been significant since the Qin dynasty (221 to 206 BC). It was always an important overland trade route between the north and the south of China, as well as being a militarily significant boundary. In 1928 Mao Zedong attempted to cross it.
About 8 km of the ancient Tang dynasty road and most of the Song dynasty fortifications still remain.
Mount Danxia was one of China’s first tourist locations opened to the outside world. It opened officially in January 1980 and is now a UNESCO Global Geopark. As the largest scenic location in Guangdong Province, the destination comprises landforms which include peaks, walls, columns and bridges. Formations include the male genital rock and the female cave. Millions of years ago, dinosaurs lived in the area and fossilised eggs and bones have been found.
For more information click on the link below.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1BFaOqJJJAHmgCA-c3dDYFbcjT1vmMnOX
Kaiping has become increasingly well known because of its "diaolou", fortified multi-storey towers. They were constructed in the Kaiping area of Guangdong Province from the early Qing Dynasty (1644 to 1912) reaching a peak in the 1920's and 1930's, when there were more than 3,000 of these structures. Today, approximately 1,800 "diaolou" are still standing. The "diaolou" served two purposes, housing and protection against forays by bandits. The Kaiping "diaolou" and villages were added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2007.
For more information click on the link below.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=13nTvmQdkmVgM43n1sNSTq8_5vWnvqaPN
Considered by many to be the most beautiful countryside in China, this hilly region of northeast Jiangxi Province retains many old villages and scenes of trickling streams, ancient bridges, walls, arches and flag-stoned alleyways. Wuyuan is a historical land of scholarship and wealth, isolated from the madness of modern China. Our accommodation will be in a beautiful ancient Chinese mansion. Jingdezhen has produced China's finest ceramics for at least a thousand years and the opportunity to see examples of China's finest ceramics and to be able to purchase splendid reproductions of dynastic pieces and contemporary porcelain at rock bottom prices, cannot be missed.
For more information click on the link below.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1L5VpUn4Ohy5_9oV8BGOUTpkLp4k9dl8d
We now introduce something new and very special for 2020 – a cruise along the north-west coast of Borneo between Kota Kinabalu and Kuching. A short flight, directly south of Hong Kong across the South China Sea, brings you to the North West coast of Borneo, the third largest non-continental island in the world (after Greenland and New Guinea). It still is a mysterious place for most travellers and has long been an inspiration to adventurers, explorers and writers. This exciting new cruise has only recently appeared and one can now travel along the northwest coast of Borneo, visiting Sabah, Brunei and Sarawak on an adventurous 9 day cruise.
For more information click on the link below.
https://www.varietycruises.com/cruises/southeast-asia/west-borneo-from-kota-kinabalu-to-kuching
For a brief history of Borneo click below
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EpJljN9DqzIkyv8YghHf9sW-w50DrJ5G/view?usp=sharing
For more information about the ports of call click below
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nrtxcVkKOmesyF35Jg6DtGa2KbiJalVD/view?usp=sharing/a>
Contact Graham graham.elsom@jebsenholidays.com for further information about these or any other travel plans you might be considering.
Written by GRAHAM
Having lived and worked in Asia for 40 years, I have travelled extensively to off- the- beaten-track locations in Asia. I like to think of myself as your man on the ground in Asia.
My passion is for the less travelled, more remote and interesting locations, which many simply bypass. It is the local culture, architecture and heritage in which I am most interested.
I always wanted to be a Travel Consultant. My favorite geography teacher sparked my interest at a very early age.
My very first job was with the world’s oldest travel company, Thos. Cook & Son. I joined them in 1962 in Melbourne, Australia.
Later, I founded my own travel agency, Concorde Travel in Hong Kong, from 1978 until 2016. We have now merged with one of Hong Kong’s oldest and most prestigious companies, the Jebsen Group, founded in 1895. This allows me to devote more time to my favorite pastime, Travel Consulting.
I have a special interest in smaller and more adventurous cruise ships. These enable you to escape the crowds and visit often unexplored and truly pristine destinations. I have been intrigued that the Virtuoso map will not let me include some of the more exotic places I have visited. These are spectacular destinations, but one or two of them might require a bullet proof vest these days:
Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Djibouti (Republic of Djibouti), Koror (Palau), Saint Helena (British Overseas Territory), Phu Quoc (Vietnam), Aden (Yemen), Turpan and Macau (Peoples Republic of China) and Port Lockroy (United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust).
In these days of mass tourism, careful planning is required to ensure that one’s exploration is an enjoyable and memorable experience.
I hope you will let me help you to find these roads less travelled. All you have to do is let me know about your own special interests.
Please feel free to email me at graham.elsom@jebsenholidays.com
Having lived and worked in Asia for 40 years, I have travelled extensively to off- the- beaten-track locations in Asia. I like to think of myself as your man on the ground in Asia.
My passion is for the less travelled, more remote and interesting locations, which many simply bypass. It is the local culture, architecture and heritage in which I am most interested.
I always wanted to be a Travel Consultant. My favorite geography teacher sparked my interest at a very early age.
My very first job was with the world’s oldest travel company, Thos. Cook & Son. I joined them in 1962 in Melbourne, Australia.
Later, I founded my own travel agency, Concorde Travel in Hong Kong, from 1978 until 2016. We have now merged with one of Hong Kong’s oldest and most prestigious companies, the Jebsen Group, founded in 1895. This allows me to devote more time to my favorite pastime, Travel Consulting.
I have a special interest in smaller and more adventurous cruise ships. These enable you to escape the crowds and visit often unexplored and truly pristine destinations. I have been intrigued that the Virtuoso map will not let me include some of the more exotic places I have visited. These are spectacular destinations, but one or two of them might require a bullet proof vest these days:
Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Djibouti (Republic of Djibouti), Koror (Palau), Saint Helena (British Overseas Territory), Phu Quoc (Vietnam), Aden (Yemen), Turpan and Macau (Peoples Republic of China) and Port Lockroy (United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust).
In these days of mass tourism, careful planning is required to ensure that one’s exploration is an enjoyable and memorable experience.
I hope you will let me help you to find these roads less travelled. All you have to do is let me know about your own special interests.
Please feel free to email me at graham.elsom@jebsenholidays.com
Located off the northwest tip of Bird's Head Peninsula on the island of New Guinea, in the province of West Papua, Raja Ampat, or the Four Kings, is an archipelago comprising over 1,500 small islands, caves, and shoals surrounding the four main islands of Misool, Salawati, Batanta, Waigeo and the smaller island of Kofiau.
“Crash! Bang! Shatter!” the sound of quite a lot of crockery crashing to the floor emanates from the kitchen. Or should I say galley? For I find myself on a ship, a car ferry in fact, on my way to the fabled Mediterranean island of Menorca. I look out the window and the horizon keeps going in and out of view in a rather alarming way while big waves wash against the windowpane. But the sun shines blithely from a cobalt blue sky. It’s the Mediterranean!
Fancy a trip to Europe? Do you want to see everything the continent has to offer but worry that you don’t have enough time? Come to Mallorca! It is Europe in miniature.
Tailor-made travel with Graham Elsom
Experienced travellers are always on the lookout for something different.
Keep an eye on these columns!
Graham has been travelling all his life and is always seeking something special and unusual.
