Wednesday, June 27, 2012

CNNGo.com

CNNGo.com


Awesome underground: 6 amazing Aussie caves

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 09:10 AM PDT

by Bruce Holmes

From show caves for tour groups to a taste of white-knuckle, hard-hat adventure, we plunge underground to visit half a dozen of Australia's most amazing cave locations.

To orient yourself as we cave-hop around the country, click here to open an interactive map of the sites featured in a new window.

Yarrangobilly Caves

Amazing Australian cavesA guide explains how the formations were created by the dripping of carbonated water."What happens when lemonade gets poured into a glass?"

"It makes bubbles," the child replies eagerly.

"Yes. Because the gas comes out," the guide explains.

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How Apple users travel differently than everyone else

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 02:15 AM PDT

by Zoe Li, Hong Kong Editor

In the world of retail, Apple fanatics are becoming a customer demographic of their own.

Vendors are latching onto the idea that Apple customers are unlike any other and targeting their products to capture the "Apple demographic."

The travel industry is no exception.

Online travel agency Orbitz Worldwide Inc. has started to experiment with treating Mac computer users and PC users differently.

According to the website's transactions, Mac computer users spend as much as 30 percent more on hotels per night than PC users.

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Orphaned camera returned to rightful traveler by 56,000 Facebook users

Posted: 27 Jun 2012 01:11 AM PDT

by Max Kim

For the past two days, users of Facebook and Reddit have been on a manhunt for an unfortunate traveler whose misplaced camera wound up in the obliging hands of one Roland Van Gogh, a social-media-savvy Dutchman determined to find the camera's owner.    Van Gogh, whose father-in-law found the camera containing almost 3,000 photos at a train station in Amsterdam, uploaded a photo of the unnamed ginger-haired, bearded owner on his Facebook page on Monday.   The post on his Facebook wall read: "My father in law found a red Nikon Coolpix camera on 2012-06-20 in the train at the station Amsterdam Amstel in the Netherlands. His photos show a trip throughout Europe from about 2012-05-07. Since 2012-06-15 he stayed in Amsterdam. We would like to give him back the camera and the photos. Please Like, Share and spread this photo around so we can give him back his camera! Thanks!"   With the speed characteristic to Facebook wall updates, several other social media websites made common cause with Van Gogh and circulated the now quasi-famous viral photo.    "This could use more drama. Threaten to erase a picture every 10 minutes until the owner is found," commented Reddit user redhousebythebog.    But it didn't take such drastic measures -- two days and more than 56,000 shares later, Van Gogh posted the good news, saying "Looks like we found him!" and "It's a guy from Canada who is on a trip through Europe."     The owner -- at this juncture still as anonymous as it is possible to be in the age of social media -- is reported to be overjoyed at the prospect of being reunited with his long-lost Nikon.   Owners of lost cameras now have a flicker of hope after reading this: websites like www.camerafound.com or www.ifoundyourcamera.net offer services to reunite lost cameras with their owners.   More on CNNGo: James Durston: Photography has ruined travel

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World's 10 most innovative airlines

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 07:01 PM PDT

by Frances Cha

Transparent planes, morphing seats and in-flight acupuncture may not be a reality yet, but the most ambitious airlines are spending billions to implement out-of-the-box thinking.

Airlinetrends.com, an independent research agency focusing on global aviation, published a report ranking the world's 10 most innovative airlines.

The rankings 

Korean Air topped the list for sourcing its own organic farm on Jeju Island for in-flight meals, and for its "attentive service amenities," including a female-only lounge at Incheon Airport, female-only bathrooms on aircraft and the world's first onboard duty-free store. (They should have also included those face air-mist things they stock in the bathrooms … we're so addicted.)

korean air A Pineapple Bliss cocktail concocted just for Korean Air's Celestial Bar. The feature that sounds the most fun? Three onboard bars and cocktails designed by Absolut Vodka, complete with a full-time bartender.

The rankings should come as a welcome silver lining for the airline, which faced a net loss in 2011 due to "high oil prices, a weak Korean won and the slow recovery of cargo traffic," according to the airlinetrends.com report. 

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40 beautiful places to visit in China

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 06:10 PM PDT

by Tracy You, Raemin Zhang

Almost all of us are familiar with China's great man-made attractions.

The Forbidden City in Beijing. The Terracotta Warriors of Xi'an. Shanghai's skyscraper forest in Pudong.

For a country of its massive size and varied geography, however, it's surprising how relatively few people outside China appreciate the extent of the country's other attractions, many of them natural wonders to rival any in the world.

Is it possible to limit a list of China's superlative attractions to a mere 40?

Not really.

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‘Multi-sensory dining’ sizzles in China

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 10:40 AM PDT

by Julie Levin

As 10 mad scientists fly around a small laboratory space in a tizzy, putting the finishing touches on their latest creations, 10 equally anxious product testers wait in the adjacent room for the goods to be delivered.

At least, that's how the scene might appear to an outsider at Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet in Shanghai (Ultraviolet in short), the latest of a handful of restaurants around the world using science and technology to transform a meal into a piece of theater.

Words of warning: a meal at the fusion restaurant lasts for four hours and consists of more courses than the PGA tour.

The cost per head is a not-insubstantial RMB 2,000 (US$314).

Multi-sensory dining -- chinaUltraviolet's version of foie gras.

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20 of the world's most luxurious campsites

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 10:10 AM PDT

by Anthea Gerrie

Once upon a time camping was a rough-and-ready business of pegging out your own canvas, washing in the river and cooking scratch meals over a campfire.

But -- as the likes of Justin Bieber, Scarlett Johansson, Ryan Reynolds, the Duchess of Cambridge and Kate Moss know all too well -- the chic traveler who wants to get close to nature goes glamping instead -- with all the luxuries of a boutique hotel laid out closer to the stars.

From tented safari camps in Africa to Asian yurts and Australian swags, some luxury camps offer more facilities than your own home.

More on CNNGo: World's 15 most expensive hotel suites

1. Sal Salis: Exmouth, Western Australia


The Sal Salis Ningaloo Reef camp is hidden in the white sand dunes of Western Australia's Cape Range National Park. Nine spacious wilderness tents sit meters from the water's edge and the world's greatest fringing coastal coral reef. 

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