Latest news with #HippieTrail
Euronews
01-05-2025
- Euronews
Travelling to Thailand? Everything you need to know about the new digital entry form
ADVERTISEMENT Dreaming of a White Lotus -inspired holiday or hoping to take a selfie with Moo Deng, social media's favourite pygmy hippo, in the background? Before you jet off to Thailand, don't forget to file your paperwork first. Starting from 1 May, all non-Thai nationals entering the country by air, land or sea must complete a Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) before arrival. What is the Thailand Digital Arrival Card – and how do you get one? This new arrival card replaces paper forms to streamline the immigration process and better secure Thailand's border entry system. The TDAC system will be synced with the immigration bureau's biometric database, allowing officials to quickly check the criminal backgrounds of international arrivals. Travellers must register within three days of their arrival (meaning, within three days of travelling to Thailand). Related Is weed still legal in Thailand? Here's what tourists need to know as government u-turns Thailand: Leo's beach paradise has reopened after 4 years, but tourists can't swim After completing your registration online , you will receive a QR code to present at your immigration checkpoint on arrival. That's it. There are no fees and no other steps. But it's vital to remember to do it, or you will be denied entry. From May onward, the TDAC will be mandatory for all foreign passport holders, including tourists, business travellers and long-term residents. The only exceptions apply to travellers transiting or transferring through Thailand without passing through immigration control. Travel to Thailand is surging – again With its idyllic tropical scenery, addictive cuisine and legendary hospitality, Thailand long ago evolved from its Hippie Trail roots into one of the world's top travel destinations. In 2019, nearly 40 million visitors arrived in the country, ranking it among the ten most-visited countries globally. Despite a global lull in travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, the momentum hasn't slowed much. In the first three months of 2025 alone, 9.5 million travellers touched down – many drawn by viral moments that spread like wildfire online. Related Thailand wants to make casinos legal to attract more tourists Thailand's visa-free stay will soon be cut to 30 days. Here's what it means for tourists Take Moo Deng, the hose-loving pygmy hippo whose name means 'bouncy pork.' After a video of the slippery toddler splashing around at Khao Kheow Open Zoo lit up social media last year, crowds surged. The zoo, about an hour from Bangkok, smashed attendance records – and it's still drawing thousands of daily visitors. Then came the White Lotus effect. The newest season of the dark comedy, filmed on the sun-drenched islands of Phuket and Koh Samui, has re-ignited wanderlust among global viewers looking to holiday in high style. ADVERTISEMENT According to the ultra-luxury Four Seasons Koh Samui site saw a 40 per cent increase in searches for property after it was announced as a filming location. Despite an earthquake in March, travel has continued unabated to a country often called 'Teflon Thailand' for its ability to bounce back from unrest and disruptions. Whether you're heading to Thailand to fulfil a luxury fantasy or spot its internet-famous wildlife, the first step to getting there now happens before you even leave home. Just make sure your QR code is ready before you depart. ADVERTISEMENT
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Yahoo
Travelling to Thailand? Everything you need to know about the new digital entry form
Dreaming of a White Lotus-inspired holiday or hoping to take a selfie with Moo Deng, social media's favourite pygmy hippo, in the background? Before you jet off to Thailand, don't forget to file your paperwork first. Starting from 1 May, all non-Thai nationals entering the country by air, land or sea must complete a Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) before arrival. This new arrival card replaces paper forms to streamline the immigration process and better secure Thailand's border entry system. The TDAC system will be synced with the immigration bureau's biometric database, allowing officials to quickly check the criminal backgrounds of international arrivals. Travellers must register within three days of their arrival (meaning, within three days of travelling to Thailand). Related Is weed still legal in Thailand? Here's what tourists need to know as government u-turns Thailand: Leo's beach paradise has reopened after 4 years, but tourists can't swim After completing your registration online, you will receive a QR code to present at your immigration checkpoint on arrival. That's it. There are no fees and no other steps. But it's vital to remember to do it, or you will be denied entry. From May onward, the TDAC will be mandatory for all foreign passport holders, including tourists, business travellers and long-term residents. The only exceptions apply to travellers transiting or transferring through Thailand without passing through immigration control. With its idyllic tropical scenery, addictive cuisine and legendary hospitality, Thailand long ago evolved from its Hippie Trail roots into one of the world's top travel destinations. In 2019, nearly 40 million visitors arrived in the country, ranking it among the ten most-visited countries globally. Despite a global lull in travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, the momentum hasn't slowed much. In the first three months of 2025 alone, 9.5 million travellers touched down – many drawn by viral moments that spread like wildfire online. Related Thailand wants to make casinos legal to attract more tourists Thailand's visa-free stay will soon be cut to 30 days. Here's what it means for tourists Take Moo Deng, the hose-loving pygmy hippo whose name means 'bouncy pork.' After a video of the slippery toddler splashing around at Khao Kheow Open Zoo lit up social media last year, crowds surged. The zoo, about an hour from Bangkok, smashed attendance records – and it's still drawing thousands of daily visitors. Then came the White Lotus effect. The newest season of the dark comedy, filmed on the sun-drenched islands of Phuket and Koh Samui, has re-ignited wanderlust among global viewers looking to holiday in high style. According to the ultra-luxury Four Seasons Koh Samui site saw a 40 per cent increase in searches for property after it was announced as a filming location. Despite an earthquake in March, travel has continued unabated to a country often called 'Teflon Thailand' for its ability to bounce back from unrest and disruptions. Whether you're heading to Thailand to fulfil a luxury fantasy or spot its internet-famous wildlife, the first step to getting there now happens before you even leave home. Just make sure your QR code is ready before you depart.
Forbes
27-04-2025
- Forbes
Pump Up The Posh: Four Ways To Do Bangkok In Style
Sunrise might be the traditional time to visit Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn), but Bangkok's iconic ... More riverside temple is even more gorgeous when illuminated in the evening. (Photo by Mladen Antonov) For anyone who first visited Bangkok as a backpacker doing the famous 'Hippie Trail' across Asia, distinct memories come to mind. Staying at the legendary Malaysia Hotel (where Tony Wheeler wrote the first Lonely Planet guidebook), tooling around town in tuk-tuks, sipping tom yum gai at a street stall, and making the obligatory pilgrimage to the Grand Palace to view the Emerald Buddha. You might have taken a dragon boat tour of the floating market, flitted across the river at the crack of dawn to experience sunset at Wat Arun, or made the trek to the summit of the Golden Mount (Wat Saket) for a panorama of a city where temples were once the tallest structures. How times have changed . . . Bangkok has grown into a modern, first-world city. While all of the old landmarks remain, the Thai capital is now a city of skyscrapers, superhighways and air-conditioned shopping malls. And you're (hopefully) ready to do Bangkok in the style you couldn't afford as a traveling college student, Peace Corps worker or NGO volunteer. Here are four ways to pump up the posh on your next visit to Bangkok: Decorated with genuine antiques and exquisite reproduction furnishings, The Siam Hotel could easily ... More double as a Thai royal palace. Or at least something that resembles one — like The Siam Hotel. Located in the Dusit District near Chitralada Palace where the current king of Thailand and his family reside, The Siam could easily pass for a royal residence. Although it looks vintage, the all-suite property was created in the early 21st century, an architectural blend of traditional and modern elements filled with original artworks and antiques from Thailand and beyond. There's also a luxury spa and Muay Thai boxing arena where guests can practice the national sport with a professional trainer. Even the simplest three-room suites boast ample space, exotic views, and elegant furnishings and décor. The ultimate overnight is a courtyard or riverside villa with its own garden, swimming pool, and outdoor seating area. Adorning The Siam waterfront are the upscale Chon Thai Restaurant, the outdoor pool area, and wooden deck with al fresco bar and landing for the hotel's own dragon boat, which ferries guests up and down the Chao Phraya. Pichaya "Pam" Utharntharm, founder and head chef of one Michelin star restaurant Potong, oversees ... More her kitchen in the Chinatown area of Bangkok. (Photo by Manan Vatsyana) Bangkok has always been an awesome foodie destination and nowadays the city sports 34 Michelin star restaurants. At the pinnacle of the local food chain is Sorn, a three-star establishment serving southern Thai cuisine not far off busy Sukhumvit Road. The extravagant 23-course chef's menu might include dishes like Roti Crab Curry, Phuket Lobster, Grilled Crispy Pork or Taro Soup with crab stock. If you can't snag a table at Sorn (it only seats 40 diners), consider one of the city's seven two-star eateries. Two of them — Mezzaluna and Chef's Table — serve contemporary French on the upper floors of the State Tower Building at the river end of Silom Road. While Sühring, located in a smart residential neighborhood, specializes in 'whimsical' modern German cuisine in a restored villa with greenhouse seating. But when in Thailand, it seems kind of sacrilegious not to cherish the local cuisine. Which means you should really be sampling the Spicy Ant Egg Larb Soup, Seven Color Lobster Curry and Spicy Snow fish at R-Haan restaurant. Or the artistically presented Thai-Chinese fusion dishes at Potong in Bangkok's Chinatown district. The vertigo-inducing view from Sky Beach Bar at the summit of the King Power Mahanakhon skyscraper. ... More (Photo by Petr Svarc) Even if you don't dine in the State Tower Building, be sure to ride the rocket-like elevator to the summit for a sunset cocktail at the Sky Bar by Lebua. Hovering at 820 feet above sea level, the outdoor rooftop seating area is literally breathtaking (and vertigo inducing). Among the signature cocktails is the Hangovertini, a blend of Dewar's 18 years, sweet vermouth, rosemary honey and green apple created by the resident mixologist after parts of the movie Hangover Part II were filmed there. If bubbly is more your thing, CRU Champagne Bar perches on the 59th floor of the Centara Grand Hotel. The al fresco drinking hole complements its champagne cocktails and rare single malts by the glass with Caspian Sea caviar, oysters on the half shell, Wagyu beef skewers, and truffled French fries. Higher still is Sky Beach Bangkok. The world's third highest rooftop bar rides the summit of the 1,030-foot King Power Mahanakhon skyscraper, one of the tallest buildings in Southeast Asia. During the winter dry season, the bar hosts DJ parties under the stars. Among the standout drinks are the Thai Daiquiri with passion fruit, a mocktail called the Last Mango in Paris, and quite good local craft beer. Celebrating Thai design, the cast of "The White Lotus" decked out in Jim Thompson clothes and ... More accessories at a soirée hosted by the celebrated Bangkok fashion house. (Photo by Amanda Edwards) Chatuchak Market is a blast to browse — and you might even find a few unexpected treasures. But collectors of genuine Asian art and antiques or faithful reproductions, it's best to consult the experts. A great place to start is River City shopping center, which boasts more than 50 upscale antique, fine art and jewelry outlets. While Thai artifacts predominate, you can find exquisite items from around Asia — Morita specializes in Japanese relics, Bo Gu Zhai in decorative arts from China, Himalayan Treasures in objects from Nepal and Tibet. Locals tend to favor small out-of-the-way places like Paul's Antiques near busy Soi Sukhumvit 11. It's a great spot for Burmese and Javanese antique furnishings and collectibles, as well as custom-made furniture created by artisans in the onsite workshop. Serious collectors zero in on RCB Auctions. Either online or in person, buyers can bid on a wide array of rare gold, silver, ceramic and wooden masterpieces from Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and China. Even if you're not a potential buyer, you can preview the items and browse the catalogues in RB's River City showroom. Fashion wise, Jim Thompson is still the first name in Thai silk clothing and accessories (which feature prominently in the latest season of The White Lotus). The flagship store is on Surawong Road, the factory outlet on Sukhumvit 93. But the ultimate haute couture adventure is visiting the Jim Thompson Heritage Quarter, which includes the original shop and the museum house where the line's namesake American businessman and Allied spy lived after World War Two. Browsing modern Thai paintings at River City art and antique center in Bangkok. (Photo by Guillaume ... More Payen)
Forbes
04-04-2025
- Forbes
Travel Expert Rick Steves' Coming-Of-Age Memoir: 'On The Hippie Trail'
Rick Steves in Nepal, 1978. Rick Steves—best-selling author, renowned guidebook guru, popular public television host and radio personality who founded and heads the impressively successful group-tour company Rick Steves' Europe, which leads more than 30,000 vacationers annually abroad—astounds once again with his latest book, On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer (Avalon Travel, Hachette Book Group). . The origin of this singular, coming-of-age memoir springs from a remarkable hard-cover journal that Steves, during the summer of 1978, toted along a 3,000-mile stretch of horizon-unfolding experiences in Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nepal (see route map below) on what was then called the Hippie Trail—an overland trek from Europe and West Asia through South Asia. Notable for its cheap-budget lifestyle and an alternative hippie subculture that interacted more readily with locals than traditional tourists did, the trail held legendary allure, spotlit by the Beatles' 1968 trip to study with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Rishikesh, India. Ripe for meaningful exploration through mysterious lands, 23-year-old Steves was a recent college graduate and piano teacher from Washington State. En route, he daily penned 1,000 words, chronicling a vast expanse of observations and interactions. Returning home, his well-worn pages brimmed with 60,000 words. Soon after, the travelogue was tucked into storage and forgotten. Forty-two years later, during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, Steves stumbled upon his diary, rereading passages about his formative trip. A personal anthropological dig. His hand-written script was transcribed into type and lightly edited. The resulting 2025 published narrative stays true to Steves' early emerging voice and enthusiastic purview: candid, curious, earnest, empathetic and hopeful. It exudes the transformative power of travel. An unvarnished, very readable revelry. Photographs—from an era when each camera snapshot was carefully considered because film rolls were limited and costly to develop—enrich his in-the-moment, on-the-spot reportage. Rick Steves and Gene Openshaw traveled overland from Istanbul to Kathmandu during the summer of 1978. Steves was accompanied by his friend Gene Openshaw, an ideal travel companion. Cellphones, GPS, apps, personal computers, social media, online recommendations and digital reservations did not yet exist. In their rucksacks, the duo packed a foldout paper map of the itinerary, few clothes and ample medicine (antibiotics, malaria pills, iodine drops for the water). Openshaw and Steves on the Pakistan-Indian border. This fresh-faced leap into the unknown catapulted Steves and Openshaw toward wisdoms beyond their years. They were free, determining their own paths, facing their own consequences. Unable to stay in touch with loved ones in the United States, they relied on themselves. There were no guidebooks about this region, nor an ability to make advance bookings—so they slept among a patchwork of accommodations, often searching and scrambling for overnight cover. Their Western values encountered distinctly different cultures and characters, the collision of which fortuitously instilled wonder and humility. Steves and Openshaw in Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. The monsoon season soaked them in Delhi. They fought off leeches and biting winged insects. Bumped and bustled on scruffy buses, crowded trains and narrow rickshaws. Dodged mischievous monkeys. Witnessed chaos and repression. Faced myriad complexities. Peered at ramshackle neighborhoods and broken roads. The poverty was jolting, heart-breaking. Visiting a village outside Delhi, Steves relieves a local woman of her load. They also rejoiced at the sublime beauty of picturesque landscapes. Cherished unexpected embraces, uplifting connections and formidable kindnesses. Made friends in Tehran. Got high for the first time in Afghanistan, which they departed via the mountainous Khyber Pass, navigating through Waziristan, an ungovernable region where Pashtun tribes set their own rules and strong-armed their own defenses. Rode elephants and ponies. Boated the milky Ganges River. Were awed by the strikingly white marble Taj Mahal, a monument to romance. Hiked the Himalayas. Floated on a dreamy Kashmir Lake houseboat. In Kathmandu, they exchanged namaste greetings with villagers in a lengthy, slender settlement and up a ridge overlooking a pastoral valley. Sweeping his vision across the panorama, Steves told Overshaw that he couldn't remember ever being more contented, happy and at peace. In Kashmir. "I've never met a family so disconnected from the rest of the world or so warm and welcoming," says Steves. At journey's end, when Steves flew home and 'dove into adulthood,' he explains: 'In the wake of this adventure—having stoked my travel spirit—I made a decision that changed the trajectory of my life: I let my piano students go, turned my recital hall into a lecture hall and began a small travel business.' His pivotal seed was planted, aligning a passion that has brought an array of travel pleasures to millions of people. Rick Steves today. Steves and Openshaw were unaware at the integral crossroad of their lives that 1978 would be the last Hippie Trail summer. In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and the Islamic revolution arose in Iran. Easy, friendly and safe passage through both countries slammed shut. The world has changed a great deal since then, yet Steves continues to rally travel's impact to influence peace and partnership. Here, from the book's postscript, his thoughtful highlights about spreading your wings. • 'Those same 23-year-olds are still out there. I frequently hear from young globetrotters who have ventured beyond 'tourism' to become friends with the world, and I'm inspired by their stories.' • 'I miss the days of 'bon voyage.' There's so much fear these days. But the flip side of fear is understanding, and we gain understanding through travel. Travelers learn that fear is for people who don't get out much; that culture shock is the growing pains of that broadening perspective.' • 'I've shared the lessons I learned on the Hippie Trail for over 40 years. And I'm an evangelist for the notion that good travel is more than bucket lists and selfies.' • 'I believe that if more people could have such a transformative experience—especially in their youth—our world would be a more just and stable place.' • 'Travelers understand that the big challenges of the future will be blind to borders, and we'll need to tackle them together—as global citizens and as a family of nations. And most fundamentally, travelers know that the world is a welcoming place filled with joy, love and good people.' • 'Young or old, rich or poor, backpack or rolling suitcase, the best way to understand this is to experience it firsthand. To get out there to know our neighbors. To build not walls, but bridges.' Steves bicycles in Afghanistan, where trucks were brightly painted. To read a digital scan of Steves' original hand-written journal, go here.
Vox
18-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Vox
A hippie memoir that will send you on a trek through Kathmandu
Next Page is a newsletter written by senior correspondent and book critic Constance Grady. She covers books, publishing, gender, celebrity analysis, and theater. To get new editions in your inbox, subscribe here . Any time I travel to a new place for which there is no Rick Steves guidebook, I feel a little cheated. Steves, with his impeccable recommendations, sensible budgeting options, and gently corny prose style, has served as the benevolent fairy godfather on more than one trip for me. So it's a treat to read his new memoir, On the Hippie Trail , and meet a Steves who is much younger and much more unsure — perhaps in need of a fairy godparent of his own. In 1978, Steves was a 23-year-old piano teacher who already had the travel bug. Together with a school friend, he was determined to make his way across the so-called Hippie Trail: from Istanbul to Kathmandu, an overland trek by bus and train through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Nepal. He kept a detailed journal of his experiences, and it's that which forms the basis of the new memoir — a young man's story, with minimal intrusions from the old one. Along the Hippie Trail, Steves got high for the first time. (In Afghanistan in 1978, he reasoned, it was 'as innocent as wine with dinner is in America.' Today, he's an advocate for legalized cannabis.) He rode an elephant in Jaipur and bathed under a waterfall in Nepal. The dreamy travel descriptions are fun, but what's loveliest in this book is to watch Steves slowly open his mind to a world that was bigger and more complicated than he ever expected. 'What did the people think as we waltzed in and out of their lives?' he wonders. Travel is one of the great opportunities to open your mind to the world, but one of the others is reading, which allows you to brush up against the consciousness of another person, touching your mind to theirs. Here are some books to help you do just that. Here are some of the characteristics of the books of Ali Smith, who's been called Scotland's Nobel laureate-in-waiting: sneaky serialization. (Her acclaimed seasonal quartet was linked by a tricky, easy-to-miss series of daisy chain connections.) Linguistic play. (She likes a prose poem integrated into the text and, if she can swing it, a long discussion of etymology.) A set of anti-fascist politics that is not optimistic so much as it is committed to resistance and to the resilient capabilities of art and beauty. (The seasonal quartet contained some of the earliest serious post-Brexit and post-Covid novels.) Smith's new novel, Gliff , contains all of the above, and yet it still feels new and surprising. It's simply not quite what you would expect Gliff takes place in a near-future dystopia, and it tracks two siblings with the fairy-tale names of Rose and Briar. Their bohemian parents have sheltered them from the worst of their authoritarian state, but the state takes its strange and absurd revenge. Sometime in the night, we learn through Briar's child eyes, someone comes to their house and paints a red line all around it, an opaque threat that nonetheless forces them to flee their home. Then the line comes for their camper van. It comes relentlessly, unstoppably, forcing Briar and Rose away from their parents, off the grid, into hiding, and even, eventually, away from each other. Gliff 's title comes from an old Scottish word with many meanings: It can be a short moment, a violent blow, a sudden escape, or a nonsense sound. Its companion novel is due to come out next year and is being advertised as 'a story hidden in the first novel.' It will be titled Glyph . What a treat, what an absolute delight this warm, funny novel is — which is a particular triumph because it is, in some ways, a Me Too novel. A little bit Slings & Arrows , a little bit Dorothy Parker, Mona Acts Out deals with the fraught relationship between esteemed Shakespearian actor Mona Zahid and her old mentor Milton Katz, who has been forced out of the theatrical company he founded after accusations of sexual harassment. Mona, who as she approaches middle age laments that she will soon have to stop playing Ophelia and start playing Gertrude, credits Milton with 'making' her. Yet she's never felt completely comfortable with the way Milton wielded his absolute power at their theater company, a dynamic tracked here with the nuance befitting a book that takes Shakespeare as its subject. Over the course of one disastrous Thanksgiving, Mona gets very high indeed and, little dog in tow, walks out on hosting her in-laws to ramble across Manhattan, trying to get Milton out of her head and also work out the mystery of why her hair currently looks so good. As Mona walks, she occasionally frets over the role she's currently playing: Maria in Twelfth Night , one of Shakesepeare's most sparkling comedies. Mona's playing it dark and cruel, and no one quite understands why: Isn't it supposed to be funny? With Mona Acts Out , Berlinski has pulled off the opposite feat. She's written a sharp analysis of something dark, and she's made it a pure pleasure to read. What a strange phenomenon the Disney Channel of the 2000s was: all those squeaky clean sitcoms about sweet kids with big dreams; all that ever-lurking paranoia that one of the sweet kids would pull a Britney any minute now. If you're a millennial, odds are that you spent some time with Disney Channel as your babysitter. It fed mainstream pop culture one giant pop star after another — and then, somehow, it seemed to fade away, consigned to irrelevance as abruptly and inexplicably as it became, somehow, central in its heyday. Or maybe not so inexplicably. Ashley Spencer's Disney High is a smart, rigorously reported piece of both cultural and corporate history on how a combination of luck and prescience shot the Disney Channel into the zeitgeist over the course of the 2000s, and how corporate inertia let it fall again. Few would call the work Disney built over that decade great art, but it was a hugely formative influence on the childhood and adolescence of a generation. In Disney High , Spencer shows us how it got there. Have you been following all this uproar over book blurbs? I wrote about it here. Happy Valentine's Day! LitHub has some advice from novelists on the art of the sex scene. At Harper's, climate journalist Justin Nobel tells the story of pulling his book from Simon & Schuster after the publisher was bought by a private equity firm with investments in oil and gas. Novelist Lincoln Michel makes the case that books will outlast AI. At the Paris Review, Jamieson Webster celebrates the word-drunk language play of Good Night Moon writer Margaret Wise Brown. See More:
