Ios – It’s More Than Simply Partying

Written by Kate Power

Although Ios has long been a favourite amongst party animals, the Cycladic Island has a lot going on besides. There are long lazy days on the beach, swigging coffee at one of the all day beach clubs. Try breakfast of Ios honey (the most delicious I’ve ever tasted!) dabble in some water skiing at one of the island’s many waterways, go in search of Homer’s Tomb or eat, drink and be merry! Here are some of my favourite things to do in Ios.

Mills of Ios GREECE : Photo Credit Titanas

Chora – the picturesque town is the beating heart of Ios. Filled with white washed little homes, steps up and down and winding paths, it’s easy to see why the hippies of 70s fell in love with the island. Today, Chora is a relaxed small town by day, with souvenir and jewellery shops dotting each twisting turn and locals filling up cafes playing backgammon. While by night, it kicks up a gear as the doors open to the many bars, clubs and discos (more on that shortly!)

Beaches – You can take your pick of jaw-dropping sandy beaches in Ios. Mylopotas beach is perhaps the most well known; a never strip of sparkling golden sand and home to the legendary Far Out Club, so you can hit the town without even leaving the sand. Manganari meanwhile is a little bit further afield. Made of three little coves, it is quite well protected from the wind and offers some respite from the crowds. Gyalos is close to the Port, easy to get to and is popular with locals too. There you’ll find plenty of hotels, tavernas and well-organized facilities.

Book Now Before Seats Fly! - Toronto to Manila & Manila to Local Destinations

Updated : July 9, 2014

Domestic Flights

This post is a follow up on your trip to the Philippines. If you are headed to this beautiful country, you should have booked your domestic flights to the best local destinations.

I am giving you the summary of the discounted flight tickets. I will also provide you with the website where you can book your tickets as soon as you can and within the selling period:

Selling Period: July 7 - 11, 2014
Travel Period: December 25, 2014 and January 1-10, 2015
Destinations:   From Manila to Luzon
                     From Manila to Visayas
                     From Manila to Mindanao
                     From Zamboanga to Jolo

Selling Period: July 7 - 11, 2014
Travel Period: December 10 - 25, 2014 
Destinations:   From  Luzon to Manila
                     From Visayas to Manila
                     From Mindanao to Manila
                     From Jolo to Zamboanga

To book your tickets, please visit: 
https://onlinebooking.philippineairlines.com/flypal/AirFlightSearchForward.do

Good luck and have a safe trip to the Philippines. Please do not forget to claim your points for Mabuhay Miles. Book now before seats fly!

* * * * *

International Flights

Now is the best time to fly from Canada to the Philippines. The Philippine Airlines announced their promotions today for the following flights:

•  Round Trip Economy Class ticket for Cdn$977 for Vancouver-Manila-Vancouver and Cdn$1134 for Toronto-Manila-Toronto, government taxes included.
• Round Trip Business Class ticket for Cdn$2477 for Vancouver-Manila-Vancouver and Cdn$2884 for Toronto-Manila-Toronto, government taxes included.

Please note that the Selling Period is between January 8 to 15, 2014 and the Travel Period is between January 20 to March 23, 2014.

The following Fare Conditions apply:

For Economy Class, ticket is non-rebookable, non-refundable, non-reroutable and non-transferable. For roundtrip tickets, maximum validity is six (6) months from commencement of travel.

Anje Rautenbach of Knysna SOUTH AFRICA

29. Featured Traveller 

 Anje Rautenbach

ESL Teacher : Writer : Traveller

 Knysna SOUTH AFRICA

"Dream. Explore. Discover" 

Her craziness and desire to travel started from a very young age. She went from the back seat of her parents' VW kombi to leaving South Africa in 2009 to explore South Korea and the rest of Asia.

Anje picked up the travel bug quite fast - the unknown intrigued her and she got mesmerised by different smells, cultures, food, languages and adventures.

She explored beautiful places around Asia, ate delicious Asian food, got food poisoning countless of times, collected Asian beer cans, did a two month cycle trip in Indonesia, completely fell in love with bicycle touring, studied Indonesian, taught English, got addicted to goats and ducks, ticked off items on her bucket list, added items to her bucket list, filled up a passport, met locals, lived like a local, CouchSurfed, got tattoos and developed a personal mantra to "dream, explore & discover".

Anje returned home to South Africa after living abroad for more than 3 years. She took off all her travelling bracelets, got an interview, bought a car and landed a job as a copy writer.

Try Exotic Travelling Destinations For a Holiday

Written by Jesse Cadena

You recline in the golden glow of sunset, toes digging into warm soft sand and the lulling sweep of waves rising and falling, sending you off into a dream.  Sounds too good to be true when you have a fresh foot of snow to shovel off of the drive and walks in the morning?  Not if you start planning now and book a trip to one of the exotic travelling destinations where you've always imagined yourself going, someday.  Now is that day.

Kauia (Garden Isle) Hawaii USA

Bali.  Jamaica.  Kauai.  Just the sound of the names brings up the dream of long warm evenings on the beach and tranquil days spent near the water, boating or diving.  The islands all have lush forests with trails for exploring jungles and waterfalls when you are ready to venture inland from the beach.  Find food that satisfies your exotic cravings and the most tantalizing drinks of fresh fruit juices you have ever sipped.

Travellers stranded in Toronto due to Ice Storm

Toronto weather creates havoc in Toronto as ice storm leaves 400,000 in the dark across Ontario

The purpose of this post is to advise friends and relatives of travellers who are in Canada for a visit and scheduled to leave the country during the holiday season. Ice storm that hits Toronto and other cities on Saturday stranded most travellers.  Here is part of the news that was published early Monday morning. Read on....latest news at the end of the article.

A “rare and vigorous” winter storm that coated Eastern Canada in a thick layer of ice over the weekend saw major power outages in Toronto, paralyzing much of the city’s transit system and stranding holiday travellers.

The steady dose of freezing rain Saturday night turned roads and sidewalks into skating rinks Sunday, cut power to hundreds of thousands of people, and played havoc with holiday plans at one of the busiest travel times of the year.

Stranded Travellers at Pearson International Airport in Toronto
Photo Credit : James Martin/National Post

At the peak of the storm’s impact Sunday, hundreds of thousands of households were without power — approximately 300,000 in Toronto alone. By late Sunday night, Toronto Hydro was still working to restore power to 254,000 customers. Southern Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes saw as much as 30 mm of ice blanket roads and trees, sending broken branches into power lines.

“It truly is a catastrophic ice storm that we have had here, probably one of the worst we’ve ever had,” Toronto Hydro CEO Anthony Haines said Sunday. The worst hit parts of Toronto are the neighbourhoods near the 401, stretching the city from Etobicoke to Scarbourough.