Destinations

Club Med Ixtapa, on the southwest coast of Mexico - 60 miles north of Acapulco - is the perfect relaxed-busy resort for families, couples or friends to enjoy.

Club Med has matured from its original incarnation as a pop-bead drinks-as-you-go resort to an all-inclusive holiday destination.  It features a variety of excellent room types ranging from the more moderate large double rooms to family suites accommodating up to 4 persons and has very fine spacious beachfront suites with living room, separate bedroom, expansive bathroom with freestanding tub and double walk-in shower, large balcony overlooking a spectacular long beach.  The suites are concierge level service with complimentary laundry services, room service if wished, and a full-time concierge who can arrange tours in the area, make reservations at the two speciality restaurants on property (book by 1200 Noon the day prior) or arrange a private car and driver for a day trip.

The Club has both a Baby Club and a Kids Club for those families coming to the resort who wish some time for the kids to enjoy staffed activities while the parents and/or grandparents have some time separately.  The resort is spread out along one of the best beaches in the area with watersport activities such as sea kayaking, snorkeling, and catamaran sailing.  The Club also has many wide-ranging activities — circus school with trapeeze training, rock wall climbing, archery, tennis, snooker-billiards, fussball machines, soccer practice, in-line skating, mini-golf, and many exercise classes - yoga, stretch & tone, abbs class, and more.   All of these activities are included in the price of the stay as are all meals, snacks, drinks -alcoholic and non-alcoholic.  In the evening the Club presents a variety of entertainments and shows put on by the G.O. staff who are, during the day, the helpful folks who assist in your daytme activities.

Club Med is dedicated to your enjoyment — all the staff at the resort are willing, able and happy to let you enjoy all they have to offer.   Meal quality is excellent with a wide variety of choices at all meals.  There is one main restaurant which is self-serve buffet style but has table service for drinks, wines or other beverages.  During our stay the local Mexican staff could have not been more attentive and gracious.  By breakfast time on day 2, they already knew I liked caffe latté and it appeared at my table before I had returned with my plate of fresh fruit and a glass of juice.  The restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but there is a poolside and beachside restaurant to go to during the day for luncheon.  Two reservations-only speciality restaurants are available at dinnertime in addition to the main dining room.This resort is wonderful for a quick holiday of a few days or for a full week’s respite.  Here you do not have to think about what you want to do — it is on property with helpful staff to offer suggestions and a daily “menu of activities” is delivered to your room.   You could be busy all day if you wished but the pleasure of this resort is that you can ‘mix and match’ in whatever way you wish.

Club Med does the airport arrival and departure transfers for you.  These arrangements are smooth and easy .  On arrival at the Club you get a special bracelet which lets the staff know you are a Club Member wherever you are on the resort.    Before departure, you get a departure kit with information on the check out process, an 1100am check out time and luggage storage, but if the resort is not full, they are flexible and let you stay in room a bit longer.

By Guest Blogger, Nishant Bagadia

The Great Wall is synonymous with China, a country that has harbored this 4000-mile stone monument since the 5th century BC. It is almost impossible to return from China without paying a visit to this world wonder. If you go to Beijing, there is of course the option of walking on the recently renovated portion of the wall, complete with tourists, gift shops and hecklers. However, if you are seeking an authentic experience of the Great Wall in the most peaceful of mountain settings, I recommend you take a day trip a few hours south west.

Start early. Hop on a relatively short train to another major city in the Hebei province called Baoding. Here, find a bus to transit over to the small mountain town called Laiyuan County. If you leave Beijing at 6 am you might make it to Laiyuan by noon. Upon your arrival, I recommend you ignore the tempting street markets and go straight to the desperate crowd of private drivers waiting to take people to the base of the Great Wall “hike”. As a tip, I would negotiate a price, around 100 Yuan per person, with the driver before you even begin and ask them to take you to the section of the wall called “Wulonggou”. After another one hour of anxiety, sweat and anticipation, and as the wall slowly grows from a dot in the horizon to a structured object, you can expect your driver to park in a village at the base of the mountain. As you walk past the lone farmer’s house where a few native children are chasing scorpions, understand that you are now one of the few foreigners about to make an incredible hike to one of the most breathtaking views of the wall.

Be sure to wear tennis shoes (although I hiked this trail in sandals and jeans), and keep your camera handy, while climbing the dry, brown stone plateaus that encompass the hike. Although your eyes will naturally stay fixed on the stone watchtowers ahead, certainly take a few minutes to turn around and embrace the never ending stretch of rocky land. Let the cool breeze muffle any distracting sound as it whistles past your ears.

When you approach the wall, be sure to move your hand along the earthy barricade and let the dust settle on your fingers. This is the wall in its truest form. As you traverse on top of the structure, notice the massive width of the wall lined with continuous defensive battlements. There are complete sections of the wall missing and an occasional area of eroded stones exposed by years of wind and weathering.

No other part of the remote wall is as impressive as the watchtowers. When you climb into this barrack, you will have a chance to feel the intricacies of a limestone room where the guards worked their defense. Look up and see the open window leading to the roof, I recommend safely climbing up onto the top. Here, you will find the best view of the snaking wall in all directions, especially if you look through the circular windows from where the archers released their arrows.

Finally, if you have the time before sunset, definitely spend 30 minutes enveloping the environment around you and opening that well deserved six pack of Tsingtao beer.

What more wonderful than seas with 1.5 foot swells, clear skies and a broad open decks to relax on between ports-of-call? Nothing!! I just returned from a marvelous six day ‘repositioning’ cruise aboard the SPLENDOUR OF THE SEAS, one of the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line’s mid-sized ships. Sailing from Lisbon, Portugal via Gibraltar, Sardinia, Dubrovnik and finishing in Venice, Italy, we got to experience a range of wonderful places to visit. We even had time to relax at sea on two of the days. All guests on board seemed to delight in this extra open time to mingle, laugh, chat and also have a bit of quiet time. It made an excellent balance between sightseeing new places and enjoyment of the ship’s proffered offerings.

On board, there were so many options for all age groups — rock wall climbing, spa treatments, mini-golf, shuffleboard and table tennis, jogging track, dance lessons, as well as special programs for the youngsters aboard with specialized on board counselors provided by the cruise line. Teens had their separate spaces and younger ones a playroom with age appropriate activities.

Throughout the day there was light musical entertainment which all of us enjoyed by the pool. If music wasn’t wished, there were ample other deck areas for quieter activities including snoozing. At night the quality and range of entertainment was excellent — full-fledged dance shows, atrium area duets and quartets, and light entertainment in several smaller club Rooms.

The ship had over 47 different nationalities aboard this sailing which gave many groups opportunities to share life experiences and cultures. The ship is designed to give everyone the option to be super busy to totally relaxed and the choices on the daily activities ‘menu’ left by the cabin stewards were endless and easy to make. All in all — a good time and all too short.