Hong Kong and Bangkok represent totally opposite sides of the Asian vacation experience. The former British colony of Hong Kong is the upbeat, madly modern whiz-bang, shop-til-you-drop side of the coin, and Bangkok--rapidly approaching the pace maintained by Hong Kong--still holds ancient charms of its historic past with slow moving waterways and magnificent wats.
You can have both in a new package from Pacific Delight Tours for ten days/seven nights, starting at $990 per person that will take you out of either Los Angeles and San Francisco with daily departures scheduled through March 31, 2003. The price is per person, sharing a double room. If you're departing out New York, the price starts $1,060. Taxes are not included and vary slightly based on your point of departure.
In Bangkok, you experience the fabled Asia of the past with tours of its Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the Royal Grand Palace, the Floating Market at Damnersaduak and the Rose Garden Country resort. Outside the capital on more optional tours, you can visit Ayuthaya, a ruined former capital lost in a 400-year-old slumber, sail on the Chao Phraya River, or visit the River Kwai, made famous by film, now known for its memorial dedicated to the thousands who died during the bridge's construction over it.
In Hong Kong, you can visit Stanley Market, the beaches of Repulse Bay, Aberdeen's sampan colony, or Victoria Peak. You have to leave time for shopping, of course, taking the Star Ferry across the harbor, and trying an optional buffet dinner cruise, with dancing to live music.
The package includes transpacific air aboard Cathay Pacific Airways, lodging at the superior first-class Regal Oriental in Hong Kong and the Century Park in Bangkok, breakfast daily, sightseeing, all air and land transport in and between Hong Kong and Thailand, services of local guides, transfers, baggage handling, hotel taxes and services charges. Add-on fares from more than 100 North American gateways range from $60 to $290 and the single supplement is just $180.
For more information or to reserve, contact your travel agent or Pacific Delight Tours, phone 800/221-7179 or 212/818-1781, Web site www.pacificdelighttours.com.
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