Wanderlust magazine announced the winners of Travel Awards 2012. Basically, they’ve asked their readers in November and December to answer some questions regarding their year in travel.

The answers were centralized, and the final results were made public yesterday. Beware though: the results are surprising, as top emerging countries are interesting (and in some there are politically problems – and not only). Some tour operators however say they will integrate in their offer these destinations. But let’s have a look at the final results:

Top Emerging Destination: Sudan

1. Sudan
2. Greenland
3. Mongolia
4. Tajikistan
5. Pakistan
6. Cook Islands
7. Taiwan
8. Lebanon
9. Fiji
10. Iran

Top Country: Japan

Ranking %

1. Japan 97.27
2. Bhutan 96.67
3. New Zealand 96.61
4. Burma 94.88
5. Namibia 94.85
6. Laos 94.81
7. Madagascar 93.89
8. Argentina 93.77
9. Cambodia 92.91
10. Rwanda 92.50

Also from the top:

• Top City: Luang Prabang, Laos
• Top Tour Operator: Audley
• Top Guidebook Series: Dorling Kindersley
• Top TV / radio programme: Frozen Planet / Excess Baggage
• Top Airline: Singapore Airlines
• Top UK Airport: London City
• Top Worldwide Airport: Paro, Bhutan / Singapore Changi
• Top Equipment Brand: Rohan
• Top Website: Mountain Kingdoms

You can see the complete list of the final results here.

How do you find these results?
And what do you think of the top emerging countries? In which one would you travel in 2012?

Hamburg – the official name being official name is the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg – is the second-largest city in Germany, after Berlin, and the seventh-largest city in the European Union. Situated on the river Elbe, the port of Hamburg is the third-largest port in Europe.

I’m inviting you to see the city in 3 lovely videos.

Hamburg

Sightseeing Hamburg

Hamburg meine Stadt

Michael from Easy Hiker invited me to tell you my ABC’s of travel. This tag is for the travel bloggers – and I’m glad I was invited to answer. So, here’s my ABC’s of Travel.

A: Age of first international trip: I guess many could laugh for I was old – compared to many other travelers – when I made my first international travel. I made a very-very short trip to Bulgaria – one or two hours and later a full day – and then, later in 2008, my husband and I went to Austria (Vienna) and then to Germany. I had 26 years.

B: Best (foreign) beer: I don’t usually drink – a glass of champagne on New Year’s Eve qualifies as much J. I tasted however a beer in Germany that I liked. It was Becks with lemon flavor. I bought some at home too – and sometimes I share a glass with my husband or with our friends.

C: Cuisine (favorite): Not that I want to sound patriotic, but given that I didn’t visit too many countries, I have to stick to the Romanian cuisine. After this comes the German cuisine (I love Wiener schnitzel).

D: Destinations, favorite, least favorite and why: Favorite is definitely Europe – Austria and Germany (my roots are there and I love the spirit, the places, the sights and people!). My least favorite is the Arabic countries – never been there but the way a woman is seen there doesn’t make me want to visit them. From the countries I have seen, I cannot say I disliked any.

Schloss Schoenbrunn

E: Event experienced abroad that made you say “wow”: The Schoenbrunn Palace and its Zoo in Vienna. Really happy animals and an amazing palace. Yes, I know there are many other great places, but I simply loved it here, and I also found out some interesting curiosities.

F: Favorite means of transportation: Definitely the car. Of course, you cannot take it everywhere, but in Europe it is rather accessible and I comfortable to go by car and I simply love traveling by car.

G: Greatest feeling while travelling: Here I have to say I share Michael’s opinion: “The excitement of discovering and experiencing great new places.” It is always lovely to discover a city, a town, a country or even a museum you already visited. I cannot wait to show my son the places I saw and to experience new and great places together with my family.

H: Hottest place travelled to: Oh, I so avoid traveling to hot places due to the fact that I don’t cope well with heat. I always plan my travels in order to avoid heat so… no place to mention here.
I: Incredible service experienced and where: I cannot say we didn’t have a good service somewhere. I never went to either all inclusive or 5 star hotels. But I was really impressed by the Zipser hotel in Vienna.

J: Journey that took the longest: The trip back from Germany (near Mannheim) to Bucharest – 23 hours, almost non-stop (save a few breaks), by car – my husband drove. Not an experience to try again. Not something ANYONE should attempt.

K: Keepsake from travels: Oh, I like to collect souvenirs. I have many fridge magnets, I have several keychains, a wooden jewelry box and many more. I shared some of them in the dedicated category – travel souvenirs and I’ll keep sharing them. I have to admit that a precious souvenir is a red matrioska doll – offered to me by a friend and received in the morning of the day Eric was born.

L: Let-down sight, why and where: I wasn’t let down – so far

M: Moment where you fell in love with travel: When I went on vacations with my mother when I was growing up. I always liked to travel – did that within my country.

N: Nicest hotel you’ve stayed in: As I already mentioned – I don’t have a big experience, but I liked Zipser Hotel. An interesting experience was at Herren Haus in Germany.

O: Obsession—what are you obsessed with taking pictures of while traveling: I admit I like to enjoy the view and only afterward to photograph it.

P: Passport stamps, how many and from where: None – I started travel in Europe after Romania entered the European Union and I’ve never been to a country outside EU. Now that’s a surprising answer – right?

Q: Quirkiest attraction you’ve visited and where: The oldest glacier in the world. A funny road – and an amazing experience – to go from +24 degrees centigrade to -10. And we had only one and a half hour to visit the glacier and the cave, since the dog was in the car – which we left half in the sun.

Scarisoara - road to the cave and glacier

R: Recommended sight, event or experience: The Apuseni mountains with all their caves and special places, including a fossilized snails mountain wall.

Fossilized snails wall - detail

S: Splurge; something you have no problem forking over money for while traveling: Buying something I need for the house .

T: Touristy thing done: Of course – visiting museums.

U: Unforgettable travel memory: First visit in Vienna.

V: Visas, how many and for where? None.

W: Wine, best glass of wine while traveling and where? As I already mentioned I don’t drink. So I really don’t have an answer for that.

X: eXcellent view and from where?: Also the Apuseni Mountains, Romania. Amazing views. Also Vatra Dornei and Dornei Mountains from Romania.

Y: Years spent traveling? I’m not a seasoned traveler. I traveled in my country since I was several months old. In other countries I only traveled since 2008.

Z: Zealous sports fans and where: Steaua – football team, Romania.

I’d be delighted if

Gray - http://solofriendly.com/
Simon - http://www.wild-about-travel.com/
Abby - http://thejungleprincess.com/
Diana - http://www.dtravelsround.com/
Alina - http://traveltweaks.com
Silvia – http://trippando.wordpress.com/
Cumi & Ciki – http://cumidanciki.com/

will have the time to share their ABC’s of travel. You’re tagged

Later edit: it seems I missed Gray’s post, so I’m adding to the list Cameron and Nicole  – http://travelingcanucks.com/

Starting 6.00 A.M. February 3rd (today), Malev, Hungary’s national airline, ceased operations.

The company struggled for a long time with problems. The Hungarian government took a 95% share of Malev in March 2010; at the end of January 2012 budebts were around $270 million.

Even if the company had a plan and offered improved services, the results weren’t satisfactory. An article on Business Traveler mentions that “Malev CEO Lorant Limburger told the airline’s board that “despite the continually improving commercial results the financing of activities had become unviable”.”.

Also, it seems that Wizzair come to the rescue and offered some special flights to the passengers that were supposed to fly with Malev – details here.

From the official website:

“Based on the Board of Directors’ decision Hungary’s National Airline ceased its operation to minimize its losses. According to this statement, after nearly 66 years of continuous operation, Malév aircrafts will not depart from 6 am 03 February.

“Unfortunately, the event occurred which we had a greatest fear of and we wanted to avoid with might and main. Although, until the latter days there were prospects to continue operation and the trust of our passengers is unbroken, our partners lost their trust due to the information published in the last days and they started to ask for payment of their services in advance. This speeded up the cash outflow and the situation of the airline became untenable. It is also known that the owner, despite the best intentions, is unable to provide additional financial resources to operate after the EU decision. Considering all these the Board decided to order the cease of operation of the Hungary’s National Airline. We apologize to all of our passengers.” – announced CEO Loránt Limburger.”.

In an international survey released on Thursday, Australia beat United States and Singapore and is now considered as the ideal place for the expats due to quality of life and career prospects.
The Expat Explorer Survey – now in it’s fourth year – was made by HSBC Bank Australia. In an article on Reuters, we find out that “more than 3,000 expatriates in over 100 countries rated nations on a range of criteria from accommodations to food, healthcare and the quality of the commute to work”. The result? “The report suggests expats are putting lifestyle and well-being ahead of money and Australia wins hands down on this front,” said Graham Heunis, head of retail banking and wealth management for HSBC Bank Australia.

The final top 7 ideal countries for expats is:

1. Australia
2. United States
3. Singapore
4. Hong Kong
5. Canada
6. United Kingdom
7. France

“Respondents said they were attracted to the higher salaries in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom, while Canada’s lifestyle won it points.”

I’ve told you some days ago about Ramnicu Valcea city from Romania, but now you really have to see the City Hall by night. It turns blue and red, pink and yellow, green and white Pretty unusual for a city hall, isn’t it?

Ramnicu Valcea City Hall blue

Ramnicu Valcea City Hall green

Ramnicu Valcea City Hall pink

Ramnicu Valcea City Hall yellow

Ramnicu Valcea City Hall statue

At about an hour outside of Vienna, in Herrnbaumgarten, Austria was opened this month The Museum of Nonsense. Fritz Gall is an Austrian inventor who, however, didn’t manage to invent something special. But he obtained some money in order to fund the opening of a museum dedicated to weird, unuseful objects. And it seems the museum is quite a success.

I remember reading a while ago an article on most strange and stupid gadgets ever invented. I admit I laughed at some. So this Museum of Nonsense sounds like a good idea. I am sure there are many inventions that can be catalogued as strange, unnecessary or unuseful.

The museum, as I already mentioned, is localized in Herrnbaumgarten – the hometown of the inventor – and it is only one hour from Vienna.

I didn’t find – unfortunately – an official website of the museum – but I really want to go visit it next time I’ll be in Vienna.

I saw some photos here and below is a video that appears also on an article on Huffington Post dedicated to the museum. I found out about the museum via Slashdot.

How do you find this museum? Would you visit it?

Guest post by Laura

Sometimes it’s better to here where to go from the locals. Here are four alternatives for tourist attractions in NYC.

1 – Instead of seeing the Empire State Building, go to the Top of the Rock

The line to go to the top of the Empire State Building is incredibly long (at times 2+ hours) whereas the wait to go to the Top of the Rock is significantly less. You also have an unobstructed view 360 degrees of the city and you can get a photo of the Empire State Building.
http://www.topoftherocknyc.com/

2 – Instead of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), go to P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center

If you’d like to go to the MoMA, then go on a Friday afternoon when it’s free admission however, as are most attractions in NY it is packed and the line extends well around the block. Instead head to P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center which is an affiliate of the MoMA and houses artwork of future artists. The admission cost is more affordable at $10 for adults, rather than the $25 for the MoMA and it is located in Queens which is a great borough to explore.
http://momaps1.org/visit/

photo credit

3 – Instead of taking a cruise around Manhattan, take the Staten Island Ferry

The main reason to take the Staten Island Ferry is it’s FREE. Just catch the ferry at Whitehall and Water St and you’ll have a beautiful view of the skyline. Once you get to Staten Island, you can either hop back on and turn back or check out a Yankee game – the Staten Island Yankees are a farm team for the New York Yankees so you may see the next Derek Jeter in action.

4 – Instead of going to FAO Schwarz, go to the Toys “R” Us in Times Square

FAO Schwarz has a long history and was shown in the movie “Big” which attracts plenty of tourists, however if you’re going to go to a toy store – go to the Toys “R” Us in Times Square. It’s unique in that there is a working ferris wheel in the middle of the store and among other interesting displays there is also a life size Barbie house that visitors can actually go in (adults included!).
http://www.toysrusinc.com/about-us/times-square/

About Laura: Laura is a travel enthusiast from New York currently living and working in Australia. Her spare time activities include reading, checking things off her bucket list and trying her hand in blogging at http://gogoodlife.com. You can also follow her on twitter at: @Tweeting_Laura.

Travelling is fun. Really fun. But you need to pay for all that fun. And you need to choose a destination for your budget.

So today I’m presenting you an infographic on How Do You Plan And Play For Vacation Travel – click for the larger view.

Infographic offered by http://www.baltictravelcompany.com/.

I’m working on a selection of photos for a photo essay on Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve in South Africa (close to Johannesburg). Many interesting photos made by my husband, Andrei. Until I’ll be over with the selection I’m inviting you to see today a lovely cheetah. (click on the photo for a larger view)

Cheetah at Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve, South Africa

How do you like it?