// COVID-19 Live Updates: Cases in India surge to 30,44,940 as death toll reaches 56,706 - TheHealthSite Skip to main content

COVID-19 Live Updates: Cases in India surge to 30,44,940 as death toll reaches 56,706 - TheHealthSite

-

COVID-19 Live Updates: Cases in India surge to 30,44,940 as death toll reaches 56,706 - TheHealthSite

COVID-19 Live Updates: Cases in India surge to 30,44,940 as death toll reaches 56,706 - TheHealthSite

Posted: 23 Aug 2020 09:00 PM PDT

India: where to go and stay - Telegraph.co.uk

Posted: 16 Jun 2017 12:00 AM PDT

Expert guide to India

To some extent this depends on your interests and experience of travelling in Asia. The plains of northern India are dry and dusty, punctuated with extraordinary cities built by Mughal emperors and Rajput princes; they are crowded, vibrant places that can overwhelm. Life among the lush green hills and valleys of southern India – peppered with the ruined cities of long-vanished medieval empires – is altogether slower and less crowded.

More Telegraph Travel expert guides

If you are a timid traveller I would opt for an escorted tour that does not try to cover too much ground. Joining a large group will mean travelling on main roads in a coach, staying in modern business hotels or large forts with Western-style facilities, and visiting only the main sights in a city and the odd crafts emporium.

Joining a smaller group of 12 to 16 gives a more intimate experience. You will stay in more characterful hotels and travel in minibuses that can negotiate narrower roads through villages. Itineraries often include guided walks, meals in local restaurants, visits to craftspeople and train and rickshaw rides.

Private journeys with a car and driver let you set the pace. Try to weave in visits to smaller towns, many of which have equally fine temples and palaces but without the babel  of tour groups.

Joining a large group will mean travelling on main roads in a coach and visiting only the main sights in a city Credit: © Paul Springett 06 / Alamy/Paul Springett 06 / Alamy

Northern India

The Golden Triangle

The cities of Delhi, Agra and Jaipur are known as the Golden Triangle because of their cultural splendour. They form the basis of the classic tour of northern India, despite the fact that constant exposure to noisy crowded cities and crazy driving on traffic-choked roads can turn people off the country for ever.

That said, Delhi can be a pleasant place to start a visit if your hotel is in New Delhi, the planned British city designed by Edwin Lutyens, with tree-lined avenues and low-rise buildings. The Thirties Imperial (theimperialindia.com) is a favourite for its convenient location opposite the Cottage Industries Emporium, a treasure trove of crafts from all over India. However, my pick of Delhi's five-star hotels is the sumptuous Leela Palace (theleela.com). The best of the four-star hotels is The Claridges (claridges.com) across from the lovely Lodi Gardens. An affordable choice is the Nath Bungalow (lutyensbungalow.co.in), a family-run b&b in a lovely garden with large pool near the Lodi Gardens.

If you are travelling independently, sign up for a private tour with Surekha Narain (delhimetrowalks.com), one of the best guides I have come across in India. A keen historian, she can shepherd you through the crush of Old Delhi so that it seems like a walk in the park, and arrange private access to all sorts of places.

Delhi's reputation for attacks on lone women is growing. To keep safe use a pre-paid taxi counter at the airport (use a private company rather than the government-licenced black-and-yellow cabs) and ask your hotel to send a taxi to the railway station to meet you off a train.

Agra – best reached on the comfortable Shatabdi Express train – is worth an overnight stay. As well as the Taj Mahal, it has an earlier "Baby Taj", and a magnificent sandstone fort also partly built by Emperor Shah Jahan. The best place to stay is Amarvilas (oberoihotels.com); it has a clear view across parkland to Shah Jahan's tribute to his beloved wife, Mumtaz, who died in childbirth. Double rooms cost from £500, but it's worth paying an extra £50 for a premier room with a private balcony overlooking the Taj. The best alternative is the low-rise Agra Trident (tridenthotels.com); double rooms from £115 a night through booking.com.A lovely homestay within walking distance of the Taj is The Coral Tree (thecoraltreehomestay.com). 

New Delhi is the planned British city designed by Edwin Lutyens Credit: Xinhua / Barcroft Media/Xinhua / Barcroft Images

Most tours and private journey itineraries move on via Fatehpur Sikri – an extraordinarily well-preserved 16th-century sandstone city, once the capital of Mughal India, now deserted – to Jaipur.

It is hard to love Jaipur. Sights such as the Palace of the Winds and Amber Fort take a good photograph, but this is another exhausting city where touts are hard to shake off and negotiating the human and motorised traffic is exhausting. To get into the city's more interesting nooks and crannies sign up for a guided walk with Virasat (virasatexperiences.com).

There are several luxurious palace hotels in spacious grounds, but for character choose Samode Haveli (samode.com) or the cheaper Dera Mandawa (deramandawa.com). For style and top-class service choose Rajmahal Palace (sujanluxury.com). For a simple welcoming guesthouse choose Khatu Haveli in the old city (khatuhaveli.com), the venue for BBC's recent reality show, The Real Marigold Hotel.

From here it is an easy transfer to Jodhpur, worth visiting for the Mehrangarh fort alone. Official guides have an office at the fort entrance and offer good private tours of the old town on foot. Tour operators rate highly the boutique hotel Raas (raasjodhpur.com), near the fort. A cheaper option is the delightful family-run Ratan Vilas (ratanvilas.com)

There are two alternative circuits that avoid Jaipur and the main tourist circuit. They offer the chance to explore smaller towns and villages before you tackle another big city.

Jodhpur, is worth visiting for the Mehrangarh fort alone

Head south-east from Agra to Orchha (picturesque riverside setting, medieval fort palace, evening rituals in a village temple) and on to Khajuraho (a small town famed for its erotic temple art) before tackling Varanasi on the banks of the Ganges where all life and death is laid bare.

Varanasi is India for the experienced. Its crowded narrow alleys can induce claustrophobia even in seasoned travellers: mourners carry their dead on biers to the burning terraces above the river; holy men and pilgrims from all over India come to bathe in the frankly filthy waters upstream and consult astrologers and palm readers; and cows, goats and ragged children scavenge for scraps on the ghats – the flights of steps down to the water.

Most tourists keep Varanasi at arm's length by taking dawn and dusk boat rides past the bathing ghats where yogis practise and priests perform rituals using flaming lamps. But those who enter the fray will see India at its most profound and spiritual. I can't recommend Varanasi Walks highly enough. It has a small team of superb guides who lead daily walks through different areas of the city (varanasiwalks.com).

Tour groups usually stay at the Taj Gateway (thegatewayhotels.com), which serves alcohol. The best riverside choice is the mid-range Suryauday Haveli (suryaudayhaveli.com) which has a roof terrace. Ask for a top floor room.

The alternative itinerary is to head west from Agra into southern Rajasthan. Start with a visit to Ranthambore National Park, where there is a moderate chance of spotting a tiger or spend a few nights at Ramathra Fort (ramathrafort.com), which offers guided walks and Jeep safaris. 

The small city of Bundi is one of my favourite places in Rajasthan. Off the main tourist circuits, it sees few tour groups and the streets of its busy, blue-painted old town are free of hustlers. Popular with Western artists, it has a vast crumbling fort-palace (filled with world-class murals) mirrored in a lake. There are no sprawling suburbs, so it's easy to hire a bicycle and explore the countryside beyond. There are no luxury hotels yet, so stay in the family-run Bundi Vilas guesthouse (bundivilas.com) or the Haveli Braj Bhushanjee (kiplingsbundi.com).

From here it's a long day's drive to Udaipur, set around a lake in the Aravalli hills. It is a tourist honeypot but easier to negotiate than Jaipur or Jodhpur. The Jag Niwas Lake Palace, now a Taj hotel, is the big draw, though I feel it's better to view it than stay in it. There are several royal guesthouses on the opposite shore but my favourite is a small heritage property, Amet Haveli (amethaveliudaipur.com) – low-rise, intimate and just feet from the water's edge – where you can dine on a lawn with a grandstand view of the Jag Niwas.

Kerala

Kerala is a green land of rice paddies, coconut groves and hills thickly cloaked in indigenous forest as well as tea and coffee plantations. It is a softer introduction to India, with smaller, more ordered cities, a slower pace of life and a cleaner environment. It also has one of the most literate populations in the world. Many families have relations working in the Gulf, and there are direct daily flights from London via Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar to three coastal airports, with return fares starting at less than £500.

The ancient trading port of Kochi (Cochin) is a good place to start a tour. Stay at Malabar House (malabarhouse.com), Brunton Boatyard (cghearth.com) or the cheaper Old Courtyard (oldcourtyard.com), all in the quiet fort area.

Behind the coast, a network of inland waterways and canals weaves through coconut plantations and riverside villages clustered around white Catholic churches.

Most tour operators offer backwater cruises on converted rice barges. This is a pleasant way to travel, but the scenery doesn't vary much. It is more interesting – and more ecologically sound – to stay somewhere such as Philipkutty's Farm (philipkuttysfarm.com), a collection of villas on a spice island in the backwaters, and take a sunset cruise.

Behind the coast, a network of inland waterways and canals weaves through coconut plantations and riverside villages clustered around white Catholic churches

Kerala's great draw is the Western Ghats, a line of thickly forested hills rising to more than 6,000ft, stretching the length of the state and offering a welcome cool respite from the humidity of the coast. There are convivial homestays in bungalows on spice and tea plantations around Munnar and Thekkady, gateway to the Periyar National Park, where there is a good chance of seeing wild elephant.

No visit to India is complete without a Hindu temple experience, but you don't have to go far. One of India's holiest towns, Madurai, in Tamil Nadu, is a four-hour drive from Munnar. Its Meenakshi Temple is one of the most impressive in the country, with processions, performances of music and an endless stream of pilgrims weaving through pillared halls carved with exquisite figures. Stay at the Taj Gateway (tajhotels.com), above the city.

In Kerala, beaches, as elsewhere in India, are very much the preserve of fishermen. While hotels clean their frontages, a walk along the beach will uncover sands strewn with rubbish, fish scales and human waste. The sea is rough, the water murky, and sunbathing on the beach will attract unwanted attention in these predominantly Muslim communities. If you want a week on a clean white-sand beach by a clear safe sea, combine a tour of India with a week in the Maldives, an hour's flight from Trivandrum.

That said, there are several delightful small resort hotels on remoter Keralan beaches, ideal for a few days' post-tour relaxation: notably Neeleshwar Hermitage in the north of the state (neeleshwarhermitage.com), part-owned by an Englishman; the Marari Beach (cghearth.com) in Mararikulam, south of Kochi, and the Surya Samudra (suryasamudra.com) near Kovalam. All offer a range of spa treatments, visits to villages and nature walks.

Goa and Hampi

Charter flights started serving Goa in the late Eighties, selling the state and its golden beaches as India-lite. A Portuguese colony until 1961, it really was a gentle introduction to India in those days. Families called da Souza and Pereira rented out rooms in pretty cottages set in flower-filled gardens to backpackers; richer tourists stayed at the Taj Holiday Village on Candolim beach, north of the capital, Panjim. Roads were the preserve of bicycles and carts, and cows roamed the largely deserted and relatively clean beaches.

Today, in north Goa many of the bungalows have been replaced by concrete guesthouses, the beaches are crowded with salesmen from out of state, and there's a rave every night fuelled by drink and drugs.

Regular visitors to India now see Goa as a place to relax for a few days at the end of a tour rather than a destination in itself. There is a strong Russian presence in winter at five-star hotels. Money heads for the Leela Beach Resort on Kovalam; smart money for a country guesthouse such as Nilaya Hermitage (nilaya.com) or Ahilya (ahilyabythesea.com). Elsewhere (aseascape.com) or Fort Tiracol (forttiracol.com), in the north of the state, where the beaches are empty and rave-free.

Tour operators offering beach holidays – Thomson, Thomas Cook, Monarch – feature both north and south Goa, selling a fortnight in a three-star hotel for about £1,200 b&b in February. I would head for south Goa, to the quieter sands around Velsao, Majorda and Varca, where there are some new resort hotels set in palm-shaded lawns containing large pools. The Alila Diwa Goa (aliladiwagoa.com) and the Taj Exotica (tajhotels.com) get high marks.

Charter flights started serving Goa in the late Eighties, selling the state and its golden beaches as India-lite Credit: lena_serditova - Fotolia

Tour operators and local agents sell overnight excursions to visit the Taj Mahal in Agra. For a real adventure, take the train to Hampi for a few days. This small riverside village in neighbouring Karnataka sits among the ruined temples, bazaars and palaces of the 16th-century capital of the Vijayanagar kings who ruled all of south India. It is set in a sea of rice paddies shaded by coconut palms and punctuated by boulder hills, like giant tors, that glow orange in the afternoon sun.

There are plenty of thatched-hut guesthouses along the river, notably Shanthi (shanthihampi.com) and Mowgli (mowglihampi.com), but the classiest place is the new Orange County Hampi (orangecounty.in) A little further out, Hampi's Boulders (hampisboulders.com) comprises simple cottages in a peaceful riverside setting four miles away.

Download the free Telegraph Travel app to destinations worldwide:itunes.apple.com

More Telegraph Travel expert guides

Follow Telegraph Travel on Twitter

'Amazon Easy' stores now in all-new avatar with a single touchpoint for multiple services - ETRetail.com

Posted: 09 Aug 2020 07:53 PM PDT

'Amazon Easy' stores now in all-new avatar with a single touchpoint for multiple servicesBENGALURU: Online retailer Amazon on Sunday launched an upgraded 'Amazon Easy' store format that integrates its multiple services through a single touchpoint.

The format would offer a touch-and-feel product experience through a physical product display, the company said in a statement.

Customers can also place an order on Amazon.in with guided assistance from the store staff and either pick up the order from the store or get it delivered at their doorstep, it said.

The store owners can now leverage Amazons last-mile delivery program 'I Have Space'to deliver packages to customers in their area as well as facilitate pickups.

The first such exclusive Amazon Easy store is now operational in Mahalakshmi layout here.

Amazon would soon expand the upgraded format stores to other parts of the country with the existing and new network partners, the statement said.

Director (Customer Experience & Marketing), Amazon India, Kishore Thota said, We see Amazon Easy playing an important role in enabling the next 200-300 million customers to enjoy shopping on Amazon.in as well as creating local jobs and self-employment opportunities.

Amazon said it works with several network partners like Vakrangee, Indiabuys, and Velocity in the country to bring the Amazon Easy experience to new-to-ecommerce customers.

The budget bucket list: 15 trips of a lifetime – from £250 - Telegraph.co.uk

Posted: 21 Jan 2020 12:00 AM PST

I once spent a week hitchhiking and camping around Patagonia. I'd been there before, staying in plush hotels and lodges and enjoying fancy dinners, but this no-frills trip was like a joyous flashback to how I used to travel – and why I began to travel in the first place.

I went overland, slowly, independently. The accent was on authenticity and fun – basic, healthy, smile-inducing fun. When, as part of the trip, I found myself among groups of guided tourists ogling the Perito Moreno glacier, I felt two things: one, my low-key approach was so much better; two, I was seeing a world-famous "sight" in a Unesco-listed national park for the price of an entrance ticket, a matter of a few pesos.

It felt like cheating in a good way, to be bagging a bucket-list experience without busting my budget.

Core messages put out by the luxury travel market are that the more you spend the better the experience, and that luxury equates with consumables such as king-size beds in designer hotels, gourmet grub, champagne and cocktails, and bespoke service – ideally a private guide, private car, and private experiences.

But luxury comes in many guises, including holidays that are social and shared, hotels that are not starred but packed with personality, and fresh air and tranquility.

Who wants a flatscreen TV when the view is amazing? Who needs aircon when you can open a window, or a tent flap? Money only buys certain things. Sometimes, you get the most incredible experience by putting in effort – hiking up a hill, going down a road rarely taken, taking your time.  

Machu Picchu Credit: getty

So here's a bucket list with a twist. Our pick of the world's biggest, boldest, knock-out trips - holidays you'll love and remember for ever - and how to do them on a shoestring and, where possible, with a reduced carbon footprint, too.

Note on prices: These are ballpark "per person" figures. Fares for transport vary hugely according to seasons. Rates on the so-called "dynamic" booking sites such as Trivago and Booking.com change all the time. Currency conversion rates will also influence the final overall price, as will, ultimately, food, drinks and additional local costs. 

Cuzco Credit: getty

1. Take the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu – from £1,000

The experience: Walking on Inca stone pathways and staircases is an exercise in empathy as well as a lung-busting adventure. You can but imagine the chasquis – Inca runners – doing the same to deliver an urgent message or a tribute to the supreme ruler at Cuzco.

The emerald-green hills, the crisp blue skies and camping under the Southern Cross add to the accumulation of awe. Then, you arrive at Machu Picchu via the lofty Sun Gate and peer down on the extraordinary citadel. It's for fairly fit walkers, mind you. The trip usually starts in Cuzco, with a transfer to the Sacred Valley by van or train either to KM 82/Ollantaytambo or the KM88 rail station where the hike begins.

The distance is 44km (33.7 miles) from the former or 38km (23.6 miles) from the latter and it takes between two and four days. As the route is at more than 6,000 feet, so it pays to go slowly and rest often. 

The Treasury Credit: getty

Booking in the UK: The straightforward but more expensive option – it's trustworthy, allows time for acclimatisation and if anything goes wrong you'll get back-up. The best deal on this is probably the G Adventures (gadventures.co.uk) four-day Cuzco to Cuzco group tour for £526pp, plus flights. 

Going local: Booking in Cuzco could save you quite a lot of money – three-day hikes start from around £450. Talk to other walkers recently returned for their tips; you're bound to meet them in hotels, hostels or restaurants. Chat to local agencies that have Ministry of Tourism authorisation (a list can be found at tinyurl.com/PeruDT).

Check that guides speak English. For the hike, take energy bars and fruit with you as the food may be basic, as well as warm gear and a three-season sleeping bag (local firms rent them out) for the chilly nights. If you're taking your own tent, use it as it will almost certainly be better than the budget operators'.

Make sure to allow three days at altitude (Cuzco is ideal as it's higher than Machu Picchu) before starting the trek in order to acclimatise. You can't walk the Classic Inca Trail alone, only with a guide. Numbers are limited to 500 per day so book well in advance.

You could opt to hike the shorter Lares or longer Salkantay trails without a guide, both of which are less touristy and lead to Machu Picchu on alternative routes.

Expect crowds Credit: GETTY

Flights: British Airways (britishairways.com) flies direct from London Gatwick to Lima three times a week April-October. Returns from £467. Lima-Cuzco return starts from £60 with Sky or Viva.

Where to stay: Camp on the trail; stay in one of the many hostels in Cuzco.

2. Visit the rock-hewn city of Petra – from £350

The experience: Petra is one of those places that is even more impressive in real life than in artfully composed photos. The Unesco-listed site is Jordan's number-one tourist attraction, hitting 1m visitors in 2019, but is big enough not to feel cramped.

Tombs, temples and a Roman-style theatre evoke how important and affluent Petra was during its apogee between the 1st centuries BC and AD. The eastern entrance leads you through a narrow cleft in the rock known as the siq (the "shaft"). On exiting, you're greeted by Petra's centrepiece, the Treasury, with its elegant facade carved out of red sandstone.

Most people see Petra on a hurried day trip, but it's worth a couple of days, and can be combined with Wadi Rum and Aqaba, or Amman, Jordan's underrated capital. Avoid midsummer, when it is busiest.

The Grand Canyon Credit: getty

Booking in the UK: Adding Petra onto a beach holiday is your best bet. Lastminute.com has February package deals to Aqaba from London, from £429pp, including flights with EasyJet and seven nights B&B in the Dead Sea Spa Hotel in Sweimeh. 

Going local: Take a bus from Amman (148 miles) or Aqaba (80 miles). Local minibuses are cramped, inconvenient and slow, so opt for the air-conditioned JETT buses (jett.com.jo; JD11 (£11.78 one way), departing Amman at 6.30am and reaching Petra in around four hours. Catch the return bus at 4pm or, better still, stay a night or two. From Aqaba the JETT takes just under two hours (JD12 one way). 

Flights: British Airways flies direct to Amman from Heathrow, from £356 return (Jan-March); EasyJet (easyjet.com) flies to Aqaba, from around £180 return in low season; indirect Ryanair flights (ryanair.com) to Amman start from £76 return; needless to say, they are long and arduous. 

Where to stay: A hostel or hotel in Wadi Musa, the closest town. A twin room at the basic, fairly new Rafiki hostel (rafikihostel.net), less than a mile from the site, costs from JD51 (£54.58) B&B.

3. The Taj Mahal without the crowds – from £550

The experience: The cost of building the Taj Mahal is said to have been 41,848,426 rupees, 7 annas and 6 magpies. That's a lot in old money, but it bought a lot: the ivory-white marble mausoleum for Mumtaz Mahal, the wife of Shah Jahan, on the south bank of Agra's Yamuna river is a universal symbol of romantic love and a sublime example of Mughal architecture.

Patagonia Credit: GETTY

Visit at sunrise to get a moment of peace, and the best light for admiring the harmonious forms and reflecting on Jahan's gesture. If you want a Princess Di-style shot of yourself – alone – in front of India's most famous building, cross the river to the historic Mehtab Bang Gardens. Admission is only around 100 rupees, and you get a less cluttered, less photographed view.

Booking in the UK: Most holidays which include the Taj Mahal are sold as Golden Triangle packages, visiting Delhi, Agra and Jaipur, prices typically upward of £1,000. Trailfinders (trailfinders.com) has a seven-day holiday for £768pp, plus flights. 

Going local: Take a train from New Delhi to Agra Cantonment, Raja-ki-Mandi, or Agra Fort (returns from £12; irctc.co.in); then a taxi to the West Gate. Entry costs R1,100 (£11.78), or R1,300 (£13.93) for the mausoleum too. To book or for opening times visit tajmahal.gov.in. 

Buenos Aires Credit: GETTY

Flights: Fly to Delhi direct with BA, Virgin or Air India. Manchester-Delhi with Finnair (finnair.com), via Helsinki, starts from around £440 return. 

Where to stay: Hostels in Agra start from as little as £7 per night (hostelworld.com).

4. Sun-up at the Grand Canyon – from £625

The experience: To see the sun rise on the Grand Canyon is to connect what we call "America" with an older, unnamed landscape – raw, untouched by cowboy myths, impossibly beautiful. At Desert View, off Highway 64, you get smaller crowds than at the main Grand Canyon village.

The Galapagos is heaven for wildlife lovers Credit: GETTY

Afterwards, as you drive the 20 miles to the latter for breakfast, be sure to pull over a few times as you skirt the South Rim, as there are several overlooks.

The canyon is deeper and more impressive than any photograph can ever convey. In summer, the North Rim is open, and gets far fewer visitors. Monument Valley, the less-visited Canyon de Chelly and Canyon del Muerto, Flagstaff and Winslow – on Route 66 – can be easily worked into a self-drive road trip.

Booking in the UK: Virgin Holidays (virginholidays.co.uk) has some competitive deals, including flights, such as £611 for a four-day trip staying at the unpretentious Yavapai Lodges, room only.

Going local: Driving yourself around Arizona is a wonderful holiday in itself. Pick up a car at Phoenix Sky Harbor airport (from $224 for a Ford Focus for six days with Avis or Hertz). Distances are pretty significant – 233 miles from Phoenix to Desert View – so consider that when planning a route. Entrance to the park costs $35 per car. Or there are bus tours ($20 entry per person).

Explore the Amazon for less than £1,000 Credit: getty

Flights: British Airways flies daily from Heathrow to Phoenix, from £500 return.

Where to stay: Rooms at the Grand Canyon Lodges (grandcanyonlodges.com) on the South Rim start from around $70.

5. Be blown away by Patagonia – from £700

The experience: Patagonia is a natural theatre of space and sky and a visual fantasia of glaciers and icefields, dun steppes and great, green-hued lakes. It has some of the most photogenic of all the Andean peaks and, along its coasts, extraordinary marine life such as the southern right whales, orcas and penguins found around the Valdés Peninsula.

Straddling Argentina and Chile, the region was named in 1520 by Magellan and since then has built a storied history as layered as the strata that conserve the world's biggest dinosaurs. Patagonian got posh in recent decades; the opening of the Explora in 1993 Torres del Paine kicked off a trend for luxury lodgings. But the region's main draw remains its wildness, and there's great camping all along the Andes. 

Booking in the UK: Most packages – group or tailor-made – will set you back £2,000 or more. G Adventures has a 14-day small-group trip to the trails around El Chaltén and Torres del Paine from £2,294. Flights cost another £800-£1,000.

Going local: Patagonia is big, so journeys can be very long, and accommodation, in the remote parts, quite thin on the ground. Use budget flights or comfy long-distance buses, and local buses out to the national parks. Stay in hostels in the main hubs such as Bariloche, El Chaltén, Ushuaia, El Calafate, and Puerto Natales. 

A lion in Kenya Credit: GETTY

Flights: British Airways (from Heathrow) and Norwegian (Gatwick; norwegian.com) fly from London to Buenos Aires; returns start at around £550. Budget flights operated by JetSmart (jetsmart.com), which recently acquired Norwegian's Argentina operations and is an "ultra no-frills", mean flying south is often no more expensive than taking the bus. As an example of local prices, the closest gateways to Argentine Patagonia are Trelew and Neuquén. A single to the latter from BA's Palomar airport can cost as little as $30 with JetSmart.

Where to stay: Camp whenever possible. There are lots of lovely sites (with barbecues) around the north Patagonian lake districts. Hiking around Lago Puelo in Argentina and Pucón in Chile is easy to arrange, and local firms rent out mountain bikes and kayaks. From Puerto Natales, Navimag (navimag.com) runs a fun, no-frills boat trip to Puerto Montt in the Chilean lakes, with berths from $450 in a shared compartment, $600 in a double. 

6. Go wild in the Galapagos – from £900

The experience: The Galapagos Islands dazzled Charles Darwin. They dazzle anyone who loves nature, the sea, volcanoes, wildlife, and all the other Edenic wonders on show here. The archipelago of 21 islands, 560 miles west of Ecuador, deliver curious creatures galore, from Santa Cruz's sea turtles to Isabela's giant tortoises and the flamingos of Floreana.

Booking in the UK: Most UK tour operators sell expensive cruises or tailor-made stays in posh lodges; but Imaginative Traveller (imaginative-traveller.com) has a six-day "At a Glance" group tour aboard the Daphne, taking in four Galapagos islands, from £1,555. Berths fill up quickly at that price.

Going local: Fly into Santa Cruz's Baltra Airport and stay at nearby Puerto Ayora. You might feel you're missing out by not seeing other islands and not being at sea, but this will be compensated by having time to really absorb the wildlife around you – and your carbon footprint will be far smaller than a cruise passenger's.

£250 will buy you this Credit: getty

You can do day trips inland and go on boat trips, and don a snorkel to share the cool Pacific with flightless cormorants, marine iguanas and hammerhead sharks.

Flights: Flights to Baltra typically involve two changes, in, say, Madrid or Bogotá and again at Guayaquil, Ecuador. Returns on Opodo (opodo.co.uk) start from £864 with Avianca.

Where to stay: Puerto Ayora has hostels and small hotels from as little as £12pp.

Hike when you're not looking for whales Credit: GETTY

7. Journey up the Amazon – from £700

The experience: Brazil offers the archetypal Amazon trip – a voyage from tropical Belém on the Atlantic to mythical Manaus, travelling slowly on a public riverboat, allows you to get a sense of the scale of the river and of the jungle on its banks. It's also way to connect with locals, over a beer on deck or, even, during a samba at an impromptu dance. Once in Manaus, after taking in the famous opera house and markets, you can book an excursion up the Rio Negro to see the pink dolphins, caimans and amazing birdlife that cluster around the anavilhanas (freshwater archipelago). Tourists with deep pockets tend to head for the headwaters of the Amazon, where they stay on lodges or smart cruise vessels with a dozen or so rooms, but this cash-savvy option is far more original.

Booking in the UK: Few UK firms push cheap riverboat tickets, preferring the tidy margins on luxury cruises. But for advice and to assist with booking, it's worth chatting to a member of the Latin American Travel Association (lata.travel) as these firms have ground agents in Belem and Manaus. Book a flight, hotel or a trip with them and they may be able to supply a riverboat ticket as an add-on.

A large cruise ship is the cheapest way to see Antarctica, but you won't have any close encounters Credit: getty

Going local: Lots of firms ply the river. For the full 5-night Belem to Manaus transit, AR Transporte (artransporte.com.br) charges from R370 (£68) for a "rede" (hammock), and between R1,000 (£183) and R1,500 (£275) for a berth in a cabin on its large Amazon Star (753 passengers) and Rondonia (838 passengers) vessels. From Manaus, Amazon Eco Adventures (amazonecoadventures.com) has full-day tours by boat into the Rio Negro for R350pp (£64).

Flights: Fly from the UK to Belem via Lisbon with TAP Portugal (flytap.com), from £584 return. Manaus-Belem single from £41 with Azul.

Where to stay: A hammock on the riverboat or an air-conditioned cabin if you want more privacy. In Belém and Manaus there are hostels and budget hotels.  

8. Embark on a Big Five safari – from £600

The experience: Seeing Africa's Big Five – lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros and Cape buffalo – is actually not about ticking off a list. It's about being in their landscape, sharing their space, feeling the heat and smelling the earth where they roam. That the term "Big Five" comes down to use from big game hunters adds a poignancy, as we aim our binocs or camera lenses and are surely far more rewarded than any lion-slayer. For most people, a safari experience is as close they'll get to being inside an Attenborough show – but that's no small thing, and people often report their first close encounter with wild animals as life-enhancing, even life-changing. Given all this, it's bizarre we feel the need to add to this potentially transfigurative experience a fancy lodge, gourmet food, boutique this and that (spending as much as £300-400 per day in the bargain). 

A zodiac ride will offer the chance to spot penguins Credit: getty

Booking in the UK: The Big Five can be seen in as many as 13 countries, including Botswana, Zambia, Uganda, Namibia, South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania. If you're willing to travel in a group of up to 22, go overland, and use basic hotels, Dragoman (dragoman.com) has a 10-day trip through the Rift Valley of Ethiopia into Kenya, including a safari in Samburu National Reserve – a Big Five site. It's priced at £553, plus a $350 kitty to cover camp meals and park fees. Add in flights and a visa for Ethiopia and you're looking at around £1,300-£1,400, but meals are covered. Of course, as this is a fixed itinerary you might well not see the Big Five; the same goes for all pre-planned tours.

Going local: To keep things affordable and "real", consider a self-drive – the way locals generally do safaris. Fly into Nairobi in the shoulder season (Apr-May and Nov) and explore Nairobi National Park. Despite being a few miles outside the city, it has grass plains and acacia bushes – the classic East African landscape – and is home to endangered black rhino, lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, buffaloes, giraffes and great birdlife. It has picnic sites, three campsites and walking trails (the entry fee is £33). If you prefer not to drive so you can enjoy the watching, there are guides and drivers available at the gate, or book a trip from Nairobi. Since its foundation in 1977, David Sheldrick's Elephant Orphanage (sheldrickwildlifetrust.org) – on the edge of the park – has raised 247 elephants orphaned usually due to poaching.

Jiankou, 48 miles from Beijing, feels wilder than many other parts of the wall Credit: getty

Where to stay: Camping and/or staying outside a safari park will always be much cheaper than luxuriating in a so-called "tented camp" (essentially a four-star hotel with canvas walls) with waiters, chefs, private guides, 4WDs and sundowners all neatly arranged to make you feel the British Empire is still very much in place.

Flights: Consider flying on non-direct routes (eg with Ethiopian, Turkish or a Gulf carrier; European countries tend to have more routes to their former colonies). Shop around and you can get to East or South Africa from around £400.

9. Wondrous whale watching in the Azores – from £250

The experience: There are whales swimming all over the planet but seeing them can be difficult and/or expensive for several reasons, including small numbers (England) or iffy weather (Scotland), unsustainable numbers of tourists (Mexican Gulf) and long-haul flights (Argentina). The island of Faial in the Azores is a sure bet, year round, for seeing sperm whales as well as bottlenose, common and Risso's dolphins. From March to May, blue, sei and fin baleen whales can also be spotted. The Azores also abound in great coastal and hill walking, innovative winemaking, with windbreaks built from volcanic stones, and lush subtropical vegetation. The beaches are beautiful, though best experienced in late summer when the ocean warms up.

Booking in the UK: Sunvil (sunvil.co.uk) offers seven-day trips to São Miguel in the Azores from £464pp. Trips to Faial are typically more expensive (£1,000-plus) as they involve domestic flights.

Sommaroy island, Troms Credit: getty

Going local: From São Miguel or Faial – the latter is the ideal base – it's easy enough to arrange a whalewatching outing to see sperm whales; the season is April-October as wintry weather makes boat trips unfeasible. Stay three days and your chances of seeing other species are much better. Whale Watch Azores (whalewatchazores.com) does day trips from €110 per person as well as more comprehensive multi-day tours.

Flights: Ryanair has weekly direct flights between February and October from London Stansted to Ponta Delgada on the island of São Miguel from £70. TAP Portugal, codesharing with Azores Airlines (azoresairlines.pt), previously Sata, operates flights from the UK via Lisbon and Porto to Ponta Delgada, with onward connections to other islands. 

Where to stay: Airbnb and small hotels are readily available across the Azores. Horta is the main town in Faial.

10. Admire Antarctica – from £2,000

The experience: The world's most pristine, extreme, serene continent is a once-in-a-lifetime high point for most travellers. The crazy formations of the drifting bergs, the glass-calm waters along the snow-covered coasts, the penguin colonies, the heroic histories, and the fact that you belong to a tiny group of privileged people, make a holiday there different from any other. Antarctica is not about luxury in any normal sense, but is rather a stirring, and somehow solemn, reminder of how beautiful nature can be.

There are, basically, three ways to go there. Firstly, on a large cruise ship, which will be a "sailing by" experience in that you'll be limited to seeing the bergs and ice from the deck; the firms call it "scenic cruising". On the upside, big ships, carrying thousands of passengers, tend to be competitive on price. Secondly, you could undertake an adventure or expedition cruise (sail or motored) out of Ushuaia in Argentina (which handles about 90% of the Antarctic cruise market), which will allow you to disembark, stretch your legs, ride in zodiacs and see penguins and landscapes up close. This is expensive, costing anything from £4,000 for a short trip across the Drake Passage and 4-5 days cruising the icy channels to £11,000 for a 2-week voyage via South Georgia; for a 4-week semi-circumnavigation you should double that. Thirdly, you could fly down and see a few sights around a Chilean base – this is pricey and aimed at the time-poor rather than the cash-strapped.

Autumn in Vermont Credit: GETTY

Booking in the UK: Lots of big cruise lines go to Antarctica. The lowest prices tend to be with the big firms on their larger vessels. Princess (princess.com) has berths in the Coral Princess's interior cabins on a 16-day January 2020 Buenos Aires to San Antonio, Chile voyage – with 4 days of "scenic cruising" in Antarctica, from £2,259pp (though if a family/group books, guests 3 and 4 pay £1,149pp). This is pretty good, for a holiday that also lets you see Cape Horn and visit the Falklands. For 2021, the price is £2,699. You have to factor in flights to Argentina and back from Chile.

Going local: At the time of writing, Argentine operator Antarpply (antarpply.com) has a shared room (male only) available in a triple room for a 9-night "Classic Antarctica" voyage to the peninsula and South Shetland Islands aboard its ice-strengthened ship, Ushuaia, for $5,460 – that's £4,153 and while it's a lot of money it's a good deal cheaper than most other firms. This is a March 26, 2020 departure – the very end of the season, so colder and a little darker. Similar prices are available for March 2021.

Flights: DAP Chile (dapairline.com) operates a Beechcraft King Air twin-turboprop (6 passengers, no loos) from Punta Arenas to Chile's Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva base on King George Island (which has a 4,238ft gravel landing strip). A one-day return trip costs $5,500 (£4,184). Adding an overnight stay – in a "thermic tent" – pushes that up to $6,500 (£4,944). Flights from the UK to Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego to catch a cruise ship or to Punta Arenas for this flight will set you back a further £1,000.

Where to stay: On the ship. There are no hotels or places to stay unless you are a scientist or worker at a base.

11. Walk the Great Wall of China – from £850

The experience: The Great Wall of China is a triumph of engineering. It's also a visible symbol of China's long history, political dominance and cultural isolation. Stretching from Shanhaiguan, on the Bohai Sea, to Lop Lake in the Gobi Desert and marking the southern edge of Inner Mongolia – formerly part of Genghis Khan's Mongol empire – it was built in stages from the eighth century BC onwards. During the Qin dynasty (221-206 BC), a connected Great Wall was begun as part of Emperor Qin Shi Huang's project to unify China. From the earliest days, the wall had beacon towers — from which flag, gunpowder and smoke signals were sent, creating the world's first telegraphy system. The wall we see today has vestiges of early and later constructions. To see the wall – made from brick, stone, tamped earth and wood – snaking away over the parched mountainsides of northern China can be an affecting experience. A day trip is usually enough for most people, though it's possible to run or cycle along sections, take a helicopter flight, spend a night beside the wall in a boutique hotel, or even sleep in a watchtower.

Booking in the UK: The Great Wall is often included as part of a Beijing holiday. The wall sites of Badaling, Jiankou, Mutianyu, Gubeikou/Jinshanling/Simatai and the lakeside HuanghuaCheng are reachable on day trips. A visit to more far-flung sections will cost significantly more and turns a trip into a Wall-focused holiday. For a dedicated wall-walking holiday, G Adventures (gadventures.co.uk) has a 10-day small group holiday (10-16 passengers) featuring three separate sections on foot. From £849pp, plus flights.

Milford Sound Credit: GETTY

Going local: Day trips in small groups, using minibuses from Beijing start at as little as £40. The trip will be brief but you should be able to squeeze a short walk in. It's easy to visit many sections of the wall independently from Beijing, using local buses and/or trains (routes and times and wall entry fees at travelchinaguide.com) or by taxi (finding English-speaking drivers is tricky). Budget around £100 for a drive who'll wait for you plus park entrances. Badaling gets the most tourists. Mutianyu is busy, but a short, strenuous walk leaves the hordes behind. Jiankou, 48 miles from Beijing, feels wilder than many other parts of the wall: pine forests, watchtowers on rocky pinnacles and steep cliffs on either side of the high ridge are visually arresting. Don't attempt a walk if the weather is stormy or the light waning. Popular with keen hikers, Gubeikou to Jinshanling and Jinshanling to Simatai West are both about 5 miles (one-day group hikes can be booked via Beijing-based with wildgreatwall.com).

Flights: UK-Beijing is served by many direct and non-direct routes, so it pays to shop around. Finnair is selling flights to Beijing via Helsinki from £447 return. A visa for China for UK citizens starts from £151 plus a service charge that varies from £30 to £66 (see i2visa.co.uk and visaforchina.org).

Where to stay: You can stay at the smart Commune by the Great Wall (commune.sohochina.com/en, rooms from £160), but hostels in Beijing are much cheaper.

12. The awesome Aurora – from £300

The experience: The otherworldy Aurora Borealis fills up the northern sky like a towering army of divine spirits from Valhalla. The Eskimos say it's the torches of the dead showing the way for new arrivals. Green, red, blue, violet, yellow sheets and waves ripple across the starry heights – magical and mysterious, no matter how many times scientists tell us its all due to solar winds and other factual phenomena. Best seen in winter, on dark nights, the Northern Lights seem to be an emanation of the polar horizon, as strange and unreachable as the icy beyond. That is, unless it's cloudy, or rainy, or you're unlucky. When planning an Aurora adventure, it pays to spend wisely and keep an eye on weather and moon phases. The so-called auroral zone includes northern Scandinavia, Iceland, the southern tip of Greenland, northern Canada, Alaska and the northern coast of Siberia. The zone expands when geomagnetic activity is high which is why Scots sometimes see them. Given that Greenland, Canada, Svalbard and Russia involve long, pricey flights, that leaves Iceland and Scandinavia – expensive, but at least served by no-frills airlines. As the Norwegian counties of Troms and Finnmark are where Aurora occurrence is greatest, that nudges out the rest of the competition. The capital of Troms, Tromsø, is our number one choice for light-seekers on a budget.

Booking in the UK: Nordic Experience (nordicexperience.co.uk) has 3-day holidays in Tromsø from £629, plus a further £115 for a Northern Lights excursion, covering flights, accommodation and breakfast.

Lake Baikal Credit: GETTY

Going local: Tromsø-based Wandering Owl (wanderingowl.com) can arrange a 7-8 hour group hunt (2-15 passengers) for £137pp, including guide, transfer, a meal of reindeer soup or lentil and carrot soup), cookies, hot chocolate, thermal suit, winter boots, mittens, tripod and head torch.

Flights: Norwegian flies Gatwick to Tromsø. One-way (direct, 3 hrs) is advertised as £65.80; I found a return in late March 2020 for £122.40.

Where to stay: Norway is expensive. Use Airbnb or find a hostel. In Tromsø, Bed and Books (bedandbooks.no) has doubles for NOK750 (£62) per night (plus one-off NOK50/£4.15 bed linen fee) 

13. Leaf-peeping in New England – from £700

The experience: New England turns autumnal between late September and December, with forests of cedar, maple, ash and beech turning all those shades we get to glimpse in our UK woodlands – russet, ochre, rufous, golden – but in a vast, view-filling spectacle. In the first instance, the road is as good a place as any to do "leaf-peeping", as the asphalt creates a natural opening from which you can admire the hues. A walk is recommended, though, so you can lose yourself amid the fall foliage.

Booking in the UK: America As You Like It (americaasyoulikeit.com) has a 10-day autumn self-drive trip from £1,545pp including flights. For a fully guided or rail trip, you'll pay around £1,000 on top of that.

Going local: To plan your own route, check out some itineraries offered by tour firms for ideas. For example, from Boston, head north towards Portsmouth and Portland, veering inland along the edges of the White Mountain National Forest. Turn back around Colebrook and wend south crossing Vermont and the Green Mountain National Forest and Connecticut's Tunxis State forest, before heading for the coast at Harwinton. Pick up a handy peak leaf map (newengland.com) and a hire car (Avis offers a Ford Fusion for a week for £265 for, from Boston Logan airport). 

Guided bus tours can cost £2,000pp, so instead just hop on an ordinary public bus for around $50 return. Greyhound (greyhound.com) and Peter Pan (peterpanbus.com) connect main centres. Concord Coach Lines (concordcoachlines.com) links Boston to New Hampshire and Maine; C&J Trailways (ridecj.com) links Boston and Newburyport, Massachusetts, and Portsmouth and Dover, New Hampshire. Or try Dartmouth Coach (dartmouthcoach.com) and the Plymouth & Brockton Street Railway Co (p-b.com). 

Flights: The UK is well connected to the East Coast US. Aer Lingus (aerlingus.com) flies to Boston from Belfast, Birmingham, London or Manchester (subsidiary Stobart Air offers other cities) and you can do the tedious US passport stuff in Dublin Airport. On arrival you're treated as a domestic passenger and can breeze through the border. London Heathrow-Boston starts from £376 return.

Where to stay: Use an inn or motor lodge; there are lots of double rooms at around the $100/night rate at the 300-odd properties featured on newenglandinnsandresorts.com. See also www.discovernewengland.org/travel-planning/accommodations.

14. Marvel at Milford Sound – from £1,400

The experience: Milford Sound is the oft-photographed icon of New Zealand's South Island. All the elements that inspire UK travellers to make the long journey are concentrated in this pristine corner of Fiordland. Scenic backroads and well-marked trails, combined with pellucid waters, soaring mountains and temperate rainforests make it a peerless place to hike and bike. At the centre of it all is the majestic 5,560ft-high Mitre Peak (Rahotu in Maori), actually five separate peaks clustered around a single arrow-headed summit. While cruises and lodges are aimed at the luxury market, you can actually "do" Milford Sound for almost nothing, once you're there. 

Booking in the UK: Travelbag (travelbag.co.uk) offers 14-day trips, with two days in Christchurch and 10 in a campervan, from £999, including flights.

Going local: Fly to Queenstown and hop on an InterCity bus to Milford Sound (around six hours, £20 one way). The 33-mile Milford Track hike has become almost too popular, but it's still a great introduction for first-time visitors. A maximum of 90 walkers (book well in advance) can start the trail per day (40 independent, and 50 guided). Sutherland Falls is a 90-minute (return) walk from Quintin Public Shelter on the Milford Track. The track ends at Sandfly Point on the water's edge, where there's a 15-minute ferry ride to Milford Sound township. To book or for more information see newzealand.com. 

Flights: The nearest major airport, Queenstown, is well served by flights from Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington, as well as Australian airports. Return flights from London to Queenstown (via Singapore and Melbourne) start from around £850 with Singapore Airlines. 

Where to stay: Independent walkers must spend the night at one of three huts: Clinton Hut, Mintaro Hut and Dumpling Hut, $140 or £76 per person per night in dorms; bring your own food). The season runs end of October to end of April (book at booking.doc.govt.nz). Camping is not permitted along the track. Note that out of season the trail is free, but, given the harsh conditions, only for experienced hikers.

15. Ride the Trans-Siberian – from £500

The experience: Everyone's "Trans Sib" is a one-off. For some it's a boozy, hyper-social week-long binge on vodka and smoked fish, broken English and broken glasses. Alternatively, it can be a quiet, pensive ride through the taiga, with a bit of reading, bowls of borscht in the restaurant car, and trying to get the provodnitza (coach attendant) to smile even once you've accepted she'll never actually like you. It's a truly remarkable railway line, all electric from Moscow to Vladivostok, with trains taking seven days to cover the 6,152 miles – assuming you don't get off anywhere. The name of Siberia evokes ice, snow, grimness and gulags, but it's a humongous region and has historical landmarks, cities dedicated to cutting-edge science, Buddhist centres, national parks, and top-notch sightseeing opportunities at Lake Baikal and Irkutsk. There are luxury trains costing up to 20 times the price of an ordinary ticket. For a budget Big Red One that you can organise yourself, stick to Moscow-Vladivostok and if you've got the time, consider coming back by train too – as flights from the Russian Pacific are rarely cheap.

Booking in the UK: A UK agent's package deal will set you back upwards of £1,500; but Real Russia (realrussia.co.uk) offers tickets in a second-class upper berth from £260. They can arrange Russian visas for £110.57.

Going local: You can book rail tickets directly at the state railway operator's website (pass.rzd.ru/main-pass/public/en). A third-class "open sleeping" berth (more of a dorm than a compartment) cost around R6,223 (£75) in winter. Visas cost around £101 at ru.vfsglobal.co.uk. More info at visitrussia.org.uk.

Flights: Wizz Air (wizzair.com) flies from Luton to Moscow's new Vuknovo Airport from £30 each way in winter. Take the hourly non-stop Aeroexpress train from Vuknovo to Kievskaya metro station in central Moscow, then metro line M5 to Yaroslavsky train station, for most Trans Siberian services. Vladivostok-London with Aeroflot one-way starts at around £340 on Opodo.

Where to stay: En route, homestays are best and there are campsites in summer.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

10 Most Beautiful Ecotourism Destinations To Visit In Canada (& What To Do There)

-
Image
things to do around shuswap lake :: Article Creator Things To Do In The Lake District Endless woodland areas, 'gram-worthy rolling hills and jaw-dropping, serene expanses of water – we can only be talking about the Lake District. It's England's largest national park and while it's beauty is well renowned, there's a whole lot more to it than just some snappable scenery (though the vistas here have got to be some of the prettiest).  Whether you're headed for an afternoon, three days or an entire week, the Lake District has plenty of fun activities to get stuck into. Think theatres looking over a lake, enchanting stone circles and beer tasting in some seriously cosy pubs. And yes, even a museum about pencils. We've curated the perfect guide which includes all the best places to spend your trip to this magical landscape, so here are the best things to do in the Lake District. RECOMMENDED:🚞The most breathtaking hikes in t...
Read more

40 Coolest Neighbourhoods in the World Right Now

-
Image
peachland bc tourism :: Article Creator Peachland British ColumbiaNational Post You've reached the 20 article limit. You can manage saved articles in your account. and save up to 100 articles! Looks like you've reached your saved article limit! You can manage your saved articles in your account and clicking the X located at the bottom right of the article. Give Back While You Get Away: Re:BC Is On A Mission To Inspire Regenerative Tourism In Communities Across BC This section is Partnership Content supplied The content in this section is supplied by GlobeNewswire for the purposes of distributing press releases on behalf of its clients. Postmedia has not reviewed the content. by GlobeNewswire Breadcrumb Trail Links GlobeNewswire Author of the article: Published Mar 18, 2024  •  4 minute read Join the conversation You can save this article by registering for free here. Or...
Read more

5 Inclusive Companies for Plus-Size Travelers

-
Image
things to see in prince rupert :: Article Creator Prince Rupert Emergency Department Closed For 3rd Night In A Row Descrease article font size Increase article font size For the third night in a row, the emergency department at the Prince Rupert Regional Hospital was closed on Tuesday. Those needing emergency health services in the coastal B.C. City had to wait until 8 a.M. Wednesday for the reopening, or travel two hours to Terrace. The sudden closure at the emergency room happened at 3 p.M., with North Health issuing a closure alert at 3:03 p.M. On its Facebook page. Northern Health said the closure was due to "challenges with physician coverage." "The timing of interruptions is subject to change, as we are continually working to ensure physician and nursing staff coverage for emergency department services," Northern Health said in a social media post. The latest health and medical news emailed to you ever...
Read more