Learn Mandarin in Beijing
July 5 - August 13

University transferable, three credits

. $3,950 fee includes:
airfare, tuition and texts, accommodation
and meals, weekend and evening cultural activities,
trip to Dalian and Shenyang,

Contact Tong Chow, 986-7911, ext. 2423
E-mait: tchew@capcoliege.bc.ca

$425, ». discount
With this ad. Book before May 15

Airfarefiotel Packapa
Aug. 5 dep., returns Aug. 17 or 24. va
Including Airfare m ncouner ta
istanbul, arrival transfer to hotel and 4 nights hotel in $2125.00*
Istanbul with breakfast
History & Guitture ome Alive Tour
16 days: Sept. 10 & Oct. 2 dep.
© Istanbul ¢ Troy « us © Parcidale © Konya
© Cappadocia ¢ |:
| Revelations Tour
Det. 2 Dep. anly
© Istanbul © ¢ Pergamum « Ephesus © Pamukkale
© Konya © Cappadocia « tstanl
Esiden Circte Tous
21 days: Sept. 10 & Oct. 2 dep.

$3985.00*

$3775.00"

>
¢ Pamukicle $4263.00"
« {sunbul
+ All prices are per person based on Gauble occupancy

+ Includes airtaso with BACanadian trem Vancouver, departure tases not inctuded
Land only ‘avatianle = Expert Independent ptenaing

TRAVEL SPECIALISTS
#275-1575 West Georgia St., Vancouver
Ph. 603-0442 Fax: 608-449 © 1-888-488-7226
www.turkish-travel.com jb@portal.ca

PHUKET: The sun is
going down over the
Andaman Sza and some
guests at Le Meridien
Hotel are walking over
to the thatched-roof
bar for happy hour
when from along the
beach we hear the tin-
Kling of belis and
muted drumming.

Seon afterwards nwo very
large elephants appear, one
carrying a woman and onc a
man. Both are young people
wearing white and thetr seats
are banked with tropical flow-
ers. A band of drummers and
bellringers, dressed in the Thai
colours of red, white and blue,
leads the way.

Jt is the weddin3: of a cou-
ple staying at the hotel. Their
procession, which has every-
one on their feer, some clap-
ping, cameras clicking and
everyone with eyes like
saucers, moves stately along
the water's edge of the long,
crescent-shaped beach, then

Book your passage today. |

This year discover the world next door. Visit the
Discovery Coast Passage with BC Ferries and explore
the central coast of British Columbia between

Port Hardy and Bella Cocia. A place \

north shore news

large

Ara a

in Thailand

Photo David Wishart

THAILAND'S Phuket: Elephants lead a wedding procession along the beach.

heads up to the hotel’s Thai
restaurant for a reception. The
elephants plod off, possibly to
join a smali elephant who had
been playing a harmonica on
the beach carlier.

Such happenings soon con-
vince visitors that the
concierge at Le Meridien has
unheard of variety at his dis-
posal, and indeed that Phuket
is no ordinary istand in the
sun.

Captain Francis Light did-
n’t think so. The British
adventurer who founded
Penang married a Phuket
woman and unsuccessfully
tried to link it up with the
trading centres of Penang and
Singapore, but it stayed Thai
while continuing to trade with
Portugal, China, India and the
Malay states.

Thailand’s largest island,
Phuket has long thrived on
rubber, tin, cashews, bananas
and abundant seafood.
Perhaps 50 years ago travellers

ATi

wrote home about Phuket’s
quict coves, superb sandy.
beach and handsome hills cov-
ered with rich vegetation.

What’s more the warm
Andaman Sea around was
sprinkled with small islands
whose water would become a
world-class diving destination.

Ar the beginning you
could rent a cottage on the
beach for 50 cents. Naturally,
that did not last, and with
Americans getting cold fece
over Bali these days (although
the Indonesian troubles have
had zero effect therc) Phuket
hotels are packed to the
rafters.

Tourists gather at beach
hubs of which Patong is a

See Seafood page 4h

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