Super Hit South East

Some words really have a very strong impact compared to others & one such word is ‘Hit’. Every Bollywood artist/celebrity on every Friday yearns to hear this word as a form of recognition of his or her work on the silver screen. The fate of these films which are made on a budget of costs upwards of a couple of crores rests on the audience appreciation. The audience is the ultimate judge and once the film is declared a ‘hit’ in a somewhat local dialect such as ‘Hit hai Bhidu!!’ ,then the makers heave a sigh of relief and the stars who have acted in the magnum opus automatically become ‘hot’ property. It seems as if the search for a definite formula for a hit has been going on for more than half a century, right from Raj Kapoor to Mahesh Bhatt to David Dhawan and makers like Priyadarshan but it has not yet been deciphered. However, this formula has been stated in one of the Bollywood films itself and its nothing but ‘Entertainment..Entertainment..Entertainment’. South East Asia is a continent which has adopted this formula wholeheartedly which is why it attracts tourists from all over the world. Asia is the largest continent in the world and South East Asia is considered as its headquarter. On a geographical aspect South East Asia is comprised of all those countries which are situated in an area to the east of India, south of China and to the north of Australia. History depicts that this region was one of the most sought after regions by the Europeans for its spices & as a unique opportunity to expand their territories but ultimately after escaping the clutches of these European nation, the countries of South East Asia today compete head to head against those of Europe in the field of tourism. As per the survey conducted by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation in 2013, it has been found out that there has been a 5 % increase of International tourism in Europe whereas in South East Asia it has been 10%.While attracting all the global attention, South East Asia continued to retain its rich culture & tradition and at the same time also worked hard upon modernisation in terms of infrastructure as well as in the field of entertainment. It supplemented its famous Thai massages with state of the art theme parks. It seems as if Singapore has vowed to create a new tourist attraction every year. Malaysia has adopted the ’Truly Asia’ tagline which is reflected upon its traditional food preparations. Macau is South East Asia’s first European colony & also the last to secure freedom, it is now a fantasy land of casinos. Hong Kong is taking giant strides in the world of business, popular all over the world as a country of sky scrapers. Indonesia is famous among tourists as the ‘island of Gods’. Philippines has even opened up its war ruins through the Ku Chi tunnels for tourists along with the naturally beautiful Halong Bay. The Angkor Wat temple built by artisans in the 12th century is a globally popular tourist attraction located in Cambodia. It is an awesome place for the ones who are fascinated with ancient relics & structures. Philippines has welcomed tourists with almost all types of natural tourist attractions, right from paddy fields to Volcanoes.

The entire world has accepted South East Asia’s tourism invitation with open arms because it is such a fascinating combination of beautiful coastlines to lush green jungles, its rich cultural heritage, its vibrant & fun loving people, apart from all this it has also emerged as a shopaholic’s delight since there are large number of state of the art malls here too. South East Asia occupies a special place in the hearts of most Indian tourists since for most of them it was their first foreign trip ever! One of the best parts about visiting Thailand & Hong Kong is that these countries offer the facility of visa on arrival. Therefore almost anyone can decide to pack their bags and leave for a trip to these countries at will. In addition to that the weather in these countries is somewhat similar to India’s climatic conditions, so that’s an added bonus since no time is wasted to get acclimatized and one is instantly comfortable. Scandinavia & Switzerland are countries which are face with extreme cold in the winter months but fortunately South East Asian countries do not face such adverse conditions and are hale, heart, warm & pleasant almost through the year, light years away from the icy cold weather! This makes them a popular tourist destination throughout the year. Also a trip to these destinations is much cheaper than trips to Europe or America. When we dig deep into history, we realise the fact that we have had age old relations with the countries in South East Asia since many centuries. It has also been found out that there was a presence of Hindu rule in the Indonesian regions of Java & Sumatra sometime around 200 BC. The Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia was constructed as a Vishnu temple and the mode or style of construction of this temple depicts a stark resemblance with those of the Chola dynasty in Tamil Nadu. Thailand’s national poem ‘Ramkien’ is the Thai adaptation of India’s Ramayana. Thailand’s ‘Songkran’ is the Thai version of India’s ‘Sankranti’. Singapore was originally going to be named ‘Sinhpur’ because Sangh Nila Uttama (the founder of Singapore) saw an animal resembling a lion on the island. A statue of ‘Shri Subramaniamswami’ was erected in the Batu caves of Malaysia in the year 1891 owing to the efforts of K.Thambuswami Pillai who was the leader of Indians living in Malyasia. Today there is a 130 ft. tall statue of Murugan Swami in this region which by the way is also the tallest statue of Murugan Swami in the world. While traversing South East Asia one thus gets to experience many such relatable factors which arouses a sense of belonging in our hearts.

Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong & Macau are thus the perennially successful artists of South East Asia. So if you wish to have a whale of a time with your family then blindly select any of these places because there will never be a paucity of enjoyable experiences while you are here. In Thailand, women can shop to their heart’s content, kids can enjoy themselves in the shows at Safari World. Apart from this how could one forget the ‘Thai’ massages and in addition to that you can enjoy with your entire family cruising on the Chao Phraya River. The most striking feature of all these places is that each year there is an influx of new attractions. Take the example of Singapore which was the first to start a nocturnal zoo ‘Night out safari’, after that in 2008 the ‘Singapore Flyer’ was started, in the year 2010 the ‘Universal studios’ were inaugurated here and in the year 2012 ‘Garden bye bay’ was created. Therefore, the Singapore which you saw 5 to 6 years ago was drastically different from the Singapore which you will get to see today. Hence, you definitely need to visit Singapore once again! Since we are talking about Thailand & Singapore, how can one forget Malaysia? Malaysia has taken giant leaps in the field of international tourism in the last 15 to 20 years. It boasts of fascinating structures such as the Petronas Twin Towers or the Garden City. Projects like these never cease to attract tourists from all over the world. The world famous KLCC shopping centre, spread over 15 lakh sq ft is situated at the bottom of the well-known twin towers and tourists go gaga over this place. Apart from all this there are several choices for entertainment here

You might have heard mind boggling things about the atmosphere in Las Vegas, the casinos and the night life and most you might have even made up your mind to visit Las Vegas one day but what if you get to experience the same kind of ambience in South East Asia? You can definitely get the Vegas experience in Macau! ‘The Venetian’ which is a resort owned by the ‘Las Vegas Sands corporation’ is in Macau. The casino is spread over 5,50,000 sq ft. There are more than 3400 slot machines and 800 gambling tables in this casino. Another one of USA’s attraction in South East Asia is the world famous ‘Disney Land’ in Hong Kong. In the year 2005,the America based Walt Disney company started a theme park with the help of the Hong Kong government. It is by far the world’s biggest adventure park.

After speaking about all these popular attractions of South East Asia one may think that this is probably all that it has to offer but it doesn’t stop here ‘Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost’.The Halong Bay which even today is unknown to many tourists till date is in Vietnam and is one of the most mesmerising places to visit. According to local mythological excerpts the Lord sent dragons for the protection of the people and these dragons threw out diamonds/precious stones out of their mouths which took the form of islands and in turn prevented the enemy from alighting onto Vietnam’s coastline. The place where these dragons came down upon came to be known as Halong Bay. Boating in these beautiful environs always feels special and commemorative. The Indian influence on South East Asia is clearly evident while observing the Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia. Angkor Wat is an ancient temple which was built by King Suryavarman in the 12th century. This temple has stood the test of time and continues to amaze tourists till date. There are many similarities between Angkor Wat and the temples in South India which are built heavily on the principles of Vastu. The intricate carvings inside the temple depicts the stories of the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and even the ‘Samudra Manthan’. Philippines has fascinating natural wonders in the form of the ‘Taal’ volcano and the ‘Taal’ reservoir. It is basically a volcano that was created from underneath a reservoir, it has to be seen to be believed. The South East Asian country of Indonesia is an aggregation of more than 17,000 small islands. A majority of the Hindu population of Indonesia lives on an island known as Bali. It is an island blessed with natural beauty and an equally artistic human resource system. The Pura Taman Ayun in Bali is considered as a temple from the Mengwi dynasty. Built in the 17th century, this temple exhibits the characteristic features of that period. Ubud is considered to be the cultural capital of Bali where one gets to experience painting, song, dance & music.

For this ultimate ‘Hit and Hot’ sector Veena World brings to you a variety of options to choose from. Singapore-Thailand-Malaysia-Hong Kong, a 13 day tour which will enable you to experience the maximum fun at these amazing destinations in one tour itself! You can also opt for the Thailand tour(8 day tour),Singapore-Malaysia tour(7 day tour),Hong Kong-Macau-Shenzhen (7 day tour).Hence you can also opt for these smaller tours to experience parts of South East Asia. Apart from this we also have a Bangkok-Pattaya-Phuket-Krabi (9 day) tour and a Singapore-Thailand-Malaysia with a star cruise, these the two awesome combinations. There is also an ‘offbeat’ Vietnam-Cambodia-Philippines (11 day) tour to South East Asia & even a Bali-Jakarta Indonesia (6 day) tour. For those of you who cannot manage to get a longer leave, you can opt for a 5 or 6 day tour to Thailand and even a 4 day tour to Singapore. In addition to that there are even speciality tours like the Women’s Special, Seniors’ Special, Jubilee Special, Honeymoon Special etc. So what are you waiting for? Come, let’s enjoy a hit & hot holiday to South East Asia and celebrate life with Veena World.