AWAY

Palace fireworks

THANIN WEERADET

Phetchaburi will stage its annual Phra Nakhon Khiri Festival from February 2-11.

Phra Nakhon Khiri, formerly the summer palace of King Rama IV, is now a national museum. Built atop Khao Wang mountain, the palace complex can be reached on foot or by a cable car. Trails leading to the complex are lined with fragrant frangipani.

The festival highlights Phetchaburi's famous craftsmanship, folk music, dance, plays and religious rites, and in the evenings the sky turns bright with colourful fireworks.

For more information, call the provincial office at 032-425-573 or its cultural office at 032-424-324.

Meanwhile, if you fancy folk entertainment, visit the nearby district of Ban Lat that will be hosting its annual cart race February 10-11. The event will also feature hilarious contests in which men pull carts, fight bare hands and climb palmyra trees.

Call the Ban Lat district office at 032-491-316 for additional in formation.

Park entertainment

The riverside King Rama II Park in Samut Songkhram will host its annual festivity February 10-11.

It will feature fairs and activities throughout the weekend including Lakhon Chatri, puppet show and masked Khon theatre. There will be cooking and painting contests and other fun activities.

For more details, call the park at 034-751-666.

Test your limits

If you are an athlete and wish to measure your physical limits and have fun at the same time, join the race for North Face River Kwai Trophy on March 19 in Sai Yok, Kanchanaburi.

Teams of two persons will compete in trail running, mountain biking, swimming and paddling, while testing their navigational skills through the picturesque landscape.

The route takes participants along scenic trails to explore the mountains and farmlands of western Thailand and admire the magnificence of the Kwai valley.

Kanchanaburi has the best setting in Thailand for organising adventure races, said Serge Henkens, the race director.

The adventure race can take three to six hours to complete and will be competed in the men's, women's, mixed (men and women) and masters (over 40 years) categories.

The route is designed to be challenging for the seasoned athletes who will be competing in the extreme division, yet achievable for new racers who will be competing in the adventure class.

For more details, visit http://www.riverkwaitrophy.com or http://www.active-asia.com. Alternatively, call 02-676-3869 or fax 02-676-3981. To contact the race director, call 081-922-7100 or (66) 81-922-7100 if calling from overseas.

'Dreamy USA' gets better

United Airlines has now added the city of San Antonio in Texas to its "Dreamy USA" vacation programme, giving travellers another option to tailor a trip of their liking.

The programme includes economy-class round-trip airfares, accommodation on twin-sharing basis at an AAA-3 or four-diamond rated property, round-trip transfer between the airport and hotel, and sightseeing tours in each city for a starting price of 37,750 baht, excluding taxes, fees and surcharges. The offer is valid until March 31.

San Antonio is the eighth largest US city and the 14th Dreamy USA destination the airlines now provides passengers flying from Thailand. The other destinations are Aspen, Boston, Chicago, Colorado Springs, Denver, Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, DC.

San Antonio has retained its sense of history and tradition, while carefully blending in the old and the new. It has always been a crossroads. It is where the sounds and flavours of native Americans, Old Mexico, Germans, the Wild West, African-Americans and the Deep South mingle and merge. Close to 20 million visitors a year delight in the discovery of San Antonio's charms.

"Customers who purchase a Dreamy USA package can now also enjoy the new convenient one-stop daily service between Bangkok and Washington, DC, that maximises vacation time and minimises connection time by utilising the Star Alliance terminal at Tokyo's Narita Airport," said United Airlines Thailand general manager Eric Wilson.

For more details, call Heng Chiang Tours (02-224-0037), Majestic Travel International (02-652-2000), Reliance Holidays (02-203-0088), Tour Lines (02-676-2200) and Global Union Express (02-308-2104).

If you wish to reach Horizons, fax: 02-671-9818,

Tourist Call Centre Hotline: dial 1672.

TAT: http://www.tourismthailand.org

Bangkok Post
Friday February 02, 2007