DSI

Hello,

Next year we have about 10 days to travel, so I thought I'd solicit some ideas from you. We'll have enough miles to fly most places, though the reality is that the IAD > AUH to somewhere else in F seems to work really well for us (having done MLE and SEZ/DEL upcoming).

Thus, we'd like to somehow connect through AUH. The AUH > X need not be with miles.

We'd like somewhere a little fun/adventurous and exotic. Location takes precedence over hotels, but if we can tic off both boxes, great.

Our thoughts:

1. AUH > KTM > Bhutan (Aman or COMO)
2. AUH > CMB
3. AUH > please fill in the blank.

ridefar

We are travelling at the same time to roughly the same area. We had been to Bhutan before, and were debating between Kerala and Sri Lanka, with a week in the Maldives at the end for either. On the basis of luxury options combined with interesting historical and cultural destinations, Sri Lanka was the clear winner, although if we hadn't been to Bhutan I would pick Amankora in a heart beat (Bhutan is very near the top of our "all time favorites" list; it is truly magical). Other options in my mind would be Laos, Jordan, or potentially Iran -- although I think luxury options are limited in both Laos and Iran. Happy to answer any more specific questions; we certainly haven't done much in terms of definitive itinerary yet, just know that Tea Trails in Sri Lanka and either Reethi Rah or Maalifushi are pretty much for sure.

FlyingDoctorwu

CMB is on my want list. Amanwella/Amangalle and Tea Trails. 10 days sounds great.You could even buy one of those great ex-CMB fares for the return... From what I understand about Bhutan, specifically Amankora it can be a tight trip for 10 days, especially including travel time.

FDW

Baghoarder

Agree about ten days probably not being enough for Bhutan given the amount of travel involved (including on the ground), but OTOH the Paro festival is on around that time, so if you can make the timing work it would be very worthwhile.

chelsea2

I am in the BA lounge at JFK right now - awaiting our Cathay flight to HKG > BKK then onto Bhutan for 12 days at the 5 Amankora lodges. Will post a trip report on return. Might give you some additional data points on Bhutan.

Pausanias

There's a new hotel on the south coast of Sri Lanka called Welligama, owned by the Tea Trails people. Looks fantastic and might be a real alternative to Amanwella.

FlyingDoctorwu

Can't wait to see that trip report!

Enjoy
FDw

MikeFromTokyo

Seychelles?

pricesquire

My vote is for Sri Lanka. But then again, you knew that already

Eastern Australia could be fun as well - SYD + MEL could be a fun 10 days...perfect weather, too. Direct from AUH...long way, but hell, you're in EY F...

DSI

Thanks for the tips!

We're actually heading to the Seychelles this summer (and did Maldives last summer), so they would both be good spots had we not gone.

Eastern Australia seems a little crazy and I'm not sure if I'll have enough miles, but I'll give that one a look.

pricesquire

Other ideas - regardless of flights (hilarious, as I could just text/email this to you....but hell, let's keep this an open discussion!).

One more thing - with you - I'm always thinking "big" and "bucket list"..so keep that in mind.

Egypt. Easy jump from AUH. Seeing the pyramids/sphynx should be on everyone's list. You got 2 Four Seasons in Cairo and two epic, historic hotels in upper Egypt (Cataract and Winter palace). PERFECT 10 day trip.

Morocco - Atlas mountains, Fez, Marrakesh, medinas, Branson's place, TONS of chic/lux hotels peppered throughout the major cities.

Turkey - Istanbul (FS), Cappadocia (once in a lifetime hot air balloons and epic cave hotels), Bodrum (MO).

Eastern European adventure - one of my favorite trips, one I do every 2-3 years. Rent a car in Prague, drive to Vienna/Salzburg. Can combine with Budapest or Krakow (the most underrated city in all of Europe)

Myanmar - I was only there for a day, but jesus was this amazing. Like walking on the moon... Belmond + lux river cruise could be a unique trip.

Mongolia - sounds epic, period.

Kagehitokiri

in australia there are the baillies lodges, capella lodge sounds pretty laid back. theyre managing ayers property now too.

FS boshorus and MO bodrum would not be laid back. other FS might be fine? amanruya shouldnt be bad.

virgin limited edition might be a toss up. mostly brits. could be casual, could be glam up in evenings. SanDiego1K recently posted a report for kasbah. amanjena shouldnt be bad.

i had forgotten connection for that property. there seem to be a lot of properties opening in sri lanka recently.

in adaman islands (remote) jalakara is a tiny upscale (style unknown) property being planned on havelock island, doing PR in regular media suspects, but seems very unclear on if and when it will open. coverage goes back a couple years IIRC.

SanDiego1K

Jordan and Beirut.

India. (I think Etihad flies to Mumbai; not sure if they have other gateway cities in India.)

They have a couple Silk Road cities, though not the ones I wanted for an upcoming trip: Almaty and Baku

Johannesburg

I wouldn't fly Etihad to get to Morocco from the US unless you really love the time in the air. It's the long way there.

Here is the route map:

http://flights.etihad.com/routemap

RichardInSF

Same for Turkey or Eastern Europe, why backtrack or go out of your way so much?

pricesquire

You and SanDiego are right.

I guess, because I know declineofspeciesinformation so well, I was just shooting out good trip ideas, with less care about EY/flights.