For all new clients booked on the Good Hope Southbound tour (GHS12-02) departing Johannesburg on 01 February 2012, Shongololo Express is offering

• An extension of two additional nights’ accommodation at the Garden Route Game Lodge, on a dinner, bed & breakfast basis including transfers and activities to guests at the end of the Good Hope Tour absolutely free!

For all new clients booked on the Good Hope Northbound Tour (GHN12-02) departing Cape Town on 20 February 2012, Shongololo Express is offering

• Two nights’ accommodation at the Garden Route Game Lodge, on a dinner, bed & breakfast basis including transfers and activities to guests prior to the beginning of the Good Hope Tour absolutely free!

Please note that the above specials cannot be used in conjunction with any other specials that may be available and are only applicable to new bookings. Clients already booked on any one of these tours are not eligible for this special.

You can find us on Page 259 (Spain) and Page 549-550 (India).

It is a great honor for us to be mentioned in this book for our train products in Spain and India. This is a moment of pride for our team who works every day to make sure that our guests are provided with unmatched service and it reinforces our commitment to delivering quality service for the products we offer.

We want to thank Ms. Schultz for this recognition and a special Thank You for all our guests who have supported us, traveled with us and given valuable feedback to help us improve our service over decades and evolve as a major player in the luxury travel market.

Palace Tours is a leader in providing unique luxury travel experiences in the world and specializes in Train Travel. Our Palace Trains brand http://www.palacetrains.com is one of the most popular product line, featuring luxury trains in Spain, India and Africa. Our site http://www.spaintraintours.com is dedicated to luxury train travel in Spain – one of the hidden jewels of the Spanish travel trade. In addition Palace Tours offers a number of private and escorted tours in Spain,India and parts of Africa.

November 12- 13, 2011:

Dallas Travel Adventure Show

Dallas Convention Center

650 S Griffin St, Dallas, Texas 75202

December 11- 13, 2011:

USTOA at the Marriott Resort

Marco Island Marriott Beach Resort, Golf Club and Spa

400 South Collier Boulevard, Marco Island, Florida 34145

January 14- 15, 2012:
Los Angeles Travel & Adventure Show

Long Beach Convention Center

300 East Ocean Boulevard, Long Beach, CA 90802

January 18- 22, 2011:

FITUR, International Tourism Trade Fair

Feria de Madrid

Avenida del Partenón, 28042 Madrid, Spain

January 28- 29, 2012:

Chicago Travel & Adventure Show: Chicago, IL

Donald E. Stephens Convention Center

5555 N. River Road, Rosemont, IL

February 10- 12, 2012:

Boston Globe Travel Show

Seaport World Trade Center

200 Seaport Boulevard, Boston, MA

February 18- 19, 2012:

Santa Clara Travel & Adventure Show

Santa Clara Convention Center, Halls B-D

5001 Great America Pkwy, Santa Clara, CA 95054

March 2- 4, 2012:
New York Times Travel Show

Jacob K. Javits Convention Center

655 W. 34th Street, New York, NY 10001

March 7- 11, 2012:

ITB Berlin Travel Show

Berlin, Germany

March 17- 18, 2012:
Washington D.C. Travel Show

Washington Convention Center, Hall A

801 Mount Vernon Place, NW Washington, DC 20001

November 5- 8, 2012

WTM London

ExCeL London

1 Western Gateway, London E16 1XL, United Kingdom

Looking forward to meeting you!

Sincerely,
Palace Tours

Over the past few days, Bangkok has been experiencing slowly encroaching waters moving into the North/Eastern/ Western residential districts of Bangkok. However, these are not typically tourists destitions and local authorities are continuing to drain as much water as possible and route it out of the city. We can happily report that the integrity of Bangkok’s city centre still remains dry and flood free with only small cases of localised flooding along the banks of the Chaopraya River.

The majority of the main tourist attractions near to the riverside remain open, such as The Grand Palace, Wat Po and the reclining Buddha and Temple of Dawn. The main shopping areas of Bangkok also remain open and are fully operational. The BTS Skytrain and MRT subway are operating normally. Taxis and tuk tuks are available, though many bus have been rerouted or suspended due to the flooding. Express boat services on the Chao Phraya River have also been suspended, as have most water-related tourist activities.

Please note that all the major beach resorts of Thailand are not affected by the current flooding and can still provide fantastic opportunities for a great vacation. Despite some media reports stating otherwise, day to day supplies of food and water to these areas are available in all destinations and there are no anticipated distruptions within the supply chain.

As always, if you have any concerns about your planned vacation, please feel free to contact us.

Wishing you Safe and Happy Travels,
Palace Tours

All of the main tourist attractions near the have river remained open, such as The Grand Palace, Wat Po and the reclining Buddha and Temple of Dawn. The main shopping areas of Bangkok have also remained open and operated normally. However, the Chatuchak weekend market vendors had cleared out their shops as they were worried about flooding. The Chao Phraya Express boats also did not run mainly due to the high tides.

Although this critical period is coming to an end there is still a lot of water that is waiting to be drained out to sea, the municipal authorities are now working to try manage and to speed up the water flow out to the sea. Places like Nakorn Sawan and Ayutthaya which were heavily flooded are now reporting that the waters are now steadily receding

Bangkok’s main airport, The Suvarnabhumi Airport has continued to remain open, as well.

Wishing you safety and fun in your journeys,
Palace Tours

We would like to update you on the latest situation regarding the flooding and weather conditions around Thailand.

Ayutthaya is still flooded and the water level reducing slowly, but the suspension of all tours to Ayutthaya is still in effect. In addition, our sightseeing tours to Uthai Thani are also suspended, but tours to Lopburi are now running again.

Some northern suburbs of Bangkok have been flooded, including Don Muang, the district where Bangkok’s “old” airport is located. As such, all flights scheduled to leave or arrive at Don Muang will use Bangkok’s main airport, Suvarnabhumi, as it is operating normally. However, All trains from Bangkok to the north of Thailand are cancelled until further notice.

Some flooding has been seen in central Bangkok in low lying areas near the river banks. As such, the following Bangkok sightseeing tours are suspended:
· City and Temples
· Grand Palace
· Grand Palace & Temple
· Klongs (Canals) Tour
· Klongs (Canals) and Grand Palace
· All Dinner Cruises
· Our cycling trips around Bangkok

In addition, Chatuchak Weekend Market is also closed this weekend as a safety precaution, but China Town, Little India and the Flower Market can now be visited again in the day time.

The flooded highways in Central Thailand are starting to clear, with some sections that were previously flooded becoming accessible. Asia Highway No. 1 is almost clear now, but for safety reasons the classic Bangkok to the North Overland tour is still being re-routed along highway 340. We expect to revert back to the original routing from November onwards. Elsewhere in Thailand, including the north and the southern islands and beaches such as Phuket and Koh Samui, there are no floods and everything is 100% safe and normal.

We are monitoring the situation very closely and, as always, the safety of our clients is our number one priority. If the situation changes in Bangkok or any other part of Thailand we will update you as soon as possible, and we have very careful contingency plans in place in case the flooding gets worse.

Thanks and Happy Travels,
Palace Tours

Ayutthaya is still flooded and all sightseeing tours to Ayutthaya, Lopburi and Uthai Thani are suspended until at least the end of October. Despite encouraging signs early this week, Bangkok may also see some flooding close to the city’s center, though it is unlikely that the central business district and tourist attractions will be affected.

The highways in Central Thailand are starting to clear, with some sections that were previously flooded becoming accessible. However, the classic Bangkok to the North tour is still being re-routed along highway 340 instead of Asia Highway No. 1, resulting in an extra 2.5 hours journey time for this tour. All trains from Bangkok to the north of Thailand are cancelled until further notice, but trains to/from the north-east are operating normally. All airports in Thailand, including Bangkok’s main international airport, are running normally, as well.

We are monitoring the situation very closely and, as always, the safety of our clients is our number one priority. If the situation changes in Bangkok or any part of Thailand we will update you as soon as possible, and we have very careful contingency plans in place in case the flooding is worse than expected.

Happy Travels!
Palace Tours