New luxury train from Tibet to China
Travellers wanting to see Tibet and remote parts of China in complete comfort can book a new train service starting next month. The Tibet & China Rail Discovery journey uses the Shangri-La Express Private Train to travel from Lhasa in Tibet to Urumqui in the northern Chinese province of Xinjiang. The trip includes five nights hotel accommodation including three nights in Lhasa, and six nights aboard the train. Tickets cost £8,995 (Dh43,780) per person, not including international flights, through Golden Eagle Luxury Trains (www.goldeneagleluxurytrains.com). Air Arabia (www.airarabia.com) flies direct from Sharjah to Urumqi, home to a large Muslim Uighur population.
First Stone Town food festival in Zanzibar
Stone Town, the old part of Zanzibar City, will hold its first food festival next month. The event is designed to showcase the Tanzanian city's unique culinary traditions and will take place in hotels, restaurants and street food carts across the city from October 13 to 16 this year. Specially created menus will cost from 5,000 (Dh8) to 38,000 (Dh64) Tanzanian shillings and there will also be music performances and art exhibitions. Participating venues include Emerson hotels, 6 Degrees South, Africa House, Jafferji House & Spa, Ocean Grill, Taperia Wine & Tapas, Emerson on Hurumzi, La Taverna, the Mizingani Seafront Hotel, Kisiwa House, Monsoon Restaurant, Jafferji House & Spa Stone Town Cafe, Taarab at DoubleTree by Hilton, Beyt Al Salam and the Park Hyatt Zanzibar. For more information visit the Stone Town Food Festival Facebook page.
New Trump hotel in Washington, DC
The hotel group belonging to the US presidential candidate Donald Trump opened a hotel in Washington, DC this week. The Trump International Hotel Washington, DC has 263 rooms, including the 6,300-square-foot Trump Townhouse, which the company claims is the city's largest hotel suite. The hotel occupies the grand Old Post Office building on Pennsylvania Avenue, which dates from 1899 and incorporates a large clock tower. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and has undergone a three-year renovation costing US$200 million (Dh734.5m) . Rooms currently cost from $820 (Dh3,000) per night including taxes (www.trumphotels.com).
Yellow fever certificate valid for life
The World Health Organisation has announced that yellow fever vaccination certificates, required by travellers from affected areas, mainly in Africa and Central and South America, to many unaffected countries around the world, now have a lifetime validity. Previously, the certificate was only valid for 10 years. The WHO (www.who.int) has stated that existing certificates will automatically be deemed to have lifetime validity and that travellers who have already been vaccinated against the mosquito-borne disease do not need to be re-vaccinated.
