Asia
Travel into the heart of a country and its people. The Friendship Force signature program of home hospitality puts you in the center of another culture. Join one of our exchanges today!
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EXPLORE LIFE IN THREE UNIQUE CITIES OF INDONESIA
Samarinda, Malang and Bali, Indonesia
August 31 to September 18, 2013
HIGHLIGHTS
- Explore Malang, the second largest city in East Java, with a population of a million people and five temples that are thousands of years old.
- Travel to Mt. Bromo, an active volcano, one of the most visited tourist attractions in East Java.
- Visit the Pampang Cultural Village in Samarinda.
- Bargain and shop at an Indonesian village market.
- Enjoy several days in Bali.
Indonesia, the fourth most populous country in the world, consists of over 17,500 islands of which only 6,000 are inhabited; it has a population of 240 million people in over 350 ethnic groups.
We will get acquainted with the exotic blend of cultures, learn about Javanese traditional music, fruits/plants, test our bargaining skills at a village bazaar, learn the legend of the Coban Rondo Waterfall, and enjoy the Dutch architecture of the Mulawarman Museum. This museum in Samarinda is in a 1930s palace where 19 sultans reigned and lived. It has a Balinese puppet theatre.
At the Pampang Cultural Village in Samarinda, we will see Dayak dancers. We can pay to have our pictures taken in traditional clothing or with Dayak people and purchase local products and souvenirs.
In Malang, sometimes called “Paris of East Java,” there are ten senior highs, 13 colleges and universities and two international schools. We will visit the Wonosari Tea Plantation and the Baku Secret Zoo.
We will spend a night at Mount Bromo, a well known tourist attraction, with an active volcano in the Tenyger Semeru National Park. We will leave our Indonesian hosts to spend several days in Bali before returning home.
$1800 US dollars. Includes FFI and host fees. Does not include international airfare. Contact the ED for details.
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- Provided by the Friendship Force Clubs of Kolhapur in a hostel setting and with arranged day hosting.
24 spaces for the basic tour, 16 spaces for the additional days in Kolhapur
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NEW - DISCOVER THE PEOPLE, PLACES, SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF INDIA
Delhi, Jaipur, Agra, Varanasi and Kolhapur, India
September 12 to 24, 2013
HIGHLIGHTS
- Very highly recommended by previous Friendship Force groups
- Combines dinners with local families with daytime sightseeing opportunities and accommodation in quality hotels
- See India with old friends and like-minded travelers in a small group
- All the "must sees" including the Taj Mahal
- High season travel avoids extreme summer heat.
Meet-up will be in Delhi, India's principal international gateway. Delhi has thousands of years of history, New Delhi being the modern planned section dating from the British Raj. The metropolis is a mixture of modern and ancient architecture with 16 million people representing both traditional India and the emerging technological state.
Jaipur (3.6 million) is in the top 10 most popular Asian cities with its forts, temples and luxury hotels.
Agra is home to the Taj Mahal, which is certainly on the frequent traveler's list of sights to be seen at least once in a lifetime. And Varanasi is the city where you will see why Indians worship at the sacred Ganges River.
Between these four cities are stopovers to highlight as many aspects of Northern India as can be packed into 13 days.
After our basic 13-day program some of you may want to continue on with us for a four-night program a little further south with our friends in Kolhapur. Hosting will be in a hostel, dormitory-like setting at a boarding school owned and operated by the president of the Friendship Force of Kolhapur.
Participants should be physically fit and healthy to participate in this program. Travel will be by air, train and air-conditioned bus, so everyone must be able to carry their own baggage, possibly over unpaved terrain and up and down stairways.
$2500 USD for basic itinerary in India, based on double occupancy, including FFI fees. Add approx. $425 USD per person for Kolhapur transportation, fees and hosting costs depending on numbers.
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IMMERSE YOURSELF IN THE TRADITIONAL CULTURE OF JAPAN
Nara, Kyoto and Hiroshima, Japan
September 29 to October 14, 2013
HIGHLIGHTS
- See Japan’s oldest temples in Nara.
- Immerse yourself in Japan’s traditional culture in Kyoto and take in some of the cities 17 UNESCO World Heritage sites.
- Learn about the tragic history of the atomic bomb at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, and see the A-bomb Dome that withstood the bombing.
- See the famous “floating” torii gate at Miyajima.
- Discover the current culture of Japan and get to know your new friends in home stays in Nara and Hiroshima.
This exciting trip will start with our ride from Kanzai Airport in Osaka to the city of Nara. There we will spend 7 nights with host families. Nara is located less than one hour from Kyoto and Osaka. Due to its past as the first permanent capital, it remains full of historic treasures, including some of Japan's oldest and largest temples.
Next we will spend 2 nights in Kyoto. Kyoto is the storehouse of Japan’s traditional culture and the stage on which much of Japanese history was played out. With 17 Unesco World Heritage sites, more than 1600 Buddhist temples and over 400 Shintō shrines, Kyoto is also one of the world’s most culturally rich cities.
Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/japan/kansai/kyoto#ixzz2LxWQseTx
We will then travel to Hiroshima by train and spend 7 days there, from 8 Oct to 14 Oct. In Hiroshima, we have many special places to see. Among them are the World Heritage sites of Miyajima and Hiroshima A-bombMemorial Museum.
More info available as I receive updates from our hosts.
$1500 USD. Includes FFI and host fees. Does not include international airfare. Contact ED for details.
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- Provided by the Friendship Force Clubs of Ehime and Mie.
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ENCOUNTER THE NATURAL WONDERS OF JAPAN: MOUNTAINS, WATERFALLS AND SEAS
Hiroshima, Ehime, Mie and Tokyo, Japan
October 1 to 19, 2013
HIGHLIGHTS
- Learn about the tragic history of the atomic bomb at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, and see the A-bomb Dome that withstood the bombing.
- Visit a private house which has Japanese old-style rooms and a Japanese garden.
- Visit the large-scale multi-wing Matsuyama castle, one of only three in Japan.
- Visit the Ise-Shrine, Ise-Shima National Park, the Ninja Residence and the Akame 48 waterfalls
- Discover the current culture of Japan and get to know your new friends in home stays in Ehime and Mie
Three days in Hiroshima City will start off our trip to Japan. This prefectural capital, having gone through the atom-bomb tragedy for the first time in human history, is now visited by many people sharing the same value of eternal peace on the earth, and it is sending out a message of world peace with great dedication.
From there we will go to a six-night home stay in Ehime which is in Shikoku, a mountainous region. This makes it possible to enjoy both the seaside and the mountains within a day. The climate is mild almost all through the year. The people are open and friendly to strangers, perhaps because they are used to pilgrims who come from all over Japan to make a circuit of designated 88 temples on Shikoku.
We will travel by high speed rail to our next six-night home stay in Mie. Located almost at the center of the Japanese main island on the Pacific Ocean side, blessed with not only a variety of natural beauty from the mountains to the ocean but also a variety of good food. Due to its close proximity to Nara and Kyoto, the old capitals of Japan, this region historically had been an important part of the culture and economy. These backgrounds make this region attractive and worth visiting. Among the sightseeing spots, Ise Shrine, Ise-Shima National Park, the Ninja Residence, the Akame 48 waterfalls and Gozaisho mountain are famous.
We’ll complete our stay in Japan with a two-night stay in Tokyo with a guided tour of the Imperial Palace Plaza, Tokyo Tower Observatory, Asakuse Kannon Temple, Nakamise Shopping arcade, Meiji Shrine, and the Harajuka and Shibuya districts.
$1880 USD. Includes FFI, host fees, hotel stays in Hiroshima and Tokyo. Does not include international airfare. Contact the ED for details.
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