10 Travel Adventures That Wont Break The Bank

Dreaming of taking a Big Trip in 2007? Finances a bit tight? Well, take a look at the following destinations.VietnamFor the ultimate traffic tale to tell the folks back home, head for Hanois old quarter. Any attempt to cross the road turns into a heart-racing adventure. Not only are you contending with psycho-cyclos (rickshaw bicycles), there are thousands of motorbikes and scooters whose riders regard a red traffic signal as a suggestion rather than an instruction. Best place to experience the utter chaos is from within a cyclo rickshaw.The southernmost of the Baltic States, visitors usually couple Lithuania together with Latvia and Estonia. However, you can easily spend a week in Lithuania alone. Quirky cities like Vilnius and Kaunas are steeped in art, music and historical curiosities…mushroom-scented woods and farmers riding on haycarts…mysterious sites steeped in pagan traditionsthe windswept sands of the Curonian Spit where you can beach-comb for amber.Granada, NicaraguaGoa, Southern IndiaIncluding four beers, two people can eat in a beach shack for under $10. And if you want to cut your expenses to the bone, theres accommodation in simple beach chalets for as little as $8 a night.Famed for its port wine lodges (yes, they do offer free samples), Porto is Portugals second city. An historic Atlantic trading port, its warren of laundry-hung alleys plunges down to a waterfront of boats, nets and fish restaurants. Sheets of cod (bacalhau) hang outside grocery stores with original art nouveau tiled facades; the church of Sao Francisco has a gold leaf interior that would make King Midas salivate. Dont miss the Bolhau food market or the Torre dos Clerigos, Portugals highest belfry tower. From the top, youll get great views over the jumbled cityscape of churches, bridges and red-roofed houses.MontenegroNow paint in monasteries slotted into mountain crevices and fishing villages of red-tiled roofs and deep-green shutters. Roman mosaics…olive groves…water-lilied lakes…deep canyons and the mighty Boka Kotorska, Europes southernmost fjord…the border town of Ulcinj with its minarets and tales of pirate slave-trading.The Alps? Theres no denying that Switzerland is one of the most scenically gorgeous countries on earth. But unless youre armed with an expense account, I can promise you that exploring its mountains, lakes and medieval towns will wreak havoc on your finances.Penang, MalaysiaWith a distinct Chinese flavor, one of Malaysias star turns is Georgetown, capital of Penang island. You come across snake temples, arcaded shophouses and tiny workshops specializing in mahjong tiles and dice; kong-teik craftsmen who make funerary paper artifacts; fish getting dried like laundry in the open air. On the Weld Quay waterfront, around 2,000 fishing families live in rickety wooden dwellings on the Clan Quay jetties.On the Greek island of Crete, Chania is one town that it would be criminal to miss. Cretes former capital, its history goes back 5,000 years. In the Old Towns skinny alleyways youll find icon workshops…lyres hanging in dusty musical instrument repair-shops…bursts of white jasmine cascading from archways…cats snoozing on balconies…the unlikely sights of a pencil-thin minaret above church towers and a mosque squatting on the waterfront.Bohemia, the Czech RepublicMany towns have stoupas…lofty “plague pillars” adorned with chained devils. They commemorate deliverance from the plagues, which swept Europe during the Middle Ages. Then theres Karlovy Vary, the oldest of Bohemias grand spa towns. With spa water bubbling up all over town which visitors can collect for free, its a gorgeous place of baroque buildings in sugar-plum colors, flowery parks, and shops glittering with Bohemian crystal.