Crew News

Staff Wine Training Course - Cambodia

The product knowledge is of great importance as it is a part of ensuring guest satisfaction. Therefore, on 6-7 September 2006, wines & Spirit supplier "Celliers d'Asie" has conducted a wine training for all the Food & Beverage staff.

The training has focused on basic wine knowledge such as the availability of wines on the ships, generalities about wine, the different grape varieties, wine making, French wine classification, French main appellations and production area, other old world wine producer such as Italia, Spain and basic new world wine knowledge such as Australia, Argentina, USA, Chile and at the end has focused on food &wine matching and wine tasting.

All of the crew has enjoyed the training. They have asked a lot of questions and they have been asked question at the end of the session, when they had an examination. As the result of the examination, the trainer is very happy with the score the staff has received. The top score is 49/50 while the lowest score is 37/50. Well done to all!

Paul Morrison Guide Award

Wanderlust Magazine (UK) have shortlisted 11 great guides for the Paul Morrison Guide Award - now they need you to help decide who is the world's best

In December they launched the inaugural Wanderlust Paul Morrison Guide Award to recognise those unsung heroes of the travel world - tour guides. Tour leaders, safari guides, sherpas, naturalists - these are the people who can make or break your travel experience.

They asked for your nominations and received an incredible response. It was extremely difficult to draw up a shortlist but of of the 11 successful guides from round the world was our own Daniel 'Ko Htin Gyi' Townsend.

Now Wanderlust want your opinions again. If you have travelled with Daniel, they want to hear about your experiences with him - who do you feel deserves the ultimate accolade of World’s Top Guide?

Once we have compiled your additional plaudits and comments, the panel - headed by Bill Bryson - will vanish into a locked vault to determine the overall winner. The results will be published this autumn.

Ko Htin Gyi, Burmese Guide

Born in Burma in 1973, Ko Htin Gyi received the best education the country had to offer. He trained to become a guide through a government incentive and went on to study in Italy before returning to his homeland to start his career. Better known to his passengers as Daniel, Ko has worked as a freelance guide for nearly 12 years and speaks English and Spanish as well as Italian.

Jean and Richard Evans met Daniel on a cruise on the Upper Irrawaddy. "His incredible knowledge of Burma’s history and the people’s way of life made our trip up the Irrawaddy an unforgettable one. Through our Western eyes, the village life was like nothing we’d seen before and with Daniel’s intimate knowledge and attention to detail we learned so much about these lovely people. His enthusiasm was so great that, even when we began to wilt, he encouraged and inspired us to do more.

"We were in the company of some intrepid travellers and some of the questions put to Daniel were far reaching, but he never failed to come up with the answers. When we were on board, instead of taking a break he invited us to join him for talks and demonstrations on local rituals. He also went to the trouble of working into the early hours to provide us with a detailed summary of our trip. Apart from the vast knowledge of Myanmar he shared with us, Daniel made each excursion such fun due to his great sense of humour."

Andrew and Jöke Jameson from Walmer, Kent, add: "When we went into small villages, Daniel spoke to the headmen and got permission for us to visit local houses. In the markets he explained all the different things on sale and showed us how they were used. In his free time he gave us lectures about local customs, hairstyles and clothing. He was so terribly enthusiastic. Nothing was too much to ask for.

"When my husband developed a skin condition, Daniel even went out late in the evening to find him some medication. Daniel is an amazing guide who went out of his way to tell us about life for the people in Burma. We have travelled a great deal, with many different tour companies, and Daniel stood out because of his thoughtfulness, knowledge and sheer enthusiasm in each and every thing he did with us. Having visited over 100 countries, we have never had a guide to match him."

Send your votes and opinions to: Wanderlust, Paul Morrison Guide Award [name of guide], 1 Leworth Place, Bachelors Acre, Windsor SL4 1EB, or email topguide@wanderlust.co.uk, writing the name of the guide in the subject field.

Closing date: 31 May 2006