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From the Sydney suburbs to Uluru, from the Great Barrier Reef to Perth, the Con-servation Volunteer Australia program assembles teams of international volun-teers to go out a week at a time and work on bringing back Earth’s eco-balance. Each week (or two), the program places you in a new location, so your timing will establish where in Australia you’ll work. Tasmanian projects are also part of the schedule. Groups of 6 to 10 individuals work from 8am to 4pm pulling weeds and invasive plants, tree planting and seed col-lecting, building fencing and trail markers, surveying flora and fauna, and conducting environmental auditing. The tasks vary depending on the nature preserve or park-land engaged for the week, but it’s guar-anteed you’ll work hard in the great outdoors.

When you arrive, your team leader will brief you and provide any specific training necessary for the workload (identifying particular plant species, using mapping and data collection technology, and so on). You’ll also be briefed on the conserva-tion goals for the project and the lay of the land. On some projects you’ll be based in the same spot each day, others will have you leading a nomadic life, camping in a new spot each day. Most of your time will be spent in predominantly rural settings, so you should expect to be away from big cities once you begin. The projects are scheduled for 5 days a week with 2 off days. Many participants join for a few weeks, moving to the next locale in the following weeks.

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Environmental ProtectionPlanting in the Land of Oz

Nationwide, Australia

TRAVELING DOWN UNDER—WITNESSING THE VARIED, NATURAL BEAUTY OF THE GREGARIOUS,laid-back country firsthand—will inspire you to get your hands dirty to protect it. With many locations in the country to choose from, you can even use it as a way to decide where to travel next, with a new group of friends waiting at each project site.

Your accommodations are as variable as the projects themselves. Housing may be in tents (provided, but you’ll bring your own sleeping bag/pad), hostels, sheep shearer’s shacks, farms, bunkhouses, or caravans. Food is provided on-site, and the team often pitches in cooperatively with meal preparation and cleanup. The season can also affect the type of work necessary in a location. Perhaps spring-time in Geelong is focused on eradicating weeds and invasive species from a stretch of nature preserve, and a week in autumn in the same preserve might prioritize planting and protective fencing. Your flex-ibility is paramount, and just jumping in is the most important required skill. It’s an ideal opportunity to see parts of Australia that aren’t on the tourist track.

YOUR NEXT STEP: Twin Work & Volun-teer Abroad (& 800/80 483 80; www.workandvolunteer.com). A 1-week stay, US$582,includes all meals, accommoda-tions (type varies with project), and proj-ect training. You’ll get yourself to the team meeting spot on the first day of volunteer work.

DON’T MISS: Your assignment can be anywhere in Australia or Tasmania, so you’ll be seeing and experiencing the nature and unique environment of the region where you are posted. It is likely that you’ll fly, from North America or Western Europe, into Sydney, so consider booking a few days here before or after your volunteer work. A hugely popular

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activity that gives a unique view of the city and water is the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb, walking and climbing your way through the steel structure to the top of

the central arch of the bridge, 134m (440 ft.) above the bay.

� www.australia.com

The nearly impenetrable jungles of Cambo-dia are home to some of the planet’s most endangered species: tiger, sun bear, gib-bon, and leopard. Much of Botum Sakor National Park remains uncharted and, in many sections, impassable, as the foliage grows too dense for travel, even with a machete. On this 3-week project, you’ll record botanic and soil findings and ani-mals spotted. You may even discover spe-cies new to science and certainly unique to this ecosystem. This work requires a good level of fitness, as you’ll be trekking over rugged terrain and for long hours each day in pursuit of the scientific support for con-servation planning in the Khmer empire. The region is not entirely uninhabited, and you’ll visit many small villages where you’ll interview (with an interpreter) locals to assess how reliant the communities are upon the forest resources and the ways they interact with the flora and fauna for everything from shelter and food to medi-cine and recreation.

You’ll be fully trained in field research techniques as you gather plant samples, look for and record animal tracks, take environmental readings from various types of equipment, and photograph and sketch specific plants and animals. These crucial surveys will be used to formulate sensitive policies that protect endangered

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Tropical Forest ConservationMapping the Jungle

Botum Sakor National Park, Cambodia

FOR MOST WESTERNERS, THE DENSE, TROPICAL JUNGLES OF CAMBODIA HAVE ONLY BEEN encountered through films or documentaries. Even when you’re there, it’s thick and remote, with all the challenges one might imagine, and this national park that you’ll be working in is no exception.

species and habitat. With the cultural immersion in visited villages, you’ll also aid in engaging Khmer communities with the priorities of conservation and sensible protection.

Even getting to the base camp for this project is an arduous adventure, requiring bus, car, and, in some seasons, boat. The remote camp consists of a communal longhouse surrounded by tents and forest huts. It’s all temporary, and when broken down will leave no permanent scar on the forest environment—a philosophy that carries over to daily life on-site as well. You’ll share campfire meals and sleeping quarters with fellow volunteers, clean up in a stream or via bucket bath, and if the work takes you away from base to an over-night satellite camp, string up your own hammock in which you’ll slumber under the canopy. Free time can be spent explor-ing (if you’ve not lost your taste for hiking from the day’s work) or relaxing in camp. The team leaders try to establish at least one community celebration with local vil-lagers where you’ll share a feast, dancing, and song, making it a real forest holiday.

YOUR NEXT STEP: Frontier-Cambodia (& +44/20 7613 2422; www.frontier.ac.uk). A 3-week program, US$1,593/£1,095, includes rustic shared housing in communal

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Soccer, futbol, footie, whatever you like to call it, is the most popular team sport in the world, and the world’s biggest sport-ing event is the World Cup. In cosmopoli-tan Melbourne, where they take their footie very seriously, there’s an alternative tournament no less important, and you can help make it happen. The Homeless World Cup shatters stereotypes as more than 500 soccer players from 56 nations compete—and each is homeless. Some 25,000 homeless competitors play in their home countries in the qualifying games

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Work the Homeless World CupPitch in on the Pitch

Melbourne, Australia

NO FOOTBALL FAN COULD PASS UP THIS CHANCE TO VOLUNTEER AT ONE OF THE WORLD’S most unique international sporting events in one of the world’s most unique cities. More laid-back and beachy than Sydney, Melbourne manages to maintain a hip, eclectic inter-national vibe. Taking part in the annual Homeless World Cup will give you the chance to effect real change, while helping “the beautiful game” live up to its name.

before the top teams are chosen for the Homeless World Cup. In 2008, a Women’s World Cup was added, and there is now also a cultural festival to highlight the plight of the homeless and outdoor screenings in Federation Square of films made by and about the homeless.

The festival and tournaments depend on volunteers like you each year. More than 400 matches will be played during the week, and you’ll opt for the ways to pitch in that best suit you: coordinating transporta-tion, registration and information booths;

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COACH TENNIS AT TOP TENNIS ACADEMY

acting as a referee or scorer, or even medi-cal or media services. You will work full 8-hour days in the Australian summer (win-ter in North America), but Melbourne’s temperate beach weather keeps you cool during the days and the coastal neighbor-hoods, like St. Kilda, have some excellent cultural and dining options for your eve-nings and free time.

YOUR NEXT STEP: Homeless World Cup & 131/561-1796; www.homelessworldcup.org). On-site volunteers during the 1-week tournament receive a meal

during daily 8-hour shifts, but beyond that you’ll arrange your own accommodations and meals. Hands Up Holidays & 201/984-5372; www.handsupholidays.com). A 17-day trip, US$3,200, includes accommo-dations, meals, and a post-tournament trip to Sydney and the Great Barrier Reef.

DON’T MISS: Take a breathtakingly sce-nic drive north on the Great Ocean Road to see the famous Twelve Apostles, the Otways rainforest, and Bells Beach. www.greatoceanrd.org.au

� www.visitmelbourne.com

Perth is known as Western Australia’s “action city,” and most of that action hap-pens outdoors. Tennis has a wide and enthu-siastic following, and on this project you’ll coach junior and senior players at all levels to improve their game. Your proximity to the beach and civic green spaces will keep you outside long after match point, but you’ll also need to put in some off-court time help-ing with marketing and lesson planning.

You may opt to go through the Coach Trainership Program, which isn’t required but is great experience if you’re a coach or hope to pursue a coaching career at home. You’ll also be given a subscription to a coaching web community, including a mem-bership in the International Coaches Associ-ation (ICA), represented by coaches from 65 nations. Your mornings are spent in mixed group classes while your afternoons and evenings have you coaching individuals. The 12 junior teams at the club comprise boy and girl players of various levels, and the

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Coach Tennis at Top Tennis AcademyServing Up Sun

Perth, Australia

THE PICTURE-POSTCARD BEACH TOWN OF PERTH IS AN IDEAL PLACE TO PASS ON YOUR KNOWLEDGE of how to hit a perfect backhand or add some spin to your serve. One of the sunniest places in all of Australia, it’s hipster meets hippie in this most modern, yet still laid-back of cities.

nature of the game means you’ll be spend-ing lots of one-on-one time working toward tournament play. Extra lessons can be picked up on weekends as well.

Home base is in Perth’s Central Busi-ness District, so you have easy access to shopping, great restaurants and pubs, cultural institutions, and the main shop-ping district. You’ll stay in a central lodge where you’ll share kitchen and bathroom (as well as pool table, cable TV, arcade games—all the comforts of home) and have a room to yourself—so you won’t be roughing it. The rough part is packing up and leaving the copious sunshine.

YOUR NEXT STEP: Travellers Worldwide (& +44/1903 502595; www.travellersworldwide.com). A 2-week stay, £926, includes food, accommodations in group lodge with private room/shared bath, full project support as well as city and project orientation, and airport transfers.

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DON’T MISS: In a city where people spend as much time as possible outdoors, the most beautiful attractions are basking in sunshine. Kings Park and Botanic Gardens is nearly 405ha (1,000 acres) of parkland, gardens, and native bushland. The views from its heights on Mount Eliza, as well as meandering trails,

hundreds of species of flora and fauna, and State War Memorial, bring locals and visitors alike. In the summertime, al fresco perfor-mances and festivals fill the calendar. www.bgpa.wa.gov.au

� www.perthtouristcentre.com.au

In Santa Cruz, you’ll work with youth ages 5 to 18, most from the orphanage, who are eager for mentoring and structured activity. Sport and game projects provide healthy alternatives to the lures of crime and drugs that many of their peers find irresistible.

A 2- or 3-week stint will keep you busy and, more importantly, keep your charges busy. It’s an easy learning curve as they engage in teamwork and discipline while practicing their English as they listen to you. You’ll directly influence their confi-dence and tolerance of others as these kids practice soccer, basketball, aerobics, track, even chess and other board games. As you immerse them in play and inte-grated healthy competition, you’ll find yourself awash in the warmth of the “fam-ily” they create among their friends.

You’ll coach, train, referee, and help maintain the gym and field, along with your student helpers, giving everyone a sense of ownership and pride in the equip-ment and arena. You can also help with homework, teach conversational English, and support after-school study hall and extracurricular game activities.

Many children in rural Bolivia still don’t have access to regular schooling, and

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Teaching Sport & After-School ProgramsAndean Orphans

Santa Cruz, Bolivia

SITUATED AT THE FOOT OF THE ANDES MOUNTAIN, SANTA CRUZ IS BOLIVIA’S LARGEST CITY and arguably one of the country’s most culturally diverse. Here, ancient cathedrals and Incan ruins vie with the extraordinary tropical beauty of the Amazon for a visitor’s atten-tion. Keep in mind Santa Cruz also happens to be the country’s gastronomic capital.

family pressure to work can pull them away from educational opportunities at a very young age. Children in rural areas average 4 years of school, and urban Bolivian students top out at an average of 9 years, but across the board, education is uneven and underfunded. Your contribu-tion of time and energy will have an enor-mous impact on the enthusiasm of kids, keeping them interested and engaged. Many volunteers also bring sports equip-ment with them, knowing balls and nets (as well as games, shoes, and team jer-seys) are rare.

YOUR NEXT STEP: uVolunteer (& 971/252-1334; www.uvolunteer.org). A 2-week program, US$695, includes food and accommodations, 24-hour support, host-country orientation, and airport transportation.

DON’T MISS: 120 km (75 miles) south-west from Santa Cruz you’ll find the for-tress El Fuerte de Samaipata, a large site of Inca ruins declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site—which some people insist is also a landing area for UFOs.

� www.visitbolivia.org

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emphasis is placed on kids interacting with one another and their environment. In a world that tells kids “Don’t Touch” in every language, this is a chance to truly explore with childlike wonder.

You’ll learn all of the art and science projects the museum has created for kids to get the very most out of their experi-ence. Your input with additional ideas and activities is wholeheartedly encouraged, so come armed with workshops and games. Your work with small groups of excited children in new (and like all new experiences, perhaps daunting for some) environments helps teach the joy of learn-ing and immersive exploration. If you have prior experience with education or coun-seling, your input will be highly prized (though no experience is required—just enthusiasm).

You’ll stay with a host family while in Cordoba, and your evenings are wide open to explore the colonial city. Spend a sunset at the highest point in the city, beautiful Sarmineto Park. With its trails and rose garden, it’s the lungs of the city.

Bounteous food is everywhere, though the host family will serve you meals twice a day (except on Sundays, when meals won’t be served in your host home). While volunteers who can commit a minimum of 6 weeks are preferred, shorter stints—2 weeks—can be arranged.

YOUR NEXT STEP: Center for Cultural Interchange (& 312/944-2544; www.cci-exchange.com). The 2-week project, US$1,150, includes host family accommoda-tions, two meals daily (except Sundays), local city orientation, project training, and support. You’ll get yourself to Cordoba for the beginning of your volunteer assignment.

DON’T MISS: Considered one of the most beautiful natural features on the planet, Iguazu Falls is in fact a collection of thun-dering waterfalls, about 275 of them reaching a height of 200 ft. (60m). It is pos-sible to stand in one spot and be almost entirely surrounded by an array of falling water.

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Practically everyone at one point during their youth declared they wanted to be a zookeeper. Of course we had no idea how hard the work actually was—we all just wanted to pet big animals. On this wildlife rehabilitation assignment in Perth, you’ll get to experience a wide array of tasks, some completely inglorious and others quite sublime. You’ll work with an all-vol-unteer organization, taking care of sick and injured animals from across the diverse Australian wildlife spectrum. More

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Wildlife Rehabilitation ParkCare for Aussie Animals Next Door to the City

Perth, Australia

GET SWEPT UP IN THE LAID-BACK, FUN-LOVING WAY OF LIFE DOWN UNDER IN WESTERN Australia. After taking care of animals all day, take care of yourself by visiting vineyards, kayaking, bicycling, or swimming in the warm waters.

than 80% of Australia’s flora and fauna is native only to Australia, so conservation and protection of species takes on an urgent tone. The wildlife park is adjacent to a wetlands education center, which expands the available natural habitats, making the release of rehabilitated ani-mals back into the wilderness much easier on the volunteer team and on the animal. More than 3,000 animals are brought to the center each year.

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You can expect to work with kangaroos, pelicans, and giant seabirds, which have been blown off course and become too exhausted to continue their migration. The universal goal is to rehabilitate and treat animals to get them reintegrated into the wild as soon as possible. Some ani-mals, due to the nature of their injuries, cannot be safely reintroduced, so they become educational mascots of the cen-ter or, often, foster parents for young, injured animals. In addition to caring for individual animals, you’ll also prepare food for them, clean and maintain enclosures, do environmental surveying, compile medical and behavioral records, assist with animal captures, and help with the many visitors and school groups who visit the park as an outdoor education center.

When you’re away from the park, you’ll be based in Perth’s Central Business Dis-trict (CBD), so you’re conveniently located near all the comforts (and welcome dis-tractions) of the city. Home is a centrally located lodge with private rooms and shared bath and kitchen facilities, plus

pool table, arcade machines, cable TV, and free CBD transportation. Walk to the city’s famous Swan River or take a free shuttle to other parks to get back out-side—practically an Aussie mandate, even on your day off.

YOUR NEXT STEP: Travellers World-wide (UK: +44/1903 502595; www.travellersworldwide.com). A 2-week assignment, £945, includes lodge-style accommodations in the city’s center with meals included, project training and sup-port, airport transfers and city orientation tours, and an indigenous heritage tour in Kings Park.

DON’T MISS: One of the more famous areas of Perth is Fremantle (referred to locally as Freo), which is the city’s busy port and quite rich in history. Most days, and especially on weekends, you will find markets, live street entertainment, and plenty of alfresco cafes.

� www.perthtouristcentre.com.au

So much of the ultimate China travel expe-rience is exploring the history of a country that reveres ancestry and tradition. China could dominate the world markets of the next century, and it has built much of its strength based on 5,000 years of history lessons, starting with the X’ia. Immerse yourself in the past by volunteering in the underground exhibition halls of the Han Yangling Museum, located beneath the mausoleum in the tomb of Jung Di, the

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Han Yangling MuseumAncient Art & Culture

X’ian, China

SOAK UP THE HISTORY, CULTURE, AND TRADITIONS OF CHINA BY WORKING IN THIS MUSEUM. The town where it’s located has played an important role in the development of this ancient country, going all the way back to the Tang Dynasty.

fourth emperor of the Han Dynasty. Art and culture have spanned an incredible array of influences and styles, from emper-ors through the Opium Wars to the Cul-tural Revolution during Mao’s time in office. Even through the periods of tumul-tuous unrest when intellectuals and artists were persecuted, great works of cultural significance were stowed away for the future—many of which are now in the Han Yangling, some still undisplayed.

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Tiger TempleBuddhism & Big Cats

Kanchanaburi, Thailand

THE MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN OF KANCHANABURI SHARES A BORDER AND A LITTLE OF ITS FOODand culture with Burma. It’s become a well-trod tourist destination thanks to a wealth of wildlife sanctuaries, jungle trekking, and explorable caves. You may not think that the peaceful practice of Buddhism and man-eating tigers have anything in common, but if you choose to volunteer in Kanchanaburi, you’ll soon see why they do.

A Buddhist monk poses with two giant tigers at the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi.

You may have seen the Tiger Temple, and its charismatic big cats, on one of many adventure or animal television programs. The tigers, most of whom were orphaned by poachers, are cared for by saffron-robed Thai monks, making the forest mon-astery a television producer’s dream. While the tigers here are stars, they are also semi-wild animals that need plenty of care and attention from the monks, as well as international volunteers. Those who come live as monks, meditating, seeking inner guidance, walking full-grown tigers

on leashes, feeding them, and generally caring for them and the many other ani-mals at the sanctuary. This program is a unique opportunity to blend tigers and Buddhism.

Your days are spent in meditation and prayer sessions with the monks and the abbot, as well as feeding the animals, cleaning cages, and working on new natu-rally styled enclosures that will serve as a new home for the tigers. It’s tough work and long hours for a 6-day workweek. The well-known tigers also get visitors

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Retreats466

World Peace AshramGardening in the Desert

Concho, Arizona, USA

ONE OF THE COUNTRY’S ORIGINAL PIONEER TOWNS, CONCHO IS A PLACE YOU CAN CONFIDENTLY call “off the beaten path.” Lying on the edge of the White Mountains, the village has maintained a small-town feel while hosting people who flock to the area to hike, horse-back, and hunt. But if you’re more into meditation than recreation, Arizona’s most famous ashram is for you.

throughout the day, sometimes entire busloads, so you may need to help get them ready as well as teach what you’ve learned about tiger conservation and the perils facing this endangered species. Tourists are also able to interact with some of the tigers, and volunteers are on hand to keep the visitors (and the cats) safe. If the need arises, you may also assist the veterinarian, do some data work and administrative office help, and small main-tenance chores.

You’ll be living a Buddhist lifestyle at the sanctuary, in very simple forest shelters for solitary, hermit-like exploration, or in separate men’s and women’s rooms with electricity and showers available. Your free time is expected to be spent in medi-tation, and there are some specific rules about behavior and conduct at this active monastery: no perfume or jewelry; white clothes must be worn for meditation; no dancing or singing; no sleeping on a luxuri-ous bed; and certain foods can only be eaten at certain times (all meals are pro-vided). It’s a reverent and ascetic environ-ment dedicated to inner searching as well

as caring for the tigers. There is a certainty that the tigers were monks in a former life, so they are brethren and treated that way.

YOUR NEXT STEP: Wat Pa Luangta Bua Yannasampanno Forest Monastery (Tiger Temple) (& 034-531-557; www.tigertemple.org). The monks require a minimum 1-month commitment, with expectations of a 6-day workweek, daily meditation, and temple services. Meals and accommodations are provided. No fee for volunteers.

DON’T MISS: Not far from the Tiger Tem-ple is the Lopburi Monkey Temple, San Phra Kan. Here among the ruins of a once grand stone temple are hundreds of mon-keys freely running, playing, sleeping, and swinging from the trees. They may try to jump on your back, but while used to humans, make no mistake: these are still wild animals (and they tend to be extraor-dinarily curious about glasses and jewelry, so remove any shiny objects before head-ing into the temple area).

� www.tourismthailand.org

This spiritual community center in the Ari-zona desert is a portal to deeper medita-tive work for those of all faiths. A place of silence and reflection, free of crowds and technology, the ashram allows you to get in touch with the higher power you seek while simultaneously finding harmony in nature in the desert. There is also the

satisfaction of working hard to physically improve the ashram itself. It’s a chance for a short-term monk-like respite, with hours of contemplation and meditation balanced with physical service working to beautify the grounds and gardens. The goal is to return a portion of the land to its natural wildness. The retreat staff and visitors

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development. You may need to step off the teaching track to help rescue sea tur-tles or clear debris that makes part of the beach unsafe.

You’ll share a group volunteer house in the village. Breakfasts and dinners are provided, but lunches are your responsi-bility—try out local restaurants or pack some fruit and bread. Your free time in the evenings and weekends will likely be spent the same way the villagers pass their free time, in the neighborhood among friends. Beach time and hikes in the region are always available to get a broader view of Sri Lankan life and the still-beautiful, recov-ering, coastal zone.

YOUR NEXT STEP: i-to-i (toll free: 800/985-4852; www.i-to-i.com). A 2-week

project, US$1,545, includes the cost of homestay accommodations, two meals daily, project training and support, air-port pickup, and in-country orientation program.

DON’T MISS: You’ve spent your work time on the tsunami-ravaged coast, so if you can add a few days, head inland to the less affected central mountain zonesof Sri Lanka. There are rock climbing and trek-king opportunities in lush jungles, and a fun way to trek and spot wildlife is on an elephant safari. Riding the gentle giants will connect you to the natural world in a profound way.

� www.srilankatourism.org

While the Andaman Sea coast of Thailand has recovered remarkably since the 2004 tsunami, many children lost their families in that tragedy and are now supported at an orphanage in the beach community of Khao Lak.

You’ll spend three days of this nine-day excursion working at the orphanage. Your tasks will be varied, from washing and dressing little ones, preparing meals and feeding, childcare, some cleaning, and edu-cation and recreation opportunities. Teach some English, lead a song or dance, set up a soccer competition, or oversee arts and crafts activities. Most of the need is to free up some of the time of the overworked permanent staff so they can attend to more needy cases or the administrative work

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Tsunami OrphanageTouring & Toil

Khao Lak Province, Thailand

IMAGINE THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS, A BALANCE OF EXPERIENCES: A COMPREHENSIVE TRIP through the important sights and experiences of Thailand, followed by volunteer time taking care of children whose lives have been forever altered by Mother Nature’s destructive forces.

required to keep the operation running. You’ll need to be flexibile—one minute you may be asked to read a story to a sleepy six-year-old or you could be called to clean up spilled paint the next.

Before and after your stint as a volun-teer, you’ll have a high-end touring vaca-tion through Bangkok and its temples and palaces, the ancient capital of Ayuthaya, a luxury jungle camp, a riverboat cruise, elephant rides, beach relaxation, and even Thai cooking classes.

The accommodations throughout this tour are luxurious, from five-star hotels to boutique resorts and even luxury tents in the jungle. Many meals are included, but you’ll also have ample opportunity to dine out and choose your own restaurant for

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A boat washed ashore in Khao Lak Province, Thailand

some lunches and dinners. Plenty of relax-ation time is built into the schedule as you travel from Bangkok to the south near Phuket, seeing much of the lower half of the country.

YOUR NEXT STEP: Hands Up Holidays (& 201/984-5372; www.handsupholidays.com). This 9-day tour, US$3,400, includes luxury accommodations at five-star hotels and luxury tented camps, all internal trans-portation including flights, river boats, tour bus, and so on, some meals as per itinerary, guided tours, and activities. Also North by Northeast (& +66/2-611-1988; www.north-by-north-east.com). Three-day service trips to the tsunami region of Andaman Sea (often as an add-on to other trips), US$283, includes home

stay with a local family, meals, insurance, local transportation, an English-speaking guide, and project time with teaching, mangrove reforestation, beach cleanup, Nipa Palm roof weaving, women’s busi-ness collective help, or working at wildlife rescue center.

DON’T MISS: Since this trip is relatively comprehensive in the more heavily trav-eled central and southern areas, you’ll want to get a taste of the north. Plan a visit to Chiang Rai, the quieter sister city of Chiang Mai, with beautiful temples, the royal villa home to the mother of the King of Thailand, and proud handicraft tradi-tions displayed in the marketplaces and museums.

� www.tourismthailand.org