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Seven years ago I traveled to the beautiful island of Jamaica for the first time. Then it was the old Sangster airport, so there were no jetways. They would roll the steps up to the plane and you walked down them onto the tarmac. When the plane door opened, a blast of warm air drifted through the plane. It was like the breath of a sweet goddess.

I remember walking down those stairs that first time, seeing all the airport workers scattered around the place. I saw my own people (I am Black). As I was processed through, a feeling of "home" started to seep into my soul, mixed with a healthy dose of pride. This is OUR country. I was not in exile in someone's else's land anymore. I think it was the dawning of that reality that started my love affair with Jamaica.

Your first time out, you likely stay in an all-inclusive. It was no different for me. The one I chose was not one of the big conglomerate chains. It had charm and character, and the atmosphere among the people working there was like a family. Sadly, it has since been sold to the Sandals chain. The changes they made are appalling. They fired all the workers. The workers then had to reapply for their jobs; most were not rehired. I visited the place on one of my trips; I was almost brought to tears.

In all the times I have gone back and back and back again, I have found that Jamaica always has something new for me. I still have a long list of places I have not seen, things I have not gotten around to doing. Jamaica always entertains me; it never lets me down. I can feel free there. Jamaica does not judge me – not my age, my complexion, my habits. No one is running around worrying about what you are doing and then having an opinion about it, at least, not that they let you know.

What I envy the Jamaican people for the most is their culture. They have preserved the essence of Africa, unlike African Americans who had their precious life source systematically changed, over generations. I have a friend who travels to Ghana. She told me that if you close your eyes, you would swear you were in Jamaica. As I learn more and more of Jamaica's culture, I fall deeper and deeper in love with the country. No one knows how to party like the Jamaicans.

In a way, I feel that I am missing out. I really don't travel to too many other places. My dollars are short, and I like to spend them on a sure thing. For me that is Jamaica. How many times have I been since April of 2000 – twenty five! That's right. I don't know how I do it.

As often as I've gone, you'd think I'd want to live there. No way. The politics are awful; crime rate is high. I'd rather keep it my little get away than have it become my reality. Right now I know I won't be back until March, but in the meantime, I have my memories.

If you are familiar with the works of Damien Jr. Gong Marley, you will recognize my story title from his hit song "Welcome to JamRock."

Source: bootsnall.com

It has been almost 10 years since my wife and I visited Jamaica. Several months ago, we received a wedding invitation to our niece's wedding. It was to be held at the Breeze Resort at Runaway Bay in Jamaica. We were both excited to be going back to Jamaica again.

After spending four days at the resort with family for the wedding, we decided it was time to find a more quiet and relaxing place to stay. So we headed south to Nigel – the western most point of Jamaica – at the Rock House.

What a pleasant surprise it was to find the Rock House to be everything the article said and much more. It is one of the nicest places we have stayed at anywhere. It is a beautiful five-star quality boutique property that stretches across the cliffs of Pristine Cove. Over the years the ocean has carved caves deep into the sandstone cliffs along the beautiful rugged coastline.

The Rock House Hotel staff consists of local Jamaicans; they are the property's greatest asset. They are genuinely friendly people, and they work hard to make your stay special. Do not be surprised if they call you by your name.

The buildings are built of beautiful colored sandstone with thatched bungalows. The eight acres of luscious tropical gardens add to the overall ambiance of the property. You can rent a guestroom in the original part of the accommodation, or if you are lucky, you may rent a new private villa with it own sundeck. The villas are large; divided into three parts. They have a direct view of the cliffs and the Caribbean. They have air conditioning, should you need it.

The Caribbean is so intoxicating that people spend most of their day sunbathing, looking at it. A few guests are brave enough to do a 30-feet cliff dive. Almost everyone goes swimming or snorkling into the caves in the crystal clear water. We used the 60-feet cliff top pool, where you can swim right out to the edge, and look 30 feet down at the Caribbean. The pool sundeck is large with plenty of room to relax. Food and beverage are served by the pool at the service bar. The food is good and at reasonable prices. The award winning restaurant and bar are centrally located, suspended out over the cove.

The restaurant has a great menu: lobster, fresh fish, shrimp and many local delicacies. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. This is one time you do not mind using the restaurant where you stay everyday, because the food is good and the view is to die for. If you want to impress you wife, ask for the one and only table on the rocky cliff outside the restaurant; it has a fantastic view of its own. The restaurant is open to the public, but they give registered guests first choice at that seating.

The Rock House has a brand new five-star spa that offers a holistic approach with a variety of massages and baths; a natural Jamaican style that will make you feel like a new person. My wife and I decided on the “Essence of Love” package. Two well trained local girls gave us both our massage in a “Massage Cabana”, directly in front of our villa on the very "edge of the cliff". After massaging us for one and a half hours, they topped it off with a cold stone treatment; we had never experienced that before, fantastic!

Of all the places we have visited in many countries, the Rock House Boutique is one of the best. Once you go, you will want to return – again and again. Pleasant travel experiences.

Source: bootsnall.com

In the search for more unusual, out-of this-world travelling experiences, travellers are being lured to the ends of the earth to find the most eccentric, wacky and exciting activities, sights and venues. So if you’re fond of a tipple or two, you might want to try one of these bars. Their locations and gimmicks are sometimes enough to pique your interest, but add alcohol to the mix and you’re in for quite a fun time. Here are 13 of the world’s most strange, exciting and different watering holes that will leave you thirsty for more.

1. Clinic – Singapore

Many people don’t like visiting hospitals so this bar might be a little questionable in taste for some. Clinic is a hospital themed bar located within the shopping and entertainment district, Clarke Quay.

It’s not surprising that the architect of the bar was wacky artist Damien Hirst, famous for such works as the cow in formaldehyde. The pill shaped rooms are all interlinked and are designed to give a drug ‘trip’ effect. Guests can drink from test tubes and IV bags, sit in wheelchairs instead of sitting on bar stools, lie on hospital beds with white curtains, and boogie on the capsule-shaped dance floor in the nightclub, Morphine.

The restaurant is designed like an operating room where guests can dine sitting in gold wheelchairs and eating from kidney shaped steel trays. Yum, I just hope the food doesn’t taste like hospital food…

2. Absolut Icebar – Sweden

The very first bar to be made entirely of ice can be found in the small town of Jukkasjarvi in Sweden. Although novelty ice bars seem to be popping up everywhere these days, even in the baking hot Niger desert, the Absolut Icebar, within the Ice Hotel, is the original ice bar.

Guests don thermal capes and huddle together in freezing cold conditions surrounded by carefully-crafted ice sculptures. The Absolut vodka cocktails are served in ice glasses, just make sure you don’t get your lips stuck to them!

The ice is sourced from the Torne River in the village of Jukkasjarvi and the frosty bar is only open during the winter from December to April.

3. Red Sea Star Underwater Restaurant, Bar and Observatory – Israel

The world’s first underwater bar, the Red Sea Star, is submerged six meters below the Red Sea in Eilat. Each table has Plexiglass windows – two either side and one above – so that diners can admire the fish, coral, and other sea life from their dinner table. The décor is even marine-inspired with jellyfish stools, urchin cushions, and anemone lighting fixtures.

Before the Red Sea Star was built in 1998, the area on which it stands was a damaged seabed, but four years before it opened the Red Sea Star team started growing a coral nursery surrounding the reef to save and preserve what used to be an active and colourful coral reef.

4. Bojangles – Australia

In the town of Alice Springs in the red centre of Australia, backpackers and travellers on their way to visit Uluru will almost certainly end up at this curious bar.

Walk through the closely guarded saloon doors and you’ll be amazed at what you see – boots hanging from the ceilings, snakes in tanks, and a coffin with a suit of armour inside which says ‘How Much To Touch Ned’s Nuts?’ Pull out some peanuts and throw the shells on the floor, because at Bo’s anything goes.

Sounds like a quirky bar already, but wait – it gets better. If you go to the bathroom you might get a little surprise, for when you come to wash your hands, each tap turns on the water in a different sink!

5. DM Bar – Estonia

If you’re a huge fan and you just can’t get enough of Depeche Mode, this bar in the capital city of Estonia, Tallinn, is entirely devoted to the band.

It doesn’t seem the most obvious choice of band to dedicate a bar to, but the synth-poppers from Basildon in the UK are extremely popular anywhere east of Berlin. The bar’s walls are filled with Depeche Mode memorabilia and guess what’s on the playlist for the night? You guessed it, Depeche Mode songs.

Members of the band Martin Gore and Andy Fletcher have actually partied the night away in the bar which is sure to be one of the strangest hat tips to the band.

6. Hobbit House – Philippines

Hobbit House in the Philippines is based on the J.R.R. Tolkien trilogy, “Lord of The Rings,” and all the staff in the bar are friendly and charming dwarfs. The dark, smoke-filled bar offers around 100 different kinds of beer and is a great live music venue.

Opened 35 years ago, The Hobbit House has been around in Manila so long, it is a famous institution. The Iowa-born owner, Jim Turner, is an ex-Peace Corps volunteer who has rescued these dwarfs from the slums and streets of Manila and given them an honest place to work. He has given them new cultural identities and they are no longer shunned or avoided; they are respectable business people.

The bartenders are merry characters and entertainers who are up for a laugh and will happily pose with tourists for photos. The Hobbit House features possibly the world’s smallest Elvis impersonator, hobbit jugglers, comics, dancers, flame-eaters, and singers.

7. Baobab Bar – South Africa

Drinking a beer inside a tree? You wouldn’t think anyone would even fit, but you will inside this 6,000 year old Baobab tree.

The hollow 72-foot high tree offers a cool interior to step into from the heat outside and now has a bar, dart board and benches.

It was created in a Baobab tree in Sunland Farm in Limpopo to keep the thirsty locals happy and now thousands of tourists travel from miles around to have a pint in this interesting establishment.

The trunk has a 155-foot circumference and is wide enough to fit 40 people inside it. It even has its own cellar with natural ventilation to keep the beer cool!

The pub is owned by the van Heerdens, who decided to open a pub when they discovered a natural hollow in the tree in the 1980s. While clearing out the hollow centre of the tree trunk, the van Heerdens found historical evidence of Bushmen who may have once lived in the tree.

8. Das Klo Bar – Germany

One of the most bizarre drinking experiences ever, Klo Bar in Berlin is reputed to attract more tourists than Charlottenburg Castle and the Museum Island. Klo 1 and 2 no longer exist, but Klo 3, which started life on Christmas Day 1971, still does. Part flea market, part zoo, and part theme park, Das Klo (German for “the toilet”) is meant to evoke the inside of a toilet, but it ends up giving visitors the feel of stepping onto an Indiana Jones movie set.

Prepare to be shocked – expect red wine in blood transfusion packs, electric shocks from tables, rotating bar stools, a hammer that comes down unexpectedly, and a bird spider, boa constrictor and iguana. It’s an attack on the senses – upon entering Klo you’ll be sprinkled by water, spooked by skeletons and a gust of air might blow ladies’ skirts up. Lightning flashes across the rooms and there is a false ceiling of paper mâché rocks that fall in a giant avalanche every 10 minutes. A kilted figure in the ladies loo is booby-trapped so that whenever a lady lifts the kilt to see if he is going commando, a siren goes off in the bar.

Seating is a choice of coffins or toilet seats, the beer is served in new urine specimen bottles, and the food is sausages with sauerkraut fetchingly presented in huge enamel potties. Supposedly most of the owner’s ideas came to him sitting on the loo.

9. Skeleton Bar – Switzerland

This odd museum-bar was designed by Swiss man Hans Rudi Giger who worked as a designer on the Oscar-winning Alien movies. Giger designed the title character, the human-eating Alien monster, and won an Oscar for best special effects in 1980.

The bar in Gruyere, Switzerland, will remind you of the alien – or perhaps sitting inside a monster’s stomach, with its spinal chord-like skeleton decoration.

The creepy, horror movie-inspired bar is decorated with skeleton bones throughout, from the walls and chairs to the flower vases.

10. Floyd’s Pelican Bar – Jamaica

Floyds has to be the coolest bar in the Caribbean. Looking out from the shore at the dot on the horizon, your first reaction might be “is that really a bar?”

Perched on stilts on a sandbar, Floyds is made completely of driftwood and palm leaves. Bring a sharp object and you can carve your name in the floor. It looks like it might fall over, but it’s surprisingly sturdy.

Floyds sits about a mile off the south coast of Jamaica in Parottee Bay and local fisherman will take you out there. There’s nothing like a cold beer in the middle of the ocean, doing a bit of snorkelling and enjoying a fresh lobster meal prepared by Floyd himself. You might spot some pelicans and a few sting rays too.

11. Alux Restaurant & Lounge – Mexico

Alux, in Playa Del Carmen, is one of only two restaurants in the world inside a cavern.

The whole Yucatan peninsula in Mexico is riddled with an interconnected system of caverns and subterranean rivers and after years of planning and restoration, Alux restaurant and lounge was opened for the public to enjoy this natural environment with a drink in hand.

The Flintstones-like cavern has numerous chambers where you can lounge, drink, dine, and dance amongst the stalagmites and stalactites, which are lit up in shades of violet, blue and pink. Small, magical beings called ‘Aluxes’ are said to occupy these caverns, so look out for one as you dance the night away! It’s a drinking spot you mustn’t miss if you’re staying in Playa Del Carmen.

12. William Thornton Floating Bar & Restaurant – British Virgin Islands

The William Thornton is a steel 100-foot schooner with a restaurant and bar on board, moored at The Bight off Norman Island.

The Willy T, as it is affectionately known, began life in the 80s as a wooden Baltic vessel. But after the boat sprung a leak and sank at its anchorage, the owners, Annie and Mick Gardner, replaced it with the larger steel boat everyone knows today.

The William Thornton who the floating bar is named after was born in the British Virgin Islands and is the man behind the design of the United States Capitol building.

13. The Rock Bar – Bali

Perched 14 meters above the Indian Ocean, this open-top bar is literally served straight up on the rocks.

It’s a perfect place to sit and watch the sunset, sip cocktails and admire the view of the perfect Bali waves splashing against the rocks below. What makes it even more novel is the outdoor elevator which takes you down the cliff to the bar. Beware though, it only holds four so you might end up taking the stairs!

Live musicians play on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays so you can sit back and enjoy some tunes with a view. Located within the Ayana Resort & Spa in Jimbaran Bay, The Rock Bar will certainly leave a lasting impression and is Bali’s most chic sunset and after-dark destination.