It’s difficult to believe that it’s only been four years since Time Magazine ran the headline “Can Airplanes Fly on Biofuel?”.

Now it seems that all airlines are jumping on the biofuel train (excuse our mixed metaphors), whether it’s for the marketing factor (hey, we’re writing about it), or because it’s perceived as the hottest green initiative right now.

Case in point: Qantas is the latest airline to launch a flight powered by cooking oil.

Tickets are currently on sale for Australia’s first commercial biofuel flight, which is slated for April 13 from Sydney to Adelaide, not from Melbourne to Adelaide as some news agencies have been reporting.

The 300-seater Airbus 330 will use U.S.-imported biofuel in one of its two engines — the same cooking oil that was previously used by Lufthansa in a six-month trial (the world’s first) during which 1,200 biofuel-flights were completed between Hamburg and Frankfurt.

“Our ticketing website has not been updated to show that the April 13 flight will be run by biofuel,” said Chung Kyung-rok, a representative for Qantas. “But it should be changed shortly.”

One last thing for superstitious flyers — the 13th is a Friday. But Qantas isn’t worried, and you shouldn’t be either.

The midflight breakdown of a JetBlue pilot has sparked concerns about psychological screening for flight crews.

Capt. Clayton Osbon’s erratic behavior prompted Flight 191 from New York to Las Vegas to make an unscheduled landing in Amarillo, Texas, on Tuesday after crew and passengers intervened and subdued the 49-year-old pilot.

Osbon “yelled jumbled comments about Jesus, September 11th, Iraq, Iran,and terrorists,” according to a federal criminal complaint filed against Osbon. One passenger quoted Osbon as saying, “Pray f—— now for Jesus Christ,” the complaint said.

“It just seemed like something triggered him to go off the wall. He would be calm one minute and then just all of a sudden turn,” said passenger Jason Levin.

JetBlue pilot charged with interfering with flight crew

JetBlue has not elaborated on the pilot’s condition, but CEO Dave Barger referred to the incident as a “medical situation.”

The pilot’s behavior points to possible psychological distress, doctors say.

The episode could be the result of bipolar disorder or a recent start on antidepressant medication, said Dr. Charles Raison, a psychiatrist at the University of Arizona and CNN consultant who has not treated Osbon. Medical illnesses such as brain tumors, subtle seizures or hormonal imbalances could also have caused Osbon’s behavior, Raison said.

All airline pilots are required by the Federal Aviation Administration to have a first-class medical certificate that must be renewed annually for pilots younger than 40 and every six months for pilots 40 and older. JetBlue follows all FAA pilot requirements, the airline said.

Pilots must be examined by an aviation medical examiner as part of that process, and a candidate’s psychological condition is assessed.

The exam does not include a formal psychiatric evaluation, although the examiner should “form a general impression of the emotional stability and mental state of the applicant,” according to FAA’s Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners. Bipolar disorders, psychotic disorders, personality disorders that involve “acting out” and substance dependence generally are disqualifying conditions, according to the guide. In these cases, the examiner would either deny issuing the certificate or defer it and report evidence of significant problems to the FAA, the guide says.

“If the person is exhibiting any signs of psychosis, thinks he’s on the moon, is disoriented in time and place, if he’s taking any medicines — and the FAA is very strict — the computer won’t even let me give an exam if medicines are not approved. It’s very strict under those circumstances,” said Dr. Gabriel Guardarramas, an FAA-approved New York family doctor who performs about 40 pilot exams a year.

Guardarramas said one pilot grieving the death of his father raised a red flag for him and he deferred certification to the FAA.

“Pilots as a rule are extremely stable people,” said retired airline Capt. Steve Luckey, a 33-year veteran. “By the time a person becomes a commercial pilot, they’ve gone through so many filters.”

However, the agency’s strict criteria prompt some to hide their conditions, according to two pilots who spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity out of concern for their own careers.

One veteran with three decades of experience said he’s known just a single fellow pilot who sought treatment for depression. The treatment lasted eight or nine months, and he never told his employer, the pilot said.

“A guy has worked his whole career toward what he’s gotten, and he’s dealing with issues, what does he do? If he says, ‘Hey, I’m depressed,’ then the FAA pulls his medical certificates and then there goes his career.”

Another veteran pilot echoed that sentiment: “Yes, pilots are flying around depressed because if they do (admit depression), they’ll be grounded.”

“Pilots are generally well psychologically screened for all the right reasons. Some people snap. If this pilot did indeed snap, it doesn’t surprise me. There’s tremendous pressure out there in the pilot group, and that’s something the public should care about,” the pilot said.

In its medical examiners guide, the FAA says pilots being treated with four specific antidepressants may receive medical clearance, which would be decided on a case-by-case basis.

Osbon’s breakdown comes just weeks after an American Airlines flight attendant’s behavior alarmed passengers and prompted flight crew members to restrain her while the plane was taxiing. One passenger said the flight attendant described herself as bipolar and said she had not taken her medication. Other accounts referred to her talking on the intercom about the plane crashing.

American Airlines has not identified her, and no charges have been filed. She remains employed by the company, the airline said Wednesday. American said the airline follows all FAA rules.

Unlike pilots, flight attendants are not required to pass medical examinations before they fly, according to the Association of Flight Attendants, a union that does not represent American Airlines workers.

“However, flight attendants do have to go through recurrent training each year to refresh their emergency situation skills,” said AFA spokeswoman Corey Caldwell. They are also required to receive proficiency certification from the FAA.

She added that “in most cases,” flight attendants could be treated for various conditions and still perform “as first responders efficiently,” noting that red flags would probably come up during the initial six- to eight-week training period or during a probationary period of up to a year.

In addition to the pressure of performing the duties of flying itself, airline employees face the added stress of trying to survive in an industry fraught with restructuring, bankruptcies and other uncertainties.

“This industry is very turbulent,” Caldwell said. “And after 9/11, these workers really went through a very difficult time personally and professionally.”

A JetBlue pilot has been charged with interfering with a flight crew after his midair behavioral meltdown led to an emergency landing.

The federal criminal complaint reveals details of the incident in which Clayton Osbon, 49, displayed what passengers and fellow crew members described as erratic, bizarre and disturbing behavior.

Osbon has been suspended pending an investigation and is receiving medical treatment, the airline said Wednesday.

If convicted, Osbon would face a maximum 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The U.S. Attorney’s office has 30 days to present the matter to a grand jury for indictment.

Read the criminal complaint

In the two-page affidavit in support of an arrest warrant, FBI Special Agent John Whitworth said Osbon missed the crew briefing for Flight 191, which departed at 7:28 a.m. Tuesday from New York’s Kennedy International Airport en route to Las Vegas.

“Initially, he did not exhibit any bizarre behavior,” Whitworth said in the affidavit, which describes behavior that grew more erratic as the flight continued.

The affidavit details the trip:

As the plane was taking off, Osbon “said something to the FO (first officer) about being evaluated by someone,” but the first officer was not sure what Osbon meant.

Osbon talked about his church and needing to “focus,” then asked the first officer to take over the controls and the radio. Osbon said, “Things just don’t matter,” talked about sins in Las Vegas, and at one point said, “We’re not going to Vegas.”

About 3½ hours into the planned five-hour flight, the pilot left the cockpit to use the lavatory, but he failed to follow security protocol, alarming the crew. He then banged on the lavatory door and told the female passenger inside that he needed to go to the bathroom.

By that time, the first officer had summoned another JetBlue pilot who had been traveling as a passenger to enter the cockpit and the two locked themselves inside.

From the cabin, Osbon tried to enter his security code to gain access to the cockpit “and he banged on the door hard enough that the FO thought he was coming through the door.”

But the door held and, over the PA, the first officer ordered passengers to restrain Osbon. Several did just that, subduing the pilot in the forward galley. During the melee, a flight attendant suffered bruised ribs.

A passenger said Osbon said, “Pray f***ing now for Jesus Christ” and mumbled about Jesus, September 11, Iraq, Iran and terrorists.

How are flight crews screened?

“The pilot ran to the cockpit door, began banging on it and said something to the effect of, ‘We’ve gotta pull the throttle back. We’ve gotta get this plane down,’” said passenger Laurie Dhue, a former CNN anchor.

“At that point, the two flight attendants tried to subdue him, and then — seemingly out of nowhere — about six or seven large guys stormed to the front of the plane and wrestled the captain of the plane down to the ground and had him subdued in a matter of moments,” she said. “It was really like something out of a movie.”

Amateur video of the incident showed a commotion as men moved through the aisle. A voice, purportedly that of the pilot, can be heard.

“Oh my God. I’m so distraught!” he shouts. “We’ve got Israel, we’ve got Iraq, we’ve got Israel, we’ve got Iraq! We’ve got to get down!”

Law enforcement met the aircraft, cuffed the pilot and took him off the plane.

If that description of Osbon’s behavior is correct, “this guy was clearly psychotic,” said Dr. William Sledge, a professor of psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine who has not treated Osbon. “That has all the earmarks of an acute psychotic episode. I wouldn’t hesitate to make that statement.”

Psychosis is an automatic disqualification from flying, said Sledge, who is himself a pilot, was a flight surgeon at the School of Aerospace Medicine and has consulted for the Federal Aviation Administration, the Airline Pilots Association and a number of airlines.

Cases of psychosis among pilots are unusual, but not rare, and can be career-ending, he said.

“Pretty much, their career is done, most of them,” he said. “It’s a lifetime disqualification for obvious reasons … you have to be able to trust each other and you have to be able to trust that the airman is going to be able to perform in a reasonable way.”

Passenger Tony Antolino praised the co-pilot. “He really, I think, is the hero here because he had the sense to recognize that something was going horribly wrong, and he was able to persuade the pilot out of the cockpit,” he said.

The first officer declared an emergency and the plane landed at about 11 a.m. in Amarillo, Texas. Passengers restraining Osbon continued to do so during the landing.

Osbon, who has worked as a JetBlue pilot for 12 years, has been taken off active duty with pay, said airline spokeswoman Tamara Young.

CEO Dave Barger said Osbon had always been a “consummate professional.”

“What happened at altitude is we had a medical situation,” Barger told NBC News. “It became a security situation.”

Barger said the captain was in custody of the FBI. Citing privacy concerns, JetBlue would not divulge details about his treatment.

Osbon has not made a public statement.

The Twitter page for a Clayton F. Osbon describes him as “JetBlue Flight Standards Captain” for the Airbus A320, as well as a leadership coach. Tuesday’s Flight 191 from New York to Las Vegas was on an Airbus A320.

Both the Twitter and LinkedIn pages in Osbon’s name describe him as a director of Body By Vi. The LinkedIn page says the company helps “people to a better life” through health and financial prosperity.

A Facebook page for a Clayton Osbon says he is married and lives in Savannah, Georgia.

The blog Writer Killing Darlings carries a profile of Osbon, which was published last year in the magazine Richmond Hill Reflections. “Clayton lives with his wife of six years, Connye, and enough animals to make a lint-brush essential,” the story says.

Osbon “wants to be a motivational speaker down the road,” the story says.

“It starts with a greater enhanced knowledge of one’s being… you know, I’d like to think the world is more than just getting up in the morning, making a cup of coffee, going to work, coming home, kissing your wife good-night and going to bed,” it quotes him as saying.

“I was surprised, to say the least,” Christine Lucas, who wrote the profile, said about her reaction when she heard the news Tuesday. She said she had met with the pilot three times in preparing to write the story and that he gave no indication that anything was amiss. “He was fantastic, and I believe he probably still is. I’m as eager as everybody else to figure out what happened. But he was a gregarious guy, he was confident and he seemed happy. I can’t say that anything led me to think that something like this would happen.”

From a Revolution-era plantation in Charleston, South Carolina, to Frank Lloyd Wright’s sleek Arizona compound, here’s a guide to the country’s most majestic historic homes — and the must-see gardens surrounding them.

You might think home and garden tours are merely a superficial pleasure (the kind Grandma might enjoy), but you’re only half right. Sure, these estates offer their fair share of sensory pleasures — the scent of blossoming flowers, the gurgle of fountains, the warmth of the sunshine as you traverse the grounds — but their beauty is far from skin-deep.

To make our list, a property had to be as interesting as it is beautiful, and the result is a collection of homes with real stories to tell. A Georgian Revival mansion that housed descendants of Abraham Lincoln, a palatial, Charles II-style mansion so striking that three classic Hollywood films were shot there — these are the kinds of places you’ll still be talking about long after you’ve left.

And then there are the gardens — romantic, Italian-inspired grounds, tropical forests, the gardening world’s versions of the Mona Lisa and David. Yes, Grandma would like these places, but who wouldn’t?

Budget Travel: See more photos of the homes and gardens

Filoli, Woodside, California

Husband-and-wife gold-mine owners built this Georgian-inspired 36,000-square-foot house between 1915 and 1917, about 30 miles south of San Francisco. But the property’s star feature is the 16-acre English Renaissance garden, which was completed in 1929.

The 654-acre Filoli estate is known for its bonsai and magnolia collections, as well as the largest heirloom orchard in private hands in the United States.

Best time to visit: In February through August on the fourth Wednesday of every month (and the third Wednesday in September and October), Filoli hosts afternoon teas, where visitors snack on scones with fresh lemon curd and sip tea out of china cups.

Open Tuesdays-Sundays (except holidays) until October 21 in 2012, 86 Cañada Rd., 650/364-8300, filoli.org, admission $15, tea $45 (including admission).

Hildene, Manchester, Vermont

The 107-year-old Hildene is a must-see for presidential-history buffs: After all, it was built by Robert Lincoln, the only son of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln to survive into adulthood.

Set on a promontory 300 feet above the Battenkill Valley in Vermont’s southwest corner, the Georgian Revival mansion housed descendants of the president until 1975 and still contains Lincoln family heirlooms, such as a 1,000-pipe organ installed in 1908, as well as one of only three of the President’s iconic stovepipe hats in existence today.

Hildene’s gardens are notable for their multi-colored flowers, including more than 1,000 peony blooms, planted to resemble a cathedral-style stained-glass window.

Best time to visit: Mid-June marks the start of peony season; visit the Hoyt Garden to see Hildene’s massive collection of the flowers (many from the original plantings) in bloom. Open daily (except for major holidays), 1005 Hildene Rd., 800/578-1788, hildene.org, admission $16.

Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Built in 1923, the Villa Terrace was once owned by Lloyd Smith, president of the A.O. Smith Corporation, which made bicycle parts, hot water heaters, and later heavy munitions during World War II.

The place now serves as a decorative arts museum, housing pieces from the 15th to the 18th centuries, including an extensive collection of artisan iron crafts. The estate’s grounds, which overlook Lake Michigan, are known for the Renaissance Garden, which was modeled after 16th-century Tuscany and restored in 2002.

Highlights include bushes that sprout culinary and medicinal herbs and the Scaletta d’Aqua, a water stairway that flows down past three terraces of crab apple trees into a fishpond.

Best time to visit: Every year, on the first Sunday in June, the Renaissance Garden celebrates its official opening with free admission. Open Wednesday through Sunday, 2220 N. Terrace Ave., 414/271-3656, villaterracemuseum.org, admission $5.

Budget Travel: 15 international food etiquette rules that might surprise you

Monticello, Charlottesville, Virginia

Designed by Thomas Jefferson in the neoclassical style, this plantation home sits on a mountaintop 70 miles northwest of Richmond. From oval flowerbeds to winding paths, Jefferson designed every fruit, vegetable, and flower garden over two centuries ago.

Today, those gardens are planted up to three times per year to let seasonal flowers shine, including bee balm and calendula. Don’t miss the home itself, where you can see Jefferson’s 18th-century furniture, books, and gadgets such as the polygraph, a device which used pens and ink to make exact duplicates of his letters as he wrote them.

Best time to visit: Spring and early summer bring the prettiest blossoms. Vibrant tulips reign late April; ornamental Sweet William and delicate Canterbury bells bloom in May. Open daily except Christmas, 931 Thomas Jefferson Parkway, 434/984-9822, monticello.org, admission $17-$24 (depending on the season).

Biltmore Estate, Asheville, North Carolina

Set against the Blue Ridge Mountains, George Vanderbilt’s 250-room chateau-style estate ranks as the largest private home in America.

The 75 acres of formal and informal gardens — from a tree-specked shrub garden with meandering paths to a manicured Italian garden dotted with pools — were designed by master landscaper Frederick Law Olmsted, best known for creating New York City’s Central Park.

There’s also a conservatory filled with tropical plants and a rose garden, which houses more than 250 varieties of the flower.

Best time to visit: During the annual Festival of Flowers (April 7-May 20), Biltmore’s gardens burst with color as tulips and azaleas start to bloom. Open 365 days a year, 1 Lodge St., 800/411-3812, biltmore.com, admission varies by season and ranges from $35-$64.

Bartram’s Garden, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Located less than 15 minutes from downtown Philadelphia, this 45-acre farmstead’s bucolic vibe belies its urban surroundings. Not only do the grounds hold native species of ferns, wildflowers, and trees, including America’s oldest gingko, but they’re also home to the country’s oldest living botanical garden, which botanist John Bartram started in 1728.

Best time to visit: In past springs, boats to Bartram’s have departed from Philadelphia’s Central City, though prices and dates have not been set for this year. After a cruise down the Schuylkill River, visitors are led on a tour of Bartram’s grounds.

Open year-round (except holidays), 54th St. and Lindbergh Blvd., 215/729-5281, bartramsgarden.org, admission $10; boat tour tickets available at schuylkillbankstours.tix.com.

Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, Charleston, South Carolina

A former slave plantation established in 1679, Magnolia contains America’s oldest public gardens. They were constructed in 1840 by John Grimké Drayton, the original estate owner’s great-great grandson, and opened to visitors three decades later.

Today, the English-style gardens feature winding paths lined with native azaleas (Grimké Drayton is said to have introduced the flower to the U.S.) and antique camellias, as well as a pre-Revolution-era plantation house and a petting zoo with African pygmy goats and whitetail deer.

Best time to visit: Magnolia is known for its azalea collection — the biggest in the U.S.– so go in late March or early April when the flowers start to pop. Open year-round, 3550 Ashley River Rd., 800/367-3517, magnoliaplantation.com, admission $10.

Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, Miami

Biscayne Bay glitters just beyond the 10 acres of European-inspired gardens and native forest at Vizcaya, an opulent, European-style villa built in 1916 as a winter home for agricultural industrialist James Deering.

The mansion-turned-museum houses international antiques and art from the 15th through 19th centuries. But the real scene-stealer is the outdoor sculpture garden, which features artifacts like a Roman altar from the second century AD and the 290-year-old Sutri Fountain, imported from Italy especially by Deering.

Best time to visit: Romantics will dig Vizcaya’s moonlight garden tours, which offer live music and a chance to gaze at flowers under the stars and are scheduled around full moons. Check the website for dates.

Open daily (except Tuesdays and Thanksgiving/Christmas), 3251 South Miami Ave., 305/250-9133, vizcayamuseum.org, admission $15.

Budget Travels: to go or not to go: 11 places with a bad rap

Naumkeag, Stockbridge, Massachusetts

This Gilded-Age mansion in the Berkshires was completed in 1886 as a summer retreat for prominent New York attorney Joseph Choate and his family. The 44-room house — which contains the Choates’ furniture and artwork from Europe and Asia — sits among 10 acres of terraced gardens designed by America’s first Modernist landscape architect, Fletcher Steele.

Of particular note are the Blue Steps, four tiers of fountain pools surrounded by a grove of white birches.

Best time to visit: The fall foliage in the Berkshires is considered some of the most stunning anywhere in America. The leaves hit their peak in October so head to Naumkeag as close to the end of the season as possible to see the leaves beginning to turn.

Open daily, Memorial Day through Columbus Day, 5 Prospect Hill Rd., 413/298-3239, thetrustees.org, admission $15.

Old Westbury Gardens, Old Westbury, New York

Hollywood has made good use of this palatial, Charles II-style mansion on Long Island’s Gold Coast: North By Northwest, The Age of Innocence, and Cruel Intentions were all shot here.

The estate was built between 1904 and 1906 for financier and lawyer John S. Phipps, with elements borrowed from classic British country estates and the medieval Battle Abbey. The collections of English antiques, American furnishings, and Chinese porcelain were amassed over the family’s 50-year residence.

Westbury House sits on a 200-acre property that once held a number of Quaker farms, surrounded by eight formal gardens, plus wooded paths, ponds, and more than 100 species of trees. Best time to visit: Over 40 flower varieties (from lilacs to irises to tropical water lilies) bloom April through July, but leaf-peeping is a must in October, when Westbury’s grounds burst with bold red, orange, and yellow fall foliage.

Open daily (except Tuesdays), April 30 through October 31, 71 Old Westbury Rd., 516/333-0048, oldwestburygardens.org, admission $10.

Hermann-Grima House, New Orleans

Built in 1831 by a German-Jewish immigrant, who made his fortune in cotton, the pink-bricked Hermann-Grima house — which still includes its original mahogany dining table and hurricane shades — contains the only horse stable and functional outdoor kitchen in the French Quarter.

Outside, the grounds include Versailles-inspired ornamental parterre filled with antique roses and citrus trees.

Best time to visit: Every October, Hermann-Grima commemorates 19th-century Creole mourning rituals with a “celebration” called Sacred to the Memory. The house is draped in black crepe, and a coffin is stationed in its parlor.

It’s morbid, sure, but it also happens to be the house’s most popular annual event — and the closest you’ll get to reenacting a scene from 1800s New Orleans. Open Monday-Saturday, 820 Saint Louis St., 504/525-5661, hgghh.org, admission $12.

Green Animals Topiary Garden, Portsmouth, Rhode Island

Have you ever seen a tree that looks like a teddy bear, or a reindeer, or a unicorn? You will at Green Animals Topiary Garden, one of the oldest of its kind in the country. Here, more than 80 plants (including California privet, yew, and English boxwood) have been clipped to resemble mammals, birds, and geometric shapes.

The garden, which sits on seven acres overlooking Naragansett Bay, shares its land with a rose arbor and fruit trees. The grounds also include a white clapboard house that cotton manufacturer Thomas Brayton bought in 1872 — a charmingly meager counterpoint to the ostentatious mansions of Newport, about 10 miles south of here.

Best time to visit: Summertime at Green Animals brings sensory overload: The herb gardens are fragrant, the on-site orchards brim with fruit, and Naragansett Bay is guaranteed to be a picturesque shade of blue. Open May 12-October 8, 380 Cory’s Ln., 401/847-1000, newportmansions.org, admission $14.50.

Historic Deepwood Estate, Salem, Oregon

The 4.2 acres of formal English gardens and nature trails at Deepwood — a multi-gabled, Queen Anne Victorian home built in 1894 — were designed by Lord & Schryver, the Northwest’s first female landscape architecture team.

The gardens, which are surrounded by the Rita Steiner Nature Trail, are full of romantic touches: gazebos, ivy-covered arbors, and fleur-de-lis-adorned gates.

Best time to visit: The Deepwood Wine & Jazz Fest takes place in the estate’s gardens on June 30; for $10, guests can stroll among the flowers while jamming out to local musicians. Oregon wine and gourmet snacks are on hand, too.

Open daily (except Tuesdays), May 1-October 15; open Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, October 16-April 30, 1116 Mission St. SE, 503/363-1825, historicdeepwoodestate.org, admission $4, though access to the grounds is free.

Taliesin West, Scottsdale, Arizona

Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter home and studio, where he lived from 1937 until his death in 1959, sits at the foothills of the McDowell Mountains in the Sonoran Desert. (The 550-acre property is now the main campus of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture and the international headquarters for the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.)

The house, considered to be one of the architect’s masterpieces for touches like the cabaret theater and shaded pool, was constructed with native materials such as desert rocks, and its translucent roof and slanted windows let natural light flood in.

Wright was so energized and reinvigorated by Taliesin’s desert landscape that he designed some of his most renowned buildings, like New York’s Guggenheim Museum, in the abode’s drafting room. Outside, the grounds include a sculpture garden filled with bronze statues and desert plants.

Best time to visit: The year 2012 marks the 75th anniversary of Taliesin, and the milestone is being celebrated throughout the year with a series of symposiums, fundraisers, and concerts (check website for dates).

If you want to skip the fanfare, sign up for the Night Lights tour, which runs Fridays from February through October. The two-hour trek starts at twilight and lets you experience Taliesin’s grounds under the dusky desert sky.

Open daily (except major holidays), 12621 North Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd., 480/627-5340, franklloydwright.org, admission varies by tour ($18-$60), Night Lights, $35.

I clung white-knuckled to the back of my friend’s motorbike as the two of us zipped around the streets of Hanoi.

We buzzed past a man sitting in a barber’s chair on the sidewalk of a main road. The man was peering into an oval mirror tacked to a tree as the barber clipped away.

“See! O.I.V!” my friend said.

“What?” I asked, trying to figure out what I had seen as much as what he just said.

“O.I.V.,” he repeated. “Only in Vietnam.”

It was the first day of my 11-day tour through northern and central Vietnam, and the adventure had just begun.

Vietnam was never at the top of my list of places to visit — that is until my old roommate from Atlanta took a job in Hanoi.

When my rock-climbing partner, with a level of sanity as questionable as my own, found out climbing was on our itinerary, he decided to join in.

We’d start in Hanoi and take in the city sights, make our way to Cat Ba Island for a little climbing and finally to Hoi An along the central coast for some relaxation.

Hanoi at street level

We flew in to the capital, where traffic signals and street signs, if they exist, seem more like suggestions than law.

The streets are the heart and soul of Hanoi. They’re where people gather for everything from dinner to shoe repair, and the only way to take in the city is to plunge into the traffic.

So we did, starting with a walking tour of the Old Quarter.

Roughly 1,000 years old, the Old Quarter developed as craftsmen gathered around the old palace to peddle their wares. The narrow streets eventually became the central marketplace and business area, but it retains much of its ancient charm.

The buildings are only a few stories tall, narrow and deep, and artisans and merchants still line the sidewalks.

The streets are named after what you may find on them — tinwork on Hang Thiec and silk on Hang Gai. Hang Dau was once home to fragrant oil merchants, but now tourists and locals walk the street looking for a great deal on shoes.

After watching a tinsmith melt and mold what appeared to be a sprinkler head, another wonder of the Hanoi streets caught my eye, or rather my taste buds.

On the balcony of a coffee shop near the Old Quarter, I had my first sip of café sua da — Vietnamese iced coffee.

It is dark and thick like espresso, but served iced and creamed with a couple of spoonfuls of sweetened condensed milk. I was addicted at first sip.

Climbing on Cat Ba Island

One taxi, three buses and a speedboat away from Hanoi we found the small island of Cat Ba in Halong Bay.

Halong Bay was named one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature in 2011 and is easily recognized by the hundreds of limestone karsts that jut sharply out of the turquoise waters.

Where much of the area has watered down the wilderness experience to cater to tourists, Cat Ba attracts a more low-maintenance traveler — the “Tây ba lô.”

“It means ‘Western backpacker,’ ” my friend explained. “But it also means they think you’re cheap.”

Cat Ba is a popular spot for backpackers from all over the world who have developed a reputation for their stinginess. Accommodations are basic, and prices are low.

Tall, narrow hotels line the main road, each with an amazing view of the harbor. Rooms go for dollars a day, and the cafes feature fresh seafood on the cheap.

But the real draw of the island is away from the main drag, so our first morning we caught a ride on a tourist boat to a beachside climbing site.

As we meandered through the waters of the bay, a unique nautical culture revealed itself. Because the land is often too rocky to cultivate but the bay is rich in sea life, locals have made the water their home.

Large networks of floating villages hide in the shadows of the karsts. Brightly colored huts are built on grids of floating barrels and beams with frontyards made of fishing nets.

Our boat dropped anchor off the shore of a deserted beach. We loaded our climbing gear onto kayaks and paddled over.

We scaled the jagged walls of Tiger and Moody’s beaches in solitude, taking in the beauty of Halong Bay from the top of the vertical cliffs.

In addition to experiencing the bay’s natural beauty, you can’t help but stumble upon history.

We explored the island during a break between climbing routes and found a natural cave with a man-made concrete slab for a floor, most likely created as a hideout during the Vietnam War (or the American War, as it’s known in Vietnam).

Although I never discovered the history of that exact cave, back on Cat Ba we toured another war-era relic with a local guide.

Hospital Cave is a three story, bomb-proof structure built into a natural cave. It was a hospital and a safe house for the Viet Cong during the war, complete with a kitchen, surgical rooms and a theater.

We also traded $8 cash for two motorbikes (no rental agreement required) and sped up the windy, lush road to Cannon Fort.

Cannon Fort was built in the 1940s and later used during the war. Two cannons remain hidden in its crevices, and it’s a spectacular place to take in a sunset.

High class in Hoi An

After braving the traffic in the city and the cliffs (and jellyfish) of the bay, I deemed the last part of our trip as R&R time, and the ancient city of Hoi An did not disappoint.

Most port cities in Vietnam have met one of two fates: They have either grown into large industrial harbors such as Da Nang or shriveled over time.

Hoi An is different. Its narrow streets with lantern-lit storefronts and a fusion of various styles of traditional Asian architecture give it a quaint feel.

Two of the city’s specialties are clothing and food. The first you can get made to order. The second you can make yourself.

Every other storefront in the old town is a tailor’s shop where you can design your own clothing, pick the fabrics and have it sewn overnight. If you find the right tailor, you can walk away with quality, high-style clothing made to fit at big-box store prices.

As for the food, Hoi An is a unique blend of northern and southern flavors with specialties such as white rose dumplings and the Hoi An pancake. Many of the cafes offer cooking classes so you can master the flavors of the city and take them home with you.

Our cooking class started with a tour of the local market, where we picked up a few fresh ingredients and learned about the local food culture. It turns out turmeric will cure all that ails you, according to Vietnamese tradition, and durian — a very smelly fruit — is an acquired taste.

After a leisurely boat ride, we arrived at the Red Bridge Cooking School. Under its thatched portico, we learned to make rice paper and spring rolls, cook in a clay pot and fry Banh Xeo, a shrimp and rice pancake.

Trying to re-create that rice paper turned into an epic disaster back in the States, but for an afternoon, we were masters of the trade.

Not for everyone, not forever

From the madness of Hanoi to the untamed beauty of Cat Ba — each of our destinations offered a unique glimpse into Vietnamese culture.

It’s not for everyone, but for those willing to brave the unknown, the country is ripe with untapped adventures.

Hurry though. Sprawling resorts are popping up, and the booming tourism business has many young people learning how to cater to the nuances of Western culture more often than celebrating their own.

Vietnam is a country on the cusp. In another decade, it may be a cookie-cutter tourist oasis. But for now, the spirit of Vietnam remains.

With its heaving highways, glittering skyscrapers, contemporary art and design spaces, and countless new developments, Beijing is a thoroughly modern city.

But beyond its contemporary facade are the remnants of hundreds of years of traditional history.

Home to numerous ruling dynasties, Beijing is famed for its Forbidden City, a majestic court surrounded by high walls, once all but impossible to enter, which can now be visited by locals and tourists alike.

Palaces temples and observatories dot the city, usually set in parks providing respite from the hustle and bustle.

CNN’s World’s Treasures offers its top five picks of Beijing’s traditional sites, from palaces laden with jaw-dropping artifacts to tranquil sculpted gardens that will — almost — make you forget you’re in a buzzing modern metropolis.

The Forbidden City

Built in the early 15th century, this gilded fortress was the seat of power during the Ming and Qing dynasties. With its breathtaking art and furniture and its sheer scale, the Forbidden City is a must on any Beijing travel itinerary. Visitors can easily lose themselves for hours admiring its opulence, sheltered from the outside world by high walls.

Secret Garden of Beijing’s Forbidden City garden revealed

The Summer Palace

Set in a landscaped park, the imperial court’s summer residence is now a beautiful resting spot for the city-weary. Pavilions, temples and palaces make up the stunning vista, but perhaps the most memorable feature is a marble boat commissioned by the Empress Dowager Cixi. It also boasts the 900-meter Long Gallery — home to paintings of mythological scenes — and a lake on which you can row boats in summer and ice skate in winter.

The Temple of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven, located in Beijing’s Tiantan Park, was built in the 15th century during the Ming period and is admired for its complex architecture that symbolizes the meeting between heaven and earth, with the Emperor believed to have been the link between the two. The Temple was where sacrifices were offered to heaven and earth, and these were carried out for nearly 500 years before being banned at the beginning of the 20th century.

Ancient Observatory

The history of this observatory stretches all the way back to the days of Khubilai Khan, grandson of the feared Mongolian warlord Genghis. It is set in a tranquil park, features eight Ming dynasty astronomical instruments on its roof, and is attached to a small museum.

Khubilai Khan’s riches travel to New York

Confucian Temple

Completed in 1306, during the Yuan dynasty, the Confucian Temple was both a place of learning and where emperors offered sacrifices to the philosopher Confucius up until the beginning of the 20th century. Carvings, commemorative stone tablets and numerous statues of wise men make this a quiet pit-stop, perfect for a spot of contemplation.

Life’s not always a beach. The Caribbean may win hearts for its white-sand beaches on perfect turquoise coves and high-end villas with moored yachts, but there’s another part of the story: its towns.

Some have histories that predate the Pilgrims, cobbled centers that gaze out at the water and enough attractions to justify carving a day or two away from those perfect stretches of sand.

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Did you know San Juan was nearly 100 when the Mayflower reached the Americas? Reached by frequent, direct (sometimes cheap) flights from the US, the historic Puerto Rican capital is a place that can fill a week’s stay easily.

The cobblestoned lanes of Old San Juan are filled with cafes, restaurants, hotels and sites including two seriously old forts; most visitors see the six-floor, 16th-century El Morro, but don’t overlook the Fuerte San Cristobal, which offers free spooky tunnel tours on weekends.

San Juan also has excellent art, free salsa lessons in clubs, fine dining in the ever-emerging SoFo district on Fortaleza St, and excellent beaches below the city walls. For a break from the city pulse, day trip to hike the rainforest at nearby El Yunque.

Havana, Cuba

Everyone knows about Havana, but that doesn’t mean it’s not fantastic. Wandering about the crumbling grandeur of ‘Habana Vieja’ feels like entering the world of a gritty 1950s movie. Vintage US and Soviet cars trundle past colonial tenements showing their age, and pick-up baseball games played with a stick.

Casa de la Musica is what one Lonely Planet author describes as ‘hot hot hot salsa with young hot hot hot Cubans’. Locals drink tiny cups of homegrown coffee in a classic coffee house like Café de las Infusiones, fun spots to spend an hour or so.

All this doesn’t come with lack of comfort. Restored colonial hotels like the Hostal Condes de Villanueva (tel 53-862-9293; Mercaderes No 202), where rooms with stained-glass windows over look a private courtyard.

Lonely Planet: How to choose a Caribbean island

Willemstad, Curaçao

A lively Dutch/Caribbean hybrid, the little capital of Curaçao is famed for its historic core — a UNESCO World Heritage site of two neighborhoods split by a channel.

Boutique hotels made from 19th-century buildings (best is Hotel Kura Hulanda) make Willemstad a good base to explore the town’s floating markets, atmospheric draw bridges names for Dutch queens, an excellent museum unflinchingly detailing the slave trade, and cafes that look plucked from an Amsterdam backstreet.

Beaches are good too. Grab a rental car and find hidden beach coves — practically isolated — to the north, along with a peek atChristoffel National Park’s plantations.

Jacmel, Haiti

Haiti’s not for everyone, but as the nation struggles to rebuild after the 2010 earthquake, tourism is starting to pick up and giving a bit of an economic boost to boot. Eighty miles south of the capital Port-au-Prince, Jacmel is a charming town that wasn’t as damaged as the capital. It has many Victorian-era buildings from the city’s coffee days, superb handicrafts including hand-painted boxes and animal toys, good beaches and a fun day trip to a grotto of cascades and cobalt-blue pools you can reach by horse for $20 or $25.

Set in a Victorian mansion, the damaged and rebuilt Hôtel Floritaevokes a century-old vibe, with its period furniture and balconies in the rooms.

From Port-au-Prince you can bus three hours on good roads to Jacmel.

Cockburn Town, Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos

The capital of this multi-island nation, wee Cockburn is home to only 5500 people on an island just six miles long. Cruises dock for a few hours, but the fun rustic place warrants more time.

In town, you’ll find colorful colonial buildings on narrow streets that still see donkey carts and historic sites, including the spot — locals claim — where Christopher Columbus made his first foot-fall of the New World in 1492.

Beaches to the north, like Pillory or Corktree, are frequently empty, while the best snorkeling and diving lies to the south (Oasis Diversoffers dives or snorkel gear). The best place to stay is the Mediterranean-themed Island House, who offers free use of their car to guests. But on Grand Turk, a bike is really all you need.

Lonely Planet: Cracking the Caribbean on a budget

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

The Caribbean’s largest city, Santo Domingo is a New World firsts-fest. You’ll find the hemisphere’s first hospital and monastery (lovelier than that might sound), and the oldest surviving fort and cathedral (built by Columbus’ son, no less).

Its historic center easily fills a couple days of sightseeing before hitting DR’s famed beaches. Best is just sitting over a long meal in the strip of outdoor restaurants set up in the 16th century buildings along Plaza España, or getting a drink in the cobbled alley El Conde’s bar/café scene.

If you go in winter, February’s Carnaval is legendary, but just as memorable is catching a baseball game during DR’s 48-game winter season from November to February; you’ll see major leaguers from the US playing, and seats at the Estadio Quisqueya start at US$6.

Roseau, Dominica

The Caribbean’s most unique island — the last to be colonized, the most mountainous of the Eastern islands – Dominica is sometimes seen as the ‘anti-Caribbean’, considering its lack of sandy beaches or flashy resorts.

Unsurprisingly perhaps, visitors often consider it the friendliest. And because it’s so small — just 29 miles by 16 miles — you can set up in its lively capital of 1500 residents living in cute stone-and-wood historic homes, Roseau (ROSE-oh) and day trip to waterfalls and open-air hot spring pools in the rainforest, or beaches with snorkeling spots that bubble like champagne from offshore volcanic vents (it’s safe).

The best day trip involves a tough six-hour hike up to reach the Boiling Lake; it’s best done with a guide (Mick Jagger went withKen’s Hinterland Adventure Tours).

There are no direct flights outside the region; the best gateways to Dominica are via Antigua, Sint Maarten or Barbados on American Eagle or LIAT.

Oranjestad, Sint Eustatius

Tiny, off-the-radar and rather unusual, the tiny island of Sint Eustatius (or ‘Statia’; population 3400) has been home to Caribs, French, Dutch and British residents; in 1776, it became the first foreign ‘power’ to recognize the USA.

Now known for its diving, Statia has but one town, Oranjestad, memorable mostly for what it’s lost. Ruins are everywhere. In town you can explore remnants of an 18th-century synagogue or collapsed Dutch church, then grab a snorkel to swim to offshore ruins of a part of town built on land-fill and since reclaimed by the sea.

Afterwards, plan a day trip hike up the nearby Quill, a once-active volcano with great views from its crater.

From the steep slopes of volcanic Haleakala to the wealth of surf spots, Maui beckons lovers of sun, sand and surf. But venture just beyond the hotel buffet and discover what a foodie destination the Valley Island has become.

Maui’s culinary landscape is heavily influenced by fresh, local and ‘ono (delicious) flavors. Chefs, farmers, ranchers and fishermen work together toward a sustainable future where island ingredients are the featured attraction on daily menus and reflect the agriculture and people of Maui.

The Hawaiian Regional Cuisine movement started in 1991, with 12 founding chefs interested in focusing on using the freshest local ingredients to achieve the diverse flavors of island dishes.

Three of those original chefs head restaurants in Maui: Mark Ellman of Mala Ocean Tavern, Beverly Gannon of Hali’imaile General Store and Peter Merriman of Merriman’s Kapalua.

Those and some of the founding chefs’ more recent ventures — including Ellman’s newest, Honu, in Lahaina, Gannon’s eponymous Gannon’s and Merriman’s Monkeypod Kitchen in Wailea — are among the best places to get a sample of Maui flavor, straight from the farm to the table.

Lonley Planet: Hawaii for first-timers: how to choose an island

Just like the wealth and diversity of fresh local ingredients, their availability spans beyond large restaurants to smaller establishments. Get a taste of guri-guri, a treat crossed between ice cream and sherbet, at Tasaka Guri Guri.

Another sweet option is the island-style ice cream at Roselani Tropics Ice Cream, featuring local flavors such as vanilla, mango, pineapple and coffee. Home Maid Bakery’s crispy manju has luscious fillings from azuki beans to coconut.

Take some island style home in a bag of Maui coffee. The best place to do your shopping is on a coffee estate, where you can get a look at where your morning beverage comes from, such as MauiGrown Coffee or Kupa’a Farms.

Farmers’ markets and farm stands have become more than a regular shopping opportunity for locals — they’re now a common stop on a visitor’s itinerary as well. Markets are an easy way to showcase Maui’s farms and ranches and the food they produce.

Even big-name hotels are helping lead the way in supporting local farmers by including their products in sustainable and organic menus. The stand at Kula Country Farms, as well as farmers’ markets in Makawao, Kahului and other locations throughout Maui are ideal opportunities to see the variety of locally raised products and produce on the island — and buy some to taste.

Lonely Planet: Top 20 Hawaiian vistas

A visit to one of Maui’s farms can be both fun and educational, especially when it’s in Kula. In Upcountry Maui on the slopes of Mount Haleakala, the Kula area takes advantage of its rich volcanic soil and cool climate, and has been central to the island’s culinary resurgence.

Much of the produce you’ll find on the tables of Maui’s best restaurants focusing on Hawaiian Regional Cuisine is grown in and around Kula, including the sweet Maui onion.

Start with a gourmet lunch tour and real farm-to-table experience at O’o Farm, an 8.5-acre natural farm operated by the Pacific’O and I’O restaurants. Milk a goat at the Surfing Goat Dairy, then see the cheese-making process before you sample some for yourself.

Get an exotic walking tour through the sweet-smelling fields of Ali`i Kula Lavender, or wander the grounds of Maui’s Winery at Ulupalakua Ranch — before you wander right into the tasting room.

Sustainable food on Maui isn’t just about produce — it also includes island-grazed beef and grass-fed lamb. Island ranching dates back to the 19th century, and is a large part of the local paniolo culture. The Maui Cattle Company produces meats from six ranch partners throughout the island, from Hana to the slopes of Haleakala.

While every day is a celebration with island cuisine options, Maui food festivals offer an opportunity to get immersed in a particular food item, like the Maui Onion Festival or the East Maui Taro Festival.

Others, like the 30-year-old Kapalua Wine & Food Festival, are multi-day culinary extravaganzas.

Coober Pedy is one of the least accessible towns in Australia — the place where the old American West meets Mars — which is probably why it gained a reputation as the place where outlaws went to hide.

Situated in the Outback, it is close to nothing: The cities of Adelaide and Alice Springs are respectively nine hours south and eight hours north, and the nearest town — William Creek, official population three — takes 3½ hours to reach, provided the dirt roads aren’t closed due to rain. Here, the earth is red, vegetation bare and temperatures extreme, but none of that stopped Westerners from setting up camp a century ago when they found opal shimmering in the dirt.

Lots of opal.

So they began digging, in more ways than one. As they mined the earth to discover one of the world’s richest gem deposits, they also discovered why Westerners didn’t settle in this barren, desolate region of Australia before: The heat. To battle temperatures that regularly reached above 110, settlers dug underground dwellings, a practice that continues to this day. In the heat of day, people are nowhere to be found, each hidden in a mine or dugout.

One sees why outlaws chose to come here: It’s far from anything, it’s desolate, it’s pockmarked with underground homes, and it offers the possibility of a fresh start and the hope of a fortune.

Walking down the town’s main drag today makes one feel like a real-life space cowboy and evokes an episode of “Firefly.” There’s a reconstructed “Star Wars” spaceship, underground hotels, a Volkswagon beetle painted like an opal dangling from a store, signs for underground churches, a kangaroo orphanage, a couple of mining museums, underground home tours, and a pizza place that sells pies with toppings like kangaroo, emu sausage, sweet cranberry, asparagus, onions and Camembert.

Its residents are known for being eccentric and hearty — and if some are outlaws, they don’t publicize it much on the street. What they do publicize is the town’s international community, which represents more than 50 countries. There are olive groves for the Italians and Greeks, a Chinese restaurant so Asians can taste home and grocery stores with fare ranging from sweet chili sauce to imported Greek fondant and a whole kangaroo tail, complete with fur.

All in a town of 1,900.

Coober Pedy remains a popular tourist destination for those seeking an authentic Outback experience (or who want to see where films like “Red Planet,” “Mad Max” and “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” were filmed). Visitors often walk through the graveyard, where several tombstones are decorated with colored lights, and one even has, “Have a drink on me,” etched into it, with beer and wine bottles resting nearby, free of charge. They board a four-wheel drive mail truck for a 13-hour tour of Outback cattle stations and towns. And, of course, they sit on the hot, dusty earth, shooing away oddly persistent flies as they lose all sense of time searching for opal in the dirt, hoping that the next stone they turn might let them retire early.

Outlaws came to Coober Pedy a century ago to find their fortune. Today, the town is an international community of residents united by their commitment to mining one of the world’s most precious gems. Just as the town is home to the kind of diversity found in many cities, the opal that miners find so alluring, seductive, even, is a gem of many colors, with specks of pink, green, blue and red. It’s a singular, unique, precious stone, and like Coober Pedy itself, what makes it so valuable is the rainbow inside.

IF YOU GO

What to do

Outback Mail Run Tour: Guests travel 13 hours with an Australian mail carrier to deliver mail and supplies to five cattle stations (including the largest in Australia) and two towns (including one of the smallest in Australia). The tour provides a unique opportunity for visitors to experience the vastness of the Australian Outback and to learn about what it’s really like to live there.

Sunset, Ghosts and Stars Tour: Run by the Desert Cave Hotel, guests begin this tour by traveling 20 minutes outside town to the Breakaways, a geological formation of jagged hills marking what used to be the shorelines of an ancient ocean, to see the sunset. Once the stars have risen, guests travel back to the Old Cemetery in Coober Pedy, where a guide delights them with ghost stories of the town’s most notable residents. Be sure to ask about Crocodile Harry!

Old Timers Mine Museum: One of Coober Pedy’s most popular destinations, the mine provides visitors with an opportunity to learn about the search for opal and the struggles of Coober Pedy’s earliest miners. As part of the museum, guests have the chance to walk through an old-time dugout as well as a mineshaft.

Fossicking: Tourists in Coober Pedy are welcome to dig for their own opal fortune at public fossicking sites in town. Simply sit on the red earth and look for shimmery rocks. Fossicking is free and guests usually find numerous low-quality opals. Ask any resident for directions to the nearest public fossicking site.

Getting there

By plane: Regional Express operates a two-hour flight from Adelaide to Coober Pedy most days of the week.

By train: The Ghan train operates a weekly service from Adelaide or Alice Springs to Manguri Station, 45 minutes outside Coober Pedy; transportation from the station must be arranged with hotels in advance, as there is no transportation at the station and trains from both cities arrive late at night.

By bus: Greyhound offers daily service to Coober Pedy from both Adelaide and Alice Springs. Expect the trip from Adelaide to take 11 hours and the trip from Alice Springs to take eight.

By car: Coober Pedy can be reached by car via a nine-hour drive from Adelaide or an eight-hour drive from Alice Springs. Drivers are warned not to drive through the Outback at night, because of the lack of gas stations and the threat of accidents caused by kangaroos; rain in the Outback may also render roads impassable, and drivers should not expect to have cell phone reception in the desert.

Where to stay

Desert Cave Hotel: Located in the middle of Coober Pedy’s main street, this is the town’s only four-star hotel. Guests have the option to stay underground or aboveground. Underground rooms have ventilation but no windows.

The Underground Motel: Offers underground accommodations to travelers with friendly hospitality. All rooms are underground with natural light and ventilation.

Underground Bed and Breakfast: Owners Ana and Ken Male treat their guests to truly authentic Coober Pedy accommodation. Guests stay in underground rooms with a choice of en suite or shared bathrooms.

Where to eat

John’s Pizza Bar and Restaurant: Awards hang from the walls of John’s, testifying to its reputation for having not only the finest pizza in Coober Pedy but some of the best in Australia. John’s serves up not only traditional pies but also regional specialties like the Malu (smoked kangaroo, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, eggplant, marinated tomatoes, roasted peppers, eggplant and olives) and the Coat of Arms (sweet cranberry, mozzarella cheese, Camembert, emu metworst, spinach and smoked kangaroo). Pasta and sandwiches are also available.

Tom and Mary’s Greek Taverna: The place to go for Mediterranean food in the Outback. A favorite of locals and visitors alike, Tom and Mary impress visitors with authentic Greek fare. The restaurant is renowned for its seafood, especially the Saganaki prawns, so don’t be afraid to try some fish in the desert. Also be sure to try some tzatziki — the yogurt is made from scratch and the herbs are grown in the backyard. Then, with a full stomach, ask for directions to Coober Pedy’s olive grove to continue that Greece-in-Australia experience. Hutchinson Street, Coober Pedy

Umberto’s: Located in the Desert Cave Hotel, Umberto’s is Coober Pedy’s finest dining establishment, and is known for its Mod-Oz cuisine, including regional specialties like kangaroo, camel, emu and Australian beef. Italian food is also on the menu.

The Pink Roadhouse (Oodnadatta): Situated in a largely aboriginal town of fewer than 300 people, this combo restaurant, grocery store and post office looms over the town in all its pink, hand-painted-sign splendor. The restaurant is known throughout Australia for its iconic Oodnaburger, which is composed of meat seasoned with secret spices, onion, cheese, egg, bacon, pineapple, lettuce, beetroot and tomato. The Outback Mail Run Tour stops here for lunch.

William Creek Hotel (William Creek): Owned by two of the three permanent residents in South Australia’s tiniest settlement, the William Creek Hotel serves a changing menu of fresh schnitzel, burgers and curries. The walls are covered with photos and business cards from folks who have passed through, and the owners always welcome friendly conversation and questions about what it’s like to live in such rural territory. If visitors are too tired to move after eating, they can stay in one of the pub’s hotel rooms. The Outback Mail Run Tour stops here for dinner.

In 2012 Chinese tourists are expected to take nearly 80 million international trips, spending US$80 billion in the process, according to the China Tourism Academy.

That’s a lot of travel — 8 percent of the total one billion international trips expected to be taken this year, in fact.

Many hospitality companies are preparing by offering Chinese-oriented tours and amenities. But what can the rest of the world expect?

Given that the Chinese received a bit of a bashing in the comments to our “Who are the world’s worst travelers?” article, it’s time to set the record straight about this oft-maligned nation of jetsetters.

Most Chinese are not rich

There may soon be one million Chinese millionaires, but heading overseas is no longer just for China’s wealthy.

“A lot of the people who were on [my] trip are not rich,” says Evan Osnos, 35, China correspondent for The New Yorker magazine and author of the perceptive and witty travel essay, “The Grand Tour.”

The Connecticut-native whizzed through five European countries on a 10-day, US$2,200 tour last year with Chinese companions who included school teachers, low-level government workers and an accountant.

Wang Xinjun (王新军), founder of Ivy Alliance Consulting, rattles off some interesting statistics.

In the last year, 23 percent of Europe-bound Chinese travelers earned less than RMB 5,000 (US$793) per month; and 36 percent earn RMB 5,000-10,000 (US$793-US$1,587).

Students — not the most “well-heeled” bunch in any country — accounted for 11 percent of those travelers.

More on CNNGo: Top 10 dream destinations for Chinese tourists

“Chinese people have a tradition: they’ll appear rich on the road, but lead a very humble life at home,” notes Wang.

“Take a look at the travelers who spend tens of thousands of reminbi on shopping. Their accommodation and food are usually not that great.”

What to expect in the future: Economy hotels will be packed with Chinese tourists in traditional Chinese travel seasons such as Spring Festival, summer vacations and early October. If you’re also traveling at those times, consider booking early.

Shopping isn’t as important as you think

Chinese tourists have a reputation for being shopaholics. And in some ways, that’s true.

Chinese travelers accounted for 62 percent of the total amount spent on luxury goods in Europe in 2011. Last January they forked over a total of US$7.2 billion on luxury shopping worldwide.

However, surveys show that other pursuits are more important. According to Ivy Alliance, only 19 percent of Chinese travelers list “shopping” as a main purpose of travel.

Instead, “natural scenery” and “island getaway” are the two most important items.

The most popular nature destinations for Chinese tourists are Phuket, the Maldives, Bali and Hawaii.

“Chinese travel agencies do promote shopping-purposed tours for tourists and purchasing agents, known as ‘sweeping goods tour’ (扫货团),” says Jia Jianqiang (贾建强) of Kuxun, a Chinese travel site affiliated with TripAdvisor. “But these are not regular routes and are only available a few times a year.”

What to expect in the future: Hong Kong, Paris and London will keep receiving undeterred Chinese shoppers, but many more Chinese travelers will explore classic natural settings.

Photography and Chinese food are vital

What annoys Chinese tourists? Restaurants that have no idea how to stir-fry — and dead camera batteries.

“Everywhere we went in Europe we ate Chinese food,” says Osnos, who became desperate for Western food toward the end of his 10-day trip in Europe.

That doesn’t mean the Chinese completely shut their mouths to local cuisine. All they need is some guidance.

Osnos recalls a fellow traveler asking him to order a French meal for the group while dining at a Chinese restaurant in Paris.

In addition to food, the other critical item for Chinese travelers is a camera. “One line sums up Chinese tourists the best: sleeping on the bus; photographing off the bus,” says Jia.

Avid Chinese travelers often have little interest in relaxation and lazy sightseeing. Their top task is to photograph or be photographed, in order to flaunt their experiences to friends back home, Jia says.

What to expect in the future: The savviest Western restaurants will be ready to hand over fancy Chinese menus with tips for ordering dishes. Tourist sites will hike prices on cameras and accessories.

Group travel prevails, but independent travel is growing

Group travel used to be the only way abroad for Chinese tourists. It’s still the most popular way to go — language and cultural barriers and a complicated visa application process for Chinese encourage group travel.

Chinese tour groups normally aim to see the most famous places and cover the longest distance and as many countries as possible.

“That’s really a way of feeling you’ve done something worthwhile,” comments Osnos. “And I do think they enjoy it.”

Yet China is seeing a leap in independent tourism.

Around 42 percent of Chinese tourists now prefer independent travel to Europe, while 53 percent stick with conventional tour groups.

“I think group travel will still account for a high percentage of outbound travel because tourists from lower-tier cities are getting wealthier and want to see the world,” says Tan Heng Hong of market research firm Mintel.

“As for those who have been aboard, they will go with small groups of friends or individually. Solo travel will also grow.”

More on CNNGo: New must-do for Chinese tourists: French wine tour

Increasingly, like-minded travelers team up and approach a travel agency to craft a tailor-made route, such as a medical tour to Switzerland or a TV show tour to the United States.

What to expect in the future: Chinese tour groups will move faster with fewer group members. Foreign language-speaking Chinese will crowd the backpacking route through Europe, United States and Southeast Asia.

According to Mintel’s 2011 analysis, Hong Kong, Macau and South Korea are the most popular international destinations for Chinese travelers.

The United States ranks the highest in the Western hemisphere at fifth overall. Russia leads the pack in Europe, listed 10th overall.

Southeast Asian and South Asian countries dominate the rest of the list.

Nearby tropical islands remain high on Chinese tourists’ bucket lists.

Guam is the most likely new hot spot, predicts Wang Xinjun. “Chinese tourists love island getaways; you can tell from their passion for the Maldives,” says Wang.

“Guam is a very nice destination, as well as a shopping paradise. During the past Spring Festival, Chinese tourists chartered 10 planes to fly to Guam.”

What to expect in the future: Gaum’s ubiquitous sushi bars and Korean barbecued meat joints will be replaced by hot pot and dumpling restaurants. Hospitality workers will say “Nihao” to any sort-of Chinese-looking face.