Posted Tuesday, April 01, 2008, 4:32 AM by Lonely Planet
A new era has dawned: welcome to the age of open skies. What does this much-trumpeted transatlantic air agreement mean for travellers? Not that much, it seems.
Open skies has long been a dream of airlines. Until this week, only four airlines have been able to operate from London's Heathrow airport to US destinations. From today any EU or US-based airline can do just that - provided it's got a landing slot, that is. Indeed, these airlines can operate a route from between any two airports in the EU or US. The idea is simple: open skies means more choice and more competition.
So far, so nice for travellers who aren't very well served by existing routes. Air France has launched a London to Los Angeles service, while Northwest and Continental are serving more US destinations direct from the UK. Travellers between London and New York will benefit from 7000 extra seats a week.
You'd think all this would mean cheaper flights, but it seems that this is unlikely. Economy fares have come down a lot over the past few years, and fuel prices look set to keep costs steady. All these airlines are going after the lucrative business market, and fares here could well come down. There's still a long way to go before these fares get within splurge range of most of us.
In summary: open skies means more routes, more seats but not cheaper flights. In the absence of the latter, an open-jawed yawn is likely to be most travellers' reaction.
- Tom Hall
Labels: Airports, Europe, Travelsnitch
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Posted Monday, February 25, 2008, 4:55 AM by Lonely Planet
What do you do if you've only got an hour to see Rome, Berlin or New York?
The (UK) Observer newspaper's Expert Traveller feature, which regularly breaks new travel trends first, might have the answer. Sightjogging is, as it sounds, guided city tours which mixes discovering your destination with a leg-stretch of up to 90 minutes.
Guide or no guide, running is a cheap, fast and fun way to explore many cities which makes evening beer o'clock all the sweeter.
Anyone got any tips for a top-notch sightseeing sprint around their home town?
Tom Hall
Labels: Berlin, New York, Rome, Travelsnitch
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Posted Monday, February 18, 2008, 3:03 PM by Lonely Planet
For a different online travel experience check out hitotoki, a "narrative map of the world".
This beautifully designed site maps short stories and passing moments to locations. Written and edited by locals in Tokyo, New York, London and Washington DC it's a fascinating and inspiring way to discover a city.
Labels: Travelsnitch
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Posted Thursday, February 14, 2008, 8:12 PM by Lonely Planet
Dreaming of a getaway? Chances are your mind is wandering to the cliched image of silky-soft sands, swaying palms and turquoise seas of the perfect island escape.
Travel + Leisure magazine recently put together a list of hottest island destinations for 2008. It's filled with oldies like Santorini, Phuket and Mallorca - beautiful and lots of fun but not exactly "so hot right now".
A straw poll around Lonely Planet suggests they've missed out on some of our favourites. Here's where our staff day dream about during office hours:
1. San Blas Islands, Panama
2. Megisti, Greece
3. Rinca, Indonesia
4. St Martins, Bangladesh
5. Hideaway Island, Vanuatu
6. Poruma, Torres Straits
7. Zanzibar, Tanzania
8. Corn Islands, Nicuragua
9. Playa Tortuga, Galapagos Islands
10. Samoa
Have you got an island we should add to the list?
Labels: Travelsnitch
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Posted Tuesday, January 29, 2008, 4:24 PM by Lonely Planet
Covering the 2007 national elections in Australia as an American journalist I found the affair to be generally civilised, consisting of measured debate, deep, dry policy scrutiny and only a vague sense of political backbiting.
I certainly never wrote "Band kicks ass" in my reporter's notepad.
But that's the sort of thing you scribble when watching the American elections live, and guess what travellers? You too can witness our ridiculous leader-of-the-free-world selecting system at this very moment! C'mon; the dollar is weak and you only get one presidential election every four years.
Here's what a South Carolina rally for Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee was like. The opening act was rock stars Lucas War Hero - yeah, I'd never heard of them either, but isn't that a great band name? Makes you want to scream LUCAS WAR HERO! and throw a mini-fridge out of a hotel window - on stage with Ric freaking Flair, 16-time professional wrestling world champion. Chuck Norris (uh, yeah, Chuck Norris) was supposed to be there, but he got held up. Anyways, the crowd heart-ed Huckabee and the whole show, and I'm not ashamed to admit I did too.
This is why American elections are so fun. Other systems are analytical, less-money obsessed and short on spectacle, and they're bloody boring. As a traveller and journalist I've yet to see other Western elections illicit the full-throated passion I witnessed in South Carolina. Sure, we elect morons. But the Australian election system is the most dignified one I've yet seen, and voters there kept John Howard in office for 11 years. If it's gotta be a moron, at least make it a colorful one. Come see us pick our next moron while you can.
- Adam Karlin
Labels: Festivals and events, The Americas, Travelsnitch
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Posted Wednesday, January 23, 2008, 7:46 PM by Lonely Planet
It's not every day you see a travel warning issued for Italy. There's always the risk you could overeat, overlook the alchohol content of limoncello, or overspend (why did they have to replace lire with the euro?). But in all seriousness what could be so dangerous about Italy?
Naples, known for Napoli sauce and Neapolitan ice-cream is having a rubbish disposal crisis - and not for the first time. Described as "raucous, polluted, anarchic, deafening and crumbling" on a good day, Naples has started 2008 drowning in a sea of rubbish as curb side collections are cancelled and dumps pronounced full.
Although planning is underway for purpose built incinerators, residents have taken matters into their own hands setting pile after pile alight. Hardly life-threatening for short-term travellers, but on the nose all the same.
Labels: Europe, Travelsnitch
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Posted Wednesday, January 16, 2008, 5:00 PM by Lonely Planet
From a remote location, the humble postcard will travel by many modes of transport before taking off - par avion, for its final destination.
The global postal network is something to be respected; that you can glue a malfunctioning stamp to a small, flimsy piece of cardboard in a hill station in Himachal Pradesh, have it survive monsoonal rain, mountain tracks, a bus-journey on partially paved roads and an administratively chaotic Indian airport and arrive safely in a sea-side Sydney suburb is nothing short of amazing.
Last week we polled travellers on whether they send postcards and it seems the old-school ritual is well and truly alive with 68% responding yes.
And it's no wonder - from scouring stand after stand of bland images at some of the world's best known landmarks, to persistent roadside salespersons at the lesser ones - what's not to love. Some of the best buildings in the world house a city's GPO; and seeking out hut-like structures in obscure villages will take you down paths you might not otherwise walk.
If there's anything better than sending a postcard, it's receiving one. What it's not a bill!!! I have an incredible collection of tacky memories from my friends' travels. In the last six months I've received missives from the USA, Colombo, Seoul and Paris.
What about you?
Labels: Travelsnitch
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Posted Monday, January 14, 2008, 7:20 PM by Lonely Planet
Every kid knows beans give you gas. The gag's been around forever, yet now flying, not flatulence might be its ultimate result.
Much has been made of the new and far more environmentally friendly 'space race' with Virgin and Air New Zealand vying for the first bio-fuelled flight.
Already you can bicycle around Vietnam, ride an electric scooter in Italy, flag down a Tuk-Tuk with a four-stroke single-cylinder engine in Thailand (far more fuel efficient than its two-stroke forebear), try horseback in Egypt or, hoof it by foot in the Himalaya; travel's not all bad. But flights remain the bogey of the industry; an enormous contributor to carbon emissions, pressure is on to clean up the skies.
Soybeans, algae, rapeseed and palm oil have all been cited as potential sources for bio-fuel in the future, but as they require harvesting on a grand scale, debate is alive whether its production is any more energy efficient.
Researchers, eccentrics and hobbyists have tried for years to develop a suitable concoction from recycled oils, animal and vegetable fats, but their side-effects are often caustic. Given we won't be refuelling at the chippy any time soon, guilt-free flying still seems some way off.
In the mean-time there are some measures that are worth investigating. For more information see our section on Sustainable and Responsible travel. Or if you've got some good suggestions, post them here.
Labels: Breaking travel news, Sustainable and responsible tourism, Travelsnitch
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Posted Wednesday, January 09, 2008, 4:44 PM by Lonely Planet
Another year, another list and the latest top ten going around is of the world's most endangered locations. The website Askmen.com has compiled a list of sites which are at risk due to environmental causes, over-tourism and conflict.
The list covers everything from the Panama Canal to Iraq's Babylon:
1. Dampier Rock Art Complex in Murujuga, Australia
2. Sonargaon-Panam City, Bangladesh
3. Chinguetti Mosque, Mauritania, West Africa
4. Panama Canal, Panama City, Chagres River
5. Dhangkar Gompa, Himachal Pradesh, India
6. Old Damascus, Syria
7. Babylon, Iraq
8. Leh Old Town, Ladakh, India
9. The Coral Triangle, Sulu and Sulawesi Seas
10. Greenland
Do these men really know what they're talking about?
Lonely Planet has highlighted the destruction of the Jaisalmer Fort in India as one of the world's most endangered sites but it doesn't seem to have made the grade.
Can you see anything else missing?
Labels: Travelsnitch
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Posted Monday, January 07, 2008, 4:55 PM by Lonely Planet
Squeezing through one of Chandni Chowk's many shoe shops, then up the narrow, wooden staircase to The New Gramophone House, hungry, vinyl music hounds will be met with the most delightful surprise.
The holy grail of Indian LPs, first opened in 1930. The shop is not big, but is crammed wall-to-wall, floor to ceiling, with musical gems from an all but forgotten era.
There are over 1000 records, covering all national languages and Indian musical genres (including an enormous Hindi Films section, of course). There are also some English and International records. Additionally, the shop sells and repairs old record players and even gramophones. Album prices range between 30rps to more than 1000rps for rarities from the archive.
Chandni Chowk is described in the Lonely Planet guide as 'pure pandemonium' so to help you locate The New Gramophone House, here is the detailed address as published on their website:
Shop no. 31B
Pleasure Garden Market
opposite Moti Cinema
near Gauri Shanker Mandir
Main Road , Chandni Chowk
Delhi, India
- Morgan Harrington
Labels: Asia and Pacific, Been there done that, Travelsnitch
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Posted Sunday, December 30, 2007, 5:18 PM by Lonely Planet
Me - I'm off to Spain - what about you? A straw poll of my cubicle-comrades also puts New Zealand, India, Samoa and New York on the travel agenda for 2008.
Is it hard to see why I'm going from this:
To this:
Share your travel plans for 2008 here, or for more ideas check out our Bluelist of recommended destinations for 2008.
Labels: Travelsnitch
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Posted Thursday, December 27, 2007, 7:56 PM by Lonely Planet
Here at Lonely Planet we suggest it does, but then why am I so confused? After a few days safely stashed away in the stupor of the silly season, I've just today again reached for the papers.
I'm having greater difficulty digesting what I'm seeing online, in print and on the tele, than the clogging concoction of peanuts, chocolate, tarts and turkey I ate on Christmas Day.
As 2007 comes to a close, I'm left wondering whether anyone out there has any understanding why the world is so, well, (insert your favourite word for broken here).
Benazir Bhutto has been assassinated in Rawalpindi, Pakistan; landslides and flooding have killed hundreds in Solo, Indonesia; holiday road tolls keep rising; the 'war on terror' is costing the US $15billion a month; thousands in Sudan still go hungry.
Can we hope for something better in 2008? And will travel alone help?
Labels: Travelsnitch
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Posted Wednesday, December 12, 2007, 8:52 PM by Lonely Planet
Tried of skiing? Dab hand at snowboarding? Wondering what to do next? Well wonder no more, the next big craze to hit the slopes this year is airboarding. Yes, that's right, speed-freaks tired of carving up the slopes on two legs have taken to hurling themselves off mountain slopes on an airboard - that's a large inflatable lilo to you and me!
Invented by Swiss designer, Joe Steiner, ten years ago the airboard is actually a 4ft inflatable sledge with hard runners underneath. It can reach speeds of up to 80mph, although stopping is somewhat harder - there are no breaks so short of hurling yourself sideways into a skidding halt you best just prey for a soft landing.
Unsurprisingly, skiers and snowboarders are non-too-keen on sharing their slopes with such hazardous neighbours, but you can find a list of European and American slopes at www.airboard.com.
- Paula Hardy
Labels: skiing, snow, Travelsnitch
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Posted Sunday, December 09, 2007, 3:16 PM by Lonely Planet
When the online team at Lonely Planet are not cadging free photos off flickr or napping under their desks we enjoy trawling totally useless but fun websites.
Here's some of this week's favourites:
* 1001 secret fishing holes
* 25 un-safest cities
* Dig to the other side
* Celeb-favourites.com
* Fatal Crash Data Maps
Have you got any to share?
Labels: Travelsnitch
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Posted Thursday, November 29, 2007, 9:16 PM by Lonely Planet
London's tube has been described as creaking, overcrowded and overpriced, but ultimately it serves a purpose; somewhat efficiently, it ferries thousands upon thousands of people around one of the world's most popular cities every day.
Almost everyone who has lived in or visited London will be familiar with its quirks. Walk into any souvenir store in central London and you'll be able to pick up a mug, tea towel, oven mitt or apron adorned with the iconic phrase: "Mind the Gap".
Along with "all change please", "please note that this train will not stop at the next station" and "thank you for travelling on the central line", "mind the gap" is one of the tube's most-played recorded messages.
Instructing commuters to mind the gap since 1999 has been the soothing voice of British woman, Emma Clarke. This week however Transport for London announced they would not contract her in the future. Contrary to popular belief that this is the result of her spoof voiceovers on her website, TfL claim it's because she has publicly denounced their service saying she hates catching the tube.
Emma Clarke has defended herself and shock horror it seems she's been misrepresented by a journalist from The Mail on Sunday. Oh well - you can decide for yourself: listen to the spoofs or for Londoners living off-shore - make yourself homesick with the real thing.
Labels: Breaking travel news, Europe, Travelsnitch
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Posted Sunday, November 25, 2007, 10:29 PM by Lonely Planet
Last month the British Sunday Mirror, reporting on a forthcoming BBC documentary, revealed that the 1994 edition of our Middle East guide had been used for planning the Iraq invasion. 'Former American ambassador Barbara Bodine, who was given the job of helping to reconstruct Iraq, said: "It is a great guide book, but it should not be the basis of an occupation."'
Well yes, particularly since they used the wrong book. An older edition, our 1990 West Asia guidebook would have been a much better tool for invasion and rebuilding. We'd sent intrepid Englishwoman Rosemary Hall to research Iraq for that edition and, at the time, we were even thinking about a stand alone Iraq guidebook. Then Saddam invaded Kuwait and it all ended in tears. For him and for us.
To be perfectly honest we don't write our books with invasion, coups, revolutions and general mayhem in mind. Not that they aren't regularly used for such non-touristic purposes. In his book Zanzibar Chest, Reuters correspondent Aidan Hartley reported that as the Ethopian rebels closed in on the Soviet-backed dictator Haile Menguitu, the rebel tank drivers were guided into the capital using the Addis Ababa map photocopied from the reporter's dog-eared copy of Africa on a Shoestring.
I'm happy to hear we played our part in getting rid of one awful dictator (Mengistu's now in Zimbabwe where Mugabe, another awful African leader, looks after him), but I have to admit our books sometimes get used in ways I don't approve of. On one occasion a Kashmiri separatist organisation bought a copy of our India book to select a hotel to kidnap Western visitors. Fortunately the resourceful travellers they captured soon managed to escape. In 2003 a Weekend Australian story headlined 'Terror with help from a Lonely Planet guide,' reported that two misguided young British Muslims used our Israel guidebook to choose a hostel before making a suicide bomb attack on a beachfront bar.
- Tony Wheeler, co-founder of Lonely Planet
Labels: Breaking travel news, Middle East, Travelsnitch
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Posted Wednesday, November 21, 2007, 7:17 PM by Lonely Planet
Australia: blue skies, big open brown spaces, lots and lots of minerals and one, particularly nasty one...
Chrysotile was once mined to make asbestos - a popular, cheap housing material used in Australia in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Now, it's widely known that asbestos is highly toxic and leads to nasty lung related diseases, including cancer.
The mine site was in Wittenoom; a town by the same name servicing the workers of what was a booming industry. But since discovering the hazardous effects of asbestos, Wittenoom's been deserted. Situated in the Pilbara region in northern Western Australia the area still appeals to many travellers - and quite rightly. The gorges and waterfalls of nearby Karijini National Park are naturally spectacular.
Iconic 80s Australian rock band, Midnight Oil released the album Blue Sky Mining in 1987, featuring a track, Blue Sky Mine which cut to the core of the mining industry and made Wittenoom infamous. Its lyrics still resonate with miners and their families who've lobbied their incredibly wealthy ex-employers for justice and compensation to cover medical costs and damages.
"So I'm caught at the junction still waiting for medicine
The sweat of my brow keeps on feeding the engine
Hope the crumbs in my pocket can keep me for another night...
And the company takes what the company wants
And nothing's as precious
As a hole in the ground..."
Where as once curiosity may have seen you risk a side trip to Wittenoom it's no longer possible. It doesn't exist. It has been decommissioned, taken off the maps, the electricity - switched off.
So if you're looking for somewhere to stay try the two campsites in Karijini National Park or the Auski Tourist Village on the Great Northern Highway
And in an interesting aside, if the Labor party (currently in opposition) wins government at the Australian election this weekend, then ex-Oils frontman, Peter Garrett (member for Kingsford Smith) will be the new Minister for the Environment. It will be interesting to see if he stays true to his activist roots.
Labels: Asia and Pacific, Breaking travel news, Sustainable and responsible tourism, Travelsnitch
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Posted Monday, November 12, 2007, 1:53 PM by Lonely Planet
Today, many main roads feel familiar the world over; globalisation bringing us the same stores again and again. So, if you want to feel the pulse of a place it's often the side streets you'll find most rewarding.
The labyrinthine streets of Albayzín, Granada's old Islamic quarter or Manila's old trading neighbourhood of Quaipo are the perfect antidote to high street sameness.
The latest Lonely Planet Flickr photo challenge captured this very essence, Emilio Navarino's winning photo taken in the alleys of Sanà, Yemen.
For other off the beaten track ideas, you can see all the entries in the Side Streets photo challenge here.
Voting is open on the All that Glisters challenge, and entries to the Morning photo challenge are being fielded now. So, check out the Lonely Planet Flickr group here>>
Labels: Travelsnitch
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Posted Thursday, November 01, 2007, 4:34 PM by Lonely Planet
For anyone who has ever been diagnosed with breast cancer and then denied travel insurance or charged sky-high premiums, Insure Pink has now launched a travel policy which caters for people with a history of the cancer.
Developed in close consultation with UK breast cancer charities and with insurance professionals who have first-hand knowledge of living with the disease the affordable policy reflects the true risks of holiday travel, not the perceived risk of travelling with a severe condition.
The Insure Pink policy, offered through Travel Insurance Facilities, is underwritten by Equity. It's similar to normal travel insurance but also covers curtailment or cancellation for medical reasons, which can include, but are not limited to, complications relating to breast cancer.
Insure Pink plans to introduce policies to cover male-related conditions, such as prostate and testicular cancers in the next few months.
Labels: Travelsnitch
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Posted Tuesday, October 30, 2007, 7:27 PM by Lonely Planet
Get your hands out and your cheesiest grin at the ready as Japan starts finger printing and photographing all foreigners entering the country in an anti-terrorism policy that is causing outrage among foreign residents and human rights activists.
Immigration officials will run images and data through a database of international terror and crime suspects as well as against domestic crime records. People matching the data on file - or those who refuse to cooperate - will be denied entry and deported.
Only some permanent residents, diplomats, and children under 16 will be exempt from the measures after the system goes into effect on November 20.
While similar to the "US-VISIT" program introduced after 9/11 in the United States, Japan will also require resident foreigners - of which there are about two million - to be fingerprinted and photographed every time they re-enter the country.
Amnesty International has declared the policy "discriminatory" and says it could "encourage xenophobia".
What do you think of Japan's new system?
Labels: Asia and Pacific, Travelsnitch
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Posted Wednesday, October 24, 2007, 8:50 PM by Lonely Planet
You've watched the film about a million times, bought the special edition DVD, danced for hours to the soundtrack, seen the musical and regularly drop "I carried a watermelon" into everyday conversation.
Well why stop there? If you really want to celebrate Dirty Dancing's 20th anniversary in style make like Baby Houseman and take a trip to the real life Kellerman's at Mountain Lake Hotel in Virginia, USA. The resort - where everything from the dance classes to the cabin scenes were filmed (head to North Carolina for the famous lake lift) - is hosting a series of Dirty Dancing weekends. This is your chance to shake your maracas like poor old dance instructor Penny and learn the salsa, tango and merengue. Unfortunately Patrick Swayze will not be in attendance. Tour the grounds and try to beat other Dirty Dancing fanatics in a trivia competition and find out why, even twenty years later, no one is putting Baby in the corner.
Labels: Festivals and events, The Americas, Travelsnitch
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Posted Monday, October 08, 2007, 7:27 PM by Lonely Planet
Here's a way you can mark the 40th anniversary of the death of Ernesto 'Che' Guevara: for the next week, every time you see someone wearing one of those iconic Che t-shirts during your travels, ask them:
- so who is that bloke, anyway?
- why do you like him so much you want him on your t-shirt?
- do you think violence is a valid means of overthrowing a repressive dictatorship? Alternatively, is murder a necessary but deplorable means to a desirable end, but not something we should ennoble by making heroes of its protagonists? Is it OK to kill if it's for something you believe in and, if so, would you wear Senior General Than Shwe on a t-shirt if he took a nicer photo?
- would you consider yourself a relativist or an absolutist, and, more specifically, do you think it was OK that Che hated gays because, given the time and place, hating gays was normal behaviour?
- who is better looking: Che Guevara or Gael Garcia Bernal?
"We will continue to fight you as long as we have weapons in our hands."
- Osama bin Laden
"Any nation that decides the only way to achieve peace is through peaceful means is a nation that will soon be a piece of another nation."
- Richard Nixon
"I don't care if I fall as long as someone else picks up my gun and keeps on shooting."
- Che Guevara
- Jane Rawson
Labels: Politics, The Americas, Travelsnitch
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Posted Sunday, September 16, 2007, 11:51 PM by Lonely Planet
The first OzBus London to Sydney overland trip has just hit the road. Haven't heard about it? OzBus - in return for 3750 of your hard-earned pounds sterling - will pop you in a bus with around 35 other people and take you on a 12-week drive from London through Europe and Asia to Timor, where you'll jump on a plane to Darwin for the drive down to Sydney. It's old-skool as.
Of course, many independent travellers are turning up their noses at what is, essentially, an organised tour. And why not? They and their progenitors have been legging it overland since the 1960s without the help of a bloke with a microphone pointing out the sites. Despite the media-generated excitement about this 'world first travel experience', for some people taking such a short overland trip is about as adventurous as a week on Ko Pha Ngan. And of course there's the cost: you won't have to go far to find someone who'll tell you 45 pounds a day for transport, food and a camping spot is a heinous rip-off and they could do it for less than three.
But you know what? I reckon it's great. Sure, there are plenty among us who are hardcore enough to do this trip themselves. But there are also plenty among us who find the whole thing just too hard, and end up opting for the plane even though we'd rather save the emissions and see the world close-up. OzBus is saying it's possible, it's fun and anyone can do it. Anything that encourages travellers to take it slowly, meet the locals and enjoy the trip rather than pelting their way to the destination; anything that makes travel a journey that you have to plan for and live over a sizeable chunk of your life, rather than a short-break that you've forgotten before you've even paid off the credit card, has got to be a good thing.
- Jane Rawson
Labels: Asia and Pacific, Europe, London, Middle East, Sustainable and responsible tourism, Travelsnitch
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Posted Sunday, August 12, 2007, 9:14 PM by Lonely Planet
Only five months old and ready to charge, the Lao Elephants are the first Aussie Rules club to hit the Lao People's Democratic Republic.
Kicking around Vientiane's National Stadium every Sunday at 5pm and at the Sandpit on Wednesday's at 8pm, the Elephants are a motley crew of 10 to 15 players from Laos, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Norway and the UK. Sharing a love for this uniquely Australian code of football, a game some have described as 'the bastard child of basketball and rugby', the team is even designing its own jumper.
"...goals include designing the perfect jumper that truly reflects the club's heritage and represents the pride of the nation. Presently the idea is to have a pink background with a grey elephant on the front. This design is unlikely to clash with the jumpers of other clubs," organiser Marty Sharples told worldfootynews.com
The Elephants are planning their debut international match against neighbours the Vietnam Swans later this year. The Swans played host to a few of the Elephants last month with seven Lao players joining the Vietnam team for the Asian Championships.
If you're living in or passing through Vientiane feel free to drop in on a training session (followed by a Beer Lao booze up) or email Marty at martysharples@hotmail.com
Picture caption: Matt Hegarty (Japan honorary Elephants member), Alex 'Ronnie' Barker, Mick 'Aker' Hassett, David's 'Pretty' Kamp, Marty 'Richo' Sharples
Labels: Asia and Pacific, Travelsnitch, Volunteer
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Posted Monday, July 16, 2007, 6:07 PM by Lonely Planet
Being US President carries some major perks - you can get peanut butter and jelly sandwiches anywhere in the world, you get to skip passport control, and you can order troops in and out of foreign countries. But one thing you can't do is walk the streets of Trastevere in Rome, as George W. Bush found out recently.
Trastevere is one of Rome's most picturesque neighbourhoods, a tightly-packed quarter of ochre-coloured palazzi and animated piazze. Thick with restaurants, pubs and bars, it's hugely popular with Romans and fun-loving foreigners who pile in nightly to party into the small hours. It's also, apparently, a no-go area for American presidents.
Much to the amusement of the trasteverini, Trastevere's famously proud residents, George W. was politely, but sternly, dissuaded from entering the area when he visited the Eternal City on 9 June. Before his visit, Bush had requested a round-table meeting with members of the Sant' Egidio community, a Catholic charity-cum-diplomatic organisation with its headquarters in Trastevere. But when it was pointed out to him that the neighbourhood's alleyways were too small for his motorcade and that the surrounding palazzi provided ideal sniper cover, he diplomatically agreed to hold the meeting in the US Embassy.
Thus the world was spared the sight of Bush enjoying a gelato on Trastevere's suggestive streets and the city's frazzled authorities, already worried about the prospect of anti-Bush protests, were saved a further security headache. In the end, Bush's 36-hour Rome visit passed off without major incident. He came, he caught up with his old buddy Berlusconi, he met the Pope and PM Prodi, and he left, leaving the city to its traffic and Trastevere to its trattorie and tourists.
- Duncan Garwood
Labels: Europe, Travelsnitch
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Posted Sunday, July 08, 2007, 9:30 PM by Lonely Planet
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are out and the Taj Mahal is in as the world is introduced to the "new seven wonders" in a contest run by the private NewOpenWorld Foundation. The campaign which aimed to update the original list of wonders, drawn up about 200BC, attracted more than 100 million votes for the world's top architectural marvels.
The Sydney Opera House and New York's Statue of Liberty didn't make the final cut, neither did traveller favourites such as Angkor Wat. The biggest surprise however, was the Pyramids of Giza - the only wonder remaining from the original list - failed to make the grade.
The New Seven Wonders of the World
Great Wall of China
Taj Mahal, India
Petra, Jordan
Colosseum, Rome
Christ Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro
Machu Picchu, Peru
Chichen Itza, Mexico
What's your opinion of the new list? Is your favourite "wonder of the world" missing? Tell us what you think.
Labels: Travelsnitch
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Posted Thursday, June 14, 2007, 3:18 PM by Lonely Planet
As anyone who has travelled to Southeast Asia will probably already know, everyone is talking about Laos. The Land of a Million Elephants is expecting a record number of tourists in 2007. And many of them are coming to trek through the pristine forests and stay with the chilled out locals in remote villages. In short, they're coming to trek out of their comfort zones and into the 'real Laos' - and I can tell you, it's quite a trip.
This year there will be more trekking options than ever. In the south, new community-based treks are attracting travellers to the remote Xe Pian National Protected Area and the gothic karsts and valleys of Phu Hin Boun NPA, while the elephant viewing tower at Phou Khao Khuaoy NPA near Vientiane has also become popular. Further north, treks out of Vieng Phouka, Phongsali and Muang Sing are all vying with the original Nam Ha NPA experience for a slice of your trekking dollars.
The whole point of these treks is to channel your money into the pockets of those who would otherwise have to abuse the forest, or sell it, in order to live. Significantly, these projects appear to have strong support from the Lao government, which has even written community-based ecotourism into its national poverty reduction strategy. Congratulations, Lao government, for your vision.
However, all this seems to be at risk since one of Laos's ecotourism pioneers, Sompawn Anthisouk, was abducted while on his way to an appointment with the police in January. Pawn, who is a co-owner of The Boat Landing, Laos's best-known and longest-running eco-lodge, hasn't been heard of since he was taken. Nobody has claimed responsibility, Lao newspapers haven't reported it, and the police investigation has still not produced any answers despite witnesses who claim to have seen the abduction.
Just who those men were remains a mystery. What is in less doubt, however, is that the incident has raised some big questions about the future of eco-tourism in Laos. If Pawn is released these doubts will probably disappear. But if he remains missing, attracting the investment needed to grow this sort of tourism - and help alleviate poverty - might be much more difficult. So for the sake of his family and his country, we're still hoping to see Pawn back working in Luang Nam Tha.
Andrew Burke is the author of Lonely Planet's Laos guide.
For more information on Laos ecotourism try:
www.ecotourismlaos.com
www.ecotourismlaos/forum2007
For more discussion on Pawn, go to the Thorn Tree.
Labels: Asia and Pacific, Sustainable and responsible tourism, Travelsnitch
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Posted Tuesday, May 15, 2007, 6:26 PM by Lonely Planet
It's a sad fact that water bottles clog up water-ways. It can really get in the way of what would otherwise be a great travel snap. The question is, do we give this a second thought when we're buying bottle after bottle in destinations we've been told the tap water is unsafe to drink? Do we conveniently forget all about it when we develop our pictures and find we successfully kept all the rubbish out of frame? Do we have an option?
Sabrina Walasek is one traveller who advocates the use of water purifiers as a means of travelling responsibly:
"I was a middle-school science teacher for five years and focused a great deal on service learning, partnering with the community and building awareness around environmental issues.
In the past 8 years, my husband and I have travelled for a year at a time... twice! The first time we had an around-the-world ticket. The second time, we just got a one-way ticket to Japan. We went overland as much as possible (boat from Osaka to Shanghai, train to Mongolia, train through Russia and eastern Europe, boat from Croatia to Sicily then another boat from Sicily to Tunisia, etc.)
I have spent a lot of time in developing areas. I've seen the impact of tourism on villages and even big cities. I've seen heaps of plastic bottles in rural areas. It kills me.
I travel with a water purifier. I've found the MSR MiniWorks ceramic filter the best. It can be cleaned and handles a year's worth of water for 2 people without replacing filters. It screws onto your sports bottle. You simply fill up a sink with water, put the hose into the sink and siphon the water into your bottles.
Yes - it can be a pain and yes they are fragile. They will also seem expensive when you are saving for your trip, but it pays for itself on the open road. In china, bottled water is more expensive than beer.
The most surprising thing is that I have never encountered another traveller using one. Only a few people have approached me to ask what it was - most don't seem to have a problem with buying 3 bottles of water or more per day."
So, environmentally aware traveller... are you experienced in the ways of water purification? Any tips you can share?
And if you've got no idea what we're talking about check out some different water purifiers here and more here.
Labels: Sustainable and responsible tourism, Travelsnitch
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Posted Thursday, March 29, 2007, 9:59 PM by Lonely Planet
We were delighted today to see that not only is Jaunted.com lambasting 'Micael' [sic] Kohn's recent article on dangerous travel, but that the page was peppered with ads for our current Bluelist competition. Thanks for the publicity, guys!
Labels: Travelsnitch
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Posted Thursday, March 22, 2007, 4:25 PM by Lonely Planet
Fionn Davenport gets philosophical (has a rant?) in Dublin...
I don't like parades, and I couldn't care less about floats or fireworks. Watching Dublin's St Patrick's Parade I couldn't help but wonder what the hell we were all doing. What is St Patrick's Day really all about?
We're not celebrating an event in Irish history - nothing tidy like a day of independence or the birth or death of a founding father. We're not celebrating St Patrick himself - a Welshman who may not have existed at all. Nor are we celebrating Christianity or anything to do with religion - we do plenty of that at Easter and Christmas.
So what's it all about? Irishness? What the hell is that? Are we celebrating the 'qualities' that define us as Irish? If so, What the hell are they? Friendliness, loving a laugh, the craic? Jesus Christ, I hope not. We are, after all, a nation, not a stand-up routine.
Ask any of the other half-million lining the parade route; I wager you wouldn't get a consistent answer out of them. One thing struck me though: the sheer number of recently arrived immigrants at the parade, most of them totally gung ho for the whole spectacle. Maybe St Patrick's Day has most meaning for them; a way of celebrating their new home and, in some small way, aiding what must be a pretty tough assimilation.
That's a pretty good reason to have a parade.
Three other Lonely Planet authors were in Ireland this St Patrick's Day...
Read what Ryan Ver Berkmoes got up to in Limerick, James Bainbridge in Listowel and Tom Downs in Dunfanaghy.
Labels: Europe, Travelsnitch
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Posted Tuesday, March 20, 2007, 7:57 PM by Lonely Planet
Ryan Ver Berkmoes - Lonely Planet's foremost St Patrick's Day Parade Critic - tells us how it is in Limerick, Ireland...
'That one sucks,' said the little boy next to me as a barely decorated pickup truck rolled by.
He was right of course, like many of the 'floats' in this minor-league parade, the truck was merely a marketing tool for a local business - in this case Pimp My Ride, a Limerick car customizer, which if their float was any indication, considered a dangling air freshener to be the full pimp.
On a somewhat stormy day, Ireland's second city staged a parade that was every bit the reflection of this town's own checkered reputation: shambolic, merry, mean and ultimately grey - like the streets it traversed, the skies overhead and the complexions of the windblown spectators.
Fortunately we (myself and compatriots Erin and Janine) had our own little peanut gallery of ginger-haired moppets to provide a running commentary on all that passed before us. 'Shoot!' they cried to the grey-faced Irish soldiers, who rather disquietingly formed a good portion of the parade.
Amidst the military and shameless self-promotion ('the Sun Warriors are proudly supported by Hickey's Cleaning Services') there were the bits of oddball charm that always make a parade worth the effort. A little trailer bearing misshapen lumps on a papier-mache backdrop honored the 'the Salmon of Knowledge', a bit of Irish lore in which a man could be king if he ate the right fish.
Another float (really a trailer which, in near ubiquitous commentary on the unreliable weather, was covered) bore a huge, flaccid lump that the over-amped MC assured us was a dragon (verdict of the kids: 'stupid, it looks like shite').
After an hour, the last batch of hypothermic Girl Guides had passed and the crowd quickly turned to more important matters: getting drunk and watching Ireland play rugby against Italy (the parade time had been moved up to accommodate this - the match that is, as drinking was ongoing).
We repaired to South's, a pub mentioned in Limerick-set Angela's Ashes, now an upscale boozer that tips its hat to its literary legacy by naming the toilets Frank and Angela.
While a Scotsman whose name might have been Jock and an Irishman whose name might have been Pat competed to out-do each other in their regurgitations of English atrocities against the good people of the Isles ('It was 300 years ago and they killed everybody!'), we settled back with pints of Guinness that hadn't been chilled to death and tried to sort out the legacy of the Salmon of Knowledge, although in the end all we could decide was that, yes, the float had sucked.
Labels: Europe, Travelsnitch
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Posted Monday, March 19, 2007, 10:59 PM by Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet author James Bainbridge quenches his thirst and gets green with a random Irish guy - the best type of Irish - all while on the job...
I decide to spend St. Patrick's Day in Listowel (that's 'Listooowell') in the hope that the Kerry town's history of bar-propping poets will lend my own bender some literary associations. Needless to say, Ireland has its own ideas. In the John B Keane pub, named after the late local scribe whose output included the Richard Harris film The Field, I sit in the corner and scribble some observations. I feel like part of the furniture given the literary precedent here.
Then the barman and a random drinker separately stumble over and ask why I'm 'making lists'. 'We've had enough of writers round here,' says the random. He's joking but I put the notebook away anyway and order another drink - an activity that will surely only gain approval. While the Guinness is 'curing' (settling), I make one last valiant attempt to fit some work into the drinking spree. 'Do you have a business card for this pub?' I ask the barman. He slings me a key-ring, which bears only a rousing John B Keane couplet. Next I ask what nights the pub has music sessions. 'We had to send the guitarist home,' the barman laughs. 'He was drinking all day, but he'll be back tomorrow.'
Outside, the streets are messy. The parade, an innocent display of six-year-old leprechauns and local businesses shamelessly exploiting the event for self-promotion, is a distant memory. In the town nightclub, sinisterly called Mermaids, a band plods through U2 covers and a fight erupts involving half a dozen very large, very drunk men. Realising that St. Patrick's Day is coming to an abrupt end, and not wishing to follow suit, I make a break for my B&B. En route, I pull out my new key-ring and read Keane's lines about the Listowel of a bygone decade: 'There are so many - Lovely songs to sing'.
Labels: Europe, Travelsnitch
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Posted Sunday, March 18, 2007, 10:16 PM by Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet author Tom Downs braves some wet and blustery weather in Ireland this St Patrick's day...
My plan had been to take a ferry out to Tory Island, reputed to be a nearly uninhabitable rock off the coast with a notoriously eccentric population. But the sea was too rough, so I stayed in tiny Dunfanaghy on the mainland. There was a parade scheduled on the main street and Brendan Rohan, the owner of the Concreggan Mill Hostel, promised it was one of those 'anything can happen' sort of events. Brendan was wearing a traditional saffron kilt, knee-high socks, and a Scottish woolen coat with a Tara broach pinned to it - a replica, he informed me, as the original was in the National Museum in Dublin. A retired officer of the Irish Army, he looked right proper in this festive uniform.
We were heading out the door when sad news came that the parade was cancelled. A young man from the village had died that morning in a car wreck. Martin McMullan, age 19. We headed into town to see if anything was going on, and express condolences. On Main St the wind was blowing the drizzle every which way and no one wore kilts or green hats. We ducked into a pub and found a lively crowd cheering on the Irish rugby team, which was beating Italy in a Six Nations game. The crowd let out a uniform howl each time the Irish scored.
This had little to do with St Patrick, but it was spirited, and a whisky helped put Brendan and myself into a better frame of mind. During the halftime analysis, we decided to drive to the nearby village of Falcarragh, where Brendan assured me we'd see a parade.
Along the main drag in Falcarragh, people huddled in parked cars, waiting for the parade to roll down the street. A band of marching pipers and drummers came along playing 'The Rising of the Moon' and suddenly people materialized in doorways, many speaking Gaelic to one another. The band was followed by dancers, women dressed in sheep's clothing and children wearing red beards and top hats. The parade went up a few blocks, doubled back down the main drag then was over. The entire town crowded into The Shamrock Lodge to get warm over a pint or whisky. Father Martin, brother of the pub's owner, helped tend bar. Old ladies, bearded children and marching bands all managed to squeeze in. It was pretty damn good craic, after all.
Labels: Europe, Travelsnitch
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Posted Wednesday, March 14, 2007, 5:56 PM by Lonely Planet
In the last installment of her Bruce Lee adventure in Mostar, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Lonely Planet author Vesna Maric meets the martial arts star in his final resting place.
I'm rushing over to the city park, convinced I am going to see Bruce. I arrive and wave at 'the woman in charge' who is standing in the distance, mobile phone glued to her ear. Excited, I approach, but she starts making apologies, saying it's 3pm, everyone has finished work for the day, including Dragan, who will have gone home and left Bruce to sweat under the polyester blankets all by himself. Tomorrow, she says, after 8am, I'll take you to see Lee.
Disappointment sweeps over me and saying goodbye to the woman, I am incredulous at the difficulties I am encountering, and wonder how the world's most famous martial artist has come to embody the physical and metaphysical struggles of contemporary Bosnia & Hercegovina?
The next day, early in the morning, I call the woman. She tells me that Dragan is waiting, ready to open the gates of Sesame. I go, imagining Lee underneath the
