Photo: Matador Flickr Photography member Tannachy

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We also want to know: If you had to choose, what’s your favourite travel photo you’ve ever taken?

WITH THAILAND BEING such a popular traveler’s destination, it might seem strange to suggest that they’re worrying about a decrease of tourists. But that is the reality as visitors have shied from traveling there due to the recent political crisis and last year’s economic downturn.

From July 12 – 19, I was a guest of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), as part of what they called the “Thailand Today” Mega Fam* trip. I was actually only one of 500 writers, bloggers, and PR media in attendance. In addition to addressing the political situation, the event was held to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the TAT and Thai Airways International, both founded in 1960.

The trip started with a massive welcome dinner at which there was entertainment and a speech from the Thai Minister of Tourism and Sports, Mr. Chumphol Silpa-archa. The overriding message of the night, iterated a few times throughout, was summed up by TAT Governor Mr. Suraphon Svetasreni:

We want to show the world that our country has returned to normal and is safe for visitors.

And from what I saw during my week there, that sentiment is pretty accurate. Not just in the hospitality and friendliness of the hosts at each of our accommodations and activities, but from the Thai people on the street, in the markets, and in the rice paddies.

*Fam = Familiarization

1. Thai massage On arrival, we were treated to a massage at the Rarinjinda Wellness Spa in the Grand Centre Point Hotel. Pictured above are the foot baths where our feet were washed before heading into the rooms.

2. Bangkok view During our three-night stay in Bangkok, we were put up in the swanky Lebua at State Tower hotel. This was the view from the balcony of my 54th-floor room.

3. Thai performers Entertainment during the welcome dinner at the Centara Grand Hotel included traditional Thai dancing.

4. Buddha line In Wat Pho — known to locals as Wat Phra Chetuphon. This temple is famous for the 46-meter-long, gold-plated Reclining Buddha statue.

5. Chanting monks We arrived at the temple early enough to watch and listen to a group of monks doing their Morning Chanting routine.

6. Tea time A street vendor mixes up a sweet iced tea. This particular one was so sweet, it found its way into the rubbish bin.

7. Gold leaf factory There’s a good reason these guys are ripped. Those hammers are very heavy; I lifted one myself. They are making gold-leaf by smashing little bits of gold placed within the pages of those books. They bounce rhythmically on the springy chairs, using the momentum and their weight. We visited this factory as part of our cycling tour of Thon Buri — the old capital of Thailand.

8. Wat Phra That Doi Suthep According to our guide, Thailand is 95% Buddhist. In Chiang Mai province, the number is 97% and there are 1,200 temples.

9. Fried winged ants At a street market in Chiang Mai. We stopped to sample some of the insect goodies.

10. Eating a bamboo worm This was my first time eating an insect. Just to report, not everything tastes like chicken.

11. Lunchtime Lunch time at the street market.

12. Chased by kids On our ox cart ride from the Lisu Lodge, we passed these boys. They ran after us, trying to score a free ride.

13. Lisu shaman The Lisu are one of the hill tribes in Northern Thailand. We had an opportunity to sit down with the village shaman and, through an interpreter, ask him questions.

14. Riding elephants We were taken on an hour-long elephant tour along the Mae Taeng river. Here our elephant was reaching his trunk back for a banana, which we happily obliged.

15. Thai cooking class At the Khum Lanna lodge we were given a lesson in preparing and cooking four Thai dishes. Then we ate them for dinner. Pictured here are Ted Beatie and Angela Dollar, trying not to cut their fingers off.

16. Cycling in the country This was our guide — Rachet — leading us through villages, markets, and rice fields in Northern Thailand.

17. Transplanting rice After our guide spoke with these locals who were transplanting rice, we rolled up our pants, took our shoes off, and stepped in. The ground was warm, soft, and muddy. I sank to my ankles. We helped them with the work; it was one of my favourite experiences on the trip.

18. One last massage Back at Khum Lanna lodge, before we left for the airport to begin our long journey back to the U.S., we were offered one last massage. We didn’t say no.

MatadorU Travel Photography Program

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Community Connection

Planning a trip to Thailand? Don’t miss our Thailand Focus Page.

You may also want to check out Matador member Jodi Ettenberg’s blog, Legal Nomads, for some tips and insight on Thailand.

For more images from the trip, see my Flickr collection.

]]> http://matadortrips.com/photo-essay-revitalizing-thailands-tourism/feed 12 http://matadortrips.com/rapt-in-havana-cuba http://matadortrips.com/rapt-in-havana-cuba#comments Sat, 07 Aug 2010 11:54:38 +0000 Carlo Alcos http://matadortrips.com/?p=10116 Here’s some weekend wanderlust inspiration for you. Get out and explore.

Photo: Matador Flickr Photography member Oliver Allen

Community Connection

Feet itchy for Cuba? Visit our Cuba Focus Page for tips and ideas.

Don’t miss your opportunity to have a photo posted on this page. Join the Matador Flickr Photography group and submit it at this discussion.

Photo: Matador Flickr Photography member Tannachy

Community Connection

Don’t miss your opportunity to have a photo posted on this page. Join the Matador Flickr Photography group and submit it at this discussion.

Dave’s Pawn Shop / All photos by author

FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS — Kiwis Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement — are self-proclaimed “New Zealand’s fourth most popular folk-parody duo.” They ran a series for two seasons on HBO, which was filmed in New York. I love ‘em. And if you don’t, there’s something wrong with you. Seriously. You should get that checked out.

Speaking of checking things out, there’s this clip from their live act — a “gangster-folk crossover”:

The tour

As I said, the show was set in New York — they were trying to make it in the Big Apple — with locations split between Manhattan and Brooklyn. I can only vouch for the Manhattan locales as I didn’t make it to the Brooklyn ones. But if you’re a fan of the show, and if you’re in New York, I have no choice but to call this a “must-do.”

Bret and Jemaine’s apartment building

To be honest, there really isn’t anything mind-blowing to see. The “sets” are just regular-looking buildings. But nonetheless, it’s still exciting to snap a shot and stand where Bret and Jemaine performed their comedy genius. The whole tour should take you about 20 minutes. That’s about 19 minutes longer than their “New Zealand Town” bus tour.

1. Bret and Jemaine’s apartment

First, make your way to Manhattan’s Chinatown. Their apartment is smack dead in the middle of several nearby subway stations:

• Brooklyn Bridge – City Hall (4,5,6 trains)
• Canal Street (J,M,Z trains)
• East Broadway (F train)
• Grand Street (B,D trains)

Then find your way to 28 Henry Street. Stand on the sidewalk across the street and gawk in awe. You’re looking at the spot where their obsessive fan (and lone member of the fan club), Mel, stalked them, waiting to pounce as they left their flat.

2. New Zealand Consulate

About half a mile east at 232 East Broadway Street, you’ll find the rather nondescript building that doubled as the New Zealand consulate.

New Zealand consulate

You’ll recall this is where Bret and Jemaine’s band manager, Murray, worked as Deputy Cultural Attaché. It’s also where they held their band meetings and where you’d spot hilarious promotional posters for NZ with slogans like “New Zealand: It’s next to Australia” and “New Zealand: Ewe should come.”

3. Dave’s Pawn Shop

Right around the corner from the NZ consulate, at 10 Montgomery Street, is where you’ll see where Devjeet “Dave” Mohumbhai worked, in the family pawn shop, Mohumbhai & Son. It pretty much looks exactly like it did in the show, and they even have a small piece of paper on the window showing that, yes indeed, this is the place you’re looking for.

A – Bret & Jemaine’s apartment / B – NZ consulate / X – Dave’s Pawn Shop

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Check out these 10 On-Location Movie Sets Around the World.

Or how about a more spiritual post about a comedian: Squeegee Your Third Eye with Bill Hicks.

Photo: Matador Flickr Photography member kellinasf

Community Connection

Don’t miss your opportunity to have a photo posted on this page. Join the Matador Flickr Photography group and submit it at this discussion.

Interested in the location above? It’s accessible from Petrozavodsk, an overnight train ride from St. Petersburg. Check out Why You Should Travel Independently on the Trans Siberian Railway (hint: this is one reason!). Also, this is one spot I mention in Trans Siberian Side Trips: How to Break Your Train Ride.

Photo: purplejavatroll

WE LOVE budget travel here at Matador. So what’s with this post? Entertainment. Pure, unadulterated, entertainment. And besides, isn’t it always interesting to see how the other half (and by other half I mean 1% of humanity) live?

1. Most expensive hotel room in America (outside of Las Vegas)

According to Sarah Nassauer over at the Wall Street Journal, a night in the Ty Warner Penthouse in the Four Seasons Hotel in New York will cost you…wait for it…$35,000. It’s the most expensive room in the country — outside of Las Vegas, that is. It cost $50 million to build and took seven years to design, so really, it’s quite a bargain.

Photo: ahisgett

So what does the equivalent of the GDP per capita of Spain and Italy get you?

• Sweeping views of Manhattan in every direction;
• Bathroom sinks made of solid blocks of rock crystal;
• Hand-lacquered walls with mother of pearl inlay;
• Handmade Venetian silk bedspread;
• A personal butler on-call 24 hours a day;
• The use of a Maybach or Rolls-Royce (with driver);
• Room service from the hotel’s restaurants, including one run by celebrity chef Joël Robuchon.

If you’re worried about booking problems, fear not. The room is only occupied about 25% of the year.

If you really want those bragging rights though, go on and reserve the Hugh Hefner Sky Villa at the Palms Casino Resort. $40,000 per night.

2. Most expensive private jet tour

How would you like to visit “Cultural & Legendary Treasures In Remote Lands Around The World” between February 28 and March 23, 2011? How would you like to pay $71,100 for it? If you want to save some money, grab a partner and split the $62,950 double occupancy price tag.

Smithsonian Journeys — whose tagline is “The Best in Educational Travel” (think they throw in a Bachelor’s degree?) — is putting this nugget of a tour on. I know what you’re wondering. What does the money that could feed 284,000 children for a day get you?

• Visits to eight UNESCO World Heritage sites and the following countries: Japan, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Vietnam, Bhutan, India, Rwanda, and Jordan;
• Accommodations in some of the most beautiful hotels in the world;
• Extraordinary speakers including: Kristofer Helgen (Research Zoologist and Curator of Mammals at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History), Jim Richardson (National Geographic photographer), and Pegi Vail (Ph.D., a cultural anthropologist, filmmaker, and curator);
• A spot on a Boeing 757 configured for 78 travelers in a 2×2 seat configuration of custom leather seats with ecomfort™ foam support.

They also offer Value Priced tours for those with lighter wallets.

Got lotsa this? Photo: aresauburn

3. Most expensive cruise vacation

Hubpages.com brings us this list of the five most expensive cruise vacations you can sink your money into. For the low, low price of $62,000, you too can partake in a 108-night tour of the world.

On board Regent’s Seven Seas Voyager, every luxurious cabin has a balcony. They better have. For 62 large there better be million dollar views.

4. Most expensive food in the world

Forget the $1.50 slice of pizza in New York or the 50-cent bowl of pho in Vietnam. Put your money where your mouth is.

• Most expensive restaurant in the world: Aragawa in Tokyo, Japan, with an average meal cost of $368. Not including sake;
• Most expensive box of chocolates*: $2600 per pound at Knipschildt Chocolatier of Connecticut;
• Most expensive omelette in the world*: $1000 by Emilio Castillo of Norma’s restaurant in New York’s Le Parker Meridien Hotel;
• Most expensive caviar in the world*: A 3.9-pound container costs $48,750. It comes from a type of Iranian beluga called Almas.

5. Most expensive shopping in the world

For many people, traveling is about shopping. For most, they will never afford shopping in these districts (sorted by rent):

Photo: Author’s travel photo

• #5. East 57th Street between Third and Fifth Avenues, New York: $900,000. Per square foot. Per year.

  It includes the Chanel headquarters, Burberry’s, and Tiffany & Co.

• #4. Avenue des Champs Elysees, Paris: $922,000. Among other shops, it’s home to the largest Louis Vuitton department store in the world.
• #3 Madison Avenue, New York: $1.20 Million. Prada, Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren, Gucci, and Barney’s flagship store.
• #2 Causeway Bay, Hong Kong: $1.21 Million. Home to the famous 13-story Sogo department store and Times Square Hong Kong.
• #1 Fifth Avenue, New York: $1.50 Million. Here you’ll find flagship stores like Abercrombie & Fitch and Apple.

*Courtesy of TLC Cooking.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

While I’m certain that Bill Gates and Warren Buffett will still be able to afford any and all of these, give them credit for pledging most of their cash to charity and challenging other wealthy folks to do the same. Learn more at Gates & Buffett challenge super rich to give half to charity.

Photo: kara_allyson

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Planning a train ride of your own? Don’t miss our Train Travel Focus Page for inspiration and information.

Photo: mike138

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Photo: jmv

I AM ORIGINALLY from Vancouver, BC, so obviously I was pretty stoked when, during the last hours of TBEX 2010 in New York, it was announced that Vancouver would be the site for the event next June.

Photo: PoYang_博仰

What is TBEX?

Don’t feel bad if you don’t know. I didn’t until a few months ago. TBEX is Travel Blog EXchange, a “community of new media travel writers” founded by Kim Mance,who also edits the online magazine Galavanting.

For the weekend of June 26-27, around 300 travel bloggers gathered to listen to experts talk about travel blogging, to network, and to, well, party.

TBEX 2011 will be in Vancouver, Canada

Since I grew up in Vancouver, I thought it would be a good idea to share some insider tidbits in anticipation of your visit next year.

First, some random facts:

• The 2010 Winter Olympics were held in Vancouver. Did I mention that Canada won the most gold medals (14) in the 86-year history of the Winter Games?
• The population in Vancouver proper is 578,041 (Metro Vancouver: 2,116,581).
• Stanley Park is 10% larger than New York’s Central Park.
• As of 2010, it has the 4th highest quality of living in the world, according to Mercer.com.
• Nelly Furtado was born and raised in BC’s capital city of Victoria on Vancouver Island, about a two-hour ferry ride from the city.
• It is a.k.a. Hollywood North due to the large amount of television shows and movies filmed there.

My picks for eats

Sushi. My favourite when I lived there and possibly even better when I returned for a visit last February:

• Hoshi Sushi – On West 12th near Macdonald, in Kitsilano.

The Eatery / Photo: iwona_kellie

Another solid choice is The Eatery. It’s more funky with loud music and unique sushi creations. A good place to go with some friends.

Tapas. Head to Bin 941 in the city. It’s cozy, stylish, and damn good.

Fish and chips. Find the tucked away Go Fish, near the entrance to Granville Island. It’s the best I’ve ever had. Anywhere. Part of the fun is finding it.

Hangover breakfast. Can’t beat the one at Milestones. Order the prime rib hash — tender slices of beef over pan-fried potatoes, sweet onions, bell peppers, and roasted corn in a special hash seasoning. All topped with two poached eggs and real hollandaise sauce.

Don’t forget to order a caesar to go with that.

Other cool tips

One way to get under the skin of a city is to read through the local free newspaper (and I’m not talking about Metro or 24 Hours). In Vancouver, this is the Georgia Straight, which was founded as an anti-establishment alternative newspaper in May 1967. Real Vancouver.

Photo: JamesZ_Flickr

I lived across from and loved Kitsilano Beach. But let’s be honest: it’s for posers. Head over to Spanish Banks for some long stretches of sand and lots of volleyball nets. Awesome views of the downtown skyline too, perfect place to watch the sun settle.

Take a walk over the Burrard Street bridge for views on the crescent beaches of English Bay, the docked sailboats in the marina, and the little False Creek ferries puttering back and forth across the water.

Keep your eyes on the calendar for the Commodore Ballroom. It’s the best live venue in the city, possibly the country. I saw Weezer there a few years ago. It was unbelievable.

Finally, win a 7-day whitewater rafting trip in BC

Atlas Obscura is holding a contest where you can win an adventure package in British Columbia. The deadline for entry is July 11, 2010. From the website:

Your trip begins with a spectacular scenic flight over the glaciated Coast Range into Chilko Lake Resort, on the edge of a glacial lake, and ends one week later at historic Gang Ranch on the Fraser River, the lifeblood of Canada’s largest river system. After snapping some victory photos and exchanging high-fives, it’s time for one more chartered flight back over the stunning Coast Range.

Photo: CGehlen

To enter the contest, simply add your email address and postal/zip code in the link provided above.

Resources for your visit

Miss604 – THE source for all things Vancouver.

Translink BC – How to navigate around Vancouver by public transport.

Tourism British Columbia

Vancouver Accommodations

Vancouver Hostels

Couchsurfing.org – Find free accommodations and get an insider’s perspective on the city.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Vancouverites, let’s hear it. I know I missed a ton of great things to do and see in Vancouver. What are your favourites? Please share below!

Photo: alicepopkorn

Community Connection

Are you a big fan of inner (spiritual) travel? If so, check out our Spiritual Travel Focus Page.

GROWING UP IN Vancouver, I always promised myself that I would travel the vast lands of Canada before anywhere else in the world. I’ve broken that promise. I’ve never even been east of Calgary. So for the time being I have to settle on these beautiful shots of the amazing Canadian landscape. I think it’s time to make a new promise.

Northwest Territories The Northern Lights as seen in Yellowknife.
Photo: Hyougushi

Yukon Territories Hiking in Tombstone Territorial Park.
Photo: Rick McCharles

Nunavut Eureka – the second-northernmost permanent research community in the world.
Photo: ceedub13

British Columbia Lake O’Hara in Yoho National Park.
Photo: inottawa

Alberta Sunrise at Kananaskis.
Photo: markg6

Manitoba Red Rock Lake in the Whiteshell Provincial Park.
Photo: seantoyer

Saskatchewan Sunflowers in the Corman Park District, west of Langham.
Photo: Just a Prairie Boy

Ontario Webster’s Falls in Hamilton.
Photo: Paul (dex)

Quebec Winter sunset in Charlevoix.
Photo: Melle plante

Newfoundland and Labrador Each spring the icebergs migrate.
Photo: natalielucier

New Brunswick Hopewell Rocks in Rocks Provincial Park.
Photo: kennymatic

Nova Scotia Cabot Trail on Cape Breton.
Photo: EverySpoon

Prince Edward Island Keppoch Shore on PEI.
Photo: LipBomb

Community Connection

If it’s not too late, check out Mooseheads, Caesars, and Street Hockey: Where to Celebrate Canada Day Outside of Canada.

WorldHum senior editor and Matadorian Eva Holland crossed through many of these provinces on a road trip from Ontario to the Yukon. Read her summary at By the Numbers: Trans Canada Road Trip.

Photo: cote

JUST A QUICK heads up: Finland continues it’s annual tradition of the Wife Carrying Championships this July 3 in Sonkajärvi. From the Frommer’s whatsonwhen.com website:

The roots of this event go back to the early 19th century. At this time, the area was under the influence of a local brigand named Rosvo-Ronkainen, who would only take men into his gang who proved their worth in a contest. After much deliberation he borrowed a local habit of stealing women from neighbouring villages and a tradition was born.

Interested in the rules of this weird sport? Here are a few:

• The length of the official track is 253.5 meters, and the surface of the track is partially sand, partially grass, and partially gravel.
• The wife to be carried may be your own, the neighbour’s, or you may have found her farther afield; she must, however, be over 17 years of age.
• Also, the most entertaining couple, the best costume, and the strongest carrier will be awarded special prizes.
• All the participants must have fun.

There is also a team wife carrying competition where three men exchange the wife throughout the race. But here’s an interesting twist: “At the exchange point the carrier has to drink the official “wife carrying drink” before continuing the race.”

It’s not the first time we’ve mentioned Finland’s strange pastimes. Head over to Finland: What’s Up With Your Public Events? to get a peek at swamp soccer, air guitar, mobile phone throwing, and winter swimming events.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Will you be attending the event? If so, I would love to hear from you. Be our eyes and ears on the ground and hit me up at carlo[at]matadornetwork[dot]com with your stories.

Photo: Sarah_Ackerman

I JUST FINISHED registering for a chance to “win” a spot to camp in Central Park. I found out about it from an article at examiner.com. New York’s Urban Park Rangers — whose “mission is to link New Yorkers to the natural world” — are hosting free camp nights all throughout the summer.

Photo: oquendo

As part of their Family Camping program, parks in New York’s five boroughs will play campground on selected nights. There are two remaining nights in Central Park, however registration for July 3 just ended.

But mark July 28 on your calendar; that’s the day you need to register for a chance to camp in Central Park on August 7.

“Winners” (only 30) will be randomly drawn from all the entries. Tents and food will be provided by the Urban Park Rangers, so all you need is your sleeping bag. But Central Park isn’t the only game in town. Campouts will also be held at the Inwood Hill Nature Center in Manhattan on July 31 and September 25.

And, of course, the parks in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx. Visit the Registration page for more details. Good luck!

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

If you’re gonna camp, you might need some tips: 8 Tips for Camping With Your Dog and 7 Items to Pack for Winter Camping.

Photos by author unless otherwise stated

FINDING SOMEWHERE to celebrate Canada Day was never an issue for the first 31 years of my life. But since leaving Canada a few years ago I always find myself searching come July 1. In 2007 I was in Paris at The Great Canadian Pub with a few fellow countrymen wearing red, waving maple-leaf flags, and drinking Moosehead beer (yes, it was worth the 7 or so euro pricetag) while being serenaded by The Tragically Hip, Barenaked Ladies and, unfortunately, Bryan Adams.

Last year in Melbourne, the Canadian Meetup Group I belonged to held a celebration at an ice rink (it’s winter in Oz in July, after all) with some players from the Melbourne Ice making an appearance.

Photo: ianmackenz

This year I’m in New York and have yet to make plans (although my preview screening of What About Me? will be part of it). While researching things to do in New York on Canada’s 143rd birthday, I came across some events (with some help from Matador intern Sarah Park) going on in other parts of the world and, well, one thing led to another.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Roots Foods & Drinks at Stadhouderskade 123 in Amsterdam brings you an “Exclusive Celebration Event” starting at 7:30PM. 20 euro gets you a “welcoming drink and exclusive snacks.”

Auckland, New Zealand

The Canadian Club of NZ are holding a Quiz Night at the Clare Inn starting at 6:30PM on July 1. No need to RSVP, just show up.

Beijing, China

Canada Day in Beijng is being billed as “one of the largest outdoor events in Beijing this summer.” They’re having a hot chili pepper eating contest (?), BBQ, and corporate exhibitions (of course). It’s all happening at the Canadian International School of Beijing.

Berlin, Germany

The Berlin Expat Canadians group at Meetup.com is putting together a gathering on July 1 at 7PM. Unfortunately, details weren’t hashed out as of this writing, but if you’re in Berlin, join the group to get the latest updates as they happen.

Baishawan, Taiwan

Canada D’eh 2010! Hosted by the Canadian Society in Taiwan on Saturday, June 26, from 2PM to midnight. It’s a beach party on the north coast: “More entertainers, more food choices, bigger stage, and a new location. It’s all coming together promising to be one great time.”

Cancun, Mexico

The Canadian Expat Association Cancun is throwing their 2nd annual Canada Day party at the Taberna Sayil at 5PM.

Drinks are 2-for-1 all night (from the widest selection in Cancun) and they promise games, contests, Canadian trivia, cake, and more. Join the group to RSVP.

Dubai, UAE

If you find yourself in Dubai this July 1, the Canadian Business Council is combining World Cup madness with Canada’s birthday. They’ll have a foosball tournament (where you can win a Blackberry), buffet lunch, music, and more.

It’s all taking place at 12 noon on July 2 in the Grand Fever Football Tent in the Grand Hyatt. For details, visit their website and click “Events.”

London, UK

Trafalgar Square is hosting another Canada Day party which promises Canadian favourites like bbq’d bison burgers (I’ve never had one) and Sleeman’s beer (I’ve had many). Canadian staple Tim Horton’s coffee will also be available, as will a street hockey tourney. Celebrations start at 10:30AM and go till 10:15PM.

Playa del Carmen, Mexico

All day BBQ from 1PM and live music from 6-10 at PG’s Sandbox Bar and Grill. Show your Canadian ID and get a free shooter. This post says buckets of 5 beers for $100. I’m going to assume they mean 100 Mexican pesos.

San José, Costa Rica

“Everyone is welcome…no passport needed!” An old-fashioned pig roast is on the menu at this party on June 26 from 10AM to 3PM at the Zamora Estate Hotel in San José.

Pick up your reserved tickets before June 24.

Stockholm, Sweden

“Picnic in the Park.” Admission gets you a hot dog, a drink, and dessert. They’re promising “fun & games for adults and kiddies.”

Saturday, July 3, from 1PM to 5PM. Location: Haga Park, near Norra Station.

Sydney, Australia

Network Canada is gathering up canucks to party on June 26. They will be serving a limited number of caesars (they state they import 100 litres of Clamato juice) and there’ll be live music, comedy, and team trivia. $15 dinner special.

USA

Canada Day Across America showcased over 200 parties last year. There are five parties alone in New York, so I’m spoiled for choice. Pop your location in the drop-down and find out where you’ll be getting your face painted.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

What are you doing to celebrate Canada’s 143rd birthday? Let us know below.

Photo: Matador Flickr Photography member Morgan Day

Community Connection

The Matador Flickr Photography group has just surpassed 300 members. Let’s not stop there. Join the group and start sharing your travel photos!

Photo: squob.com

SO THERE’S THIS travel trend that I’ve been trying to ignore. However, it seems to keep rearing it’s ugly head everywhere I turn, so I thought to myself, “Self, let’s just confront it and get it off our chest.” So, here goes.

In case you aren’t privy, glamping — or, glamorous camping — is one of the latest portmanteaus to come out of the “brain” of some marketing “genius.” Other well-known portmanteaus: smog (smoke + fog), spork (spoon + fork), wikipedia (wiki + encyclopedia), and Bennifer and Brangelina (if you don’t know where those came from, I applaud you, and am quite envious).

So why have I been trying to avoid it? Let’s see. Glamorous; Camping. Luxury; Outhouse. 1200-thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets; $15 sleeping bags from K-Mart. Bliss; Miserableness. You see? The two are clearly not compatible.

Photo: spookyamd

Despite that though, there apparently is a market out there for people who are willing to shill out big dough for the appearance of “becoming one with nature.” Now, to be fair, I think glamping has been around for ages. It just used to be called “rustic lodging.”

Take goglamping.net for example (which is the first site Google comes up with when you search the term). They highlight an eco-lodge in the Algarve where you can sleep in a converted yurt, caravan, or firetruck. All fully equipped of course.

Or how about this ecopod boutique retreat in Scotland? What does this even have to do with camping? Looks great, yes. But for £995 per week definitely should not be in the same conversation as camping.

Is there “authentic” glamping?

That is probably not even a valid question. It’s such a new term that there doesn’t appear to be any sort of standard for exactly what the hell it is. Where are the lines drawn? What are the rules?

SpotCoolStuff Travel posted a list of their top 5 “earthy” glamping sites:

1. Ecocamp in Torres del Paine National Park, Chile
2. Teniqua Treetops in South Africa
3. Eco retreats in Wales
4. Forest huts at Lake Skärsjön in Sweden
5. Safari camp at Ningaloo Reef in Australia

In my opinion (which essentially means nothing, I know), glamping — if the term needs to be used (which it doesn’t) — should essentially be the traditional idea of camping, just with a few more amenities for comfort. The sleeping structure should still be readily portable. The bed should not be more comfortable than the one I have at home. Bathtubs and sinks — in fact all plumbing — should still not be allowed inside the tent.

So, most of these fail. Do they look cool? Definitely. Toss a free press trip my way and I’m there in a heartbeat. (Seriously, PR people. You can reach me at carlo[at]matadornetwork[dot]com. I’ll be waiting.)

Glamping? To some / Photo: OctopusHat

What bothers me is the condescension that is involved when marketers come up with ideas like this. Perhaps what gets me even more is that consumers are actually tricked by it. Boutique hostels? C’mon. They’re just slightly nicer hostels (or slightly worse hotels, depending on your perspective).

And the usage of the word “urban.” Toss that before any other word and you’ve got yourself a ready-made trend that yuppies the world over will flock to. Urban Market — where they sell the exact same things as the regular market down the block, but for much much more. Urban Burger — you guessed it. It’s a ground beef patty in a bun! Except this one costs $18.95.

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OK. Your turn. Sound off below!

Photo: |Chris|

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Photo: muirtrail68

THANKS TO Jaunted for the tip-off. This year the U.S. National Parks are offering lots of free entrance days. The first ones were held over National Park Week in April, and this weekend — June 5 and 6 — it continues.

For a list of the 100+ parks that are participating, check out this alphabetized list (by state). Reservations, camping, and concessions, however, will not be free. But private partners of the Parks are offering up some attractive discounts during the Fee Free days.

Future Free Entrance Days this year are:

• August 14 – 15
• September 25 (Public Lands Day)
• November 11 (Veterans Day)

Of course “free” does come at a price. No doubt there will be hordes of visitors, especially at the more popular parks.

If you do decide to go (at any time, not just on these days), do me a favour please: Leave the guns at home. But if you must go packing, just try not to shoot any bears.

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David Page questions the idea of promoting the parks to draw in more visitors than they can handle. Weigh in at How to Save America’s Parks: Pack ‘Em With People?

Photo: Rick McCharles

WE’VE SPENT A LOT of time at Matador telling you about where to get naked: The Best Nude Beaches in the World, the Best Places for a Skinny Dip, and Nude Trekking, German Style.

We’ve even been kind enough to give you some advice in 10 Travelers Tips for Rocking a Nudist Beach.

But now we’re going to tell you where you might NOT want to strip down: Appenzell, Switzerland. According to BBC News, a hiker is in court disputing a fine he received while hiking in the buff. The eastern Swiss canton of Appenzell is traditionally devout and conservative and, in fact, only gave women the right to vote in 1990.

But despite this, it has become somewhat of a nude hiking mecca. In the hopes of deterring these naked ramblers, a new law was introduced last year permitting nude hikers to be fined.

The hiker was called in when onlookers from a communal BBQ area saw him walking by. He is also alleged to have walked past a Christian nursing home, whose residents saw him.

Switzerland’s federal law states that public nudity is not a crime, which is the basis for his appeal. The court case could become costly and lengthy and may end up in Switzerland’s high courts.

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For more traditional hiking, check out The Most Dangerous Hikes in the US. Or, for slightly tamer excursions, The Great Ocean Walk: Victoria’s Coastal Hike and How to Trek the Inca Trail.

Photo: timsnell

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Got a shot that belongs on this page? Join our Matador Photography Flickr group and submit it in this discussion.

THROUGHOUT MY TWO years of living in Melbourne and hosting Couchsurfing guests, I met many visitors with overly ambitious plans and not enough time. So I asked contributing editor Juliane Huang to compile a graphic to show everyone just how big Australia really is. Even I was surprised at what she came back with.

Graphic by Juliane Huang

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For more digits from down under, read Australia By the Numbers. Interested to know what it’s like to live there? See A Day in the Life of an Expat in Sydney, Australia.

Photo: Dan Reshef

SO MAYBE I’VE been a little hard on Google as of late, what with their virtual tour on the Trans-Siberian railway. But their latest application through Google Wave — Travel WithMe — does look pretty slick. I’ll be honest; I don’t even really know what Google Wave is yet.

But this video showcases how this app brings together you and your travel companions online in real-time to hammer out your next itinerary.

Travel WithMe has information from Lonely Planet on more than 15,000 attractions and provides live booking service of hotels and hostels through Expedia and Hostelworld, respectively. In addition, the application links to Kayak for booking flights.

So here’s what we want to know:

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We’ve been keeping a close eye on Google’s plans for world domination. Here are some other posts we’ve published about it:

Google Wave as a Tool for Journalists and Writers

Explore Climate Change with Google Earth

Technology Bytes: Google Phone Goes From Rumor to Reality

Google’s PowerMeter calculates your energy use

Photo: Andrea Balducci

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Got a shot that belongs on this page? Join our Matador Photography Flickr group and submit it in this discussion.

Photo: Yvonne Alcos

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Got a shot that belongs on this page? Join our Matador Photography Flickr group and submit it in this discussion.

Would you like to see it for yourself? The fountain is located in the Canal City Hakata shopping mall — a “city within the city” — in Fukuoka, Japan.

A complex of fountains also puts on an hourly show where the water is choreographed to music.

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If you’re headed to Japan, you’ll want to Meet an Expert: Turner Wright. Read his article How to Order Sushi Like a Ninja and learn to eat like a local.

Photo: Matador Flickr group member and author VagabonderZ

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Got a shot that belongs on this page? Join our Matador Photography Flickr group and submit it in this discussion.

Photo: Andrew Siscel

IF YOU HAVEN’T yet swum in the buff in a public area, you should. It’s very liberating. Even if you’re not comfortable baring all around other people, you can still find private spots to skinny dip. Or, wait ’til it’s dark. However you decide to do it, being in nature the way we were born just feels great.

To perhaps make your decision easier, Lonely Planet has listed their top 10 places to go skinny-dipping:

1. Formentera, Spain
2. Viti Lake, Askja Caldera, Iceland
3. Traditional onsen, Japan
4. Ice swimming, Finland
5. Porcupine Mountains (ouch*) Wilderness State Park, Michigan, USA
6. Paradise Beach, Mykonos, Greece
7. Radha Nagar, Andaman & Nicobar Islands
8. Blackmoss Pot, Lake District, England
9. Englischer Garten, Munich, Germany
10. Turtle Island, Fiji

*Editor’s note: “ouch” added by author.

Like most top-10 lists, this one has raised the ire of a couple of commenters, but not for the usual reasons. They’re not too happy at the apparent cultural insensitivity of LP by including the Andaman Islands as a spot to carouse in the nude. Says one commenter:

Its shocking that the lonely planet would feature a beach in a rural Indian village as a place to go skinny dipping…India, and especially rural India is NOT the place for nudity and I request people who read this article to refrain from coming here to skinny dip.

Another commenter replied that Indians are tolerant to nudity, as he’s experienced in his several trips to the country since 1959. In an effort to set the record straight, I posed the question to Matador intern, Neha Puntambekar. Between her and a friend who had been to the area recently, no conclusion was made, although they are quite skeptical about the claim of tolerance. If there is tolerance for nudity, they say, it is because of the need for tourist dollars.

Photo: Zach Klein

Something to consider if you’re planning on stripping down while in India.

I’ll offer two places where I enjoyed skinny-dipping:

1. Olkhon Island, Lake Baikal, Siberia – It’s said that if you dip your hand in you add five years to your life, take the plunge (and survive) and tack on 25 years. I wonder if you get a few more doing it in the buck.

2. Aguablanca, Oaxaca, Mexico – This relatively unknown stretch of beach somewhere between Puerto Escondido and Puerto Angel is gold if you’re looking for peace and quiet. There are long stretches where you won’t see another soul, especially if you go early in the day. Perfect for donning the b-day suit.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

For more cultural-sensitivity pondering, read Heather Carreiro’s Definitions of Modesty: Bikinis in the Supermarket, Burkinis at the Pool.

We want to know: Where do YOU like to skinny dip?

Photos by author

I FIRST READ about the attempted car bombing in New York’s Times Square late Sunday morning. It was one of those “wow, I was just there the other day” moments. And it was my first and closest brush with terrorism (or whatever it’s classified as). For three months I’m living in New York. As far as I’m concerned, it’s as close to home as anything else at the moment.

Maybe it’s testament to how resilient New Yorkers have become in the aftermath of 9/11, but I didn’t hear one peep about this until a good 16 hours after the event. And we were out Saturday night amongst “the people”. Or, it could just be testament at how little attention we pay to the news.

Regardless, since then I haven’t heard much about it other than when I made the bad decision to flip on the tube for some morning telly. Some New York politician was on, talking about how Obama needs to send more money this way to increase security. The message I came away from watching him was, we should be afraid. We should be VERY afraid.

Which is pretty much why I don’t like watching the news. Especially American news.

Seriously. What are the odds of getting caught in the middle of a terrorist attack? Less than two months ago, an airplane crashed in Georgia killing a guy who was just out for a bit of a jog. How’s that for odds?

The other night, my wife and I took a wrong turn down Flushing Ave and ended up in a dodgy industrial area, devoid mostly of people, except a few sketchy looking folks — one who said “watch your back” as we passed by, me carrying a $2500 camera slung across my shoulder.

Death by smoking, or by terrorism?

I know I should be more wary of those situations than of potential terrorist attacks.

Driving, cycling, and walking in New York are potentially very dangerous activities, yet it’s done mindlessly on a daily basis.

How much more likely am I to be injured or killed cycling through an intersection where some impatient moron waiting to turn left decides to pass the person in front of them who’s also waiting to turn left (this actually happened to me here) than from gasoline, a few fireworks, and nonexplosive fertilizer stored in a car?

Getting “doored” has shown good promise here as inconsiderate drivers swing open their car doors into cycling lanes without looking. Walking across a crosswalk even with a walk signal is dangerous as drivers who are obviously in life-and-death emergencies speed around corners, trying to beat the pedestrians.

We’ll be here in New York for another couple of months. I’ll be more scared of being sideswiped by a passing bus than I will be of bombs.

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How does news like this affect you?

What do you do on a daily basis that’s more likely to cause you harm than terrorism?

Photo: Matador Flickr group member Wenzday01

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Like what you see? We handpick these photos from our talented crew over at the Matador Photography Flickr group. If you have a photo you’d like featured here, join in this discussion and share your link.

Modified image from Wikimedia Commons.

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If you’re like us, this illustration will get you excited to go explore all the natural wonders that lie inside Alaska’s massive borders. Matador Co-founder Ross Borden recently traveled from the southeast of AK near Juneau, to Anchorage in search of some of the best heli skiing in the world.

Check out his Photo Essay: Heliskiing with SEABA in Haines, Alaska, and his shots from skiing in the Chugach range with CPG.

He also answers his own question in Is Juneau, AK, Really Just a Little Drinking Town With a Fishing Problem?

Feature photo: Alaskan Dude

Photo: Matador Flickr group member AbbyLOO

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Come join the Matador Photography Flickr group. Browse the pics, start a discussion, or toss your hat in the ring to be featured here for Wordless Wanderlust.

Photo: Hamed Saber

EVERY TRAVELER HAS their own personal stories about some extremely nice treatment they received in the most dire of circumstances. One that sticks out for me was when our campervan broke down in Sicily on the highway, by coincidence on a national holiday (they weren’t even answering their SOS emergency phones).

We had no idea where we were and dusk was setting in, and as we walked along the shoulder trying to find a telephone a taxi driver stopped and asked if we needed help. He ended up driving us to a phone, then to our campervan to wait for the tow truck. Although we insisted on giving him some money, he didn’t expect anything.

The world’s most hospitable nations

We came across this article at TravelViVi.com that listed the world’s five most hospitable nations:

Photo: futureatlas.com

5. Georgia
4. Iran
3. Canada
2. Australia
1. Ireland

Their criteria isn’t clear, but they do reference some studies in their conclusions.

Another method?

A good measure of hospitality is how welcoming people are in their homes, and a great resource to get an idea of what countries are the most welcoming is CouchSurfing.org. According to their statistics, the top five CouchSurfing nations are:

1. United States
2. Germany
3. France
4. Canada
5. United Kingdom

Of course, this is going by absolute numbers and is not relative to the country’s population (when I have more time, maybe I’ll figure out couch surfers per capita). And, of course, poorer countries don’t have the same access to the Internet, so naturally a developing country won’t have as many folks signed up. Nonetheless, it’s an interesting point to ponder.

I won’t pretend to have enough experience to create a list of my own, but in my own travels, Cuba would be right at the top.

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Which countries do you think are the most hospitable?

We would love to hear some of your experiences. Share them below in the comments.

Photo: Matador Flickr group member maya-blue

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Come join the Matador Photography Flickr group. Browse the pics, start a discussion, or toss your hat in the ring to be featured here for Wordless Wanderlust.

A WHILE BACK we talked a little about Lonely Planet’s Top 10 Destinations for 2010. We weren’t all that impressed with the list, given that most seemed to already be heavily touristed.

This month Rough Guides published their own list called The big five emerging destinations. I gotta admit, their arguments are much more compelling. Here they are:

1. Panama – With Costa Rica’s over-development, Panama looks fit to step in as the next big tourist destination in Central America. Rough Guides cites a developed infrastructure, year-round sunshine, and a “lush” coastline as some of the reasons to put it on your map.

2. Mongolia – A 1,600-mile cross-country highway called the Millennium Road is due for completion this year. Believe me, this is good news.

Hours and days of bumping around in an old Russian van is enough to keep many people away, but this new road just might lure more travelers in to explore this big, diverse country.

3. New Orleans – After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Rough Guides says the Big Easy is “on the up.” And a Superbowl win by the Saints certainly doesn’t hurt.

4. Colombia – Although they mention to steer clear of parts of the Amazon and the south, Rough Guides has strong arguments to visit this once torn country: “wild beaches, rainforest and mountains…vast coffee plantations, archaeological sites and colonial cities.”

5. Iceland – Perhaps too expensive in the past for the budget backpacker crowd, Iceland’s economy is hurting for some love, and this is reflected in the prices.

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Tom Coote also gave readers his list of the 5 Next Big Travel Destinations.

Not convinced about travel to Iceland to help them with their economy? Read my side of the argument in Why You Should Travel During the Global Recession.

Not that they don’t deserve it, of course. But let’s all agree we know what they look like. Instead, here are some lesser-known natural wonders in the harsh, rugged land that is Australia.

This is my inspiration to return here and explore.

[Note: Most of these photos are licensed All Rights Reserved. Matador Trips received special permission from the photographers in these cases. Please note the license type before reusing any of the following images.]

1. Ningaloo Reef The reef, in Western Australia 1200 km north of Perth, is 260 kms long and is the only large reef located close to a landmass. Photo: Gudge (All Rights Reserved)

2. Kakadu National Park The park is nearly 200 km north-south and 100 km east-west and is just southeast of Darwin in the Northern Territory. It’s home to four major river systems, six major landforms, and a gazillion species of wildlife.
Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen (All Rights Reserved)

3. Katherine Gorge Located in the Nitmiluk National Park in Northern Territory, the gorge follows the Katherine River, which starts in Kakadu. The relatively safe freshwater crocs may be found in most parts of the river.
Photo: Brigitte Segers (All Rights Reserved)

4. Pinnacles Desert The Pinnacles in Western Australia are part of the Nambung National Park. Scientists know what the limestone formations are made of, but can’t agree on the mechanism of how they were produced. Photo: jhenn6550 (All Rights Reserved)

5. Coorong National Park In South Australia, southeast of Adelaide, where the Murray River meets the sea. This spot in Goolwa is known locally as “Beacon 19″ — popular for fishing.
Photo: Michael SA (All Rights Reserved)

6. Arnhem Land Not an easy place to get to, but an amazingly large — about the size of Florida & New Jersey combined — untouched piece of Australia in the Northern Territory.
Photo: Taipan2007 (All Rights Reserved)

7. Kangaroo Island Cape Willoughby was the first lighthouse to be erected in South Australia, and lights the Backstairs Passage between Kangaroo Island and the mainland.
Photo: Charlie 2.0 (All Rights Reserved)

8. Cradle Mountain Located in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park in Tasmania, the surrounding area has many options for walking, including the terminus for the Overland Track.
Photo: Stephen Barnett (Creative Commons)

9. Flinders Ranges After millions of years, the patterns of wear on the tops of this very hard rock shows in grooves. Must have been from eons of hail storms and freezing nights…water being limited in this area. South Australia. Photo: Raja Daja (All Rights Reserved)

10. Bungle Bungles Found in Western Australia, these unique landforms were given the name Purnululu by the Kija Aboriginal people. This shot taken in Piccaninny Creek. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen (All Rights Reserved)

11. Cape York Peninsula A lonely mangrove tree at the bay right at the tip of Cape York in Far North Queensland. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen (All Rights Reserved)

12. Simpson Desert This desert is within the boundaries of three states: Northern Territory, South Australia, and Queensland. It contains the world’s longest parallel sand dunes. Photo: jwbenwell (Creative Commons)

Community Connection

If you’re heading Down Under, make sure to give these resources a read:

15 Things You Can’t Miss in Australia

Learn to Surf in Byron Bay, Australia

Roadtrip Australia: Melbourne to Sydney Along the Sapphire Coast

The Nullarbor: Crossing Australia’s Biggest, Baddest Road

Western Australia: 10 Places You Don’t Want to Miss

Photo: Matador Flickr group member kelseylindsey

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Come join the Matador Photography Flickr group. Browse the pics, start a discussion, or toss your hat in the ring to be featured here for Wordless Wanderlust.

LAST JUNE, Matador Change editor Julie Schwietert posted US Calls for Stricter Tourism Guidelines in Antarctica. It drew in some interesting viewpoints about travel to the white continent.

Tim Patterson said,

The contrast between the reality of the place and the luxury of the tourism is just too weird. Antarctica is a destination one should have to earn.

Eva Holland chimed in,

As far as Antarctica itself goes, I’ve always sort of felt like it’s the only part of the planet with NO naturally occurring human residents — and as such, it really ought to be left alone.

While our own Hal Amen took a tongue-in-cheek approach,

Let’s sneak down there while no one’s looking.

He was obviously joking, but if Hal or any of you want to see Antarctica without actually having to freeze your extremities off, you can.

The flight to where you came from

Antarctica Flights, operated by Croyden Travel in conjunction with Qantas, specializes in one-day excursion flights over Antarctica. You can board in Melbourne or Sydney on a flight that lasts around twelve hours and lands where it takes off.

Chris Johnson of The Age took a New Year’s Eve flight. He reported that although these flights have been occurring since 1994 (they’ve made 87 flights and flown 30,000 people over Antarctica), this last NYE flight was the first time an airbus A380 — seating 450 passengers — was used. The prices ranged from AUD $999 to $6000.

According to Antarctica Flights’ website, the experts you fly with “include scientists, glaciologists, explorers, adventurers or mountaineers.” On the NYE flight, you would have been dancing in the aisles to jazz music while the endless ice passed beneath you.

And the environment?

Besides donating $500,000 to various charities, Croydon Travel offsets their offices’ carbon footprint and offers passengers the opportunity to do the same.

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Exorbitant prices aside, would you do this? Or do you agree with Tim that a visit to Antarctica needs to be earned?

And is this responsible tourism?

FOR THE VACATIONER in Cuba, that may sound weird. You can buy beers for one dollar, huge dinners for ten, and sleep for under thirty. But if you’re a long-term budget traveler headed to Cuba, you may want to pay attention.

CUC vs. moneda nacional

First thing’s first. Cuba has two currencies: the national peso (moneda nacional) and the convertible peso (CUC or, colloquially, the “cook”). For all intents and purposes, it’s easy to think of the CUC as being roughly equivalent to the U.S. dollar. At the time of writing, one CUC could be exchanged for 24 national pesos (from here on I will refer to national pesos simply as pesos).

Top row: CUC / Bottom row: moneda nacional

Cubans deal mostly in pesos. Everything they need on a day-to-day basis is bought with pesos in shops and restaurants that specifically deal in pesos. “Luxury” items like toothpaste, toilet paper, soap, deli cheese and meats, and televisions are purchased in “dollar” shops — stores that only deal in CUCs.

TIP: Do NOT go to Cuba with U.S. dollars. You will incur a steep penalty (around 10%) to exchange to CUCs. Here is a Cuba Currency and Money Guide.

Accommodations

If you’re budget traveling, get to know this term: casa particular. These are private homes that rent one or two rooms to foreigners. They are similar to a B&B.

In Havana, you get what you pay for. We stayed in a beautiful mansion-like house for $30CUC in Vedado. But we also stayed in a tiny apartment in Central Havana, where our room wall didn’t extend to the ceiling, and we had to share a bathroom. For the latter we paid $15CUC.

Outside Havana, the prices seem to vary more, regardless the quality of the casa. In Viñales you could stay at a $35CUC casa which, as nice as it is, might have frogs on the bathroom walls at night. Or you could stay for $15CUC at a more humble casa, but with beautiful views of the mogotes.

Assuming your eye is on your budget, here are some tips when finding casas particulares:

Note: blue signs = OK for foreigners,
red signs = only for Cuban nationals

Don’t book one listed in a guidebook — Not only are they generally more expensive, they’re the busiest. In most big cities and towns, there are loads of casas. They are easily identifiable by the sideways, blue “H” symbol on their door. (We also found the casa owners at the ones not listed in the guidebooks to be more friendly and hospitable.)

Don’t go with a tout — You’ll be approached at bus stations or if you’re walking/cycling around with your bags. The touts take a $5CUC commission so the prices are $5CUC higher than they would otherwise be.

Stay away from the center/touristy areas — Prices can drop dramatically even a couple of streets away. A little legwork can save you lots of money.

Try bargaining with the owner — If you can’t knock five or ten CUCs off the nightly price, try to get your breakfasts tossed in for free. If you’re staying long term (a week or more), you will be able to negotiate a lower price.

Eating

This is purely a guess, but probably 95% of visitors eat dinners and breakfasts in their casa particular. This is not a bad thing, and usually the food in them is superior to anywhere else. But if you want to save money, there are other ways.

Street food — Entrepreneurial Cubans roll their carts streetside and hock pizzas, meat-filled buns, hot dogs, and a multitude of other foods. You can be pickier in the bigger cities since something else will be around the corner if you don’t like what you see. It’s all sold in pesos so is very cheap.

A pan con jamon y queso (bun with ham and cheese) might cost 5 pesos on the street and $3CUC (equivalent to 72 pesos) in a restaurant.

Farmer’s markets — Balance the street food a little with some fruit and veg. Sold in pesos, the produce costs cents.

Peso restaurants — Find these. And eat in them. They’re generally good and you can get a similar meal as you would in a casa particular (meat, rice and beans, veggies) for a fraction of the cost. 40 pesos (just under $2CUC) will net you a decent dinner.

Casa particular — You can save money eating here too. The dinners are so huge — compensation for the relatively steep prices — that they can either be shared between two people, or you can ask for a smaller meal for cheaper. For example, $5CUC instead of $8CUC for a meal that will still fill you up.

Of course, only you can gauge yourself, so try the full meal first.

Hotel buffets — Mid-range hotel breakfast buffets are around $8CUC. Fill yourself up, then fill up your bag for the rest of the day.

TIP: Unless you have a steel stomach or no respect for your body, don’t rely solely on street food. It’s a good idea to mix it up with meals at the casas.

Entry fees

As in other times of bargaining, your power lies in how badly you want it. In Santiago de Cuba, we cycled to the Castillo del Morro to find out it cost $5CUC each to get in. We weren’t willing to pay it so we just walked away. Seconds later we were called back and told we could go in for $5CUC for the both of us.

On the other hand, at the Necropolis in Havana, we were surprised that they raised the entry fee from $1CUC (as stated in our Rough Guide) to $5CUC.

We walked away there too. No one followed.

Don’t be shy

Be vocal. Don’t be shy to ask if prices are in CUC or moneda nacional. You might assume something is in pesos and then be shocked to find out it’s not and you’ve just spent 24 times what you expected to.

Although bargaining isn’t as big a thing in Cuba as in SE Asia, it never hurts to try.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Looking for more tips on Cuba? Be sure to visit our Cuba Focus Page and feel free to ask our experts, Conner and Julie, any questions you might have.

LAST AUGUST, Hal Amen had a brilliant idea for a series. Each Saturday we would post one photo that we felt captured inspiration. Inspiration to shut down the computer, to put down the remote control, to pull on the boots and walk outside the door.

After launching the Matador Flickr Photography group, we started receiving some great submissions from the Matador Community, and most postings as of late have come from this fantastic talent pool.

Naturally we accumulated a lot of inspirational shots. Here are 10 of our favourite:

1. Children Play at Swayambhunath, Nepal / Photo: Laika slips the lead

2. Sunset on Top of Tokyo / Photo: The Image Street / Visit his Matador profile

3. Cadillac Mountain in the Sun / Photo: Tango0830

4. Don’t Overlook the Alleys / Photo: van Ort

5. Climbing Cayambe in Ecuador / Photo: kenoe

6. Misty Morning on the Camino de Santiago / Photo: CanvasOfLight

7. Do You Dream in Black and White? / Photo: mike138

8. The Road to Denali / Photo: Unhindered by Talent

9. In the City / Photo: mugley

10. Mount Fortuna Summit / Photo: Lee Sie

SPECIAL MENTION — This was our first Wordless Wanderlust posting:

The Road to San Luis Potosi / Photo: monterd

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We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, come join our Matador Flickr Photography group. If you have an idea for a collaborative Photo Essay, create a discussion and let’s talk about it!

Photo: Yvonne Alcos

In Google Tourism: Is Nothing Sacred Anymore?, I round up some tools on the web that let you explore the world without actually having to venture into it.

Similarly, Paris 26 Gigapixels brings you right to Paris, in high definition.

Come again?

From the About the project page:

Paris 26 Gigapixels is the name of the biggest assembled panoramic image of the world. It shows Paris in a very high definition. A gigapixel is 1 billion pixels! The image is a stitching of more than 2000 individual photos.

Apparently, if you wanted, you could print this baby out on a 6500 sq. ft. sheet of paper and still have great quality. I’m no mathematician, but I think that just might cover my bedroom wall.

What do I do?

When you visit the Paris 26 Gigapixels site, let it load. It can take a few minutes. You’ll see a panorama of Paris and some transparent control windows. You can move about, zoom in and out, and by clicking on the “i’s” you can get information about a particular landmark.

To locate a landmark quickly, they’ve conveniently placed shortcuts to the 20 most popular monuments. Click one to zoom in on it.

There is an option to view it in HD, but sorry Mac users, this doesn’t work for you. Being a Mac user myself, I can’t tell you how this looks.

How?

If you’re interested in the technical aspects of this project, they break it down for you into steps: the shooting, the stitching, and the rendering.

You can also view this post to get into the mind of the photographer, Arnaud Frich.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

For some sweet, sweet Parisian graffiti, check out Paris’ Surprising Street Art.

Photo: Matador Flickr group member ScottM9000

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Our Peru Focus Page has all the info you need for your trip to Machu Picchu.

If you love travel photography, why not join us at the Matador Photography Flickr group? Browse the pics, start a discussion, or toss your hat in the ring to be featured here for Wordless Wanderlust.

Photo: artberri

I’VE RIDDEN the Trans-Siberian rails. I’ve wolfed down the instant noodles, drank the crap Baltika beer, and suffered in platzkartny for 65 straight hours. So I have some mixed emotions about one of Google’s recent additions, a virtual tour along the ties between Moscow and Vladivostok.

Google provides video footage, as if looking out the window of a train car, separated into stages of the 9226 km long journey.

You can choose your starting point, such as Yekaterinburg, where it will faithfully tell you that you are 1751 km from Moscow and 7474 km from Vladivostok. The video starts with your train stopped at the platform, then slowly builds speed until the features start to blur.

While you’re watching this footage, you can select audio to listen to: the rumbles of the train over the tracks, Russian radio, even a reading of Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” (in Russian of course, for that truly authentic experience). A Google map appears below the video so you know exactly where you are, both in Satellite and Terrain modes.

That’s not all folks

As our friends at Wend magazine report, you can go skiing and snowboarding in your bathrobe, right from the comfort of your own couch (or, like me, from a painfully hard seat at Starbucks).

An article at The Guardian also points out that Google has teamed up with the National Trust in the UK to bring you offroad views of British landscapes, stony castles, and country cottages. This in addition to their pairing up with UNESCO to showcase street views of World Heritage sites.

One step further

An entrepreneurial tandem of brothers created the website Google Sightseeing, whose tagline is “Why bother seeing the world for real?”. Categorized into sights (flocking, a Canadian farm maze) and localities (Spain, Tennessee), each post has a satellite view and describes what you’re looking at.

Photo: www.theedinburghblog.co.uk

From what I can tell, most of the content is submitted by readers, which leads me to believe that there are a lot of people spending hours scouring Google maps, rather than going outside.

The world from your computer

Sure, it’s nice to bring the world to those who can’t, or who just won’t, explore it a little. But part of me feels ripped off, like when I hike up a mountain to find a car park at the top, or a crowd of people exiting a gondola. Or when I hiked along the Great Ocean Walk with a 14 kg pack for four days and found out later that there are people who provide bag and food drops at hikers’ destinations.

Yes, writers have been bringing the world to armchair travelers for decades and centuries even. But at least there’s some work involved in that. You have to take the time and effort to read, to work your brain and your imagination.

But when Google lets you experience the sounds and motions of the Trans-Siberian, without having to deal with surly provodnistas or an annoying Russian who insists on turning up the communal radio full blast, that’s where I have to put my foot down.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

If you wanna kick it old school, Sarah Menkedick absolutely nailed it in A Virtual Ride on a Chinese Train.

Virtual tools can also be used to help plan in-the-flesh travels. For more on that idea, read How to Use Google Maps for Trip Planning.

Photo: Matador Flickr group member anibaltrejo

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Make sure to check out our Focus Page if you’re on your way to Southeast Asia.

Come join the Matador Photography Flickr group. Browse the pics, start a discussion, or toss your hat in the ring to be featured here for Wordless Wanderlust.

Photo: Vince Alongi

ON FEBRUARY 26th, at the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards 2009, 27 winners from a wide range of categories were announced. Organizing the awards is the National Tourism Alliance, a collective whose members number over 40,000 — 90% — of the country’s tourism operators.

Matador’s magic word of late — transparency — comes to mind when viewing the list of finalists and the winners. I was disappointed that the website doesn’t state how the finalists were chosen or with what criteria the winners were picked. For all I know, it’s whoever is putting up the most bucks. But maybe I’m just cynical.

Anyhoo, here are some of your winners:

Major Tourist Attraction – Melbourne Aquarium, Victoria

Sharks, penguins, stingrays, sea turtles, seahorses, and more.

Photo: ♻

Major Festivals and Events – Tour Down Under, South Australia

The first stop on the world cycling calendar and the biggest cycling race in the southern hemisphere.

Ecotourism – Bruny Island Cruises, Tasmania

A family run business in its 10th year of operation providing ecotours around Tasmania’s Bruny Island.

They have recently expanded operations to extend their touring area with Tasman Island Cruises.

Indigenous Tourism – Booderee National Park, New South Wales

Owned by the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community, Booderee means ‘bay of plenty’ or ‘plenty of fish’ in the Dhurga language.

Adventure Tourism – Passions of Paradise, Queensland

Sail from Cairns to the Great Barrier Reef on a 25 foot catamaran, taking in scuba diving and snorkeling.

Backpacker Accommodation – Sydney Central YHA, New South Wales

89% rating on the YHA website. The Rocks location has 96% (just an FYI).

Unique Accommodation – Longitude 131, Northern Territory

Private views of sunset and sunrise over Uluru — from your own bed with the flick of a blind-raising switch! 2-night packages start at a hair over $3000 (the good news is, you can save 15% if you add one or more extra nights).

Luxury Accommodation – Skycity Darwin, Northern Territory

A 5-star International Hotel Casino with 117 rooms and over 503 slot machines.

Photo: Svetlana Zhukova

Take note, the dress standards require ‘neat and tidy’ attire (and appropriate footwear) with an appropriate level of personal hygiene being adhered to at all times.

Sustainable Tourism – Skyrail Rainforest Cableway, Queensland

Spans 7.5 kms over and into Cairn’s World Heritage listed tropical rainforest.

Out of 31 winners and notable mentions, I noticed not one organization was from Western Australia. I knew there was a reason I wanted to go there.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Do these awards mean anything to you? Are you more likely to visit a place or attraction as a result of this?

Share your thoughts below!

Photo: Matador Flickr group member LILYLILYIMAGES.COM

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Come join the Matador Photography Flickr group. Browse the pics, start a discussion, or toss your hat in the ring to be featured here for Wordless Wanderlust.

Photo: Masao.M

LAST JULY I asked the question, Would You Hike Uluru?

It sparked a furious debate with many people firmly against it:

Climbing Uluru is pretty much the most ignorant thing you can do.*

while other commenters justified it:

if you’ve already stepped foot on the land at Uluru – Kata Tjuta, you may as well carry on and do the climb, I say.*

In January this year, Peter Garrett, current Environment Minister and former lead singer of the politically charged Midnight Oil, overruled the proposal, but he didn’t shut the door on it.

The issue can be revisited, and the climb potentially closed, if one of these three conditions is met in the future:

1. The number of people climbing Uluru drops from the current 38 percent of visitors to fewer than 20 percent.
2. The attraction of the climb is no longer the primary reason visitors travel to Uluru.
3. A range of new experiences are put in place for visitors.

Hmm. Number one is straight forward enough. But how do you prove the second condition? Will there now be questionnaires presented to everyone asking why, exactly, they are here? And when they say “visitors” are they talking about ALL visitors? Or is there a threshold?

As for number three, what would that look like? Should they build a rollercoaster to replace the climb? Maybe ATV rides around the rock, while shooting at cardboard cutouts of kangaroos that pop up form the ground? (After all, shooting real kangaroos is cruel.)

I wouldn’t hold my breath.

*These are partial comments only. For full context please read the article and comments in full.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Does the overrule anger you? Is Minister Garrett making a mistake? Or is this a reasonable (temporary) resolution to this heated issue?

IT’S HARD TO BELIEVE it’s already been almost two months since I left Australia. Herein lies the trick. When you’re traveling, how do you make time slow down? I would reckon by not moving too much, and this is exactly what Yvonne and I are trying to do. Of course, this is easier said than done when you’ve got itchy feet.

I’m currently in my hometown of Vancouver, Canada for one month. I just witnessed Canada bring home the most gold medals of any country in the history of the Winter Olympic Games. Wait, I guess there’s no “bringing home” necessary, it all happened right here in my backyard.

Yes, Ian’s beer is much bigger than mine.

The best part was watching Canada beat the US in men’s hockey with fellow Matadorian and BraveNewTraveler editor, Ian Mackenzie.

The day before the big win I took the opportunity to hook up with Matadorian and WorldHum Senior Editor, Eva Holland, for a quick cuppa.

This li’l trip of ours is turning into one big Matador meet ‘n’ greet. If all goes to plan I’ll be meeting Sarah Menkedick, editor at Abroad, in her hometown of Oaxaca, Mexico later this month.

And then we’ll be bumming around New York City after that for 30 days, where our Senior Editor, Julie Schwietert, happens to live.

And there are many more of you lying in my path that I hope to run into. This is why I’m so passionate about this Community. Not only are Matadorians so welcoming and engaging in cyberspace, but they extend this to the real world, where it really counts.

We’ve recently been hammering home the point about the importance of transparency, and you can’t get much more transparent than that.

Until we meet!

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

I’ve begun documenting my Cuban excursions. Check out my Photo Essay: Cycling Cuba and By the Numbers: Cuba by Bicycle.

Photo: mike138

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Come join the Matador Photography Flickr group. Browse the pics, start a discussion, or toss your hat in the ring to be featured here for Wordless Wanderlust.

Cuba is bigger than I thought. And five weeks isn’t all that long. Still, with a combination of long distance bus rides and cycling days (105 km was our longest) we managed to get a fairly deep look at the enigmatic and contradictory nation.

It was a challenging country to choose for our first ever cycle tour. We encountered mountainous terrain, pothole-riddled roads, and diesel fume-spewing trucks. But I don’t think there is any other way to really see Cuba.

1. The road disappears on our ride to Viñales in the Pinar del Rio province. Most roads in Cuba are in disrepair; many coastal roads sustain damage from past hurricanes. This is not a country you want to bring your $3000 road bike to.

2. Mogotes (limestone protrusions, similar to those in Vietnam’s Halong Bay) in the Viñales valley dominate the landscape.

3. Giving the bikes a rest (OK, us too) during the most beautiful stretch of cycling in Cuba — between Manzanillo and Santiago de Cuba on the south coast.

4. Hurricane Dennis in 2005 left this coastal road the worse for wear. Apparently, no attempts to repair it have been made. At some parts the road simply disappears and turns to dirt; a few collapsed bridges make some crossings a bit sketchy. Here, an Austrian couple on a tandem bike we met and cycled with negotiates the crumbling path.

5. In San Diego de los Baños we were ushered into Pedro’s “workshop” where he showed us how to roll a cigar. He then hustled us to buy a pack of these “homemade” cigars. Even though it was most likely an elaborate scam, the overall experience was almost worth our foregone euros. Almost.

6. Graffitied propaganda lines a wall in Cienfuegos. There is no shortage of this in Cuba.

7. A ruined church facade sits atop a hill in Trinidad. A beautiful spot to watch the sun set over the cobble-stone streets, but is chock full of beggars. These Cubans sitting here asked for coins from our home countries, soap, the clothes off our backs, my wife’s bracelets, and anything else they could think of.

8. In Trinidad, a man sits on his door stoop while his son waves to the camera. Door stoop sitting is a common sight everywhere.

9. There are bars on all the windows and doors in Trinidad. This pooch was using them to his advantage to catch a cat nap. Or is that dog nap?

10. We could hear them about 30 seconds before we saw them. As they rounded the corner I took my opportunity to snap a few action photos.

11. Baseball is Cuba’s national sport. In Bayamo, these young gentlemen watch the older boys play some fast pitch.

12. In Manzanillo, a stumbling, drunk, guitar-wielding man steadies himself on a wall while others look on.

13. We caught these carefree kids swinging away near the coast. They weren’t camera shy.

14. The happiest cat in the world? On Cayo Granma in Santiago de Cuba, a local cleans his catch while kitty looks on.

15. If you come to Cuba, you WILL have a mojito (or three). This bartender looks particularly pleased with his offering to us.

Community Connection

Make sure to read Julie Schwietert’s interview with the author of The Handsomest Man in Cuba: An Escapade — the book that kicked off our Cuban adventure — at Freewheeling: Lynette Chiang’s Two Wheel Journey from Cubicle to Cuba.

If you’re planning a trip there — especially if you’re American — read How to Travel To and From Cuba.

Me and my Bike Friday in Albert Park, Melbourne

After spending the entirety of my Matador tenure stationary in Melbourne, it’s finally time for me to hit the road and do some traveling of my own. I’ve been inspired by the submissions we received from daring adventurers and wide-eyed wanderers over the past year. I hope I can tap into the energy, even a little.

My wife and I are changing tack a bit on our life and travel philosophy. Whereas before we were happy with the work-save-travel-work cycle, we’re going to try something different. This time around it’s open-ended. We have no idea when we’ll stop, and we have no idea where we’ll stop. We will attempt to be — and excuse the phrase — more organic.

We want to move with the flow, take opportunities as they arise, and experience places more than just moving through them.

We will sit still in some of our destinations. We will pick up work where and when we can. And we will just, well, live life. Not try to only “see” or “do” things. Just…live. Because this is it. This is life.

Hiking in the Pyranees

The gist

We do, however, have a few things planned (it’s just good sense). We depart Australia on January 10 and arrive a few days later in Cuba with our Bike Fridays. We don’t necessarily plan to “tour Cuba” by bicycle, but we will use our bikes to transport us around, as we see fit.

I’m especially looking forward to visiting my hometown of Vancouver, Canada in February. We’ll take in the Olympic Winter Games vibe and catch up with friends and family. It will be almost three years to the date since we left, so this will be a brand new experience for me. I’m anxious about it.

After that we’ll be moving south down the Pacific coast, and hope to meet some fellow Matadorians along the way, like our inimitable CEO, Ross Borden, in San Francisco. New York is on the radar where we’ll spend a month just hangin’ out. I’m really looking forward to meeting in person someone I consider a mentor of sorts, who’s been with me every step of the way during my foray into the writing universe — Matador’s managing editor Julie Schwietert.

If you’re somewhere along that path, drop me a line. Maybe we can meet up.

GR92 in Costa Brava, Spain

Next?

This is where things start to get hazy for us. We will fly to Europe (and visit my wife’s family in Germany somewhere in there), but that’s about all we know. The only other thing we know is that the road will eventually lead us back to Australia, to drive around in our camperized Delica, S.A.M.

Maybe that’s not so honest. We don’t actually know that. You can never really know anything, can you?

So if you’re wondering where I am over the next couple of months, there you have it. And speaking of that, I have to give a big muchas gracias, merci beaucoup, spaseeba bolshoy, and xie xie to Hal Amen for doing the job of two while I’m incommunicado.

It’s a big undertaking to bring you the best destination-based content on the web, but I also take comfort knowing he’ll have the support of the amazing Matador team.

Enjoy your holidays everyone — of course, responsibly. It’s the start of a new decade. Here’s to the one-ders.

Photos courtesy of the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust

In the middle of Sydney Harbour is a tiny piece of rock called Cockatoo Island. There are none of these vociferous birds around today, but before 1788 they frequented the red gum trees that inhabited the island.

A couple of months ago I met with Liz from the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust, a federal government initiative set up to protect many of Sydney Harbour’s historic and natural sites. The Trust was kind enough to offer me a night on the island this New Year’s Eve to watch the world-famous Sydney fireworks. This trip was a recon mission.

Some history

The island was nothing like I imagined. I pictured green rolling hills and forest; something wild. It’s not. As we approached it on the Sydney ferry, I was surprised to see old industrial-looking buildings to my left. The rest of it was obscured by a big cliff facing us (the island was expanded from 13 to 18 hectares with the blasted rock).

This was my first glance at the island’s history. It was originally used as a prison and then as a reform school. A ship docked there was used to train wayward and orphaned boys, and eventually the shipyard expanded. In the early 1900s, Cockatoo Island became the Commonwealth Naval Dockyard and was the major shipbuilding and dockyard facility for the Southwest Pacific in WWII.

The structures — the old prisons, solitary confinement cells, warehouses, cranes, and homes — still stand and some are being restored to be used as accommodation. A 26-stop self-guided audio walking tour is available explaining in detail the island’s fascinating history of convicts, warships, and aboriginal occupation.

Modern Cockatoo Island

Cockatoo Island was only opened to the public recently. In fact, many Sydney residents won’t even have heard of it.

It’s been host to some pretty big events lately. Aside from the New Year’s Eve Fireworks (for which last year was the first time hosting guests for the event), the island was host to the Sydney Festival — 24 bands/4 stages, headlined by Nick Cave — in 2008.

Also in 2008, the island was one of the venues for the huge art exhibit, Biennale, which also used the vacuous, vacant buildings as backdrops. Biennale is set to return in 2010 from May to August.

And if all that isn’t cool enough, part of the Hugh Jackman movie, Wolverine, was filmed on location. Bits of the set still stand in one of the big warehouses. See if you can tell where the set ends and where the real building begins.

Staying on the island

These days most visitors are day-trippers, taking one of the regular ferries from Circular Quay in the morning and leaving in the afternoon. But one of the best things about the island is that it offers an urban camping option, right on the water.

At AUD $45/night you can pitch a tent and have sweeping views of the harbour at your doorstep. $75 will get you a camping package — no need to haul in your own gear. It includes a large tent, two sleeping mats, two chairs, and a lantern.

If you’re part of a large group of up to 10 people, you can rent out one of the renovated luxury heritage homes. The price per night ranges from AUD $300 to $450, depending on the season. Weekends are slightly more, but between 10 people that’s not too shabby a deal.

New Year’s Eve

Unfortunately, tickets for this year’s event on Cockatoo Island are all sold out. They close the island to the public on New Year’s Eve and allow a limited number of campers.

You’re not allowed to bring your own booze onto the island, but they are licensed so it can be bought there. The last of the barges to launch fireworks floats right near the island. Unobstructed, close-up views and a limited number of spectators is a good combination.

Pencil it in your calendar for next year. Tix go on sale around beginning of September.

But you don’t need a special reason to visit the island at any time of the year. If you’re in Sydney, pop over on the ferry and have a walk ’round. It’s a surprisingly fascinating and unique place.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

How are you going to be ringing in the new decade? Share below!

Photo: kenoe

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Does that get your blood pumping? If not, try these on for size:

11 Most Dangerous Mountains in the World for Climbers

6 American Mountains to Climb for Big Adventure

Remember, we’re always accepting submissions for Wordless Wanderlust photos over at the Matador Photography Flickr group. Stop by, sign up, and share your shots!

Photo: obvio171 (cc-by-sa)

If going to a shopping mall to get your Santa or Christmas carols fix doesn’t sound too appealing to you, how about an airport? After all, as travelers, they should seem like our second home.

Harriet Baskas at USA Today has compiled a pretty cool list in her article At the Airport: Contests, carolers, coupons, and karaoke for the holidays. I’ll even give her two bonus points for her use of alliteration.

Here are some of the interesting sounding events happening at an airport near you:

Indianapolis International Airport

When: December 12
What: Petting zoos! Well, sort of. One is hosted by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra where you can get up close and personal with their instruments. The second is being held by the Humane Society of Indianapolis where you can also adopt a pet.

Photo: TheGiantVermin

Musical entertainment will be on site all month, culminating on Christmas Eve with a Santa tuba ensemble.

Philadelphia International Airport

When: December 15 – 24
What: Santa will be milling around greeting travelers and posing for pics.

I would have thought he’d be extra busy in the toy factory, but I suppose for a man who gets around the world in a single night, time isn’t an issue.

Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport

When: All of December
What: Coupons. 80 of them to be exact.

Pick your booklet up at one of the information booths or online at ShopsAtMSP.com. Peruse this schedule of musical entertainment and pick your dates.

George Bush International Airport and Detroit Metro Airport

When: December 19 at GBI and December 20 – 23 at DMA (McNamara/Delta Terminal)
What: Karaoke. Everyone loves karaoke.

Here in Australia, I just heard that ABBA’s Waterloo is the top pick for wannabe crooners. Word of caution: I would definitely be wary about choosing Tom Jones’s Sex Bomb. Not a good word to use there.

For more airport events, make sure to visit the article at USA Today. Maybe there’s something happening near you.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

For more airport reading, check out Food on the Fly — the Best Airport Restaurants, The World’s 10 Most Technologically Advanced Airport Terminals, and — at the other end of the spectrum — The World’s Worst Airports.

Maybe you’re using an airport to get to Europe this December. If so, don’t miss Where to Find the Best Christmas Markets in Europe.

So tell me, besides catching a flight or just people-watching, do you go to airports for other reasons?

Photo: CanvasOfLight

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

We just published the first ever Matador Photography Photo Essay collaboration. If you haven’t seen it yet, make sure you check out Photo Essay: The Matador Photographers’ Animal Kingdom.

If you’d like to be a part of it all, visit us at Flickr and join up!

1. Somewhere in the Austrian Alps. As we rounded the corner we were confronted by these menacing sheep. They eventually let us pass. Photo: VagabonderZ

2. I took this in Badlands National Park, South Dakota. This was back in 2002. As soon as my classes were done, I hit the road and got the hell out of Iowa – skipping my own college graduation. During my week in Badlands NP, I crawled out of my tent most mornings to see bison scattered around the landscape. It was worth missing my graduation. Photo: Theodore Scott

3. I shot this cow on the back streets of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India. Being sacred to Hindus, cows roam freely everywhere in this country. I like how the shadow plays in the photo, and how this particular cow seems to be “smiling” at the little girl to the left. Photo: Molly McCahan

4. In Kouré Park outside Niamey, Niger, we saw these two male giraffes fighting. Giraffes fight by swinging their necks and hitting the opponent’s body with their heads. It’s slow and hilarious and if we fought wars like this, everyone would have gone home for tea by now. Photo: ljgolden

5. It’s all about the goats I met during Poon Hill trek last September. Photo: theyellowtail

6. I’m not sure if insects count as “wildlife” but this was taken in an amazing butterfly sanctuary on the island of Bohol in the Philippines. Photo: Andrew and Elysia

7. While making our way to Isla de la Plata, aka the “Poor Man’s Galapagos,” we were lucky enough to come across this breaching humpback. Only 50 km off the Ecuador coast, Isla de la Plata is a great day trip if you can’t afford the time or money for the Galapagos. With the exception of tortoises, you’ll see all the wildlife of the Galapagos there. Photo: Len Langevin

8. Llamas in Machu Picchu eating and taking a nap, both of which I desperately wanted to do after 4 hours of hiking the ruins. Photo: crfranke

9. Marching through the marsh. Black-winged Stilts in a flooded field at Kin Okinawa, Japan. Photo: Ryuku Mike

10. Guanacos are pretty much the only living thing that occasionally dots the mostly barren landscape in Tierra del Fuego. They’re quite shy, but we seem to have caught this small group by surprise. Outside of Ushuaia, Argentina. Photo: bearshapedsphere

11. Pink flamingos of Le Camargue, a marshy area in southern France, where the Rhone and Mediterranean meet. It is Europe’s largest river delta. Photo: VagabonderZ

12. An large extended family of coatí live on the mountain above the pueblo of Tepoztlán, Mexico. Hikers come up here to check out a small Aztec pyramid temple — perhaps the coatí are its guardians. Or maybe they just like tourist food. Photo: halamen

13. These king penguins at Volunteer Point in the Falkland Islands had changed their mind about being in the water, and couldn’t wait to get back out. Photo: bearshapedsphere

14. Marine Iguanas are only found on the Galapagos Islands and their colours vary distinctly from island to island. Iguanas feed on seaweed and algae and have the incredible ability to change their size if sufficient food is not available. Photo: m.scott

Community Connection

We love animals at Matador. Here are some great reads:

Close Encounters: Reconnecting To Animals Through Our Primitive Nature

You Got Your Pens Moving: Animal Stories from the Matador Community

5 Exotic Animals That Are Smarter Than You Think

First Person Dispatch: Volunteering for Animal Rights in Greece

If you’re not yet a member at our Matador Photography Flickr group, make sure you stop by. We’ll be looking to publish more collaborations so if you want in, here’s your chance.

Photo: b e l e n

I don’t normally give props for this kind of stuff. I don’t like country collectors. I don’t like goals to “visit 100 countries before I’m 35.” To me, this isn’t what travel is about. But this guy, Kashi Samaddar, doesn’t pretend to be a traveler.

And besides, he had a real goal: to bust into the Guinness Book of World Records for shortest amount of time to visit every country in the world. And he did it. He traveled to 194 countries in six years, 10 months, and seven days. That’s just under two weeks per country.

While the article at the Daily Mail slags him for his photography skills — taking shots in bizarre locations instead of “top tourist sights” — this is actually what endears him to me.

We know what it looks like / Photo: g-hat

They berate him for not getting in Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, or the white sand beaches of the Cook Islands. But everyone’s seen all that stuff.

Show me the inside of a London office while standing beside some random guy, or a self-portrait in Greenland with a pram arbitrarily placed to your left, and I’m all over it.

Now that’s something you don’t see every day.

An ulterior motive

The idea to travel to every country on the planet occurred to Mr. Samaddar after getting stuck in Johannesburg due to visa issues. He wanted to highlight the difficulties of some nationalities obtaining visas — Indians, for one.

And even though he had opportunities to become a Canadian or Australian citizen — which would have made things much easier — he chose to keep his Indian citizenship. He wanted to prove that someone from India could travel anywhere in the world.

Even though he had major problems getting some visas — it took him almost three years to get one for Moldova — he got it done in the end.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

What do you think of Mr. Samaddar’s record? Share your comments below!

Photo: Ernst Vikne / Feature: wwarby

“Um, hi. I’m from Canada and I’ve never seen snow.” Oh, how I wish that were true. The state of Colorado is holding a worldwide contest in search of three people who have never experienced snow.

The contest is appropriately called Snow At First Sight.

Winners will be brought to Colorado this winter to experience their legendary winter season from January to March, 2010.

You will learn how to ski, snowboard, and snowshoe, and also enjoy exciting après ski nightlife, pampering, spas, and more.

You will write about your experiences and take pictures and video to share with the world via social networks: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and the rest.

So if you’ve never had the pleasure of being “face-washed” or had snow shoved down the back of your shirt, this is for you.

How Do I Enter?

1. Create a 60 second video (deadline is December 4) and show them why you want to experience snow for the first time in Colorado. Be creative!

2. Post your video to www.SnowAtFirstSight.com.

3. Share the video with everyone you know. Use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube — and get fans, friends, and family to VOTE for you. Voting deadline is December 11.

The top five most voted for videos will receive a four-day “audition” in Colorado in January (January 5-8). In addition, the Colorado Tourism Office will choose five videos judged on creativity, entertainment value, and more.

Based on the audition, three winners will be chosen to spend up to three months in Colorado!

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Apologies Matador readers for the late notice, but better late than never, right? If you enter, make sure to let us know so we can vote for you!

Photo: *wanderings*

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

The Matador Photography group at Flickr keeps bringin’ ‘em, so we’ll keep posting them.

Join now and share your shots!

Photo: partie traumatic

I’ll just say it. I hate shopping malls. They’re bland and sterile and full of scary looking teenagers. But I grudgingly accept that not everyone shares my point of view, and fair enough. Lots of people love shopping and shopping malls, and I will admit when I’m impressed by the architecture. Plus, I do enjoy the air conditioning when it’s 38 degrees Celsius outside.

The website GotSaga has published what they think are the world’s most incredible malls. Here are some details on the more interesting of the lot:

Photo: lrargerich

Galerías Pacífico

Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Originally built in 1889, Galerías Pacífico was remodeled in 1945 and the famous 12 frescos on the central cupola were done in ‘46.

For history buffs, part of the mall was used as a torture center by the military junta who ruled Argentina from ‘76 to ‘83.

Author Naomi Klein in The Shock Doctrine:

In 1987, a film crew was shooting in the basement of the Galerias Pacifico, one of Buenos Aires’ plushest downtown malls, and to their horror they stumbled on an abandoned torture center.

It turned out that during the dictatorship, the First Army Corp hid some of its disappeared in the bowels of the mall; the dungeon walls still bore the desperate markings made by its long-dead prisoners: names, dates, pleas for help.

Photo: flashfonic

Toronto Eaton Centre

Location: Toronto, Canada

Timothy Eaton started it all by setting up a dry goods shop on the original site. This eventually became the Eaton’s brand that swept across Canada and changed the way people shopped. The company went bankrupt in 1999, but the mall retains the name.

I was shocked to read that the Toronto Eaton Centre is the top tourist draw in Toronto, pulling in about one million people per week.

That’s almost 100 people entering those doors per minute. What does this say about the city and/or the tourists? I don’t know myself, but it might be worth asking.

Interesting tidbit: a gaggle of fibreglass geese — a sculpture by artist Michael Snow called Flight Stop — is one of the main attractions in the mall and was the center of a controversy when the mall decided to dress them up in red ribbon for Christmas.

They didn’t bother to ask the artist, and predictably he was pissed. Eventually, a court ordered the ribbons removed.

Photo: Nick Mathew

Villagio Mall

Location: Doha, Qatar

I was intrigued by the picture of a “faux” Venice in the Villagio Mall, but the article didn’t have much info.

Neither did Wikipedia. So I found this first-hand account at Travelpod:

…it’s like the Truman show. The mall is a model of Venice, complete with a canal and gondolas and a ceiling designed to look like the sky.

Above every store are mock balconies as if you are really in a city…If you follow the canal through the mall you arrive at…you guessed it…an Ice Rink!

Photo: Leigh Shulman

Special Mention

This mall wasn’t on the list, but I feel compelled to include it. Matador Life editor Leigh Shulman passed this to me when she heard I was going to write about malls.

Allbrook Mall

Location: Panama City, Panama

Here is what Leigh had to say about the mall:

We spent a day there while waiting for a bus. It’s got everything from a merry go round, movie theatre, kids play space etc etc.

But what struck me the most is the store mannequins that had the biggest breasts of anything I’ve ever seen in my life.

I’m speechless.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

At Matador, we try not to leave anyone out, including shoppers. Veil Shopping in Cairo has exemplary tips for, well, veil shopping in Cairo. Tom Gates’ hilarious piece Bangkok Binge Eating 101 profiles a slightly different type of shopping, but shopping nonetheless.

Photo: Anna Brones

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

If you like what you see, you don’t want to miss the Stunning Colors of Glacier National Park.

Long-time Matador and Flickr Matador Photography member Anna Brones recently jumped ship as Senior Editor of Wend to focus on her new project, Under Solen.

She’s also our resident expert on Guadaloupe and has penned the uber popular article How to Travel By Cargo Ship.

Photo above: matiasjajaja / Feature photo: Zach Klein

When all is going tickety-boo, you don’t have a care in the world and you feel like nothing bad can happen to you. Until it does. There have been some interesting lists published lately covering relatively minor annoyances that can nevertheless turn travel into a frustrating experience.

Top 10 Worst Cities for Pickpockets

I’ve been to nine of these. I’ve never been pickpocketed (knock on wood). Either I’m extremely lucky or I take precautions. Probably both, but probably more of the latter.

Photo above: renaissancechambara

1. Barcelona, Spain
2. Rome, Italy
3. Prague, Czech Republic
4. Madrid, Spain
5. Paris, France
6. Florence, Italy
7. Buenos Aires, Argentina
8. Amsterdam, Netherlands
9. Athens, Greece
10. Hanoi, Vietnam

You always hear about scams when you travel. My personal favourite is one where a supposed mother will toss her baby at you.

Of course, by instinct, you’ll try to save baby Air Jordan, and if you do you’ll be minus a wallet.

But is this just an old traveler’s tale? If you’ve ever been baby-tossed, we’d love to hear about it.

Top Cities Where You Get Hassled

Ben Groundwater, travel blogger for The Age newspaper, posted these cities that are the worst for being hassled in.

Siem Riep, Cambodia

…the boat has barely even come to a stop before the huge crowd of yelling touts starts running on board trying to talk you into staying at their hostel. Rest assured, if you’ve already booked one, it will have mysteriously “closed.”

Hoi An, Vietnam

There are just as many touts on patrol [at the beach, compared to the cloth shops], mostly gnarled old women prowling the sand selling, “mango, baaanana, peeeeeanut!”

Cairo, Egypt

…they’re all hanging out at the pyramids, at once a true wonder of the world, and home to the most annoying people in the entire world.

Jaipur, India

Hands down, the grand champion of hassle.

San Francisco, USA

I was young and naive when I went to San Fran (I’m old and naive now), so that could explain it, but [it] just seemed like there were far more beggars and touts there than anywhere else in the States.

Nairobi, Kenya

No one really wants to sell you anything in Nairobi, except maybe the odd trinket – most have more sinister things in mind.

I would like to toss in Las Vegas and Santorini, as in right when you get off the ferry. Matador’s Sarah Menkedick also delves into the topic, posing the question: is getting hassled in the top travel spots preventable or inevitable?

The World’s Worst Taxi Rides

Forbes Traveler first profiled the World’s 10 Best Taxi Rides. Then they wrote about the worst. Here’s who they picked:

Photo above: Zemzina

Lagos, Nigeria
Naples, Italy
Caracus, Venezuela
Moscow, Russia
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Mexico City, Mexico
Baghdad, Iraq
Bangkok, Thailand
Manila, Philippines
New York City, USA

The complaints were frequent roadblocks, aggressive driving, unregulated taxis, super-mad congestion, unfriendliness, and even getting robbed.

In Ulan Bator, Mongolia, everyone is a taxi; just stick out your hand and whoever stops is your cab.

We once hailed one, agreed on a price, got in, then five minutes down the road he realized he had to be somewhere else. He apologized then promptly kicked us out.

At least he gave us our money back. Here are some tips on How Not to Get Ripped Off by a Cabbie.

Have these lists given you a headache? Take two Aspirins and call me in the morning.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

What annoys you the most? Where have you most been annoyed?

Surely you have a story (or five) to tell. Feel free to get it off your chest below.

Photo: flaxmanlibrary

Maybe it’s just me, but Lonely Planet’s list of the Top 10 Countries to Visit in 2010 seems a little, well, weak. For the most part, they are countries which are already frequented by travelers and tourists. Hardly groundbreaking stuff.

Here’s the list:

Photo: fdecomite

El Salvador
Germany
Greece
Malaysia
Morocco
Nepal
New Zealand
Portugal
Suriname
USA

Yes, I do know that lists are always subjective and everyone’s going to have their own opinion, but really, what gives?

What is it about 2010 exactly that should attract more people to New Zealand, Germany, or Greece?

Portugal? I’m pretty sure folks were headed there on their European circuit already. I can almost forgive the U.S. inclusion — although the Obama excitement is dying down — seeing as the exchange rate is so favourable right now.

How about these

Canada is hosting the Winter Olympic Games in 2010. Seems to me a great year to visit. Start out west in Vancouver, put your head down, and barrel eastward all the way to Newfoundland.

How about South Africa for the FIFA World Cup? Or even after. Post-cup might be a great time to be there.

Russia is launching Peru’s first nanosatellite in November 2010. That seems as good a reason as any to check out Peru and drop them a congratulations in person.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

What do you think about LP’s list? Do you agree/disagree?

Are you more psyched now to visit any of these destinations in 2010?

Share below!

Photo: ~*marmelade*~

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

This week’s Wordless Wanderlust was submitted by a member of Matador Photography over at Flickr.

New members always welcome!

Norway fjords / Photo: vigour

Not to be confused with a popularity contest, the 6th annual survey by the National Geographic Society’s Center for Sustainable Destinations highlights 133 worldwide destinations and how they rate in terms of criteria like sustainability, social and cultural integrity, quality of tourism management, and aesthetic quality.

Wait. Aesthetic quality? Social and cultural integrity? I imagine those would be pretty tough to get statistics on. These are, of course, subjective to human experience and not very tangible aspects of place.

So, is the survey a bunch of hogwash?

Costa del Sol / Photo: BY-YOUR-⌘

Well, if you trust the judgment of 437 “well-traveled experts in a variety of fields — historic preservation, site management, geography, sustainable tourism, ecology, indigenous cultures, travel writing and photography, and archaeology”, then I guess the answer would be no.

According to NG, “We contact as many experts in pertinent fields as we can and ask them to rate the places they know. We then average their scores and publish the results…Experts began by posting points of view on each place — anonymously, to ensure objectivity. After reading each others’ remarks — a variation of a research tool called the Delphi technique — panelists then filed their final scores.”

The study was published in the Nov-Dec 2009 issue of National Geographic Traveler. The list is bookended by Norway’s Fjords Region as the best-rated (score of 85), and by Spain’s Costa del Sol (score of 31) as the worst-rated. One panelist’s comments about the Fjords Region:

Environmental quality is at the highest level. Landscape is amazing and aesthetically one of the most beautiful. The icons of Norway are so unique that it is difficult to imagine anything else. The local culture can be seen on the shores and mountains. It gives an ideal overview of well-preserved Norwegian rural life.

About Costa del Sol (aka Costa del Concrete), one had this to say:

Creaking under the weight of Brits and Germans who have retired to this southern Spanish coast, Costa del Sol is likely to suffer as the world economic situation causes them to return home.

The area must go more and more down-market to maintain market share (and will do so), but this is an area where volume tourism rules, with little real consideration, it seems, for its impact or need for regulation. Not sustainable.

These two destinations, at opposite ends of the spectrum, occupied the same spots in the first survey (2004), the difference being the Fjords Region now rates even higher than in 2004 and Costa del Sol lower — the best gets better and the worst gets worse.

NG sums up this trend in the survey by saying this: “When people care about the condition of a place, its score tends to go up and stay there.”

Other notable rated destinations

Best-rated

Vermont / Photo: Paraflyer

(81 points) Kootenay/Yoho National Parks, British Columbia – “Low level of development and visitation make these parks relatively unspoiled.”

(78 points) Vermont, USA – The top-rated American destination. “Vermont, more than any other American state, has worked to preserve those qualities and characteristics that make it unique.”

Places in the balance

(62 points) Great Barrier Reef, Australia – “Environmental and ecological quality is suffering due to coral bleaching which stems from a variety of causes, including agricultural runoff and increasing ocean temperatures. Social and cultural integrity is compromised by the impact of European settlements on the indigenous lifestyle.”

(57 points) Santorini, Greece – “One of the most sensational sites in the world. The towns are beautifully maintained. The beach area could be improved. But the island is overrun with tourists and the road is crowded—a bit of a madhouse.”

Worst-Rated Places

Cabo San Lucas / Photo: Jillian2012

(37 points) Cabo San Lucas, Mexico – “A tourism catastrophe. Total focus on money, lack of environmental attention, lack of local benefit except in menial jobs. Entire coast bought up by developers destroying turtle beaches and places that should remain natural and protected. Very little authentic local culture presented.”

(35 points) Bahamas: Grand Bahama – “The selling off of ‘protected’ islands is unconscionable. An unbelievable amount of garbage has washed up on the beaches. ‘Locally produced’ products in the straw markets are a joke; there should be a quality artisan market.”

* Thanks to traveling greener for sending the link my way.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

What kind of effect might a survey like this have on these destinations? If it drives tourists away from the worst places, will that be incentive for them to “clean up their act”?

Could it have an adverse effect on the top-rated destinations?

Share your thoughts below!

Photo: fairy_lights336

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

If you’re in the area, here are some more ideas while visiting New York:

7 Ways to Get on the Water in New York City (Besides the Staten Island Ferry)

Hidden Gorges, Gullies and Waterfalls… Upstate New York!

The photo above was selected from the Matador Photography Group at Flickr. Make sure to join us!

Photo: VivaoPictures

Festival of Freedom

An oversized set of falling dominoes to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall will punctuate Berlin’s Festival of Freedom on 9 November 2009. The temporary wall covers 1.5km and runs past the front of the Brandenburg Gate. The dominoes, 2.5 meters tall and weighing 20kg each, were hand painted in colourful fashion by schoolchildren.

Photo: Jim Linwood

A live concert will also provide some entertainment. I couldn’t determine if David “The Hoff” Hasselhoff will be performing, but Bon Jovi definitely is. The festival is set to end with a fireworks display.

The Mauer Mob

British artist Martin Butler’s latest project, “Mauer Mob 2009: Recreating the Berlin Wall”, will temporarily “recreate” the wall using humans instead of concrete and barbed wire. He is looking for 33,000 participants to cover the 46km route (which is segmented into 330 sections).

According to the New York Times, over 9,000 people in social media circles have already shown interest, while the Mauer Mob website shows the number committed approaching 6,000.

If you’re in the area, this would be a fantastic way to participate on the day.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

If you haven’t already, make sure you head over to Paul Sullivan’s commemorative photo essay, Berlin 20/20: A Photo Tour of a Reunited City.

My wife and I haven’t yet decided how we will celebrate the event here in Melbourne. How will you?

Palais Theatre in St. Kilda / Photo: Carlo Alcos

[Note: I live on the south side of Melbourne, so naturally that's where most of these are.]

1. Go for a bike ride

Sometimes the weather can be a bit blustery down at the water, but a seaside bike ride is tough to beat. Start in Port Melbourne where the ferry, the Spirit of Tasmania, docks and ride south along palm tree lined beaches into St. Kilda.

Brighton Beach / Photo: Yvonne Alcos

Still got energy? The path doesn’t end there; keep heading south to Brighton Beach and check out the multi-coloured beach shacks, then to the Red Bluff of Black Rock for views of burnt-orange cliffs hanging over the ocean.

If you’ve happened to pack a tent with you, may as well keep going down to the Mornington Peninsula. Lots of foreshore camping to choose from.

2. Go for a hike

For a Canadian, calling the Dandenongs a “mountain range” is a bit of a stretch, but nonetheless they make for great hiking options near the city. You can get there by train — take the Belgrave line and get off at the Upper Ferntree Gully station — and of course by car. There’s a good network of trails through mountain ash forests, fern gullies, and boxwood stringybark woodland.

3. Go for a coffee and/or brekkie

Melbourne = coffee. Push Starbucks and any Australian chain like Gloria Jeans or Hudsons Coffee to the far edges of your mind. I’ve personally taste tested dozens of independent cafes around the city and these are by far my favourites to grab a “flat white” or a latte and some grub:

* Leroy Esperesso – corner of Barkley and Acland, St. Kilda. Order take-away from the window serviced by friendly gals. Sometimes it can take a while, but there’s a reason it’s always busy and a reason they take their time with the coffee. Spend your waiting time people-watching; it’s an eclectic scene.

Photo: Yvonne Alcos

* Inkr7 – 7 Inkerman Street, St. Kilda. The coffee runs a close second to Leroy. Get your mitts on a cinnamon scroll if they have them. Baked fresh.

* Mart 130 – Middle Park tram stop on the #96 tram. Mart is tram spelled backwards; the cafe is at tram stop 130. Get it?

I first made mention of this place in the article Matador’s Favourite Restaurants in the World. Top-notch coffees, top-notch brekkies. Sometimes it’s just fun to sit out back and watch people come and go as the trams make their stop.

4. Go play trivia

The Doulton Bar in St. Kilda does trivia night on Thursdays. Know your random facts. A $100 bar tab is the grand prize, but you can also score yourself a free beer if you volunteer to be one of the “horses” in the horse race. Game players guess who can chug a beer the fastest. The winning horse scores his/her team an extra two points.

Pure Pop Records, a great place to catch live acts in a secluded back courtyard, hosts Music Trivia on Tuesdays. Show up by 7 PM to add your name to the list.

5. Go scour the op-shops

Opportunity shops (aka op shops) can be great to find bargains and generally fun to browse around in. It’s always interesting to see what people are getting rid of these days. Flip through the dusty stack of vinyl records, picture what that 1960s dresser would look like re-stained, or pick yourself out a new traveling wardrobe (depending how long you’ve been traveling for, you may be sick of your clothes by now).

Op shops here are like Starbucks in Seattle. There’s practically one on every corner.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

What are your favourite things to do in your city?

Photo: mattwi1s0n

There are believers, there are skeptics, and there are those who just need a little more proof. If you fall into the third category, why wait for someone else to convince you that ghosts really do exist?

Ghostbusting isn’t just for Bill Murray and Dan Akroyd. This is a real profession which many investigators take very seriously. One of them is Loyd Auerbach, parapsychologist and Director of the Office of Paranormal Investigations.

Loyd took some time to chat with Matador’s Juli Huang to dispel some common misconceptions about ghost hunting, so before you go off on your own, make sure you read her piece Ghostbusting 101: 6 Myths Debunked by Loyd Auerbach and also Loyd’s website Mindreader.com.

To help you in your quest to seek the truth, I’ve gathered up five haunted locations in the U.S. that you can visit.

So, turn the lights off, light a few candles, and read on.

Haunting #1: Moss Beach Distillery

Location: San Mateo County, California

Photo: schommsen

Legend: Over 70 years ago, a young woman met and fell in love with a pianist who played at the bar which is now the Moss Beach Distillery.

Although she was married with a young child, she made regular visits to the restaurant to be with her lover. It is said she was killed by her enraged husband when he found out about the affair.

She has been dubbed “The Blue Lady” because of her attire and now roams around in a torn and bloody blue dress, although recent sightings have her in clean black cocktail dresses. According to Loyd Auerbach, she has revealed her real name as Elizabeth Claire Donovan, but prefers to be called Cayte (and specifically spelled this way).

Besides showing herself, physical events such as swinging lamps, moving glassware, anomalous magnetic fields, and fluctuating temperatures have been observed during investigations. Employees also bear witness to strange events such as books flying off of shelves by themselves and the feeling of a presence.

Haunting #2: Banta Inn

Location: Banta (Tracy), California

Legend: The Banta Inn has a storied history. Originally built as a saloon and inn by reputed outlaw Frank Gallegos, it later served as a bordello. The building was destroyed in 1937 by fire, but was rebuilt using some of the original timber.

According to reports, two people died in the fire, and they may play a part in the mysterious goings-on in the Inn today, like objects flying around and the appearance of shadow people.

The most persistant ghost, though, is that of Tony Gurkan. Tony was the husband of Jenny, Frank Gallegos’s youngest daugther, and the couple owned the bar in the 60s. In 1968, Tony suffered a heart attack behind the bar and died instantly. It was a known habit of Tony to leave the cash drawer open with neatly stacked coins.

After his death, sometimes when a bartender blindly tossed coins into the drawer and slammed it shut, he would look again to see the drawer open with the coins stacked neatly.

Sightings of Tony playing poker by himself in the corner — a habit he had when he was alive — have also been reported by staff and patrons. One thing that Loyd Auerbach witnessed himself — and which shows Tony must have a sense of humour — was the jukebox playing “Spirits in the Material World” by The Police.

The Myrtles Plantation / Photo: Corey Ann

Thing is, when Loyd had a closer look at the jukebox, he saw that it wasn’t plugged in.You can read more about Tony’s antics at the Banta Inn here.

Haunting #3: Myrtles Plantation

Location: St. Francisville, Louisiana

Legend: The Myrtles Plantation has long been considered one of America’s most haunted places. Built in 1794, legend has it that at least 10 murders occurred there. More recent investigation has found proof that only one actually did — William Winter in 1871.

However, this is not to say that the property has not seen its fair share of death. Many of the past residents died of various causes, including Ruffin Grey Stirling — who was responsible for doubling the size of the original house — from “consumption.”

Although many of the legends that have made the property famous were ultimately found to be untrue, there is a consensus that the Myrtles Plantation is indeed haunted by restless spirits.

In 1987, a ghost of an elderly lady in a green turban was seen (and later photographed), children have been seen playing in the hallways and rooms, and a young girl was witnessed floating in front of the games room window, cupping her hands to her eyes to peer inside.

For a detailed history of the property and its hauntings, read this article at prairieghosts.com.

Haunting #4: Original Springs Hotel

Location: Okawville, Illinois

Legend: Like any good haunting, the Original Springs Hotel — built around mineral hot springs which have been used to cure all sorts of maladies — has been rocked by a history of death. Suicides, accidents, and illnesses have all claimed lives and it’s thought that these spirits still wander the property.

There have been reports of hearing strange whisperings, cold spots in bed, footsteps in the hallways, and presences felt to be watching. Most staff fear the second floor of the older wing after nightfall, at times hearing rumblings from locked, unused guestrooms.

Perhaps the strangest of all is the “woman in white” who has been seen wandering about and walking through closed doors.

Haunting #5: The Queen Mary

Location: Long Beach, California

Legend: The Queen Mary — ironically nicknamed “The Grey Ghost” during its service at sea — is perma-docked these days as a hotel and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Photo: jarvisphoto6

But between 1937 and 1967 it served as a transport ship during the war and also as a luxury liner. During its service, the ship witnessed 49 deaths on board (to various reasons).

Additionally, in 1942 the Queen Mary rammed into one of its escorts as it attempted to outmaneuver enemy ships. It left over 300 people in its wake to be eaten by sharks or die drowning, as it was under orders not to stop.

This ship is no stranger to death, and it is certainly no stranger to ghosts. Some of the apparitions said to haunt the ship are:

* John Henry, who was crushed to death trying to flee a fire. Today, knocks and bright lights have been seen near engine room 13 where he died.

* A little girl who broke her neck when the ship was rocked by a big wave while she was horsing around. She can be seen around the pool looking for her mommy or doll.

* The drowned victims from the crash. Sometimes strange pounding noises can be heard which are said to be them desperate to get on board.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Have you ever seen an apparition? Do you even believe in ghosts?

Tell us your stories below!

If any of those are on your mind, or if you have others, make sure you drop her a line.

Felicia says she is most liberated, happy, and in her element when she’s out there, on the road. She dislikes tour groups and counts being invited to a prayer session and lunch with a Tibetan family as one of her most memorable travel experiences.

More on Felicia:

Quote: The daily humdrum is mere existence. Travel is LIFE. — Me.

Tunes I rock out to: I love Latino rhythms, and have been wanting to learn the salsa since forever. Jazz, blues, big band, Broadway, acoustic, alternative, reggae, world… I have everything from Aerosmith to Youssou N’Dour on my iPod, and lots more in between – including Thai pop songs and African drum beats.

Languages spoken, other than English: French, Chinese: Mandarin, Cantonese

Who I’d like to meet on my travels: Anyone and everyone. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, it adds to the experience.

In Felicia’s opinion, “traveling is the best form of education – it taught me resourcefulness, resilience, courage, self-discovery and encouraged the broadening of my mind to consider new perspectives and possibilities.

Photo: lamaK

It has taught me that diversity is a way of life, and there should not be room for discrimination in this globalised world today.”

To get in touch with her, visit her Matador profile. Don’t be shy, add her to your network and fire questions her way.

If you’d like to read about some of her travels, check out her blog at Travelpod, The Americas 2008: Rob & Felicia on a llama-eating sojourn.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Felicia shares some tips on penny pinching in her article Singapore on a Shoestring Budget.

And she’s also authored the very popular 10 Steps to Becoming Fluent in a Language in 6 Months or Less.

Photo: ljgolden

Community Connection

The photo above was submitted to the new Matador Photography group at Flickr. If you have a shot that you think belongs on these pages, join the group and post it in this discussion.

You don’t have to be a Flickr user to submit a photo for Wordless Wanderlust. Feel free to email one of us at carlo[at]matadornetwork[dot]com or hal[at]matadornetwork[dot]com.

Be on the lookout for more of these in the coming weeks from the Matador Community.

Photo: ricardo.martin

According to the Hotel Rosengarten website, this all-nude hotel in the Black Forest has postponed their opening indefinitely due to lack of investors. And though I haven’t been able to ascertain if the trial for nude flights booked with OssiUrlaub.de was successful or not, I can’t find anywhere to book a seat on one of their planes.

Despite the uncertainty of these two naked ventures, there is one thing for both Germans and naturists to look forward to: the opening next May of an 11-mile hiking trail through the Harz Mountains in northern Germany, catering to those who like to stomp around in the buff.

The nude hiking route will start in the village of Dankerode — at the campsite of Heinz Ludwig, the man responsible for organizing the route — and end at the Wippertal dam. Traditional clothed hikers are welcome on the trail, but there will be clear signage of what they may bump into.

Fair warning.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Gun shy? Read 10 Traveler’s Tips For Rocking a Nudist Beach.

Photo: mugley

Community Connection

Got a photo that inspires the traveler in us? Would you like to see it up here?

Send me an email at carlo[at]matadornetwork[dot]com.

Photo: Lee Sie

Community Connection

Like to ride? Matador has put out a Reminder to Australians: National Ride to Work Day is Coming Up!

If you’re looking for American ground to shred, make sure to read Boise For Mountain Bikers.

Millau Viaduct in France / Photo: pixe_bebe

From Jack Kerouac cruising in a convertible down America’s highways to Ewan McGregor on a motorbike kicking up dust in the Mongolian plains, the road is an open call for the adventurous traveler. Even Clark Griswold had his moments on the road: Christie Brinkley in a red Ferrari; a dead grandma in the backseat. Adventure I tell you.

We’ve profiled great road trips in the past:

Roadtrip Australia: Melbourne to Sydney Along the Sapphire Coast
Matador’s Top 7 Summer Road Trips in the US and Canada
Munching Montana: A Road Trip Guide to Montana’s Most Unique Local Foods

And we’ve also given you some rock solid tips for saving cash and ideas for tunes:

8 Ways to Save Money on a US Cross Country Road Trip
Greatest Road Trip Soundtrack Ever
Highway Blues: Essential Tunes for a Delta Roadtrip

Now, our attention has been brought to three recently published articles on roads around the world — some which are considered top, some unusual, and a few that are downright deadly.

Canadian Rockies / Photo: Lianne Viau

Top Drives in the World

National Geographic Traveler published Drives of a Lifetime: The World’s Greatest Scenic Routes which highlights 50 of the world’s best road trips. There are, of course, the famous ones: Amalfi Coast in Italy, Banff and Jasper in Canada, and the Pacific Coast Highway in California.

A few of the others include:

James River, Virginia – A short 63-mile drive spanning centuries of American history.
Pirate Route, Jamaica – 380 miles starting in Port Royal, the base for many of the pirates who plundered Spain’s New World “treasure ships.”
North Island, New Zealand – A 460-mile drive taking in real-life Lord of the Rings scenery.
Flower Route, Netherlands – A tour of Western Holland in prime bloom time — April and May.

Most Unusual Drives in the World

Rental car website VroomVroomVroom has listed their picks for the Top 10 Unusual Drives on Earth…which doubles as their top 10 reasons to get extra insurance on your rental. Here are some of the weird things they found:

Baldwin Street, NZ / Photo: elisfanclub

World’s steepest road – Baldwin Street in Dunedan, New Zealand rises 230 feet in only 1150 feet of distance.
World’s longest road tunnel – Travel 15.2 miles through mountains from Laerdal to Aurland in Norway.
World’s highest bridge – The Millau Viaduct in France takes the cake at 1125 feet high (you could fit the Eiffel Tower underneath it).
World’s longest continuous road – The Pan-American Highway stretches from Alaska down Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Central and South America, all the way to the tip of Argentina. How long, you ask? Over 29,000 miles.

The Most Dangerous Drives in the World

The Association for Safe International Road Travel (ASIRT) has released their list of the most dangerous roads on the planet based on car crash data, Forbes.com reports.

Photo: Roni_S

You may have already guessed the worst: the North Yungas Road in the Bolivian Andes, which claims hundreds of lives each year.

Others to enjoy this dubious distinction:

Sichuan-Tibet Highway, China – This high elevation road between Chengdu and Tibet is subject to landslides and rock avalanches. It’s part of the reason there were 82,000 road deaths in China in 2006.
Cotopaxi Volcan, Ecuador – It’s a 25-mile dirt span that connects the Pan-American Highway with Cotopaxi Volcan national park. It’s pothole riddled and runs through a stream that easily floods when it rains.
Luxor-al-Hurghada Road, Egypt – Apparently, headlights are faux-pas on this road as the vast majority of drivers don’t use them after dark.
A44, UK – This motorway runs from Oxford to Aberystwyth. 25% of the collisions are head-on.

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Most travelers who make their way to the Australian state of Victoria (most commonly Melbourne) eventually find themselves heading to the Great Ocean Road. It’s a stretch of coastline in Victoria’s south that runs around 155 mi/250 km from Torquay to Warrnambool, and which includes the famous 12 Apostles.

What many visitors don’t bother to do though, is to hike any part of the 56 mi/91 km trail that hugs the coastline and gets you right down to the beaches. This is where Mother Nature is, away from the cars and buses, and into the bush with the kangaroos, wallabies, and echidnas.

Lots of options

You don’t have to hike the whole thing. You don’t even have to hike half of it. There are many points of entry and exit which facilitate short and long day hikes, and which many visitors explore while using a B&B or hotel for accommodation.

Shuttles can be hired to drop you off and pick you up at agreed-upon spots and times, and they’ll even do bag drop-off and food delivery (although, many purist hikers take major exception to this practice). We used GOR Shuttle to get taxied back to our van — I personally recommend them.

Tours are also available, if that’s your cup of tea.

For the overnight hikers

The Great Ocean Walk (GOW) starts at the Apollo Bay Visitor Information Centre and ends 90+ kms later at Glenample — within viewing distance of the 12 Apostles. For the hardest of the hardcore, this is a suggested 7-night, 8-day walk.

All the campsites on the walk are hike-in only. To minimise the environmental impact, Parks Victoria keeps the number of overnight hikers low, so each campsite has only eight spots for pitching a tent.

The campgrounds are very basic and have composting toilets, one or two untreated rainwater tanks, and a small 3-sided shelter. Open fires are not allowed and if the fire hazard is extreme, you may not even be allowed to cook with an open flame.

Pick and choose your itinerary

Overnight hikers can opt to do one-night/two-day hikes, two-night/three-day hikes, and so on. There are many starting and ending points but you must obtain a camping permit before spending the night.

For a detailed list of possible itineraries, read this very helpful PDF of FAQs.

A popular itinerary

Probably the most popular stretch of the walk is from Johanna Beach to the end at Glenample. This takes in roughly half of the trail — but from all accounts this is the better half. It is three nights, so is doable over a long weekend, which explains why it was booked solid when my wife and I tried to reserve sites over the Labour Day long weekend (early March in Australia).

Johanna Beach hike-in campsite

But you’re a traveler, and you don’t even know what a weekend is, right? Perfect. We backed it up for one night (starting Thursday instead of Friday) and found ourselves almost completely alone for the whole walk, sharing each campground with only one other couple.

Johanna Beach to Glenample

If you’re driving in, you have two options: park at Johanna Beach and arrange a shuttle at the end to drive you back to your car, or park at the end and get shuttled to Johanna Beach to begin. The latter is better in my opinion, but we were forced to do the former due to time constraints.

The Johanna Beach hike-in campground is around one kilometer from the carpark, although it is all uphill. This is good though as it puts you at the top of the cliff overlooking Joahanna Beach and the coastline beyond. Brilliant view to wake up to the next morning.

Note: the drive-in campground here is free, so if you want to save yourself one night’s costs, keep this in mind.

The remaining two campsites you would use are Ryan’s Den and Devil’s Kitchen, in that order. The campgrounds are spaced around 9 mi/15 km apart from each other, so it is an honest day’s hike, especially packing full gear (including your trash — carry out what you carry in).

It’s an undulating trail as you follow the topography of fingers of land that reach into the sea. The vegetation is colourful and varied, and you’ll even pass some blackberry bushes — make sure to pause and fill up on some berry goodness.

When sunny, the ocean to your left is a rich blue, reminiscent of the Mediterranean but with the wildness of the Oregon Coast.

Things to consider

*There are some stretches of beach walking (e.g. Milanesia and Wreck Beach) that are inaccessible at high tide. Check tide times before you start, otherwise you will have to take the less scenic high routes.

*You must reserve your campsite at least two weeks in advance, and you are only allowed to stay a single night in each one.

The 12 Apostles come into view

*It pays to reserve early. As we were the first to book, we were awarded with site #8 at each campsite. The sites are numbered 1-8 from the entrance, with 8 being the closest to the cliff’s edge, meaning the best views.

*When planning your itinerary, keep in mind that you are only permitted to walk in one direction: from Apollo Bay to Glenample. Booking campsites in the reverse direction is not allowed.

*As stated previously, each campground has rainwater tanks, but they are untreated. Make sure to pack some sort of filtration system or purification tablets. At the very minimum, if you don’t have these, boil the water for 10 minutes.

*I’m a big fan of telescopic hiking sticks as they help to distribute the weight of your pack to your arms too. They can also be extremely handy on tricky downhill sections. Highly recommended.

*The toilet houses are quite nice and one of them even has an ocean view. Toilet paper is provided, but it probably wouldn’t hurt to bring a bit extra, just in case.

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To read my personal account of the walk, check out 4 Nights on the Great Ocean Walk. If you’re just interested in pictures, pop over to my Flickr set.

Trips co-editor Hal Amen witnesses our changing world while Hiking the Chacaltaya Glacier. If you want to get philosophical about the ethics of hiking, read Nature for Sale: The Growing Trend of Wilderness Consumption.

Photo: Matt Scott

I won’t waste your time talking up Paris. You know it’s cool, hip, and romantic. You know the sites to see.

Or do you?

Sure, you’ve got the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, and the Arc de Triomf engraved into your itinerary, but what about the real Paris?

Matt is a Matador veteran. He’s penned some hugely popular articles such as 10 Volunteer Opportunities for Free Travel and The 10 Most Spectacular Train Journeys in the World.

Besides writing and photography, he also guides tourists around the city of love. So there is no question about it: Matt knows Paris.

More on Matt:

Favorite places I’ve been: Too many to mention but some highlights: India, Nepal, Indonesia, New Zealand, West Coast USA and Alaska – all have stunning scenery.

I’m fired up on: Food, from all over the world- my breakfast is almost as important to me as what I’m planning to see that day.

Travel style: Just me and my backpack (It’s also nice to have my girlfriend along too) and to really immerse myslef in a culture and place.

Ideal place to watch the sunrise: Waking up where you’ve just watched the sunset.

If you’re shy and aren’t quite ready to ask Matt your questions, he’s also written three Matador guides for Paris, so you can check if the answers are here: Free City Tours in Paris, 48 Hours in Paris, and How to Save Money in Paris.

To contact Matt, visit his profile and send him a message.

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In addition to Matt’s guides above, Matador has published numerous articles on visiting and living in Paris. Just type in “Paris” in the Search bar at the top right of the page and browse around.

We’ve also got you covered all over the globe. Make sure to check out previously featured members at our Destination Experts page.

Photo: Unhindered by Talent

Community Connection

Inspired to head into nature? Make sure you’re geared up at Matador Goods.

For more mountainous pictures, feast your eyes on Photo Essay: Day Hike to Camp Muir, Mt. Rainier.

Photo: Marcel Masferrer Pascual

For two days (this year October 3-4), Taybeh is host to Palestine’s Oktoberfest — a celebration of Palestinian music, culture, and…well, beer. Taybeh is a Christian village in the West Bank, 35 kms north of Jerusalem and home to the now international Taybeh Brewery.

Wha…who…how?

The Taybeh Brewery was founded in 1994 by Nadim Khoury, who first began brewing his own suds in the late ’70s while studying at Boston’s Hellenic College. Besides the region’s Jewish-Arab conflict, Mr. Khoury also had to contend with the fact that 95% of his potential customers were Muslim, a faith that prohibits alcohol consumption.

Obviously, the quality speaks for itself. Today, Taybeh beer is brewed under license in Germany (it conforms to the purity law 1516) for the European market. In Japan, the brew has a loyal following and you can even find it in Jerusalem on tap at some bars.

Fifth edition

This year’s Okotoberfest is the fifth annual event and one that brings together Israelis and Palestinians as well as international tourists. Tens of thousands partake in the festival, where you can eat local foods and buy products like olive oil, honey, and cakes as well as crafts made by local artisans.

If you’re in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv at the time, you can organize a tour to Taybeh for both days of the festival. Complimentary tours of the brewery are also given. Call ahead if you’re in a large group (02-289-8868).

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

For some reading on this conflicted region, check out Waging Peace: Israeli Mother and Palestinian Soldier Unite and Bullets and Backpackers: Political Tourism Hits the West Bank.

If you’re more keen on the traditional Oktoberfest in Munich, make sure you read A First Timer’s Guide to Oktoberfest.

Photo: van Ort

Community Connection

If you’re out there wandering around a new city and get lost, don’t panic. This tip and more can be found in 10 Ways to Avoid Getting Lost in a New City.

Photo: kennymatic

Community Connection

If trains turn you on, make sure to check out these Matador titles:

6 Tips For Pain-Free Train Travel

Trans Siberian Sidetrips: How to Break Your Train Ride

From Mumbai to Northern India by Train

Umayyad mosque in Damascus / Photo: loufi

Vancouver, British Columbia: first settled by Europeans in 1862. This was my history growing up. I got married in a “historic heritage” home that dates back to the late 19th century.

When I started traveling around Europe I began to get more of a sense of the history of civilization: the ancient Roman aqueducts, cathedrals, and coliseums. Traveling in China showed me the rich history of the past millenniums through the different dynasties’ temples, fortifications, and buildings.

The farther back we go, the more abstract and difficult it is to comprehend life and civilization. But modern humans have been around for 200,000 years. And some cities that date back as far as 12,000 years ago are still inhabited today.

Plovdiv / Photo: Klearchos Kapoutsis

WebUrbanist.com recently published an article titled Senior City-zens which features the 10 oldest cities on the planet that are still alive and kickin’.

The list includes:

1. Damascus, Syria (12,000 years)
2. Jericho, West Bank (11,000)
3. Susa, Iran (10,000)
4. Plovdiv, Bulgaria (9000)
5. Jerusalem, [Israel] (5000)
6. Tyre, Lebanon (6000)
7. Athens, Greece (3400)
8. Lisbon, Portugal (3200)
9. Varanasi, India (3000)
10. Cholula, Mexico (2200)

But even these are in dispute as many commenters have noted other still-inhabited ancient cities. The cave dwellings of Matera are suspected to be some of the first human settlements in Italy, and Fodor’s says:

Matera is the only place in the world where people can boast to be still living in the same houses of their ancestors of 9,000 years ago.

A lack of East Asian cities and the omission of Byblos, Lebanon also raised some readers’ hackles. Some passionate Spaniards point out that Cadiz is in fact the most ancient city in Western Europe (and not Lisbon) — a claim that Wikipedia backs.

Whatever the case, it’s a fascinating list and worthy of much thought for the times these cities have seen over the years.

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Unfortunate incidents can empty a place in a heartbeat or over the span of decades. These abandoned cities weren’t able to hold on to their residents like those listed above.

Old cities like these, when mixed with modern life, can offer some very interesting experiences. If you’ve had some yourself, join the discussion over at What Is Your Most Surreal Travel Experience?

Photo: bribriTO

I’ll bet you didn’t know that St. John’s is the oldest English-founded city in North America, dating all the way back to the 1500s. It’s possible Candice didn’t know that either. After all, I just looked it up in Wikipedia.

But what you can be assured of is that she knows the city today and can give you hints and tips if you’re planning a visit.

Candice, a.k.a. candicew86, is a technical writer for deep sea technology and says she “drinks a lot and curses like a sailor.” Her always-entertaining blog posts seem to back those claims up.

More on Matador’s resident Newfie:

I’m fired up on: nightlife, writing, good literature, music, my friends, summer, humourists

Sports I do: Beer-lifting

I love summer THIS much!

I want to make a difference by: Bringing smiles to faces as I elaborate on my misadventures, unfortunate accidents and strange injuries

Why I travel: to learn, to explore, to meet new people, to find what the hell I’m looking for

Before I die I’d like to: be an accomplished travel writer

If you want to learn more about Candice and/or hit her up for some good ol’ honest advice, you can find her at her Matador profile. And she’d love it if you dropped by her website That’s Tangly.

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We’ve featured plenty of our Destination Experts in these pages, including those for Saigon, Berlin, Antarctica, Ethiopia, and Croatia. For a full list, visit the Community’s Expert’s Home.

While in Canada, why not check out some local bands? Find out What People are Listening to in Canada.

We’re not accepting any more lame excuses for why you’re not a Matador member yet, so get over to our sign-up page pronto and join this ever-growing community of travelers, writers, and photographers.

Photographer: freewine

Community Connection

Serenity is nice. But if you’re looking for something more adventurous, you probably want to read Take Me to the River: 8 Simple Steps for Getting into White Water Paddling.

Or for something more progressive, you may be interested in Stand-Up Paddling.

Photo: EElisam

Berlin is big. Really big. And it’s kind of all over the map, so to speak. So it’s certainly not a knock to the pride to look for some advice when visiting.

The sprawling city is well serviced by public transportation, and each time you exit your station it’s almost like you’re in another city. With all that diversity and more history and sights than you can shake a stick at, Matador destination expert for Berlin, EElisam, can point you in the right directions.

She lists Costa Rica, Canada, Jamaica, and Turkey as some of her favourite countries she’s visited, and looks forward to the day when she travels to Japan, Finland, Mongolia, and Hawaii (among others).

More on EElisam:

About me: Crazy, life loving, chilled out and definitely always curious about seeing new spots in this world! Love to meet new people, exchange travel experiences and plan future trips. Ready to take more pictures, learn new languages and experience interesting things every day.

I’m fired up on: meeting up with friends all over the world… drinking Vodka in Russia… eating the best food in Italy… dancing non stop in London… having unforgettable parties in San Francisco…

…learing Spanish in Costa Rica… Shopping in New York… Chilling in Tel Aviv… getting fired up on EVERYTHING that is happening by travelling!!!

Quote: The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. ~St. Augustine

I want to make a difference by: By creating a large community of creative, well traveled, ambitious, and passionate people who love to live and live to love.

To get in touch with EElisam, visit her Matador profile and send her a private message.

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If, for some bizarre reason, you’re still not a Matador member, sign up immediately! And join the best community of travelers, writers, and photographers this side of the Internet.

As Michaela Lola reports, you don’t need a case full of Euros to enjoy Berlin. Berlin on the Cheap will show you how to have a blast without breaking the bank.

Photo: Ed Yourdon

As a Canadian living in Melbourne, the recent death of Canadian backpacker Cain Aguiar hit a little too close to home. The rising level of violence in this city, both in frequency and severity, is cause for concern.

It seems standard now to open the Monday newspaper only to read about a big brawl, bottling, or stabbing leading to hospitalized victims and worse, as in this case, ending in death. Last week Cain, while drinking by himself at a local pub, was attacked by three men, allegedly because he was talking to a woman known by the three accused.

As Cain lay in a hospital bed on life support, his sister set up a Facebook group for others to join and offer their support and well wishes. Unfortunately, the group theme had to be changed from “hope” to “rest in peace” when the family made the impossibly difficult decision to turn off the life support.

Remember, you’re not at home

While this sort of thing can easily happen at home too, it’s safe to say that we are more vulnerable on the road. We don’t really know the area we are in, we don’t know the culture, and we let our guard down a little. After all, we are supposed to be relaxed, having a good time and trying new things.

The case of Australian Britt Lapthorne, who was found murdered in Croatia late last year, serves as an example where “toning it down” would probably have led to much different results. Partying it up and getting out of hand is one thing at home, but abroad it’s a whole different ball of wax, where we stand out and can be more easily taken advantage of.

When you’re in a foreign country, be aware of your surroundings and err on the side of caution. We’re not invincible.

Safe travels everyone.

Photo: paleontour

If you’re the kind of traveler that likes to defy danger and the wishes of the local indigenous people, then you’d better get your butt Down Under real soon. If the National Parks and the Anangu people of the Western Desert have their way, it will be illegal to climb this famous Australian landmark.

Photo: rplzzz

Less is still too much

As it is, there are heaps less people making the climb than before. In 1990, three-quarters of visitors reached the 340 meter peak, whereas today that ratio has shrunk to just one-third.

But that still translates to 250 people per day. 250 more than the Parks and the locals would like to see up there.

Besides the cultural sensitivity issues, it’s a dangerous climb. To further deter tourists from attempting it, details of more than 30 deaths await you at the base.

There are also sanitary reasons why you shouldn’t do it. A lack of toilets on the sacred rock mean that some hikers are damaging the local environment as their waste runs down into the waterholes around the rock.

For and against

Not only is the Federal Opposition party opposed, but Prime Minister Kevin Rudd rejects the proposal:

Obviously it’s a question of public safety and managing important parts of our natural landscape…I think it would be very sad if we got to a stage though where Australians and frankly our guests from abroad weren’t able to enjoy that experience…to climb it.

However, there is no shortage of folks who are fully behind the idea of an outright ban, including many tourism operators. Ultimately, the decision may rest with Environment Minister Peter Garrett, the former frontman of politically charged Midnight Oil.

Mr. Garrett has never himself climbed Uluru, instead saying he’s respected the sign at the bottom placed there by the traditional owners, which states “Please don’t climb Uluru.” Although his preference is clear, he wants to make sure the correct decision is made:

There should be a debate amongst the stakeholders: the tourism industry, indigenous people, governments and others.

Stay tuned!

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Have you hiked Uluru? Would you do it despite the request from the local aboriginals to refrain?

Share your thoughts below!

The Dolomites in Italy / Photo: **Maurice**

Fresh off the World Heritage Committee’s press, 13 new places around the world have been granted the status of UNESCO World Heritage Site. There was also one subtraction from the list, and a few were shifted over to the List of World Heritage in Danger.

13 additions to keep your eye out for

Two natural sites and 11 cultural sites make up the newbies. Here they are:

1. The Wadden Sea (natural) – Spanning Germany and The Netherlands, this intertidal ecosystem is one of the largest remaining where natural processes continue undisturbed.

2. The Dolomites (natural) – I was a bit surprised this dramatic mountain range in the Italian Alps wasn’t already on the list…but there you have it.

3. Stoclet House – A “total work of art” in Belgium.

4. The Ruins of Loropéni – This old stone fortress, found to be at least 1000 years old, is the first World Heritage Site listed in Burkina Faso.

5. Cidade Velha, Historic Centre of Ribeira Grande – This Cape Verde town was the first European colonial outpost in the tropics.

6. Mount Wutai, China – 5 peaks. 53 monasteries. 500+ statues. One spot on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

7. Shushtar, Historical Hydraulic System – A water-channeling “masterpiece of creative genius” in Iran, which dates back to the 5th century BC.

8. Sulamain-Too Sacred Mountain – Too sacred for you? Maybe. This mountain sits at the crossroads of important routes on the Silk Road in Kyrgyzstan.

9. The Sacred City of Caral-Supe – A 5000-year-old archaeological site in Peru. It’s the oldest centre of civilization in the Americas.

Photo: J.C. Rojas

10. The Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty – South Korea is home to these 40 tombs, built between 1408 and 1966 to honour the memory of their ancestors.

11. The Tower of Hercules – This Spanish lighthouse has guarded the entrance of La Coruña Harbour since the late 1st century.

12. La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle – Two Swiss towns well-known for…what else, watchmaking.

13. Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal – An 18km innovative aqueduct in northeast Wales, completed in the early 1800s.

And one subtraction

In addition, there was a subtraction. The Dresden Elbe Valley in Germany lost its UNESCO World Heritage status as a result of a 4-lane bridge being constructed in the middle of the landscape.

For more details on the above places, and for other modifications to the list, visit the UNESCO World Heritage Centre website.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

UNESCO World Heritage Sites feature in many articles at Matador Trips. For sites in Asia, have a read of 13 of Asia’s Most Spectacular UNESCO World Heritage Sites and Tai Shan: A Sacred Climb.

Parc du Mont-Megantic, Quebec

As a Canadian, I find it pretty sad that this part of the world is just as unknown and foreign to me as Africa or Antarctica (apart from the national love of hockey and beer, that is), so I just might be taking up my own advice and reaching out to Eva for some tips on the eastern end of the Great White North.

Eva has an MA in History and her writing on topics as diverse as travel, indie movies, music and books can be found in a number of Canadian publications, World Hum, Not Coming to a Theater Near You, and, of course, right here on the Matador Network.

Her M.O. is backpacking alone, staying in hostels and catering for herself (though she is quick to point out that she doesn’t think this lifestyle is superior to any others). She quotes Ferris Bueller and Stevie Wonder et elle parle du français aussi.

More on Eva:

I’ve lived in Ottawa, Halifax, Saskatoon and Toronto, and traveled to all ten provinces at one point or another (plus one territory – Yukon and Nunavut await!). The areas I know best are Ontario (especially the south east), the Atlantic Provinces (especially Nova Scotia), and parts of Quebec.

I’d be happy to help out with some off-the-beaten-path suggestions (smaller towns, outdoor areas), logistics of transport, and specific dining/nightlife recs for Ottawa, Kingston, and Halifax. But feel free to send any question you like – even if it’s not my area of expertise I’ll do my best to help you figure it out!

Places I want to go: These days I’m jonesing to head to South Africa, the Yukon, back to New Orleans, back to California, Cuba, India (ideally for a solid six months or more), back to my old stomping grounds in the UK.

There’s still a ton of the ol’ US of A to see, and one of these days I’d really love to take the train across Canada. I’d also like to go back to Italy, this time with my mom. I just want to go EVERYWHERE, really!

Sports I do: rugby, rowing, hockey

I felt the most immersed in a foreign culture when: When I visited my dad while he was living in Kuala Lumpur, and I was away from all the touristy stuff and just spent my days wandering around the suburban malls and people-watching.

Also anytime we went to the pub while I was living in England, or when we just sat around the house watching Eurovision or the World Cup or Celebrity X-Factor.

Before I die I’d like to: See all 1000 places in that book?? Nah…

To find out more about Eva and to barrage her with your questions, find her at her Matador profile (deva). Be sure to pop by her website too!

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If you aren’t part of the Matador Community yet, sign up to join the growing number of travelers, writers, photographers, and all-round good people.

Photo: jezarnold

Here at Matador, we love the weird, wacky, and surreal. So naturally we took note when the Dir Journal Info Blog published a list of Abandoned Places in the World.

The reasons and urgency that lead a group of people to just up and leave a place are varied: obsolete technology, depleted resources, natural or man-made disasters. But whatever the case, there will always be people who are drawn to destinations like these.

I’ll admit, I enjoy dipping into a cemetery to walk amongst the buried, reading the epitaphs, marveling at the intricate artwork and over-the-top mausoleums while reflecting on life.

Maybe the attraction of visiting an abandoned city is a similar feeling — the emptiness and loneliness, wondering where these people (or their offspring) might be now.

Oradour-sur-Glane / Photo: Verity Cridland

Dir Journal Info Blog’s article lists 15 places around the world from where humans have walked away, leaving the remnants of a once active area.

It includes Pripyat, Ukraine, which was abandoned within two days in 1986 because of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster; Centralia in Pennsylvania, cleared out over 20+ years due to an underground coal-mine fire that’s been burning since 1962, which has made it too hazardous to live there; and Oradour-sur-Glane, France, a town that lost 600 lives and was subsequently destroyed by the German SS in 1944.

Others are Kolmaneskuppe, Namibia, a former diamond mining town whose population steadily declined after WWI, when diamond prices crashed, and Balestrino, Italy, whose inhabitants were moved in 1953 after several earthquakes brought them to the conclusion that the area was geologically unstable.

For more information and some interesting photos, make sure you check out the Abandoned Places in the World article.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Are you interested in visiting places that have been abandoned? Or is it too creepy? Have you been to any that you can add to the list? Please share below!

In addition to churning out brilliant articles like How to Order Sushi Like a Ninja and 10 Japanese Customs You Must Know Before a Trip to Japan, Matador regular contributor Turner Wright also does double duties as our Destination Expert for Japan.

Turner lived in Japan for two years, teaching English in Hiroshima and working with a private Japanese company in Kagoshima.

In his time there he also traveled extensively around the four main islands where he kicked back in hot springs, took in the natural beauty, and immersed himself in Japanese culture.

More on Turner:

About Me: Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, attended the University of Texas at Austin from 2001-2005…I’m learning to make ends meet wherever I happen to reside, attending Couchsurfing gatherings, and spreading the word of independent travel to any willing ears.

I have a degree in aerospace engineering. I enjoy singing Phantom of the Opera (badly, I’m sure) when I’m wandering empty streets in a foreign country at night. I once went for 60 hours without sleep (and, consequently, slept for 26 hours after that).

Quote: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you did not do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Who I’d like to meet on my travels: Anyone who can keep up with me

Why I Travel: I know it’s not possible for me to see every square cm of this world before I die, but in the meantime, I’m learning more about foreign cultures, eating things I never thought I would touch back in Texas, and finding myself changing with each experience.

To learn more about Turner and pester him with questions about Japan, visit his Matador profile. He’d also love it if you’d drop by his blog Keeping Pace In Japan. To check out his pictures from all ’round Japan and beyond, he’s known as turnerw82 on Flickr.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Don’t be on the outside looking in. Join the thriving Matador Community, where you can meet and interact with folks like Turner and other writers, photographers, and travelers (and me!).

If you’re interested in becoming a Matador Destination Expert, check out this forum post for a detailed how-to.

Map courtesy of Vision of Humanity / Feature photo: woordenaar

It’s nice to know that amongst the crime, corruption, and political dissent in today’s world we can rely on some places to go where we can feel relatively safe. The Global Peace Index 2009 has found New Zealand to be the most peaceful nation on the planet, usurping Iceland for top spot.

The GPI, however, doesn’t paint a rosy picture overall. As Vision of Humanity states, the results suggest that the world has become slightly less peaceful in the past year. This could be due to increased conflict in some areas and rising food and fuel costs globally. Rising unemployment, falling housing prices, and lack of savings are also contributors.

Photo: kjohn493

New Zealand: A diamond in the rough

The Kiwis have got it good, according to the GPI. Ranked 3rd in last year’s index, it made the move to number one due partly to greater political stability combined with Iceland’s fall (which is attributed to some violent demonstrations and perceived criminality in the wake of a large banking collapse).

Other factors that play in NZ’s favour are the low homicide rate, high level of respect for human rights, and harmonious relationships with neighbouring countries (i.e. Australia). As far as the military goes, New Zealand also scores points for how little it spends on the military (George Dubbya would have problems with this concept) and also its low numbers in exports of conventional weapons.

Not just lush valleys and snowy peaks

As if New Zealand didn’t already offer enough reasons to visit or relocate there, the GPI this year is another notch in the belt. Now you can bungee jump, swim with dolphins, wind surf, snowboard, explore caves, visit volcanoes, tour wineries, kayak, walk the Milford Track, and watch wildlife — all in peace.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Matador cares about your safety when abroad. Here are some articles we’ve published in the past that might come in handy the next time you hit the road:

7 Must-Know Personal Safety Tips For Solo Women Travelers

Nikolas Kristof Explains How to Evade Bandits

10 Common Travel Scams (and How To Avoid Them)

Photo: hygge_lige

Jaunted has labeled this name change a Wise Move and I think I agree. Although, I did want to do a little more digging to see if there is anything more behind the rename, or if it’s purely marketing and they’re simply exploiting the popular president’s name.

The answer is probably somewhere in the middle. While there is no doubt they’re taking advantage, their claim that Antigua’s highest mountain (at 395 meters/1319 feet) will become the “beacon of hope for all people” is plausible. Everyone needs hope, and if changing the name of this landmark will bring that, then I’m all for it.

And it’s not as if they’re just relying on the name change to bring in the tourists. The island nation is also building a network of hiking trails in the new National Park, a museum, and educational facilities.

The change in name will occur on August 4 to coincide with President Obama’s birthday.

Visiting Antigua and Barbuda

To see it yourself, check out the Antigua and Barbuda official website for information on arriving and getting around. The island paradise boasts some of the best diving and beaches and also lays claim to the sunniest weather in the Eastern Caribbean.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

If you need more reason to visit Antigua, Eva Holland points out it’s one of the recession-proof currencies pegged to the US dollar.

Photo above: star5112 / Feature photo: HamdanZakaria

Hot air ballooning is one of the purest forms of air travel. The activity is a literal interpretation of the traveler’s creed “go where the wind takes you.” While the pilots can control the altitude of the balloon, the air currents decide where you’ll end up and how fast you’ll get there.

Perhaps one of its draws is its simplicity. You inject some hot air into the nylon material and away you go. No need to mess with complicated jet engines and spinning rotor blades. It’s certainly the oldest form of air travel; the first manned balloon flight took place in 1783 in France.

Below are 10 balloon festivals around the world launching in the next few months. Whether you’re a passenger, a spectator, or if you want to get your hands dirty helping get one off the ground, these events all have something for you.

1. 15th Velikie Luki International Balloon Meet

When: June 6-13
Where: Velikie Luki, Russia

Don’t miss your chance to witness the crowning of the 2009 Russian champion at the Velikie Luki International Balloon Meet. Event organizers and officials are putting together social events for guests to acquaint themselves with Velikie Luki and the Pskov region.

The city is situated about 450 km west of Moscow, 600 from St. Petersburg, and 100 from the country’s western border. It can be reached easily by car or train from Moscow, St. Pete, Riga, Pskov, and Minsk.

Photo: _e.t

2. Sonoma County Hot Air Balloon Classic

When: June 13-14
Where: Windsor, California

If you’ve always wanted to try ballooning but are scared to go all out, or hesitant to cough up the dough, the Sonoma County Hot Air Balloon Classic is offering up tethered balloon rides to the public.

To view the main launch of colourful and unique balloons you’ll need to get up at the crack of dawn, but what a sight to behold.

3. 2009 Panguitch Valley Balloon Rally

When: June 26-28
Where: Panguitch City, Utah

The Panguitch Valley Balloon Rally is touted as southern Utah’s premier hot air balloon event. The National History District of Panguich not only plays host, but also claims to offer the highest concentration of scenic natural wonders in America. Visitors to the balloon rally are invited to the launch field every morning to help the pilots lift off.

It’s a true family event that includes a Poker Walk, parade, karaoke contest, dunking booth, and children’s crafts and activites.

Photo: Randy Wick

4. Great Texas Balloon Race

When: July 10-12
Where: Longview, Texas (East Texas Regional Airport)

This world-class event is considered by many competing pilots to be the best-run event on the circuit.

Watch close up how the balloons are inflated and how they work.

Lots of entertainment is on hand as local and regional bands play during the day, making way in the evening for the headliners. Arts and crafts will also be on display and Kids Land offers a safe place for the kiddies to play.

5. Montgolfiades de Dole

When: July 11-13
Where: Dole, France

Along with the night glow of the balloons, you can feast your eyes and ears on a spectacular choreographed fireworks display for the finale of this festival. The event is also tied to a benefit for children with serious illnesses.

To view the Montgolfiades de Dole website in English, use the Google website translator.

6. Magic City Hot Air Balloon Rally

When: July 23-26
Where: Billings, Montana

Photo: Elite PhotoArt

This free event is put on by the nonprofit organization Magic City Hot Air Balloon Rally to keep interest in this unique activity alive in the area. For $175 per person you can purchase a morning balloon ride; but be quick, these are limited.

7. Saxony International Balloon Fiesta

When: July 30-Aug 2
Where: Leipzig, Germany

And you thought all Germany had to offer was beer. Now, that’s not to say there won’t be beer there, but the Saxony International Balloon Fiesta is about so much more. Watch as up to 70 balloons take to the sky and light up the night.

A parade, concerts, circus, and VIP lounge are also on offer at this event.

8. Balloon Classic Invitational

When: July 31-Aug 2
Where: North Canton, Ohio

The Balloon Classic Invitational, which began in 1985, merged with the Jackson-Belden Food Fest & Fireworks in 1995 to create a balloon/food/fireworks extravaganza.

With over 70 balloons now participating in great events like team racing, target drops, and pole grabs — where the pilot tries to navigate close to a pole to grab a flag — there’s no shortage of entertainment.

As if that weren’t enough, specially shaped balloons like “Piggles” (a piggy bank), “Touchdown” (a flying American football), and “The American Rocketship” are sure to inspire the imagination.

9. Bristol International Balloon Fiesta

When: Aug 6-9
Where: Bristol, UK

The daddy of the balloon festivals in this list, the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta is Europe’s largest, attracting over 100 balloons and half a million spectators. The Special Shapes Rodeo promises popular returning balloons like Scottish Piper, Churchill Dog, and Swindon House in addition to new surprises.

The RAF Red Arrows — Britain’s famous aerobatic display team — will also be there dazzling visitors with loops, rolls, bends, and twists, and the EXIT parachute team will be jumping out of a plane and performing maneuvers and formations that are sure to be heart-stopping.

Photo: AtomicPope

10. Colorado Balloon Classic

When: Sept 5-7
Where: Colorado Springs, Colorado

At 33 years old, the Colorado Balloon Classic is the longest continuous hot air balloon festival in the Rocky Mountain region. In 2008 it was even voted into the Top 100 Events in North America by the American Bus Association.

This organization has also been selected to coordinate BalloonaPalooza IV, held in the city of North Las Vegas from Sept 18-20. No more info on the event just yet, but stay tuned here.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

If the idea of taking in great views from above tickles your fancy, be sure to check out 10 Places to Catch Insane City Views and The World’s 10 Best Rooftop Bars.

For more family fun, Trips’ recent photo essay has some gorgeous shots of family vacation destinations.

It’s not everyday you get to meet someone who can claim “adventure tour leader in the Middle East” as one of his past jobs. After two years of this exciting work, Nick has settled into “the delicious chaos of Cairo” where he is currently working as an English teacher and freelance writer.

More on Nick:

I’m fired up on: The complexities and absurdities of the human condition; reality, consciousness, and belief systems; social and environmental justice; where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going.

Travel style: With little baggage, few preconceptions, and serendipity as a guide.

Favorite books: Difficult one, changes all the time. Shantaram (Gregory David Roberts), A Scanner Darkly (Phillip K Dick), Foucault’s Pendulum (Umberto Eco).

I want to make a difference by: Living my dreams, and making my own small contribution to the beautiful unfolding narrative of the universe.

Why I travel: Because to travel is to live: there is no better way to learn about yourself, and the world around you. By doing so, you might help to make the world a better place.

In addition to being Matador’s expert on Egypt, Nick is NileGuide’s Cairo local expert and also a regular contributor to Trazzler.

To get in touch with Pharaonick, visit his Matador profile.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

For more on Egypt, check out Benjamin Orbach’s Egyptian Paradise article.

Trips has featured several other Destination Experts. If you’re looking for advice on a place, don’t hesitate to drop any of them a line. For more experts, check out our ever-growing list at the Experts Home.

If you’re interested in becoming a Destination Expert yourself, read this forum post for instructions.

Photo: bionicteaching

1. Iceland Phallological Museum

Or, the Penis Museum. I know this is serious, but seriously, how can you absorb stats like this without a little giggle: 272 specimens with 55 belonging to 16 different whale species, one from a rogue polar bear (aren’t they all rogue?), and dozens from seals, walruses, and all sorts of land mammals.

The Iceland Phallological Museum proudly claims to hold in their possession “legally certified gift-tokens for four specimens belonging to Homo Sapiens” (that’s us, guys). I’m not 100% clear what this means exactly, but it sure sounds interesting. Also on display are “…other practical utensils related to the museum’s chosen theme.”

2. Museum of Bad Art

Direct from the wesbsite: “the world’s only museum dedicated to the collection, preservation, exhibition and celebration of bad art in all its forms.” Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it?

The Museum of Bad Art started in the basement of a private home in Boston. Spurred on by increasing demand, MOBA found the site for its first permanent gallery in Dedham Community Theatre’s basement (just outside the men’s loo).

Their second gallery? Naturally, another basement, this one in the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square. Many more works of bad art can be found in their online collection, and if you can’t make it there in person, order up their book, The Museum of Bad Art: Masterworks.

3. Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum

Photo: dlisbona

Ramen (Japanese noodles) began in Japan’s port cities and quickly spread throughout the country. Nowadays, each region has its own take on the dish. Save yourself some travel and taste each one in the Raumen Museum.

You can choose from traditional to “new generation” noodle soups, and even visit the Nissin Cup Noodle factory where you can design the packaging, choose your ramen flavour, and pick up to four ingredients.

4. The Kunstkamera (Peter the Great’s Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography)

The Kunstkamera, established by Peter the Great in St. Petersburg, was the first museum in Russia. Its purpose was to “collect and examine natural and human curiosities and rarities.” Indeed. I had the pleasure of visiting in 2007 and I can tell you firsthand about the curiosities and rarities.

Peter’s mission was to debunk myths about monsters and to educate the superstitious citizens, and so collected a series of malformed, still-born fetuses. These are on display in jars along with other “curiosities.”

Eat well in advance of your visit, that’s all I’m sayin’.

5. Cockroach Hall of Fame Museum

Photo: The Pest Shop

The Pest Shop in Plano, Texas is not just pest control. Nope. It’s also a museum that displays these dead crawlies dressed up in costumes.

There’s Liberoachi (a flamboyantly dressed roach seated in front of a piano), Ross Peroach, and Liberty Roach who, instead of a torch, has her hand up a roach’s…well, you get the picture.

Check out their YouTube video. Even though I’m sure you’re willing to fork over some dough to see this, admission is free.

6. Sulabh International Museum of Toilets

“The toilet is a part of the history of human hygiene which is a critical chapter in the growth of civilisation.” – Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak

Now that’s a man who takes his toilets seriously. If you’ve ever caught yourself wondering anything toilet-related, this may just be the place for you. The Sulabh International Museum of Toilets in New Delhi aims to educate on such toilet-based topics as sanitation history, its future, and the design, materials, and technology of the porcelain gods.

7. Museum of Witchcraft

Photo: cubwolf (Dave Smith)

I’d better be careful including this museum here; the last thing I want is to be turned into a newt. Located in Boscastle, Cornwall, the Museum of Witchcraft is home to the world’s largest collection of witchcraft-related artifacts and regalia.

One item on display is a doll with a dagger jabbed in its stomach, and real pubic hair sewn between its legs. It was apparently used to resolve an unwanted pregnancy. I have a bit of an unwanted spare tire — wonder if it would help with that?

8. Mustard Museum

This is what happens when sports fans go wrong. After the Red Sox lost the World Series to the Mets in 1986, founder Barry Levenson found himself in the condiments aisle of a local supermarket, stocking up on mustard (he heard the voices “if you collect us, they will come”).

Photo: sam.jackson

Over 20 years later, he’s amassed more than 4400 mustards and all sorts of paraphernalia. He’s got a gallery, a giftshop, and even Mustard Piece Theatre. You can find the Mustard Museum in downtown Mount Horeb, Wisconsin.

9. Songkran Niyomsane Forensic Medicine Museum

This Thai museum’s prize posession is famed 50s cannibal, Si Quey, who has been embalmed in paraffin wax. A visible scar on his head shows where his brain was removed for study to determine if the mind of a cannibal is different than that of a normal person’s. The verdict? Nope.

Many more gruesome exhibits are on display at the Forensic Medicine Museum in Bangkok.

10. The Million Dollar Museum

If you’re on your way to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, you may as well stop by. With a roadside sign stating “German scientists ask — is 12-inch body a real alien? The answer is inside.” how could you not dip in? The Million Dollar Museum in White’s City is an eclectic collection of, well, anything and everything.

A two-headed turtle, broken typewriters, a little bathtub claimed to have been used by Napoleon, “Tom Ketchum’s Amputated Arm,” and…the Alien Baby.

This was originally titled “one of a race of midget Indians,” but when it was pointed out by a German TV crew — there to report on the 50th anniversary of the Roswell Incident — that it might be an extraterrestrial, the description was changed after the remarks created a media sensation.

Fascinated? I am.

Honorable mentions

Toilet Seat Art Museum

Museum of Questionable Medical Devices

Farm Implement Wrench Museum

Museum of Menstruation & Women’s Health

Vent Haven Ventriloquist Museum

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

If you like your things a little unusual (and we know you do), check out Matador’s list of the World’s 10 Weirdest Hotels.

Have you visited any unusual museums or tourist attractions? Please share below!

Photo: Bernt Rostad

OK. You’ve decided you want to take the world’s longest and most famous train ride. But aside from playing cards, drinking tea (ahem, vodka), and eating noodles on the train, what are you going to do? Unless you really have to be somewhere, I highly recommend at least a few stops along the journey.

Kizhi Island

Hardly a quick side trip, Kizhi Island — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — is a bit off the beaten track. It’s most easily visited from Petrozavodsk, which is an overnight train ride from St. Petersburg. Yes, most people begin their Trans-Siberian journey from Moscow, but I say if you’re going to do it, go all out and start from St. Pete.

Photo: Author

From Petrozavodsk, it’s a quick ferry ride (or snowcat in the winter) to this open-air museum of fantastic wooden architecture.

The Transconfiguration Church, with its 22 domes, is the obvious eye-pleaser. Russia’s oldest wooden church, dating back to the 14th century — the Church of the Resurrection of Lazarus — is also a highlight. It’s crazy to think that these wooden structures use no nails or metal at all.

The reconstructed village of Karelia offers some insight into the traditions and life of peasants in the Karelia region. While there is no overnight accommodation for visitors, there are some residents living on the island.

Kizhi is also accessible as a port of call for cruises between Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Note: Smoking on the island is prohibited!

Suzdal

Photo: Author

You’ll most likely be spending time in Moscow. If you want to get away from the hectic city for a breather, a five-hour bus ride will get you to the little church town of Suzdal. There are more churches than you can shake a stick at, and they are mostly architecturally varied. At one point in time there was one church per every 12 residents.

It’s a beautiful (and I dare say romantic) town to stroll around, with its colourful little houses, green meadows, and peaceful streams. Watch old Ladas sputter past you and chickens peck religiously on front lawns.

Suzdal is part of the Golden Ring, a chain of towns northeast of Moscow. Each one played an important part in Russian history and culture, including a “significant role in the formation of the Russian Orthodox Church,” so you may also want to work more of these into your itinerary.

Krasnoyarsk

Photo: Author

A tick over 4000 kms east of Moscow is the city of Krasnoyarsk. After being on the train for 65 hours you’ll want a chance to give your legs a good, long stretch. This is the perfect place for it.

The Stolby Nature Reserve can be reached by city bus and is home to the famous “pillars.” Scattered throughout the forest are tall and unusually shaped rock structures; they are the object of tradition and folklore to the residents of Krasnoyarsk.

They also make a great base for practicing free climbing — rock climbing without a rope — which we gave a shot on a couple of the smaller rocks. Just be careful; going up is one thing, coming down is a bit tougher.

Olkhon Island

Everyone stops in Irkutsk; it’s just something you do. But not everyone makes the trip to Olkhon Island, a small piece of land in Lake Baikal.

A bus (or van) transports you six hours away from Irkutsk, along both smooth and bumpy roads, and across the water on a small ferry, before unloading you in Kuzhir. Kuzhir is the largest settlement on the island which I heard just got electricity in 2005. Better late than never.

Photo: Cyrille Le Déaut

Nikita’s Homestay is the place to go for accommodation. Try to get into one of the cozy little huts with a wood-burning stove. The costs include all meals, which are wonderful and usually feature the native Baikal fish, omul.

They’ll even pack up your lunch in a take-away bag if you want to go off and explore the island. There are sandy beaches, rolling hills, and taiga to keep you busy. And when you’re out there, stop and listen to the silence. It’s golden.

The only way to shower at Nikita’s is banya style. These are Russian saunas, where you sweat yourself silly for a while, then pour cool water from a barrel over yourself (or your partner) with a big ladle. Soap up, rinse, repeat. This is best done late in the evening because you will want to sleep right after. If only I could build one of these in my flat.

More options

10 minutes outside Omsk / Photo: Bernt Rostad

Of course, there are numerous other stops you can make along the way to break up your trip. If the thought of three days on the train between Moscow and Krasnoyarsk has you feeling claustrophobic already, you may want to consider overnighting at Ekatinerinburg, Omsk, and/or Novosibirsk.

Don’t overstay your visa

Be very careful of your visa situation. A Finnish couple we hosted received their Russian visa, valid for a week. Even though the embassy assured them it was alright before they left, they were detained and extorted for ridiculous sums of money as they tried to exit Russia after their visas expired.

Don’t make the same mistake. Make sure your visa is good for a month and get out of dodge before it expires. It’s not a game worth playing.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION:

Don’t think you can do this independently, with not one single agent’s help? Think again: Why You Should Travel Independently on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

For detailed blog entries about my trip in late 2007, the first post is here.

Lisaopia receiving mountain holy water / All photos: lisaopia

Lisaopia and her family in Debra Lebanos

Lisaopia’s Ethiopian heritage introduced her to traveling and culture at a young age. Armed with a BA in Journalism and Media Studies from Rutgers University, she traveled the world for seven months after graduation.

She’s had her photography and writing published at Pilot Guides and Escape Artist. In addition, she currently has photos exhibited at her local library and artist guild.

Lisaopia’s family owns and operates Hess Travel in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

More background on Lisaopia:

I felt the most immersed in a foreign culture when: I was humbly invited to a Moroccan wedding by people I’d only known for a week. They gave me a traditional dress to wear and the celebration was 4 crazy nights. The last night we were following a band playing in the streets at 4 am. It’s the night when the groom meets his bride; then there was a caravan of cars riding along the shore at dawn in celebration.

When I was at my aunt’s funeral in Ethiopia and the paid mourners made me cry.

Who I’d like to meet on my travels: anyone……

Before I die I’d like to: Spend my last dollar on a trip to remind me how lucky I was to live life and hope to take my husband or some friends with me to enjoy

If you’d like to connect with Lisaopia to get some tips on visiting Ethiopia, or if you just wanna say hi, visit her Matador profile.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION:

Click over to this page to browse Trips’ ever-expanding catalog of featured destination experts.

Do you know a place inside and out? Read this forum post to find out how YOU can become a Matador destination expert.

She’d be happier in a boutique hostel. / Photo: Mart_Moppel Feature photo: Kivanc Nis

The term boutique hostel is so new that you can’t even find it in Wikipedia. Go on. Try it. In fact, boutique hostel may even be an oxymoron, and I’m sure backpackers of the world will not be taking a particular shine to this phrase.

Nonetheless, something that seems to fall between a regular hostel, B&B, guesthouse, and boutique hotel has cropped up. Of course, it’s all marketing — they’re really just “very nice hostels.”

What’s going on?

According to Benji Ladyano at the Guardian, vacationers are looking for more budget accommodations in these difficult economic times, and the entrepreneurial spirit of hostel owners is leading to better and increased services in the typical hostel.

It seems the backpackers and flashpackers are going to have to move over to make room.

So where can you can find one?

Guardian.co.uk has started an interactive directory of worldwide boutique hostels. Categorized by continent, there are already boutique hostels listed in Ghana, Morocco, Thailand, Germany, Portugal, Peru, Canada, and Australia, among many other countries.

A room at El Diablo Tranquilo / Photo: Seth Anderson

If you’ve stayed in one and want to share it with others, pop in a review and they’ll consider adding it to the growing list.

Of special note, the boutique hostel El Diablo Tranquilo is owned and operated by our very own Matador Community member Brian Meissner. The hostel in Punta del Diablo, Uruguay is found under L. America in the World’s Best Boutique Hostels list.

Brian has his own take on why we’re starting to see boutique hostels emerging:

Boutique hostels let you sleep comfortably, enjoy creative design ideas in interesting locations, give you all the services of a specialty hotel, yet still allow for that impromptu drinking game in the lobby and the liberating idea that the guy next to you at breakfast might be a doctor from Germany or a student from Chile, but he’s also left his friends and his home and is right in the same boat you are, ready for anything and looking for people to share it with.

Whatever the reason, if it leads to more Internet, less hair in the drain, and a smilier host, I’m all for it.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION:

Whether or not you stay in a boutique hostel or a more traditional one, you may find some useful ideas here: Hostel Sex: A Practical Guide for Backpackers.

Can’t afford the boutique hostel? That’s alright. Matador editor Tom Gates has some solid tips on How to Make Your Hostel Less Hostile.

Photo above: jurvetson, Feature photo: tarotastic

The Kokoda Trail in Papa New Guinea (PNG) has been getting quite a bit of news as of late. Last month, two trekkers died while trying to complete it. Last week, Kovelo villagers, who felt they hadn’t seen the materialization of financial benefits promised by the Australian and PNG governments, blocked the trail. They were demanding $100 from each trekking group to pass.

As reported in this story from the Herald Sun, an agreement was reached which satisfied the villagers, and they have since ended their protest.

Some history about the trail

The Kokoda Trail was made famous during World War II, when the Australian army (the Diggers), eventually aided by the Americans, held off an invading Japanese army. Although the Japanese had the man and weaponry advantage, they weren’t prepared for the harsh conditions along this trail, the only route of escape for them.

In the end, the Japanese lost 13,000 out of 20,000 soldiers (contrast that with 6000 casualties on the Australian side).

An account of the trail as it was during WWII can be found at the Digger History website.

The trail today

Photo: panvorax

These days a number of companies operate trekking excursions on the trail. Local guides and porters can also be hired.

It’s possible to do the trek independently, but parts of the trail are unmarked and with the extreme temperatures that can be experienced there it’s not advisable to go on your own. Depending on your condition, it can take anywhere between five and 12 days.

If you’re a glutton for punishment, there’s the Kokoda Challenge, where teams of four compete to complete the 96 km course within the unbelievable time limit of 39 hours. All I can say is, good luck with that.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION:

For more treks, make sure to check out these two in Nepal: the Annapurna Sanctuary and the Mt. Kangchenjunga Circuit. Matador editor Tim Patterson also has some great tips for Trekking Central Laos.

Photo: Julie Schwietert Collazo

With president Obama easing up on travel restrictions to Cuba, she might be needed more than ever to offer tips and suggestions for those visiting the capital of the Caribbean’s largest island.

I’m fired up on: I’m fired up on life and all its complexities. I’m fired up on good grammar and excellent writing and mostly true stories only slightly exaggerated. I’m fired up on travel, of course. I’m fired up on new spices and new combinations, on new colors, on new sounds.

I’m fired up on finding a suitcase or backpack that is actually practical and simultaneously durable (if you know of one, please let me know). I’m fired up on making a difference in the world on the most intimate local level since larger efforts seem to confound me. I’m super fired up on marriage…mine, specifically.

Tunes I rock out to: Ana Belen, Ani Difranco, Bebo Valdes, Johnny Hartman, Sam Cooke, Ella Fitzgerald, Bamboleo, Laura Pausini, Carlos Varela, Mario Frangoulis, Angelique Kidjo, Cesaria Evora, Joao Gilberto, Polo Montanez, Francisco Cespedes…

I want to make a difference by: Telling stories and being the medium through which others can find a voice.

Always interested in a story, Julie works as a freelance writer, editor, researcher, and translator (English to Spanish and vice versa). She is also the managing editor of Matador, so if you’d like to pitch a story, Julie says, “I’m your woman.”

To learn more about her, or to contact her for some killer tips on Havana, visit her Matador profile.

Julie would also love for you to check out her other work at her blog Collazo Projects.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

In this article, Julie explains how to travel to Cuba and why you should do it now. She also gives the low down on the 10 hottest nightlife spots in Havana.

For information on how to become a destination expert yourself, click here.

Since she left us, she’s trekked the entire 8-day Great Ocean Walk solo and has gone unplugged for a month and a half in Western Australia. No Internet for that long is impressive indeed.

Delphine is from the Brittany region in France’s northwest, home to countless manors and chateaux and beautiful coast. There are old fortified towns, such as Sant-Maloù , if you care to take a trip back in time.

Brittany also has the distinction of being one of only three places on the planet — along with Corsica and China — where you can see pink granite in its natural form. The Côte de Granite Rose is a 30+ km stretch of coastline with pink granite cliffs that have been the subject of many an inspired artist.

French gastronomy

But down to it. The French are renowned for their gastronomic side, so I asked Delphine to talk a bit about Brittany and its cuisine. This is what she had to say:

“The coast is just amazing… walking along the sea, with the fresh wind, the sound of the sea is just so nice (I miss that so much!!).

On the galettes you usually put some salty things like ham, cheese, eggs, tomatoes and/or whatever you want, and you finish your meal having some crêpes on which you put some chocolate, fruits, sugar, lemon, ice cream… so yummy!!”

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

See what a fellow couch surfer, Maxim, had to say about culture in his home country of Russia.

For more ideas of what the heck to do in France, read Tanya Brothen’s Beyond Paris article.

Photo: saltyseadog

You can, of course, take the gondola up — but we both know how much more you’ll appreciate the panoramic views over Vancouver when you feel like you’ve earned them. But don’t get too cocky; it’s not as easy as you think.

The base of Grouse Mountain is easily reachable from Vancouver by public transit or car. Once there you can decide if you want to give the Grouse Grind a go, or if you’d be more comfortable skimming over the tree tops in the Skyride.

If you choose the former, be prepared. Wear sturdy footwear and bring water. I’ve seen unprepared hikers being carried back down when they couldn’t continue (with a look on their face like they’d just spent a week in the desert). I’ve also seen countless visitors wearing jeans, flips-flops, and Gucci handbags. This is not a walk in the park, so give it the respect it deserves.

The hike is a steep one, and is mostly up steps. If you’re in decent shape, expect to complete it within one to one and a half hours. If you’re fitter than a fiddle, you can try to break the official men’s record of 26:19 or the women’s of 31:04.

Plenty to do and see in the summer

Sure enough, in the wintertime you can shush your way down the ski runs, ride in a horse-drawn sleigh, ice skate and snowshoe. But there is also plenty to do during the summer months.

Photo: unwritten

No matter how you decide to get to the top, you face a variety of entertaining summer activities. Some of the things on offer: scenic chairlift rides, ziplines, paragliding, and helijet rides. You can also visit the grizzly bears at the wildlife refuge, watch the lumberjack show, or take in a flick at the Theatre in the Sky.

On a clear day, Grouse has some of the best views over Vancouver, the surrounding areas, and Burrard Inlet, so don’t forget your camera.

It’s not advisable to hike down the Grind, but for just a few bucks you can descend in the Skyride. Make sure you hold on as it passes the towers — it can get a bit bumpy!

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For more in our mountains series, click here for posts on peaks like Volcan Licancabur in Bolivia, Tai Shan in China, Mt. Etna in Sicily, and Katahdin in Maine.

Photo: Anna Brones

“A traveler without observation is a bird without wings.” – Persian poet Moslih Eddin Saadi

Meet Anna Brones, our destination expert for the French archipelago of Guadeloupe (don’t confuse it with Guadalupe!). Should you find yourself planning a visit to these islands in the Caribbean Sea, drop her a note — she would love to share her knowledge of the area.

Languages spoken, other than English: French, Swedish.

Travel style: With my backpack and a notebook covered in random global stamps, on the search of local food and drink. And yes, many Moleskines. Cliché but necessary.

I want to make a difference by: Inspiring people to live environmentally conscious lifestyles — we can’t travel and explore on a dead planet, and if we don’t start changing our daily habits and pushing for change, that will be the direction that we’re going.

Anna grew up with a Swedish mother and an American father, encouraging her interest in culture and languages at an early age. She never travels without her sketchbook and she has an addiction to coffee, dark chocolate, and fresh pineapple.

After college, Anna spent a school year working as an English teacher in Guadeloupe. She says that experience, coupled with having lived and studied in France, gives her a strong tie to the Francophone world, and she often throws French words into the mix just for fun.

Anna currently works as senior editor for Wend Magazine, and her Matador profile can be found right here.

Make sure to check out her personal blog, je vais où?

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Recently profiled destination experts for the Philippines and Kenya are waiting for your questions.

Think you know your stuff? If you’re interested in becoming an expert for Matador, read this forum post.

Photo: kanagen

At its tallest point, the Jade Emperor peak tops out at 1545 meters. The UNESCO World Heritage-listed Tai Shan is loaded with historical, cultural, and natural significance — pilgrims have been making the trek up the mountain for over 3,000 years to pay religious homage.

There are a total of 22 temples, 97 ruins, 819 stone tablets, and 1018 inscriptions. That should keep you busy for a few minutes.

Almost 80% of the mountain is covered in vegetation, including medicinal plants and ancient flora such as the Han Dynasty Cypresses — planted 2100 years ago — and the Tang Chinese Scholartree, growing now for 1300 years.

Live to be a centurion

It’s said that you will live to see 100 years if you climb this sacred mountain. There are several options for the 4-7 hour ascent, some shorter than others, with the main route being a brick path all the way up. As at many of China’s other tourist hotspots, expect to be followed by vendors trying to earn a renmimbi or two.

Photo: LHOON

For the not-so-physically inclined, there are 24-hour buses that run to the midway point of the mountain. A cable car is also available for eagle-eye views.

Catching the sunrise is a popular activity but requires nighttime hiking or sleeping at the top. Make sure to bring a flashlight!

Some logistics

Taishan station is Tai’an’s train stop and is serviced by trains coming from Beijing and Shanghai. From the station, local bus #3 will get you to the base of the mountain. Taxis are also available, and you may even want to walk to the closer access entry points to warm yourself up for the climb.

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For thirteen more UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Asia, David DeFranza rounds ‘em up here.

Photo: James Laurence Stewart / Feature photo: helena.40proof

I’ve made two lengthy European road trips in a campervan and one thing is clear: there’s no better way to travel. It’s your hostel and transportation all rolled up in one, and it gives you the freedom to go where you want, whenever you want.

In fact, my wife and I will tour Australia for at least six months in a campervan. In Europe we had Ford Transits which we bought already camperized.

Here, in Oz, we’ve purchased a ‘94 Mitsubishi Delica — a rugged 4×4 van that has drawn comparisons to the A-Team’s ride. We’re gonna need a bad-ass vehicle where we’re headed.

There’s nothing like getting your hands dirty, so we’re custom camperizing it ourselves. You’re welcome to follow along at I am S.A.M. the Van.

While researching ideas — for slick James Bond-ish gadgets that pop out at you from where you least expect it — I stumbled upon some sweet set-ups and inspiring stories at the Self Build Motor Caravanning Club.

I’ve done the digging. All you have to do is scroll down the page and feast your eyes on some of the coolest campers you never knew existed.

Japanese Two-Story Van

This is the sickest camper I’ve ever seen. It’s no wonder the Japanese are world leaders in auto engineering. Over two years, three highschool mates built a freakin’ two-story house on a truck, complete with shoji (Japanese traditional screen) and tatami mat.

The best part is, none of them are carpenters or engineers, giving the rest of us some hope.

Between 2000 and 2002, they traveled over 25,500 kms around Japan in the “house-mobile”. You gotta see it to believe it.

The UK Unimog

Stephen Stewart’s travel beginnings go back to an 18-month stint in the late ’60s as a mission hospital mechanic in South Africa. For his return trip home to the UK, he did what any normal person would have done: he got his hands on a Land Rover, drove north to Kenya, shipped the vehicle to India and cut a trail through the central mountains in Afghanistan.

In 2000, Stephen bought his 1980 Unimog U1300L and spent about a year camperizing it. He then proceeded to take it to China and Tibet, northern Europe and Iceland, Siberia and Mongolia, and Central and South America.

He has since upgraded to a 2005 MAN Bimobil EX480, which he took to Scotland and Iceland last year. The ol’ Unimog is having a siesta down in Spain. His website has loads of information and is well worth a peruse.

Stephen’s also written a guide for those with a desire to follow in his footsteps. If you want to tackle a project like this, check out this site.

London Double Decker

Project: To convert an ex-London Transport double-decker bus into a motorhome for 2 families and a disabled child with complex medical needs.

This ambitious project started with the purchase of a 1985 MCW metrobus. You don’t just walk down to the local car dealership and pick one of these babies up. After much Google-ing, one was located in southern England. Steve flew to Stansted airport to pick it up and drove it nine hours home.

The camper construction includes an upper deck bathroom, four bunks, a fully equipped kitchen, computer workstation, and inverters and generators for all the electrical needs.

The most important bit was the special needs area, which contained a special bed, shelf for medical equipment, and an oxygen machine. Scott’s neurological condition left him unable to walk, talk or consciously coordinate movements. He was tube-fed and relied on an oxygen supply for periods of time.

Sadly, Scott passed away November 30, 2007. In early 2008, the family made a big tour of Scotland in his memory.

It all starts with a vision

Do these customized campers rev your engine? There’s no reason why you can’t customize your own ride for a big road trip.

If you’d like to know more about taking your wheels to places like China, Mongolia, and South America, check out The Silk Route Motor Caravan Network.

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If you do decide to hit the open road, don’t forget the music. Cedric Pieterse has some good reasons why you shouldn’t.

It’s debatable why the Finnish seem to have a knack for the wack; could be their sense of humour or creativity. Or, maybe there isn’t a bloody thing to do there.

Whatever the case, there’s no doubt they provide some serious entertainment to those of us who like things a little out of the ordinary.

Check out the below videos of some of Finland’s craziest contests. If you find yourself in the Land of a Thousand Lakes, do your best to see one of these. I know I will.

Swamp Soccer

This sport originated in Finland, supposedly by some cross-country skiers who needed some way to train in the summer. Soccer. Swamps. It was an obvious choice.

2009’s event takes place September 17-18 in Ukkohalla.

Air Guitar

Way before Guitar Hero, we were riffin’ along with the likes of Jimmy Page, Kirk Hammet, and Eddie Van Halen. No musical talent required, but a flair for flamboyancy is a must.

This competition is part of the Oulu Music Video Festival. The 14th annual World Air Guitar Championships is set to rock out between August 19-21.

Wife Carrying

They say the roots of this “sport” came from the caveman days; when the men used to carry a big club over one shoulder and drag their women by the hair with the other hand. Or at least that’s what cartoons have taught me.

Another 14th birthday for a Finnish “pastime”, this year’s Wife Carrying World Championships is on July 4 in Sonkajarvi.

Mobile Phone Throwing

Everyone’s fantasy at one time or another. Definitely Russell Crowe’s (ba-dum-chhh!).

The municipality of Punkaharju is home to the Mobile Phone Throwing World Championships, chuckin’ it down on August 22.

Winter Swimming

Brrr…I get shrinkage just watching this clip.

A bit late for this year’s icy event, the Finnish Winter Swimming Championships are held in the town of Imatra in February.

Photos: author

As far as volcanoes go, they don’t come much more famous–or infamous–than Mt. Etna. Its snowy roof is perpetually in view from anywhere on Sicily’s east side.

Around 430 BC, the Greek philosopher Empedocles is said to have thrown himself into the fires of Mt. Etna. The reasons why he did this vary, but the common theme is that he wanted to prove he was a god. Nowadays we clone sheep and genetically modify food.

A few years ago my wife and I arrived at Etna Sud (Rifugio Sapienza), the southern access point of Europe’s largest volcano, early in the morning and well before any tour bus arrived. We quickly headed up.

A buried house on the way to the car park

One option to reach the summit is a combination of cable car and 4×4 bus; this option would also run you close to 50 Euro and give you no sense of accomplishment.

If you want to hoof it on your own, layer up as the weather can change very fast. The elevation difference from the bottom to the point where the 4×4 bus drops its load off is 1000 meters. It’s a couple hundred more meters climb to a couple of smoking craters which can be closely inspected (depending, of course, on volcanic activity).

The highest peak, at 3329 meters, is inaccessible without proper climbing gear (and recommended guide).

On your marks, get set…

From the car park there is a maintenance track that switchbacks up to the top of the cable car run. It is possible to go straight up the slope, following the gondola line, but of course this route is much steeper and can be a bit dodgy in parts as you need to walk over loose rock.

We learned this the hard way. Bored on the snaking road, we switched to the straight up route where it was two steps forward, one step back on the sliding stones.

Decision point

I would consider us average hikers, and it took about two hours to reach the cable car’s top station, where there is a gift shop/cafe selling overpriced goods.

If you didn’t take the combo cable car/bus ticket, this is your opportunity to pay for the 4×4 up. We briefly contemplated it, in the end opting out, of course.

From here the walking route follows the 4×4 bus track. When we were there in the spring, there was a wall of packed snow four meters high on either side of the track.

As the buses drive up they belch black smoke out the side that draws a knee-high line all along the snow walls.

Another couple of hours will get you to where the buses stop and unload passengers. Still heading up we crossed over black lava rock with snowy patches until we made it to the two craters.

At one of them you could walk along the rim of the crater and stare down into the steaming vent.

Hike up, “ski” down

You can take the gondola down, but we found it more fun to hike–we used the patches of snow to ski down in our boots.

It was only about 1.5 hours for the descent, making the total around six hours, plus time for sightseeting at the top.

The history and the myths that surround Mt. Etna make it a mysterious place. A trip to southern Italy wouldn’t be the same without a visit to this legendary volcano.

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For more volcano adventure, check out Matador member Olivebeard’s post on climbing Pacaya in Guatemala.

Photo: ZeHawk

Europe Down Under–that’s how I feel about the Victorian capital. At one point it was the nation’s capital, but an irresolvable dispute with Sydney gave Canberra that distinction.

14 months ago, my wife and I settled into a flat in the quiet, leafy beach suburb of Elwood. It became our base for learning what it meant to be a Melburnian. We got day jobs; we patronized the local shops; we found our favourite café.

I was cycling home from work the other day, keenly observing life as it whizzed by, when I started reflecting on what makes Melbourne, well, Melbourne.

I silently concluded that I love this city; you will too, and here are a few reasons why:

Trams ‘n’ trains

Yes, the locals perpetually complain about the public transportation system. The fact is, they don’t know how good they have it. The city and surrounding areas are fully serviced by a combination of trains, trams and buses. Unlike Sydney where you might have to pay four separate fares to get to your destination, Melbourne has one ticket for all the services.

Photo: macinate

There’s something romantic and nostalgic about trams. Not many cities have a comprehensive network of them, and if you want a unique experience, book yourself onto the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant (pictured above).

The ‘no worries’ culture

For a big city, the residents are pretty laid back. Look around and you’ll see hundreds of cafes full of folks sipping their lattes. The easy attitude may best be felt on the banks of the Yarra River where people lazily stroll or sit at the river’s edge and ponder.

World class events

There are only four tennis grand slams and Melbourne is home to one of them–that’s enough in my books to give the city full props. For two hot weeks in January, the Australian Open at Melbourne Park is host to the game’s top players, and draws in hundreds of thousands of fans.

Photo: brettmarlow1

Like food and drink? Be here in March when the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival pulls in top chefs from around the world–it’s 17 days of gastronomic bliss.

Following on its heels, the city’s testosterone rises a few notches during the Australian Grand Prix. The usually serene Albert Park is transformed into a track for Formula 1 race cars whipping around at 200 km/h.

If you happen to be here on the second Tuesday in November, don’t miss the Melbourne Cup. Although it’s also known as “The Race That Stops a Nation“, Melbourne is the only place in Australia where race day is a statutory holiday.

The weather

Four seasons in one day. Terribly cliched, but terribly true. I learned fast that layering is key as the climate can change dramatically, several times, in a single day. It’s also the windiest city I’ve ever been to; perhaps a bad-hairday town, it’s paradise for kite and wind surfers.

Photo: Author

Australians reading this are right now saying, “what? how can you love the weather there?”, and I understand that. It’s not easy to love. But it’s part of Melbourne’s identity and, hence, now mine. And that’s when you start loving it.

Keeping it real

Melbourne has done a stellar job of keeping local entrepreneurs in business. While big box shops and franchises do exist, the amount of independently owned cafes, restaurants and boutiques is staggering, ensuring a new experience every single time you venture outside.

Photo: avlxyz

Environmental conscience

On my ride to work it’s heartening to see the amount of cyclists on the road and the plans to make the city more bike friendly. There’s also the Target 155 campaign — an appeal to residents to cut back water usage to 155 liters per day. Of course, that’s just good sense as the dams near record-lows.

Photo: Looking Glass

The state government is committed to sustainability, promoting ways to cut back on energy and plastic usage, and generally helping residents become good global citizens. At my work they’ve recently replaced the Nescafe with organic, fair-trade instant coffee.

If you’re bored, you’re not trying very hard

You don’t have to look hard or travel far for a bit of adventure. The Central Business District (CBD) is small and compact with a zillion hidden laneways and alleys, each hiding shops, cafes and even street art for you to discover.

Suburbs like Fitzroy, Prahran, St. Kilda, and Carlton (among others) teem with their own cultural variances and enough things to explore to keep you busy for days. Just last week my wife and I took a walk to the St. Kilda pier and spotted a penguin. There’s always a surprise.

Photo: reinn

Day and weekend trips outside Melbourne can provide brief respite from the city. There is hiking in the Dandenong ranges, surf beaches in Torquay, and one of the best stretches of coastline in the world, the Great Ocean Road (for hikers, check out my post on the Great Ocean Walk).

There is a lifetime of experiences in and around Melbourne. The time will come when I will stop calling it home, and I am certain that when it does, there will still be many things I haven’t done or seen. But this is what will keep me coming back.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Has Melbourne caught your eye? Feel free to ask our resident expert any questions you have about this wonderful city.

If you have any experiences yourself from Melbourne that you want to share, leave a comment below!

Photos: author

I first met Maxim at the train station in Petrozavodsk, Russia. My wife and I had contacted him through Hospitality Club only a couple of days earlier from St. Petersburg. Even though our train rolled in at 6:50 AM, there he was, greeting us with a big, warm Russian smile.

Petrozavodsk is 400 km north of St. Pete and was founded by Peter the Great in 1703 to manufacture weaponry (the city’s name means “Peter’s Factory”). In one of the suburbs, Martsialnye Vody, you can find the oldest spa in Russia.

Keen to show us his city, Maxim brought us home and fed us pelmeni (dumplings), then allowed us a brief rest before ushering us out the door. We walked down to the embankment, a boardwalk on the shores of the second largest European lake, Lake Onega.

While we walked around the old factory city, we talked about Russia — about its politics, its police, and its culture.

The One Question Interview

What do you feel is the most important aspect of Russian culture?

“Hmm…I think it’s sincerity and honesty that has been berhymed by our poets. In this country, poets, writers and musicians have always been the ‘conscience of the people’. It’s very important to perceive Russia and its people through getting acquainted with the Russian literature and poetry.”

Maxim is known as “svini4″ at HospitalityClub and can also be found lounging around CouchSurfing.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Someone else who’s fired up on Russian lit is Matador community member and contributor Robyn Johnson, not to mention laser tag!

Thinking of doing some couch surfing yourself? Make sure to read Turner Wright’s tips on setting up a killer profile. Or maybe you’re already addicted and looking for the camaraderie of a fellow serial couch surfer.

Carlo rockin’ out

If you’re wondering where you’ve landed, don’t fret. You’re home!

The Matador Network has an all new layout and we’re gearing up to bring you more content.

Each week we’ll be taking you to peaks, rivers, waves, cities and towns around the world, giving you the heads up on places you may not have heard about otherwise.

Your two editors are longtime Matadorians and ex-pats living on opposite sides of the globe. Carlo is a Vancouverite calling Melbourne home for now; Hal grew up deep in the heart of Texas and is currently kicking around the Andes.

We’re both driven by a passion to explore the world, its inhabitants and its beauty.

Hal, about to plummet into a Bolivian canyon

We’ll share what we find along the way but we also hope to learn, so don’t be shy!

If you feel inclined to leave comments on what you see, good or bad, please do. We want to hear your thoughts and experiences even more than we want to hear ourselves (trust us).