Travel
November 10th, 2007 at 08:53am
Under Travel
For the cash-strapped traveller, one of the best ways to see the
world without going into extreme debt is by finding work overseas. Not
only does it ease the financial burden of travel, it also allows a
first-hand glimpse into daily life in a foreign context.
Travis is one such cash-strapped traveller. He is spending a year in
South Korea, teaching English to a group of eleven and twelve year-old
students and sharing his (often comical) observations of Korean culture
on his blog.
… Continue
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November 10th, 2007 at 08:51am
Under Travel
Faced with the situation I could only muster two answers. Either I'd
managed to get myself terribly, ridiculously lost or that last mince
filled pancake had left me vividly hallucinating this paradise. Only
one thing seemed clear. In no way shape or form could this possibly be
Siberia.
Let me backtrack…
… Continue
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November 10th, 2007 at 08:50am
Under Travel
Mira and I ran out of the youth hostel in Oeiras in the nick of time,
as our incessant laughter and giggles were beginning to run their
course with the rest of the hostel’s inhabitants, who seemed to be in a
perpetual state of misery. So we hopped upon our faithful steeds
(bikes) and rode out on the busy coastal road that lead to Lisbon
proper.
About ten minutes out, we realized that our load was far
too heavy for our bikes and gear racks to carry. I watched Mira ride
over a curb only to have her mountainous bundle of baggage swing back
and forth and pull the backside of her bicycle in and out of the busy
highway. Something had to be done. So we pulled over into a little
beach front turnoff and tore all of our stuff out of their bags and
strew it all in piles about the beach. It was now time to sort out what
was needed from what was merely wanted…
… Continue
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November 10th, 2007 at 08:48am
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Temple Bar, Part 2: Saturday at 2am (well, let’s call it 1am)
Ubi sunt nunc gloria Babylonia? Where now the glories of Babylon?
My best days are clearly behind me. I had it all planned, I’d have a
few pints in ‘The Swan’ - a classy old Dublin pub with a weird mixture
of inner city regulars and med students from the nearby college – then
I’d go home, watch a late night movie, stay up until 2am before heading
out on my tour of the dreaded Temple Bar in the full glory of its early
morning revelry.
That’s been the plan for three weeks now, but on last two weekends I
flaked and found myself in bed by 11pm. Secretly, I think, I was a
little afraid (after all, no sane Dubliner over the age of 18 goes near
Temple Bar after 9 o’clock).
… Continue
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November 10th, 2007 at 08:47am
Under Travel
At times, Mexico feels like it’s the natural habitat for the old-style
VW Beetles, like they were never a German car to begin with. They’re
made here, adored here, impeccably maintained here and it’s impossible
to drive for more than a few minutes on most roads without passing one.
The first two days we were in Mexico, our ten-month running
international Punchbuggy match took a turn for the ugly.
Amy: Punchbuggy red!
Me: Goddamnit.
Amy: This is going to be eas-PUNCHBUGGY GREEN!
Me: Ow!
Amy: Got a little exci-PUNCHBUGGY WHITE!
Me: Stop punching my neck!
Amy: Punchbuggy red again!
… Continue
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November 10th, 2007 at 08:45am
Under Travel
We've enjoyed and endured a few of the world's greatest train
journeys over the last few months, so when we boarded our final
overnight train of the trip on Sunday night, I couldn't help feeling a
little sad. I guess I have a romantic notion of allowing myself to be
lulled asleep by the quiet, rythmic rumble of the train knowing that
I'll wake up somewhere brand new in the morning.
Of course, the
reality is a little different: sleep can be fitful, interrupted by
carriage attendants, over-zealous air conditioning, noisy cabin-mates
or the train horn sounding at all hours of the day or night. But I will
miss these trains because of the adventure they symbolize, at least in
my mind. But all good things must come to an end, and - still half
asleep - we pulled into Ho Chi Minh City just after 5am on Monday
morning.
… Continue
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November 10th, 2007 at 08:43am
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I go back and forth on whether or not I’m a good teacher pretty much on a daily basis. It’s not that I think I’m a bad
teacher, but when it comes to explaining the past participle preterit
perfect, or any of the other finer points of the English language, I
have found myself ending lectures with, “You know. It just sounds
right. Right?” Which is normally when I’ll do something goofy to make
the kids laugh and forget they were asking me what exactly a
prepositional phrase is and why you can’t end sentences with them. (You can’t?) At
the end of the day, I side with the school’s logic that whatever my
faults when it comes to the technicalities of grammar, the kids are
better off learning English from a native speaker so they are exposed
to both the language and the culture; and trust me, if you dropped any of my kids off on the streets of New York tomorrow, they’d do pretty well for themselves.
But
every once in a while I find myself having to articulate cultural norms
or rituals that when enunciated, sound inescapably bizarre.
… Continue
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By admin
November 10th, 2007 at 08:42am
Under Travel
One of the most popular trends in modern travel is voluntourism. One part travel, one part volunteering,
voluntourism offers travellers a way to delve deeper into a place while also making it possible to support
the local community in some small (or large) way.
Mark and Peggy's trip is a perfect example of voluntourism. A pair of physicians from New York City,
they are on a one-year trip around the world, combining their love for travel with their desire to offer
their medical skills as volunteers. After 6 months of roaming the globe, they will spend another 6 months
in Sierra Leone, where they will volunteer with Mercy Ships, a charity providing free specialised health
care to the Sierra Leoneans.
… Continue
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November 10th, 2007 at 08:40am
Under Travel
On our second bay in the bush, as dawn is just beginning to light
the world outside my tented room, I hear a shuffle of feet and then
“Jambo! Your tea, sir.” One of the Maasai staffers at places a tray
with a pitcher of tea, heated milk, sugar, a china cup and saucer, a
spoon and two biscuits on my veranda. I throw on my clothes, down a
quick cup of tea, and hustle up to the main lodge, where our safari van
awaits.
Lewela, our safari director, greets us with a broad smile. “Are you ready to see some wildlife?”
… Continue
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November 10th, 2007 at 08:39am
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It is eighteen years today since the fall of the Berlin Wall. But it seems that memories are fickle. When I was heading there recently a friend, an educated one I might add, said to me, “Berlin, is that the place that had the Wall?” I was incredulous. A walk around Berlin’s city centre however leaves you in no doubt about the presence of the Wall that was once the front line between east and west.
Although there isn’t much of the Wall left now a few small sections do still stand. What is most surprising is its height, or lack there of. But somehow the crumbling grey, graffiti clad ruins, which should be about as imposing as a school-ground fence, are intimidating. And the narrow line of cobbles that marks the Wall’s entire course through the city feels like the faint scar of a healed wound, permanently etched into the fabric of the city and always there as a visible reminder.
In the city centre is the Berlin Wall’s most iconic site, Checkpoint Charlie. A replica American military post has been put up in the middle of a narrow street full of shops. There are even a couple of people dressed up as guards, grimacing menacingly to the delight of tourists who get their photo taken with them. The Mauer Museum tells the story of the 30 year life of the Wall including tales of some of those who died trying to flee the Communist regime in the East.
The first bit of the Wall left standing that I come across is in Potsdamer Platz; a huge shapeless square which is now a temple of modern glass and corporate architecture. There are just half a dozen individual rectangular segments of the Wall here, with descriptive panels between each one. The sections look temporary, like pre-built Lego pieces, which perhaps explains how the East Germans managed to erect the Wall so suddenly and so devastatingly in 1961. Over 200 people died trying to cross and north of Potsdamer Platz, near the Reichstag building, is a row of placards hung on an iron fence to some of those unfortunate would-be escapees. Candles burn for a few. This is after all, recent history.
- Danny Chapman
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November 10th, 2007 at 08:35am
Under Travel
Besides beating Namibia and recording their first-ever win in the Rugby World Cup this year, Georgia hasn’t been in the news much since the Rose Revolution of 2003 saw now-President, Mikhail Saakashvili catapulted democratically into the country’s top office.
Now however, Georgia - popular with overlanders - is bracing itself for renewed uncertainty with a state of emergency declared from its capital Tbilisi. Everything and everyone from Moscow, the media, to poverty and corruption is being blamed for the deterioration in public affairs.
The Trabant trekkers - a crew of travellers from Holland, England, America, Spain and Hungary - have just crossed the country as they overland from Germany to Cambodia raising money for charity. Now in Tajikistan, their blog speaks of a different Georgia.
Standing at the intersection of Europe, Asia and the Middle East, it is unfortunately the same geographic reasons making it attractive to overlanders, playing into the geo-political problems: challenging terrain, disputed borders and a myriad of different ethnic groups.
As the Trabant trekkers can testify - it is a very interesting country, going through troubled times. Stay attune of the news, and catch the discussion on the Thorn Tree Forum.
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November 10th, 2007 at 08:32am
Under Travel
It’s unclear whether the difference between emergency rule and martial law is only semantics (particularly when your President is also the Chief of Army Staff), but it’s easy to see that travel to Pakistan right now is not to be taken lightly.
Sure the Karakoram Range and its famed mountain-highway may seem remote and utterly removed from events in Islamabad and Lahore, but it pays to be well aware of the security situation throughout the country.
With the local media’s output affected by Musharraf’s declaration, and amid reports of journalists being arrested, it may be difficult to access extensive and unbiased information in the region.
Although the real reason for the state of emergency is sketchy, the debate is ongoing as to whether it will worsen or improve the country’s already troubled situation.
Make sure if you have travel planned in the region that you check the latest news reports and read what travellers are saying about it on the Thorn Tree Forum.
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November 10th, 2007 at 08:30am
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For many Victorians it’s a much needed day of rest; an opportune time to take a long weekend - or to binge-detox between Saturday’s Derby Day and Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup.
For the uninitiated, Australians stop work at 3pm on the first Tuesday in November… for a horse race. Victorians get the day off altogether.
Offices are swamped with sweep-stakes and sweet-bakes, while the TAB drowns in millions from amateur gamblers. Spotlight’s stock of feathers, fascinators and hats dwindles to a few scruffy and scraggly left-overs and men step out in their pressed finest, or sometimes their pyjamas (hoping to make the nightly news).
Billed as ‘the celebration that stops a nation’ travellers are not so much warned, but rather advised, to join in the revelry. This year, tickets to the Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse must be pre-purchased. If you can’t make it to Melbourne, then don’t worry, there won’t be a pub in Australia with the TV turned off (or tuned in to the disastrous fashion channel) at 3pm tomorrow.
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November 1st, 2007 at 08:39pm
Under Travel
For anyone who has ever been diagnosed with breast cancer and then denied travel insurance or charged sky-high premiums, Insure Pink has now launched a travel policy which caters for people with a history of the cancer.
Developed in close consultation with UK breast cancer charities and with insurance professionals who have first-hand knowledge of living with the condition the affordable policy reflects the true risks of holiday travel, not the perceived risk of travelling with a severe condition.
The Insure Pink policy, offered through Travel Insurance Facilities, is underwritten by Equity. It’s similar to normal travel insurance but also covers curtailment or cancellation for medical reasons, which can include, but are not limited to, complications relating to breast cancer.
Insure Pink plans to introduce policies to cover male-related conditions, such as prostate and testicular cancers in the next few months.
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By admin
November 1st, 2007 at 08:30pm
Under Travel
Get your hands out and your cheesiest grin at the ready as Japan starts finger printing and photographing all foreigners entering the country in an anti-terrorism policy that is causing outrage among foreign residents and human rights activists.
Immigration officials will run images and data through a database of international terror and crime suspects as well as against domestic crime records. People matching the data on file - or those who refuse to cooperate - will be denied entry and deported.
Only some permanent residents, diplomats, and children under 16 will be exempt from the measures after the system goes into effect on November 20.
While similar to the “US-VISIT” program introduced after 9/11 in the United States, Japan will also require resident foreigners - of which there are about two million - to be fingerprinted and photographed every time they re-enter the country.
Amnesty International has declared the policy “discriminatory” and says it could “encourage xenophobia”.
What do you think of Japan’s new system?
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October 29th, 2007 at 08:38pm
Under Travel
Imagine, if you will, showing up in the run-down parking lot of a
third-world country's long-distance bus station at 6:30 in the morning,
being trundled into the back of one of many waiting Russian-made cars
(after much intense haggling, sometimes devolving into pushing and
spitting), and being driven across two borders to a completely separate country, whose relations with members of the first are very strained.
Now, imagine doing it to ten hours of Russian techno music. It's amazing how boring a synthesized back-beat can be. That was how we got from Bishkek to Tashkent, from one of the poorer Central Asian countries, through its richest, into its most cultural.
… Continue
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