Member Newsletter--October, 2002



Here's what you can find on GoNOMAD.com today…

New Stories added this month:

destinations

China's Funny Pointy Hills
Everything I'd heard about China was wrong beginning with the best place to see its most famous scenery: the funny pointy hills soaring a thousand feet over misty waterways. A paradise actually exists where fishermen float on five bamboo poles lashed together impersonating a raft, spearing fish through cone-shaped nets, red lanterns reflecting off perfectly still waters. The waterways, rafts, conical nets and red lanterns are magical, but contrary to what I'd heard this spectacle was not best sampled from Guilin, a sprawling city of too many people, but from Yangshou, forty miles south. Continue story...

family travel

The GoNOMAD Alternative Adventure Rolls on...

Bali Update: Lauryn and Josh are Safe and Sound
October 16, 2002 As most of you are well aware, three powerful bomb blasts ripped through the island of Bali on October 12, 2002. The blasts were centered along the tourist strip of Kuta Beach, a popular party and surfing hangout. Another bomb exploded near the U.S. Consulate offices in the capital of Denpasar.
As of today (Oct.16), authorities are still sifting through the debris in search of bodies, trying to identify the charred remains. More than 180 have been confirmed dead, over 300 wounded, and more than 220 still missing. The majority of the victims were Australian revelers at the Sari Club, but many other nationalities suffered fatalities, too, including Balinese. Continue story...





Hong Kong Hussle: HK With Kids
Our stop in Hong Kong was intended to be a short break from sightseeing and moving around: a week to recoup, regroup, rest, relax and take advantage of such luxuries as reliable photo processing, English bookstores, high speed Internet and delicious food. But Hong Kong turned out to be more than rest stop.(Hong Kong budget hotels) From the madness of Mong Kok to the laid back beaches of Lamma Island, our "quiet" week quickly filled up. Continue story...




Singapore Sling and a Great Big Zoo.
Singapore was a 3-day layover: another stopping point in which to recoup and relax for a few days before heading to Bali for the next month. But the real reason for stopping in Singapore was the zoo: the Singapore Zoological Gardens is one of the finest zoos in the world and one of the few places you can see the famed Komodo Dragons outside of Komodo Island. That was reason enough for a few days' visit We arrived late after a long flight from Tokyo and checked into the Robertson Quay Hotel, a clean, budget hotel with a pool, Internet café, and "beach" bar right on the bank of the Singapore River steps away from Chinatown and the seafood restaurants of Clarke Quay. Continue story...vel Desk


features

Cuba by the Numbers: Havana on $50 a day
Having just returned from four weeks in Cuba, three of which were spent in Havana, I would like to share withGoNOMAD readers the wonderful opportunity to enjoy and discover a rich and diverse culture, at less-than-Motel 6 prices!
One can spend less in Cuba, if the old college-hippie-backpacker-sleep-on-the-floor days appeal to your sense of nostalgia. One can certainly spend a lot more, if the days of decadent-Mafia-Tropicana-drinking-gambling-sin-and-sun-days appeal to your bulging wallet. However, $50 a day in Havana can provide a very comfortable vacation, in a style which will not only appeal to your needs for American creature comforts, but also allow you to get a taste of the true Cuba of today. Continue story

travel desk


A Packing Primer: What You Really Need to Bring
I am running through my list and pulling from each cellophane bag, the latest items I will need for this trip. I check off: flashlight, raincover for backpack, water tablets, compass, tape rain poncho, locks. Yes, I've read my Lonely Planet from cover to cover and locks are definitely a must for this trip. There are the locks for my packs; beautiful brass and chrome things with two tiny sets of keys, each set separated between my pack and my money belt. Continue story...




Market-New Travel Books We Recommend
Excerpt from the new book, Globetrotter Dogma, by Bruce Northam
After circling the globe five times in the last 20 years, Bruce Northam has gathered hard-won nuggets of travel wisdom into 100 enlightening recommendations for making the most of seeing the world. In a book shaped and styled like a passport to fit easily into a backpack, the author advises, for example, to take a media sabbatical (if you haven't traveled widely, maybe there's an umbilical cord attached to your TV convincing you that the world is an unfriendly place. It's not!), to go where the locals go (cops and bartenders know their terrain better than the local chamber of commerce) and to undertake exhausting itineraries with family (no one will have energy left to recycle family debates) Read excerpt...

If you would like to suggest a new travel book to excerpt on GoNOMAD, email us.

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gonomad travel services

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