We have lots of great stories on GoNOMAD this month -- Chile, Japan, Tunisia, Brazil, Louisiana, Wyoming, Vermont, Montreal, and lots more intriquing destinations.
Everybody's signing up on Go-Lo.net
We've also got an article by Lisa Linsley about a new travel information website called Go-Lo.net where you can get information about any place on earth from travel insiders. As soon as we saw the article, we all had to sign up as members.
Arthur Frommer thinks it's a good idea, and so do we.
We're also featuring excerpts from two excellent travel books. Clean Breaks from Rough Guides details 500 "eco-friendly adventures" around the world and Murderers in Mausoleums describes Jeffrey Tayler's journey across central Asia from Moscow to Beijing.
We're happy to present a sixth article in a series by Esha Samajpati on East Coast destinations, this one about hiking Vermont's highest peak.
Sony Stark travels to the Island of Djerba in Tunisia to the oldest synagogue in North Africa.
Cindy Bigras takes in the action at the Frontier Days rodeo in Cheyenne, Wyoming and Max Hartshorne reports from Iquique in northern Chile. Kent St. John takes a trip up the coast of Brazil and David Rich visits Georgia, the country, where wine was first invented.
Larry Taylor finds the world's best snorkeling in the Raja Ampat Archipelago in Indonesia and Kelly Westhoff plays Scarlet O'Hara in the antebellum mansions of St. Francisville, Louisiana.
Robert Baerg and friends take in the sights of Tokyo by means of that city's clean, efficient subway system and
Bill
Pfeffer takes us to Znojmo, a little-known village in the Czech Republic.
All in all it's just another month of top-notch travel writing on GoNOMAD.
New stories recently published on GoNOMAD:
Tunisia's El Ghriba Festival: A Journey of Understanding The island of Djerba, floating off the southeast coast of Tunisia, is a popular destination for relaxing in a traditional hammam, grilling your body on a sandy beach or haggling over handmade Andalusian pottery. Few realize that only a few miles away is one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world; some say it dates back 2,500 years to time of King Nebuchadnezzar. I listen to the sounds coming from inside the oldest synagogue in North Africa...
Up the Coast of Brazil: Salvador to Recife Perched on a cliff high above the Bay is Pelourinho, Salvador’s colonial center, its heart, with cobblestone streets flanked by colorful buildings seemingly unchanged for centuries. Baianas -- women dressed in the traditional hooped skirts, laced tops and turbans -- sit in corners claimed for generations, serving up abara, a tamale-like wrap made with onions, bean paste and dried shrimp. Thankfully some things don’t change...
Malaysia: Viewing Our Cousins, the Orangutans You would think that it wouldn’t be that hard to spot an auburn-haired orangutan in a tree. But it is.
Finally I see him, an adult male, hanging by one arm and chowing down on a handful of leaves in the afternoon sun. He is calm, quiet and watchful. I sit there amazed staring up at him in deferential silence. Only a flock of hornbills taking flight across the river breaks the stillness and quickly returns me to reality...
Wyoming: Cheyenne’s Frontier Days Bring the Old West to Life
Exiting the depot I found myself in Depot Square, site of several free summer concerts. This city of approximately 50,000 swells to almost ten times its normal size for Frontier Days, and crowds have appeared for the opening day parade. Passing by are Miss Frontier and her lady in waiting. And look, here comes the blacksmith shop, the dance hall, the one room school house, and of course, it wouldn’t be a Western parade without the stagecoach!
The Historic Hills of Valparaíso, Chile: Something Truly Special
Valparaíso's history and continued vibrancy is owed in large part to its importance as a port city. Valparaiso began its days as a vital port as an important stop on the journey from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. Today Valpo, as it is affectionately known to locals, is the headquarters of the Chilean navy; this makes it a city which has always been centered around its ports. This makes the steep walk down to see this area a must for visitors...
Tokyo Done Subway Style
We didn’t have much money, we didn’t have much time, and we were going to one of the most expensive cities in the world. It was hectic but fun; and finding ways to keep the costs down was a challenging mission. We were in a great location called Shinjuku. The hotel had least ten restaurants, a sauna bath, clean, simple rooms, and some great bars and Shinjuku proved to be close to many attractions that we enjoyed thoroughly...
Georgia, the Country: Where Wine Was First Invented
After a tedious border crossing into Georgia, Rusty magically produced a bottle of Georgian wine, twirling it to catch the light: full-bodied purple."We invented wine," he said, screwing out the cork and offering plastic cups around. I’d read that Georgia at least took credit for inventing wine, playing the California sophisticate, swirling the wine in a red plastic mug and inhaling the aroma before sipping. Those in the rest of the van simply tossed it down...
St. Francisville, Louisiana: Plantation Homes and Southern Hospitality
Despite its English roots, St. Francisville oozes Southern charm. One of the first things you’ll notice is the Spanish Moss. It drips from nearly every tree and shrub around. If you’ve never seen it before, the moss is almost eerie. It’s harmless, however, to humans and trees alike. And the longer I spent in St. Francisville, the more I stared to believe that it was the moss, with its dingy gray color, that was responsible for the hush in the air...
Iquique, Northern Chile: Arid Land of Stark Beauty
We flew up north and arrived in Iquique, a mining town of 200,000 right on the Pacific coast, and practically in the Atacama desert. More than 20,000 here work in giant copper, salt and other mines, the men work 10 days in a row with four off. The jobs are coveted and passed down from father to son. It rains about two millimeters a year, so restaurants like El Tercer Ojito don't need any real roofs. "When it rains, it's just a piffle," said Cristina...
Indonesia's Raja Ampat Islands: The Best Snorkeling in the World
There is no doubt about it – the best snorkeling and diving in the world is in Raja Ampat. This west Indonesian archipelago contains more marine bio-diversity than anywhere else in the world – more fish, more corals. My wife and I have snorkeled all around the globe. Raja Ampat, we decided, was even better than Palau. One reason is the area’s isolation. During our 10-day boat trip, we saw no other tourists – no divers, no snorkelers, no anybody....
Visiting London the Second Time Around
I saw most classical attractions on my first trip: admired the Big Ben and Houses of Parliament, crossed the Tower Bridge, and other bridges over the Thames, visited St. Paul’s Cathedral, and walked around the Piccadilly Circus, the City, and Soho. So before my second visit I was kindly asked what else I wanted to see in London. As a true second-timer, I named Stonehenge and Brighton, both outside London...
Hiking Mount Mansfield, Vermont’s Highest Peak
We began trudging uphill, surrounded by views of Lake Champlain, the Adirondacks, the White Mountains and the Green Mountains. The rays of the sun had begun piercing the morning mist which is why we were blessed with all-round amazing views. Breathing in the crisp mountain air, I looked down at the steep drop beside me. Well, some parts of the trail are not suitable for anyone with fear of heights...
Go-Lo.net: Getting Advice From Travel Insiders
A new travel social networking website, Go-Lo.net was launched August, 2009. The site, created by David Paul Appell, president and co-founder of EnLinea, designed the site to allow travelers, travel writers and tourism professionals to exchange ideas about travel. Go-Lo.net has a Facebook-style interface, allowing easy navigation. All one needs in the two-minute sign-up is their name, email, and a password...
Visiting Znojmo: A Little-Known Village in the Czech Republic
Not even mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide, Znojmo is an inconspicuous and little visited destination apart from the trendy and popular towns of Prague and Cesky Krumlov. Three hours south of Prague, this spotless village in the Czech Republic territory of Moravia flirts with its neighbor Austria in the midst of a burgeoning wine industry, content with neglect and comfortable being overlooked as a tourist stopover...
Canada: Montréal Has That Je Ne Sais Quoi
Canada has always remained a mystery to me. It is rarely mentioned in politics, history or just in good old banter. Kind of like the quiet kid who sits in the back of the class that you suddenly find so alluring. My Aunt invited me to stay with her in Montreal for a few days while she attended a convention. I figured this was a true opportunity to dig down as deep as I could to answer the question that has been haunting me: What is it with Canada?
Context Tours: Walking Tours for the Intellectually Curious
Led by scholarly experts like architects, historians and PhD-wielding smarty-pants, the walking tours are extremely small (six people maximum), personal, and informative. Of course, the highlights are available for anyone who asks, and so I did. Tours range from a few hours to entire days, and are offered in New York, Philadelphia, Paris, London, Rome, Florence, Venice, Naples, and Istanbul...
Eco-Adventures All Over the World
Clean Breaks: 500 New Ways to See the World describes 500 eco-friendly adventures all over the world including homestays in Native American tipis, expeditions to watch the zebra migration in Botswana, sleeping in houseboats in India or riding with cowboys in Venezuela. Richard Hammond says he and co-author Jeremy Smith chose "the kind of holidays that get under the skin of a destination while genuinely benefitting local communities."
Traveling Across Eurasia: Jeffrey Tayler’s New Book 'Murderers in Mausoleums'
Across the largest land mass in the world, powerful empires once ruled. Since then, its people have been exploited by relentless wars, power-hungry tyrants and the Communist regime. But what the media fails to highlight in modern, post-Soviet times, Jeffrey Tayler brings into the limelight with his new book Murderers in Mausoleums. Tayler begins his travels in Moscow and moves through the forgotten lands of Central Asia, ending in Beijing...
