Altitude Sickness

Anyone who has read The Heights of Machu Picchu by Pablo Neruda would find an irresistible urge to visit the ancient Incan city in Peru. For Erik R. Trinidad, the desire to visit the location superseded his fear of altitude sickness. He writes about the experience in his article Travel Writers: When You Wish Upon A Star (Altitude Sickness Will Flee Far) for Pilot Guides.com.

“I did decide to brave the Inca Trail anyway, after only a day in Cuzco. At the time I thought altitude sickness was just an urban myth created to keep city folk away from the lost city of Machu Picchu, but it was apparent after fifty feet of walking that it was no lie. It wasn't so bad though; we were only at about 8,000 feet above sea level and it wasn't even the highest elevation we'd be during the trek. I drank all the recommended preventives - an exorbitant amount of purified water, coca tea at every pit stop, and some flat soda I bought from a woman along the inhabited part of the trail - and all of them worked as a temporary fix along my way. But by the end of the first day, my head was really starting to pound away like a Caribbean steel drummer as the night sky blanketed over our camp.

The night sky in the Andes is absolutely incredible. Whoever at NASA that decided to spend so much money on an observatory probably never set foot in the Andes, because if he did, he'd see that an observatory would not be necessary. Away from city lights, high up in the mountains, you can see the grandeur of outer space with the naked eye in the Andes. It was absolutely incredible to see the stars glowing out of a pitch black intangible ceiling. But as awe-inspiring as it was, it didn't take my mind away from the fact that altitude sickness was grabbing hold of me.”

Surfing in Costa Rica

A first time surfer travels to Costa Rica, and not only learns about surfing, but also herself. Dina V. Montes, a writer for BootsnAll Travel, shares her experience in Costa Rica in her article; Costa Rica: Americanized or Cool Surfing Spot or Both?

“A month before, I would have never considered riding a wave or going to Costa Rica. The first reason being that I had just learned how to swim at the tender age of 29, and the second reason was that Costa Rica had never been one of my top travel destinations. This was a country I heard was very Americanized.

On my first try, I was wiped out because I propped myself too far back, making the surfboard unbalanced. It sucked because I had to swim over the break again, and every time I paddled, my long arms would hit the sides of the board. On my second try, Alvaro told me to concentrate on propping myself in the middle of the board and then told me to get ready, a wave was coming.

After the canopy tour, I headed back to the camp. It was 3 p.m., an hour away from my second surfing lesson. I was hesitant to give it a second try, but I didn't want to go back to New York without riding a wave.”

Visiting The Beach in Thailand

Reid Bramblett was able to visit the famed waterfall of Alex Garland's novel The Beach on his visit to the islands of Thailand. He describes his day of hiking to the hidden locale with a lost guide named Sami and his bumpy ride aboard an elephant in the evening in his article Discover Hidden Lagoons and Trek the Jungle on Thai Isles for The Daily Herald.

“But a dazed-and-confused guide only added to the surreal experience of Ang Thong. After breakfasting on the boat during the two-hour ride to the park, we paddled sit-atop kayaks to the shores of Ko Mae Ko. Sami scampered ahead while the rest of us laboriously zigzagged up a cliff path and scrambled through a narrow rock cleft.

I arrived first to find Sami slouching against the platform railing. "Nice view, yah?" He grinned and swept his thin, dark arm across the scene. Before us, the jungle opened up to reveal Ko Mae Ko's famed hidden lagoon, a massive azure eye of crystalline water fully encircled by sheer karst cliffs dripping with vegetation.

We returned to Ko Samui for the included cheesy, 20-minute elephant ride through a coconut plantation. In a largely pantomimed conversation with our driver, I learned that our elephant's name was Dao, and she was 33 years old. As the sun set over the jungle canopy, he showed me how to slip my knees behind Dao's rough ears and take an elephant for a spin.”

Gentle Gorillas

Many animals are slowly going extinct due to poachers, and developers forcing them out of their habitat. The gorilla, one of the gentlest creatures, is also nearing extinction. Cindy-Lou Dale, writer for GoNOMAD.com, shares her experience of meeting these wonderful animals in her article; Gorillas and Guerillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“Gorilla numbers have drastically diminished as a result of war and lawlessness in game parks in the eastern DRC. It is only in recent years that forest rangers have been allowed to resume work in parts of the reserve and begin the odious task of assessing the state of the animal population.

Mountain gorillas are gentle, affectionate giants that are one of the most endangered animals in the world and are nearing extinction through loss of habitat and poaching.

I had been warned not to approach the gorillas but instead to wait and see if they came to me, which a few of the younger ones did when they brushed by me. One put her hand on my forearm, lifting it to inspect a scar on my arm.”

Medieval Lion Skulls in the Tower of London

Surprisingly, a portion of the Tower of London used to be a zoo in the Medieval Ages. James Owen, a writer for National Geographic News, explores the secret life of the animals in the tower in his article; Medieval Lion Skulls Reveal Secrets of Tower of London “Zoo.”
“Researchers have been delving into the history of the royal menagerie, using animal remains to reveal the secrets of medieval lions once locked up in the Tower.

"Our research provides important information on some of the earliest lions seen in northern Europe since [European lions] became extinct at the end of the last Ice Age [14,000 to 11,000 years ago]," she added. "It also sheds some light on the conditions and health of animals in one of the world's longest-running menageries."

Jeremy Ashbee, a former Tower of London curator, says the menagerie was the king's private collection and a sign that he enjoyed good relations with foreign monarchs, who presented him with exotic animals.”

Running from Hippos in Uganda

GoNOMAD Transport Editor, Marie Javins learned more than a few lessons about the seemingly sweet hippopotamus during her summer in Uganda. She tells writes about these lessons and more in her article Uganda: Wildlife is Making a Comeback.

“What’s that?” I said, pointing to some straw and mud gunk on the side of our Murchison Falls home.“Hippo shit,” responded my host, nicknamed Herr Marlboro because of his resemblance to the German Marlboro Man. “They flip their tails around when they shit, and it gets it all over the place.”

I hadn’t been aware of this when the hippo had wandered past our bed on the screened verandah the night before. I was living with Herr Marlboro in Murchison Falls National Park -- the largest of Uganda’s ten national parks -- for the summer.

A hippo was eating grass in broad daylight at the northern ferry landing. This hippo seem habituated to people so he got closer than he normally would have, within 50 feet. The hippo was covered in fresh scars and deep wounds. Perhaps it had been involved in a territorial dispute or in a fight with a lion or crocodile.

Then, through my 70-300 mm Canon zoom lens, I saw the hippo stiffen and look up. His face changed from “I like to eat grass” to “I will kill you, tourist.”

He charged.H.M. and I both ran for our lives, straight to our truck. As we were both about to leap up onto the pick-up bed, the hippo slowed and returned to eating grass.”

Living Amongst the Waves of the Caribbean

For some people, the idea of spending days on the ocean, and nights on a Caribbean Island, is nothing but a dream. For Greg Urlwin it is a reality. Writer for Escape From America Magazine, Susan Noyce, interviews Urlwin in her article; Living on Antigua and Barbuda.

“A life at sea sounds like a dream to many. Others would wish for a mixture of land and ocean. Ferrying people and cargo between Antigua and Barbuda, Greg Urlwin has found the perfect blend. In the early 80's, Urlwin decided he wanted to follow in his uncle's wake, and sail to the Caribbean.

"I came down here for a year," he says, "and stayed, two, went home, and was even less interested in being there than I had been before.

And one of the big problems this whole region faces competitively is the transportation problem. If you're in Miami, and you need to do something in West Palm Beach or wherever, you get in the car and you drive there.

"But if you're here in Antigua, and you need to do something in Barbuda, you need to get on to some type of transportation. So to me, a business that solves that problem is a good business.”

Taking a Turkish Bath

One of the coolest things about traveling is the ability to touch base with the past and slip into ancient traditions. For World Hum writer Tony Perrottet dipping into history meant slipping off his clothes in public. He talks about taking his first trip to a bath house in his article The Joy of Steam.

Two thousand years ago, if you were visiting any city in the Roman Empire, you would be woken by the melodious bass of a copper gong resounding through the streets at dawn, announcing the opening of the thermae, or heated public baths — a sound, Cicero rhapsodized, that was sweeter than the voices of all the philosophers in Athens. These ancient baths were far more than mere palaces of cleanliness: They were the Western world’s first true entertainment complexes, combining the facilities of modern gyms, massage parlors, restaurants, community centers and tourist information offices.

They were the ideal place to meet locals or get hot travel tips: In those palatial halls, citizens of all classes lolled by the pools, met their friends, played ball games, relaxed, flirted, drank wine and even had elegant candle-lit dinners. And like nightclubs or gyms today, a city’s baths were unofficially graded: Some were chic, others déclassé; some were expensive, others cost only a copper; some were magnificently designed, as large as cathedrals, decorated with enormous mosaics of Neptune and his dolphins.

Visiting Istanbul was obviously my big chance to experience this ancient travelers’ tradition. Still, I found myself delaying: The embarrassing fact was, I’d never had a massage, let alone visited an actual bath house back home in New York. But we grabbed our towels and headed off valiantly into the night, on a modest expedition into the damp underbelly of antiquity.

2002 Olympics in Utah

Have you ever wondered what a 70 degree, Olympic used, ski pitch looks like? Now you can see one in person when you travel to Wasatch-Cache Nat. Forest in Utah, the site for many of the events held in the 2002 Olympics. Writer for the travel section of The Daily Herald, Reid Bramblett, explores the slopes in his article; Hold your own Olympics in Utah.

“When you're standing at the top of it, a 70-degree ski pitch looks an awful lot like a vertical white cliff. I sneaked a glance at Nathan Rafferty, my guide from Ski Utah, who was contentedly looking out over the unbroken trees of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest surrounding Snowbasin. I could tell he loved to get out of the office.

We were standing atop 9,465-foot Allen's Peak. The cliff beneath our skis was the start of Grizzly, the world-class run laid out for the men's downhill event in the 2002 Olympics. It drops 2,900 vertical feet in less than two miles.

While the world's greatest athletes are strutting their stuff over in Torino, Italy, you can test your own winter sports mettle skiing the pistes, boarding the half pipes and screaming down the bobsleigh run at the 2002 Olympic facilities in Utah.”

Beautiful Belize

BootsnAll Travel writer David W. Kingsley experienced the ancient beauty of Belize while learning about the political state of the country on his recent visit. His article Pyramids and Political Strife: A Day in the Belize River Valley details the creatures and the structures that make Belize a country not to be missed on a world tour, and the controversies over the future of energy and finances in the Central American country.

"We saw massive Ceiba trees with root structures taller than my head and red-blossomed branches that stretched out like a tarantula hairy legs. According to Mayan legend the Ceiba's roots reach into the underworld and its trunk reaches into the heavens, uniting the universe.

The park as a whole was more charming than the Tikal ruins I had seen the previous day in Guatemala, in part because there was almost no one there. Caracol is thought to have been at the top of the Mayan hierarchy in the Belize Valley for much of history.

The final two plazas were magnificent. When we stepped out in front of the Sky Palace I was speechless. The temple is the highest man-made point in Belize. I raced to what I thought was the top only to find more staircases that were hidden by the angle of the base. When I eventually panted my way to the apex the people below were toys and the jungle stretched out everywhere in a dizzying panorama.

I entered it there and then onto a mental list, along with the Giza pyramids and the Duomo in Florence, as one of the most amazingly gorgeous human constructions I had ever seen, and contemplated commonalities between the three while I caught my breath. I think perhaps that their sheer size causes one to step back and contemplate the whole from a vantage point where the imperfections of their components are no longer discernible. They become almost Platonic forms, a bridge between reality and ideal, the physical world and the one behind our eyes, like a portal to the metaphysical."

The Past and the Present in Ethiopia

Dariusz Chmielarski learned that even cultures that have managed to resist the influence of television can succumb to the globalization of machine guns when he visited Ethiopia. His story, The Shadows of Old Africa, can be found at Tripsource, and tells about the old and the new coming together in Ethiopia.

"In the hardly accessible part of south-western Ethiopia close to the Sudanese border, among the hills covered with dry savannah lives the proud and warlike Surma tribe, numbering about 35 to 40 thousand people. This is one of the last African tribesfolks, whose lifestyle and habits at the beginning of 21st century have remain unchanged for hundreds years.

The women still practice the extension of lower lips, using earthen or wooden round plates. This custom, once common in many places of Africa, is preserved nowadays only among two southern Ethiopian tribes i.e. the Surma and the Mursi. The other original Surma ritual, especially popular amongst children, is painting of imaginative patterns on their faces and bodies with the help of white fossil lime.

The traditional occupation of Surma is the nomadic cattle breeding. Some of them still wander with the cattle herds, but the majority, who have settled in about a dozen villages, cultivate maize and sorgo. There is constant fighting in the area between Surma and their traditional enemies, Bume (also called Nyangatom) and the Dizi tribes, despite Ethiopian army intervention. The background of the conflict is water and pasture-grounds for the cattle. Traditional weapons like spears and sticks have been replaced by AK-47s long ago. There are a lot of casualities on each side and you cannot see any Surma warrior without a Kalashnikov rifle these days."

Istria, Croatia

Kent E. St.John, a writer for GoNOMAD.com, explores the world of white truffels and beautiful seaside restaurants in his article; Croatia's Istrian Peninsula: Full of Flavor.

"The peninsula of Istria, Croatia lies just across the Adriatic Sea, and even the Romans of yesteryear considered Istria the perfect place to visit and settle. Today people from around the world are rediscovering the incredible land of this part of Croatia.

Be it wine road, olive oil farms or enjoying white truffles, Istria’s pleasures are satisfying. History blends with chic and mild Mediterranean weather merges in an unforgettable mix. In Istria you can move at your own pace with your own agenda and every day is different. What more could a traveler ask for?

As would be expected from its location Opatija offers all water sports, and seafood is the feature on the menu of many of the restaurants that line the main boulevard. Some stand out dishes I sampled were scampi “na buzaru” and cod filled stew.

There is plenty of nightlife going on throughout the city and walking place to place will fill late night hours. At the Grand Hotel where I stayed the options were plentiful; health club, casino and saltwater indoor pool. Best of all though was the balcony late at night with the moon glowing over the sea."

The Kullu Valley

Escape from America writer Qiwi Lin Lisolet found that Living In The Valley Of Gods offers all the beauty in nature for very little. Deep in the mountains of the Himalayas, in a corner of India, lies this stunning location where outdoors sports abound and expats come to enjoy peaceful quiet.

“The landscapes of Himachal feature breathtaking mountain vistas, dense pine forests, terraced fields, fruit laden orchards, mountain meadows, rare and exotic varieties of plants and wild life. Five rivers flow through the state, and there's an abundance of tributaries, lakes, waterfalls and hot springs.

The Kullu valley, where we've chosen to set up home, is sandwiched between the lower and greater Himalayan ranges. It is believed that this valley was once a vast lake. Local legend has it that the Ark of Manu landed here after a great flood, with its cargo of Gods - which is why it's called The Valley of Gods. The closest town to where we live is Manali.

The most important advantages of life in the Valley of Gods: The cost of living is unbelievably low, there's plenty of untapped business potential, especially catering to the steady flow of tourists, and the air, water and views are perfect.

When I say low cost of living I really mean rock bottom. You can live like a king in a large luxurious home, well appointed with all modern amenities including satellite TV with English language channels (BBC, CNN, CNBC, HBO), enjoy sports such as paragliding, skiing, snowboarding, trekking, cycling, rock-climbing, and white water rafting, and feast on fresh fruits from the orchards, fresh brown trout from mountain streams, and delicious local delicacies, all on less than $500 a month.”

Free Visits in Paris

There are a million ways to spend money is Paris. France is known for its fashion, its food, and most of all, its museums. Therefore, these tips from ReidsGuides for saving money on seeing famous works of art can make dreams of visiting Paris come true. Even more tips are detailed at The Intrepid Traveler: Short on Euros? See Paris for Free.

“The Louvre is free. No, really—and I don't mean by sneaking in the back door. You just have to know when to go: the first Sunday of every month.
In fact, more than a dozen top sights throw open their doors that Sunday, from the medieval Thermes de Cluny, to the crowd-pleasing Impressionists at the Musée d'Orsay, to the modern art in the Pompidou There's also a slew of museums dedicated to such greats as Picasso, Rodin, and Delacroix.

Paris has more than its share of famous people who left their hearts—and everything else—here. You can hit the Cimetière de Montemartre (Degas, Offenbach, Truffaut, Dumas) or Cimetière de Montparnasse (Sartre, Baudelaire, Maupassant, Simone de Beauvoir) but hands down the best burial ground in Paris is Père-Lachaise, 108 acres of rolling, wooded parkland where hundreds of cultural giants rest in peace. The short list includes Proust, Molière, Balzac, Oscar Wilde (great Art Deco tomb), Isadora Duncan, Sarah Berhardt, Chopin, Bizet, Edith Piaf, Ingres, Modigliani, and Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas (who share a headstone). Doors fans take note: Jim Morrison's grave is now cordoned off to keep acolytes from scrawling graffiti on surrounding tombs and littering the site with offerings (flowers, cigarettes, bad poetry, booze, and "special" sugar cubes).

For sunset, head to the steps of Sacre Coeur in Montmartre, buy refreshments from an itinerant beer seller hauling plastic pails full of Heineken, and watch the lights twinkle across the city spread out at your feet.”

Sapporo Snow Festival

Japan boasts a number of attractions but one of the most unique is the Sapporo Snow Festival held in February on the island Hokkaido. A theme guide on lonelyplanet.com explores the snow festival in the article; Sapporo Snow Festival.

“There is nothing wabi, sabi or shibui (hallmarks of the classic Japanese aesthetic) about an endearing but clumsily put together backyard snowman; to see snow finessed into an object of beauty, you need to get along to the Sapporo Snow Festival.

Each year at the beginning of February (Japan's coldest month), Sapporo, the capital of Japan's northernmost island, Hokkaido, attracts a cavalcade of international visitors. They come to watch the city morph into an opaline dreamworld and marvel as the streets become a kabuki-style Disneyland of glittering monsters and ice-maidens, gods and demons, palaces and pyramids. Today more than two million people flood the streets of Sapporo in February, waiting for the frosted statues to appear.

The combined result of all this carving and sculpting, usually lit up at night with coloured lights, is a spun-crystal dreamscape of fairylights and magic. The main boulevard is spangled with hundreds of statues, some as large as houses (come to think of it some are houses) and over the years the festival has showcased frosted versions of the Statue of Liberty, the Great Wall of China, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Pyramids of Egypt."

Turin, Italy; Boasting the Olympics and Great Chocolate

Turin, home of the 2006 Olympics, is not the typical tourist hotspot in Italy. Yet, this city offers an abundance of attractions for anyone who likes art, aperitifs, culture, chocolate, and much more. Writer for GoNOMAD.com, Jim Sajo, explores Turin in his article; Turin, Italy: Regal grandeur, Bohemian Nightlife.

“ The intense passion of international sports competition played out amid the heart-stopping beauty of the Italian Alps. Turin exudes regal dignity of Italy’s historic royal family, yet boasts the most bohemian nightlife on the peninsula. Intriguing museums celebrate the art and culture of a city where citizens embrace chocolate and an aperitif as necessity rather than luxury.

Luci d’Artista - Each winter, a group of artists, backed by platoons of technicians and construction crews, build an outdoor museum of light. Lining Via Roma, dazzling Piazza Carignano or lighting up the imposing façade of Palazzo Madama, the ultramodern exhibit (the first of its kind in Europe) is comprised of 60 miles of electrical cable and more than 700,000 light bulbs. A hypnotic site during an evening stroll.

Chocolate is made each day in hundreds of forms and combinations. Just about every street has workshops, candy makers, and pastry stores enticing you to make a significant gastronomic investment. Buy a “ChocoPass” from the tourist office; you’ll receive a discount for up to 15 treats at participating businesses. Here are suggestions for the best value, widest variety, and most elegant chocolate shops.”

Margarita Island during the Holiday Season

Have you ever thought of celebrating the holiday season someplace warm and tropical? If the answer is yes, Margarita Island in Venezuela would be a great choice. Scott Boswell, writer for Escape from America Magazine, shares the delights of the island in his article; Christmas and New Year on Margarita Island.

“ Just as in most of the rest of the world, the colored lights are strung along the the major roadways, houses are decorated, and stores are abundantly stocked in anticipation of the shopping frenzy. Homes are repaired, painted, and ‘spruced up’ to be ready for all the visiting friends and relatives, and parties are everywhere! In my neighborhood alone one house had 24 cars parked around it!

The island fills up starting Dec. 10-15 and if you don’t have reservations it is impossible to find a room or bed. People from the mainland come to vacation, visit family, and shop here to avoid the 15% taxes charged on the mainland. Stereos, T.V.’s, appliances, clothes & toys are bought by the basket load.

The real partying starts Christmas Eve, and it sounds like all hell broke loose! More like a ‘fire-fight’ than Christmas. Every neighborhood has at least one “pyromaniac” so fireworks start before dusk and continue until about 4 a.m."

Following James Joyce

There are a million ways to fall in love with a place. Seeing the mark it made on your favorite writer is just one. For GoNOMAD writer Christine H. O'Toolel, Tracking James Joyce in Trieste was the best way to experience the Italian city.

“It’s a classic James Joyce scene: glittering water, slim boats sliding by a low bridge, bustling crowds, and surveying the scene, the anti-hero who made it all famous. Joyce’s bronze statue slouches near the home where he detonated English literature: not overlooking the Liffey in Dublin, but by the Adriatic, in Trieste, Italy.

Joyce was broke when he came here. Before Trieste, he’d dabbled as a med student in Paris. He’d won the Irish national singing competition. His writing would remain unpublished for another decade. The local Berlitz School hired him to teach English to immigrants--German, Slovenian, Italian, Greek, or Croatian.

“There was an enormous underclass in Trieste,” says Schneider, “laborers, sailors, and dockworkers from all over Europe, side by side.” Triestine, originally a Venetian dialect, was a stew of all their languages, and it fascinated Joyce. Some say the tongue-twisting passages of Ulysses have roots in this local slang.

“Think you're escaping and run into yourself. Longest way round is the shortest way home,” Joyce wrote in Ulysses. He continued to take the long way, dying in Zurich in 1941. The city he called “la belle Trieste” would become only a memory.”

Travel Reading

When traveling, a book can transform a vacation into an historical journey. For my trip to Sicily last year, I read The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, and for World Hum writer E. Casey Kittrell’s trip to Tunisia, she found a traveloge. Her experience is detailed in A Direct Impression.

“Choosing a book for a short trip to Tunisia last year was harder than I imagined. A host of legendary figures had traversed and commented on the country, from Hannibal and Homer to Ibn Battuta to Atlantic correspondent Robert Kaplan. In the end, I chose Fountains in the Sand, a 1912 account of the Tunisian Sahara by the British writer Norman Douglas.

Arriving almost a century later than Douglas, I would not see the same Tunisia that he did. The first place it led me to was Douz, site of the International Sahara Festival. The festival celebrates the nomadic traditions of all Saharan peoples. Those traditions still flourished in Douglas’ time, but today very few Tunisians live a nomadic life. Where Douglas got to see the real thing, I saw a re-creation.

The grandstand faced a flat oval of parched brown earth, while the sky was bleached of all color. The flags of more than two dozen nations snapped in a steady west wind that blew the peaks off nearby sand dunes, bringing the desert—literally—into our laps.

We shook the sand off as we stood for the Tunisian national anthem, and within moments of the last note the bleak scene before us was transformed into a circus of color, sound, and motion. Long-haired maidens whipped their raven locks in rhythm with the drums and horns of accompanying musicians. Horsemen atop brightly woven saddle blankets paraded past us, then returned at full gallop, some balanced in headstands atop their saddles. More than 50 camels and riders assembled around the perimeter of the oval.”

New Orleans Post Katrina

Wonder if it’s safe, or even worthwhile, to visit New Orleans after Katrina ravaged the Big Easy? Jay Cooke, of lonely planet.com, explores New Orleans post Katrina in his article New Orleans-Back to the Big Easy.

“ I went down to New Orleans on December 1 for five days to survey the scene, and report on the city’s recuperation. Make no mistake, Katrina hammered New Orleans. It's evident everywhere that the city suffered a major calamity: trashed neighbourhoods, debris, darkened traffic signals, splintered oaks, missing pet signs, marooned motorboats, blue-tarped roofs and the oddly unsettling presence of US military troops, fully uniformed, stoically patrolling their native soil.

To the traveller, parts of the city seem borderline normal. If Katrina has a silver lining, it’s that the areas most dependent on tourism - a huge part of the Nola (New Orleans and Louisiana) economy - escaped the worst of Katrina. The 20% that didn’t flood gets about 90% of city tourism. On its long road to recovery, tourism will be even more important, a fact you’ll hear stressed all around town.

So the question remains: should you go to New Orleans? At the end, that’s a personal decision each traveller must make. This is tough travel now, no doubt. But throughout my visit, if there was one message the people of New Orleans consistently conveyed (besides ‘Build Category 5 levees’), it was simply, 'Please return'.”

Italy on a Budget

For Andrea and Richard Farrow their once-in-a-lifetime trip to Italy needed to include stops to all the most beautiful locations and fit within a budget. ReidsGuides.com showed them the best ways to eat gelato in Rome, watch the sunrise in Venice, hike along ancient goat paths of Cinque Terre, see the volcanic ruins of Pompeii, and much more in a vacation that would cost about $4,500. Here are just two of the activities from the article TRIP COACH: 'I'm Surprising My Wife With a Romantic Trip to Italy' that they will enjoy.

“The Farrows' first glimpse of Italy is in Rome, where their tight schedule allows for three days. Although they want to see the city's big-name attractions, we told them not to get bogged down with a checklist of sights. There are a number of ways to enjoy Rome, such as window-shopping the fashion boutiques of Via dei Condotti, tasting the creamy gelato at Giolitti, and wasting an afternoon at a café on Piazza Navona (so that Andrea can engage in an activity that she had requested--"sitting outside and watching people as they move about their daily lives.")

Wandering around the dusty streets, crumbling temples, vacant houses, intact bakeries, and amphitheater of Pompeii--all frozen in time (a.d. 79, to be precise) by the hot ash of a volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius--should eat up five or six hours. Snack trucks lining the road to Pompeii provide a simple lunch, and gift shops sell excellent illustrated guides to help navigate the ruins. If they limit themselves to three hours in Pompeii, they may be able to squeeze in Herculaneum, the less crowded and in many ways more evocative victim of Vesuvius. They just need to hop out at the Ercolano stop on the return to Naples.”

Fun Things to Do in Perth

Having a few good friends from Perth, Australia, I couldn’t help but be fascinated by this article from BootsnAll Travel. Writer David Stephens tells about the best things to do in this city down under that are all cheap and fun. Five are posted here, but check out his article, A Cheap Day's Perth: 25 Things to Do in the Centre of Perth for Under $10, for the other twenty.

“If your goal is to see the most for the least - then Perth is your town! Blessed with options for the traveller who's low on cash but high on ingenuity, here are some ideas for around the Central Business District to run with:

1. See Some Flowers - Kings Park is a huge bushland area right in the centre of the city that is great to walk through at any time of year. From the Anzac memorial here, you get the best view of Perth, particularly at night (and you won't be alone), and the DNA tower just has to be climbed.

2. Visit the Power People - Every Monday and Thursday at 10:30 a.m., free tours of the state Parliament House are held - just turn up on time. You can also watch parliament when it's in session.

3. See Money Made - a visit to the still operational Perth Mint at 310 Hay St will cost you a pittance.

4. Take a Cruise –Transperth has regular ferries from Barrack St. Jetty in Perth to South Perth for a miserly $2 - any cheaper and it's theft! You can stay on the ferry for the return, or walk back via either the Narrows Bridge, or the causeway over Heirisson Island.

5. Shop for a Suit of Armour - For the budding Knight in Shining Armour - the quintessential stop in Perth is Millenium Medieval Emporium at 888 Hay St - suits of armour, swords, chain mail - you've just got to go and see it.”

Tunisia Through a Travelogue

When traveling someplace new, sometimes it’s better to read a travelogue than a guidebook. Writer for worldhum.com, E. Casey Kittrell, comments upon a travelogue he read before venturing to Tunisia in his article; A Direct Impression.

“Like many people, I try to read more than guidebooks when traveling. Guidebooks are important, but they are geared to a traveler’s needs, not his wants—that is, his understanding and experience of a new place. Travelogues and works by local authors (including fiction) have opened my eyes to the subtle shades of local life that make a place memorable. Where a guidebook draws a map, literature paints a picture.

Choosing a book for a short trip to Tunisia last year was harder than I imagined. A host of legendary figures had traversed and commented on the country, from Hannibal and Homer to Ibn Battuta to Atlantic correspondent Robert Kaplan. In the end, I chose Fountains in the Sand, a 1912 account of the Tunisian Sahara by the British writer Norman Douglas.

I wanted to leave my copy of “Fountains in the Sand” in Tunisia, partly because I wanted someone else to enjoy it in the place it was meant to be read. (Unfortunately, it was a library copy and I brought it home.) But mostly I wanted to leave Douglas behind because he was, even at his best, one of those “encumbrances” the wise traveler discards in favor of the French painter’s “direct impression.” Travel literature can be informative, even inspirational, but sometimes its authors are best treated as companions—ones we can eventually part from—in the journey, not as guides.”

Hong Kong. . .Tropical Island

Antonio Graceffo, writer for Escape from America Magazine, reminds readers that Hong Kong is more than a bustling hubbub of people in his article The Adventure Side Of Hong Kong. Hong Kong is also a tropical island with all the delights and activities that one can offer. Everything from rock climbing to sailing is possible with the added bonus of being close to the luxuries of the city.

“Most visitors to Hong Kong know the SAR as a shopping paradise, famous for fine dining, luxury accommodations, and spending money. But Hong Kong is also a tropical island, covered in green peaks and surrounded by a stunning ocean.

Sailing, ocean kayaking, indoor and outdoor rock climbing, trekking and hiking, paddling, running, cycling, orienteering, paintball, horseback riding, martial arts, and some of the most developed gyms in the world, are just a few of the active vacations available. The island offers an excellent alternative for those seeking adventure, without sacrificing comfort. Imagine waking up in a plush hotel, driving forty minutes to a day of rock climbing, and then spending an evening at the theater, followed by a gourmet dinner, and topped off by dancing in a first class night club. You could spend the next day orienteering in the billowy foothills, and your evening sailing in Hong Kong bay.

If you are on a tight budget, you would be surprised at the number of sport activities that are available to Hong Kong tourists for little or no money.

For Hong Kongers, a trip to the hills is a good way to get some relief from the constant hustle of life in the economic tiger. With a population of 6,898,686 people crammed into an area of only 1,042 sq km, Hong Kong has one of the highest population densities in the world.”

Working on Vacation

WWOOFing on the Farm: Volunteering On An Organic Farm in New Zealand tells the tale of GoNOMAD writer Celeste Brash’s adventures weeding, planting, and harvesting while on vacation.

"By afternoon we are all sunned, dirty and have moved on to picking tomatoes. By evening, we are contentedly exhausted, but inspired enough by the array of fresh fruits and vegetables that we cook another great meal. Feeling the satisfaction that comes only after a day of long, hard, physical work, I fall quickly to sleep, unable to find any thoughts that might keep me awake.

For three days a week, we work on the farm weeding, planting or harvesting. The other four days we are free to visit local Napier and Hastings sights, meet with new friends or just relax and read a book. Our kitchen is stocked daily with an impressive supply of farm produce, and we all have our own comfortable bedrooms.

But, the best part is meeting the local farm workers who invite us to their houses, show us around the area and even take us to parties. By the end of a spiritually and physically rewarding three weeks, I find that the only money I’ve spent is on a few beers with friends down at the local pub. Created in the UK in 1971 and established in New Zealand in 1974, WWOOF was meant to bring the experiences of different peoples to small, rural farmers, while simultaneously opening up life on organic farms to outsiders.

There are small farms that ask to host families with children, others mention they enjoy meeting musicians or people of particular religious denominations. Many farms are entirely self-sufficient and interested in teaching sustainable development to others. There are sheep farms, medicinal herb farms, cattle ranches, deer farms and classic produce farms; there is even one listing for a Buddhist monastery."

Farm Life

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live on a farm? Now you can live on a farm for a few days during a farmstay. Anne H. Waigand, a GoNOMAD.com Lodgings Guide writer, explores farmstays around the world in her article; Farmstays Around the World.

“Spending time on a farm can be strangely reassuring. After all, staying on the land provides a brief, but intimate, glimpse into the way things used to be and confirms that, somewhere in this technologically advanced world, there are communities still living quite well on what they cultivate from the land. In these microcosms of society are often found the history of a region, seemingly frozen in time.

Both working and non-working farms provide accommodations for travelers, anything from a room in the main farmhouse to a cabin located on the land. Properties range from the most rustic operating farm to an elegant bed and breakfast. On working farms, visitors are often invited to participate in the daily chores, and many rejoice in the opportunity to get in touch with nature--literally. Tasks can include the traditional milking of cows, feeding of hens, and gathering of hay.”

The World of Espiritu

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to participate in a sacred ritual in which you gain understanding into deeper levels of consciousness? GoNOMAD.com writer Sheila Mary Koch explores the world of Espiritu Practice in her article Smoking Spirit: Sharing a Woman’s Espiritu Practice in Cuba.

“Tobacco fog filled the Old Havana apartment where I waited with three generations of Cuban women for my first Espiritu ceremony to begin. The five of us sat in a semicircle facing an altar covered with glasses of water, flowers, cigars and a single candle.

Two cloth dolls on a tiny chairs and a metal pail filled with swords and sticks completed our circle. I felt grateful to my new friend, Indina, for inviting me to this intimate gathering.

Indina had explained that her mother practices Espiritu, which isn't Santeria yet incorporates similar African rituals along with Catholicism and clairvoyance, then had asked if I wanted to experience it myself.

Indina's mother turned out to be the leader of the ceremony. She took her cigar and put the lit end inside her mouth, puffed out her cheeks and exhaled billows of smoke until her cigar was almost gone. Meanwhile, Indina and the oldest woman lit up filterless Cuban cigarettes.”

Sailing by Brazil

Few travel experiences could be more amazing than sailing alongside the beautiful coastline of Brazil from Paraty to Rio de Janeiro. GoNOMAD writer Jessica Taryn describes the joys that can be found on the ocean in her article Brazilian Tall Ship Sailing Adventure.

"Sailing on sea green waters to white sand beaches where the sun warms the earth in the daytime and the nights provide breathtaking sunsets, snorkeling among brightly-colored tropical fish, climbing mountains and hiking rainforests full of exotic animals, and partying into the night under the stars, are only a small glimpse of what the Brazil Tall Ship Sailing Adventure has to offer.

Travelers enjoy the evening in Paratay, which Russill describes as, "Alive with the reminiscence of past glory, a very laid back and antique feel comes over the dimly lit cobblestone streets at night," he said.

The next morning, passengers wake up to a Brazilian tropical breakfast, and are free to roam the island before the boat sets sail for the Ecological Reserve Mamangua. Some passengers, like Russill, choose to find their own breakfast.

"We jump off the side of the boat, swim to a deserted white sand beach on shore, and collect our own enormous bunches of fresh wild bananas... It’s not often in our modern busy lives that we fetch our own breakfast straight from the land, and I’m pretty sure I can taste it in the bananas."

At Mamangua the Tall Ship Tour provides options of rainforest hikes, waterfall expeditions, beach soccer or canoe paddling.

"It is an five-mile (8km) tropical fjord, and except for a few small fishing villages, is an uninhabited canyon of deep blue water, deserted beaches, native Atlantic rainforest, and sheer mountains and cliffs rising straight out of the sea. There are no roads to get where we are, and I hope there never are," he said."

Hot Spots in Cape Town

Cape Town, South Africa offers a mix of natural beauty, historical interest, and a hip new culture where excellent music, food and wine can be found in abundance. GoNOMAD senior travel editor Kent S. John wrote about his journey to this city in his article Cape Heaven: The Tip is Tops!

“Cape Town started as just a stop for traders from the Dutch East India Company heading to Asia. By 1652 the Dutch figured they ought to run their own fill up station. Apartheid in South Africa was born under Table Mountain. It today best provided me with a glimpse into the great possibilities for South Africa's future.

The area is filled with off beat restaurants, bars, shops and music venues. Sounds of kwela, township jive and kwaito pour out of doorways mingled with aromas of curry and spices. Visually perfect with a glorious taste. Scenic mountains trellised with hectares of grapes. Blue skies and whitewashed Dutch farm houses. After traveling through some of the world's best wine regions, I have to state that I would pick returning to the Cape wine area above all.

Everybody's darling destination in Cape Town is Robben Island. It is the pinnacle of apartheid agony and was Nelson Mandela's home for 27 years. In the 18th century princes and sheiks from Malaysia and India were sent by the Dutch East India Company to pay for their resistance to European overlords. The South African Prisons Service continued the practice of abomination in 1960. In 1991 the last prisoners were released, except for those that serve as guides today. It is now an UNESCO site and a must see to believe. The visit is more astounding when you realize that the guides are all former prisoners.”

Travel Insurance; Don't go on Vacation Without it

Afraid of getting sick in a foreign country and not having health insurance to cover those hefty hospital bills? Fear no more, there are a slew of travel insurance plans available today that cover everything from sickness in a foreign country, to missed flights and lost baggage. GoNOMAD.com writer Michael Di Natale, discusses different plans in his article, Hurricanes and Travel Insurance: What Travelers ought to Know.

“The right policy can save the day when it seems as if everything is going down the tubes by providing protection in the case of almost any emergency. As an extreme example, some plans will allow for insured travelers to return home if disaster strikes at home while they are away.

In the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the disaster they wreaked on the gulf coast, it is important for people to know and understand what kind of protection is available to them in such situations so that if these situations come up, they can be prepared. When a storm is approaching there are many ways a traveler can rely on insurance, beginning with the early stages of the storm and following through afterward.

Travel insurance covers more than weather events. All emergencies and unforeseen events can be covered by a proper plan, giving you the piece of mind you need to truly relax and enjoy your vacation.”

The Next Best Thing to the Moon

Thinking about going on vacation? Why not try the moon? Well not really the moon but about as close as you'll get anywhere on earth, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. Read about San Pedro in Journey to Mars: San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, by GoNOMAD.com writer Max Hartshorne.

"San Pedro de Atacama is an oasis visible far ahead as we drive the rail-straight road out of Calama. The road shimmers and is unendingly flat, in the moonscape desert all around you; San Pedro is the only green patch. It's called the Valley of the Moon. NASA tested out their Martian rover vehicle here, where these boulder-strewn flatlands look a lot like the photos of the red planet we've seen on TV.

The town is laid out in a square grid; the streets are full of mountain bikers, donkey carts, and expedition minibuses. San Pedro is town with a 500-year leftover head rush from the hallucinogenics taken so liberally by the Incas who once ruled here.

Chile's Atacama desert is place where the vastness of everything around you makes you feel small, yet the warmth of the fires match the warmth of the locals. It feels like a place we'll be reading much more about in the years ahead, as more and more travelers discover San Pedro."

Brown Bears of Kamchatka

For the brown bears of Kamchatka, Russia, travel writing might be a call for their rescue. National Geographic writer Gleb Raygorodetsky focuses on these magnificent bears in his article for the magazine entitled Giants Under Siege. The gorgeous photos are the work of Steve Winter.

“The bear's head swings from side to side like a metronome as he lumbers across the slope. A week or two out of hibernation, he's spent the day filling his belly on the first lush greens of spring in the Valley of the Geysers on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. Struggling to keep his eyes open, he stumbles a few yards to the top of a knoll and crashes, resting his massive head on his front paws, and immediately nods off. The long winter over, all seems well.

Not so. A new season has arrived filled with perils for Kamchatka's brown bears, the largest in Eurasia. During the Soviet era, when I was growing up here, access to the 750-mile-long (1,200-kilometer-long) peninsula was tightly restricted by the military, and there was plenty of federal money for wildlife management. As many as 20,000 bears roamed this wilderness. After the Soviet Union collapsed, international trophy hunting came to the region, oil exploration and gas development and gold mining increased, and fish and wildlife poaching grew rampant. The bear population fell to about 12,500.

Today international organizations such as the Wildlife Conservation Society, for whom I work as a biologist, are helping Russian wildlife managers. But here in Russia's untamed frontier, far from Moscow's prosperity, with the local economy still in a slump, the future of the bears is up for grabs—dependent on people with different stakes in the animals. To the hunting guide the bears are a source of income. To the scientist they're a key part of Russia's wilderness. To the poacher they're competitors for salmon (and lucrative caviar). And to the reindeer herder they're wise and powerful neighbors. Whether the giants survive or fade away depends on who prevails.”

Ecotourism in Panama

GoNOMAD writer Jon Kohl discovers that The Emberá Indians have found a way of life that incorporates traditions and new trends in ecotourism. He writes about his experience in his article Up the River: A Lesson in Community-Based Ecotourism in Panama.

“Originally from the Darien region of Panama near Colombia, a few Emberá Indians migrated to the Rio Chagres area in the 1920s, the river that feeds the Panama Canal. Their numbers have grown since, and although in the ecotourism business only five years, they are trying to write the text on community-based ecotourism.

As they tune my welcoming, women and children run down from their village. They smile and wave. The sunny reds and oranges of their traditional garb profile them against the cool background green of the rainforest. The most expensive hotels in Panama City could not offer a warmer welcome. Jorge smiles, "Bienvenidos a Emberá Drua."His wife, Crecencia, then shows us how they make baskets and the natural black, brown, orange, and red dyes, how they carve figures in wood and the ivory-like seed tagua. Later the Emberá treat us to traditional dances, fried plantains and fish, and body painting. Some tourists hike the nature trail and others go swimming. Jorge tells me that tourists can canoe, fish, bird-watch, or just relax. After two or three hours, the tourists pack up and head down river.

Before the Panamanian government declared the Rio Chagres area a national park the subsistence Emberá hunted and farmed and struggled for their rights. With the declaration, they had to look for an alternative. Most local groups would have fought, as they do throughout Central America when governments restrict their economic activity, but not the Emberá. Instead, they had a Renaissance.”

Haggling Skills

The adventurous tourist can now travel to places unimagined just a decade ago. GoNOMAD writer Jessica P. Hayden hiked across Kazakhstan and learned about the need for Americans to practice their haggling skills in her article Backpacking in Kazakhstan: Negotiations at 10,000 Feet.

"Fifteen years ago, the Tian Shan mountain range was inaccessible to most backpackers. Located in the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the region was once registered as a restricted zone. Today foreigners can now explore the peaks and valleys where great Soviet alpinists once trained, not to mention a place where British and Russian spies once vied for control.

The three-day hike would take us from just outside of Almaty, the crowded and busy capital of Kazakhstan to peaceful Lake Issik-Kyl on the Kyrgyzstan side of the border. Amidst all of this natural beauty, there we stood: five Americans and one Kazakh rider who had packed about 40 pounds of our gear into the saddlebags on his horse. He refused to continue. We refused to pay until he did. We haggled, we begged. We threatened to leave his payment at the border. He turned to leave with our tents, food and sleeping bags. We realized we were screwed.

In the end, we folded. The now infamous horseman unloaded our gear and took off, into the vast expanse of the Tian Shan mountain range. The next day wasn't easy with the extra weight, but there is a certain sense of accomplishment when you hike through the mountains carrying everything you need with you, on your own. When we arrived in Kyrgyzstan, we were dirty and tired – but we had made it and it felt good."

Switzerland's Little Sister

Vacationing in Switzerland has become so expensive that it might be worthwhile to try Switzerland’s funkier, cheaper, little sister, Slovenia. Read about Slovenia in Slovenia at Fifteen: Hip, But Unspoiled, by GoNOMAD.com writer Christine H. O’Toole.

“If it weren’t for its sliver of sparkling Adriatic seacoast, you’d take Slovenia for a Mini-Me version of Switzerland. Its attractions, from skiing to swimming to hang-gliding, are similar, and it offers the same smooth English-speaking welcome. But it’s half the size — and half the price.

Vacations here can be miniature, too. You can “do” the country in less than a week. But my sojourn left a few more tolars in my pocket. A $60 Swiss dinner costs $30 here; hotel rates are a bargain, too. The vibe is relaxed, instead of ripped-off.

We entered the country on a short train ride from the Italian port city of Trieste; a RailEurope Selectpass made it easy to slip over the border.
At Nova Goriza, we were greeted by a looming mountain with the inscription “NAS TITO” (Our Tito). That homage to Yugoslavia’s larger-than-life leader, who died in 1980, pointed us along a stunning valley railway to our destination: his former summer home, Lake Bled.”