Paris of the South- Latin Style

There are few places in the world where the night- life is nearly as enlivened and energetic as in Buenos Aires, Argentina. As most other cities are drifting off to sleep, the social scene here explodes with activity, mirroring that of many other Hispanic cultures. "Buenos Aires never sleeps; most people don’t begin their night until one or two in the morning," says Sony Stark of GoNOMAD.com If you're the type that sleeps til' dusk and rises at dawn, this is your seventh heaven.

Yet, no worries, if Buenos Aires’s night life does not call to you, enjoy the good music, wine and food, dance a bit, and then head back to your hotel around 12 or 1am. Retiro is an ideal place to stay in. It is “lined with antiques, art and yerba mate cafes (loose green tea drank in a hollowed-out gourds) Retiro is the ideal barrio (neighborhood) to find a good night's sleep. There are 87 barrios in Buenos Aires and those surrounding the city center are the most visited.

There is plenty to do in the city during the day as well. “Wander aimlessly to the pulsating rhythms of tango in the barrios (neighborhoods). Feast on a plate of succulent beef at a famous Asado (family-style barbeque). Browse for leather bargains in the friendly pedestrian mall on Calle Florida. The money saved here is enough to fly home first class. And don't worry about your limited Spanish -- sometimes a friendly gesture and a trusted map is all you need to make friends with a beautiful porteño (local). So, walk it, bus it, cab it, but be aware that the sophisticated old charm of Buenos Aires is only skin deep. This Latin city is still struggling from a high post-crisis unemployment rate so a gentle reminder not to take advantage of the exchange rate”.

Last but not least: Don’t forget to Tango!


Source: Sony Stark GoNOMAD.com

Quite the destination: Marrakech

If you are looking to experience somewhere different, then look no further than Marrakech, Morocco for your destination. GoNOMAD.com's own senior editor, Kent E. St. John, describes the city as a step back in time.

“The floor shows in the Fna (a place where thousands gather for dinner every night) are a jumble of snake charmers, storytellers and acrobats. If you’re in need of a spare tooth or care to rid yourself of one giving you trouble, head for the man in a blue cap; the doctor is in. His office is a table set up amidst throngs of revelers.”

Celebrities, rock, stars, and famous people of sorts, visit Morocco frequently. Given that the average famous person's life is so dramatic, it is for people nice to go a place as eccentric as themselves, where hardly anyone will care about their status.

John writes “I had no doubt that when I exited my flight on Royal Air Moroc, a few steps behind Laurence Fishburne in Casablanca, that he was headed to Marrakech. Sitting at a table in a sleek restaurant called Compoir a few nights later sat Susan Sarandon, looking gorgeous.”

Besides finding yourself surrounded with celebrities and exotic animals, a trip to Morocco can be a bit of a culture shock. For instance, while in America it is possible to find items on mark-down, be prepared to bargain for your goods in Morrocco. “Never take the first price on something you want; it just isn’t done and takes the fun out of the salesperson’s day, literally. That doesn’t mean that a pack of gum should be bargained for. They start high, you bid low, then work your way up to the middle. Be civilized. It is a custom and, once you get used to it, fun.”

There is also a lot of culture and history to see in Marrakech. Visit the Gueliz Quarter, once known as Ville Nouvelle, when the area was ruled by the French. The quarter is an interesting place to walk around and sit and have a cup of coffee in a cafe.

Marrakech has lots of interesting things and places to explore; a 6.5 hour plane ride on Royal Air Maroc and you will see for yourself!

Source: Kent E. St. John www.GoNOMAD.com

To Tulum

Hollywood's new take on the last years of Maya rule in central America has attracted controversy for its bloodthirstiness. For once, though, Mel Gibson might not have been too far off the mark in his look back at history.

Apocalypto tells the story of a young man who has been chosen as a human sacrifice - and here in Cobá, on Mexico's Yucatán peninsula, I'm told that bloodletting was the order of the day after a game on the ball court. It is believed that the prize for the rather unfortunate winner was to give up his life, to get one step closer to the gods and bring honour to his family.

One of the largest Mayan cities, Cobá was home to as many as 50,000 people at one time in an area covering nearly 50 square kilometers. They built the 42m-high Nohoch Mul, the tallest pyramid on the peninsula, and prayed at Templo de las Iglesias. But it's at the nearby pelota court where all the action took place.

Archaeologists still aren't sure exactly how the game was played, whether it involved hitting the ball with the hip or knee, or with a stick, but from what they do know, the game called for a lot more skill than a kick-about with a football today. For starters, the ball, made from resin from a rubber tree, weighed a whopping 5kg, and it took a huge amount of strength to bounce it around the slopes of the court and through the ring to score. Since the ancient city was first discovered in 1842, only 5% of the land has been excavated so far. It's painstakingly slow work, but in years to come archaeologists might yet uncover the reason why it fell into decline - as well as the rules of the game.

It's a steep climb up the 120 steps to the top of Nohoch Mul, but it is well worth it for the incredible views. Two gods are carved into the stone of the temple, a great vantage-point over the surrounding land. The green of the jungle spreads out as far as the eye can see, broken only by the occasional ruins of a pyramid built by the Maya to get nearer to their gods.

Source: Angela Dewar

You Get the Whole Dog

Thanks to chainsaw woodcarver Dennis Sullivan, 62, Idaho now boasts the country’s only bed-and-breakfast in a beagle. Sullivan, who lives just outside the town of Cottonwood, pop. 900, got ambitious, moving up from creating pint-size dogs and other animals to a 30-foot-high building that looks like a floppy-eared beagle. The Idaho Statesman ventured inside: "Climb a stairway, open a door, and you’re standing in a bedroom with an adjoining bathroom in the dog’s belly. A ladder takes you to the dog’s nose." The country once boasted many examples of "programmatic architecture" like Sullivan’s dog house. There was the pricey Brown Derby, a Los Angeles restaurant shaped like a hat, and A-framed motel rooms throughout the West that were supposed to look like tepees. But except for railroad-car-shaped diners, the style has fallen out of fashion. Sullivan and his wife, Frances Conklin, say their $88-a-night B & B is already proving a big hit with travelers. Sullivan says that might be because when you book the beagle, "You get the whole dog."

Source: HighCountryNews.org

Yes to Mexico. NO to Cancun

On the way to Cancun with a plane full of graduating high school seniors, we felt as out of place as Yanni fans at a Limp Bizkit concert. Fortunately our final destination was not one of the mega-resorts in Cancun where the high schoolers were going. Where we were headed there are no laser lighted nightclubs, no glass and marble shopping malls, no beach activity directors, and no beer drinking contests. In fact, there is no electricity, no air conditioning, no phones or television, and no paved roads. But what you will find here are romantic Maya style casitas with palm thatched roofs set right at the water’s edge, miles of pristine beach, and an exotic mixture of nature, history, and culture.

Budget hotels in Cancun

Source: www.peoplesguide.com