Destination: Asia
Theme Parks Bound for Mumbai and Dubai
by Jim Benning | 05.02.07 | 3:24 PM ET
Here at the Planet Theme Park desk, it’s hard to keep up with all the projects in the works, but we try. In the latest news, a $100 million Bollywood theme park is planned for the Indian city of Mumbai—or Bombay if you’re a certain UK newspaper apparently still in denial about that whole name change thing that was so 1995.
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Yahoo! BuzzThe Fastest Cities in the World on Two Feet
by Jim Benning | 05.02.07 | 9:17 AM ET
Researchers who secretly studied pedestrians in 32 cities around the globe found that people in Singapore walk the most swiftly, covering 60 feet in 10.55 seconds. Copenhagen came next at 10.82 seconds, followed by Madrid, Guangzhou and Dublin. New Yorkers ranked 8th at 12 seconds flat. (Come on, New York, we know you can do better than that. Let’s get a move on.) Not surprisingly, technology is blamed at least in part for the increasingly frenetic pace of life. The radio show Marketplace notes a correlation between cities where people are walking faster than they did a decade ago and economic growth. The two cities where walking speeds have increased the most in the last decade: Singapore and Guangzhou, China.
World’s Tallest Pagoda Opens
by Jim Benning | 05.01.07 | 3:34 PM ET
In Changzhou, China. For those keeping score—and who isn’t?—Tianning Pagoda is 510 feet tall, 13 stories and dates back to the Tang dynasty. It was recently rebuilt for the fifth time.
Burma: ‘There Are So Many Songs Waiting To Be Sung in This Country’
by Michael Yessis | 04.30.07 | 1:47 PM ET
The debate about whether travelers should visit Burma goes on, but Carolann Moisse made her decision: She and her husband traveled through the country, supporting “private initiative” and putting their tourist dollars in places that they hoped wouldn’t support the country’s government. Her story in the Christian Science Monitor describes roads with “potholes the size of meteorite craters” and a few fleeting moments of connection.
Related on World Hum:
* The Burma Debate, Continued
* Burma’s Ongoing Cycle of Despair
* Big Brother in Burma
Another Dead Man Traveling
by Jim Benning | 04.30.07 | 12:46 PM ET
We recently noted the flying corpse on a British Airways flight. Now comes news that a dead man spent hours on an Indonesian train before he was discovered in a locked lavatory. Understandably, the man’s daughter isn’t happy with the train company.
The Burma Debate, Continued
by Michael Yessis | 04.30.07 | 8:12 AM ET
Should you go to Burma, a culturally rich and beautiful country controlled by a repressive military regime? Or should you boycott the country, as opposition leaders and many human rights organizations suggest? Fiona Dunlop takes the pro-travel position in the Guardian this weekend, arguing that the more informed foreign are visitors the better. “I feel strongly that Burma’s Big Brother needs observers,” Dunlop writes.
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: The Road to Adventure
by Michael Yessis | 04.27.07 | 9:10 AM ET
This week travelers were drawn to roads in California, Vietnam and danger zones throughout the world. Italy, France, Hong Kong and a discount startup airline were also top of mind. Here’s the Zeitgeist.
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Puglia: Italy’s Heel Has It All, Except Tourists
Most E-mailed Travel Story
New York Times (current)
Practical Traveler: As Hotel Prices Rise, a Villa May Be a Bargain
Most Popular Travel Story
Netscape (this week)
Top 5 Most Dangerous Roads of the World
* The photos will make your stomach churn.
Most Viewed Travel Story
Los Angeles Times (current)
U.S. Highway 395: California’s ‘Mother Road’
* Here’s the accompanying photo gallery.
Most Read Weblog Post
World Hum (this week)
‘American Shaolin’: Interview with Matthew Polly
Top Travel and Adventure Audiobook
iTunes (current)
Fodor’s French for Travelers
Best Selling Travel Book
Amazon.com (current)
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Critics: ‘Bad Lands: A Tourist on the Axis of Evil’
by Michael Yessis | 04.24.07 | 10:57 AM ET
It’s not a new idea, visiting the countries U.S. President George W. Bush dubbed the “Axis of Evil.” Ben Anderson, for instance, did it several years ago, and the BBC broadcast several programs based on his travels. Now Lonely Planet founder Tony Wheeler has written “Bad Lands: A Tourist on the Axis of Evil,” in which he chronicles his travels through Bush’s original three “axis” countries—Iran, Iraq and North Korea—plus Afghanistan, Albania, Burma, Cuba, Libya and Saudi Arabia.
‘American Shaolin’: Interview with Matthew Polly
by Michael Yessis | 04.19.07 | 7:57 AM ET
Gadling’s Justin Glow has posted a Q&A with Matthew Polly, whose book “American Shaolin” chronicles two years living and training with Shaolin Monks in China. “When I was a kid I saw the TV show Kung Fu with David Carradine. I idolized his character,” Polly tells Gadling. “He looked as awkward as I felt and yet he was a total bad-ass. When I was in college I started to study Chinese language, philosophy, Ch’an (Zen) Buddhism, and kung fu. The Shaolin Temple is the birthplace of kung fu and Zen Buddhism, so it was like going to the source.” ‘Shaolin’ has been getting good reviews, and the movie rights have been optioned by Fox2000. Polly has posted an excerpt on his Web site.
China to Female Taxi Drivers: No Chunky Earrings!
by Michael Yessis | 04.18.07 | 7:23 AM ET
And no bright red or yellow hair. It’s the latest directive from Chinese officials in advance of the 2008 Olympic Games. The country wants to put on a more conservative, less Chinglish-laden face for travelers, and, according to Reuters, some taxi drivers don’t like the regulations. Penalties for violations, however, are strong—drivers can lose their licenses.
Linxia, China
by Ben Keene | 04.13.07 | 12:10 PM ET
Beijing Visitors May Get Some ‘Mixed Elbow With Garlic Mud’ After All
by Michael Yessis | 04.12.07 | 8:43 AM ET
As we recently posted, Chinese officials have taken steps to rid Beijing of “Chinglish”—“wrong, embarrassing and sometimes plain rude signs in Chinese English,” as defined by Reuters—by the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. However, according to a new Reuters report, the city most likely will not be able to eradicate all Chinglish before the deadline. Advertisements and menus are the greatest challenges, according to Liu Yang, deputy head of efforts to clean up Beijing’s pre-Olympic language problems.
A Wikitraveler Goes to Thailand
by Michael Yessis | 04.10.07 | 4:44 PM ET
What’s it like to leave Lonely Planet at home and travel to Thailand guided only by resources on the Internet? It’s an interesting question, but the resulting Slate story by Tim Wu, unfortunately, poses more questions than it answers. “The Internet has long been terrible for travelers—full of sham sites designed to lure visitors to selected hotels, or, in Thailand’s case, go-go bars,” he writes. The Internet has long been terrible for travelers? Huh?
Odorless Durian? That Stinks.
by Jim Benning | 04.09.07 | 5:14 PM ET
The first time a Singaporean friend insisted I try durian, that notoriously stinky Southeast Asian fruit, I feared the worst. I’d heard fellow travelers’ horror stories and read all about how the fruit had been banned in hotels and on Singaporean trains. My friend shrugged all that off and carefully selected one of the spiky fruits at a giant outdoor stall near his home, eliminating the need to smuggle it onto a train. Yes, it smelled like sweaty feet. But when we sliced it open and dug in, I enjoyed my first bites, savoring its sweet flavor and buttercream consistency. Then, after a few more bites, I started to feel a little ill, overwhelmed by the rich, nutty flavor and odor. So I’m not a big fan of durian.
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: Viva Video and Las Vegas
by Michael Yessis | 04.06.07 | 9:35 AM ET
Lots to see in the Zeitgeist this week. Travelers are taking a long look at racing in Las Vegas, sinking ships in Greece, dancing in China and Lonely Planet’s new video channel.
Most Viewed Travel Story
Los Angeles Times (current)
Bright Lights & Formula One Engines Rule in Las Vegas
* Two reasons for a look: Pulitzer winner Dan Neil wrote it, and there’s video.
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Greek Cruise Ship Sinks After Rescue
* The AP has the video.
Most Watched Video
LonelyPlanet.tv (current)
miniclips
* Lonely Planet debuted its travel video channel this week.
Most Read Weblog Post
World Hum (this week)
India’s ‘Spiritual Backbone’: Two End-to-End Explorations Down the Ganges River
* The last of Morning Edition’s five-part series runs today.
Most Viewed Travel Story
Telegraph (current)
A Little Italy on Board
Top Travel and Adventure Audiobook
iTunes (current)
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Most Popular Travel Podcast
iTunes (current)
Travel With Rick Steves
* This week Steves covers the pilgrimage on El Camino de Santiago in Spain and tourism in Iran.
Most Popular Travel Story
Netscape (this week)
If Apple Designed A Private Jet
* It would, of course, be called the iJet.