Destination: India
Video: Jeffrey Tayler: ‘I Was Getting in Over My Head’
by World Hum | 02.25.09 | 10:34 AM ET
Jeffrey Tayler pedaled more than 1,000 miles down the Grand Trunk Road in India, a journey he chronicled for World Hum.
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Yahoo! BuzzCycling India’s Wildest Highway: Paradise is Stinky
by Jeffrey Tayler | 02.25.09 | 10:20 AM ET
REUTERS/Jayanta Shaw In which Jeffrey Tayler pedals more than 1,000 miles along the Grand Trunk Road. Part three of five: To the Taj Mahal.
Newspapers: Still Big in Japan
by Julia Ross | 02.24.09 | 5:45 PM ET
From the front page of today's Asahi Shimbun. As many of us await the impending death of U.S. newspapers, it’s helpful to remember that the paper-and-ink medium thrives in other parts of the world, where Internet penetration remains relatively low. Such is the case in much of Asia, Time reports this week. India alone reported 11.5 million new newspaper readers in 2008, spread among a whopping 65,000 newspapers across the country, and Indonesia’s market has grown from a few dozen papers in 1998 to about 800. The Japanese, despite widespread online access, are still the world’s most dedicated newspaper readers, subscribing to more than one paper per household, on average.
So, how does this tie into travel? After reading the Time piece, it occurred to me that in a couple years, spying newspaper readers in subways or cafes—or being able to get one’s hands on an actual newspaper itself—may become as novel as slicing into a durian fruit for Western travelers visiting Asia. Imagine picking up the latest Asahi Shimbun as a souvenir on your way out of Narita. With kimono weavers on the way out, printing presses could be the next big thing in niche tourism.
Cycling India’s Wildest Highway: ‘Arise, Son of Kunti’
by Jeffrey Tayler | 02.24.09 | 9:56 AM ET
iStockPhoto In which Jeffrey Tayler pedals more than 1,000 miles along the Grand Trunk Road. Part two of five: The road to Delhi.
Bicyclists in India
by World Hum | 02.24.09 | 9:42 AM ET
REUTERS/Munish Sharma A photo slideshow of cycling in India, from Kolkatta and Delhi to Ladakh.
See the full photo slideshow »
A Very International Oscars
by Eva Holland | 02.23.09 | 2:38 PM ET
Last night’s Oscars ceremony is likely to be up for debate for some time—among the most contentious issues, for me, is the fact that the cast of “High School Musical” got more screen time than most nominees—but one thing is certain: it was the most international Oscars since 2004, when Charlize Theron thanked everyone in South Africa, and the winners from “Lord of the Rings” managed to name-drop just about everyone in New Zealand, too.
In the 2009 edition, there were acceptance speeches smattered with Spanish (Penelope Cruz, for “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”) and Tamil (A.R. Rahman, the composer for “Slumdog Millionaire”), there were shout-outs to Mumbai (from the assortment of “Slumdog” winners, who took home 8 awards between them), and there were two separate winners from Japan.
My favorite globally-flavored Oscar moments, after the jump:
Video: Jeffrey Tayler on Cycling Across India
by World Hum | 02.23.09 | 10:42 AM ET
Jeffrey Tayler pedaled more than 1,000 miles down the Grand Trunk Road in India, a journey he chronicled for World Hum.
Cycling India’s Wildest Highway: Into the Hurly-Burly
by Jeffrey Tayler | 02.23.09 | 10:42 AM ET
REUTERS/Desmond Boylan In which Jeffrey Tayler pedals more than 1,000 miles along the Grand Trunk Road. Part one of five: setting out.
2008 Travel Movie Awards
by Eva Holland | 02.20.09 | 4:27 PM ET
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist The Oscars are looming, and in keeping with the season I’m thrilled to announce my second annual Travel Movie Awards. As I noted last year, these picks rate high on the arbitrary scale and are not intended to be comprehensive: this is just a collection of movies (and movie moments) from the past year that got me thinking about travel, and about places new and familiar.
Most Adorable/Unusual Tale of Indie Love in New York
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist
There is never any shortage of romantic comedies set in the Big Apple, but most directors opt to focus on the entanglements of young professionals (bewildered new-to-the-city female journalists, more often than not), and to set the action in or near Central Park. “Nick and Norah,” in contrast, follows a pair of suburban, straight-edge teenagers through the live music venues of lower Manhattan—and captures my heart in the process.
Slate’s Dana Stevens said it better than I can: “Some people really were made for each other ... and New York does look beautiful by night. You got a problem with that?”
Should I Give Money to Child Beggars?
by Rolf Potts | 02.20.09 | 9:01 AM ET
Vagabonding traveler Rolf Potts answers your questions about travel and the world
Taking Black History Month to ... India?
by Julia Ross | 02.19.09 | 2:24 PM ET
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is apparently making good use of cultural diplomacy early in her term. Before she departed on her current Asia tour, Clinton sent a delegation of U.S. congressional representatives, civil rights leaders and musicians, including Herbie Hancock and Chaka Khan, to India to commemorate U.S. Black History Month. The group includes Martin Luther King III, who is retracing a trip his parents, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King, took 50 years ago to study Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolence.
Meanwhile, Hancock, Khan and jazz students from New Orleans will perform at concerts in Mumbai and New Delhi, then jam with students at the Ravi Shankar Institute of the Performing Arts. I’m pleased to see the group continue a long tradition of U.S. jazz ambassadorship abroad.
Morning Links: Holidays in Banda Aceh, ‘Slavery Theme Park’ and More
by Michael Yessis | 02.17.09 | 9:15 AM ET
- Passengers can no longer kiss at England’s Warrington Bank Quay Station.
- Is Marlon Jackson supporting a “slavery theme park” in Nigeria?
- The Mumbai attacks have apparently “put the brakes” on tourism in India.
- State and local governments to travel booking sites: Pay up!
- Daisann McLane: “Until I learn a place with my feet, I never really feel like I know it.”
- John Aglionby says Banda Aceh “has arguably become one of south-east Asia’s hidden holiday destinations.”
- Spud Hilton sifts through language-study options for travelers.
- In typo news: There’s one on the Manhattan Supreme Courthouse. It only took 82 years to discover it. Hooray!
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Morning Links: The Belgian Flair for Comics, New Orleans Street Theater and More
by Michael Yessis | 02.16.09 | 8:46 AM ET
- The investigation of the crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407 reveals sudden erratic movements 26 seconds before impact.
- The state of the Velib bike program in Paris isn’t good.
- The New Yorker’s Katherine Boo investigates a Mumbai slum located on land owned by the Airports Authority of India. (subscribers only)
- David Lyon looks at the comics-character murals of Brussels. He writes: “The Belgian flair for comics is as inescapable as Manneken Pis.”
- Nora Roberts’ Inn BoonsBoro—an inn in Boonsboro, Maryland, that features rooms named after literary couples—opens tomorrow.
- Wayne Curtis says “New Orleans knows how to do street theater like no other American city.”
- Benji Lanyado visits a pay-what-you-want bar in Berlin.
- Video: A woman goes wild after missing her plane in Hong Kong and becomes a YouTube hit.
- The Costa Brava is not the Bahamas—except in an ad for the Costa Brava. I’d say, “oops,” but it looks like the people behind the ad planned using the image of the Bahamas as a stand in for the Spanish coast. (via Shore Trips)
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Mumbai, India
by World Hum | 02.13.09 | 10:18 AM ET
REUTERS/Arko Datta Commuters travel in a suburban train in Mumbai.
Morning Links: John Lloyd Stephens, the Bob Marley Suitcase and More
by Michael Yessis | 02.12.09 | 10:04 AM ET
- Is slave history being “whitewashed” at some Southern plantations and museums?
- The Virginia Quarterly Review has opened its archives from 1975 through 2003. Among the stories unearthed: Richard O’Mara’s profile of “American Traveller” John Lloyd Stephens. (via Kottke)
- Here’s the story behind the shrinking of the Norman Foster-designed Harmon hotel in Las Vegas.
- Compared: Commuting in London, Delhi, Tokyo and Homer, Alaska.
- World Hum contributor Tom Bissell talks video games with Heather Chaplin.
- Several airlines are trying to take control of an upcoming emissions pact.
- Jossip is planning a cross-country tour of Bernie Madoff victims using the Madoff Map. Worst road trip ever?
- Can you imagine trying to clear customs with the Bob Marley suitcase?
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