Destination: Nepal
Where in the World Are You, Rob Verger?
by World Hum | 07.02.08 | 11:08 AM ET
The subject of our latest up-to-the-minute interview with a traveler somewhere in the world: Rob Verger, who wrote Slumming in Rio and narrated a slideshow on favela tourism for World Hum. His email landed in our inbox just hours ago.
Where in the world are you?
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Yahoo! BuzzRecord-Setting Week Atop Mount Everest
by Eva Holland | 05.27.08 | 12:39 PM ET
The last week has been particularly eventful at the top of the world. Near-perfect conditions at Mount Everest prompted a rush to its icy reaches, resulting in a record 75 climbers reaching the summit in a single day. (The highest previous total was 63 summits, in 2002.) One of those 75 climbers was Apa Sherpa, who also set a record of his own by summiting for the 18th time. According to the CBC, Canadian Andrew Brash was also among the 75. Brash became a minor celebrity two years ago when he gave up his first Everest attempt just 200 meters from the top to rescue a fellow climber.
Introducing Tenzing Hillary Airport
by Jim Benning | 02.11.08 | 11:54 AM ET
The airport closest to Mount Everest, previously known as Lukla airstrip, will now be called Tenzing Hillary Airport in honor of the first climbers to summit Everest, the Nepalese government announced. Sir Edmund Hillary died last month; Tenzing Norgay died in 1986. Most visitors to Everest land at the airstrip. “It is a dramatic introduction,” the BBC notes, “as the plane has to drop steeply between the mountains and then lands on a runway which slopes steeply upwards.” YouTube has some great video.
Is Nepal Embracing Sex Tourism?
by Michael Yessis | 01.29.08 | 11:05 AM ET
As unlikely as it sounds, signs abound, according to a story in the latest issue of The Economist. The Nepal Tourism board has encouraged travel for stag weekends and put “beautiful Nepali belles” at the center of at least one campaign.
R.I.P. Sir Edmund Hillary
by Jim Benning | 01.10.08 | 5:26 PM ET
Sir Edmund Hillary has died at the age of 88. He was the first climber to reach the summit of Mount Everest, along with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, and he went on to devote much of his life to exploration and humanitarian work in Nepal. In a 1998 profile of Hillary for Salon.com, Don George placed Hillary in the pantheon of great adventurers:
Trekker in Nepal Beaten by Former Rebels
by Jim Benning | 12.10.07 | 12:56 PM ET
As the autumn trekking season winds down in Nepal, a Swiss man hiking near Annapurna says he was beaten by Maoists when he refused to give them money. And we thought they simply wanted “donations.”
Interview with George Saunders: Loose in the Real World
by Frank Bures | 09.28.07 | 1:03 PM ET
Frank Bures talks with the author about Dubai, Nepal's Buddha Boy and what he learned about travel from a mob of rock-hauling, 70-year-old women in Singapore
Nepal Contemplates Nudity Ban on Everest
by Eva Holland | 09.28.07 | 11:39 AM ET
It looks as though Lakpa Tharke Sherpa, the first man to stand naked on the summit of Mount Everest, may also be the last. Mountaineering authorities in Nepal are calling for a ban on nudity, and on any other attempts to set obscene records like the one set by the Nepali climber last year. From the AP story: “Ang Tshering, president of Nepal Mountaineering Association, says the people who live at the foot of Everest worship the mountain as a god and mountaineering authorities have asked the government to ban disrespectful stunts.” Hard luck, ladies. If Nepal follows through, this could be one record that’s never matched by a woman.
Related on World Hum:
* ‘Climb Everest for a Discount Rate’
* Everest Base Camp: ‘The Himalayan Version of Burning Man’
Photo by star_trooper via Flickr, (Creative Commons).
Nepal Airlines Sacrifices Goats in Front of Troubled Plane
by Jim Benning | 09.04.07 | 1:35 PM ET
Two goats, to be exact. The airline did so in front of a troubled Boeing 757 in Kathmandu in order to appease the Hindu sky god Akash Bhairab, Reuters reports. Apparently the plane had been suffering from electrical problems.
Related on World Hum:
* FAA to Airlines: Speed Up the Boeing 737 Inspections
* Everest Base Camp: ‘The Himalayan Version of Burning Man’
‘Climb Everest For a Discount Rate’
by Jim Benning | 08.22.07 | 1:30 PM ET
That’s the headline on a Reuters story about off-season discounts for climbers headed to Nepal. A tourism official told the news agency, “We are working on proposals to give a 50 percent royalty cut in the autumn and 75 percent during the winter climbing seasons.” Now, I’m no climber, but when you’re risking your life to climb the tallest mountain in the world, should you really be that considered with scoring a bargain?
Related on World Hum:
* Everest Base Camp: ‘The Himalayan Version of Burning Man’
* Peace Deal Helps Lure Travelers Back to Nepal
* Everest Base Camp in Tibet: The Himalayan Bangkok?
Photo by Ben Tubby via Flickr, (Creative Commons).
Virginia Tourism’s ‘Symbol of Love’ Actually Symbol of Chicago Gang
by Michael Yessis | 08.20.07 | 8:06 AM ET
Oops. An advertisement (pictured) developed by the BCF agency of Virginia Beach for the Virginia Tourism Corp. features two hands coming together to form the shape of a heart, a playful reference to the state’s long-time slogan, “Virginia is For Lovers.” The gesture, however, is also associated with the Gangster Disciples, “one of the most violent of four African-American gangs that hang out on the south side of Chicago,” according to an FBI report. The FBI also notes: “They are known for their violence and the distribution of crack cocaine.” Apparently Virginia does not want to associate itself with gun play and illegal drugs, and thus will be removing the image from its new “Live Passionately” campaign, according to the Virginian-Pilot.
U.S. State Department’s New Cultural Ambassadors: Ozomatli
by Jim Benning | 08.02.07 | 2:05 PM ET
Heading…
UNESCO Adds Three Sites to Danger List, Names Next World Book Capital
by Michael Yessis | 07.10.07 | 11:14 AM ET
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has had a busy few weeks. Not only was it busy issuing a press release claiming no affiliation with the new seven wonders, during meetings in Christchurch, New Zealand, the group added the Galapagos and their surrounding marine reserve; Samarra, Iraq; and Senegal’s Niokolo-Koba National Park to its list of endangered World Heritage sites. Two more sites—the Royal Palaces of Abomey, Benin and Kathmandu Valley, Nepal—were removed from the Danger List.
Everest Base Camp: ‘The Himalayan Version of Burning Man’
by Jim Benning | 06.18.07 | 8:26 AM ET
Even though I have no interest in climbing Mount Everest, I’ve always thought it would be fun to poke around Base Camp during climbing season, taking in the highly adrenalized, gear-laden, multinational assemblage. Kevin Fedarko did just that last year, and his story about the experience in the July issue of Outside is a great read. Base Camp has a reputation for being a zoo, and, sure enough, he found plenty of excesses in what he calls the “Himalayan version of Burning Man.” But he found more than that. “In addition to presenting a rather grotesque perversion of pretty much everything that alpinism is supposed to represent,” he writes, “Everest Base Camp also happens to be—and I’m afraid there’s just no other way to put this—an absolute fricking blast.”
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: On the ‘B’ List
by Michael Yessis | 06.15.07 | 1:23 PM ET
This week we’ve got mountain bikers, the best beaches in the U.S., passport blunders and the return of Bill Bryson. Here’s the Zeitgiest.
Most Popular Travel Story
Netscape (this week)
Top 10 U.S. Beaches
* No. 1 on the list from “Dr. Beach”: Ocracoke Island, North Carolina (pictured)
“Hot This Week” Destination
Yahoo! (this week)
Hilo, Hawaii
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
New York Times (current)
Where Mountain Bikers Carved Their Dream Terrain
* Not Moab, Utah. Fruita, Colorado.
Most Read Weblog Post
World Hum (this week)
U.S. Plans Temporary Waiver of Passport Policy*
Most Viewed Travel Story
Los Angeles Times (current)
Diary of a Trip Through U.S. Passport Application Limbo
From the writer, travel editor Catharine Hamm: “A travel editor without a passport is like Paris Hilton without a party.”
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Hertz, Avis Add Hybrids to Fleets
* Each rental car company says it will have 1,000 Toyota Priuses in its fleet by the end of the month.
Top Travel and Adventure Audiobook
iTunes (current)
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Best Selling Travel Book
Amazon.com (current)
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert
* Still unstoppable.