Travel Blog
R.I.P. Wall Arch: ‘It Just Went Kaboom’
by Michael Yessis | 08.11.08 | 10:11 AM ET
Utah’s Arches National Park—the most beautiful park of many beautiful parks in the American Southwest—lost one of its most visited arches last week. It’s believed the 71-foot-tall arch, which was the 12th largest in the park, collapsed under its own weight. “Not being a geologist, I can’t get very technical but it just went kaboom,” Arches Chief Ranger Denny Ziemann told the Salt Lake Tribune. The trail between Double 0 Arch and Wall Arch has been closed indefinitely.
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Yahoo! BuzzIn Beijing: A Rainbow of Nations
by Eva Holland | 08.09.08 | 2:43 PM ET
I’ve been to plenty of world-renowned tourist spots before. But as I walked around the Forbidden City yesterday, I found myself thinking that the hordes of travelers in Beijing were a far more diverse bunch than the crowds I’d jostled with at the Taj Mahal, say, or Edinburgh Castle. Then, after a little more thought, I realized that wasn’t it. The people around me didn’t necessarily hail from a broader range of countries—the difference was that almost everyone was, literally, wearing their national colors on their sleeves.
In Beijing: Red Tape and Roadblocks
by Eva Holland | 08.09.08 | 12:51 PM ET
It didn’t take long to get my first taste of bureaucracy in action. On Friday, I found a police line about a block from Tiananmen Square—unbeknownst to the thousands of tourists in town, the square and the southern entrance to the Forbidden City had been closed to the public, in preparation for the opening ceremonies. On Saturday, they were at it again: the Badaling portion of the Great Wall had also been closed, along with the Ming Tombs, in deference to an upcoming cycling road race.
World Hum’s Most Read: Aug. 2-8
by World Hum | 08.08.08 | 4:03 PM ET
Our five most popular features and blog posts for the week:
1) Seven Reasons to Have a Foreign Fling
2) Audio Slideshow: My Travels, My Feet (pictured)
3) A Shocking Email From JetBlue
4) How To: Use a Squat Toilet
5) Disclosed: Travelers’ Laptops Can be Confiscated at U.S. Borders Without Reason
Photo by Sophia Dembling.
What We Loved This Week: Paul Theroux, the Bombay Club and Summer in Chicago
by World Hum | 08.08.08 | 2:43 PM ET
Julia Ross
I loved how Chicagoans love their summers. I spent the early part of the week visiting my sister in the Windy City and participated in a few seasonal rituals: an afternoon at North Avenue beach, a Chicago Symphony Orchestra concert at Ravinia, a Cubs-Astros game at Wrigley Field. Though that last outing was interrupted in the sixth inning when a tornado swept through town—they actually sounded the tornado siren at Wrigley—it didn’t stop the warm weather revelry; most of the crowd simply repaired to nearby bars. Why let a funnel cloud ruin a perfectly good summer evening?
World’s Longest Yard Sale: 654 Miles of Bargains From Ohio to Alabama
by Valerie Conners | 08.08.08 | 11:23 AM ET
Dealhunting travelers take note: The World’s Longest Yard Sale, stretching through five states along two-lane Highway 127, takes place this weekend. The annual sale attracts more than 4,000 vendors of antiques and oddities, and hundreds of thousands of shoppers are said to sniff out deals during the four-day event.
Photo by dreamsjung via Flickr (Creative Commons)
Inside the ‘Cuisines of the Axis of Evil’
by Michael Yessis | 08.08.08 | 10:13 AM ET
Kim Jong Il gulps the blood of virgins! Benito Mussolini loved strawberry frappes! Fidel Castro says, “I drink your chocolate milkshake!” These tidbits come from Chris Fair, author of the new book Cuisines of the Axis of Evil and Other Irritating States: A Dinner Party Approach to International Relations. Newsweek and USA Today have interviews with her.
In Time for the Olympics, a National Anthems Primer
by Julia Ross | 08.08.08 | 8:27 AM ET
Photo by Philip Jagenstedt via Flickr (Creative Commons).
China’s national anthem, March of the Volunteers, never fails to summon memories of my teaching experience in Shanghai several years ago, when I’d watch 1,600 grade schoolers greet each morning with a full-arm salute to their nation’s red and gold flag. I’m preparing to relive that experience many times over this month as I watch Chinese Olympians take to the podium in Beijing.
In Beijing: Not So ‘Sanitized’ After All?
by Eva Holland | 08.08.08 | 8:19 AM ET
Good news for anyone who’s been worrying that preparations for the Beijing Olympics might wind up turning the city into a slicked-up, modernized, westernized shadow of its former self.
In Beijing: The Inescapable Games
by Eva Holland | 08.08.08 | 8:17 AM ET
I know, I know. Every Olympic host city gets really worked up just before the Games. Still, a day after my arrival I can’t help but suspect that Beijing has taken things a little further than most. Why? I expected to be bombarded with billboards and logos from the moment I landed here—what I didn’t expect, though, was the Olympics-themed China Airlines flight from San Francisco, complete with “Beijing 2008!” headrest covers, and an “Olympics Special” in-flight radio station. (Think Chariots of Fire, plenty of John Williams, and the theme from Ben-Hur.) The first movie to air was Blades of Glory. Coincidence? I think not.
Related on World Hum:
* In Beijing: Not So ‘Sanitized’ After All?
* In Beijing: Red Tape and Roadblocks
* In Beijing: A Rainbow of Nations
Photo by Eva Holland
Obama, McCain and the Politics of a Vacation
by Jim Benning | 08.07.08 | 1:55 PM ET
Barack Obama is headed to Hawaii on vacation. He deserves a break, right? Besides, it’s a summer tradition. Apparently not, at least according to his opponent. A spokesman for John McCain just remarked, “Americans are facing sky-high gas prices, and instead of Barack Obama taking the initiative to call his allies in Congress back from vacation to carve out real energy relief, he’s joining them at the beach.” And to think, on our 2008 U.S. Presidential Candidate Travel Scorecard, we gave McCain a whopping four-and-a-half Air Force Ones out of five. I, for one, now regret that. I know times are tough, but we Americans must stand firm in support of vacations.
After Beheading, Greyhound Kills Ad Campaign
by Jim Benning | 08.07.08 | 1:13 PM ET
Yes, the company offering famously lousy service had just launched an ad campaign with the line “There’s a reason you’ve never heard of ‘bus rage’” when, on a trip from Alberta to Winnipeg, one of its passengers was apparently beheaded and eaten. Suffice to say, they’re doing away with the campaign. I still like Jay Leno’s suggestion for a Greyhound slogan, and it’s as relevant as ever: The Drifter’s Choice.
Related on World Hum:
* ‘There’s a Reason You’ve Never Heard of Bus Rage’
Mao Mao Mao Mao Mao. Enough With the Mao Already.
by Jim Benning | 08.07.08 | 12:16 PM ET
He’s glaring back at me from my newspaper. He’s staring through my computer screen. He’s beaming at me through the TV. Memo to news media covering the Olympics: Enough with the Mao shots.
Travel in Mexico Getting More Expensive, Too
by Jim Benning | 08.07.08 | 11:34 AM ET
More bad news for American travelers. The dollar has lost 10 percent of its value against the peso since the beginning of the year, making Mexico trips too costly for some. USA Today reports on the fallout. One bit of good Mexico news for the pocketbook: As we noted recently, it’s still not a bad place to fill up your gas tank.
Photo by ClinKER via Flickr, (Creative Commons).
Bridging the Divide: Hong Kong to Macau
by Valerie Conners | 08.07.08 | 10:47 AM ET
The long-awaited Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge may soon become reality, thanks to additional funding for the project from the central Chinese government in Beijing. Financing details were announced yesterday. Construction is expected to begin by 2010.
