Travel Blog: News and Briefs
Bombings in London
by Jim Benning | 07.07.05 | 10:14 AM ET
More bad news. The BBC has a detailed report: At least 33 people are dead.
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Yahoo! BuzzHola, Colorful Street Vendor. Can I Take Your Photo?
by Jim Benning | 07.05.05 | 2:23 PM ET
Further evidence that the entire planet will one day become a giant theme park: In Tijuana, Mexico, the new mayor has ordered street vendors to wear traditional clothes in bright colors to please tourists. The new rule, which applies on weekends, took effect June 25 on a small pedestrian thoroughfare. But according to an AP story in USA Today, vendors on Avenida Revolucion, the popular bar-lined street a 20-minute walk from the U.S. border, will soon be required to wear the traditional garb, too. Mayor Jorge “Hank” Rhon said the rule is designed to help visitors “feel Mexico.” Ridiculous.
Fossett Flies (and Lands) Again
by Michael Yessis | 07.04.05 | 10:22 PM ET
Dave Eggers on Fiction and Travel and Climbing Kilimanjaro
by Jim Benning | 05.05.05 | 10:54 PM ET
Thomas Friedman on Book TV
by Jim Benning | 04.29.05 | 10:53 PM ET
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman is framing the way many Americans view globalization, and you don’t have to agree with him to find his ideas intriguing. At noon E.S.T. Sunday, he’ll be featured in a three-hour “In Depth” segment on C-SPAN’s Book TV.
When You’ve Launched a Guidebook Company Celebrating Bohemian Charm, Should You Fly Business Class?
by Jim Benning | 04.29.05 | 10:47 PM ET
We recently noted here that the New Yorker’s travel-themed issue included a profile of Lonely Planet and its founders, Tony and Maureen Wheeler. That article has turned out to be one of the most provocative stories about world travel and travel publishing in years, prompting conversations among travelers around the globe. Among the most discussed elements of the story: the fact that the Wheelers often fly business class and shacked up in a $400-a-night room on a recent visit to Oman; that when a child beggar in Oman gave Maureen the bird, she responded in kind; and Maureen’s remark that Lonely Planet doesn’t seem as real to her as it once did.
Planet Theme Park: “Disneyland on the Ganges”
by Michael Yessis | 04.29.05 | 10:45 PM ET
Bye-bye Mickey, Minnie and Donald. Welcome Ram, Hanuman and Krishna! The latter trio will be the central attractions at Gangadham, the world’s first Hindu theme park. The BBC reports that the 25-acre theme park will open in 2007 on the banks of the Ganges, in the north Indian pilgrimage town of Haridwar. “If the project takes off, it will move on to an international level,” writes Kathleen McCaul. “The plan is to open parks in Trinidad, Bali, Fiji and Thailand - and perhaps even Orlando, Los Angeles and London.”
The Flight of the 800-Passenger Gorilla
by Jim Benning | 04.28.05 | 10:44 PM ET
The Battle for American Values Cruise (No Liberals, New York Times Readers or Loofahs, Please!)
by Michael Yessis | 04.25.05 | 10:38 PM ET
Fox News personality Bill O’Reilly recently announced that he’ll be the featured special guest on a Battle for American Values Caribbean Cruise aboard Holland America’s Westerdam November 13-20. I will not be sailing with O’Reilly—his American values aren’t my American values—but you can for only $1,099. Too much money? Don’t worry. According to the brochure, the trip is “tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.”
Have Papal Vestments, Will Travel
by Jim Benning | 04.20.05 | 9:30 PM ET
Cleo Paskal, What’s the Biggest Reward of Life as a Travel Writer?
by Jim Benning | 04.20.05 | 9:29 PM ET
No Bull: San Fermin Festival in Jeopardy
by Jim Benning | 04.14.05 | 9:26 PM ET
Writing “Backpack Nation”
by Jim Benning | 04.14.05 | 9:24 PM ET
The New Yorker Hits the Road
by Michael Yessis | 04.12.05 | 9:22 PM ET
The day the mailman delivers my copy of The New Yorker is always a happy day—yes, I’m one of those bores who reads every issue from cover to cover. But I’m particularly excited about next week’s “Journeys” issue, which features an impressive lineup of literary firepower.
Fear and Lodging in Iraq
by Jim Benning | 04.08.05 | 4:08 PM ET
William Langewiesche writes about the Baghdad hotel where he is staying in the May issue of the Atlantic Monthly. The Ritz-Carlton it’s not. “The [neighborhood] guards come under fire from traffic on the boulevard, but this is considered to be minor stuff, which they answer by enthusiastically firing back,” he writes. “I can mention such details without concern for the consequences, because nearly everyone in Baghdad knows about this place already. Mortar rounds fly overhead destined for the fortified Green Zone, about a half mile away across the Tigris River, and several car bombs have exploded nearby (one recently with the force to blow out windows here), but so far no building in the compound has suffered a direct rocket attack.” A portion of the article is available online.
