Travel Blog
Mumbai’s Man in the Kitchen
by David Farley | 02.02.09 | 11:32 AM ET
Photo by David Farley Chef Hemant Oberoi wants to introduce you to Indian cuisine. Not the curry-laden stuff simmering in a chaffing dish at your local Indian buffet. Oberoi, the head chef for the international Taj Hotels, is on a mission to introduce the world to the vast array of relatively unknown Indian dishes. And he’ll be coming to a city near you. His Bombay Brasserie is a hit in London and he’s finalizing plans on a Boston eatery. I caught up with him at his home base, the Taj Palace & Tower in Mumbai, which made international headlines in November when the hotel was attacked by terrorists. Read the interview after the jump.
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Yahoo! BuzzMind the Vog
by Pam Mandel | 02.02.09 | 10:32 AM ET
It’s the byproduct of an active volcano. Vog, it’s called, volcano plus smog. It might make for some pretty sunrises or sunsets, but vog also produces acid rain and can aggravate respiratory conditions. The Department of Health just launched a website to monitor vog conditions and United States Geological Survey (USGS) has a fact sheet up about the dangers of vog:
SO2 is a poisonous gas that irritates skin and the tissues and mucous membranes of the eyes, nose, and throat. During even moderate physical activity, SO2 penetrates deeply into the airway and can produce respiratory distress in some individuals. In the absence of strong winds, SO2 emitted by Kilauea can accumulate in the air and reach levels that exceed Federal health standards. Since 1986, this has occurred more than 85 times within Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, which includes much of Kilauea.
Kiluea Volcano is a stunner, but she’s also the culprit, emitting sulfur dioxide into the air whenever she erupts. Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park keeps their site up to date with not just where to see the lava, but which parts of the park are closed due to vog. Live lava is a big draw, but don’t be disappointed if the volcano isn’t active for you—your lungs may be thankful for the volcano’s rest.
Hostel-Goers: Don’t Let the Bedbugs Bite
by Eva Holland | 02.02.09 | 9:41 AM ET
A recent hostel-dwellers-have-scabies crack by one of my esteemed colleagues here at World Hum reminded me of that perennial fear for the regular hostel-dweller: bedbugs. Though in all my hosteling I’ve never been bitten myself, I do have friends who’ve had run-ins with the critters—and the aftermath was time-consuming, pricey and unpleasant.
Got bedbugs in your bunk? The Backpackers Guide to Bed Bugs offers some quick tips for hostel-bedbug triage; meanwhile, the Bedbug Blog (yes, there really is such a thing) offers everything you could ever want to know about an infestation, at home or abroad. And finally, this last link might set your hostel-going mind at ease: About.com lays to rest the myth that hostels are bedbug havens—turns out, you’re just as likely to come across them in hotels, too. (Feel better now?)
Morning Links: Flushing the French Quarter, Car-Rental Madness and More
by Michael Yessis | 02.02.09 | 8:30 AM ET
- Kurt Andersen talked to Pico Iyer about his life as an “outside man” in Japan. There’s also video.
- Spud Hilton calls place-dropping a “a subtle and often unnoticed art form.”
- Goodbye, street-flushing in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Hello, toxic stench?
- Travel with Spirit, a new magazine for “focusing exclusively on Christian travel,” debuted last week.
- Arthur Frommer has an idea to stimulate the U.S. economy: Induce more foreign tourists to visit.
- Dan Bilefsky investigates the battle for the Czech Republic’s Kingdom of Wallachia.
- The outlook for mobile-ticketing—using your cell phone as a boarding pass—is strong. (via Tripso)
- One upside of the down economy for travelers: Unexpected hotel room upgrades.
- Video: This guy was pushed a little too far at the car-rental counter.
- This is kind of creepy: Plane-crash simulation as team-building exercise.
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World Hum’s Most Read: Jan. 24-30
by World Hum | 01.30.09 | 4:45 PM ET
iStockPhoto Our five most popular travel stories from the past week:
1) A Winter’s Tale
2) Hope and Squalor at Chungking Mansion
3) The (Full Moon) Party’s Over
4) Honolulu Overheard (pictured)
5) Smuggling Cinnamon Rolls
What We Loved This Week: Flip Video, Language Lessons, Pandora and More
by World Hum | 01.30.09 | 4:18 PM ET
Our contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.
Michael Yessis
I love this response to the news that Birmingham will do away with apostrophes on street signs: “If you don’t have apostrophes, is there any point in full stops, or semi-colons, or question marks? Is there any point in punctuation at all?” Indeed.
Sophia Dembling
I already love my Flip Video camera, a gift from Santahubby. And I love the Hocking Hills region of Ohio. Now I learn that the Hocking Hills Tourism Association is lending Flip Ultra cameras to visitors staying at an association member property, no cost. Double shot of love! (Triple, if you count Santahubby.)
Eva Holland
This might sound crazy considering the array of not-available-elsewhere experiences that New York City offers, but what I loved most about my first full week here was having access to Pandora again. The site, which helps listeners discover more music similar to their old favorites, cut off all non-U.S. users awhile back. Yesterday, I plugged in “Etta James,” and have been enjoying Candi Staton ever since:
Malcolm Gladwell on Aviation Safety and Security
by Rob Verger | 01.30.09 | 2:00 PM ET
Perhaps the most fascinating section of Malcolm Gladwell’s new book, Outliers: The Story of Success, is the chapter called “The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes.” Gladwell explores two plane crashes—one Colombian (Avianca Flight 52) and another, South Korean (Korean Air Flight 801)—and how the culture of the pilots perhaps contributed to each disaster. He focuses on how well the pilots communicated with each other and with air traffic control. Poor communication in these examples, he argues, has to do with something called a culture’s Power Distance Index (P.D.I.)—the term and concept come from psychologist Geert Hofstede—which is a measurement of “how much a particular culture values and respects authority,” as Gladwell defines it. Countries with a high P.D.I. generally value being more deferential towards authority, and thus not contradicting a superior (the U.S. and New Zealand both have a low P.D.I.). Gladwell argues that since both Colombia and South Korea rank towards the top of the P.D.I. list, the subordinate members of their cockpit crews were unable or unwilling to speak up as assertively as they should have about safety concerns.
I interviewed Gladwell in early November for an article for The Boston Globe and asked him if he would suggest changing anything in general regarding airline security. “Not really,” he answered, but added that he was more concerned “about the mistakes that pilots make and air traffic controllers make in the course of doing their jobs than I am about the threat posed by terrorists. It’s the classic thing where we demonize and terrify ourselves about the threat from outside and forget about the threat that we pose to ourselves.”
But it’s the connections that Gladwell draws in “Outliers” between culture and plane crashes that have become, not surprisingly, controversial.
Reading America: ‘New in Town’? I’d Rather Read ‘Main Street’
by Sophia Dembling | 01.30.09 | 1:11 PM ET
The new fish-out-of-water romantic comedy, New in Town stars Ren?e Zellweger as a sharp-edged Miami business woman and Harry Connick Jr. as the flannel shirted Minnesotan for whom she falls when she comes to his frozen town to downsize his factory.
Critics are unimpressed. “Listless,” says the Los Angeles Times. The Chicago Tribune calls it, “‘The Pajama Game’ without the songs, the laughs or the bare-knuckled realism.” (It is among my dubious achievements to have played Babe Williams in my high school production of that show.) “Pleasant but predictable rehash,” sighs Newsday.
Movies are too darn expensive these days for ho-hum, so I’m skipping this and instead will pull out my dog-eared copy of Sinclair Lewis’ 1920 novel, “Main Street,” my all-time favorite book.
When Planning a Trip, Do Local Politics Matter?
by Jenna Schnuer | 01.30.09 | 11:57 AM ET
No, you didn’t imagine that loud (and long-lasting) yay coming from Nashville on Jan. 22. It was the sound of the city’s English-only? seriously? contingent celebrating after the ridiculous measure was defeated in a (costly) special election.
While nothing could come between me and my Nashville (cause it’s a pretty damned fantastic city), it did get me wondering how much local politics play a role in other people’s travel choices. Have you ever put the kibosh on a trip because you didn’t like the politics of the place?
Move Jah Body
by Alexander Basek | 01.30.09 | 10:31 AM ET
Times are tough and hotels are working all the angles to get guests interested these days. The air is thick with “Stimulus Package” deals (at least they don’t also include chocolate-covered strawberries, the previous gold standard in hotel-land add-ons) and other gimmicks reflecting the trends of today. Even so, when this came over the transom, we were both puzzled and intrigued: Jake’s, a great (and inexpensive) property on Treasure Beach on Jamaica’s southern coast, is offering a “reggaelates” program. What, pray tell, is reggaelates? Why, it’s Pilates mixed with reggae music, of course. Think of it as chocolate in your exercise peanut butter. The real pitfall: employing small motor skills in Jamaica isn’t always easy, especially when you’re grooving to those reggae beats.
Italy on the Cheap
by Eva Holland | 01.30.09 | 10:13 AM ET
Photo by Eva Holland Jessica at Why Go Italy recently offered up her “must-see” destinations and activities in Venice. It’s a thoughtful, off-beat list—think “get lost” instead of “take a gondola ride”—and best of all? Most of her suggestions are free, or close to it. Meanwhile, Eurocheapo dishes on how to land a free, guided tour of Florence’s Duomo, courtesy of the city’s Center for Art and Culture.
Cheap and enlightening: what more can you ask for?
Morning Links: City Bans Apostrophes, Russians in Goa and More
by Michael Yessis | 01.30.09 | 8:06 AM ET
- Russians heart Goa.
- But how will the free-falling ruble affect Russian travelers—and travel to Russia?
- The Fortune Cookie Chronicles writer Jennifer 8. Lee collects toothpaste from her travels.
- Slideshow: Inspired by brothels in Pakistan.
- “Bread for the World ” and “The United States of Europe” highlight Rick Steves’ MVBs. I believe that means his most-valued books.
- Charles Darwin’s house: Future World Heritage site?
- In Slate’s latest Well-Traveled, June Thomas asks: “Am I too frivolous for Japan?”
- An Italian city in Tuscany says no to ethnic restaurants in its central district.
- Tikrit unveiled a shoe sculpture to honor the Iraqi journalist who threw his footwear at former U.S. President Bush.
- PEE. SUX. BOO. Just three of the funniest airport codes from around the world.
- In the U.K., the Birmingham City Council banished apostrophes from its road and street signs. The Apostrophe Protection Society says, “It seems retrograde, dumbing down really. It is setting a very bad example.” I agree, and I’m sure the typo vigilantes do, too.
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Is There a ‘Golden Rule’ for Budget Travel?
by Eva Holland | 01.29.09 | 4:45 PM ET
There are seemingly endless lists of budget-travel tips out there, covering everything from landing five-star hotel rooms at four-star prices, to hitchhiking and couchsurfing advice. Whatever definition of “budget travel” they cater to, most have something useful to say—but still, the sheer volume and variety left me wondering: is there a way to boil all of this down to a single piece of advice, one that’s useful for everyone aiming to save their pennies on the road? In other words, putting aside all the lists of commandments, is there a golden rule for budget travel?
Here’s the closest thing I can come up with: Be informed.
For the Love of Her State: A Kansas Day Tour
by Jenna Schnuer | 01.29.09 | 2:45 PM ET
Nobody loves Kansas the way my friend Jodi Rosenberg loves Kansas. At least, nobody I know. She grew up there. She moved away for some years. She moved back. And she’s been talking Kansas up to me from the moment we met at college, 20 years ago. (And, yes, Jodi—I’ll be there soon. I promise.) So, to celebrate Kansas Day and the state’s 148th birthday today, I give you Jodi and her recommendations for the ultimate Kansas experience:
Margaret Atwood: Author, Birder, Cruiser
by Eva Holland | 01.29.09 | 12:17 PM ET
Turns out that Margaret Atwood—the acclaimed author of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Alias Grace” and “The Blind Assassin,” among others—is also a serious nature-lover. Atwood will be cruising the Scottish isles this spring as a guest lecturer on board the M/V Andrea; this press release notes that she is a “keen birder” and the current co-president of the Rare Bird Club. Who knew?
