Travel Blog
Rwanda
by Ben Keene | 01.13.06 | 5:51 AM ET
Population: 8,128,553 (2005 est.)
Coordinates: 1 59 S 30 4 E
Listening to pundits opine about neo-imperialism as we watch events unfold in the Middle East, it can be useful to consider some of the geographic implications of old-fashioned, 20th century imperialism. The African Republic of Rwanda, for example, composed primarily of ethnic Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa peoples, was conquered by Germany in the 1890s and later occupied by Belgium. Whether or not European colonizers intentionally exploited them, differences between groups widened and civil war erupted less than two generations after independence in 1962. This month the Ministry of Local Government took steps to weaken ethnic distinctions by merging the 12 former internal administrative divisions into four provinces, in addition to the capital, Kigali City.
—.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) is the editor of the Oxford Atlas of the World.
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Yahoo! BuzzThe New Architectural Wonders of China
by Michael Yessis | 01.13.06 | 4:12 AM ET
They’re putting up some amazing buildings in China these days, and Business Week Online has an excellent slide show featuring ten of the most innovative. “Each, in its way, pushes the boundaries of the architectural status quo,” Reena Jana writes. “Together, they represent the wonders rising on the skyline of the new China.”
Las Vegas: ‘What Happens Here, Ends Up On Your Mastercard Bill’
by Michael Yessis | 01.13.06 | 12:02 AM ET
I love Las Vegas, but I still found Chris Ayres’s takedown of the city hilarious. Ayres spent several days in Vegas covering the recent Consumer Electronics show, and he proclaims in the Times of London this week that he “hated almost every second of it.”
Dear Farris Hassan…
by Jim Benning | 01.12.06 | 2:57 PM ET
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel’s Ralph De La Cruz writes an open letter to the 16-year-old American journalism student who made headlines with his trip to Iraq last month. “I admire your spunk and can-do spirit,” De La Cruz writes. “Appreciate how eloquently you’ve spoken about the sacrifices the armed forces are making in Iraq, and about how guilty you feel diverting precious resources and putting people’s lives in danger on your lark. But I’m concerned you haven’t expressed the same respect for the profession that supposedly inspired you to take the trip.” (Via Romenesko.)
Sihanoukville, Cambodia: It’s the New Prague!
by Jim Benning | 01.12.06 | 1:14 PM ET
Okay, it’s not the new Prague. But Alexander Lobrano’s friend in Bangkok insisted that the Cambodian beach town of Sihanoukville was “the next Goa, the new Phi Phi,” the place to go for hipster bohemian backpackers in the know. So off Lobrano went to Sihanoukville, located a three-hour drive south of Phnom Penh. As he writes in the International Herald Tribune, he found a lovely beach town once popular with “Cambodia’s glamorous beau monde during the ‘60s,” a place where luxury hotels are on the rise and an airport runway is slated for lengthening and reinforcement.
No Place Exists That’s Not Worth Writing About
by Tom Swick | 01.12.06 | 6:02 AM ET
I visited Key West for the first time in 1991. I had been in Florida, working as a travel editor, less than two years, and driving with the window down in January to a literary seminar on travel writing seemed a dual blessing. John Malcolm Brinnin—another unjustly forgotten writer—gave a keynote address that I still quote from in travel writing workshops (the hair on my neck never failing to rise). I interviewed Calvin Trillin, who invited me to lunch at the Pier House with Alice. And I interviewed Jan Morris, who impressed me as the most considerate famous person I had ever met. (A role Pico Iyer seems to be filling admirably.) One morning near St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, I ran into Jan power walking down Duval Street. No matter; she stopped to chat. I told her that in my travels I often attended service at the local Anglican church. “You can sometimes meet interesting people there,” I said. She looked doubtful, saying she preferred the company of pagans. And with that she regained her loping stride.
Farewell to The Stardust, Castaways
by Michael Yessis | 01.12.06 | 1:58 AM ET
Las Vegas said goodbye to another of its old-time hotels today. Castaways, formerly known as The Showboat, endured for almost 50 years before succumbing to crippling debts after 9/11. The Las Vegas Review-Journal has the story—and the video of the implosion. Next up on the list of old Vegas hotels set for closure: The Stardust.
Gawker’s Fake Writer Day Enters Third Day
by Michael Yessis | 01.11.06 | 10:13 PM ET
It’s all over the revelations about James Frey and occasional travel writer JT Leroy. Today, there’s even a poll. Go tell ‘em which fake writer you think will score a made-for-TV movie first.
One Last Flight on Independence Air
by Michael Yessis | 01.11.06 | 2:30 PM ET
Independence Air went out of business last week, and Joe Sharkey bought a ticket on the low-fare carrier for one of its final flights. “As Flight 1217 descended into Dulles, [Flight Attendant Kari] Harris made the requisite announcements and added her thanks to the passengers for their company on her last flight,” Sharkey writes in the New York Times. “I watched how carefully she stowed the cans and replaced the napkins in their bins, as if someone would ever reach for them again. She removed her apron and folded it as neatly as if she were in her own kitchen….She dabbed at her eyes quickly with a tissue. ‘I almost made it without tears,’ she said.”
Should There Be a Support Group for the Spouses of Travel Writers?
by Jim Benning | 01.11.06 | 1:59 PM ET
Some think so. There’s an amusing discussion about it at Travelwriters.com.
Perceptive Travel Debuts
by Jim Benning | 01.11.06 | 12:57 PM ET
The new year brings with it a promising new online travel magazine, Perceptive Travel, edited by Tim Leffel, author of “The World’s Cheapest Destinations.” The first issue features stories from Bruce Northam, Rolf Potts, Peter Moore and Jen Leo, as well as world music reviews. It’s “a web magazine written for independent travelers with open senses and open minds. Our articles are written by some of the best travel authors in the world. These stories of voyages and destinations are meant to entertain, to amuse, to challenge, and to provide a real window into the world.” That sounds good to us, and we’ll be reading.
Debating ‘What’s Left to Discover and What Should Be Left Undiscovered’
by Tom Swick | 01.11.06 | 6:58 AM ET
Saturday morning I stepped out of my Key West B&B and felt a chilly breeze. I had often thought that I personally brought unseasonable weather to a place (almost never unseasonably good weather) but now I wondered if it was maybe travel writers in general.
21 Attractions Short Listed for New Seven Wonders of the World*
by Michael Yessis | 01.11.06 | 6:19 AM ET
A panel led by Former Director-General of UNESCO Federico Mayor Zaragoza recently announced its nominees to be considered for the New 7 Wonders. Travelers around the world will have the opportunity to vote throughout 2006, and the winners will be announced on January 1, 2007.
Restoring “Furthur,” the Fabled Bus of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters
by Jim Benning | 01.10.06 | 9:23 PM ET
The son of the late Ken Kesey, author of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” has set about restoring the 1939 International bus known as “Furthur,” which once carried Kesey, Neal Cassady and others on a fabled, LSD-crazed cross-country journey to New York. The bus has been rusting in an Oregon swamp for years, according to an AP report in the Globe and Mail. But the owner of Barney’s Beanery restaurant in Los Angeles, who is a fan of Kesey’s books, hopes to raise $100,000 to fund the restoration project.
A Travel Writer Looks Back at 2005
by Jim Benning | 01.10.06 | 9:02 PM ET
The Chicago Tribune’s Robert Cross reflected on his travels last year—and hip-replacement surgery—in Sunday’s paper.
