Our five most popular features and blog posts this week:

1) In Patagonia, In Patagonia (pictured)
2) Promised Land Closed: Audio Slide Show
3) Should I Quit Law School so I Can Travel the World?
4) On the Occasional Importance of a Ceiling Fan
5) ‘7 Tourist Traps You Love’? Um, Not so Much.

World Hum contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.

Eva Holland
I’m headed to New Orleans for the summer, so I set aside several hours this week to watch When the Levees Broke, Spike Lee’s fantastic HBO documentary about Hurricane Katrina and its tragic aftermath. It was pretty tough to watch at points, but one uplifting theme that came through strongly—even more strongly than all the anger and frustration, the grief and feelings of betrayal—was the love that New Orleans residents have for their city, their sense of connection to the place and their pride in its unique cultural traditions. Here’s Lee setting the scene at the film’s premiere:

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"Three Mexican police chiefs have requested political asylum in the U.S.,” the Los Angeles Times reports. Total locura—and another reminder to be particularly cautious when traveling in the country’s danger zones. 

The author of “A Voyage Long and Strange,” just interviewed on World Hum, is blogging while on his U.S. book tour.

James Frey may have redeemed his fake-memoir self with his latest book, at least according to a rave review by Janet Maslin of The New York Times. But I’m more interested in Frey’s (random?) nod to an L.A.-area museum devoted entirely to bananas.

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Interesting move in France. The government may require thousands of clubs, cafes and bars open after 2 a.m. to install Breathalyzers by Jan. 1. Taking the Breathalyzer test would not be mandatory, but politicians are hoping patrons who may have had one too many drinks will voluntarily check their alcohol levels before driving home. The proposal was floated after a rash of drunk-driving accidents. Not everyone is cheering: Some are still reeling from a new smoking ban, and others in the hospitality industry complain Breathalyzers are too expensive.

Related on World Hum:
* France’s Smoking Ban Chokes its Hookah Bars

It’s hard to believe it’s taken this long for the United States to get a rock ‘n’ roll theme park. After all, aren’t rock and roller coasters two of the things America does best?  (And I say this as a Canadian.) But at long last, Hard Rock Park has opened in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and according to Myrtle Beach Online, “awesome” was the word of the day at the park’s recent “soft” opening. Since then, rave reviews have continued to pour in. 

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Interesting bit of economic analysis from the AP: “The gaming business often brags that it’s recession-proof because gamblers will always like to gamble, but amusement destinations historically have seen their business get hard hit when consumers’ wallets are pinched. The upscaling of Las Vegas with its five-star hotels, restaurants and shops, and the down-pricing of Disney to more value-oriented park packages and hotels over the last decade has turned that concept on its head.” Now, if Disney would just open a Vegas casino everything would balance out nicely.

Related on World Hum:
* A Clash of Civilizations Over Disney’s ‘It’s a Small World’

Photo by gruntzooki via Flickr, (Creative Commons).

Norwegian Cruise Line says surveillance video captured a 46-year-old New Jersey woman falling from her stateroom balcony shortly after the ship left New York on Sunday. The woman disappeared after the fall. “The details are likely to end growing speculation that foul play was involved,” USA Today reports.

Related on World Hum:
* ‘Man Overboard’: A Look at Cruise Ship Disappearances

In his latest column, South Florida Sun-Sentinel travel editor Thomas Swick surveys the woes facing American travelers this summer and then offers a simple solution: “Go. Somewhere. Anywhere.” And take your sense of wonder. “For those who have it,” he writes, “a road trip to North Carolina is just as enjoyable as a vacation in Italy. For it involves the same fundamental gift: a journey out of the house, to another place, one with a different landscape, culture, way of doing things.”

Perhaps it’s due to jet lag—I just arrived in London and have been forcing myself to stay awake to adjust to the time change. Or maybe it’s because I was reading The Post-American World on the flight over and had just come across this line: “The biggest movie industry, in terms of both movies made and tickets sold, is Bollywood, not Hollywood.” Whatever the reason, I was taken with this shrinking-planet shop-window display I just passed in Soho:

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I know it’s a cliché for visitors to the Middle East, but the call to prayer has totally seduced me during my two weeks in Jerusalem. At different spots across the city, I’ve been amazed at how the wailing notes can vary depending on the muezzin. At the mosque near my hotel, the muezzin strikes a somber tone, voice cracking on the high notes, while others I’ve heard in the West Bank sound more like trilling songbirds, drawing out “Allahhhh” for all it’s worth.

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