Archive for May, 2006
Vegetarians rule in Bombay
Never mind pets, smokers or loud music at 2 a.m. House hunters in Bombay increasingly are being asked: “Do you eat meat?” If yes, the deal is off. Yes, it’s true. According to this article, it’s becoming increasingly common in Bombay (Mumbai), India, for some home owners to sell or rent only to other vegetarians, [...]
Need surgery? Try Thailand
A few years ago, David Elliot Cohen wrote a book (One Year Off) about a round-the-world journey with his wife and three children. While in Thailand, his daughter had a finger injury and needed minor surgery at Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok. Apprehensive at first, he was amazed at the quality and efficiency of the care, not [...]
Fading sounds of old Beijing
On a recent trip, Lisa and I spent a memorable afternoon in the hutongs, or alleyways, of old Beijing. These ancient neighborhoods have streets that are too narrow for modern automobiles, so we visited the area by rickshaw. We rolled past small shops, men playing board games, schoolchildren in uniform, and dozens of locals who [...]
Popularizing geography
We know from previous news that many Americans don’t know a whole lot about geography. But some do, as evidenced by the 2006 National Geographic Bee, won by 12-year-old Bonny Jain of Illinois. Interestingly, the top three finishers, and five of the top 10, were Indian-Americans. Not a lot of attention is paid to this [...]
Educational benefits of travel, part two
Two months ago, I wrote about a contest being sponsored by NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristof in which he wanted to take a student with him on a future African reporting trip. Kristof has now picked a winner, journalism student Casey Parks of Mississippi. In a Tuesday column, he reports that he and the lucky winner will [...]
New country joins the world
Montenegro, the tiny Balkan country that has long been connected to Serbia, voted yesterday to become an independent country. Montenegro will thus become the 193rd member of the international community (or maybe the 192nd or 194th, depending on who is counting). There are 191 members of the United Nations. However, the U.S. State Department and many other U.N. members recognize 192 [...]
Hitching rides in Romania
Hitchhiking doesn’t have the allure it once did, and in a number of places it’s really not even an advisable activity these days. But Mat Schultz discovered a different world in rural Romania, where he hitched rides along with the locals and wrote about his experiences for Lonely Planet. Botiza is the most perfect European village [...]
The experiences of Japanese expats
Nice story in the English-language Japan Times about the increasing numbers of Japanese who are choosing to live and work overseas. Almost one million Japanese now live outside of their country, a 40 percent increase in ten years. The newspaper asked several of those expats to share their experiences from Argentina, France, Spain, the United States and other [...]
Literary inspirations to travel
I was intrigued by a recent story in the NY Times about literature that inspires people to travel. The newspaper polled authors for titles that have aroused their wanderlust. It got me to thinking about books I’ve read that fit into that category. Not travel narratives, for they are meant to invoke dreams of the road, but other literature that makes one want to [...]
Fighting terrorism with poetry?
No, it’s not a joke. In Yemen, poets are bringing a message of peace to people that the government cannot reach. Crammed into a mud-brick shop, his audience, some with their hands resting on their gold-trimmed daggers, listen to his verse denouncing violence and Islamic militancy. When he finishes, there is silence. Then the room erupts [...]
The future, what’s that?
Very interesting story in this morning’s news about a Stone Age-like tribe of hunter-gatherers that left the jungle behind and wandered into a Colombian city. The article is interesting for its descriptions of the indigenous Nukak tribe’s collision with the modern world, but my favorite quote was the one that pointed out a very different conception [...]
Easter Island journeys
There is something both enchanting and sad about the ruins of lost cultures and cities. Macchu Picchu in Peru, the temples of Angkor in Cambodia, the city of Ephesus in Turkey. But even as we struggle to understand how these societies decayed with such finality after reaching such heights of achievement, it’s still hard not to marvel at these monuments [...]
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Bob Riel is a writer and a traveler. Go here to read more about Bob, his work and the Travels in the Riel World blog.
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My travel memoir - Two Laps Around the World: Tales and Insights from a Life Sabbatical - is about two round-the-world journeys with my wife.
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