Travels in the Riel World

On Wednesday, we looked at some hot destinations for 2010, courtesy of the NY Times. Today, we cover the same topic, only from a slightly different and perhaps more interesting angle. That is, why not forget the travel publications and ask some travel writers themselves - where do they want to travel in 2010? The folks at Matador Travel did just that, surveying their team of writers, and came up with a more personal and pretty intriguing list of destinations. Here are a few:

Xinjiang province, China (Sarah Menkedick) - Xinjiang province called out to me the whole time I was in China. My husband and I chose tropical Borneo over frigid northwest China when my sweet two months of winter vacation rolled around, but Xinjiang has continued to haunt us.

Benin (Julie Schwietert) - My beat — journalistically, psychologically, and mentally — is Latin America and the Caribbean, but I’ve been feeling pulled toward Africa for a long time. I’ve never been. West Africa, in particular, is of interest to me for its political history and its music; of all the West African countries, Benin is where I’d want to go if I had to limit myself to just one country.

Eastern Kazakhstan (Hal Amen) - The fence-less plains, high mountains, and nomadic culture of Central Asia fascinate me. Kazakhstan is good to go year round. In winter there are golden eagle hunting competitions just east of Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, and summer would be an ideal time for trekking the Altay Mountains in the northeast.

Nepal (Andy Hayes) - I can’t help but notice Nepal popping up in unusual places. And given my love for rich, experiential travel, I can think of many ways to spend my time there. I’m not looking forward to the affects of altitude, but I am sure it’s nothing an authentic spiritual journey can’t fix.

There are more than 20 such recommendations in Matador’s full story. Check it out.

It’s that time of year, when travel publications release lists of supposed hot spots for the coming year. The NY Times recently came out with their list of 31 places to go in 2010, which includes such destinations as these:

Damascus, Syria- The next Marrakesh? Perhaps mindful of the way that renovations of historic riads have drawn upscale travelers to Marrakesh, Damascus hoteliers are trying to mine tourism gold in the rundown buildings of the Syrian capital’s Old City. These 18th-century homes — many with inviting courtyards and rooftop terraces — are now boutique hotels.

Macedonia- One of the deepest lakes on the planet, with a dazzling Unesco World Heritage site of ancient dwellings rising high above its shores, Lake Ohrid in Macedonia is a local vacation star poised for greater international acclaim. In the tiered, terra-cotta-roofed city of Ohrid, 18 miles from the Albanian border, a lakefront settlement dating back to Neolithic times, Macedonians boast that on their side of the lake is a church, monastery or mosque for every day of the year, each full of resplendent frescoes, mosaics and icons. Notable attractions include the recently renovated church of St. Clement and St. Panteleimon at Plaosnik, an epic Byzantine masterpiece, and the 13th-century St. John of Kaneo, a limestone and brick monastery that juts out over transparent blue waters.

Colombia- Unfairly or not, Colombia is still known for its cocaine cartels and street violence, but cool-hunting travelers are calling it Latin America’s next affordable hot spot. Bogotá, its capital, has emerged as a role model of urban reinvention. Starting in the late 1990s, the city underwent a breathtaking transformation. Sidewalks, once used mainly for parking, are now lined with bicycle paths and tree-shaded cafes. An innovative bus system zips residents across the traffic-congested city. And museums and restaurants have opened in its historic center, including the refurbished Museo del Oro, which houses pre-Columbian treasures.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia- While Phuket and Angkor Wat are tourism anchors in Southeast Asia, jetsetters in the region are heading these days to Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital that’s quietly evolved into one of the area’s coolest and friendliest cities. Not only are K.L.-ites diehard foodies, fiercely proud of a robust street food scene that straddles Chinese, Indian and Malay flavors — check out the food blog EatingAsia — they’re also shopaholics, spending weekends trawling boutiques for the latest looks emerging from the sophisticated local fashion scene.

That should get your travel bug purring. See the full story for 27 more hopping travel destinations. Check back Friday for a different take on this topic.

There has been a lot of politics in the news lately, and President Obama’s State of the Union speech is scheduled for Wednesday. So if you’ve got politics on your mind, or even if you’re just a fan of history, you might consider taking a presidential road trip through Virginia. That’s the topic of may latest road trip feature for Examiner.com.

The Commonwealth of Virginia calls itself the “birthplace of Presidents” and, of the country’s 44 leaders, seven of them have firm roots in Virginia. This includes several of the nation’s Founding Fathers, men such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Virginia has more presidential landmarks and homes than any other state, so it’s possible to construct a nifty little road trip that will enable you to take in a treasure trove of American history.

You can see the full story here, and use this Google map to follow the journey.

View Presidential tour of Virginia in a larger map

That’s the opinion of a number of studies, all recently quoted by NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristof in an interesting piece that explores some of the possible reasons for why Costa Ricans are generally pretty content with their lives.

One reason, of course, may be the luck of their geography.

Maybe Costa Rican contentment has something to do with the chance to explore dazzling beaches on both sides of the country, when one isn’t admiring the sloths in the jungle (sloths truly are slothful, I discovered; they are the tortoises of the trees). Costa Rica has done an unusually good job preserving nature, and it’s surely easier to be happy while basking in sunshine and greenery than while shivering up north and suffering “nature deficit disorder.”

Or, there may be something else going on, namely an amazing policy decision from several decades ago.

What sets Costa Rica apart is its remarkable decision in 1949 to dissolve its armed forces and invest instead in education. Increased schooling created a more stable society, less prone to the conflicts that have raged elsewhere in Central America. Education also boosted the economy, enabling the country to become a major exporter of computer chips and improving English-language skills so as to attract American eco-tourists.

I’m not antimilitary. But the evidence is strong that education is often a far better investment than artillery.

And, perhaps there is a bit of a cultural factor, as well.

Latin countries generally do well in happiness surveys. Mexico and Colombia rank higher than the United States in self-reported contentment. Perhaps one reason is a cultural emphasis on family and friends, on social capital over financial capital — but then again, Mexicans sometimes slip into the United States, presumably in pursuit of both happiness and assets.

See Kristof’s entire column for more background on the happiness studies, as well as more of his argument for why Costa Ricans seem to have hit on a pretty decent formula for life.

There is no doubt that Twitter has its fans and its detractors. There is also no doubt that this social networking phenomenon is affecting the way that millions of people interact online, as well as the means by which information is distributed. But can Twitter also be having an impact on a culture’s communication styles? Well, perhaps it’s not going that far, but it is certainly provoking a pretty strong conversation about communication styles in India, as reported in this recent news story.

Seems an Indian politician, Shashi Tharoor, used a Twitter post to disagree with a policy favored by his political superiors. And in the process set off a cultural firestorm over communication styles and respect for hierarchy.

That message, along with a few others mildly questioning the merits of India’s new, stricter tourist visa policies, landed him on the front page of most of India’s English-language newspapers, which accused him of a very big mistake in Indian politics: appearing to disagree publicly with his superiors on a delicate issue.

Politicians in democracies the world over have warmed to Twitter, the microblogging service, and other social media tools, like Facebook, to connect with voters…But in India, the world’s largest and most boisterous democracy, it has not caught on with elected officials. Indeed, many of India’s power elite, whether in politics, the news media or business, seem to look askance at Mr. Tharoor’s enthusiasm for a medium that collapses the distance between the governors and the governed and dismantles the layers of protocol and decorum that keep elected officials and senior bureaucrats here aloof from the everyday concerns of those they serve…

Twitter enthusiasts say the news media make a fuss about it because it usurps its traditional role as intermediary and interpreter between the powerful and the masses.

Twitter and culture. Fun stuff. And hey, if you’re interested in knowing what goes in Indian politics, then you too can follow Tharoor’s Twitter account.

Today is a holiday in the United States - Martin Luther King Day, which celebrates the life and legacy of the great civil rights leader, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and was assassinated in 1968. It’s a good time to explore some of the historic sites that were key to King’s life, to this country’s civil rights movement, and to African American history. I just published an article suggesting just that and offering seven notable destinations, including the following.

 

Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site – Atlanta, Georgia

There are multiple important sites located within walking distance of each other in the Sweet  Auburn district of Atlanta where King was born and raised. The King Center has an exhibition hall with mementos from Dr. King’s life, as well as videos of his speeches and sermons. It is next to the Freedom Plaza where King’s tomb is situated amidst a reflecting pool. Also within the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site are King’s birth home and the Ebeneezer Baptist Church, where King and his father were pastors.

 

Alabama Civil Rights Trail – Montgomery, Selma, and Birmingham, Alabama

Alabama was the epicenter of numerous civil rights battles of the 1950s and these historic events are memorialized in the state today. In Montgomery, you can tour the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, where King was a preacher; the Dexter Parsonage Museum, where King and his family lived; the Rosa Parks Library and Museum, which pays tribute to the woman who sparked a year-long city bus boycott; and the Civil Rights Memorial, designed by the architect Maya Lin, that honors those who gave their life to the civil rights struggle.

 

Just west of Montgomery is Selma. Between the two cities, you can follow the Selma-to-Montgomery National Historic Trail, which commemorates the 1965 Voting Rights March, and stop at the Edmund Pettis Bridge, where 500 marchers were attacked by state police.

 

Birmingham, meanwhile, is home to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, a museum that re-creates the world of racial segregation and the civil rights clashes. It is across the street from the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, where four young girls were killed during a 1963 bombing by the Ku Klux Klan.

 

National Underground Railroad Freedom Center – Cincinnati, Ohio

The Underground Railroad was a 19^th century network of private homes and churches where fleeing slaves were hidden as they tried to make their way north to a free state. The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center uses exhibits and interactive endeavors to detail the history of slavery and tell the story of the Underground Railroad and of the individuals who worked to overturn slave laws.

 

See the full story for four more sites, in Massachusetts, Tennessee, Kansas and Arkansas.

Do you enjoy food? Are you a traveler who likes to experience a culture through its cuisine? If so, then Syria should perhaps be on your list of future countries to visit. Yes, Syria. There was a great piece recently on NPR about the rise of Aleppo, Syria, as a destination for food lovers.

Aleppo, in northern Syria, is one of the oldest cities in the world. For a thousand years — maybe more — the city’s residents have had food on the mind. Now, this Middle East gourmet capital is registering on the itineraries of food tourists — and giving Paris and New York some competition.

The romance begins at the city’s outdoor food markets — radishes as big as apples; fresh white cheese bobbing in milky water; shiny green and black olives; hundreds of pickles; and thick pomegranate molasses. Then there are the spice markets, with yellow turmeric, pink rose petals and red sun-dried pepper pastes.

Surrounded by olive, nut and fruit orchards, Aleppo is famous for a love of eating. The cuisine is the product of fertile land and location — along the Silk Road, an ancient trading route…

The International Academy of Gastronomy in France awarded Aleppo its culinary prize in 2007. But Aleppo was a food capital long before Paris. Aleppo’s diverse communities — Arabs, Kurds, Armenians, Circassians, a sizable Christian population — all contributed food traditions, since Aleppo was part of the Ottoman Empire.

The full story has more information about food tourism in Syria. As well as overviews of such local meals as “fava bean soup with a splash of olive oil, lemon juice and Aleppo’s red peppers,” or “kibbe, a deep-fried oval of cracked wheat with … delicately spiced, fragrant lamb in the middle.” Check it out.

So there are 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, not to mention places to see before they disappear, festivals to experience, destinations for food and wine lovers, and much, much more. But what about places to ride your bike before you die? It’s not a new book, but it is the fun title of a quite interesting online article that I just came across on travellingtwo.com. There are some really great selections listed, so much so that you may actually want to dust off your bike for your next vacation. Here is a sample:

Along the Mekong in Cambodia: Angkor Wat might be Cambodia’s’s most famous attraction but when it comes to really seeing how the local people live, you can’t do any better than by riding your bike along the dirt paths that follow the Mekong River, through a string of small villages that rarely see tourists. What will you see? For a start, there will be more chickens and pigs on the road than cars. Lunch might be some sweet rice and coconut, steamed in bamboo over hot coals (the ultimate energy snack for a hungry cyclist) and the whole way you’ll hear the sounds of enthusiastic kids saying Sua s’dei as you pass. The rainy season brings the added bonus of endless local ferries over bits of flooded road.

Shiraz to Yazd in Iran: Want to feel like a cycling celebrity? Go to Iran. Yes, Iran. This is not the axis of evil but rather a country where passing tourists are regularly hauled into local homes to drink endless cups of tea, then stuffed to the gills with home-cooked delights, put to bed on fine carpets and sent off the next day with panniers filled to bursting with bread and sweets. Friendlier people? You can’t find them anywhere else in the world. Then there are the endless archaeological sites. They’re as glorious as anything you’d see in Rome, only mostly devoid of other tourists because so few people come to Iran these days. Don’t forget the scenery – a mix of mountains and deserts – and some of the world’s most gorgeous architecture. For beauty and tranquility, the tiled mosques of Iran, particularly in Esfahan, are unmatched.

The Island of Tasmania in Australia:If touring cyclists go to heaven, they’d go to a place where the roads are smooth, the traffic is light, the views are stunning, the pies are always fresh from the oven and the camping is free. We can only conclude that heaven already exists and it’s on a small island south of Melbourne. Welcome to Tasmania or Tassieas it’s more affectionately known. Come here for the endless views of the sea, the numerous well-thought-out free campsites, the plethora of bakeries serving up tasty treats and the amazing wildlife. You’re sure to see a wombat or two, echidnas and maybe – if you’re lucky – a Tasmanian Devil.

There are seven more destinations in the full story - encompassing Oregon, Portugal, Kyrgyzstan and more - not to mention links to maps and route notes.

Do Arabs appreciate stand-up comedy? They do. At least, that seems to be the consensus of some North American comedians who recently appeared in Jordan. Interestingly, stand-up comedy is not common to all cultures. How can it be, when such comedy often involves insulting groups of people, and in particular governments and politicians? Such freedom of speech is just not as common or as accepted as it is in most Western democracies. Which makes the experience of the comedians in Jordan all the more intriguing.

Amman, which has a reputation as the sleepiest capital city in the Middle East, has decided it wants to be the center of stand-up comedy in a region not exactly known for freedom of speech or self-deprecating humor. Stand-up generally requires a political atmosphere that tolerates the challenging of taboos and the mocking of conventions.

That is not the case here, or around the region. In Egypt, insulting the president can lead to a jail term, and officials even grew furious last year when a comedian poked fun at the national airline, EgyptAir. In Lebanon, Mr. Obeidallah said, “We were told, ‘Make fun of whoever you want, but if you make fun of Hezbollah, you are on your own.’ ”

In Dubai, all scripts must be approved in advance by the official censor. In Jordan, where insulting the ruler can lead to prison, as in Egypt, social codes and religious values emphasize conformity, tradition and respect. So it was a risk when the mayor of Amman, Omar Maani, decided he would try to find a way to bring some levity to a city mired in crisis, with Iraq on one border and the Israeli-occupied West Bank on another.

The experiment started in 2007 when an American comedy group, Axis of Evil — comics of Iranian, Egyptian and Palestinian ancestry — came to Amman. “I was nervous it would not take off,” Mr. Omani said.

But it did, in a big way. The next year, Mr. Omani invited them back, and this year his city organized the festival. He said he hoped to make it even bigger next year. But there are rules. No cursing. No making fun of religion. No making fun of the king (or his family). No sex jokes. No drug jokes. And, of course, no alcohol allowed.

See the entire NY Times story for a run-down of some of the jokes and a description of more cultural misunderstandings.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to travel to North Korea, one of the world’s most isolated and closed-off countries? If you’d like a glimpse into North Korean life, you should read the story that Dean Owen wrote for the LA Times about his recent experiences traveling in that country.

Visiting North Korea is like peering in the window of a store that closed long ago but where old merchandise mysteriously remains. I walk through the aisles feeling privileged, fascinated and curious, a little nervous, but not scared.

It is unlike any other place in the world. Communications and information technology most of the rest of the world takes for granted — the Internet, cellphones, GPS systems — are unavailable to civilians. North Korean-sanctioned news about Western nations often is characterized by violence and aggressive government actions.

Business brought me here in June, making me one of a very few Americans who have seen close-up the world’s most restricted nation. U.S. citizens are allowed to visit, but as tourists, they are limited to traveling between August and October, during the Arirang Festival, also known as the “mass games.” …

A massive portrait of the elder Kim, “the Great Leader,” greets arriving visitors from the roof of the Sunan International Airport. Once my luggage is scanned, visa inspected and cellphone impounded, I meet my assigned escorts, settle into a Toyota SUV and drive 15 miles into the capital city. The few vehicles on the road are owned either by the government or the military. Most people walk in groups of five or 10; others ride bicycles…

Streets are swept several times a day. One morning we drive by Kim Il Sung Square, one of many monuments honoring the nation’s founder. The plaza, more than 800,000 square feet, is nearly 10 times the size of San Francisco’s Union Square. But there are no panhandlers or even pigeon droppings. In contrast, we witness more than 200 people on their hands and knees scrubbing the plaza’s concrete floor — a sight I will never forget.

If this excerpt interests you, then by all means read the full article. The writer paints a portrait of North Korea as a fascinating and unusual place.

What do all of the above have in common? They were all the subject of articles I wrote during the past year on travel destinations and experiences in North America. I put some of the best of these stories into a review article for Examiner.com.

 

Great urban walking trails – There is no shortage of great hiking trails in North America, but what many people don’t consider are the equally remarkable walking trails that exist within cities. On these pathways you can get your exercise and enjoy great views at the same time, from the National Mall in Washington to the Chicago lakefront to the San Antonio Riverwalk.

 

Seven spectacular fall foliage drives – Autumn is a popular season for leaf-peeping and these seven fall foliage drives will mesmerize you with nature’s beauty. Route 100 in Vermont is a classic route, but don’t dismiss such roadways as the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia and North Carolina, the San Juan Skyway in Colorado, or the Columbia River Highway in Oregon.

 

Popular and unique independent bookstores - There is something to be said for the thrill of wandering the aisles of a bookstore with a truly distinctive feel and personality. A bookstore that is even worth adding to your travel itinerary. If you agree, then you’ll love such bookstores as the Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle, The Tattered Cover in Denver or City Lights Books in San Francisco, among others.

 

Check out the full story, or my entire series of “best of North America” articles.

Welcome to a new year (and a new decade)! If you’re looking for not only a travel destination but also a travel experience for 2010, then this article from Lonely Planet is a good place to begin. It gives you nine great things to do in 2010, from Olympics to eclipses. Here is an excerpt:

Total eclipse from Easter Island - Sunday 11 July … will see a total eclipse of the sun, visible from a corridor that traverses the southern Pacific Ocean. About half-way through, it’ll cross over one of the world’s most extraordinary and isolated places, Easter Island. This will be the best possible place to observe the eclipse, with the darkened sun lingering above the northwestern horizon. It’s hard to beat the combination of a shadowed sun, a Polynesian island, and 887 ancient monumental statues.

Vancouver Winter Olympics, Canada - From 12th to 28th February, the Winter Olympics will be doing their chilly thing in Vancouver, while the slopes of Whistler, 120km north, will host the skiing and sledging events. This icy extravaganza encompasses an incredible 86 sports, including the obvious (skiing, ice hockey and figure skating), and the obscure  (curling, anyone?). Be there, if only to see how they’ll try to top the Beijing Olympics opening celebrations.

Pushkar Camel Fair, India- As the morning light sharpens, the scene near Pushkar, a tiny pilgrimage town in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan, comes into focus. Hundreds of camels and their owners’ camps fill the desert scrub. One of India’s most spectacular festivals (18th to 21st November, 2010), the camel fair began as a sideshow of the Katrik Purnima, before becoming an attraction in its own right. The noise is remarkable, an unearthly chorus of camel snorts, fairground rides, people and distorted sound systems. Colour and chaos prevail: camels, horses, tribal people, tourists and film crews all play their parts in creating the scene. Plus, if you’re in the market for a camel, this is where to head.

Check out the full story for six other ideas.