Travel Blogs

Military Might and Skies Alight in Paris

Posted by GregW | 15th July 2008

Prologue: Injecting Some Glamour Into This Affaire Internationale

When I moved here, I was expecting my life to be, well glamourous, James Bond in a tuxedo sipping on Martinis, and so on. It hasn’t turned out that way so far. My move to Europe has been more like a cross between National Lampoon’s European Vacation and an episode of Coronation Street. So I have decide to inject some glamour into my life.

For that reason, On Sunday, July 13, 2008 at noon, I could be found at St. Pancras International train station, sipping on champagne at Europe’s longest champagne bar and getting ready to take the Eurostar to Paris, where I would check into the Renaissance Venodome for a few days of rest away from the pressures of finding jobs and places to live and such. In addition, I would be there to see the Bastille Day Celebrations, the national day of France which takes place every July 14th to celebrate the 1789 storming of the Bastille, a key event in the eventual march to independence and the creation of the Republic of France. While we know the day in English as Bastille Day, here in France they call it simply the Fête Nationale, the National Holiday.

Continued | Greg Wesson's Esoteric Globe

From Earthquakes to Islands

Posted by MegMc2003 | 10th July 2008

´Are you sure you want to go to Pisco? Paracas is much better. ´ As usual, our taxi driver was of the mildly skeevy persuasion; I simply assumed he was pulling for a bigger fare – I´m not such a sucker!, I thought. We were pulling off the PanAmerican after two full days of travel, headed to the coastal town of Pisco, Peru. We were lured by the promise of unparalleled, inexpensive wildlife viewing at the nearby Islas Ballestas – yet another national park dubbed ¨Poor Man´s Galapagos.¨ Unfortunately, in all my enthusiasm for sea lions, I´d failed to fully understand the gravity of the tragedy gripping the little town: an August earthquake of 8.0 magnitude had claimed the lives of some 510 Peruvians and 58,000 homes. In hindsight, my optimism regarding the situation was not only inappropriate – surely after 10 months reconstruction will be well underway, I´d thought – but wholly ignorant and tainted by self-interest. ¨It can´t be that bad, and maybe we can help!¨ The usual humanitarian fantasies were floating around my head.

Continued | Lo siento, amigo...

Elephant Nature Park

Posted by bruntonal | 13th July 2008

Have you ever been kissed by a baby elephant? We have, at the fantastic Elephant Nature Park, which is an hour and a half’s drive north of Chiang Mai, in the picturesque valley of Mae Taeng. This sanctuary was set up in 1995 by a Thai woman – Sangduen Chailert, or “Lek” (meaning small in Thai) as she is more commonly known. Lek set up the park to care for domesticated asian elephants, which have been rescued from a life of abuse and cruelty from their previous owners. Presently, the park houses 33 elephants; the youngest being 2 months old, to the eldest who is in her 80’s.

Continued | Have backpacks will travel....

Saqsaywaman

Posted by Sabrosa684 | 10th July 2008

Cuzco is like the Disneyland of South America - more tourists than natives. But the place deserves the visitors - it is absolutely beautiful. The city is set within beautiful hills with a dozen old churches and cathedrals. This was the premier city of the Incan empire for many years that, at its' peak, stretched from Quito, Ecuador to northern, Argentina/Chile. When the Spanish arrived here in the early 1500's they, of course, killed the Incan Emperor (not before demanding a ransom of gold) and tried to assume power of the empire. It took awhile, but they succeeded, even though the Quechua language of the Incas survives with some 5 million speakers. Cuzco reflects the struggle of the empires. Spanish churches are built on the foundations of Incan sites and colonial buildings are set within the confines of the narrow streets that Incans only made large enough for load-bearing llamas.

Continued | Mother H

Ausangate trek

Posted by edenjosh | 8th July 2008

After reading about the Ausangate trek and seeing pictures, I was interested. Then, after seeing that besthike.com had rated it number 4 in the world, I HAD to go. The trek is difficult, high, and cold. Three solid reasons not to do it, but this also means that not so many tourists visit (and also because the trail does not lead to Machupicchu). Along the route you encounter thousands of alpacas, llamas, vicunas (the wild camelids that only live above 4000m), viscachas (rabbit-like animals), and the people who live around Ausangate usually only speak Quechua (with bits of Spanish, less than us!). Another interesting factoid, the first ascent of Ausangate was by a German party including Heinrich Harrer, author of 7 years in Tibet.

Continued | Eden and Josh

I'll Look Down the Eye of a Tiger, for One Moneda

Posted by TulsaTrot | 1st July 2008

Two weeks of constant supervision and care of little Sophie and her emerging personality left us needing some time off. So, Thursday night was as good of night to go out for a few hours to enjoy another side of traditional Argentine gastronomy, parilla and asado. Basically, parilla is a piece of meat that has been grilled over an open fire to just the right flavor. Our juicy parilla and asado full of flavor didn't leave us disillusioned.

Continued | Don't Cry For Me Argentina

Traveling by Train in America

Posted by lrbergen | 5th July 2008

Greetings from Portland!

And as this title suggests, I'm fresh off the train ride of 36 hours, almost to the minute! Opting to stay away from the ridiculously overpriced flights of America, I decided to ride the train instead, an option nearly forgotten until now. The airlines in America are making it more difficult than ever to get anywhere by plane; same small seats, but now more expensive! No food served on the plane! You'll have to pay for that! And on some flights, you're charged extra for choosing an aisle or window seat! And you only get one piece of luggage! No thanks, Delta. I'm a new big fan of Amtrak.

Continued | ¿Qué Onda Güera?

Lullingstone & Greenfields

Posted by GregW | 4th July 2008

Part I: Lullingstone: A Comedy of Errors (Some of Them Mine... Okay, Most of Them Mine)

I had planned to write a blog today about ruins. Roman ruins, to be exact. I had stumbled across some in central London a few weeks ago, and after some research found out about a rather well preserved Roman villa just 45 minutes by train to the South-east of London. For reasons I can't quite explain, the concept of the Roman ruins fascinated me. I was going to chalk it up to them being so old, but then Stonehenge is older and I didn't find it that interesting. I wasn't sure what it was the grabbed my attention about Roman ruins, but either way I decided I was going to see them and write about them here. I had pictures of Roman sights in London (the wall, the Temple of Mithras), had done some research into the period of Roman control of the Britain and was ready to put together an entry jam packed with interesting pictures and descriptions of the villa placed within the context of historical fact.

This blog entry, however, is not about Roman ruins. This blog entry is about things going wrong.

Continued | Greg Wesson's Esoteric Globe