Red Corner: UN Chimes in about Chernobyl Tours

by Neil Woodburn on

We’ve posted a couple of times about tour groups visiting the Dead Zone at Chernobyl and in doing so have commented about the sickness of those who profit off of other people’s misfortune and misery. Well, I was surprised to find a counterpoint to this argument that has been offered up by none other than the UN.

A 2002 report issued by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) concluded that ecotourism of the Chernobyl Zone would not only help to raise awareness about the problems plaguing the area, but would inject much needed currency into the region and help it to become more self-sufficient during its healing process-instead of relying so heavily upon quickly depleting foreign aid.

Knowing that such tours are UN sanctioned, however, really doesn’t make me want to go anymore than before.

Bush to Dis Taj

by Erik Olsen on

So President Bush is doing a little bit of traveling
himself this week, heading to India for a whirlwind tour. The purpose of the trip is to stir up business and
let the Indians see that the President doesn’t live up to his horrible reputation in the rest of the world. In a way,
the mere fact he is taking the trip helps, because he is widely known as one of the least-traveled Presidents in modern
history.

Some folks are making a to do about the fact he isn’t visiting the Taj Mahal, probably
India’s most popular and well-known site. Uh, so what? Folks, I’ve been to the Taj, and while it is indeed beautiful,
breath-takingly so, in fact, it is located in a rather little miserable place called Agra. I did a story about Agra a year or two ago
for MSNBC.com, and the idea was to find things to do in Agra out side of the Taj Mahal. That wasn’t easy. Yes, there is
the Red Fort and such, but the fact is Agra is a impoverished, dismal little place where the hucksters and touts are out
in great swarming legions, so I forgive the President, this time, for passing on the Taj.

Saving the Snow Lotus

by Erik Olsen on

It’s probably not the first thing
on YOUR to-do list, but to some folks in Deqen, a Tibetan village in the Eastern Himalayas, a campaign has started to
save the blossom of the snow lotus. The cottony, white flower is used in Tibetan medicine and snapped up by the burlap
bagloads by airy-minded tourists coming to seek enlightenment. And as a result, the pressures on this poor, wee flower
are such that they are growing less and less common, and perhaps on the brink of extinction.

In this
satisfying little story on NPR, the
expeditions crew takes us to the far reaches of the earth to learn a little more about a flower you probably
didn’t even know existed. These NPR segments in far-off places are always enjoyable. Not a bad way to start the
week.

GADLING'S TAKE FIVE: Week of February 21

by Erik Olsen on

It’s that time again, time to highlight some of the more
interesting Gadling posts from this last week. And it was a rather rich week, I’d say, especially when you consider
that we put up another podcast for your ear budding pleasure. But let me start at the beginning with this week’s
list:

5. Blimp Travel: This was a post I
found over at Popular Science and it really fired me up. I’ve long been puzzled why we haven’t been able to ply the
skies slowly in a dirigible. I mean, the technology has been around for a while, and yet, no blimp rides. Did the
tragedy of the Hindenburg ruin blimp travel? Well, perhaps not. Looks like someone may be building blimps for us after
all.

4. Tiki Mania: To be honest, I had only
heard of this whole Tiki business through Neil, whose post on Tiki Mania made it clear that the current Tiki revival
(revival? When was the last great Tiki boom, again? Oh, the 60s) is something to pay attention to, at the very least
for the promise of delicious fruity drinks.  But seriously, little did I know that the Tiki craze has its own magazine, blog, and, a band called Ape.

3. Calypso:
Adrienne, you might have read, is spending some fine time in Trinidad, and are we jealous! Well, she’s somehow found a
nice connection down there and is sending some excellent dispatches on life in a place most of us have never been. They
are really superb, and we are grateful. I’d like, in fact, to direct you to this wonderful post on Calypso and Soca
music. I read it last night, and then the daylight come and me wanna go home.

2. Tunisian Star Wars Locations: Sorry, I’m,
about a big a Star Wars geek as they get. I’ll not get into the details, but trust me, I’m out there in a galaxy far far
away. And so that is why I enjoyed Neil’s post on Tunisian Star Wars locations. What can I say? I’d go there just to
stand in the sand and say: These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.

1. Gadling Podcast: Joshua Davis: I really
enjoyed chatting with author Josh Davis about his new book Underdog: How I survived the World’s Most Outlandish
Competitions (not to mention the forthcoming film on his sumo exploits). The podcast here is our first since we spoke
with Fabien Cousteau about his shark submarine, and I think you’ll really enjoy it. Josh is a great guy, and his story
will make you shake you head in wonder. 

Fifteen Most Dangerous Trips?

by Erik Olsen on

There’s a really terrific book out there called Non-Zero by Robert Wright, that I urge you all to read. The book’s premise is that there is a design to nature, an evolving complexity in all things, including human society. Forget “Intelligent Design”, at least as far as there being a single supreme being overseeing all the change, that’s not what this is about. His point is that things evolve the way Darwin said they did, but that the evolution seems to have a direction, and that direction is towards something he calls a Non-Zero world, where things improve through cooperation rather than (or in addition to) competition. If you look at the world today, you’d have to agree that (Iraq and a few other places…re: below notwithstanding) things have overall become much more peaceful, more organized, more safe.

Why the mini-essay? Because I think it is relevant to a piece I just read over at MSNBC/Forbes that lists the to fifteen most dangerous places in the world. That is, with so many places on the globe basically safe for travel, with the world, as I suggest become increasingly safe (if not sterile in some places) there are still countries you’d really think twice or three times about before visiting. These are not really places you’d plan to take your next honeymoon, but if you thrive on danger, you might consider traveling to them. What are these places, you ask? Here’s the list:

• Afghanistan
• Burundi
• Cote d’Ivoire
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Georgia
• Haiti
• Iraq
• Liberia
• Pakistan
• Papua New Guinea
• Russia (Chechnya)
• Somalia
• Sudan
• Zimbabwe