Shanghai’s House of Barbie closes; tour of China to follow

by Laurel Miller on

That Barbie really gets around. California-based Mattel’s best-selling toy has moved out of her shuttered Shanghai flagship store, “House of Barbie,” and is hitting the road. “I have gone on a tour of China!” says a cartoon Barbie on the store’s website. Apparently, the doll has itchy feet, and is road tripping–no doubt luxuriously–on a “Barbie Pink Bus Tour.”

The six-story flagship store opened in 2009, on Barbie’s 50th anniversary. Located in Shanghai’s commercial epicenter on Huaihai Road, the pink palace contained a spa, cafe, design studio, fashion stage, and a vast array of Barbies and Barbie products.

The store closed Monday, says The Jakarta Post, after the world’s biggest toy maker released a statement stating its plans to expand its customer base across China. Despite Shanghai’s being the hub of the country’s fashion industry, sales of the sartorially-savvy doll were disappointing. It seems parents are more likely to spend money on extracurricular activities for their children than on spendy Western dolls.

Safe travels, Babs.

[Photo credit: Flickr user Tinker*Tailor loves Lalka]

Pokhara & the Himalayan hippie trail

by Matthew Firestone on

Kathmandu may be the first city that comes to mind when you mention Nepal. But when it comes to retracing the infamous ‘Hippie Trail’ of the 1960s, there is no better place than Pokhara. Little known outside the hard-core travel circuit, Pokhara is Nepal’s 3rd largest city, and – more importantly – lies in the shadow of three of the ten tallest mountains in the world.

On Friday, Gadling presented 48 hours in Kathmandu as a brief introduction to the mountain kingdom. But to truly come face-to-face with the majesty and grandeur of Nepal, you have to climb up into the Himalayas.

Prior to the construction of a major highway in 1968, the only way to access Pokhara was to hike in. Difficult access meant that travelers were in no rush to go anywhere else. The stories of bygone sex, drugs and rock n’ roll in Pokhara are absolutely legendary.

With jet-setting flashpackers becoming more of the norm rather than the exception, things are certainly more PG-13 these days. But that doesn’t mean that Pokhara is any less magical. Have we peaked your interest yet? Read on to find out more about the last vestiges of the Himalayan Hippie Trail.Everest is the unquestionable rooftop of the world, but the Annapurna circuit has no less than three mountains that break the 8,000 meter (26,246 feet) mark. Considering that Pokhara and the surrounding valley bottom out at 1,500 meters (4,921 feet), the contrast scale is epic.

And then there’s the vegetation. Lying in sub-tropical climes, Pokhara is flush with flowering plants, leafy vines and towering trees. Outside the city limits, the jungle quickly takes root. Not long ago, tiger sightings were quite common, though sadly their numbers are on the decline.

With so much stunning nature, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that hiking and trekking are the two main activities on hand. In town, every other shop will sell you North Face-branded gear (most of dubious origins), and offer guiding services, chartered expeditions or simply friendly advice.

If you’re inexperienced with high-altitude alpine conditions, consider an overnight hike to the hill station at Sarangkot. Although you’re just a smidgen above 2,000 meters (6,561 feet), you’re still high enough to escape from the urban confines.

You’re also in the shadow of the Annapurna range, and well-positioned for one of the most spectacular sunrises of your life. In the wee hours of the morning, the sun crosses the horizon on the opposite end of the valley, slowly enveloping the Himalayas in a blanket of soft orange light.

Got weak knees? Apprehensive about the down-climb to Pokhara? There happens to be a well-respected paragliding school at Sarangkot, which means that tandem jumps are safe and relatively affordable (around US$100).

Up for a more serious challenge? Consider the 14-day roundtrip trek from Pokhara to Annapurna Base Camp (4131 m; 13,553 ft). You will need to be properly outfitted for this trek, and altitude sickness is a minor risk worth mentioning.

With that said, the relaxed pace gives you plenty of time to acclimatize, and there is no technical climbing required to reach the top. Along the way, you can also keep your energy levels high by stopping at remote tea shacks staffed by local villagers.

At such great heights, never underestimate the rejuvenative power of a good cuppa’ tea!

For technical climbers in search of death-defying challenges, tackling the peaks of the so-called ‘eight-thousanders’ is unmatched. Rising more than 8,000 meters (26,246 feet), Annapurna I, II and III are amongst the deadliest mountains in the world. It’s estimated that 40% of expeditions result in fatalities. In comparison, Everest claims the lives of less than 5% of climbers.

Not in a rush to meet your maker?

One of the most enchanting aspects of Pokhara is that the city wraps around the edges of a tranquil lake. Rowboats can be rented for a few dollars, and you can paddle out to an island shrine. Overhead, flocks of hungry swallows do an admirable job of insect control.

Much like Kathmandu,Pokhara is also home to a very large Tibetan refugee population. Momo (Tibetan-style dumplings) are great for a quick fix, especially when washed down with Nepali millet beer and rice brandy. If you like your alcohol in bottles, the commercially brewed Everest lager also hits the spot.

Believe it or not, Pokhara also has something of a thriving Italian food sector. Wood-fired pizzas and handmade pastas are ubiquitous – it’s not Sicily, but the quality is much better than you’d think. Carbo-loading is also the order of the day if you’re planning on heading up into the mountains.

And now, for a bit of the nitty-gritty details…

The best time to visit Pokhara is during the dry season (October to May) when the skies are clear and sunny. In the wet season (June to September), Asia gets pounded by monsoon rains. During this time, you will not be able to see the mountains through the grey gloom, and transportation will grind to a halt.

Speaking of transportation, the modern era has opened up Pokhara to the world. Rather than hiking into Pokhara like the hippies of yore, you can take the bus from Kathmandu. Advertised time is seven hours, but the reality is often closer to ten. Accidents are sadly all too commonplace, so be advised that personal safety is no guarantee.

Those wary of long bus rides can fly on one of Nepal’s domestic airlines: Yeti Air, Buddha Air or Agri Air. Flight time is less than one hour, and the views below are nothing less than stunning. As a disclaimer however, all three airlines have less than stellar crash records. Getting to Pokhara may be an adventure in itself, but trust us – the journey is entirely worth the risks.

The 1960s are long gone, but there are still vestiges of the hippie dream flourishing in the Himalayas.

Namaste. Pokhara awaits.

** All images are original photographs produced by this blogger **

Vietnam authorities suspend tour company over deaths

by Chris Owen on

Citing negligence, Vietnam authorities suspended a tour company responsible for the deaths of 12 tourists killed last month when the boat they were sleeping on sank.

AZ Queen Company had clients from nine different countries including Americans, Austrailans and Britons sleeping on a tour boat anchored in Ha Long Bay near the Vietnam–Chinese border when the aged vessel suddenly filled with water and sank February 17.
The unlicensed tour company was fined 15 million dong ($700) and was ordered to suspend all domestic and international tour services for operating without a license, Mai Tien Dung, deputy director of the Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism told the Associated Press.

The boat’s captain and a member of the crew were arrested on the charge of negligence causing serious consequences, a charge that can carry a jail term of up to 12 years.

“The initial police investigation showed that the man in charge of the boat engine forgot to close the valve that allowed water in to cool the engine before he, the captain and other crew went to bed” said police spokesman Le Thanh Binh.

This is not the first time such an event has occurred in Vietnam. 40 people were killed on when a crowded river boat sank in central Vietnam in January of 2009.

In September of 2009, the same company was involved in a sinking that resulted in the death of three tourists during a heavy rain storm.

Flickr photo by flydime

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Qatar Airways expands into Montreal; reaches 100th destination milestone

by McLean Robbins on

Qatar Airways will become the first Gulf area airline to serve Canada when it expands into Montreal with service on June 29. The non-stop journey from the airline’s hub in Doha to Montreal‘s Pierre Elliot Trudeau International Airport will be a total flying time of 13 hrs 20 minutes and will be offered three times weekly, on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

Montreal will become the airline’s fourth North American destination, currently operates daily flights to New York, Washington and Houston.

Qatar is home to more than 3,000 Canadian citizens and two Canadian university satellite campuses, The College of the North Atlantic and the University of Calgary.

Canadian nationals arriving in Qatar may enter the country without prior visa arrangements. Passengers with Qatar as their end destination may enter by obtaining a visa on arrival.

The Boeing 777 on the Montreal route has a two-class operation, offering 42 seats in Business in a spacious 2–2–2 cabin layout, with a seat pitch of 78 inches that is already the envy of competitor airlines as the seats stretch into lie-flat beds, a key demand of the corporate traveller.

In Economy, the Boeing 777 offers 217 seats in a 3–3–3 configuration with a pitch of up to 34-inch, which is among the most generous of any international airline flying wide-body aircraft on long-haul routes.

On March 6, Qatar Airways adds Stuttgart to its global network, followed on April 6 with new flights to the historic Syrian city of Aleppo – the airline’s milestone 100th destination. Flights to Shiraz, Qatar Airways’ third gateway in Iran begin on June 5, followed 10 days later on June 15 by scheduled services to Venice, the carrier’s third destination in Italy.

[Flickr via Deanster1983]

North Korea resumes construction on world’s most hideous hotel

by Justin Delaney on

North Korea is the hermit kingdom; a strange land of mass games and dear leaders trapped in a 1950’s communist time warp. While they may not have modern supermarkets or PlayStation 3, North Korea does have one of the tallest hotels in the world, and it looms high above Pyongyang like a tribute to the ill advised whims of dear leader Kim Jong Il.

According to USA Today, The pyramidal Ryugyong Hotel began construction in the late nineteen-eighties and was spearheaded by Orascom – an Egyptian architectural firm. Construction of the abominable structure was halted after the fall of the Soviet Union. Without Soviet subsidies, North Korea could not afford the expensive project. Today, the 105 story building is again under construction and may cost as much as two billion U.S. dollars to complete, or 5% to 10% of estimated North Korean G.D.P. Relative to American G.D.P. terms, it would be like the United States sinking over a trillion dollars into a hotel project.The windowless and hollow structure stood vacant for decades, just towering above the city. It is a metaphorical monument to a country plagued by its own agitprop claims of supremacy and the central lunacy that drives this madness further. The North Koreans even spent years denying the structure’s existence, removing it from photographs and excluding it from maps of Pyongyang. Too much shame, it seems, in the very obvious failure.

When completed, the Ryugyong Hotel will have 3000 rooms and roughly 3.9 million square feet. The original plan entailed three wings rising at 75 degree angles capped by several revolving restaurants and an observation deck at the hotel’s pinnacle. For a country that just opened its first burger spot last year, it is very ambitious stuff.

Many architects in the international community are questioning the suitability of the project. Bruno Giberti, a professor at California Polytechnic State University’s department of architecture, called it “the worst building in the world.” The European Union Chamber of Commerce in Korea deemed the structure irreparable almost fifteen years ago, citing curving elevator shafts. From a humanitarian standpoint, a nation filled with malnourished children could probably make better use of the estimated $2 billion project.

With elevator shafts more crooked than Kim Jong Il’s epic golf game and decades of structural decay, the “ghostscraper” faces a long road to accepting its first guests. North Korea plans to open the hotel to coincide with the posthumous 100 year birthday of Eternal President Kim Il Sung in late 2012.

flickr images via John Pavelka