The sex industry is blooming in…Nepal

by Iva Skoch on

Well, there could be a stranger place than Kathmandu to operate a sex parlor…say, the Vatican. But clearly, it is only a matter of time. The search for spirituality and natural beauty is, apparently, paved with lap dances.

This week’s Economist has an article on the rise of sex tourism in Nepal. There are now an estimated 200 “massage parlors” and over 35 dance/strip bars, selling “sex” for as little as $28, which of course is not insignificant for them. Those women, however, might be better off than the 200,000+ Nepali women, who are trafficked into India for sex every year.

Some say Nepal is becoming the new Bangkok. Since the civil war ended only recently and marked the end of Nepal’s Himalayan tourism industry, sex tourism is ready to replace it. I especially like the part of the article where the Nepal Tourism Board suggests that tourists should “Have a drink at one of the local dance bars, where beautiful Nepali belles will dance circles around your pals.”

Now, all you need is a low-cost carrier to fly there direct. Makes me want to scream.

What to do with used guidebooks?

by Iva Skoch on

I have about a thousand guidebooks. That is a slight exaggeration, but I do have a lot of guidebooks. While I would love to keep them all–in case I ever go back to destination X and reuse them– but it is probably not a smart thing to do.

I tried to use my 2003 Costa Rica Lonely Planet guidebook during my second trip last year and let me tell you, it did not work. Most of the recommended restaurants, hotels and business were no longer there. While the important stuff – like national parks and such — remained unchanged, you might as well just go completely without a guidebook at that point.

What do you guys do with older, used guidebooks? I have sold a few on ebay, but I am thinking there might be a better place to sell old guidebooks and buy new ones. Anyone?

Thailand’s Phi Phi island, three years after the tsunami

by Aaron Hotfelder on

Over at the San Francisco Chronicle’s excellent travel section, Cherilyn Parsons visits beautiful Koh Phi Phi, Thailand, and asks, “Wasn’t there a tsunami here only three years ago?”

There was. On the day after Christmas, 2004, a tsunami ravaged the island of Phi Phi, driving tourists, and tourist dollars, away. For a year, most of the visitors to the island were backpackers who helped clean up the rubble, as documented in Brook Silva-Braga’s fantastic documentary A Map for Saturday.

Parsons writes that the island looks much like it did pre-tsunami, and that locals are trying to move past that sad part of their recent history. When she asks one hotel owner how business was affected by the tsunami, she gets her answer:

“‘How many nights you want stay Phi Phi?’

In other words, ‘Why should I dwell on my past when I can sell a room to help my future?’ That attitude was an answer.”

Here‘s the full article, and accompanying photo gallery.

Relax, sushi lovers in Japan respond

by Iva Skoch on

Crazy Americans! You almost hear the dinner conversations in Japan right about now. Just as New Yorkers are “worried” to “panicked” about toxic levels of mercury found in several sushi restaurants in New York, the Japanese are not worried. ..just like every Japanese woman is perfectly OK eating sushi while pregnant.

The Mercury News (what a perfect name for a newspaper to cover this story) reports today that everyone in Japan apparently knows that tuna is high in mercury. That’s why you only eat a few pieces a week. It won’t kill you. The Japanese government even exempts tuna from its legal limit on mercury in seafood because it is not caught coastally.

Japanese sushi lovers interviewed in the story, said it would take more than a U.S. report to take them away from their tuna rolls, and they argued a little mercury was probably harmless compared to the fats and oils in something like a hamburger and fries.

Considering Japan’s life expectancy is higher that the US, they probably have a point.

India’s Heritage on Wheels

by Abha Malpani on

You’ve probably heard of India’s famous Palace on Wheels train ride which takes you through main points of northwest India in a week. It’s been around for a while, has a minimum set course of 7-days, and is luxuriously out of reach for the average upper-middle class Indian which makes it more popular with tourists rather than locals.

A similar yet more down-to-earth 3-day journey available on India’s Heritage on Wheels is increasingly becoming popular amongst Indian families not wanting to spend so much for Palace on Wheels, yet want a cultural and comfortable train trip with family. It covers 3-cities in Rajasthan: Jaipur, Shekhawati and then Bikaner where you can visit the most famous sanctuaries, palaces, and forts of the state.

At US$150-300 per night, it is not cheap, but it costs less than half the day price of Palace on Wheels. The train is targeted to (rich) Indian families rather than international tourists, so perhaps it will give you a slightly more authentic experience of that part of India.