Traveling Syria

by Erik Olsen on

Syria never made the famous axis of evil, but I’d read way back when that Bush and company have long held deep suspicions of Syria. Perhaps for good reason, but let’s not get into politics here. Suffice it to say, Syria would be an interesting place to visit. If you need mer convincing of that fact, take a look at this piece on traveling Syria.

Outside Magazine’s Patrick Symms take a long gander at the country and finds it a fascinating place filled with deep religiosity and not just a few historically significant places. It is also a place that plays prominently into the current conflict in Iraq, Symms calls it “a kind of small-scale Cambodia to Iraq’s Vietnam”. The article does a fine job revealing the complexities of the country and is very much worth a read.

WorldHum Top 30 Travel Books

by Erik Olsen on


I’ve been wanting to do a top travel books post for a long time, but each time I start to compile a list, I am overcome with profound self-loathing over how few of the supposed “great” travel books I’ve actually read. Sure, sure, I’ve read most of the biggies, the Therouxs, the Chatwins, the Brysons, I even picked up and savored a St. Exupery recently. But taking a look at the list of Top 30 Travel Books over at Worldhum, I realized that my travel reading repertoire is pathetically anemic. Their number one pick, for example, is the book “Arabian Sands” by Wilfred Thesiger, which I have never read. No. 2 is “The Road to Oxiana” by Robert Byron. Ditto. Not until we get to Theroux’s Great Railway Bazaar at number three do we get to a book I’ve read. And thereafter there are a smattering of others I’ve read — Pico Iyer, Bryson, Mark Twain, Matthiessen — but still many others I have not. Oh well. Let’s just say that we can be thankful to folks like Worldhum to help us improve our libraries as we move swiftly into summer and the reading season.

Ski the Himalyas?

by Erik Olsen on

A very interesting post over at Luxist bout efforts to build a ski area in the Himalayas. Now, being the tallest mountains in the world, you might have thought that there were already gazillions of ski areas in these mountains, but it seems most of the really rich people who go to ski areas are in North America and Europe, so it hasn’t exactly been easy to get there. Also, when I say the Himalayas are high, I mean it. It’s one thing to get a headache when skiing Vail, which is at about 8,000 feet. It’s quite another thing to carve turns at 14,000 feet and above.

But folks are going to try anyway. The Himalayan Ski Village is the project of Alfred Ford, the great grandson of Henry Ford. He’s throwing cash and his name muscle at a $250 million project to create a five-star resort in the Kullu Valley. They got permits and the go ahead from the Himachal Pradesh state government and will begin work on the project by end of this year. They say it should take three years to complete.

Word for the Travel Wise (06/04/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

I’ve got Tokyo on my mind and I don’t know why. I take that back. Places like Tokyo always come to mind when I start craving for international travel in big cities with an extravagant amount of lights and sounds I can’t quite comprehend. Like a good number of large metropolises located around the world I won’t be hitting this one up anytime soon, so let’s just proceed with today’s lesson.

Today’s word is a Japanese word used in Japan:

tomodachi – friend

Spoken Japanese comes smoothly for those who either practice or submit themselves to hours of Japanese pop music, but either way one can learn this language in through several avenues. Japanese Online is a VERY good FREE site to start learning. They have audio and a great conversation lessons. The lessons get more in-depth as you become a registered user which is still free of charge. Takese.com has a list of over 2000 words worth checking out. Those on the road already may want to pick up the LP Japanese phrasebook or check into a school for a few weeks of learning. Study Abroad has a list of school located all over the country. If you’re seeking help with written Japanese best of luck to you!

Past Japanese words: hajimemashite, dewa mata