Photos show effects of climate change on Everest

by Kraig Becker on

A new series of photos from the Himalaya reveal the undeniable effects of global climate change on the glaciers there. This is especially evident on Mt. Everest, where comparative shots from 1921 show just how much the Rongbuk Glacier has retreated over the past 89 years.

Filmmaker and mountaineer David Breashears made the journey to Everest’s North Side, where explorer George Mallory once took a very famous photo of the mountain. Standing in the very spot where Mallory once shot his image, Breashears took a new one, and the differences between the two are startling. In the earlier photo, a thick layer of snow and ice stretches far down the valley, but in the one taken by Breashears, the glacier has withered dramatically. In fact, the Rongbuk has lost more than 320 vertical feet since Mallory shot his photo.

Over the past few years, Breashears has visited a number of other famous mountains throughout Nepal, Tibet, and Pakistan as well. While there, he took similar photos, and each case he discovered a significant loss of glacial ice, which is particularly troubling considering that the Himalayan glaciers are the Earth’s largest sub-polar ice reserves. The loss of that ice has already had a direct and profound impact on the mountains and the people that live there, many of whom now have to walk for hours each day just to find fresh water.

Breashears has taken his collection of photos and created an exhibit known as Rivers of Ice, which just went on display last week at the Asia Society, located in Manhattan. The photos will be open to the public to see until August 15, giving visitors a chance to witness the changes for themselves.

[Photo credit: AFP]

5 signs you’ve been traveling in a developing country

by Catherine Bodry on

There’s culture shock, and there’s reverse culture shock. And sometimes, there are simply the habits you pick up while on the road for a while. Once home, these habits are hard to break at first, and you find yourself doing funny things like using a cup of water to try to flush your toilet. Here are five signs that you’ve been traveling in a developing country for a while:

1. You throw your toilet paper in the garbage instead of the toilet. If you’ve traveled to Thailand, you know that most flush toilets can’t handle paper. If you traveled to China, you know that most toilets aren’t even flush toilets. In a lot of the world, toilets can’t handle paper, and if you’ve spent a lot of time in any of those countries you probably toss your paper into the garbage automatically. Now that you’re home, you toss your paper into the nearest trash can in the bathroom at your parents’ house without thinking. Whoops.

2. You brush your teeth with bottled water. It’s almost unbelievable, after extended months abroad, that tap water in the US comes out free of parasites and bacteria. It’s such a simple act, filling up a glass of tap water, but feels so utterly foreign after months of keeping your mouth glued shut in the shower to ensure that no nasty creatures make it past your lips. Yep, water back home is free and easy to get. Bottoms up!3. You keep your shower at a lukewarm trickle. Water pressure is a glorious things, especially for those of you who have long, thick hair. But showering day after day under a light stream of lukewarm water makes your skin all pansy and soft, doesn’t it? The sheer force of an American shower is enough to blast you away, but add the scalding water to it and you’ve got a recipe for some serious burn. At least you feel thoroughly disinfected afterward.

4. It feels weird and unsanitary to sit on the toilet seat, and you wish you could pop a squat. Some folks never convert to the squat toilet, but for those whose Achilles finally adjust, the squatting position can be life-altering. Without going into detail, let’s just say that it’s anatomically preferable to the sitting position. Then again, being able to relax with a newspaper again is priceless….

5. You’re afraid to drive your car, but when you do you’re amazed at how polite the other drivers are. It’s okay. The roads back home are not only paved, but the pavement is smoooooooth. Everyone is required to take a driving course before getting their licenses, and understand how to merge rather than cut you off. Relax and enjoy the open road. It’s one of the best things about travel in the States.

Photo credit: StrudelMonkey, Flickr

Top ten art museums you haven’t been to

by Andrew Evans on

If you wanna see inside someone’s brain, stick ’em in an art museum and then leave them there for an hour. Some will feign interest for at least 10 minutes and then start looking for the bathroom. Others will politely wander or become transfixed by a certain wall and never leave, others will head straight to the gift shop to try on silly hats. Big or small, art museums offer the truest personality test on the planet.

Because art is famous and expensive (and sometimes meaningful), the world’s most famous art museums have become iconic travel destinations unto themselves. Cultured people the world over have exhausted the Louvre in Paris, burned hours in the corridors of St. Petersburg’s Hermitage Museum, and nodded through Madrid’s Museo del Prado (Tick, tick, tick). There are few things Americans will wait hours in line for, but the Musée d’Orsay‘s French impressionism is right up there with Super Bowl tickets and some mattress outlet’s Midnight Madness sale.

It’s nice to know that art still matters, even when the world’s most well-known museums have become their own top ten of cheesy travel status symbols. But true art lovers need not despair–humans have managed to collect art the world over and many a hidden gem are lying in wait for your art-loving eyes to arrive on the spot.

The following list highlights a selection of some of the world’s best art destinations with the least amount of fanfare. (Disclaimer: Just like any person’s taste in art, this list is entirely subjective). What the following museums share in common are their high-quality collections and their pleasant lack of lines going out the door:

  1. Sarjeant Gallery, (Wanganui, NEW ZEALAND) You don’t expect it in small town New Zealand, but Wanganui is the quintessential art haven, with nearly a dozen galleries, live artists’ studios and stately museums. The Sarjeant collection is the largest and most impressive, well worth a day spent in this expressive riverside hamlet.
  2. Philips Collection, (Washington DC, USA) America’s “First Museum of Modern Art” opened in 1921 and houses a bold collection spanning Van Gogh to O’Keeffe. The intimate Rothko Room represents the first collective public showing of Mark Rothko’s famous multi-form paintings. In museum-heavy Washington, DC, the Phillips often gets overlooked by out-of-town tourists. It’s their loss.
  3. Musée Fabre, (Montpellier, FRANCE) You would expect a far more traditional art gallery in southern France, but the Fabre keeps visitors on their toes with a wonderful 500-year spectrum of art, including one of the world’s greatest collections of 20th Century Fauvist art. Like so much architecture in France, the museum itself is a well-preserved work of art.
  4. National Gallery of Art, (Reykjavik, ICELAND) For a country of just 300,000 people, Iceland has a lot of art museums. The largest of these collections is shown in an elegant old ice factory with several floors of soul-stirring Nordic art. It would take you a week to visit all of Reykjavik’s art galleries, but if you only have a day, this is the one to patronize.
  5. Museum of Latin American Art, (Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA) Oh wow, where to begin in Buenos Aires? There’s so much going on in this city, it’s hard to decide, but MALBA is like the ultimate megaplex of Latin American art, helping you realize how little you actually know about world culture. The museum’s gigantic size and vertigo-inducing design adds a punch of awestruck to your gut, whereas the art on the walls will leave you either with dreamy hallucinations or Borges-type nightmares.
  6. Toledo Museum of Art, (Toledo, Ohio, USA) Born from a private collection of local glass industrialist Edward Drummond Libbey, the Toledo Museum is home to an astounding number of high-profile works by 19th-Century European and American greats. The impressive glass collection adds a unique twist to the visit. (Pssstt: I grew up going to this museum at least once a year, and I still consider it one of the best in the world–right up there with any in Paris.)
  7. Heide Museum of Modern Art, (Bulleen, Victoria, AUSTRALIA) Australians are crazy about art, especially in Melbourne. The “Heide” is just a 15-minute ride outside downtown Melbourne, but that’s apparently too far for most tourists. What they’re missing is a creative collection of old Australian houses set up as galleries, bizarre outdoor installations and some downright funky art. Check it out.
  8. Kharkov Art Museum, (Kharkov, UKRAINE) An appreciation for Soviet art is regaining strength both in Ukraine and abroad. While most visitors hit the capital sights in Kyiv, it’s the industrial city of Kharkov that managed to preserve the country’s rich art heritage, from old Orthodox icons to propagandist block prints, epic oil paintings and tender Ukrainian folk art. Honestly, it’s probably the best art museum in the country.
  9. Winnipeg Art Gallery, (Winnipeg, CANADA) Canadians reign supreme in feelgood art experience and the “WAG” (an unfortunate acronym) is no exception. Manitoban art abounds and aren’t you curious to find out what that is? Housed in a sharp and angled stone triangle, the WAG also boasts the largest collection of Inuit art in the world, something the world-famous Louvre generally lacks.
  10. Guangdong Museum of Art, (Guangzhou, CHINA) Despite all the art that got stolen by foreigners and/or ruined by the Cultural Revolution, there is still some Chinese art left in China. In fact, even as you read this, new Chinese artists are producing new Chinese art . Shanghai and Beijing and Hong Kong are more famous and perhaps more impressive, but the Guangdong in Guangzhou is gaining worldwide notoriety for its fresh repertoire and independent spirit. (Why do the industrial cities get the good stuff?)

OK, I realize there are a lot more wonderful and obscure art museums out there (feel free to add your suggestions in the comments). The point is, when adding art museums to your bucket list, think outside the box. Some of the world’s greatest paintings are not in London or Paris. They’re in Winnipeg or Toledo.

(Photo: Flickr Henry Bloomfield; 2 Dogs)

Cathay Pacific to launch in-flight WiFi; mobile device connectivity

by Melanie Nayer on

It’s one thing to connect in-flight from coast-to-coast, it’s another thing to connect when you’re flying across the world! Travel writers, business executives, and Internet-junkies rejoice: Cathay Pacific has just announced it will launch long-haul in-flight WiFi in 2012!

The Hong Kong-based airline plans to roll out broadband Internet onboard their fleet and Dragonair planes starting in early 2012, thanks to some help from Panasonic Avionics Corporation, a worldwide supplier of in-flight entertainment and communication systems.

The in-flight fun will feature eXConnect broadband service and eXPhone GSM phone service but here’s where it gets really exciting: as part of the service, you’ll get the Cathay Pacific-branded free-of-charge entertainment portal, which is accessible through all passenger devices (read: iPads, PDAs, etc.) and seatback screens. Readers: take a moment to digest that information — we realize it’s pretty big news.

Here’s more straight from Cathay Pacific:

eXPhone, offered in collaboration with AeroMobile’s GSM mobile phone technology, allows passengers to use their mobile phones, smart phones and BlackBerry devices onboard to make voice calls, send SMS text messages or utilise data services and stream content wirelessly to their iPod, iPhone and iPad. eXPhone gives the airline flexibility and full control over the services offered including restricting certain services when appropriate.

According to Cathay, the in-flight entertainment options will include a range of content updated during the flight, access to airline and partner sites, e-commerce, airline-specific advertising, and live television with pay-per-view capability for special events.

Couple this with Cathay Pacific’s business class cabin and I might just move into the plane.

Relaxing in China Part 2: A Walk in the Park

by Catherine Bodry on

The twitter of birds, the fresh scent of flowers, a picnic on the grass — is this your idea of an afternoon in the park? If so, you’d better stay far away from China.

Recently, I discussed the decidedly non-relaxing experience of a Chinese massage. A walk in the park is another activity that might normally be peaceful in a North American setting, but is cacophonous in China.

As you probably know, there are a lot of people in China — well over a billion. This makes the Chinese a bit more used to crowds than those of us who grew up with any sense of elbow room. Add to that an amazing tolerance for noise and a love of anything carnivalesque, and strolling in the park becomes more like a day at Disneyland for the western visitor. Here’s what you can expect on any given sunny day in any given park in China:

%Gallery-94745%Noise. And not just the noise of hundreds of people clamoring for space. The Chinese have a penchant for synchronized dancing, often with props. You’ll find dozens of men and women moving in unison to a screechy boom box, waving fans or flags, or dressed in minority costumes. The dancing wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for the fact that several groups cluster near each other, so that the screeching music overlaps until you think you might lose your mind.

Paparazzi. The Chinese love their cameras, and equally love posing for them. If you’re in an area that sees few tourists, you can expect the cameras to focus on you as well. Any moment constitutes a photo op, but some of the more bizarre that I’ve witnessed include people feeding hundreds of gulls bread, snapping a shot just as the bird swoops down to grab its food (see album).

Junk. You’re at a park, not a shopping mall… right? Think again. Parks here are packed with more than just popcorn vendors. Need a key chain? How about a ceramic pig? Stalls selling trinkets and electronics line walking spaces, encouraging you to trade your yuan for more stuff. On the other hand, masseuses in white lab coats will help rub out your tension, and teahouses are surprisingly calm oases in all the chaos.

Other sights. Children in split pants peeing next to the sidewalk. Games of mahjong set up along walkways. Groups of men playing cards, a crowd gathered around them. Buskers playing screechy string instruments. Fake flowers, roasting nuts, beggars writing characters on the ground in chalk, old ladies knitting on park benches… the list goes on.

No matter what you encounter, you won’t be bored or understimulated. Don’t expect a bucolic scene, and instead prepare yourself for an onslaught on your senses, and you should be able to enjoy an afternoon in a Chinese park.

Photo credit: Flickr user damien_farrell