Tibet Reopens To Foreigners

by Kraig Becker on

China has announced that it intends to reopen the borders of Tibet on April 5th, allowing foreigners back inside on the eve of the country’s biggest tourist season. The borders were closed at the beginning of March due to fears of internal unrest on the 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama going into exile in India.

By most accounts, the anniversary, and the month of March, passed uneventfully, allowing China to deem the region “harmonious and safe”. Despite that, the Chinese military still patrols the country, and the foreign press is not allowed to roam freely just yet.

Still, the reopening of the borders should help bolster the Tibetan economy, which is largely based on tourism. Most reports indicate that the number of visitors was down by as much as half before the closure, and the past month has not been kind to the Tibetans who make their living off the tourists trade. But the Ministry of Tourism says that the hotels, resorts, and guide services are standing by, and ready for foreigners to return.

The news of Tibet rejoining the world comes at the right time for several mountaineering teams as well. Most climbers elected to avoid the North Side of Everest this year due to the uncertainty of the situation in Tibet. But the few that elected to remain, will find a quiet, and uncrowded base camp, a far cry from the circus that will be occurring on the Nepal side of the mountain.

While the question of China’s claim over the sovereignty of Tibet remains, at least for now, the country is set to reopen and allow adventurous travelers to experience its unique culture and natural beauty once again.

In China, would you buy meat from this guy?

by Jeffrey White on

I’ve spent nearly five years living in a region that has arguably the best beer in the world.

Central Europe, with the two brewing powerhouses of the Czech Republic and Germany, is heaven for beer drinkers, not only for the pleasure of pubs but for the loads of beer festivals that take place each year. Having been to my fair share, I thought I knew what a beer festival sounded and looked like.

Safe to say, not like this video from the Qingdao International Beer Festival in China I just stumbled on.

But that’s not my real issue. My real issue is the dancing guy acting like he’s at some rave, selling meat on a stick. Would you buy meat on a stick from this guy? (Perhaps, only at a beer festival could you even justify it…)

Seven Endangered Species You Can Still See in the Wild

by Kraig Becker on

There is no doubt that we are fascinated with wildlife. We love to watch diverse and interesting animals, preferably in their natural habitats, and we’re often willing to travel to remote places, sometimes at great expense, to see them. If you enjoy the kind of travel that allows for these kinds of animal encounters, they you’ll want to check out BootsnAll’s list of the Seven Endangered Species You Can Find Outside a Zoo.

The article not only lists the creatures, it also gives us the best locations to go and see them for ourselves, including some brief insights into what to expect out of the journey. For instance, if you want to see polar bears in the wild, you can expect a long flight, or 40-hour train ride, to Churchill, Canada, on the famed Hudson Bay, where every October and November, the bears gather, waiting for the bay to freeze so they can continue on northward. The other creatures, and locations that can be found, include: sea turtles in Barbados, tigers in India, rhinos in Tanzania, elephants in South Africa, pandas in China, and gray whales in Mexico.

As the article points out, in the era of ecotourism, these trips to see these rare animals can be a force for good. Conservation efforts can receive funding from our visits and an increased awareness about the plight of the animals helps to prevent poaching and protect natural habitats as well. Just be sure to travel with a reputable guide service and make sure you pack out everything you pack in.

So did they leave anything off the list? I was a bit surprised to not see the mountain gorillas that we wrote about last week, on there. They’d certainly make my top list. What’s on yours?

Spring Climbing Season Begins in the Himalaya

by Kraig Becker on

The arrival of spring means different things in different parts of the world. In northern Alaska it marks the end of the long darkness, with the returning of the sun. Further south, in the Mission at San Juan Capistrano welcomes the swallows home, while in the Midwest, the last of the winter snows give way to blooming flowers.

Likewise, each spring in the Himalaya is marked with a ritual of its own. The end of March is the beginning of the climbing season in Nepal and Tibet, a time when hundreds of climbers and trekkers descend upon Kathmandu, where they complete the final preparations for their expeditions, before heading out to their mountain of choice, where they’ll spend as much as six to eight weeks preparing to make their summit attempts.

The majority of the climbers come for Everest, the tallest mountain on the planet. But the Himalaya are rich with challenging, and high, peaks, and plenty will have their sights set on lesser known, but no less challenging, mountains such as Cho Oyu, Shishapangma, and Annapurna.

At this very moment, the worlds top climbers are arriving in Kathamandu and organizing their gear for the climbs ahead. By the first of April, most of them will be catching a flight to Lukla, a remote town in Nepal that marks the beginning of the trail that leads to Everest. On the Nepali side of the mountain there are no roads that lead to base camp, and climbers are forced to make a 10+ day hike up the Khumbu Valley to reach their eventual destination. At night they’ll stay in traditional tea houses, and the long trek helps to begin the acclimatizaion process, which will serve them well on the mountain. By the time they reach base camp, they’ll be at 17,575 feet, and their real adventure will just be getting started. If everything goes according to plan, and the weather cooperates, by mid-May they’ll get their chance at the summit, and with a little luck they’ll be home by the first of June. But until then, they’ll work very hard, concentrate on acclimatizing, and hope that before the season ends, they’ll be standing on top of the world.

Ten Must See Monuments

by Kraig Becker on

BootsnAll brings us another excellent list, with the intention of adding yet more destinations to our ever expanding “life lists”. This time it’s their selection of ten magnificent monuments, amazing structures from around the globe, that inspire us to travel thousands of miles just so we can take them in ourselves.

Some of the selections on the list are centuries old, such as the Nubian monuments found in southern Egypt or Stonehenge in England. Others are relatively recent in their construction, like the Washington Monument in D.C. or the Brandenburg Gate in Germany. These monuments were built for a variety of reasons, some religious in nature, like the Reclining Buddha in Thailand, others to commemorate a particular person or event, like the Monument to the Revolution in Mexico. Each of the places on the list include a photo and a nice description of why it deserves your consideration as a travel destination.

One thing that I like about this collection is that not everything on it is well known. For instance, the obvious choice for Egypt is the Great Pyramids or the Sphynx, but BootsnAll went with the temples located in Abu Simbal, far to the south, and far less visited by tourists.

For the traveler who has been everywhere and seen everything, perhaps this list will give you a few new ideas for future adventures. For those just setting out on their travels, this is a great list to start with.