Nepalese Plan Everescalator

by Erik Olsen on

Here’s an odd one: The Nepalese government wants to make it easier, much easier, for people to climb towering Mount Everest . Turns out they are planning to build a working, electric escalator that will carry people from base camp to the summit in less than an hour. The engineering effort is being put in the hands of the Japanese, in a serious political snub to the Chinese who had also bid on the project. The proposed escalator will be approximately fifteen miles long and will rise and fall with the jagged gradations of the mountain. It will move approximately five miles an hour and will offer superb views of the surrounding Himalayas . There will be rest stops, as well, built into the structure, that will allow riders to stop for tea or snacks. For children who grow easily bored by gaping mountain vistas, they are planning to offer portable DVD players and a wide selection of films.

Right now, only a handful of people scale the 29,035 foot peak each year, and the government wants to change that. Those who summit today have to pay exorbitant peak fees, approximately $50,000 per climber. But with the construction of an escalator to the top of the mountain, the fee will be reduced to about $1000 per “escalatee”. The Everescalator is scheduled for completion in February 2010.

Hunter Gatherer Parks

by Erik Olsen on

If you enjoy the outdoors and getting back to nature, you’re going to be downright feral over one of the hottest new trends in adventure travel. Forget expensive Gortex and metal ice axes, we’re talking pre-bronze age here. Yes, everyone is abuzz about the new hunter-gatherer parks that are sprouting up around the country, as well as in other parts of the world.

The brainchild of eminent anthropologist Dr. Therberd Melsius, whose study of the “Glack” people of the Amazon resulted in the Pulitzer prize-winning book: “Back with the Glack”, Hunter Gatherer Parks (or HunGaths) are attracting adventure-minded types who are tired of all the fanciness and frippery that go along with most adventure sports.

The HunGath concept is simple: men hunt and women gather. See? What could be easier? Couples sign up and are issued loose-fitting loin cloths (made by Northface) and then are set free to roam in a big open space. The women are provided with short sticks with which they will dig in the ground for grubs and tubers.

Then men are offered either spears or slings, and set out for up to six days to track buffalo, antelope and deer that have been “seeded” throughout the park. The exercise, say those who have HunGathed, builds community spirit and teaches you essential skills, like how to most efficiently scrape meat from the carcass of a dead animal and how to build a fire out of rocks.

These HunGath parks are proving very popular among professional Red State couples who see in it the opportunity to get “back to basics” and where “traditional family values” really take center stage. But the fact is HunGaths are a good time for everyone, offering you the chance to experience the outdoors the way your forbears did.

GADLING'S TAKE FIVE: Week of March 28

by Adrienne Wilson on

On this Friday it looks as if March has come to an end and before
we say farewell to the ‘madness’ that was, it’s time to take a look back at some of this week’s various travel-related
highlights. Shall we?

5. Where to
Wear Guides: Thanks to Karen’s watchful eye and her passion for shopping, she points travelers with a love
for collecting designer pieces and vintage threads globally to the pages of Where to Wear guide books. Find out where to
nab one of these pocket-sized guides for your next big shopping-spree in the big city.

4. iPod Resources: Even if I’m the
only person in the world without an iPod, Neil’s post on the growing number of resources available for travelers who
actually do have them makes me want to jump on the bandwagon quick. It’s not just music, movies and audio books
anymore. Think maps and find out how to download the handy subway maps for 23 cities around the world. Lost – no
more.

3. Delicious,
Mouth-Watering Kangaroo: At first I thought the story I found in the Miami Herald about one woman’s food
sampling experience in Australia was pretty interesting, (especially her short notes on the delicious Kangaroo meat)
until one of our readers pointed out how and where to snag pre-packaged Kanga meat in local Aussie grocery stores. Who
knew?

2.
Hidden Gems: Princeton, New Jersey, a photo essay: Journey with Sarah Gilbert and her fisheye cam through
Princeton to discover the areas best hidden coffee shops, ice cream parlors, Indian food, cheap gyros, camera shops,
and spots made famous on the silver-screen. It’s so majestic you’ll want to experience Princeton for yourself. I
promise.

1. Free Ways to
Travel: Excuse me? Yes, you heard correctly. Erik does a most wonderful job in helping us find a will, a
way and the resources to reach our final destinations without going broke. I kid you not, but have a look with your own
two eyes and start saving on your next Central American, African or New Zealand adventure quest. The possibilities are
endless.

Red Corner: Peter Hopkirk’s Central Asia comes Alive

by Neil Woodburn on

Until just recently, Central Asia had all but disappeared from the world’s consciousness. Swallowed up by the Soviet Union in the early part of the 20th century, places like Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan simply vanished anonymously from the world stage.

After gaining their independence towards the end of the century and struggling through a period of economic hardship, however, the ‘Stans of the former USSR are back in the spotlight thanks to oil deposits and large Muslim populations.

Back in the spotlight, you ask? When was a place like Kazakhstan ever in the spotlight?

Central Asia was actually a major center of conflict and interest in the 19th century as Russia and Britain fought over the region in a long running series of affairs known as the Great Game. While this conflict has mostly been forgotten by the modern world, one amazing author has struggled to keep it alive through a series of commanding books that are some of the finest historical reads you’ll ever come across. Author Peter Hopkirk has written a handful of novels dealing with the Great Game which are now, according to The Telegraph (UK), being re-released due to increased interest in the region.

Hopkirk’s finest work, appropriately titled The Great Game, is such an amazing read involving spies, espionage, and double-agents that it is almost impossible to accept the fact that everything mentioned is true. If you’re planning on traveling through the region, be sure to read it; Hopkirk referenced nearly ever place I visited in Uzbekistan. If you become a fan, and you will, you can move on to Foreign Devils on the Silk Road and Trespassers on the Roof of the World-two books whose alluring titles should whet your appetite for more.

The Cost of Being Hip: Sections of Old Madrid Losing Character

by Neil Woodburn on

There goes the neighborhood.  Such sentiment is often uttered on our fine planet whenever the wrong neighbor
moves into the wrong neighborhood.  In the case of Madrid’s Las Letras quarter, this unwelcome newcomer is
Europe’s first Hard Rock Hotel. 

Las Letras has historically been the literary center of Madrid, its narrow alleys, aged buildings, and
salt-of-the-earth character is quintessential old world Spanish charm.  According to The New York Times,
however, the area is quickly gentrifying into
a hip neighborhood full of nightclubs, restaurants, luxury lofts, boutique gift shops, and now, the Hard Rock
Hotel. 

While this may sound appealing to Spanish hipsters and foreign tourists, local residents are tragically lamenting
the loss of the “old town” atmosphere that has made this quarter so quaint and wonderful over the
years.  Dale Fuchs of The New York Times covers the interesting, yet oft overlooked side effect that such gentrification has upon the
character and atmosphere of gracefully aging parts of town.  Hip, his article reveals, is not always cool.