Having spent a week only in Mambai, India, I can hardly attest to knowing the place well..BUT, I can attest that the various bazaars in the city are mind-blowingly chaotic. They are also amazingly varied in the stuff that you can buy. They have a history and a depth as well, which is nicely conveyed in this piece from the Globe and Mail. Aways back I did a video about the Mumbai Market. It’s OK, not great. The article here is quite a bit better.
Procreation Vacations
Worldhum is always adroit at spotting the next big trends in travel…or at least spotting someone who spots them. Thus they bring our attention this morning to a trend called the “Procreation Vacation” a catchy way of saying that people go abroad to conceive babies. Not that people aren’t “doing it” while abroad for a week here and there, but that they take their trip with the explicit purpose of creating, let’s say, a Zanzibar Zygote, a Finlandian fetus, a Guatemala gestation, during their holiday travels. The travel theme has another name, babymooning, that we posted about once a while back, but it deserves renewed attention with the recent birth of America’s 300,000,000 citizen.
And, yes, we realize it’s not THAT new of a trend. Just googling the term brings up all manner of articles on the subject. But we post this in part as a public service for those parents who want to expoes their children early…very early…to the allure and joys of travel.
The Real Borat?
Is our beloved Borat a thief? That’s the question that a lot of news sites are now asking following the complaints of a Turkish comedian whose shtick is eerily familiar to the Kazakhstan goofball played by Brit comedian Sascha Baron Cohen. Mahir Cagri says that he is completely sure that he was the inspiration for Borat, that he’s hoofing it to London to…well, try and get some money our of it. Ah capitalism.
But there is some rather intriguing evidence to back up his claim. To wit: back in 1999, before anyone had heard of Borat, let alone Ali G, Cagri became celebrity online after posting “unintentionally” amusing photos of himself playing ping pong, the accordion and sunbathing in a skimpy bathing suit. Not the stretchy day-glow nut-hugger suit that Borat wears, but then again, perhaps that suit has not been invented yet. He was also known for his broken, albeit charming approach to women: “Who is want to come TURKEY I can invitate … She can stay my home.” You have to admit, it sounds a lot like our little Borat.
But, of course, if anyone who thinks they’re being somehow imitated can get money for that is another question entirely. I don’t know the details exactly, but I do know that the guy upon whom the Kramer character is based in Seinfeld tried to get some compensation for that fact….and didn’t….although I think he’s leading tours in the city or something. So perhaps if all else fails the “real” Borat can maybe buy himself a bus.
(thanks Karen!)
Places Still Struggle
It’s amazing how fast time passes. The December 2004 tsunami in Asia now seems like it happened a hundred years ago. But the fact is, some places are still struggling to rebuild. I had little notion the Maldives were struggling so badly, but as this article reports, the December tsunami there caused extensive damage from which the island nation is finding it difficult to recover.
The tsunami claimed 82 lives in the Maldives, and 26 other bodies have never been found. The Maldivian infrastructure was ravaged, with extensive damage caused to about 4,000 buildings. The World Bank estimates that the Maldives will need $304 million to rebuild. Much of that was thought to come in the way of tourism dollars, as tourism is by far the nation’s largest industry, accounting for more than a fifth of the national income. But tourism income is still down, causing people who depend on the industry to seek other jobs. It’s a rough world made rougher for some folks.
Heaven is a Commuter Flight Away
Just when you were despairing that you had to live in Europe to take advantage of cool, even exotic, get-away flights for your weekend, there’s hope. In less than four short hours from Los Angeles or three hours from Phoenix, you can really get away from it all. Los Mochis, Mexico, (airport code LMM) has daily flights from LAX, Phoenix, Tuscon, and other US cities, serviced by Aeromexico (and it’s sister, AeroLitoral).
When we went, Aeromexico, Aero California, and Delta all had direct flights to LAX and Phoenix. The direct flights have been discontinued, but the additional flying time is small (and included in the estimates above).
Now, this place feels remote. The airport is between Topolobampo and Los Mochis, but closer to the former. Topolobampo is best known as the port town for the big ferry from La Paz (across the Gulf of California in Baha). Los Mochis is substantially larger, and is well known as the terminus of the Copper Canyon train (aka Chihuahua al Pacifico Railroad, aka “Chepe”).
Traveling the exact opposite direction from the other tourists, we were whisked from the airport in a 76 Dodge that was, quite possibly, the most beat-up vehicle I’ve ever driven in (and that’s saying a lot). The driver had to take us immediately to the gas station, after shaking us down for a downpayment on the fare. A few minutes later, we were in Topolobampo. Lucky for us, it had a single (brand new) motel, that didn’t appear in our guidebooks. And we were the only ones there.
The town itself isn’t much to speak of, but the town sports a long, pretty, largely deserted beach, that’s a short bus ride from town. Families came out to play in the sand. A couple of small restaurants served good, cheap food. We stayed late to enjoy the full sunset, almost completely alone, and ended up hitch-hiking back to town.
If we hadn’t needed to get on the Chepe, we could have stayed for days. And to think we got there in about the same time as some people’s daily commute.