Afghanistan – Back On The Travel Map

by Brett Atkinson on

The troubled nation of Afghanistan is inching its way back onto the intrepid traveller’s radar. Lonely Planet’s first guide to the country is published this month, and recently we reported on the coverage of Kabul’s unique charms in the New York Times. But while peace in former trouble spots like Cambodia and Bosnia has restored the architectural heritage of Angkor Wat and the bridge at Mostar, one of Afghanistan’s greatest treasures is under threat of destruction.

The Towers of Victory have stood for more than eight hundred years, but now the honey-coloured minarets that have survived periods of war and invasion are under serious threat of erosion. When the son of Ghenghis Khan destroyed the nearby city of Ghazni in 1221, the towers survived, but centuries of neglect and illegal excavations for antiquities and buried treasure have made them increasingly precarious.

Afghanistan’s financially strapped new government has only been able to allocate $100 across the last six years to ensure the towers’ upkeep. In the glory days of the “Hippie Trail” Afghanistan was a heady stopping-off point from Europe to Asia. Let’s hope lasting peace can come to Afghanistan so its unique heritage can be secured.

One for the Road – China: Adventures of the Treasure Fleet

by Kelly Amabile on

As a sidebar to this month’s Chinese Buffet series, throughout August, One for the Road will highlight travel guides, reference books and other recommended reads related to life or travel in China.

Ryan’s home is full of books — about dinosaurs, superheros, America and China. This is one I’d like to get for him when he returns to the US: Adventures of the Treasure Fleet – China Discovers the New World is a unique historical fiction title for kids. Released earlier this year by Tuttle Publishing, it is beautifully illustrated with the colorful detailed drawings of Lak-Khee Tay-Audouard.

Treasure Fleet is the story of seven epic voyages taken by Admiral Zheng He, who led more than 300 brightly painted ships across the South China Sea, to the Indian Ocean and further on to the coast of Africa. The events that occur during the voyages actually took place between 1405 and 1433. The author, Ann Martin Bowler, used diaries of actual crew members as primary sources. Both the stories and photos are full of fantasy and fun — and should surely inspire explorers of all ages to set out on voyages of their own. I hope it will inspire Ryan and other kids to keep on traveling…always!

30 Years Later: Elvis Lives at Graceland and Its Getting a Make-over

by Jamie Rhein on

Spring before last, when I stood outside the gates of Graceland before I drove to Mississippi (see post), besides wishing I hadn’t arrived after closing time, I thought, “Gee, this neighborhood looks dingy.” I had expected something grander.

The mansion looks pristine and impressive inside the gates . Outside, it’s a rag tag group of business establishments and more Elvis attractions.

The other attractions are connected to Graceland, but the connection isn’t clear–at least not from first glance. That’s my impression anyway. Perhaps this was because I had that disoriented feeling that comes from expecting a direct flight fom Columbus to Memphis and ending up spending several hours at the airport in Detroit instead.

Since I wasn’t sure exactly how to get where I was going in Mississippi, I didn’t take the time to explore further. I do remember feeling confused. I thought that the mansion and grounds were all there was to see. People I know who have toured Graceland have never mentioned to me all the Elvis attractions across the street from the mansion–his airplanes for one. After reading this article in the LA Times about the updates to come, I can see why it wasn’t clear to me exactly where the visitor’s center was.

According to the article, realizing there is an image and attractions flow problem and a visit can be made even grander by new facilities, the folks who keep track of Elvis’s stuff have arranged for a neighborhood make-over. A large hotel and a new visitors’ center is in the works.

I wonder what will happen to the graffetti on the walls that surrounds the property or if that is now part of the Elvis legacy? It looks to me that people just like to write on wall when given the chance. However, today there are 75,000 people showing up to pay tribute, so perhaps there’s more to the missives than what one normally thinks of urban scrawls. (Here’s a BBC article about what’s going on at Graceland today, August 16, 30 years after Elvis’s death.)

In case you are heading to Graceland, here’s a price list photo thanks to G.J. Charlet III on Flickr. As you can see, there are several tour options. Maybe everyone I know has only done the basic, $25 option.

Google Maps Street View Circa 1907

by Justin Glow on

I’m sure by now most of you have heard of or even played around with the new Google Maps Street View. If you’ve been reading Gadling for even a few months, you’ll know that we gushed about the feature on numerous occasions. (1, 2, 3, 4)

It turns out that Google wasn’t the first to develop this technology. (And no, I’m not talking about Amazon.com’s A9 or whatever it was called.) Way back in 1907, before conventional road atlases were made, Rand McNally released “Photo Auto-maps” which gave drivers a visual pathway for navigation, much like the Google Maps Street View of today.

Cool! [via]

One Good Reason to Visit South Dakota (Besides Mount Rushmore)

by Catherine Bodry on

If you’re planning the requisite road trip across the U.S. (my family took ours in a minivan 17 years ago), add one more stop on your tour of Americana: the geographical center of the country.

Eight miles south north of Belle Fourche, South Dakota is a red-tipped fence post marking the smack-dab middle of the U.S. The spot was dedicated in 1959 (when Hawaii became a state — if you thought the center was somewhere in Nebraska, you forgot to include Hawaii and Alaska).

Currently, the marker is inaccessible, as it’s located on private property in the middle of a barbed-wired pasture. Town leaders raised enough money to move the official center into town, and plan to place a 21-by-40 foot compass rose monument there. Belle Fourche is already considered the center of the nation city, so moving the geographical center shouldn’t be cheating … too much.