Stuck In Lebanon

by Adrienne Wilson on

This wasn’t exactly the kind of piece I was looking for when I searched for Lebanon blogs, but it will certainly suffice. What I wanted was real Americans blogging about the events at hand, about being stranded and what the feeling is like when there are little to no exits out of the country. I admit, it’s pretty lame of me to think I’d discover a blog from an average, innocent American citizen just wanting to get to safety (as if blogging is first priority) and that is why I am taking in the words of this Kevin Sites, No Exit piece as an acceptable trade off.

Sites blogs about the Chahines, a family from Dearborn, MI stuck in the war madness between Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Israel. What was a typical annual family vacation to the area became a nightmare. They shuffled from house to house each night trying to escape the violence. The clothing Mr. Chahine left in the truck of a car burned when an Israeli missile struck the parked vehicle. He has been wearing the same clothing seven days in a row. Madness.

If you are looking for pieces on Americans traveling in Lebanon and stranded this is a good one to check out. Just gives you an idea of what it could be like if things went down the wrong way on your own travels. How do you prepare? Can you?

Cool New York Map

by Erik Olsen on

Not sure how many New York-based gadling readers there are out there, but as someone who has lived here for over six years, I have to say that I love learning new things about the city, and this is such a rich city when it comes to history and culture that, well, there a whole lifetime of interesting stuff to see and know.

Now, this isn’t exactly mind-blowing, but I thought it was cool, and the interactive aspect of the page here is particularly compelling. The site here, called Transparent New York, from the Skyscraper Museum allows you to see the layout of Manhattan using various specific criteria from a topographical look (that is seeing the various elevations and such) to the original Dutch settlement to the numerous piers and bridges around the city. It doesn’t take a long time to figure out, but it is kind of fun to play around with.

Underground Russia

by Erik Olsen on


This is a site that I might have deferred to Neil since it’s more his bailiwick, but hey, he took the Manhattan Kayak piece a while ago. So there.

Here is a series of really interesting photos from underground Russia, or more specifically under Russian Streets. The captions are pretty much non-existent, so I have no idea if this is just Moscow or an assortment of different places, but the photos are rally quite striking, kind of a mix of futuristic, Matrix-underworld and brutal Communist construction. Anyway, take a look.

Space Walks 4U

by Erik Olsen on

We’ve blogged about the rather mind-blowing new opportunities for the super-rich to go on rockets into space. You might remember the magnate Denis Tito and his adventures as the world’s first space tourist. These trips are ridiculously costly, of course. It will cost you some $15 million for the pleasure of getting hurled into space. Of course to folks like Bill Gates, that’s pocket change, he spends that on DVDs each year. But it has always seemed to me that just going int space isn’t enough. Sure you go up there, the view is great, but you’re stuck inside the cramped rocket and you’re just kind of…there.

OK, OK, if I got the chance to do this I’d go in a heartbeat. Don’t be mistaken. BUT, take a look at this. Turns out that the same company that has been offering these space trips is soon to be offering space walks, too. Yes, for $20 million, Space Adventures will get you a ride to the International Space Station in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. But for an extra $15 million, you can go on a 90-minute spacewalk. Now THAT is what it means to go int space.

Can you even imagine what it would be lie to dangle outside the space station, the entire blue orb of the Earth spinning below you? My heart is in my throat just thinking about it. Of course, it all comes down to two things: a) will any of us get rich enough to afford to do this or b) will it ever get cheap enough. Al I can say is I hope both come true, but at the very least that b) happens in my lifetime.

From Afghanistan to Tajikistan

by Adrienne Wilson on

A few nights back I was introduced to a gentleman I was told could help me. I was told he was filled with an enormous amount of information about where I am headed and where I should go. He could point out Tajikistan on a map three-times blindfolded. He had been there before. When I met him I felt intimidated at first, questioning the unbelievable amount of knowledge he had on the area. Only five weeks sit between our meeting and the time of my departure to Dushanbe. He came off a little brash, but no matter what I thought of him then, I knew, he knew his stuff. I begged him to tell me everything and told him to promise he’d send more information about Tajikistan, about anything.

I was happy to have made his acquaintance and that I had found someone with even a half-idea of the Central Asian land. Keeping his to his promise, he forwarded this link from a piece he had written for Pology, a favorite online cultural travel magazine of mine. In his story he talks about crossing borders from Afghanistan to Tajikistan and describes the border towns, places, nomads, people, and the distinctive differences between the two. Whether or not Afghanistan or Tajikistan are particularly places of high tourism interest I’m sure anyone would enjoy the piece. Forget the landmines and casual talk about pistols, just read it and soak up the realness of the people, the buildings and the Soviet decay.

Very excellent read…