Fifteen Most Dangerous Trips?

by Erik Olsen on

There’s a really terrific book out there called Non-Zero by Robert Wright, that I urge you all to read. The book’s premise is that there is a design to nature, an evolving complexity in all things, including human society. Forget “Intelligent Design”, at least as far as there being a single supreme being overseeing all the change, that’s not what this is about. His point is that things evolve the way Darwin said they did, but that the evolution seems to have a direction, and that direction is towards something he calls a Non-Zero world, where things improve through cooperation rather than (or in addition to) competition. If you look at the world today, you’d have to agree that (Iraq and a few other places…re: below notwithstanding) things have overall become much more peaceful, more organized, more safe.

Why the mini-essay? Because I think it is relevant to a piece I just read over at MSNBC/Forbes that lists the to fifteen most dangerous places in the world. That is, with so many places on the globe basically safe for travel, with the world, as I suggest become increasingly safe (if not sterile in some places) there are still countries you’d really think twice or three times about before visiting. These are not really places you’d plan to take your next honeymoon, but if you thrive on danger, you might consider traveling to them. What are these places, you ask? Here’s the list:

• Afghanistan
• Burundi
• Cote d’Ivoire
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Georgia
• Haiti
• Iraq
• Liberia
• Pakistan
• Papua New Guinea
• Russia (Chechnya)
• Somalia
• Sudan
• Zimbabwe

World's Greatest Party?

by Erik Olsen on

It’s nice to be vindicated. Or to have your
preferences confirmed by a large media organization. Forbes agrees with
me, that Carnival is one of, if not THE world’s greatest party. I was in Brazil some years ago for the Carnival in
Salvador, and let me tell, you, there is nothing like it. It is the most vivid, heart-pounding, sexually-loaded
festival on the face of the earth. A true bacchanalia. I wrote a long piece
about the party which I think you’ll enjoy, but I also urge you to check out Force’s take, which is a bit less, shall we
say, lurid, than my one, but still enjoyable. But they also include Mardi Gras in their story, which is fine, even
though I attest that Mardi Gras can’t touch Salvador carnival. Still, worth a read.

Red Corner: Famous Budapest Baths to Allow Women

by Neil Woodburn on

To go where no man has gone before is not so much of a challenge. Far more difficult, is for a woman to go where no woman has gone before-but men go to regularly.

For the last 70 years, the famous 16th century Rudas Baths in Budapest have been an all-male domain. Women were simply not allowed to frolic in the saunas, pools, and steam rooms of this particular Turkish bath.

Budapest’s Turkish baths have a long and glorious history dating back to, yes you guessed it, the 16th and 17th century when the Turks ruled the city. The most historic baths reside in immaculate buildings awash in marble and tile. They have been the heart and soul of this city for many years and enjoyed by both sexes-except for the Rudas Baths.

But not any more. Enough was finally enough. Thanks to an internet campaign by the Hungarian equal rights website, www.tusarok.org, women have finally won the right to penetrate the all-male domain of Rudas. Not only do they share facilities for three days of the week, they actually have the entire baths to themselves for half-days on Tuesdays and Thursdays-no men allowed whatsoever!

Fixing the Highway in the Smokies

by Erik Olsen on

I was very pleased, given
the horrible backlog of work needed to be done in our national Parks, that a 10-mile section of U.S. Highway 441 through
the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will undergo a $15 million, 18-month
repaving project. Now, I am a fan of the Smokies, having driven this very highway several times over the years.
Granted, an ugly yellow haze sometimes hangs over the National park from all the nearby pollution, but they have
largely fixed this problem over the years. How will a new highway affect pollution? Tough to say, but it is nice they
are making the improvement. The fact is the highway serves as a primary route to many of the park’s most popular
trailheads and scenic overlooks, including Clingmans Dome, and is a heavily traveled artery between the tourist hubs of
Cherokee, N.C., and Gatlinburg, TN.  The section to be resurfaced extends from the Newfound Gap parking area on the
Tennessee-North Carolina state line south to the park’s Collins Creek picnic area. Work will begin March 1. The job is
expected to be done in October 2007. This section was last repaved in 1979 and is badly deteriorated, park officials
said. In addition to replacing old pavement, the project calls for more than two miles of steel-reinforced wooden
guardrail to be installed and repairs to 5,900 feet of stone curbing and 2,900 feet of culverts.

Red Corner: Andy Warhol’s Slovakian Museum

by Neil Woodburn on

Today, February 22, marks the 19th anniversary of artist Andy Warhol’s death in 1987. For those of you who are big fans of Warhol, really really big fans, you might want to consider a trip to Medzilaborce, Slovakia to honor his passing.

Where?!?!?

Medzilaborce is a small town in the Carpathian Mountains not too far from the Ukrainian border. Although few have heard of it, most have heard of Warhol, the town’s most famous prodigal son-or grandson as it may be. Warhol’s parents lived here before immigrating to the United States in 1913 where Andrew Varchola (his original name) was born.

Warhol eventually became quite famous in America but remained unknown back home in Slovakia. In fact, authorities considered him anti-communist and ensured he received little exposure behind the Iron Curtain. It wasn’t until the fall of communism that the people of Medzilaborce learned about their association with greatness. Naturally, they did what every small town does with hometown heroes-they built a museum to honor him.

The Warhol Family Museum of Modern Art is a long, seven-hour drive from Bratislava and may be the most difficult journey the 17,000 tourists who visited last year have ever undertaken to see world class art. Mostly funded by EU grants, the museum features a collection of photographs and documents pertaining to the Warhol family as well as artwork by Andy’s nephew, brother and mother. The real treasures, however, are here on loan from the Warhol Foundation. This appropriately includes Lenin and Mao renditions, as well as a Jackie Kennedy, Mick Jagger, and of course, a Campbell’s Soup can.

Andy is also immortalized by a bronze statue standing in front of the $1.3 million museum. The town’s old Lenin statue, toppled in 1989, is undoubtedly rolling over in its grave.