Starting tomorrow, January 20,
2006 till February 20, 2006 Japan is welcoming visitors to the country in their ‘Yokoso’ Japan Weeks campaign with more than tempting discounts to
enhance shopping experiences, by providing generous Onsen passes, and reasonably priced events taking place all over.
Rail, hotel, and even hostels are offering discounted rates up to 50% off in some locations. Ski specials include
slashed prices in such areas as Hokkaido, Tohoku, Hokuriku/Shinetsu on lift passes and nearby lodging.If you haven’t
gotten the message yet, what I’m basically trying to say is the whole country seems to be on sale. Most foreigners hold
the impression that Japan is an expensive place to visit (myself included) and looking towards some of the country’s
close neighbors it’s easy to see why. However, this is the perfect time to visit and see some of Japan’s premier sites
at low-cost. Go to the Yokoso site now and head to Japan quick!
Perceptive Travel and Tantric Sex
A little bit
ago, Kelly mentioned the new Web
magazine by travel guru Tim Leffel called Perceptive Travel and gave it some plaudits for writing and featuring some
top writers. I figured I’d check in with them again because it’s not everyday there’s a new, high-quality travel
magazine online. I got a laugh out of this piece
by Rolf Potts about Tantric Sex.
The indefatigable Potts heads to
Rishikesh, India, not to study tantric sex, per se, but as a stopover on the way to the Himalayas. But in travel writer
fashion, he becomes curious by the endless possibilities of learning how to have sex for hours on end. Which end,
exactly, he doesn’t specify. But the result is a fun article about how he ended up at Swami Vivekananda’s ashram, where
he discovers to his dismay that the Swami teaching the class is not some dreadlocked Casanova, in fact he isn’t even
from India, but rather he is from Romania. He is also "tall, bulky, and bespectacled", and speaks with the
accent of Count Dracula.
Potts’ head is filled with a flurry of questions, most of which I won’t repeat
here because you need to read the piece for yourself. But suffice it to say, his Tantric detour became a surprising
foray into a kind of New Agey traveler’s subculture. In typical Potts fashion, though, we end up not only laughing, but
learning a little bit along the way.
Adventure Journey Magazine
Take the words ‘tourist on vacation,’ toss in the word ‘extreme,’ plug those elements
into a handbook of sorts and you’ve got one hell of a travel magazine. Adventure
Journey looks to be a promising newbie on the online travel mag scene according to this PR blurb from i-Newswire, but you wouldn’t think so after taking a look. They claim
‘cookie-cutter’ vacationing isn’t the type of thing you’ll find covered between their pages, but that really all
depends on your definition of ‘cookie-cutter.’ In their first volume you’ll uncover stories about carpet fever in
Morocco, traveling from Canada to Mexico on horseback, interviews with globetrotting philanthropists, the top 7 thermal
scuba sites, and the chance to book your own adventure journey with their very own tours.
This African Safari in the Philippines is only one of the feature
articles worth reading. Arin Greenwood tries to figure out whether or not the many zebra’s, giraffe’s and other African
grazing animals were relocated from Kenya to Calauit Island on the north Busuanga for hunting purposes or sanctuary.
When questioning her guide Mari, he informs Arin and the group that the animals were populated on the island by Ferdinand Marcos in the 1970’s as a favor to the Kenyan
president so the animals would not be harmed during the country’s civil war. That piece of information is something I
certainly had no knowledge of and has sparked my curiosity further. Giraffes and zebras in tropical climates? I’ve been
longing to visit and return to the Philippines, so you can imagine how this got my interest in particular. Excellent
story.
Destination Santiago
I lived in Santiago, Chile for a year several years ago, and I
have to say I love the city. It does not have the cultural richness of Buenos Aires or the party-driven intensity of
Rio, but as South American cities go, it is filled with great things to do and see. Chile is rather sedate, overall, as
a country. They say it is the Great Britain of Latin America: serious, staid, reserved, but mercantile and successful.
If you’ve been following the news, then you know they just elected a new president, a woman, and a socialist. Bolivia
(and I am not putting Chile in the same category as Bolivia) also elected a leftist leader. Side note: what’s going on
in Latin America?
OK, that aside, I just read an article in the
Globe and Mail that is quite bullish on Santiago. Good for them. They list a couple of things happening in the city
over the next few months. Among them the Estacion Mapocho will be holding an exhibit dedicated to the transformation of
this former train station into Santiago’s premier cultural centre. They also mention a few of the cool walking spots in
the city like the area around the Plaza de Armas where you can see the 18th-century Municipalidad de Santiago as well as
the towering Catedral Metropolitana. And just because you have to, you should check out the Palacio de La Moneda, where
Allende holed himself up during the military coup in 1973.
All good stuff, and I am pleased to see Santiago
get some ink.
Caribbean Vintage Travel Ads
It was only a week or so back Erik gave a second nod to the
incredibly kick-arse travel brochure graphics
found in David Levine’s extensive collection and while that was kind and generous of him to point out David’s awesome
pieces, how many left the site wanting some vintage travel graphics of your own? I did. Though there are probably
several hard to find posters on his page and none for purchase one might look to All Posters to try to find them. They’ve got a decent collection of vintage
travel ads from all over. Check out these from the Caribbean. Popular
destinations like Jamaica, Cuba, and Trinidad & Tobago can all be found for an affordable price. Sure they’re
reproductions, but still cool to have.