Hitchhiking Vietnam

by Adrienne Wilson on

Want to find out everything you need to know about Vietnam before embarking on your trip?
Check out Hitchhiking Vietnam, Letters
from the Trail, on the PBS web site. Incredible! Whether you crave a little blood soup for dinner or wish to
read up on some Hmong superstitions before you hit the sack tonight, they have got you covered. Some of the
superstitions found in the section on Vietnam’s minority people might fill your dreams with something a little wacky,
but I’ve always taken a liking to reading about superstitions. For instance, one belief states if a child does not wear
a hat for protection its spirit will escape from its head. In terms of travel, going at the road alone is a big no-no
for the Hmong as a spirit of the road may cause a sprained ankle.

If you wish to skip all the hocus-pocus you can also find some extremely useful information and tips on what to do
if you happen to end up in jail, visiting the animal market, Hanoi and how to make it big as a Mekong farmer. Start
with the visual Vietnam quiz. You’ll
see some interesting photos of  items you might see on your travels through the country. Some were pretty
easy to guess while others will surprise many.

John Cleese Declaration of Revocation (not)

by Erik Olsen on

Note: OK, I just learned that this was NOT infact
written by Cleese and I have falley prey to the old Vonnegut speech trick…damn. Well, I’ll keep the link and the
rebuttal going anyway…

This “Declaration of Revocation” has been
making the rounds in emails (my cousin sent it to me recently), but I figured I’d post it because, well, it’s just too
damn funny not to. It’s written by John Cleese and has a definite Cleesian/Monty Python style. I just wish the Pythons
were still together. This would have made a very funny skit.

If you’ve ever traveled, well, pretty much anywhere, but especially Britain, you’ve heard these complaints about the
US before.

Here’s one of my favorite excerpts:

“You will no longer be allowed to own or carry guns. You will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more
dangerous in public than a vegetable peeler. Because we don’t believe you are sensible enough to handle potentially
dangerous items, you will require a permit if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.”

You know someone, somewhere, is writing a strong rebuttal to this. In fact, I’m working on one right now and will post
it shortly.

Confucius Culture Festival

by Kelly Amabile on

This week marks the 2,256th anniversary of the birth of Confucius. His birthday celebration falls on the 27th or
28th of September each year, at the Confucius Temple in
Qufu, in the eastern province of Shandong. The
Temple, as well as the Confucius Family Mansion and Cemetery, became
UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1994.

In past years, this festival was the only time the city performed an ancient Ming Dynasty opening ceremony of the
temple, but to increase tourism in the area, it was announced in March 2005 that the temple gate will now be opened
weekly from April to October each year.

Armenia Dispatch 18: Flying Home

by Erik Olsen on

I’m writing this right now from high over the Atlantic ocean. Heading back to New York on a Lufthansa flight out of Munich. I left Armenia at a very rough time: 4:50 am. I am told the plane leaves at this hour because of the time difference to arrive in Europe and whatnot, an explanation that I didn’t understand at that hour as my brain was starving for sleep, but however you look at it, it’s rough. I decided following the Bambir concert to not to sleep at all and to ride this thing all the way through. There will be time to sleep on the plane.

The Yerevan airport, as I said earlier, is nothing to behold. It rather dreary, crumbling old Soviet-style architecture makes it no place to spend time. So instead tonight after the concert I hung out at the much cozier Armenia Marriott Hotel until the last possible minute, and then got a cab to the airport.

Leaving Armenia was tough. This trip wasn’t nearly as long as I would have liked. I could have easily spent another few days or even weeks in Yerevan, hanging out in the cafes, meeting other folks, seeing jazz and so on. But alas, it was time to fly home.

So if you’re contemplating a trip in the near future, I urge you to consider Armenia. It is a friendly, fascinating place, and it is changing rapidly. After a decade and a half, the country is emerging from its Soviet past and is becoming a viable destination with much to see and do. The country has a character that is about as unique as any place I’ve ever been. It is rich in culture and natural beauty, and there live here some of the nicest people you will ever meet. It is also a very comfortable place to travel. Sure, there are some hassles, but the infrastructure is more or less sound, and there is a lot to see. Armenians love Americans, and (presuming you are American…even if you’re not, this is still true) you will feel welcome there.

So (trying to keep things simple) as I wrap up this killer trip, I guess if I had just one word to use to discuss traveling to Armenia it would be this: Go.

Global Warming and Alaska

by Erik Olsen on

It seems odd to me that people are still debating whether global warming is an issue. With all the news coming out
these days about shriking ice caps and chucks of the Antarctic ice shelf the size of Vermont calving off into the sea,
I guess it just seems like it’s a done deal.

This suspicion was given further credence when I read
this news piece about how Alaska is
dealing with rising temperatures. The piece describes how villages are sinking into thawing permafrost, how
timber-chewing insects and record wildfires are devastating forests, and how the ice is melting at a rapid and
dangerous pace. It’s hard not to read this stuff and feel a bit of paranoia.