Loi Krathong Festival

by Kelly Amabile on

Years ago when I lived in Bangkok, I hardly knew anything about Thailand and Thai
celebrations. So it was completely a matter of luck that I happened to be there around the time of the
Loi Krathong Festival, which this year took place in Bangkok a
few days ago. Loi Krathong is traditionally performed on the full moon night of the twelfth lunar month, usually in
November.

 

It’s a pretty cool experience. It seems like the whole town comes out and every man, woman and child floats a
‘Krathong’ – a banana–leaf cup – on the canal (or klong…which can be really dirty, awful-smelling things). The
Krathong is intended to float away ill fortune and to express apologies to Khongkha or Ganga, the River
Goddess. I remember it well. The canal was filled with these little burning boats and everyone was singing the Loi
Krathong song…which seemed to me at the time an
appealing tune of which I understood just two words:
Loi Krathong. Sort of like the Hari Krishna song. Anyway, this years festival was a big success and you can catch video
bits of it here.

I Said March, You Turkey!

by Erik Olsen on

Starting the second Saturday of every December (in this case the
11-12 December) in the small French town
of Licques,
in the Trois Pays area of Nord-Pas-de-Calais, there is a strange event featuring a turkey march. Yes,
turkeys. 

While they are (sadly) headed for Christmas tables around the country, they get one last gobble on the streets when
they are marched about in front of scores of (presumably drooling) on-lookers. This, just before they are slaughtered
and, well, stuffed. Many watch the turkey march in a besotted state on Sunday morning after quaffing small
glasses of a potent liqueur called the Licquoise, which the town itself produces.

Come on, doesn’t this sound like a fun place? 

Homage to Oman

by Erik Olsen on

Here’s a novel destination idea. News Interactive has an interesting
little peice on traveling to Oman, where
medieval and modern mix to create a unique blend of internet cafes and Bedouin camel merchants. Oman is apparently
making a push for tourism out of concern that the oil dollars that have sustained it for years are running out.
Smart move, perhaps. I understand that it is a relatively safe place to travel. There is still no democracy there, but
the Sultan, whose picture hangs “in offices, hotel foyers, even roadside cafes”, is loved and adored by his 2.5 million
subjects.

What to do there? Oman is a mecca for birdwatchers, a major stopover during the spring and autumn migrations between
Africa, Asia and Europe. But also there is diving, dolphin-watching,
caving, trekking, and bicycling. Not a bad way to while away a holiday.

The Adventure Biking Association

by Erik Olsen on

The Adventure Biking Association does a ton to provide cyclists with new trails around
the country. They have added many many miles to the 33,023-mile National Bicycle Route Network including the newest
project, the Underground Railroad Bicycle
Route which will trace a long-distance route along one of the several Underground Railroad corridors.

 

The idea is to allow bicyclists to explore the “landscapes and mindscapes of historical figures and events” of
the Civil War. A pretty damn fine idea if you ask me.  The group is well-respected enough that REI just
handed them a $20,000 check to support their activities. If you’re searching for some trails nearby you, take a look at
the site’s country-wide list.

Gulag Tourism? Goli What a Bad Idea

by Erik Olsen on


Weird stuff.

Some folks in Croatia wanted to turn a former communist

gulag island off the Croatian coast into a tourist camp, where guests who “survive” will receive a certificate
proving they had done their time. Hmm. The island, called
Goli Otok, is a desolate rocky island abandoned after the
Yugoslav federation crumbled in the late 1980s. Needless to say, some groups have come out against the idea. For
example an independent a group investigating crimes committed by the communist Yugoslav regime said it was like making
a Nazi concentration camp into a tourist theme park. Yes, bad idea.