Video: Witches’ Market, La Paz, Bolivia

by Sean McLachlan on


Bolivia is an exciting adventure travel destination offering challenging mountain treks, interesting dishes like roast guinea pig and mysterious ancient ruins.

One of the most popular, and certainly the strangest, attraction is the Witches’ Market in the capital La Paz. Here you can find mummified llama fetuses, aphrodisiacs and herbal remedies. Many of the spells are based on the ancient traditions of the Aymara people. You can also get your fortune told or get cured by one of the many yatiri, or witch doctors. There’s Catholic paraphernalia too. In many regions of South America traditional beliefs merged with the Catholicism brought by the Spanish to create a hybrid tradition.

Check out this video where an intrepid traveler braves the Witches’ Market and learns all about how to gain love and money, especially money. This is part one of three, so make sure to see the rest!

Video of the Day: Antarctic baby seals

by Meg Nesterov on


Antarctica has been the subject of several Photo and Video of the Day posts in the last few months, but it’s hard to resist adorable penguins and jaw-dropping icebergs. So sharing a video of baby fur seals frolicking in the sub-Antarctic was a no-brainer. National Geographic nomad and past Gadling contributor Andrew Evans is currently crossing oceans on a Cape (Horn) to Cape (Good Hope) trip and caught up with these cuties on the island of South Georgia, home to 95% of the world’s population of fur seals. Andrew explains in the video how the female seals will spend much of their lives breeding and the little ones will have to quickly demonstrate how “fierce” they are to survive. You can even catch a glimpse of a rare “blondie” fur seal as your jealousy of Andrew’s fabulous travels mounts.

Tell us about your fiercest travel videos and leave us a link in the comments, or add your photos to the Gadling Flickr pool.

Cockpit view of night landing in Los Angeles

by Mike Barish on

Landing in any major city at night can be a thrill. The lights down below are enticing and the energy of a city after dark gets your pulse racing. Or, you know, maybe you’re just exhausted and ready to collapse. This video of a plane coming in for a landing at LAX offers amazing views of the many neighborhoods of Los Angeles and the surrounding area (all labeled for our benefit). It’s a view we don’t often get to see (directly from the cockpit of the plane) of a city that’s incredibly spread out.

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Dog’s-eye view of hiking Runyon Canyon

by Mike Barish on

There are few joys of dog ownership greater than spending a day outdoors with your pet. Going for a long hike is a simple pleasure that, when shared with your four-legged best friend, becomes a special experience. However, anyone who has ever had a dog has wondered what his or her furry companion is thinking. While we’ll never know exactly what goes on in a dog’s mind, thanks to this clever videographer (and his handy GoPro camera), we can now see what Riley the corgi saw while hiking Runyon Canyon in Los Angeles. Who knew hiking could be so adorable?

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Video of the Day: flying like a bird

by Elizabeth Seward on

We all want to fly. We have all wanted to since we were children who realized that humans do not fly and birds do. Today’s video of the day features Dutch engineer Jamo Smeets successfully flying like a bird. Our concept of travel, and the related transportation necessary, is basically based on the bird. Humans aren’t born with wings so we invented the airplane. Because of the airplane we have modern day travel. But what if we could all fly ourselves? Granted, this video demonstrates a type of flying that couldn’t yet carry us far distances but maybe one day this technology will evolve. Smeets developed this project for eight months prior to testing the technology at a park in The Hague on March 18, 2012. Check it out.