Articles tagged “adventure travel”

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Nepal’s cabinet to meet at Everest base camp

by Kraig Becker on

Later this week, Nepali Prime Minister Madhav Kumar, along with 26 members of his government, will travel to base camp on Mount Everest, where they’ll hold a cabinet meeting to raise awareness of global climate change and the effects it is having on the mountain. Warming temperatures in the Himalaya are causing glaciers to recede at an alarming rate, as rivers and streams dry up across the region.

On Thursday, Dec. 3rd, the cabinet will fly to Lukla, a small town located at 9383 feet, where they’ll spend the night before boarding a helicopter on Friday that will take them up to base camp at 17,585 feet in elevation. While there, they will survey the direct impact of the dwindling water supply in the Khumbu Valley, where villagers are already having to trek several hours each day to collect the water they’ll need for their day-to-day living.

Recently a similarly high profile cabinet meeting was held in the Maldives, where the president of that island nation, along with 11 cabinet members, held a meeting underwater while wearing scuba gear. Both of these events take place as the U.N. prepares to convene a special conference that is expected to be attended by 190 nations, who will be discussing a plan to replace the Kyoto Protocols by 2012.

The glaciers of the Himalaya are the second largest concentration of frozen freshwater on the planet behind the polar ice caps. The normal melting process of those glaciers feeds some of the longest rivers in the world, including the Ganges in India and Yangtze in China. As those glaciers recede, and the latest estimates have some melting at a rate of 70 meters per year, we can expect long term, and wide reaching consequences throughout Asia and beyond.

Coming attractions: Sarajevo

by Grant Martin on

The memory of the Yugoslav Wars is too fresh for many of us to think of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a tourist destination, but in the ten years since the conflict, the country and its capital city, Sarajevo have made enormous strides. Long gone are the days of ethnic conflict, strife and war crimes — 2009’s Sarajevo is a charming, cosmopolitan city surrounded by hills, cafés and culture.

A great deal of momentum has been building in the travel community around Sarajevo and its surrounding country, perhaps most notably garnering heavy praise among the Lonely Planet brands. As the ever-balanced Wiki-travel gushes:

Sarajevo is a cosmopolitan European capital with a unique Eastern twist that is a delight to visit. The people are very friendly, be they Bosniaks, Croats, or Serb. There is very little crime. Also there are not nearly as many tourists as on the Croatian Dalmatian coast and a wealth of architecture (not to mention history) to see.

Outside of the rich culture that you can simply soak in by loafing around the city, there is plenty of tourist fodder to consume. Among the most famous are the Latin Bridge, where archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated to start World War I and the Bosnian Historical Museum, a stunning tribute to the tumultuous past of the former Soviet-state.

More inspiration can be found in Stephanie Yoder’s article over on Twenty-Something travel. Her photos alone are worth the visit, deeply contrasting with all of that war-torn CNN footage that many of us still have in our heads. Reading the captions and narrative along with the photos, one begins to realize the depth and charm to the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

GET THERE
Sarajevo unfortunately isn’t the easiest European capital to get to. Any voyage from the states to the Eastern Mediterranean nation is going to require at least one layover, and tickets can be pricey. As a result, it’s best to plan your vacation well in advance and spend some solid time in the city — else you risk spending all of your time in transit.

As an alternative to the oft expensive mainline routes into Sarajevo Airport (SJJ), it also may be worth buying a ticket to a major hub like Frankfurt or Amsterdam and then connecting onward on a low cost carrier. Check flylc.com for possible routes.

How do adventurers keep in touch?

by Sean McLachlan on

In the old days, adventurers disappeared into remote corners of the globe and weren’t heard from for months or even years. In our more interconnected world, modern adventurers regale us with their tales of travel in real time via the Internet.

How do they do it? It’s all in the gear they bring along.

As he rides across Africa on a motorcycle, Thomas Tomczyk will keep the world posted on his Facebook page, Youtube channel, blog, and website.

“20,000 kilometers in Africa on a motorcycle, writing stories and taking photos and videos for publications on the Internet and in print requires some seriously interesting gear,” Thomas says. “While I wanted to have the good stuff, I didn’t want to feel anxious about losing a piece of equipment that was too expensive. I compromised between buying the best stuff out there and what was affordable, compact, and lightweight.”

Thomas wants to shoot video too, so he’s packing a PowerShot SX20 IS, because it’s compact, takes sharp images, and captures stereo sound. His telephone, a 16 gig, 2G I-phone, bought jail-broken, can accept a cellular chip from anywhere and he’ll regularly replace the chip as he travels from region to region. He better not expect to have a signal all the time; I couldn’t get a signal half the time I was hiking the English/Scottish border! For news he’s got a Tecsun DR-920, a compact and inexpensive shortwave receiver.

Internet communications shouldn’t prove too much of a problem even in Africa. Every capital and most regional cities have Internet cafes, so it’s a matter of writing as you go and uploading it when you have the chance. A solid state laptop with good battery life is a key bit of gear along with a small external hard drive to back up your data.

Our very own Andrew Evans brings along a lot of gear too. He blogs for us and National Geographic’s Intelligent Travel. Because he’s a contributing editor to National Geographic Travel, he gets a lot of cool toys to “test” (play with) on the road. These include a National Geographic USB power source and a foldable multiport solar charger so his equipment never runs out of juice. He’s just started out on a trip to the outer, uninhabited islands of New Zealand and readers can track his movements on GoogleMaps thanks to his Trackstick mini and Gisteq Photo Trackr Mini DP.

But let’s not forget that communicating with the people we meet is the most important thing. Knowing the local lingo is the best “gear” you can have. Both Thomas and Andrew can get by in a few different languages. You don’t even have to be a brilliant linguist to pull it off. I’ve gotten a long way on a couple of hundred words and goodwill!

The best video of rafting trip crash and burns

by Jamie Rhein on

When picking a rafting trip like one down the Grand Canyon, whether it’s the day long or several days version, make sure that the trip is a good fit for you. How much excitement are you after? How does the thought of dumping out of the raft grab you? Are you up for a crash and burn experience or is a leisurely float more your style?

For a rollicking look at what dumping out of a raft in white water rapids looks like, check out this video. The footage is strung together vignettes over eight years of rafting trips. Amazingly, according to what I’ve read in the comments, no one was hurt with any of these dump and tumbles. If you have never figured out why a life vest is important even if you know how to swim, here’s your answer. Plus, a helmet is your friend.

The rivers featured are: Gauley River in West Virginia, Zambezi River in Africa, the Moose River in New York and the Black River, also in New York. Click on each river for a link to a raft company that runs trips down it. The music for this video is a perfect fit.

The Drifter documentary now on DVD

by Grant Martin on

Drifter Trailer from Poor Specimen on Vimeo.

The Drifter film just finished it’s autumn tour around the United States and is officially making its way around the adventure and surf circuit. The film centers around the writings of legendary surfer Rob Machado and his time spent in the South China Sea, exploring, learning and well, drifting. More potently, however, the topic strikes home for any long term traveler or lover of the Pacific Island culture, and having been there myself I find the film engaging.

With what appears to be a limited tour and release, tracking the film down to see in theaters may be a bit of a challenge, but if you’re inspired enough by the trailer to order the DVD, it looks like a solid documentary.

[Via The Cleanest Line]