Win your dream trip to Canada

by Jessica Festa on

Lonely Planet is currently hosting a contest that gives travelers the chance to explore the world’s second-largest country however they please. Whether you enjoy winter skiing or summer hiking, this contest can help you have the experience your dreams in Canada. First prize is a $10,000 travel voucher towards the Canadian trip of your choice, while the second place winner will $500 worth of Lonely Planet books.

You can enter by going to Explore Canada like a local and browsing their featured trips. Select your favorite destination/activity and then copy the URL of your choice into the form on the Lonely Planet Facebook page. After filling in your information, you will be asked to explain in 200 characters or less why this trip is your dream Canadian experience.

Couchsurfer rhymes a “gift rap” to his host

by Jessica Festa on

Hello.

Couchsurfer Matthew Bloomfield really appreciated his stay at host Elmar Bierbaum’s apartment in Lima, Peru. If fact, he felt so grateful that he composed a rap as a tribute to Bierbaum (and he stayed within the 1,000-word limit for a CouchSurfing reference).

Bloomfield calls himself “The Rapping Professor”, as he not only writes rhymes for those you give him a couch to sleep on, but also for his day job. An event entertainer, the rapper has been able to break into an unusual niche and has been very successful, even performing at corporate parties in Asia.

Check out the Rapping Professor’s talents for yourself in the clip above.

Korean climbers missing on Himalayan peak

by Kraig Becker on

Three Korean climbers have gone missing on a remote Himalayan peak that has a reputation for being amongst the most deadly in the world. The men had hoped to reach the summit along a new route yesterday, but search and rescue were initiated when there had been no word from them in nearly three days.

Park Young-seok, Kang Ki-seok and Shin Dong-min left Base Camp on Annapurna, the tenth highest peak in the world, earlier in the week with designs on reaching the summit yesterday. On Tuesday however, they radioed their support team in BC to let them know that they were aborting their climb due to dangerous conditions on the mountain. That was the last that anyone has heard from the team.

Realizing the climbers were overdue, the Base Camp team called for help in Kathmandu on Thursday, and a high altitude SAR team was dispatched, along with a helicopter, to search for the missing men. They discovered a rope that they believe was used by the team, but so far they have found no trace of the climbers themselves. It is feared that they may have fallen into a crevasse or been swept away by an avalanche.

Annapurna stands 26,545 feet (8091 meters) in height and has been called the deadliest mountain in the world. The massive peak has a fatality rate of 38%, meaning that for every three climbers who summit, one doesn’t make it back alive. That is the highest death rate on any of the 14 mountains that reach 8000 meters in height or higher.

[Photo credit: Wolfgang Beyer via WikiMedia]

Somali murals: funky advertising in the Horn of Africa

by Sean McLachlan on

One of the fun parts of travel is discovering the street art of a new place. Whether it’s the elaborate graffiti of New York or Madrid, the political murals of Mexico, or the current craze of Yarn Bombing, there’s always something cool happening on the street.

In the Horn of Africa, street art takes the form of murals. I believe this is a Somali development, because I’ve seen it much more in Somaliland and the Somali region of Ethiopia than I have anywhere else. There’s a fair number of murals in Harar, Ethiopia, but that has always had close trade connections with the Somali region.

Some are simple, like this ad for a dentist in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland. I don’t know why this guy jumped into the frame and bared his teeth but hey, it made for a better picture so I’m not complaining.

Then there’s this mural inside a bakery in Harar. It shows the founder, an Greek expat who opened the most modern bakery in town. One day I met his aged widow, who still presides over the family business. She treated me to tea and regaled me with tales of the old days. She was very proud of the mural and in fact that’s what drew me inside in the first place. Another example of art bringing people together.

Check out the gallery below for more images from Ethiopia and Somaliland.

What kind of street art did you discover in your last trip? Tell us about it in the comments section!

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New smartphone app shows users how to have an authentic Australian experience

by Jessica Festa on

AUSTRALIA: Where To Go is a new smartphone app that gives insider advice on how to navigate through Australia and see the major sites as well as get off the beaten path. The app is opinionated and does not include all there is to see in Australia, but only what is worth seeing. If a destination makes it into the app, then you will get all there is to know on that particular place.

While users will get bullet-pointed guides on what to do and where to dine and stay, they will also get in-depth profiles of specific venues. To give you a better idea of what you should expect before you go to a destination, the app features photo slideshows. Not only that, but entries are filtered by categories such as water, outback, wildlife, family, etc.., so travelers can plan their trip according to their lifestyle and tastes.

And don’t worry if you don’t have Wi-Fi where you travel to, as this app works offline, too.

Available on iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. $4.99. Click here to download.