Destination on the edge: Mogadishu

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Mogadishu is the adventure traveler’s version of sex in public. The risk of getting caught defines the thrill. Unfortunately, the consequences cannot be compared. While a romp on your neighbor’s front lawn might get you a fine or some community service, a misstep in Somalia can cause nightmares for the rest of your life.

So, quiet simply, don’t go. If you don’t believe the United States, then listen to Canada. Listen to anybody who speaks sensibly on this. Don’t go to Somalia.

For every American who remembers October 3 and 4, 1993, Mogadishu’s Bakara Market brings a rare chill to the most resilient of spines. Visions of swarming Somalis rush into your mind, and nobody has forgotten the soldiers killed and wounded in the effort to capture warlord Mohammed Farah Aidid. The situation on the ground isn’t much better today, but if you crave increasingly greater thrills, this is about as crazy as it gets. Despite being one of the most dangerous places on Earth, you can explore Mogadishu without a military or United Nations escort. But, doing so would rank among your most foolish decisions.

The challenge begins when you are planning your trip. Online booking, you’ll realize, is a luxury still. There are some corners of the world that have been sidestepped by the internet age. In some cases, you won’t even be able to rely on the telephone. The hotels in Somalia do not take phone or online reservations, so your best bet is to find a travel agent that specializes in this sort of absurdity.

Work with the travel agent to book your flight, as well. The most reliable method appears to be chartering a flight that will drop you on a private airstrip outside the city. There is an airline that services Mogadishu via Dubai: Jubba Airways. So, if you insist on doing everything yourself, you do have options. The airline claims to have a strong safety record, but it obviously can’t help you once you’re on the ground. These days, a round trip ticket will set you back around $500. You can try to use FareCompare, but you already know that your comparing one airline to itself.

Of course, there’s a catch.

So, here’s the drill. You have to stay in Somalia for a week if you fly Jubba Airways. I tried to book a same day round trip, but had no luck (no, I wasn’t planning to buy the damned thing). Flights only pass through Mogadishu once a week, so you have to be really committed to this trip.

Flights are easier to book than accommodations. You can research hotels, but only a few are listed. So, you’ll have to take what you can get. As you make your selection, don’t sacrifice safety. There is no substitute for coming home alive. Tk appears to b the best alternative, but you will notice that security is not listed among the amenities. Also, there is another hotel with the same name – one that is considerably less desirable. Take notes, and make sure you study every detail. There are pitfalls everywhere, and some are avoidable.

There isn’t much to see and do (safely) when you cruise around Mogadishu. The main attraction is the Bakara Market, a large outdoor bazaar. You can haggle with the merchants and take full advantage of the decimated local economy. This is one place where the exchange rate will always cut your way. Also, you’ll be treading the same turf that was home to the famous operation immortalized in Mark Bowden’s Black Hawk Down. It all started at the Bakara Market.

For a unique type of shopper, the Bakara Market is nothing short of amazing. You can find deals on the basic goods that you’d normally pick up at a supermarket or drugstore, from basic medicines to food. Also, you’ll find the products that CVS just doesn’t want to carry. If you need to buy a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), mortar or antiaircraft gun, look no farther! And, since no toy is worth a damn without batteries, there’s plenty of ammunition for sale in the Bakara Market. If you hear gunfire, someone’s probably just kicking the tires on a new AK-47. Think of it as giving Elmo one last tickle before whipping out your credit card.

It’s not all guns ‘n ammo, however. You can pick up a forged passport (for Somalia, Ethiopia or Kenya), fake birth certificates and diplomas (convince your mother you didn’t drink your tuition cash) and counterfeit currency.

Bakara Market can be crowded, and it is in a dangerous part of the world. So, you need to say alert the whole time you’re on the ground. The entire spectrum of risks – from pick-pocketing to kidnapping – is possible. Your odds improve if you don’t do anything stupid, though you violate that tenet simply by taking the trip.

Want to see what happens in the Bakara Market? Take a look below, unless you aren’t comfortable with graphic. If you can’t handle this video, though, you certainly don’t belong in Somalia.

Plane Answers: Glide ratios and the most critical phase of flight

by Kent Wien on

Welcome to Gadling’s feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away!

Twenty-four hours before the US Airways ditching in the Hudson River, I received this question from Roger:

I have taken lessons in a 182 Cessna and I remember that the glide ratio was very good if there was ever a need to land without power. What is the Glide Ratio for something like a 767, 747 or an MD80 or [a bag of] rocks? Hopefully, I’ll never get to experience it on a commercial airliner in flight.

Tell me you didn’t ask this question and then jump on a flight from New York to Charlotte the next day, Roger!

The truth is, on almost every jet airliner, we use a rule-of-thumb that says it will take three miles to descend 1000 feet at idle. That same rule-of-thumb would work for an airliner that has lost all engines.

So at 3,000 feet, you should be able to glide 9 miles. At 30,000 feet you’ll be able to glide 90 miles. And here’s an interesting twist. A heavy airliner will actually glide farther than a light one because of the added momentum.

This glide ratio is at least 16:1 or 16 feet forward for every foot of altitude lost. This is a ratio right up there with a Schweizer 1-26 glider, and better than most birds or a hang glider in fact.

As for the bag of rocks, well, I’d even prefer to be in an MD-80 than a ‘dead-stick’ bag of rocks. (pilot humor, excuse me folks).
Kylie asks a question, again just hours before the accident:

I’m not sure that the reason I’m so nervous about flying is that I’m not in control, but that I don’t know how “in control” the pilots are if something goes wrong. One of my friends told me that one time he was on a plane and all of a sudden the power goes out, it sounded like the engines stopped, the plane seemed to slow down, and began to drop. However this took place over a few seconds before everything came back on. I’m always worried that if some unexpected problem occurred, and something caused the engine(s) to stop working, is there anything that pilots could do, or is there any back up that would get the engines to work again?

The FAA requires that all transport category aircraft have enough performance to operate on one engine in all phases of flight including just after takeoff. When deciding on the criteria for a two-engine aircraft to cross the Atlantic, they did some studies to calculate the odds of both engines failing. These odds were overwhelmingly small, since each engine is built to have a record of no more than one failure per 30,000 hours or so. So the odds for both engines failing is exceedingly rare, even with the recent bird strike accident.

There have been cases of fuel exhaustion, most recently with an Air Transat A330 that developed a significant fuel leak. That airplane successfully glided to the Azores off the coast of Portugal for a rather successful landing at the airport. The relatively good glide ratio shown above allowed them to travel nearly 100 miles without power.

We also have an extra generator not associated with the engines called the APU that’s available if we need it. This generator can power the entire airplane on its own. Finally, if we lost all three sources of power, on the 757 and 767 that I fly, there’s a small wind generated turbine called a RAT (ram air turbine) that pops out below the airplane and drives a generator to provide power to the flight controls. So double and triple-redundancies are built into every airliner.

Rose asks an equally dramatic question:

I have a brother who is an aeronautical engineer, and he tells me that the first 15 seconds of a flight, (once the wheels have left the ground) is the absolute most volatile because there is no recovery. If something ‘goes wrong’….the aircraft “must fly” before it can land. So he always tells me to count “one-one thousand, two – one thousand….until I reach 15. He says that if I’m ‘still alive’, that my chances of survival increase by 1000%. Is this true?

We actually call it a critical phase of flight. And that’s why the FAA makes us train for just about any scenario during that period.

Fortunately, modern airliners are rather overpowered and an engine failure is rather easily overcome by the thrust of the other engine. I’ve actually flown many small planes that didn’t have the performance with all engines running that a 757 does on one engine.

Ahh, but what about the dreaded dual-engine failure caused by geese you’re surely asking. There have been a number of engine failures that have been caused by a bird strike, but it’s incredibly rare for both engines to be taken out.

Contrary to what I’ve heard reported by some in the media, we do practice two-engine flame outs, at least at my airline. We usually save it as a ‘bonus’ practice at the end of our checkride or training.

Looking at this graph below, the portion after liftoff until the flaps are all the way up represents 5% of all accidents and 14% of the fatalities, interestingly.

Do you have a question about something related to the pointy end of an airplane? Ask Kent and maybe he’ll use it for next Monday’s Plane Answers. Check out his other blog, Cockpit Chronicles and travel along with him at work.

Budget Travel: Honolulu

by Brenda Yun on

Summary:
The bustling metropolis of Honolulu is a far cry for the palm tree paradise otherwise known as Hawaii, but warm weather, Waikiki beach boys, and white sand beaches are still plentiful and plenty good reasons to make that journey across the Pacific.

While Honolulu is not known for its cheap airfares and hotels, both can be found. Once here and nestled in, both relaxation and adventure lurks around every corner. By day, head ‘mauka’ (to the hills) or ‘makai’ (to the ocean) for an outdoor adventure that could cost less than a penny. In the evening, watch the sunset surfers in Waikiki and dine at one of the great local eateries around town.

To be sure, Honolulu has just the right combination of activities for even the tightest of budgets.
Getting in:
Although ATA and one of Hawaii’s beloved airlines, Aloha, closed earlier last year, there are plenty of options to get to and from the mainland. Hawaiian Airlines is the best and only locally owned airline company that frequently flies from the west coast to Honolulu for cheap. For those living on the east coast, United Airlines is a good option. Flights from the west coast cost between $350-600 roundtrip, while fares from the east coast cost between $600-800. That might sound like a pretty penny, but (aside from Miami) Honolulu is the only tropical locale in the 50 states.

Where to stay:
Nearly all visitors to Honolulu stay in Waikiki, the tourism center of the islands. Hotels and B&B’s cost between $100-200 a night, but there are a handful of hostels that are close to the beach and quaint enough.

  • Just one year ago (February 2008), Hostels.com declared the Seaside Hawaiian Hostel as one of the top five hostels in the world! This hostel is close to the nightlife on Lewers Street in Waikiki, the bus lines on Kuhio Street and Kalakaua Ave, and just blocks from Waikiki Beach. Guests can choose between tastefully decorated regular or premium dorms, semi-private rooms, or perfectly private ensuites.
  • If you don’t mind the sparse decor, the convenience of the Pacific Ohana Hostel can’t be beat. This place is smack dab in the middle of Waikiki and just a block away from the International Marketplace, Waikiki Beach, and buses.
  • Finally, Hosteling International-sponsored HI-Waikiki and HI-Honolulu Hostels are quiet and comfortable options for those looking for privacy, cleanliness, and friendliness.

All of these options will cost between $20-35 per night for dorm rooms and $40-75 for private rooms.

What to do/see:

  • International Marketplace: The International Marketplace has been an island shopping tradition for tourists and kama’aina (locals) alike. Most of the market sits under a huge, century-old banyan tree in the heart of Waikiki. Over one hundred shopping stalls, artisan stands, and mainstream shops sell special gifts and souvenirs. There is also a pleasant food court tucked in the center of the market that offers a variety of local and international cuisine. Also called “Duke’s Lane” between Kalakaua Avenue and Kuhio Street; open daily from 10 AM – 10:30 PM
  • Surfing in Waikiki: This is pretty much a must-do activity. Even if you’re a beginner, it’s best to rent a real fiberglass board from a place like Blue Planet (in Kapahulu) or Hawaiian South Shore (near Ward). Board rentals should cost only $25-30 a day. Check out my article on lesser known surf breaks in Waikiki for information on where to avoid the crowds.
  • Diamond Head State Monument: One of the most famous volcanic craters in the world, Diamond Head overlooks Oahu’s southeastern shores. The crater was originally named “Leahi” because its silhouette resembles the “brow of the tuna.” British sailors gave it its current name upon arrival on Oahu’s shores because the calcite crystals on the crater glistened in the sunlight from a distance. They mistakenly thought there might be diamonds in the mountain. The crater is over 3,500 feet in diameter, and visitors can climb to the 760-foot summit. The observation deck was constructed at the summit in 1910 to provide military target sightings. The trail is paved almost the entire way but can be steep in spots. Be sure to wear sunscreen and bring water on the hike, as there is no fountain up top. #(808) 587-0300; Hours: 6 AM – 6 PM; $1 entry; $5 parking
  • Pali Lookout: The Nu’uanu Pali Lookout (“Cool Height Cliff”) overlooks the steep cliffs of the Ko’olau mountain range, and remains one of the best vistas on Oahu. In 1795, King Kamehameha and his warriors defeated the Oahu armies by sending them over the cliffs, thereby claiming his victory and uniting the Hawaiian islands. The breathtaking sight and the gruesome history of the battle fought here is enough to cause a chill to run up your spine. Add to that the incredible winds that pass through the Pali and you could certainly be swept off your feet. To get there: Exit off the Pali Highway, just before the first tunnel heading from town to Kailua. Hours: Daytime (weather permitting); Entrance is free

Places to eat:

  • Waiola’s Shave Ice: It’s not called a snow cone or shaved (with a ‘d’) ice. It’s shave (sans ‘d’) ice, and it’s the coolest – in more ways than one. Waiola’s has made a name for itself as one of the only shave ice stores that surpasses the quality of Matsumoto’s in Haleiwa on the North Shore. The ice is like eating clean, puffy snow. The act of eating your treat is plain and simple, but the ordering of it is not: start with how big you want it and what you’d like inside (ice cream or azuki beans?); then tell them what flavor(s); finally, request a topping (lilikoi cream or condensed milk?).
  • Zippy’s chili or Rainbow Drive-In’s plate lunch: Zippy’s is Hawaii’s version of Burger King (of which we have none). The only thing worth eating at Zippy’s is the chili – either on fries or rice and with shredded cheddar cheese on top. It’s not chunky or spicy like Texas chili, but it’s oh-so-‘ono’ (delicious)! If chili’s not your thing, then plate lunch should or will be. Head to Rainbow Drive-In on Kapahulu Avenue and order a huge mixed plate lunch for just $6.50, which will come with barbecue beef and chicken, garlic mahi, two scoops of rice, and a scoop of macaroni salad. YUM!
  • 7-Eleven spam musubi: I once wrote an acrostic poem about my love of spam that went something like this:
Salty slab of not quite bacon –
Pig flesh so curiously pink,
Are you ever not on my mind,
Mocking my every taste bud?

If I need a pick-me-up or just something to fill my tummy, I head to the local convenience store and purchase this Hawaiian staple for just $1.29. Now, 7-Eleven offers a variety of spam musubi options: regular, deluxe (with seaweed and egg), Spam Lovers! (an extra large slab of spam), and katsu (breaded and fried spam). There is a reason why we Hawaiians love spam to such a degree that we consume more of it than any other locale in the world (almost 5 million cans of Spam are purchased per year). As the major Pacific port during World War II, spam was brought to the islands by the boatload mainly because it didn’t require refrigeration and it provided protein and sustenance for military personnel.


Once you experience the sights, the smells, and as Pico Iyer recently reflected upon, the sounds of Honolulu, you will head home Hawaii-fied and likely yearn to return for more of the same and a little something different sooner rather than later.

Budget Travels’ top 10 budget destinations and a Gadling twist

by Jamie Rhein on

As you may have noticed, Gadling’s been busy this month with budget destinations. Each one we’ve found deal worthy from personal experience. Budget Travel magazine has picked top 10 budget destinations for 2009. The variety is such that anyone should be able to find a deal to his or her liking whether it’s a particular city you’re after, or a whole country. Instead of presenting them in a rated fashion, the magazine lists them according to what makes them list worthy.

Each of the suggestions offers details that range from what to do to where to stay and describes exactly each place was chosen to highlight.

Throughout the past few years, we’ve had personal experiences with these destinations ourselves. Here are the destinations with a Gadling blogger’s angle. Some bloggers are alumni and others are current.

Closer to Home

Tumbling Currencies

  • Budapest, Hungary–Erik’s first visit to Budapest was after college where he found the architecture and the women sublime.
  • Reykjavik, Iceland–The economy has helped make it a bargain. Although Brook Silva-Braga didn’t talk about Iceland’s economy in this post of his, he did give a close-up look at a pretty wild and fun camping experience.
  • Mexico– If you’re going to be driving in Mexico, Kelsey gave the tips on how to survive the experience. She and her husband drove the length of Mexico from north to south

Major Events and Anniversaries

  • Berlin–Iva headed to Berlin in June 2008 and offers her first impressions. The anniversary is the 20th year after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
  • Vancouver, B.C.–Ember Swift who spent some time at Gadling blogging about her travels in a band, spent time in Vancouver riding the SkyTrain. The upcoming Olympics have the city going through some additions that will add to the traveler’s experiences.

Before They Become Overrun

  • Cambodia–For a perfect way to see Cambodia, Erik suggests a boat trip from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, one of the most interesting trips he has had.
  • Panama–Kent’s version of Panama is from the unusual perspective of the cockpit. He was there during the riots in Panama City earlier in 2008.

Perhaps you’ve have your own ideas of budget destinations, and we have more on the way.

Why Nicholas Kristof is right to defend “sweatshops” in his recent New York Times op-ed

by Aaron Hotfelder on

Who can be in favor of “sweatshops”? The word brings to mind images of hundreds of workers from a poor country hunched over sewing machines for fourteen hours a day in stifling heat and with no bathroom breaks. Any person who cares about human dignity must be opposed to sweatshops, right? Well, not so fast.

New York Times op-ed columnist Nicholas Kristof, well known for his dogged reporting on the genocide in Darfur, wrote a column on January 14 in which he defends sweatshops, saying that while the working conditions in many third-world factories are deplorable, the alternative is much worse.

What’s the alternative? For many Cambodians living in Phnom Penh, it’s rummaging through a garbage dump in what Kristof calls a “Dante-like version of hell.” Some Cambodian families even live in shacks scattered among the garbage.

Writes Kristof: “[W]hile it shocks Americans to hear it, the central challenge in the poorest countries is not that sweatshops exploit too many people, but that they don’t exploit enough. Talk to these families in the dump, and a job in a sweatshop is a cherished dream, an escalator out of poverty, the kind of gauzy if probably unrealistic ambition that parents everywhere often have for their children.” Moreover, Kristof writes, sweatshops are “only a symptom of poverty, not a cause, and banning them closes off one route out of poverty.“

It’s important to remember that large corporations bring manufacturing jobs to, say, Southeast Asia, not because they have any desire to lift the region out of poverty, but precisely because the labor standards in that part of the world are lax. Because the employees will work long hours for little pay, they get the jobs. If it were suddenly mandated that all workers should receive a “living wage” or get weekends and holidays off, the manufacturing jobs would disappear to other parts of the globe. Or they’d simply come back to the US.

Everyone believes people shouldn’t have to make the decision to work in a sweatshop. They should have better alternatives. But right now they don’t, and insisting that Cambodian factory workers are paid more will actually make their lives worse, because their jobs will disappear. As Will Wilkinson writes: “I am constantly dumbstruck that so many who profess to care about ‘social justice’ do little more than complain that desperate people have really terrible options and then work to take away the best options.”

Over ten years ago, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman made a similar defense of sweatshops in Slate, writing: “The only reason developing countries have been able to compete with those industries is their ability to offer employers cheap labor. Deny them that ability, and you might well deny them the prospect of continuing industrial growth, even reverse the growth that has been achieved.”

The living conditions for the average Indonesian or Bangladeshi or Vietnamese person, over the last 30 years, have improved, and as Krugman points out, this hasn’t been because of foreign aid from benevolent governments, but rather because of “soulless multinationals and rapacious local entrepreneurs, whose only concern was to take advantage of the profit opportunities offered by cheap labor.” But whatever the motives that brought jobs to impoverished parts of the world, the result has been “to move hundreds of millions of people from abject poverty to something still awful but nonetheless significantly better.”

But over at her his Where am I Wearing blog, Kelsey Timmerman is not as sanguine as Kristof about sweatshops. Kelsey writes that his quest to see how and where his clothing was made– which resulted in his visiting factories in places like Cambodia, China, and Honduras– has led him to believe that the argument “sweatshops are good” over-simplifies just as much as the opposite argument. Though he agrees with Kristof’s central premise, Kelsey sees the op-ed as “encouraging apathy” and writes, “As consumers, we should care who makes our clothes and what their lives are like.” [Edit: Sorry, Kelsey!]

Read Kristof on sweatshops here. Here‘s Krugman. Here‘s Kelsey Timmerman’s post at Where Am I Wearing? Here‘s Will Wilkinson’s post, appropriately titled “Helping = More Options”