A ‘Breaking Bad’ tour through Albuquerque, New Mexico

Albuquerque is a modest, warm town in the American Southwest, almost halfway between Texas and Arizona on Route 40 and the commercial center of New Mexico. It’s a great spot for tourists looking to escape from the winter blues, and it’s also where the popular series “Breaking Bad” is filmed.

Now entering its fifth season, “Breaking Bad” is shot in a variety of venues across the city, most of which are easy to find with some creative Googling. Flickr user waldruggie hosts the best series of images and locations, filling a gallery with more than 150 pictures. Most pictures have locations and discussion attached to them, so taking advantage of a long layover in the city last weekend, the staff at Gadling Labs built a dandy MapQuest guide and followed the bread crumbs throughout the city. Surprisingly, most of the venues are centered around two hotspots only fifteen minutes apart and it’s even possible to visit the “homes” of Walter White and Jessie. Click through the gallery below to see a few hotspots or check out waldruggie’s gallery to build your own customized “Breaking Bad” tour.

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10 unusual things to do in New York City

Many people who visit New York often have the same itinerary: Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Staten Island Ferry. While all of these experiences are worthwhile and should be included in any first-time tour of the Big Apple, here are some fun experiences that can be added to the travel plan to make it a bit more quirky.

Create your own New York-style pizza

New York is world-renowned for its delicious pizza, with many tourists visiting just to sample a slice. Instead of simply trying the pizza, why not learn how to make your own? Pizza a Casa Pizza School will teach you how to make artisanal pizzas without using fancy ingredients or high-tech equipment. Instead, students will learn the school’s genius pizza recipe and how to bring the delightful art home to recreate again and again. Click here for a full class schedule and to order tickets.

Taste the best dumplings in Chinatown

For first-time visitors Chinatown can be overwhelming. Navigating the busy streets, and trying to find the best of what the area has to offer, is basically impossible without help from a local. If you have interest in learning about the history of the area as well as sampling different local specialties, I would highly recommend a tour with Ahoy New York Tours & Tasting. The tour takes you through Chinatown as well as Little Italy and the guide, Alana, is extremely knowledgeable about the area’s past and present. As you learn about the area’s murder-filled and difficult history, enjoy sampling delicacies and Chinese candy. Moreover, if you’d like to solely focus on eating delicious dumplings, for $20 dumpling connoisseur Mark Birch will take you on a dumpling tour to sample the best Chinatown has to offer.

Learn the trapeze

Trying new things when traveling can make your trip fun and exciting. While many people attempt feats like skydiving, bungee jumping, scuba diving, and hiking, it’s not all that often that you hear a friend talk about how they learned the art of trapeze on their latest trip. Why not be the first? Trapeze School New York (TSNY) has an array of levels and class styles from flying trapeze to silks, and from trampoline to acrobatics. The classes are designed for anyone who has ever wanted to experience flying gracefully through the air. Click here to see a class schedule and sign up.

Explore the city through a scavenger hunt

New York is home to some of the world’s most quirky and unusual scavenger hunts, which are not only fun but an interesting way to explore the city. My favorite is Accomplice, which is “part game, part theater, and part tour”. Basically, participants are sent out on a mission through the city while receiving clues and encountering various cast members along the way. It’s a great way to be an NYC detective for a day while discovering some of the city’s most off-the-beaten path spots. Another great option is Watson Adventures, which sends participants through various neighborhoods, museums, and public spaces to answer tricky questions. Some of their hunts include “Murder at the MET,” “Secrets of the Jewish Lower East Side,” “Haunted Times Square,” and “SoHo Chocolately.”

Browse the Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market

Fifth Avenue isn’t the only place to shop in New York, as the city is also home to myriad boutiques, bazaars, and markets. One unique market is the Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market that is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 9AM-5PM. There are usually about 100 vendors selling vintage clothing, jewelry, antiques, furniture, art, housewares, decor, and more. It’s fun to browse and feels great when you come across an interesting find. Remember that bartering is standard practice here so bring your best negotiating skills.

Learn about NYC’s quirky history at the City Reliquary

While the MET, MoMA, and Museum of Natural History are all worthwhile museums, there is another more unusual type of museum that is definitely worth checking out on your next trip to New York– City Reliquary. Here you will find odd New York artifacts including everything from old photographs and videos to the bones of subway rats to pigeon feathers and bed bugs. On certain nights there are also events where collectors will “show and tell” their unique items. Best of all, there is no outrageous admission fee; instead, you can leave a donation and even grab a beer for $3.

Take a trolley tour of Green-Wood Cemetery

While wandering around a cemetery probably isn’t what you picture when you think of your ideal vacation, Green-Wood Cemetery is worth the visit. The 478-acre Revolutionary War site was actually founded in 1838 as one of the country’s “first rural cemeteries” and, due to its international fame and beauty, came to be a “fashionable place to be buried.” In fact, it is Green-Wood that actually inspired the creation of many of New York’s famous parks, including Central Park and Prospect Park. Some features of Green-Wood include 19th- and 20th-century statuary and mausoleums, glacial ponds, picturesque paths, valleys, and hills, in addition to its rich historical background.

Check out an improv show

Instead of shelling out a ton of cash for a Broadway performance, a great and budget-friendly alternative is to check out an improv comedy show at one of the many great theaters in New York. For $10 or less, you can see up-and-coming comics try out their funniest, raunchiest, and most outlandish routines, while often inviting audience members on stage and incorporating them into the act. Some of the top improv comedy venues include: Upright Citizens Brigade, the Peoples Improv Theater, and Magnet Theater.

Enlighten your inner Beatles fan

New York is home to many iconic Beatles locations and holds a lot of history for the band. Signing up for an Ultimate Beatles Tour can help you learn more about New York as well as Beatlemania while exploring sites like the Ed Sullivan Theater (shown right), Carnegie Hall, the Plaza Hotel, Strawberry Fields in Central Park, and the Dakota Apartments.

Explore art, nature, and design at the High Line

Built in the 1930’s, the High Line was once the site of an off-the-ground freight train system that was built in order to remove dangerous trains from the streets of the industrial district of Manhattan. Today, the site is an elevated park that is home to some of the most beautiful flora, public art, and architecture in the city. Walking on the High Line will allow you to not only see some great city views, but also, learn about the interaction of art and nature through exhibitions. Additionally, visitors can hike through “woodlands” and relax on aesthetically-pleasing park benches. Click here to check out a map of the High Line.

An off-the-beaten path itinerary for southern China

When planning my trip through China one summer, I decided that I wanted to stay out of the well-known cities and explore smaller villages and lesser known areas where I could find less tourist traps and more cultural fare. While Beijing and Shanghai are both excellent cities to visit, here is an itinerary that will take you off the radar and help you discover nature, minority villages, Chinese traditions, and more. To make planning easier for myself I did this trip through Intrepid Travel, but you can also recreate it for yourself.

First stop: Hua Shan, Ning Ming County

Before coming to China I had been traveling through Vietnam and had entered the country from the Lang Son Province into Guangxi, China. From there you can catch a train or bus via Pingxiang to the mountainous village of Hua Shan, which is located in Guangxi. The journey takes about 2-3 hours.

There is a lot to be experienced in peaceful Hua Shan, which is miles away from civilization, located in the heart of mountains, valleys, forests, and near the Dong and Zhuang minority village. I stayed at a family-run guesthouse called Butterfly Valley, which felt more like a homestay than a hotel, as the family would cook for my group, take us on hikes, and end each night playing Mahjong and singing kareoke with us. It also helps to learn a bit of Chinese as not everyone in the area speaks English.

Take a walk through the countryside and notice the myriad plants and crops, like the gum leaves that locals use to cure a stuffy nose and the various edibles like corn, pumpkin, potatoes, and rice fields. Make sure to visit the minority village, which is dominated by wooden and thatched houses and livestock running around. It’s interesting to hear and see the music, dance, and art of the people of the community who are, for the most part, quite friendly and were happy to talk to me via my translator. In fact, the people in Hua Shan in general were very friendly and excited to talk to me. Many of the young girls knew basic English and even asked me to hangout with them to help them practice their language skills. Hiking in the area is also a fun activity, and there are many trails that allow you to explore the various flora and fauna of the area. As the region is completely rural you can literally just wander towards the trees and mountains to find your own paths. If you’d like to see indigenous art, boat trips go out to Mount Huashan where a vivid rock painting of various types of people, animals, and symbols is located. The painting is about 725 wide and 131 feet high, making it a bit of a mystery how it was created.On to Liuzhou

From Ning Ming we took a bus to Liuzhou via Nanning. While Liuzhou is a city, I still did not see many tourists and it makes for a nice break after spending time in the middle of nowhere. I stayed at the Nanjiang Hotel, which was actually like an everyday hotel (unlike many of the other accommodations on this itinerary). My favorite part about the property was their on-site tea room, where I spent a lot of time ordering authentic Chinese teas and playing Mahjong with anyone who would play, which is really easy in China. One guy even saw me sitting with tea and cards through the hotel window and came in to see if I would play with him.

My favorite part about this city was the YuFeng Shan (Fish Peak Mountain), which looks like an upright fish, and the park it’s located in, YuFeng Gongyuan (Fish Peak Park). There is also Ma’an Shan (Horse Saddle Mountain) adjacent. Walking through the park, you’ll see interesting architecture (shown above), lakes, gardens, and locals enjoying various leisure activities like dancing, Tai Chi, smoking, playing Mahjong, and chess. I spent hours just strolling around the different park paths, people watching and interacting with locals (one woman even tried to get me to join in on her dance group!). I hiked to the top of Fish Peak Mountain which is a great way to get a view of the entire city. There’s also Sanjie Rock Cave on the way up, which is interesting to visit to see the carvings, statues, and lifelike figures that tell the tale of Liu Sanjie, a popular Chinese love story.

Next stop: Chengyang Village

From Liuzhhou, we boarded a train to Sanjiang and then caught a bus to Chengyang Village. I stayed at the Long Feng Hotel in the Bridge Scenic District, which was a cozy, wooden guesthouse run by a friendly family. They have a bar and restaurant with picnic tables on the main floor, and you can order delicious fruit shakes and Asian specialties. The Chengyang Village is extremely scenic, and it can be worth it to hire a guide to help you translate what people are saying as well as give you historical and cultural information. I would recommend doing a tour of the village and checking out the Wind-and-Rain Bridge, which has 5 pavilions, 19 verandas, 4 spans, 3 piers, and 3 floors constructed without the use of nails. You can buy handicrafts from locals, view art and sculpture, and even have your name inscribed on the bridge for Y10 (less than $2). Moreover, if you’re with a guide who can translate make sure to visit the village Drum Room, which is where the local men hangout to smoke, talk, and play cards. When I visited they were really excited to meet me, and through a translator asked me a lot of questions about where I was from. There is also a Dong Minority Cultural Show (shown above) everyday in the center of the village near the outdoor stage at 10:30AM and 3:30PM. It was really interesting to see the bright and ornate costumes and literally be a part of traditional songs and dances, as you will get called up to take part. Hiking up the nearby mountains is also a great way to spend time and will give you breathtaking views of the entire village and countryside.

Continuing to Ping’an and the Longji Rice Terraces

From Chengyang, you’ll be able to take a bus to Longsheng and then a local bus to Ping’an. While the bus drops you off right outside the village, you’ll need to hike passed a row of handicraft and food market stalls before making your ascent up a steep rock quarry-like mountain to get to where the accommodations are. We stayed at the Li Qing Guesthouse, a traditional wooden guesthouse run by two sisters, Yuan Li and Yuan Qing, and their husbands. The hotel had a western toilet, as well as a menu that consisted of Western favorites and Asian fare. My favorite part about the accommodation, however, was the view from my bedroom window of the unique terraced countryside. Through the hotel the group was able to hire a guide to take us on a tour of the Longji Rice Terraces as well carry our backpacks (only Y100 for 3 bags, about $16), as we were hiking for five hours to the next town we would be staying in, Dazhai. “Longji” literally means “Dragon’s Backbone” as the rice terraces appear to be dragon’s scales with the summit resembling the backbone. The effect is almost unworldly as hills and mountains swirl about in a natural kind of staircase in order to preserve water, which rice needs a lot of to grow. Along the way you’ll see get to see traditional homes as well as the Yao and Zhuang minority women working in the fields. When it got to be around lunch time, our group actually got the chance to stop at one of the homes and have a home cooked meal which was picked for us from the on-site crops when we got there. Once we got to Dazhai, we stayed in the Yue Bing Guesthouse.

Last stop: Yangshuo

From Dazhai you’ll have to walk about 45 minutes to the bus station to catch a bus to Yangshuo via Guilin. Yangshuo is a lot more touristy then the small villages discussed previously, but still has a lot to offer the traveler looking for a unique Chinese experience. My group stayed at the Morning Sun Hotel, which puts you in the center of town, equal distance from the Western-inspired streets and the more authentic Chinese area. One activity I highly recommend is a bike tour with Roy, who also runs a language school. Roy can take you to visit the school and will even allow you to teach a class if you’re interested. If not, you can simply enjoy being lead on a scenic bike tour through the city as well as the countryside and rice fields. He’s also a really down to Earth guy and I found myself having really honest and open discussions with him about life in China vs. life in the United States. Moreover, rafting down the River Li, which you can do with Roy or on your own, is a relaxing way to see the scenery while also viewing wildlife. The hotel can also set you up with an instructor who will take you down to the local park and give you private Tai Chi lessons. It took me a little while to get comfortable with doing the moves out in the open, but in China people seem to do everything in outdoor spaces from practicing martial arts to dancing and singing, so it didn’t take long.

For more information on doing this itinerary with Intrepid Travel, click here.

Deep discounts on luxury travel from Abercrombie & Kent




Have you always wanted to go on safari in Kenya, tour the colorful markets and Mughal palaces of India‘s Golden Triangle, or explore the mysterious Incan settlements of Peru and do so in style? Beginning on Cyber Monday, Abercrombie & Kent will begin its Six Days of Holiday Savings sale, during which 10 luxury trips of a lifetime will be on sale.

Starting at 9am CST on November 28 and running through 1pm CST on December 3, Abercrombie & Kent is offering substantial mark-downs on trips from Amsterdam to Tanzania. Some A&K luxury travel packages will be on sale at a 50 percent discount. The best deals are an 11-day tour of India priced from $2,455 per person (originally $5,595); a six-day journey to Peru and Machu Picchu from $2,395 (usually $5,095); and an eight-day Thailand temple trip priced from $1,660 (was $4,295). You can also choose from Paris in the spring (from $2,495 for six days), a five-day jaunt to Florence and Chianti (from $1,395), and five other “guided independent journeys” starting from $1,795.

All of the packages included in A&K’s six-day sale must be booked by December 3 and take place in spring 2012. So, your chance to become a luxury traveler – or to surprise a loved one with a truly one-of-a-kind gift – is just a click away this Cyber Monday. Visit abercrombiekent.com for details.

“Border Crisis” tour shows realities of life on Arizona-Mexico border


No matter what side of the fence you may be on regarding the U.S. immigration debate, there’s a tour in Arizona that wants to show you what migrant life is like along the U.S.-Mexico border. Gray Line Tours of Arizona now offers the tour Border Crisis: Fact or Fiction, which is designed to give travelers an apolitical look at a very sensitive subject.

Gray Line’s Border Crisis tour will take visitors to see the border fence, a pedestrian bridge connecting the United States and Mexico, and a working ranch that straddles the border. Travelers will get to watch Customs and Border Protection Agents in action and take a walk through the desert where hundreds of migrants try to cross into the U.S. each year. Another stop on the Border Crisis tour introduces travelers to 65-gallon plastic tanks installed by Humane Borders, a humanitarian organization whose “sole mission is to take death out of the immigration equation.” “It’s a hundred-and-something degrees out here. You’re dying of thirst. That’s what this is for, with or without a map, whether you found it on purpose or whether you stumbled across it,” says tour operator Bob Feinman in this CNN article about the tour.

Border Crisis: Fact or Fiction begins today and operates approximately every two weeks through next spring. The cost is $89 and it includes lunch.

Photo courtesy Gray Line Tours