If you’ve seen Moscow‘s imposing Red Square, still regularly patrolled by Russian guards, imagine seeing a plane land there. This Guardian video shows the story of Mathias Rust who, 25 years ago, flew through the Iron Curtain on a peace mission to “build an imaginary bridge” between cultures. He was an amateur 19-year-old pilot, and managed to fly from Helsinki to Moscow without being taken down by Soviet air defense. After circling a few times to show he intended to land, he stopped on a nearby bridge and drove the Cessna into Red Square like a car. Though he was greeted by happy and supportive spectators, it was the height of the Cold War, and he was subsequently arrested and sentenced to prison for four years. He served only 14 months, but the unbearable conditions made him question his actions. As he states in his current day interview, it’s remarkable to see how far one person can go.
Video: Maori Creation Story Told In Sand Art
One of the great things about exploring other cultures is hearing their stories. The world is filled with myths, legends, fables, anecdotes, histories, jokes and all sorts of other oral traditions. Some traditional storytellers keep to the old ways, while others, like this sand artist, have taken on new methods to tell age-old tales.
Marcus Winter is a Maori artist who opened up the 2010 Original Art Sale in New Zealand by retelling a traditional Maori creation story. Through his work we see the world being formed when the children of Ranginui, the Sky Father, and Papatuanuku, the Earth Mother, separate their parents and set off a chain reaction that creates the world and, of course, New Zealand.
Stories are living things. They take on new forms to adapt to the times and perpetuate themselves through the ages. I’m glad that artists like Winter are taking their ancient tales and giving them a modern twist.
Video: Lunch In A Village In Burkina Faso
It’s lunchtime in Taga, a village in Burkina Faso, West Africa. A guy is milking the cows and the women are working over the stove. Kids are running around making noise and getting in the way. It’s just like lunch at my house – well, not quite.
That’s what I love about this video. There are so many similarities – the laughing kids, the idle chatter, taking some time off work in the middle of the day to enjoy family – that I can almost forget the thatched huts and chickens. The greatest thing travel teaches us is how similar people are under all the superficial differences.
One of the bigger differences is the slow pace of life in this village. It’s a tranquil video too – great for inspiring relaxation on your own lunch break. For a different look at life in the same country, check out this video of driving through the capital Ouagadougou.
By the way, anyone out there know what the gray seeds are that the woman is putting in the milk?
Video: Highlining Across Morocco’s Todra Gorge
Far inland from the heavily toured bazaars of Marrakech and Essaouira lies a part of Morocco that many travelers know little about. The Todra Gorge, located in the remote High Atlas Mountains, is a sort of mini Moroccan Grand Canyon with 1,000-foot rock walls that have been carved out over thousands of years by the Todra and Dades Rivers.
In the video trailer above, we see an assemblage of four adventurers called Somewhereelseland as they attempt to highline across the gorge. Highlining is the newest extreme sport, which requires thrill-seekers to cross an inch-wide nylon line suspended in the air. Think of it as slacklining at altitude or like tightrope walking in which the rope is merely a string and the walker carries no balance pole.
“No one has ever highlined in Morocco before,” says Faith Dickey, Somewhereelseland’s female highliner. Indeed, the location and the precarious nature of the sport leave us with a desire to watch beyond the three minutes featured in this video.
Video Of The Day: Capturing Monument Valley, Arizona
In the United States, Memorial Day is the unofficial kickoff for summer. Stop by any cookout or barbeque today, and you’ll likely be asked by friends or family members what your travel plans are for the summer. It seems the season is nearly synonymous with travel. With the sunshine comes plenty of daydreaming about seaside vacations, nights camping under the stars, days off to visit friends and family and (of course) the quintessential road trip. Search “road trip” on video websites such as YouTube and Vimeo and you’ll find thousands of videos, each plotting more points on a map than the next. But instead of showing a time-lapse film of an epic trip, here’s a video of one of the most archetypal destinations on an American road trip – Monument Valley, Arizona. Watch to see road trippers soaking in the landscape. There really isn’t a better way to get motivated to start planning a road trip of your own.