Stories about Travel from March, 2006
Latvia: Tourism Official's Utopian Plans
All About Latvia writes about one official's utopian plans to turn Latvia into Europe's main tourist center. [A belated update: The official's name is Ola Prilof … April Fool!]
Nigeria: Predictable Politics
UKNaija ponders on the relativity of time and seemingly predictable Nigerian politics.
Iran: A 534 Soldiers Blog!
A group of Iranian soldiers has launched a collective blog (Persian), to make a digital bridge among 534 soldiers. Blog talks about their daily military life and their trips.
Serbia & Montenegro: Likes and Dislikes About the Country
Daniel Ginsberg of The Native Speaker gives an honest answer to this question from an anonymous commenter: “will you be honest and say what (or who) makes you really angry here in serbia? be honest… how do you like people here?”
Poland: Trains
Aaron Fowles of p3 writes about Polish trains: the Osobowy, the Pospieszny, and the rest of them.
India: In search of flowers
Windy Skies in search of the “Night Queen” – a flower that is intoxicatingly fragrant in the Western Ghats.
Singapore: Leaving Home
agrain of sand has a dilemma: “How to tell my parents that Singapore isn’t really my home anymore? I mean, yes, they are back there, I grew up there, they took care of me there, but how do you call home a place where you haven’t lived in years, and...
Iran: The Flight from Iran!
View from Iran says about her flight from Iran. Blogger writes ” the flight from Iran was uneventful. By the end of our flight, not one woman was wearing a headscarf. You would see more women in headscarves on any flight in Europe or the US.”
Ukraine: Kyiv Sightseeing
Nancy Case of Case In Point takes her readers on a Kyiv sightseeing tour: “Is there anything cooler than being in a narrow cave with prostrating pilgrims and ancient shriveled dead guys and only one thin candle for light? I didn’t think so.”
Guyana: Amerindian eco-resort
VSO intern Michiyo gets to spend some time in a Makushi Amerindian village in Guyana's Rupununi region, and experience first-hand the community's efforts at running an eco-resort. As usual, she also offers a Japanese translation (JA) of her post.
China: Traffic TV
Danwei reports on the next development in China's love affair with the internal combustion engine: Traffic TV. “The ad delivery machines that have appeared in around 10,000 taxis and buses throughout [Beijing] will now deliver up-to-the-minute reports of traffic jams and accidents so you'll know why your commute is taking...
Ukraine: Pidhajtsi and Odesa
Stefan at Dykun writes about pre-election politics in the town of Pidhajtsi and posts a few pictures of his favorite city, Odesa.
Ukraine: Playing Run-and-Chase in Pediatrics Dept.
A Malaysian medical student posts pictures of spring snow in Simferopol, the capital of Ukraine's warmest region, Crimea. Also, there are pictures from another pediatrics class that evolved into “playing run and chase” with Ukrainian kids: “As usual, Fridays give us a multitude of wonderful feeling and joy as we...
Moldova: “The Stupid Tax”
Jessica of Life in Moldova writes about financial traps that await unsuspecting foreigners in Moldova.
Russia: Train Rides
Tim Newman of White Sun of the Desert writes about a typical train journey in Russia: boiled eggs and endless conversations are the most common features. Also, for a male foreigner, motherly attention of female compartment-mates, which would be considered rude in the West but are a norm in Russia.
Czech Republic: Museum of Romani Culture in Brno
Back in February, Jen and Derrick Teal of A Year in the Czech Republic visited the Museum of Romani Culture in Brno, located in the city's Roma neighborhood: “Suddenly, almost everyone we passed had the darker skin tone of many Roma Czechs and the fairer-skinned Czechs seemed to have disappeared,...
Swedish Blogs on “Eastern Europe”
It is safe to say that the blog scene reflecting “Eastern European” events is quite limited as compared to the “hotter” regions such as the Middle East. As for the many country-specific blogs on “Eastern Europe,” there is even less information to be found. Therefore, I here try to account...
Vietnam: Departures
Six Months in Hanoi bids an emotional farewell to Vietnam. “My experience of leaving Hanoi was of suddenly seeing the loss of a whole community. I know I will return, but I will never regain that world.” It took him a week before he could write about it.
Russia: Photo Collections
Sergey Belyakov at RUBLog links to two online photo collections: the Russian Photography Collection, 1917-1945, and Albert Hajrullin's Moscow and St. Petersburg pictures.
Vietnam: Fate of an Expatriate
Our Man in Hanoi worries that he'll end up like many Westerners in Asia: “Am I destined to be the movie ex-pat villain, stuffing my face, sweating profusely and shouting at a befuddled waiter to be quicker with the drinks? I hope not. But you can see it happening over...
Serbia & Montenegro: Climbing in Montenegro
Mat Savelli at Roma Roma posts another installation on his travel in Montenegro: “It's fantastic though because there are seemingly no tourists here (save myself) and absolutely no limits in terms of wandering. It's a bit like being in Rome, except everything is better preserved and you can climb, touch,...
