· August, 2007

Stories about Travel from August, 2007

Ukraine: Volunteerism Promotion

  31 August 2007

MoldovAnn bought her first car in Ukraine and has spent some time driving it in and around Kyiv, and now she's off for a week of traveling with a group of international volunteers as part of the UNV Volunteerism Promotion Campaign.

Ukraine: Crimea

  31 August 2007

On the last day of summer, here's a translation of LJ user drugoi's photo report on his trip to Crimea, one of the favorite summer tourism destinations in the Soviet times, now facing fierce competition from resorts in Turkey and Egypt.

Arabeyes: Who is Using the Tunisian Presidential Airplane?

The Tunisian presidential airplane and the 'unofficial' trips it takes to Europe and the fashion capitals of the world has attracted the scrutiny of the country's most outspoken bloggers. Who is using the president's plane? Who approves the trips abroad and how much is it used for official business? These are some of the questions being raised in Arabic and French, which I am translating today into English.

Russia: Sakhalin Travel

  30 August 2007

White Sun of the Desert writes about his recent Sakhalin travel: “The journey back entailed me having to do one of those things I’d always hoped I’d never have to do: enter a 4-berth Russian railway carriage which has 3 people sleeping in it already, and the spare bed is...

Russia: “Word of Badmouth”

  30 August 2007

Copydude writes about various ways of mistreating foreigners in Russia – and about “word of badmouth,” which certain Russian restaurant owners don't seem to know anything about: “According to customer service research, a dissatisfied customer complains to an average of eight other people about a bad experience. In the blogging...

Iran:Crackdown on Professors

Kamangir says according to a new law, all state-run universities are obliged to report any trip their faculty members go to outside the country. The trips have to be reported whether or not they are sabbatical or personal and for pleasure.

Russia: Mistreatment of Foreigners

  29 August 2007

Window on Eurasia reports: “Foreigners working in the Russian Federation are far from likely to be mistreated by government officials and employers than they are to be attacked by skinheads and other Russian nationalist groups, according to a poll of Tajiks now living in Tajikistan with direct experience in the...

Albania: A Vacation Report

  29 August 2007

Marko Bucik spends his vacation in Albania, a country that is “an endless joy” – despite the fact that “there are almost no street names, no mailboxes, few places have drinkable tap water.”

Anguilla: Sea Bath

  29 August 2007

Bob Morris fondly remembers what Anguilla's “most famous citizen” taught him about the “unspeakable joy” of a good sea bath…

Croatia: Gračac

  27 August 2007

Balkan Anarchist writes about his familial ties to and the recent history of Gračac, “a town and municipality located in the south of Lika,” which, before the war, had “a Serbian ethnic majority, the majority of which does not live there anymore.”

Bahrain: Getting Into Gear and Going All the Way…

Our topics range from the highbrow to the lowlife this week, with an exhortation to read more books from across the Arab world, a child’s misunderstanding of a word in a cartoon, and an encounter with a prostitute. A new blogger has just arrived in Bahrain, and another blogger has just returned from a holiday in Iran – where he experienced rather more than he had bargained on during a taxi ride... Read Ayesha Saldanha's take on Bahraini blogs for more.

Madagascar: Malagasy travellers encouraged to blog their stories.

  27 August 2007

Tattum explains that madonline started a new project that strives to promote blogging activities in Madagascar. The project will initially focus on asking bloggers to tell stories of their travels across Madagascar in order to help people learn more about unfamiliar places. A familiar obstacle for blogging in Madagascar is...

Trinidad & Tobago: Contemporary Art

  27 August 2007

“Caribbean contemporary art has never been more vibrant than it is now,” writes Adele at Thebookmann, as she discusses the work of Trinidadian artist, Ashraph.

China: Bringing blogging to the countryside

  26 August 2007

Three years ago this man shot to fame when he blogged a bloody murder that took place in broad daylight downtown Beijing and the botched police handling of the case. Now a veteran of the citizen reporter game, he's taking his blog on the road, to rural northern China.