Stories about Travel from February, 2008
Exchange Student ‘Starved’ in Egypt
Elijah Zarwan, from Egypt, discusses a wire story about a 17-year-old American exchange student who was allegedly ‘starved’ after being paired with a Christian Coptic family, which fasts for 200 days a year.
Vietnam: Hanoi in Winter
Experience the winter in Hanoi and neighboring places with Vietnamese God.
Thailand: Thaksin's Passport
Bangkok Pundit looks the issues surrounding former Thai prime minister Thaksin's diplomatic passport. Thaksin is set to return to Thailand from his exile after he was overthrown in a coup back in 2006.
Jamaica: Both Sides Now
“We Jamaicans take the mountains, valleys, waterfalls — all for granted. And because we can't see those things with ‘outsider eyes’ we don't think deeply enough about how to share them with the world”: Francis Wade believes Jamaica is full of untapped potential.
Serbia: Where is Facebook's Belgrade?
According to Belgrade 2.0, Serbia's capital has mysteriously disappeared from Facebook: “Anyway, there are couple of groups now fighting to get Serbian cities back on the list of hometowns, since about 70 thousand Serbs that are already on Facebook just lost that option. Unfortunately, the protesters are not being very...
Egypt: Visa to Heaven
Egyptian blogger Eman discusses the difficulties of getting a Schengen (European Union) Visa in this post.
Czech Republic, U.S.: Visa-Free Regime
The Czech Daily Word and The Reference Frame report on the signing of a U.S.-Czech agreement on visa-free regime.
Brazil: Sexual tourism, dreams-come-true, sour goodbyes and illegality
Sandra Paulsen writes[PT] from Stockholm at Blog do Noblat[PT] about Swedish sexual tourism in Brazil and Tailand and sad stories about Brazilian women that travel back with their “boyfriends” to their home Sweden, just to face a hard and bitter break-up and illegality in a foreign and lawful land. Blog...
Ukraine: More Sketches by Olechko
Lots of new work by Olechko, including this sketch of “devoushkas at a cafe.”
Abu Aardvark: Doha Notes
Abu Aardvark attended the Brookings Institution's annual US-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar, and shares his thoughts about the event and the people he met here.
Saudi Arabia: Cairo Visit
Saudi Jeans attended a two-day Human Rights conference in Cairo, Egypt, and shares his impressions of the country and event in this post.
Africa: The dust horror
“Between Conakry and Bamako there are 1000 km of motorways. First forests, then mountain, savannas after. It is a gift to the eyes and a way to ease the 15 hours’ drive. The trip ends in a bath of dust, by the entrance to Mali's capital”. On publishing an incredible...
Iran: From Prague to Iran
Michal Svec, a young Czeck man has published several photos of his trip to Iranian cities.
Bermuda: Immigration
Politics.bm has a suggestion for helping Bermuda's “appallingly slow Department of Immigration.”
Russia: Volga Cars
History of Volga cars – at Windows to Russia!
Ukraine: Yatsenyuk and Highway Patrol
Ukrainiana writes about Ukraine's parliamentary speaker's rough encounter with the “Ukrainian driving culture” – impersonated by “the deputy chief of Kobra, a special highway patrol force authorized to inspect officials’ cars.”
Kosovo: Views from the Russophone Blogosphere
According to the Yandex Blogs portal, over 3,700 posts on Kosovo independence have appeared in the Russian-language blogosphere in the past three days. Some of these posts have received dozens, if not hundreds, of comments. Below are a few snippets of this lively discussion, all translated from Russian.
South Korea: Dark Tourism
Korea Beat translated a local report on the phenomenon of “dark tourism” to the scene of the Namdaemun/Sungnyemun fire.
Mexico: Cable Car in Mexico City
In order to alleviate some of the traffic difficulties in the area of Santa Fe in Mexico City, the government has proposed the construction of a cable car, writes México Para Los Mexicanos [es].
Bolivia: Dinosaur Park in Sucre
From Bolivia, Tragicomedia Amorosa Musical [es] writes and posts picture of the dinosaur park in Sucre, where life-sized replicas of these prehistoric creatures can be seen upclose.
Ethiopia: Goodbye Ferenge Addis Blog
After going back to the US from Ethiopia, this is Marc's last post on his blog, Ferenge Addis Blog: “Having moved back to the US a couple of weeks ago, I'm sad to now say goodbye to the FAB. I've made some friends through contacts made here. And the comments...