· November, 2008

Stories about Travel from November, 2008

MENA: How to deal with Somali piracy?

  22 November 2008

Last week a Saudi supertanker was hijacked by Somali pirates off the coast of Kenya, making it the largest ship ever to have been seized in this way. The problem of Somali piracy is growing; in this post we hear bloggers' reactions from around the Middle East.

Bangladesh: Slum kids visited Germany

  21 November 2008

In a blog post of The Dhaka Project, an organization supporting children from the slums of Dhaka, you can read about the experience of some of their kids visiting Germany.

Egypt: Sawiris Takes on Switzerland

  20 November 2008

Cairo's Scene & Heard celebrated entrepreneur and hotelier Sameh Sawiris's new project in Switzerland saying: “Now that we're branching out into Europe…do you think we stand a chance next to the already existing competition?!?”

Egypt: American University in Cairo's New Campus Sparks Debate

  20 November 2008

Designed to accommodate 5,500 full-time students and 1,500 faculty and staff, the American University in Cairo's new $400 million, 260-acre campus is technologically advanced and environmentally friendly. Students say that it was a premature move as they suffer sexual harassment and expensive food, among many other issues. Marwa Rakha reports.

Trinidad & Tobago: Flood!

  19 November 2008

Trinidad and Tobago has been at the receiving end of some heavy rains over the past few days, resulting in severe flood waters that have immobilized commuters, compromised infrastructure and wreaked havoc on the public transportation system. But only a handful of local bloggers were on top of the story (perhaps the rest were too busy trying to find a way home).

Russia: The Crisis and the Hajj

  19 November 2008

Window on Eurasia writes: “For the first time since the end of the Soviet Union, the number of Muslims from the Russian Federation making the pilgrimage to Mecca is set to fall significantly, the result of a financial crisis that has cut incomes, increased prices and reduced private and government...

Bhutan: On Thimphu

  18 November 2008

Most Beautiful Cities in the World describes about Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan: “It's expensive to visit Bhutan, and expensive to stay here – a deliberate policy to keep tourism at a low level. Bhutan is poor in material goods, but boundlessly rich in other qualities contentment, inner peace and...

Armenia: Casinos

  14 November 2008

Han's Space comments on the appearance of casinos in Armenia following the collapse of the former Soviet Union. The blog says that there other easier places to go for anyone wanting to gamble, but adds that they might at least be interesting from an anthropological point of view rather than...

Japan: Granny's blog

  12 November 2008

The first of its kind, a Japanese blog called Sobolog (祖母ログ) [ literally “Grannylog”] crosses three generations, written by a nephew living in Tokyo in collaboration with her mother (who records the facts), presenting the daily life of her funky granny named Hide (82 y.o.) living in Gunma Prefecture. In...

Costa Rica: Differences in Customer Service

  11 November 2008

Hazel Feigenblatt writes in her blog about the difference in attention that local tourists from Costa Rica receive, when compared to the customer service received by foreign tourists [es] , and how it seems that locals are treated like second-class citizens. Many commenters share their own bad experiences.

Armenia: Gyumri

  11 November 2008

jack'sVolunteerWorkInArmenia details his weekend trip to Armenia's second largest city of Gyumri. Situated close to the (closed) border with Turkey, the city will next month commemorate the 1988 earthquake which devastated much of its infrastructure and left tens of thousands dead or homeless. The blog says that twenty years on,...