Accommodation in the Annapurnas
Posted November 10, 2009 , comments closedWith eight of the world’s ten highest mountains located in the North of Nepal, trekking in this region may seem a particularly daunting prospect. But you do not have to scale Everest or reach the peaks of the Himalayas in order to experience the rich diversity or the beautiful scenery of this country. Venture into the terraced hillsides of the Annapurnas, and you will wonder at the valleys beneath and the snow-capped mountains above. But after a hard day’s trekking you will need somewhere to rest your weary limbs; though you may be immersed in breathtaking landscape and wildlife by day, you will not have to brave the elements by night.
Camping takes on a whole new feeling of decadence as you emerge from your tent to a fantastic view of the Himalayas in the morning sunlight. Memories of the wet canvas and soggy grass of European camping trips gone by will soon be forgotten as you’re greeted with a cup of tea and a bowl of warm water. In the meantime, your breakfast will be cooked for you as you pack your day bag and prepare yourself for the trek ahead. Porters will follow with the rest of your belongings, allowing you to continue unburdened. This is the closest you will get to nature in Nepal, and sleeping under the stars gives you a chance to really appreciate the splendour of your surroundings.
To really experience Nepal, an overnight stay in a classic Nepali tea hut is a must; a combination of guest house, restaurant and social area, tea huts are renowned for their friendly atmospheres and sensational views. Slightly simpler than a hotel, facilities include single rooms, running hot water, and often a dinner of traditional dish, Dal Bhat, (rice and lentil soup) that gives you a real taste of Nepal. Trekking will be a breeze following a square meal and a good night’s sleep.
Located in Sauraha, just outside the Chitwan National Park, the Rhino Residency Resort adds an extraordinary element to your stay in Nepal. Trekking can be postponed for a day whilst you enjoy the resort, which is home to over 524 species of birds, the great asian one-horned rhinoceros, the Bengal tiger and many other smaller mammals. Beautiful gardens adorned with hammocks and a swimming pool can either repair the aches sustained, or refresh you in time for the next instalment of trekking. Nepal is brought to you on a plate in the resort’s restaurant, serving various continental cuisine and beverages. Soak up the luxury of the resort, but don’t forget the exciting Chitwan National Park is on your doorstep!
So, if you are used to the luxuries of a hotel while you are on holiday, take this opportunity to experience some of the more adventurous forms of accommodation that can be found around the Annapurnas. Your Nepal trekking adventure will take you through some of the most spectacular scenery around, but an open mind to accommodation will ensure that you don’t miss any of the tradition and culture that the region has to offer.
Top 10 Natural Wonders Of The World
Posted , comments closedPart of what makes the Grand Canyon so beautiful is an understanding of how much time when into its creation. Millions of years were spent by the Colorado River sculpting and carving away at the rock to develop what can be seen today. The depth of the canyon is breathtaking. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles long and up to 18 miles in width from rim to rim. The Canyon also goes down a full mile.
Auroras are natural displays of light in the sky but the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, is the most beautiful of all. Visible from the Northern Hemisphere, the Aurora Borealis can be seen as a greenish glow or even faint red.
The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s hugest coral reef system and is home to 3,000 single reefs and stretches about 1,600 miles. The reef is located off the coast of Australia and can even be seen from space. Although humanity and environmental causes threaten the reef, it remains one of the most concentrated spots for unique aquatic life on Earth.
The Niagara Falls are stunning waterfalls located on the border of Canada and the United States. Formed during the last ice age by receding glaciers, the Niagara Falls is the most powerful and beautiful waterfall in North America.
Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world and reaches 29,029 feet at its summit. Mount Everest, located in the Himalayas in Asia, has attracted climbers from around the world. Many have died attempting to reach the summit of Mount Everest, considered the worlds most physically demanding challenge.
Victoria Falls, located in southern Africa, are some of the largest waterfalls in the entire world. The width of the falls is about 5,600 feet and the height is almost 360 feet, creating one large sheet of water.
Paricutin is a cinder cone volcano located in Mexico that is located near a village covered by lava. In 1943 the volcano started merely as a fissure in a cornfield. Farmers witnessed the initial eruption of stones and ash and the volcano grew quickly afterward, reaching the height of five stories in only one week. After a year the volcano had reached over a thousand feet and continued erupting for eight years.
The harbor of Rio de Janeiro is considered one of the most beautiful harbors in the world with wonderful weather and free beaches. Located in Brazil, the harbor is surrounded by mountains and was formed by the Atlantic Ocean.
The Amazon Rainforest, or Amazonia, covers 1.4 billion acres and is home to 2.5 million insect species, 2,000 birds and mammals, 40,000 plant species, 3,000 fish and over 300 reptiles. 20% of all birds in the entire world live in the beautiful Rainforest, making it the most diverse place on earth.
The Galapagos Islands are volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean with a population around 40,000. What makes the area so unique is the diversity of the animal life and it’s reputation as the place that created the theory of evolution due to natural selection.
Copenhagen on Water – Copenhagen, Denmark
Posted , comments closedClimatic changes apparently cause the Danish weather to fluctuate from one extreme to the other. At this point, a very early summer has stabilized itself, creating ideal conditions for an ongoing renaissance of Copenhagen’s old harbor and canals.
Bus 901 or 902
After years of decline, the harbor area had its functions redefined – now aiming at homes, leisure activities, cafe and restaurant scene, hotels and education, often in renovated warehouses. The wet element is no hindrance, because a waterborne Harbor Bus, the yellow and dark blue 901 or 902, takes you easily to six stops distributed on both sides of the inner harbor, identical to the strait between Zealand and Amager. Departure both ways every 20 minutes, the trip itself takes 17 minutes. It’s a new way of exploring Copenhagen; close to walking on water.
The Harbor Bus is part of the local public transport. Tickets, available at ticket offices or on board the Harbor Bus, are also valid in S-trains, busses and Metro. One hour’s travel costs 21 Kroner plus 21 for a bike, even a free City Bike. A better investment is a 10-clip card for 130 Kroner; that’s 10 hours travel, 5 if you bring a bicycle. With such prices, you need not plan your visits ashore to the minute, only have in mind that time is money. Just scouting the surroundings is a good start, picking things for tomorrow’s must-see list.
Blessed with a Bike
The Royal Library, in 1999 pretentiously launched as the Black Diamond, is a practical place to start, near to everything, for example the vital Langebro, Long Bridge. You have already located the terminal with its modest yellow sign. Too bad – today’s first Harbor Bus fails to come! Sporting a bike is suddenly crucial. You head toward Long Bridge to enjoy an overall view. The adjacent island, Amager, must wait although important as the home of Kastrup Airport, Orestad City, the Oresund Bridge and extensive green areas, suggesting why Amager is advancing from low status to modern living.
Canal tour boat at the Harbor Pool
Two different approaches to waterfront planning appear. The Amager shore, here called Islands Brygge, is one long temptation comprising old well-kept buildings, promenades, stretches of green, a harbor pool, cafes and bars slowly opening for the day. Behind it all, former factories give way to spectacular architecture. The opposite side is deserted in comparison, due to international hotels and office buildings threatening to push the promenade into the water; explaining why the Harbor Bus, actually on its way at last, skipped this location.
On a tiny quarterdeck, in noise and fumes of diesel, you wave goodbye to Long Bridge and the Brewhouse of Christian IV, whose prestigious buildings from the 1600s still characterize the capital of Denmark. He combined vision and enterprise, further proof of which are the Round Tower and Rosenborg Castle. With its reflection dancing on the Black Diamond’s facade, the Harbor Bus crosses diagonally toward the bridge called Knippelsbro. Black buildings, imitating warehouse style, accentuate the restored tower of Our Saviour’s Church, its winding banisters momentarily mistaken for a garland of gold, a suitable landmark during your next bike excursion.
Long Bridge, connecting Zealand and Amager
Amsterdam may come to your mind when you see the lazy canal touching Christianshavn Square, lined by small boats, houseboats and worn-out specimens turned into cafes. It’s like a different town, plain and well-preserved, tailored for the working class by Christian IV. Never did he imagine that the compact Christianshavn should become trendy, a haunt for creative and artistic characters. Nor that an oasis of alternative living should be named after him: the Freetown Christiania. However, the King’s 24 children, half of them illegitimate, do indicate a lifestyle out of the ordinary. The street of Prinsessegade, right after the square, will take you to Christiania, but mind you, “You are now leaving the EU!”
The atmospheric Nyhavn harbor acts on warm days as a tourist trap. You decide to pass it. And the best is yet to come, at least if you like to set foot on previously forbidden land: Holmen opposite, a mix of islands and canals once totally reserved for the Royal Danish Navy. Approaching the new Opera, you may wonder how such mediocre architecture landed on Holmen’s best location. The protruding roof is a hit, though, creating ample shade without spoiling the view. Looking back at Skuespilhuset, a new theater at Nyhavn, is not amusing either, although it balances in the water on crooked legs.
Close to Royal
Skuespilhuset (theater) and the Opera
The Opera is situated at the end of a royal axis, with the domed Marble Church at the other end. The straight line proceeds between the palaces of Amalienborg, through a garden of fountains, planted there by the same man who paid and planted the Opera. His headquarters, nearly touching the royal axis, resemble a block of ice with spectacular windows, blue as the eyes of their owner: the 96-year old shipping magnate Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller, who is also busy hauling oil out of the North Sea. His discreet influence seems to overrule Denmark’s parliamentary system at times.
Canal tour boats, broad and flat, glide past like colorful carpets, their guides boasting the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group’s contribution to the Danish GNP and the cost of the Opera, before rejoicing at the Little Mermaid and the palatial cruise ships at Langelinie, backed by the North Harbor. A new Harbor Bus, 903, keeps shuttling between Nyhavn and the Opera, today staging a midday version of the Fledermaus by Johann Strauss. The 903 was on the local political agenda until an impatient Mr. Moller intervened with a gift. Later, even a 904 was introduced, in the less central part of the harbor.
Holmen North is the next stop. For centuries a separate town, skilfully ruled by the Navy, Holmen is these days synonymous with expensive houses, both restored and new, and military buildings transformed to academies of architecture, music, film, theater and dance. Abundant greenery and water alternate most pleasantly, making it possible for an old sailing ship to be towed into a canal to stage a birthday reception. Christiania seems light years away, but is in fact nearby. So are two royal pavilions, marking the last stop at Nordre Toldbod on the Zealand side, exactly where Queen Margrethe started her summer cruise on the royal yacht Dannebrog a few days ago.
The harbor of Copenhagen really deserves a high-rise landmark, an architectural masterpiece – hardly practicable under a City Council dominated by infighting. The Chief Mayor, Ritt Bjerregaard, Social Democrat and former EU Commissioner, makes decisions hard-handedly. She surely waits for Mr. Moller to lose his patience and again demonstrate his generosity. Thus operates an ice queen. Sharing the same frosty aura, the two of them might agree on some colossal structure the shape of an iceberg – no doubt a refreshing element in an age of rising temperatures.
Illustrations by Helen Claesson
Choosing the Best Accommodations For Your Breckenridge Vacation
Posted , comments closedIf you’re planning a vacation to Breckenridge, Colorado, chances are you’re overwhelmed by the lodging options available. A quick internet search will result in thousands of links that lead to a variety of hotels, condos, townhomes, vacation homes, and ski-in, ski-out accommodations. So, what option is best for you? The first step in beginning to answer this question is to identify exactly what the options mean and how they match your needs.
• Hotels. It probably doesn’t take much of a stretch of the imagination to picture the traditional hotel room set-up. Two double beds, a night stand, a television, and maybe a few extras like a coffee maker or refrigerator are the standards in most American hotels. A benefit to hotels is the added amenities such as a pool, exercise room, and restaurants. The drawbacks, of course, include space and lots of neighbors nearby. A hotel doesn’t usually offer much more than one large room (with the exception of suites), so be prepared to spend some quality time in close quarters with your travelling companions. If you’re planning a long trip, a hotel might begin to make you feel a bit claustrophobic. However, if your trip is short, it might be the easiest and most affordable option.
• Condos or Townhomes. Condos or townhomes are prevalent in ski towns such as Breckenridge. Each unit normally offers more than one bedroom, a kitchen, living area, bathroom, and added features such as balconies and the extra amenities of home. Drawbacks are similar to hotels in that there will be people above, below, or on either side of you, but there are many benefits to consider as well. Like hotels, condos and townhomes normally include extra amenities like pools and hot tubs. In addition, they also come equipped with a fully functioning kitchen so you can save money by cooking meals at home. Additionally, you’ll certainly find more room in a condo or townhome, so more people can have that added breathing room.
• Rental Home. A freestanding vacation home brings all of the benefits of a condo or townhome without the threat of noisy (or nosey) neighbors. Renting an entire house will give you the comfort of having a home away from home, but you won’t have to worry about the mortgage payments. You’ll likely have more space that you would in a condo or townhome, but might not have the added amenities like a pool or hot tub. Additionally, you’ll want to consider location when you rent a vacation home. While condos, townhomes, and hotels might be closer to the ski resort, homes could be a bit more remote and farther away. However, this might be as much a benefit as it is a drawback, depending on your vacation plans.
• Ski-in, Ski-out. Some hotels, condos, townhomes, and rental homes may also be ski-in, ski-out accommodations. This means exactly what the name implies: you’ll literally be able to ski from your door to the slopes. While the obvious benefits are certainly location and convenience, the drawbacks will more likely hit your pocket book. Ski-in, ski-out accommodations are normally also the most expensive options, but often the money is worth the convenience.
There really is no right or wrong way to plan your vacation in Breckenridge; there are just different choices for different people. Still, it will certainly help your planning to go into the range of options with a vision of what and where you’d like to stay. Most importantly, however, look into your options by talking with rental companies or researching them online. With a bit of preparation, you’ll likely find the perfect fit for your Breckenridge vacation.
5 Places to Rediscover the Golden Age of Piracy
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That was the actor Robert Newton, in his portrayals of Long John Silver and Blackbeard in movies and television. Obviously, it caught on.Pirates didn’t make their victims walk the plank either.
Not when it was so much easier (though admittedly less dramatic) to simply throw captives overboard. Give credit to illustrator Howard Pyle for that romantic image, his painting of a blindfolded man edging out on a wooden plank captures all of the crippling fear that such a punishment would induce.
Nevertheless, pirates were very real. They did drink rum by the caseload. They were reckless and wild and daring. Some even owned parrots and monkeys as pets. Their real stories are so nightmarish that the fiction they inspired often seems tame by comparison.
It’s no wonder then, that pirates, buccaneers and freebooters still loom large, even in the twenty-first century. They are our most beloved outsiders, particularly among long-term travelers—roaming free, making their own rules, completely in the moment. So many novels, movies and songs honor their bold deeds and gruesome deaths that it’s easy to forget that these rogues actually existed. Any savvy jack-tar worth his salt can track down one of the many pirate festivals celebrated yearly, but even more fascinating is a visit to their real stomping grounds. Some of which haven’t changed as much as one might think.
Here are 5 places that any aspiring pirate historian ought to visit:
1 – Saint Mary’s Island, Madagascar
Pirate’s graveyard in Madagascar
Known these days by the French name Ile Sainte Marie, Saint Mary’s was once the central hub of piracy and nefarious dealings in the Indian Ocean. Notable scalawags Captain Kidd, Robert Culliford and Henry Avery all took refuge on the island at one time or another to buy supplies, drink homebrewed rum and savor the company of the notoriously beautiful Malagasy women.
Many pirates were so entranced with Saint Mary’s free love atmosphere that they decided to extend their furloughs or live there permanently. The rakish pirate Thomas Tew even had a child with a local queen; his bloodline is claimed by the Zafay-Malata people to this day.
Trader Adam Baldridge set up shop on Saint Mary’s and supplied his guests with everything they might need, at a healthy markup of course. Captain Kidd had a hard time getting his crew motivated again after his turn ashore on the island and many of them abandoned him there.
A 21st century traveler visiting Sainte Marie would be missing out if they didn’t take a stroll through the pirate graveyard that overlooks the “Bay of Rogues.” The bay is where some of history’s most notorious sea-devils weighed anchor. The site is shaded by trees and vines and can be reached along a short and often muddy path from the beach. The mossy headstones feature skulls & crossbones and the sentiments etched there show little remorse for the deeds of the men buried below.
If you want to be where the crème de le crème of pirate society went to revel—go to Saint Mary’s. Consider the perfect beaches, jumbo prawns and friendly modern residents to be a bonus.
2 – Port Royal, Jamaica
Thanks to Jack Sparrow’s ringing endorsements in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, Port Royal may be the destination most commonly associated with piracy’s Golden Age. There is both truth and fiction in that assertion—Port Royal was once the world’s premier pirate haven but its heyday was before the Golden Age of Piracy (1690-1720).
In the 1660s however, Port Royal was the carousing capital of the world. Records indicate one alehouse for every ten permanent residents. Ships often came into port rich and left drunk, fat and happy—but drained of plenty of gold coins. Nicknamed “The Sodom of the New World,” Port Royal existed in a state of revolving revelry.
The Gentlemen of Fortune who made Port Royal famous are generally put into the category of Buccaneers and many of them had defended the city from the Spanish or plundered Spanish treasure ports in time of war. When the crown decided that Jamaica needed to change its image they hired one of these unsavory types to do it for them. His name was Captain Henry Morgan and though he was known for taking a bribe here and there and attacking Spanish ships even in times of peace, his work to fix the island’s bloody reputation met with success.
Regardless, the point was soon moot. In 1692, most of the port sunk under water during a devastating earthquake. Some were quick to attribute the quake to an act of God (who was either furious with the hedonism of the people or jealous of all the fun they were having, depending on who you asked). Attempts to rebuild the city went up in smoke (literally, two major fires in ten years) but it did later become a popular execution spot where pirates Calico Jack Rackham and Charles Vane went to meet the gallows.
These days, Port Royal is small and known mostly for fishing—but as a site for pirate lovers and those interested in underwater archeology, it is unparalleled in the Caribbean and certainly worth a visit.
3 – Nassau, Bahamas
At the turn of the 18th century, the island of New Providence in the Bahamas was a scarcely governed haven for gentlemen of fortune. Retired buccaneers and upstart pirates lived in squalor under tents made from pieces of old sail.
Governor Nicholas Trott was well known for taking bribes from men who were sought by the British Crown. When the aforementioned Henry Avery needed someplace to hide out he was sent straight to New Providence. Trott was only too happy to help for a share in Avery’s plunder. Soon even the puppet governments failed and New Providence became a no man’s land split between pirate chieftains.
Later, when England made the Bahamas a colony and decided to clean up Nassau, the Lords Proprietor took a page out of Jamaica’s playbook and called in a gentleman of fortune. This time it was Woodes Rodgers. Rodgers knew the men and knew their tactics—it wasn’t long before Nassau fell off the list of preferred pirate ports.
Today, Nassau has been scrubbed to a high shine. The spit of sand across the harbor from the port even had its name changed to Paradise Island (the pirates knew it as Hog Island). Nassau Town still clings to snippets of old world charm that reference its past, though they are often tough to focus on between cruise ships and modern resorts. Luckily, the Pirates of Nassau Museum does a great job of reminding us of the way things were.
4 – North Carolina, United States
The Carolina Coast has no shortage of pirate lore. There are stories of shipwrecks, battles and buried treasure—all of which pale in comparison to the deeds of one Edward Teach a.k.a. Blackbeard. Blackbeard was tough as coffin nails, at least half-crazy and would sometimes burn slow match in his beard to scare enemies. Not surprisingly, he was an effective pirate.
After leaving New Providence due to the arrival of Woodes Rodgers, he set up camp on Ocracoke Island. From there he and his crew set out pillaging throughout the Caribbean and into the Gulf of Mexico. In 1718, after blockading the Port of Charles Towne and ransoming the entire city, he and his men returned victorious and rich to Ocracoke. Weeks of carousing followed until the governor of Virginia decided to send Lieutenant Maynard and his Royal Navy crew to do something about the pirate infestation.
The chase between Maynard’s crew and Blackbeard’s freebooters was brutal and bloody. But it was the final battle, in which Blackbeard took five bullets and more than “20 dismal cuts” before dying, that is the stuff of legends.
The best account we have of the battle, which describes Blackbeard fighting with three men at once, also attributes a quote to him AFTER receiving a death blow by broadsword to the neck. It wasn’t until his head was completely off of his shoulders that Maynard’s crew stopped fearing him, and even then just barely.
Today North Carolina’s coast has plenty in store for a visitor interested in pirate history. Blackbeard’s memory hangs over the island of Ocracoke and the towns of Beaufort and Bath. Many artifacts from the dreaded pirate’s ship, The Queen Anne’s Revenge, are on display in museums throughout the state including Beaufort’s Maritime Museum. The area also happens to one of the United States’ least appreciated stretches of beach—which any visitor should be able to enjoy heartily.
5 – Vailima, Samoa
Robert Louis Stevenon’s house in Samoa
Samoa wasn’t a hotbed of activity during the Golden Age of Piracy. But it’s notable for one very famous resident: Robert Louis Stevenson. Treasure Island is the definitive pirate novel, and the blood-thirsty crew that populated the schooner Hispanola is responsible for many of our most vivid notions about freebooters.
Most notably, as David Cordingly points out in his book Under the Blag Flag, Stevenson popularized parrots and peg legs, both of which were real parts of life at sea but not yet cemented in the public consciousness.
Stevenson originally travelled to the South Seas to ease his chronic health problems. It wasn’t long before he fell in love with the islands and their people. For their part, the natives of the South Pacific liked the frail writer just as much—he quickly developed an enduring friendship with King Kalakaua of Hawaii.
Known as a culturally sensitive traveler long before the phrase was common, Stevenson established a home on Vailima when he was forty. Four years later he died there and his old residence is now a museum honoring his memory.
Additional photo credits:
Port Royal by Christian y Sergio on Flickr, Bahamas by LinksmanJD on Flickr, North Carolina by greenkayak73 on Flickr, Samoa by anna t on Flickr