Travel Highlights
Edited by Slava Sakhnenko – facebook, slava(at)planeteye.com
With contributions by Katrina Verweel & Katherine Spiers
Toronto, Canada
Cambodia Town by Christina House
Los Angeles County is home to the only official Cambodia Town in the U.S. It’s an interesting glimpse into a culture that doesn’t get a lot of attention in this country.
-Katherine
All Saints Day kites in Guatemala by Johan Ordonez
Residents of Sumpango, Guatemala make these gorgeous, enormous kites to honor the dead for All Saints celebrations this week.
All Saints Day by Daniel LeClair
People do someone nutty stuff for Halloween in the U.S. In Todos Santos, Guatemala, All Saints celebrations include spitting booze on horses. Do they have us beat?
Quinault Rainforest photo by Steven Schnoor
People who are not from the Pacific Northwest are often surprised to find that there’s a big rain forest in Washington State. It’s not tropical, but it is beautiful.
Information about temperate rain forests here.
Tango Declared an “Intangible” UNESCO Treasure
Tango, the dance of passion, has been added to UNESCO’s list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Argentina and Uruguay have fought over ownership of the dance for 100 years, but they came together to petition UNESCO.
Being added to the list means the dance in those countries is eligible for UNESCO funds. Expect to see even more tango-related tourism promotions and packages for Uruguay and Argentina.
Here’s the complete Heritage list: Croatian lacemaking, Colombian Holy Week processions, Turkish shadow theatre…
Photo by Natacha Pisarenko
Austrian Cows by Dominic Ebenbichler
At the end of summer, cattle farmers all over Austria herd their cows down from the Alps into the valleys. Some towns, like Schwaz, make a parade out of it.
-Katherine
Culver Hotel - Culver City, California
Los Angeles is full of amazing, luxurious hotels, but this brick building from 1924 may be my favorite. It was a crowd-drawing skyscraper when it was built (a full six stories!), and it quickly became a movie star favorite. John Wayne and Joan Crawford lived there.
There are rumors of a secret tunnel from the hotel to nearby Sony Studios (then Culver Studio). And of course, the Munchkins from the “Wizard of Oz” partied so hard, so legendarily, here during filming that the restaurant was named in their honor.
It’s like a Hollywood museum in there, with all the posters and plaques and, often, a film crew making a new classic: parts of “Austen Powers” were shot here. Probably in a room with a circular bed.
-Katherine
“Think foreigners in Thailand are exempt from the country’s famous “never bad-mouth the King” laws? Think again. Non-Thais may have a better chance of being able to claim that it was all a big misunderstanding, but as one disrespectful Australian novelist just discovered, their pardon may come after five months in prison.”
From Weird Foreign Laws at Budget Travel.
-Katherine
(Illustration by Mark Zingarelli)
“Thinking of an autumn trip to Scandinavia? Hoping to show them what an American Halloween’s all about? Stick to the simple costumes. In Denmark, wearing a mask in public can lead to your arrest.”
From Weird Foreign Laws at Budget Travel.
-Katherine
(Illustration by Mark Zingarelli)
“New Year’s in Southeast Asia is often a watery celebration, with lots of buckets, water balloons, and drenched revelers. But in Cambodia, you must choose your method of aquatic conveyance carefully. Water guns will be snatched away on sight. Rumor has it some ruffians filled their Super Soakers with, er, “used” water, ruining the party for everyone.”
From Weird Foreign Laws at Budget Travel.
-Katherine
(Illustration by Mark Zingarelli)
Murphy Ranch, Pacific Palisades, California
A utopian Nazi community in Los Angeles: it must be seen to be believed. Miss Listless introduced this oddity to me; she found it while exploring the perimeter of Temescal Canyon park.
It’s a healthy hike in, and among all the gorgeous nature there’s a physical history of 80+ years of fringe L.A. culture: Nazi sympathizers of the ’30s and ’40s, counterculture writers of the ’50s and ’60s (look for the rusted-out VW van with the UCLA 1968 parking pass), and graffiti artists and taggers of the aughts.
Lake Mary, Utah
The view from the first of three lakes when summiting Brighton.
This part of Utah is famous for its skiing - surrounding Brighton are Alta, Snowbird, Solitude, The Canyons, Sundance, Deer Valley and Park City. Those hills also make for some pretty great summer hiking, with breaks for tracking the ski runs and planning all the awesome shredding, or bunny hopping.
Woman on Train by Chiara Goia
For almost 20 years, there have officially been “women-only” cars on Indian trains. In practice, they too are full of men.
The government has just instituted six woman-only entire trains. New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Calcutta, as the country’s largest cities, are trying these “Ladies Specials” first. Passengers love it. Not only are they free from catcalls, but, at least for now, the trains are absent pickpockets and vendors, too.
Coyote Rescue by Wired
Wild animals still displaced by last year’s wildfires have been found wandering the backyards of suburban L.A. and Orange County. People are most afraid of the hungry coyotes.
It stands to reason that this year’s bigger, badder fires will lead to more bigger, badder animals retreating city-ward.
Or perhaps it happened already. I live in the middle of L.A. proper where coyotes occasionally emerge at night. And one just passed under my balcony at 11:45 a.m. That’s new.
Part 5 of our series about wild fires around Los Angeles, and how they effect the people who live and travel there
Rock Pool, Malibu Creek State Park by Zach Behrens
Because of the L.A. fires, hiking in Angeles National Park is now a criminal activity.
Which means all the outdoorsy types will head westward, leading to scenes such as the one pictured here. Not really an escape from urban life.
Perhaps (one can hope) Angeles Park’s unexpected closure will somehow reverse the governor’s decision to slash the state park system’s budget, effectively shutting down around 100 parks.
Part 4 of our series about wild fires around Los Angeles, and how they effect the people who live and travel there
