The good, the bad and the bizarre from the world’s best travel media
BOLIVIA, UNDER THE COVERS
It’s an old expression with which we’re all familiar: “Never judge a book by its cover.” When it comes to travel, no nation may fit that saying better than this land-locked South American country.
About the only thing most of us know about Bolivia is that statistically it’s considered the poorest country in South America. We tend to hear that and instantly strike Bolivia from our mental list of desired destinations. Nothing there worth seeing, right?
The folks at Lonely Planet say we couldn’t be more wrong:
“This landlocked country boasts the soaring peaks of the Cordillera Real around Sorata and the hallucinogenic salt flats of Uyuni, the steamy jungles of the Amazon Basin and wildlife-rich grasslands of the Southeast. Unparalleled beauty is also reflected in its vibrant indigenous cultures, colonial cities such as Sucre and Potosí, and whispers of ancient civilizations. “
Uyuni is the world’s largest salt flat — larger than the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah or the Cabo Rojo Salt Flats in Puerto Rico. The city of Potosí, which claims to be the highest city in the world, is a UN World Heritage Site.
You’ve got the Andes, you’ve got ruins of the ancient civilization of the Incas. And you’ve got the Uros, indigenous people who predate the Incas and still live on man-made floating islands on Lake Titicaca, which is the highest navigable lake in the world.
For a “poor” place, they’ve got an awful lot to draw the traveler.
But make no mistake, Bolivia is for serious travelers, not casual tourists. Not too many 5-star hotels, cushy resorts, or luxurious rail tours. A lot of the country can be reached only by road, and some of Bolivia’s roads are literally among the most dangerous on Earth.
Bolivia is full of beauty. But it’s a stark, rugged, take-no-prisoners kind of beauty…and it’s going to make you work for it. The payoff at the other end, though, could be memories that last you a lifetime.
All of which makes Bolivia a book you might one day find worth reading. In-depth.
You can read the rest of LP’s views on Bolivia here…and you should.
And now, here’s this week’s Digest:
from LifeHacker
Do you dread having to pack your good suit? These guys show you how to do it without turning your formal duds into a fierce ball of wrinkles.
AIR
from Frommer’s Travel
When you go searching for airfares, where do you look first? Some of the answers — and some disturbing moves by Google — are revealed here.
from the New York Times
With the airlines escalating their war with online travel sites, it’s only going to get harder for the flying consumer to navigate through the fare maze. The Times folks offer some useful tips to help out.
LAND
from Lonely Planet
Foodie alert! Our friends from LP want to whet your appetite for travel in 2011, so they’ve come up with a list of the 11 best countries in the world to find good food. Six are in Asia, four in Europe and only one in the Americas (HINT: Think carne asada).
from Travel + Leisure via Yahoo! Travel
Does a 5-star hotel shine brighter when it overlooks an ocean? T+L offers up a list of the ten most luxurious coastal hostelries. One even gives you the free use of a Lexus.
from AOL Travel
Enterprise Rent-a-Car is ready to give you a jolt. It plans to introduce the Chevrolet Volt into its vehicle lineup, making it the first rental car company to offer electric cars.
from Gadling
Deals on potentially handy travel gear.
SEA
from The Window Seat
The parade of new cruise ships that began before the turn of the decade continues with a look at five of the newest, biggest and glitziest.
AFRICA
from the New York Times
Where in the world would you return to in a heartbeat if given the chance? The NYT put that question to five of its current and former correspondents, and their answers covered the Earth. Jeffrey Gettleman’s nominee is a hotel in the Congo.
AMERICAS/CARIBBEAN
from Libera Media
A series of videos on the neighborhoods of Buenos Aires. Start with this one on San Telmo, then save the link and enjoy the rest at leisure. English subtitles. En Español.
ASIA/PACIFIC
from National Geographic
Craving adventure? Then pack up your caving gear and head to Vietnam, where they’ve got a cave big enough to hold a block of Manhattan skyscrapers. How big is it really? Who knows? Nobody’s found the end of it yet.
from The Planet D
A globetrotting couple from Canada treat you to some views of China by night.
from the Daily Mail (London UK)
Speaking of China,Shanghai is China’s second city behind Beijing — but don’t tell them that. Shanghai is high-energy and hot times.
EUROPE
from BBC News
A musical map of London, marking well-known locations in the city and the music they inspired from the Sixties to the present. Even if you don’t like any of the songs, or never even heard of them, you have to admit, it’s a pretty cool concept.
from the New York Times
Veteran European travelers will tell you that Versailles is not the only glorious palace that survives from Old Europe. The Times presents for your consideration the Palace of Caserta in Italy.
from Lonely Planet
One guy’s nomination for Europe’s best train trip. You know who I get about trains, but this is 308 miles over, around and literally through the mountains of Norway from Oslo to Bergen. When you’ve got 182 tunnels in 308 miles, you know you’re looking at an incredible ride. And it’s cheap.
from Oneika the Traveler
One of our very own IBIT Out There travelers uses bad weather as an excuse to delve into the traditional souks of Istanbul, Turkey for a slice of Turkish culture, and some serious retail therapy. Bad weather…sure, Oneika, sure!
If Istanbul looks like an interesting destination — and it’s hard to imagine why it wouldn’t, check out the tours available from the Onenation travel agency.
