We began this piece by writing a narrative tracing the hiccups in our Salkantay to Machu Picchu trek, but soon realized that our lessons learned go beyond Peru’s tourist-laden Inca corridor.
So what happened? Our guide got drunk two nights in a row, tried to pinch us for more money with unplanned and overpriced transport, didn’t buy our Machu Picchu tickets in advance, missed our meeting on the day of Machu Picchu by two hours, and mismanaged our return train and bus tickets to Cusco.
Not bad, eh? Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Peru, South America, Travel by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
26 Comments | 26 October 2009
Don’t worry, we’re not feeling lonely. The title refers to the current reality here in Myanmar where once bustling tourist sights and streets have been transformed into ghost towns. Strings of flashing lights still hang from restaurants advertising the best Burmese, Indian, Nepalese – and even Tibetan – food in town, but the sobering and obvious fact is that most of these restaurants have only a few customers per day…and that’s on a good day. There are simply very few tourists here. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Burma (Myanmar), Perspectives, Southeast Asia, Travel by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
3 Comments | 16 January 2008
I don’t know why my country, he likes to cheat everyone.
– Aziza, an Uzbek woman, rhetorically pondering why many of her Uzbek countrymen enjoy ripping off tourists so much.
Shaft us once, shame on you. Shaft us twice, shame on us. Try and shaft us repeatedly and charge our friends $1.00 for a few teaspoons of sugar, and we write a blog post about you. [Yes, one of our travel mates was repeatedly charged for sugar – and outrageous sums, no less.] Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Central Asia, Perspectives, Travel, Uzbekistan by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
17 Comments | 25 November 2007
As the first tourists to take advantage of the Svaneti Mountaineering Tourism Center (SMTC), we planned our arrival in the town of Mestia to coincide with the organization’s inaugural party. Because of our exceptionally long ride from Zugdidi to Mestia, we barely arrived in time for the opening speeches, including one which singled us out and unexpectedly turned the local crowd’s attention to us. Continue Reading »
Article Series - Svaneti
- Svaneti: Why and How To Go
- Svaneti, A Mountain Inauguration
- Blue Eyes, Gold Teeth: The Fabled Land of the Svans
Filed Under: Caucasus, Georgia, Hope for Humanity, Travel by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
No Comments | 19 August 2007
