The Week That Was #8

~ Welcome to my weekly collection of The Odd, The Useful, and The Downright Bizarre.

The Odd: Kandovan – The Stone Village. Is this the village that inspired the setting for Riven, the setting for part three of the Myst series of games? Kandovan (Candovan) is a tourist village located near the city of Tabriz, in Iran. Legend says the first inhabitants of Kandovan moved here to escape from the invading Mongols. They dug hideouts in the volcanic rock and ultimately ended up transforming them into permanent houses. It is now one of Iran’s most popular tourist destinations and the rock-houses rival the famous Cappadocia Hotel.

The Useful: Niagara Falls Webcam. Never been to Niagara Falls – the most powerful waterfall in North America? Don’t worry dear reader, you can watch six million cubic feet of water fall over the crest line every minute in high flow from the comfort of your own home, simply by tuning into the Niagara Falls webcam attached to the Sheraton on The Falls Hotel. Of course, you will have to adjust your time zone to suit. As I type this it is 11.30pm at the Falls, and all I can see is a dark, grainy image of something which looks like water flowing in the murky blackness. However, I will be back to take another look during daylight hours. In the meantime, I am looking at a huge interactive map here… to help me get my bearings.

The Downright Bizarre: Ryanair Poll - Passengers Would Fly Standing. No, it’s not an April Fools Day joke, according to a Ryanair online poll, 66% of 120,000 respondents said they would be willing to stand in the cabin on flights one hour or shorter if the fare was free. Well, for a flight of less than an hour, I guess even I would be happy to stand if it meant getting there for free. However, the figures change as the options become less accommodating. Read more here…

Friday Photo #6: America For Sale

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I encountered this massive mural on the wall of a building on the corner of Garnet Street and Smith Street, in the Brooklyn suburb of Red Hook (close to the Smith St/9th St., station for the ‘F’ and ‘G’ trains).

The artist is Scott LoBaido, who has made a name for himself by painting huge murals featuring the American flag on buildings in every U.S. state. I should point out that America For Sale is the title I gave the photograph, it is not (as far as I am aware) Scott’s title for his mural. In fact, after looking at his website, I think it is fair to say that Scott is a flag waving patriot – and unashamedly so. So I’m not sure what he would make of my title for his mural.

However, while I was setting up to take photographs of the mural, a man who happened to be passing stopped to tell me how appropriate the juxtaposition between the ‘For Sale’ sign and the mural on the wall was. Of course, it was exactly this juxtaposition that had caught my attention in the first place.

‘America is being sold off to the Chinese’, he loudly informed me, clearly not happy with the idea. All I could do with empathise and tell him that the same thing had been happening in Australia for years. I’m not sure he left any happier, but maybe he found some comfort knowing others were suffering the same fate!

The New York Daily News site has a short article and 3:38 minute video of Scott talking about his 50 mural Flags Across Staten Island project…

Photograph: America For Sale, by Jim Lesses

Location: Brooklyn, New York, April 2008.

40 Money Saving Travel Websites

~ You have to love the internet. I know I do. It is a very rare day when I can not find information about the obscurest topic I can think of, or feel like exploring further.

Since this blog is focussed pretty much on all things to do with travel, and since too, I am constantly researching for my own travel adventures, I am always happy to find other sites outlining ways to cut down on my own travel costs. So when I found an article by Lynn Truong listing the 40 Most Useful Travel Websites That Can Save You a Fortune, I was immediately interested.

Lynn breaks the list down into three groups; Cheap Flights and Accommodation, Destination Guides and Travel Communities, and Budget Traveler Magazines and Blogs.

Among the sites in Cheap Flights and Accommodation, Lynn lists a perennial favourite for discerning budget travellers everywhere: CouchSurfing, the worldwide community the brings together generous hosts and adventurous travellers seeing the world on the cheap. Then there is Yapta – which stands for Your Amazing Personal Travel Assistant. Yapta notifies you when prices for flights drop. It can do it even after you purchase your tickets, giving you a chance to get a refund of the difference from the airline.

Under Destination Guides and Travel Communities, you will find several sites I myself am a member of (like BootsnAll Travel, and Lonely Planet), and numerous others including The Backpacker (for reviews of local bars, restaurants, accommodations, attractions, and tours) and IgoUgo (with more than 500,000 travelers on IgoUgo sharing trip stories and pictures, they've built a library of honest opinions, tips, and experiences that you won’t find in any guidebook).

Finally there is the Budget Traveler Magazines and Blogs suggestions. Here you will find some amazing blogs by some of the world’s most adventurous travellers – many on extended round the world journeys. Among my personal favourites are Matt Gross’s Frugal Traveler blog in which Matt seeks out high style on a low budget; The Professional Hobo where Nora Dunn writes about her round-the-world vagabonding life; and Working Your Way Around the World – a site that shows it is possible to pick up and move to different parts of the world on a regular basis — and work along the way.

Take a look at Lynn Truong’s full list here…

While you are there, make sure you read through the Comments for even more great money saving tips and ideas…