Italian AdventuresSo as part of the series of what I have deemed 'backblogging' cause I am blogging about stuff that happen a while back it seems necessary to write about Italy our first adventure away from London.Emma's work told her she had to take 10 days holiday before the new tax year April in the UK for those not in the know. So as hard as it was to force ourselves to make time for a

le 13 novembre 2010Je suis toujours Melaque et ce jusquau 21 novembre. Mes journes sont toujours bien tranquilles. Un peu de marche beaucoup de lecture du soleil et quelques repas en compagnie dautres voyageurs Canadiens et Amricains. Hier soir je suis alle souper au restaurant Ava celui tout prs de mon htel et jai eu la chance d'entendre Lalo chanter et jouer sa guita

I certainly did. I have long identitfied as an environmentalist not only becuase of my concern for global human ecology but also because just seems natural for me to live a lowerimpact and simplistic lifestyle. It is interesting to recall the connotations of the Amazon from my life back in the States. Everything from it being hailed as the biggest widest most biodiverse etc. riverrainfor

First stop of my Asia tour Sri Lanka. The total flight duration would be about 17 hours and so I have a free stop over for one night in Sri Lanka with Sri Lanka Airlines. The accommodation food and airport transfers are free today before I head off to Hong Kong.The guy who picked me up from the airport to the Hotel says he can do a tour of Negambo for 20 GBP. I was tired hot and sticky after

Day 26 Friday 12th NovemberThe soles of my feet are absolutely black and I cant seem to get them clean So far in Vietnam every hotel has a bath with shower attachment over and a hot water tank that only seems to give you enough hot water to fill the bath to about 3 inches deep. Little ladies keep following me around the town asking me if I want a pelicure Only US1 but I am too emb

Hi everyone With three days to go until my next trip I thought I'd give everyone a rundown of exactly what I'll be doing over the coming months. I'm going to be travelling overland through Africa beginning my adventure in Nairobi and 3 months 10 countries and 2547 miles later finishing up in Cape Town I'm going with a fab company called Oasis Overland who specialise in these trips an

After my last night in Beijing and having found some suitable nightlife I crawled into bed at 3am though I tried not to stay out too late because I had a flight to Sri Lanka the next day. I bumped into Chat my partner in who happened to be awake. He left the pub without saying goodbye and I assumed he was ripping it up in another bar. Turns out he just went to bed early. I had to get up at 8

Thursday nights at Vix's is party night. Girls get in for RMB 60 and guys RMB 100 and for that you get all you can drink We got there about 10pm and the club was already getting busy. People here don't really head out until 12am and there are still queues to get in at 5amVix's is another rich Chinese playground. Despite the option of all you can drink for 10 there were still plenty of people w

Well yes they do. But that isn't the subject of this blog. Friends have been asking me to do a presentation of my last year of travel. Instead I offer them this movie of my two months on a motorbike from Yunnan across Sichuan Qinghai and Gansu to Xinjiang. Kunming to Kashgar and all points in between.12000km on a red machine. Trials and tribulations despair and delight. In the end I sold the

Crazy CambodiaWhen I got of the bus in Phnom Penh there was a mass of tuktuk drivers trying to get our attention but there was an Australian sounding thunder of a voice that caught my attention. It was Sam a guy my age that spoke a mysteriously perfect English and he was to be my driver for the first two days in Phnom Penh. First of all he got me to a hotel that would be the perfect level of lu

It's hard for George and me to believe that our thirdborn is 20 Like most parents we are quick to admit that time sure does seem to fly by. For a special treat we made pineapple coconut ice cream a request of Luke's. We were also able to go out for a nice birthday supper to help Luke celebrate.In other news George has been busy teaching his classes on Mondays and Tuesdays. Wednesday he an

One cannot speak of Vienna without including the many famous historical figures that once inhabited and impacted this flourishing capital city. It is easy to see why so many people flocked and continue to flock to such a grandiose city that has functioned as a cultural hub for hundreds of years. The strongest force that brought such wealth and splendor was the Hapsburg family. The Hapsburgs came

never seem to have the time.. but i must go and collect my malaria tab.

Aircon Class by Peter Holroyd

About the Reviewer:

This book has been reviewed, for your reading pleasure, by Steve Skabrat of Escape from Cube Land. As described in his blog feature, Steve admits he’s a “meat & potatoes” kind of guy. He’s also one who is ready to give up the “meat & potatoes” cube life for something more exciting. Hmmm… Could be travel… Well, only if he can find tasty food, figure out directions and how to leave the very large iguana statue to fend for itself. Now we know he also likes to read (maybe to the iguana).

The Review:

Some people might think Carl Hoffman is a lunatic. Hoffman is a veteran contributing editor to various magazines. I’m not sure what his agent and editor thought when he pitched them on his latest idea, traveling around the world on the most dangerous modes of transportation. Whatever they thought, they bought it and Hoffman took off from New York City in a bus to Canada. That doesn’t sound too dangerous, depending on the time of year. However, it got worse from there, as Hoffman takes notoriously dangerous rides in South America, Africa, and Asia. I hope he had his life insurance policy fully paid up.

The trains in Mumbai are death traps for some riders on a daily basis. They even have morticians whose job is to handle the train casualties.

A few of the conveyances were fascinating. Hoffman’s day spent with a taxi called a matatu in Nairobi was the most interesting. The efforts the taxi drivers go through every day to survive are simply amazing. He rode an overloaded ferry in Senegal along the same route where a ferry had sunk some years before, taking 1,800 lives. A multi-day ferry ride in Indonesia made me shudder at the lack of comfort for the passengers. My back hurt just thinking about sleeping night after night on a linoleum covered wooden bench. Yet thousands of Indonesians ride these old ferries to move between islands. The trains in Mumbai are death traps for some riders on a daily basis. They even have morticians whose job is to handle the train casualties. Hoffman’s craziest trip involved driving across Afghanistan in a war zone.

Hoffman’s narrative bogs down in a few places, but overall this is a compelling story that reminds us that many in the world are not fortunate enough to have safe transportation. Millions of people are on the move, using whatever transportation is available and affordable. In comparison, as westerners we’re spoiled with the modern transportation available to us.

Despite the dangers, everywhere Hoffman goes he meets friendly people. No matter what the circumstances, people around the world like to meet an American. It’s up to us to respond appropriately.

Broadway Books, published 2010, 286 pages.

Editor’s notes: This article contains affiliate links.

Buy now on Amazon: The Lunatic Express: Discovering the World . . . via Its Most Dangerous Buses, Boats, Trains, and Planes
This book is also available in paperback and Kindle versions.

© Gretchen for TravelBlogs, 2010. |
The Lunatic Express – Discovering the World… via Its Most Dangerous Buses, Boats, Trains, and Planes |
2 comments |

Post categories: Book Reviews
Post tags: Africa, Asia, ferry travel, overland travel, South America, transportation

Kassim Qureshi has created a site that caters to every type of person interested in traveling. Between his own memoirs, guest articles, recommendations, tips and just some fun miscellaneous stuff, LuxuryBackpacking will definitely tickle your travel bone. It’s sort of like your “funny bone” but better because it’s about travel.

© Gretchen for TravelBlogs, 2010. |
LuxuryBackpacking: Backpacking & Independent Travel |
No comment |

Post categories: Blogs
Post tags: Asia, independent travel, intellectual travel, photography, tips and tricks, volunteering, voluntourism

DAY 2 Paris to CasablancaWe travelled from Paris to Casablanca on a 3 hour flight with Air France. Things went very smooth for us a lengthy line up once we made it to Morocco customs was just our luck. We took a taxi from the airport and arrived safe and sound to our hotel 'Prince de Paris' it was pretty nice clean but in the middle of the chaotic city of Casablanca. Once we got settled in

Beste mensen Ik zie dat veel mensen maar 3 blogs zien als jullie dit ook hebben dan kunnen jullie subscriben op mijn blogs dan krijgen jullie een email als ik een nieuwe blog heb geplaatstVolg deze link of druk op subscribe in het beginschermhttpwww.travelblog.orgalert.htmlbloggerMestreech16bloggerid176252popped1

So the archive kind of sucks. Everything moves slow though people told me it is a fairly quick moving archive and I spent a lot of the day waiting. Nothing I looked at was useful and so I just went for a walk.I saw some more neat day of the dead things before eating burritos and tacos and deciding that I would buy a beer and go for a walk.I found out that drinking in public was a criminal off

Wrapped up my time at the archives for the week and decided to go check out the old Aztec central Temple.It was another excellent museum. I loved it.My power cord on my computer died and I though I lost computer access but remembered all about those amazing things called cibercafes.Not much to tell other than the fact that I didn't sit in my room typing all night and looking at pictures and info

Yesterday after a buffet breakfast at the hotel Hector picked us up drove us back to Iguazu National Park for Day 2. It rained steadily all morning but we had packed some rain gear so we were in good shape. Having seen the falls from above today we went below looked up. What a magnificent sight. We then ate a buffet lunch in the park It sounds like all we are doing is eating headed bac