Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.
August is another Independence Day bonanza. The shifts of power didn't happen all at once, but 1960 was a big year. If you're in any of these countries expect a holiday. Maybe there will be fireworks or a parade or a speech or two.
August 1 - Benin gained independence from France
August 3-- Niger gained its independence from France
August 5 --Burkina Faso also gained independence from France.
August 11--Guess which country Chad gained independence from? That's right, France.
August 13--Central African Republic also gained independence from--you guessed it--France.
August 14- Pakistan from the U.K. in 1947.
August 15- India from the U.K. in 1947.
August 17- Gabon. Can you guess the country and year? If you said France and 1960, ***ding ding ding ! [Did you hear the you win bells?]
August 19- Afganistan from the U.K. in 1919. Wow, that's early.
August 24- Ukraine in 1991.
August 25- Uruguay from Brazil in 1825.
August 27- Moldova from U.S.S.R. in 1991
August 31- Kyrgystan from the U.S.S.R in 1991 and Trinidad and Tobago from the U.K. in 1962.
*The information is from the International Calendar published by the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Madison, Wisconsin. They put this calendar together every year and other Peace Corps groups sell it as a fundraiser.
Of course, you probably don't think of these places as vacation destinations, unless you're a whacked-out Robert Young Pelton. However, employees of governments, oil and mining industries, and telecom industries are increasingly being dispatched to these locations. If you work for one of those groups, be certain to ask about insurance, hazard pay -- and a bodyguard.
Interestingly, the piece argues that the world is NOT getting more dangerous right now. Rather, globalization and the attendant "shrinking" of the planet is largely responsible for making the world APPEAR more dangerous now than before. Whether or not you agree with that assertion, the article is interesting, and the gallery is frightening.
I'm a big fan of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and over the years have loved strolling through the official website to check out possible places to visit.
In the past, the website only had a handful of photographs to give you an idea of what to expect from a location. But now, they are moving with the times.
WorldHeritageTour.org has set up a few dozen Quicktime panographics where visitors can look up, look down, and spin around 360 degrees. Very cool! It really gives you a sense of what it is like to actually stand in front of an exotic location so very far away.
Click here to check out a world map of the locations they have shot so far. I particularly liked the ruins of Afghanistan, the Sphinx in Egypt, and lovely Samarkand.
According to the website, they've only completed 19 percent of "all 830 registered sites." The site currently functions as a nonprofit, so if you like what you see and want to help them complete their job, be sure to make a donation.
Wow. I figured it would be a long time before Kabul made it back into the travel section of American newspapers but when I opened up the New York Times on Sunday, there it was!
The Mysteries of Kabul, by Joshua Hammer, is your typical travel article if you overlook the fact that Afghanistan was the site of a major war somewhat recently and today still remains rather unrestful. And yet, travelers are returning according to the New York Times.
Last year 5,000 western tourists made the trek. Sure, this is a far cry from the 1970s when Kabul reigned as one of the most popular stops on the Central Asian Hippie Trail. But, it is also a great improvement over the absolute dearth that was brought on by the Russian invasion, civil war, and the post 9-11 military action.
Sure it's still dangerous at times. And yet, as Hammer points out rather soberly, "with a few spectacular exceptions, the capital has remained violence free." Spectacular exceptions?!?!? Not something I'd care to run across on my travels.
Nonetheless, Hammer's account sounds very intriguing. He traveled with the Great Game Travel Company Afghanistan and explored not just the capital city, but the countryside and mountains as well. He writes fondly of expat cafes, welcoming locals, bustling bazaars, and the remnants of the Silk Road. The journey becomes slightly more depressing with a trip to the National Museum of Afghanistan (which has suffered recent lootings and destruction) as well as a visit to the OMAR Mine Museum (which better explains why there are so many missing limbs in the country).
I have to admit, I'm impressed. I had planned a trip along the Karakoram Highway and into Pakistan and Afghanistan in 1995 but was not able to go at the last moment. With all the history that has occurred in the region since then, I thought my chance to visit this corner of the world may have passed me by forever. I am happy to learn it hasn't.
I'm not a collector of anything really. I have a couple of scrapbooks, old letters from friends across the globe, and my DVD's which I've slacked on buying new ones recently. Nothing I have is of any value (at least now) and if I were ever to start putting together a collection of something that is, I'd go after stamps. First off, they tell so much about a place in such tiny space. They reveal history, national flowers, popular sports and religion. This web collection of Afghan stamps was fun to click around for a few minutes. They have two of Buzkashi, Islamic stamps and some depicting the Communist takeover. Good stuff and though today's word isn't stamp, I offer a closely related one that could be off help when mailing your letters and postcards from Kabul back home.
Pashto is spoken by 40-50 million speakers in Afghanistan, western Pakistan and northern India. It became an official language of Afghanistan in 1936. Persian or Dari is also an official language. Good example sentences, historical information and links are all found at Wikipedia. Pashto.org has video, music, downloadable dictionaries, software and book lists. Yorku.ca has a long list of words to start along your Pashto learning path for at least a few weeks. Visit the BBCPashto page if you already have some understanding of the language under your belt. Past Pashto words: mujasemy
With the current conflict going on between Ethiopia and Somalia, my mind immediately began to wonder what the writers at Polo's Bastards had been up to and what dangerous lands they've been exploring. Last time I checked in they'd just posted a piece on Rio's favelas. Since then North Korea and Chechnya have also made their blog pages.
To round off the year though, Lee Ridley spent a little bit of his Christmas day highlighting some of the world's worst destinations in 2006. Iraq assumes the position of No. 1, which doesn't come as a shocker at all. The conflict created by the Hezbollah kidnappings of Israeli soldiers earned Lebanon the No. 10 spot, and in the middle you'll find Haiti, Afghanistan, the entire Horn of Africa (poor Eritrea), Nepal, Chad, Chechnya and North Korea. If you've been in the dark concerning the political climate of these particular areas, you might want to mosey over and see what the deal is. Otherwise, just be sure to proceed with caution in the upcoming year. It is a far, far more dangerous world out there.
We're not shy about plugging audible.com. First, listening to books gives our computer-weary eyes a needed rest. Two, schlepping around an iPod is easier than a big, new hardcover. Third, often the authors themselves read the books, adding an extra dimension that reading can't touch. (audible.com version of Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential, anyone?)
We've been hearing about another book for a while and we mentioned it a few months ago, but hadn't picked it up until just now, because now we can hear it from audible.com: Rory Stewart's The Places in Between.
What makes this book special? Mr. Stewart walked across Asia solo. The book is about just a relatively small portion of that trip: walking--as in on foot--across Afghanistan during the war in 2002. He's a young, Farsi and Persian-speaking, former British diplomat and current resident of Kabul, and his tale is fascinating. He re-traced the steps of a 16th Century Muslim Emperor (Babur), straight across the country, across high mountain passes--in the middle of winter--from Herat to Kabul.
You'll definitely gain new insights into the culture and people of Afghanistan and hearing it directly from the author himself is well worth a listen. It's surprising and interesting, and you'll definitely learn a lot. We sure did.
Wow, check out the little man working his way up the side of the mountain. According to teokaye who captured this image in the hills of Afghanistan, the man is working his way up an owring--a "donkey-highway" built into the side of the cliff with mud, stones and sticks. As you might imagine, such ancient engineering can be quite dangerous. It sure makes for a wonderful photo, though!
Here's an interesting read from Indian culture blog, Sepia Mutiny, on the instruction of landmines through puppetry in a culturally sensitive film. The puppets are apart of a mission from the No Strings organization to save lives and teach Afghan children about the dangers of landmines. Apparently some 60 Afghans are killed or injured a month by mines and unexploded ordnance around the country. Sad, sad, sad. They go much more into detail at Sepia Mutiny than I'll venture here, but I should say that the idea, while clever, is also bone-chilling to me. I'm trying to imagine the days when I would listen to a puppet over an adult and then I try to imagine if that puppet were telling me about landmines and minefields and how to go about avoiding them. (Shudders.) However, the kids seem to like the films, as one 11-year-old girl, who watched the first screening in Kabul said, "...I learned that you should stay away from fields that have red stones. There are mines there. I didn't know that before."
I've saved one of the best for last my foodie friends. After dining at Delhi Darbar about six times during my stay in Tajikistan I discovered one absolutely fantastic thing about the place and that one thing is this: there isn't a single bad dish on the menu. Anything you order is guaranteed to be savory, scrumptious and gratifying. While I enjoyed sampling the local flavor and having a Tajik dinner or two, the traditional foods were just filled with too much oil. On the flipside the Indian fare felt healthier and can we say just about zero grease is used in preparation. Astonishing!
My favorite item of all was the vegetarian thali (right). Included in the meal is a spicy cauliflower, lentils, rice, a cole slaw with dill, yoghurt, and a sugary doughy dessert in syrup. Other good selections include the chicken tikka, lemon rice with garlic naan. If you're looking for something sweet to sip try the pineapple lassi. Seriously, everything is good.
Outside the gateway to Indo-Fusion doesn't look like much, but indoors it's well lit with India inspired wall murals and Bollywood and Uzbek humming from the television above the buffet. The staff is all nice and always seem to wear very welcoming smiles.
Located at Rudaki 88 in Dushanbe, the chain also has locations in Khujand as well as Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan.
Before I set off to Tajikistan I sought the council of anyone who had been there, been close, or at the very least could locate the country on a map without much difficulty. I'd heard Dushanbe; the capital city was a bit of a bore after a few days and it was best to plan on exploring other parts of the country, but where? After a few conversations from past travelers and native Tajiks the answer became quite obvious. "Go down to the Pamirs. You'll hate yourself if you go all the way to Tajikistan and don't make it to the Pamirs," said a friend of a friend. The Pamirs are a mountainous area located in Gorno-Badakhshan with a reputation for having some of the world's most inaccessible mountains, unparalleled beauty and a kindness so warm and inviting from the inhabitants that even the harshest winters seem not too bad.
For the sake of not hating myself, using the rest of my time in the country wisely, and going where few people ever venture I set off, down from Dushanbe and into the Pamirs. To start, I took a plane from Dushanbe into Khorog, a border town of Tajikistan and Afghanistan. It was suggested by my guide, Teo, to get out of Khorog as quickly as possible to maximize the short amount of time (4 days) I would have, as there was a still a large distance to cover and drive-time (provided there was a vehicle headed that way) would suck up a large portion. And with that we hit the road from Khorog and headed down to Ishkashim, also a border town. The drive, approximately two-hours on a bumpy mountain road, snakes its way along the Panj River which separates Tajikistan from Afghanistan. For the duration of the ride I stared to my right at Afghanistan in complete awe. The northern border which you could throw rocks at and easily hit the land at points was gorgeous, quiet, undisturbed and felt like one of the most peaceful places on the entire world. It was at this point I realized why a trip thru and down Tajikistan's Pamirs is a Hidden Gem and I started snapping an incredibly absurd amount of pictures. These were the homes across the river in Afghanistan. It was difficult to photograph much of Tajikistan during the drive into Ishkashim because we were driving along the mountainside. As anyone would might feel on this drive I was ignited and happy to be exploring what's considered one of the world's most dangerous countries even if it were by car and across the border. There were numerous homes like this across the way, but I saved both my energy and my camera's battery life for what I was told would truly blow me away and the closer we edged and winded our way into Ishkashim, the Pamirs and Tajikistan's portion of the Wakhan Corridor, I was indeed blown away.
Since I can probably take a good guess at how many people will travel to Afghanistan or least think about going sometime during their life span and seeing that number isn't high I'm going to point everyone to this small online Kabul Museum. In March of 2001 the Taliban destroyed all pre-Islamic statues and objects in Afghanistan. The Kabul online museum is in place to allow people to enjoy the museums contents before the destruction. Although there isn't much inside the three galleries by virtually traveling there we can all say we've seen a small part of history aside from the news we get on CNN.
Today's word is a Pashto word used in Afghanistan: mujasemy - statues
Pashto is spoken by 40-50 million speakers in Afghanistan, western Pakistan and northern India. It became an official language of Afghanistan in 1936. Persian or Dari is also an official language. Good example sentences, historical information and links are all found at Wikipedia. Pashto.org has video, music, downloadable dictionaries, software and book lists. Yorku.ca has a long list of words to start along your Pashto learning path for at least a few weeks. Visit the BBCPashto page if you already have some understanding of the language under your belt.
He was apparently filming for his program (of all things, the series was called ''Ocean's Deadliest'') when he got too close to a stingray and the thing whipped it's tail and slammed its serrated stinger into his heart. I loved the Croc Hunter. Man, I thought he was a fabulous talent and such a great ambassador for Australia...better than Olivia Newton John, anyway.
One word for this shot: breath-taking. Same guy I mentioned a couple of days back who has kindly been schooling me to Tajikistan travel forwarded this Pamirs photo gallery my way as well. According to his notes it is where the Afghan, China and Tajikistan borders meet and I won't be able forgive myself if I don't make it down. Sounds pretty intense. I'm still making my last week itinerary as we speak so perhaps I'll have an opportunity to make into the region. In the meantime check the Pamirs out for yourself.
A few nights back I was introduced to a gentleman I was told could help me. I was told he was filled with an enormous amount of information about where I am headed and where I should go. He could point out Tajikistan on a map three-times blindfolded. He had been there before. When I met him I felt intimidated at first, questioning the unbelievable amount of knowledge he had on the area. Only five weeks sit between our meeting and the time of my departure to Dushanbe. He came off a little brash, but no matter what I thought of him then, I knew, he knew his stuff. I begged him to tell me everything and told him to promise he'd send more information about Tajikistan, about anything.
I was happy to have made his acquaintance and that I had found someone with even a half-idea of the Central Asian land. Keeping his to his promise, he forwarded this link from a piece he had written for Pology, a favorite online cultural travel magazine of mine. In his story he talks about crossing borders from Afghanistan to Tajikistan and describes the border towns, places, nomads, people, and the distinctive differences between the two. Whether or not Afghanistan or Tajikistan are particularly places of high tourism interest I'm sure anyone would enjoy the piece. Forget the landmines and casual talk about pistols, just read it and soak up the realness of the people, the buildings and the Soviet decay.
August is another Independence Day bonanza. The shifts of power didn't happen all at once, but 1960 was a big year. If you're in any of these countries expect a holiday. Maybe there will be fireworks or a parade or a speech or two. 
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Wow, I just woke up to some tragic news. 
