In Kuwait there is no such thing a a fender bender, every wreck is spectacular.

1 Comment » advice, asia

In Kuwait there is no such thing a a fender bender, every wreck is spectacular. I have seen all kinds of traffic in my travels but nothing compares to the drivers in Kuwait. Every highway is a NASCAR experience. The posted speed limit is 120km/h but that, like the lanes painted on the roads are merely a suggestion. In our daily travels we always saw wild accidents and just plain crazy things like a camel in the back of a small pickup truck. One night we came upon a five car wreck that was blocking all lanes of the five lane highway. The Kuwait police did not let traffic stop, they just simply cut a wide gap into the fence and directed all of the traffic out into the desert. We were in out Pajaro driving cross country between a Jaguar and a Benz.

Kuwait City International Airport is another place that is very different than what you might expect. There are three coffee shops (two are Starbucks), a very good cigar store a Fuddruckers and a Harley Davidson dealership all in the terminal. If you like people watching at an airport in the United States you would be fascinated with it at KCIA. Looking at the people coming through customs and trying to figure out if where they have come from or if they have ever been to Kuwait before. On one of our trips to meet someone at KCIA we witnesses the return of the Kuwait National Football (Soccer)team returning from a major victory in some other country and it really looked like a wild production for an American Baseball team returning from the playoffs. There we TV cameras and people cheering. It was witnessing things like this that showed us that the Kuwait people are not much different than us. Sure you cannot get a bacon cheeseburger at the local McDonald’s or Burger King but everyone I talked to was friendly and helpful.Â

Oh and I recommend the Yum Yum Tree restaurant in the airport. Good food and much cheaper than the American chain restaurants that are there. Â

Day trips from Krakow

1 Comment » advice, europe

Krakow is, perhaps, the essential city for tourists in Poland. It claims the first cafe in the world, the largest old town square in Europe and the old town itself is surrounded by lovely parks. There are two big day trips out of Krakow: To the Wieliczka Salt Mines and to the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp. Organised tours are available for both, most around 100zl. In this post, Craig Martin is going to show the slightly more adventurous travellers how to visit Auschwitz for less than half of that. Read the rest of this entry »

The guidebook is your friend

No Comments » advice

Ggantija alcovesThe Ggantija temples on Malta are a little-known gem: the world’s oldest standing stone structures, built 500 years before the pyramids were a spark in a Pharoah’s eye. There isn’t much infrastructure; just a ticket booth and a standalone audioguide. We only had a couple of problems on our first visit: one was the car rally that stopped any buses running, leaving us with a choice between staying overnight or walking through farms back to the capital. The second was the amount of other tourists clutching their Lonely Planet guidebooks. Read the rest of this entry »

A tour of Austria (part two)

No Comments » advice, europe
by Craig Martin

Read part one here

Travelling through Austria at the moment seems like a life-sized art experiment. Spring rains followed by unseasonable sunshine and heat have brought a deep vibrancy to the trees: greens, browns and yellows sit sharply against each other, especially contrasted with the occasional tree covered in pastel-pink blooms. Lush green fields are interspersed with light-brown patches of dirt where finances or crop management have stopped farmers planting. Every now and again, however, one comes across a field of rapeseed, looking like God decided to draw highlighter-yellow lines across creation.

Easy transport connections and cheap hostels mean most budget travellers are drawn from city to city but, like most of Europe, the “Europe we came to see” is in the towns. Last week we looked at Austria’s cities, so in this post I’ll discuss the Mostviertel, Styria and Neusiedl am See before giving some first-hand tips for getting into, around, and out of Austria. Summer’s coming and the ski season is drawing to an end, however there’s still plenty to do outside of Austria’s main draws. Read the rest of this entry »

Travel Photo Tips

No Comments » advice, photography

  1. Camera Advice: First you need a film or digital camera, or a video camera that does stills (or dare I say a camera phone, which are actually getting much better). Two great resources for reviews on digital cameras are www.imaging-resource.com and www.dpreview.com. Digital SLRs (Single Lens Reflex Cameras) are more affordable than ever, and many are available for under $1000 including a zoom lens.
  2. Bring extra batteries: One of the things that can put a damper on your day is to arrive at the summit of Haleakala in Maui or Mt Fuji and have no batteries left. I recommend having one or two spare batteries for all the cameras you own. Also, if you have two cameras, I recommend buying cameras that use the same batteries if possible.
  3. Bring extra media cards and use the same format card between cameras. Many still cameras and video cameras use the SD card format and by using the same format, you can share cards between two cameras.

Read the rest of this entry »

Copyright 2009 by Chris Christensen