Disappeared Inca Empire Supremacy CUZCO part 1 September 19, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Cars, Chile, Cuzco, Destination, Flight Schedule, Sunblock, The Nile, Travel Clinic, Travellers Cheque , 2commentsMore than merely the capital of the Inca empire, the very name ‘Cuzco‘ in Quechua, the language of the Incas and still spoken today, means navel. It was the navel of the Inca world, the omphalos of their empire which at its height stretched over 2,000 miles (3,200km) from Chile in the south to Colombia in the north. It was both an administrative centre and holy city, and is said to have been conceived in the shape of a puma, with its head at Sacsahuaman, the great fortress of cyclopean stonework on the northern edge of modern Cuzco. (more…)
How safe is Air Flight Journey? Commercial Airplane Accidents and Safety September 13, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Air Tickets, Airlines, Flight Schedule, Round The World, Tickets, Travel Clinic, Travel Gear, USA , 3commentsThe most dangerous part of flying is the journey from your home to the Airport and back!
Commercial aeroplane accidents are rare events. Even so, a jetliner crash is major news all round the world, often renewing the question: how safe is it to fly? The information in this article was provided by courtesy of Boeing Aircraft Company. It attempts to answer some common questions about commercial aviation and describes the effort being made to make jet travel even safer than it already is. (more…)
Is there any way to make Air Travel safer? September 13, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Airlines, Flight Schedule, Hotels, Travelling Bag , 3commentsSince the inception of the jet era, flying has become much safer because of innovations like computerised flight simulators, expanded radar coverage, and high-tech devices that warn pilots of such things as nearby aircraft, threatening proximity to terrain, precarious aircraft altitude or flight angle, and wind-shear conditions. The industry is continually finding new ways to make flying safer through better pilot training, better aircraft inspection and maintenance techniques, and new safety technologies. In the next century, for example, all commercial jets will use satellites to navigate and communicate their positions to air traffic controller on the ground — a tremendous advantage over ground-based navigation aids and radar that lose “sight” of planes once they fly beyond the horizon. (more…)
Buy Flights Tickets, and tell Captain not to fly faster than sound, I want to listen the Movie September 3, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Air Tickets, Airlines, Destination, Flight Schedule, Round The World , 3commentsThis beautifully streamlined, state-of-the-art aircraft was actually first produced over thirty years ago. The 100-seater Concorde was, and still remains, the world’s only supersonic passenger aircraft. It is capable of flying at Mach 2.2, more than twice the speed of sound and at altitudes of up to 18 kilometres. At this speed and height the Concorde seems to hang motionless in the sky, the only sensation of movement being the shifting, curved horizon. Its dream-like performance is the closest thing to space travel the travelling public can experience. (more…)
Air Flight, Tobacco and Alcohol — the Flight of reason September 3, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Air Tickets, Airlines, Destination, Flight Schedule, Round The World , 6commentsShould passengers be allowed to smoke, should they be allowed to imbibe alcohol during flight? These questions pose considerable problems for passengers themselves, for aircrew and for airline management. There are strong and valid arguments against their case; on the other hand users may feel discriminated against and deprived of their “rights”. Trying to balance these points of view is becoming more of an issue by the day in general life, never mind in the confines of an airliner cabin. Let’s tray to put the issue in perspective — the perspective of you, the passenger, in a crowded aircraft. (more…)
What Air Tickets say, what Airline Luggage can take, have you been treated differently? continue… August 29, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Air Tickets, Airlines, Destination, Flight Schedule, Travel Gear, Travelling Bag , 3commentsBaggage/Luggage
One of the frustrations of travelling by airline is lost baggage. Very often the cause of this irritation is the lack of identification. It is often impossible to identify “incognito” baggage — no name, initials or other personal identification affixed to the airline luggage. The baggage may also be securely locked and look just like the other 2 000 pieces of airline luggage already in the “Lost Property” office!
It is always a relief when you arrive at your airline destination and your luggage shows up on the carousel. If it doesn’t appear immediately, don’t panic. The airline carrier will usually try to transport the passenger and luggage on the same flight but at times this may be impractical or impossible (for example if you are a late check-in or standby passenger). (more…)
Airline/ Flight Travel Jokes August 29, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Africa, Air Tickets, Airlines, Cuba, Embassy, Flight Schedule, France, Las Vegas, London, Scotland, Tour, Trip , 3commentsI took my wife to France by airline travel last year. You know how it is — you always take something with you that you don’t need.
Florida has two main industries, tourists and alligators, and they skin both of them.
Travel broadens one — so does sitting at home in an armchair.
This is a wonderful town. When I arrived here I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t speak, I had very little hair and people used to lift me from my bed — I was born here. (more…)
Egypt Ancient Thebes & its Necropolis continue… August 3, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Accommodation, Egypt, Flight Schedule, Memorial, Museum, Restaurant, The Nile, Tour, Trip , 6commentsHawkins crossed the Nile to the necropolis. This complex of mortuary temples and tombs hewn out of the living rock served many periods of ancient Egypt and covers a large area. The whole landscape is dominated by a remarkably regular pyramidical mountain. Atop it are the remains of a prehistoric mound, predating dynastic Egypt. It is difficult for a geomantic researcher not to consider that the shape of this peak was an important factor determining the Egyptians’ initial choice of this area as a major necropolis. (more…)
The Gulf of Finland on Ice July 29, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Air Tickets, Cars, Destination, Estonia, Finland, Flight Schedule, Sightseeing, Trails , 6commentsPerhaps they’re penguins, I thought. But they were too far away for me to be certain, and the blinding light could have been playing tricks on the two of us. It doesn’t help your orientation one bit when the land is indistinguishable from the sky, nor indeed when you’re not quite sure whether you’ve left the land yet. Very soon we would not be able to see the line of tall evergreens that parted beach from cloud. (more…)
Mount Tai Shan, Five Peaks, one of the Nine Sacred Mountains of China July 27, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Air Tickets, Asia, Flight Schedule, Hotels, Motel, Sightseeing, Tickets, Tour, Trails, Travel Gear, Trip , 4commentsMount Tai Shan (WU T’AI SHAN) is oneof the Nine Sacred Mountains of China. It is situated some hundred miles southwest of Beijing. It has five main peaks which rise over a central plateau, itself about 8,000 feet (2,440m) above the North China Plain: the name Wu T’ai means Five Peaks or Terraces.
It is one of the relatively few World Heritage sites that is both a place of natural significance and a cultural site, for scattered across the plateau, perched on ridges and high up the five peaks themselves, are some 300 temples. Wu T’ai is, or was, sacred not only to the Chinese but also to the Tibetans and Mongolians. The temples originated from all three traditions of Buddhism and also Taoism, coloured with hints of earlier nature religions and their deities. The culmination of the journey for many of the pilgrims was to offer homage as they walked 1,080 times around the chorten on the mountain supposedly containing a relic of the Buddha. (It may just be an interesting coincidence, but 1,080 is one of the key numbers of various ancient, arcane traditions of numerological knowledge.) (more…)
Please to make a Hotel Reservation July 23, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Accommodation, Air Tickets, Beach Resorts, Destination, Flight Schedule, Hostels, Hotels, India, Lodges, Motel, Passport, Tickets, Tour , 3comments“Excuse me, do you speak English?” “Oh yes, certainly.”
“I want to reserve three seats on a train from Calcutta to Patna.” “Please?”
“I want to reserve . . .”
“Where are you wanting to go?” “Patna.”
“Have you a reservation?”
“No. That is what I want.” “Please you wait over there.”
“I want to go during the day so that we can all see the countryside.” (more…)
The EXhilaration Adventure, real Hiking Mountain Trail, Kebnekaise Mountain Station continue… July 18, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Air Tickets, Beach Resorts, Cars, Flight Schedule, Hostels, Hotels, Lodges, Motel, Restaurant, Sweden, Switzerland, Wellington , 2commentsIt was soon clear that the man had no idea what he was doing. He shouldn’t have been in the mountains. I asked him where his gear was. “Over there,” he said, pointing to the corner of the room. There was a tiny rucksack, a summer sleeping bag and a pair of Wellington boots. “Is that all?” I asked.
“Shit man, I didn‘t expect this. I came straight down the path from Abisko. It was beautiful the first two days. Which way did you come?”
“Over the mountains through Lapporten.”
“What was it like up there?”
“Cold and too much snow.”
“Where are you going?” (more…)
Not Memsahib July 14, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Accommodation, Air Tickets, Airlines, Beach Resorts, Cars, Destination, Europe, Flight Schedule, Hotels, India, Lodges, London, Motel, Museum, Oceanarium, Planetarium, Rail Pass, Restaurant, Sightseeing, Tickets, Tour, Trails, Trip , 3commentsEvery time I heard the word memsahib I wanted to take an ice-pick to the user. I’d gone on the Hindu trail clutching my libertarianism to my bosom, a cosy cocoon from which I could rationalise and contain the INDIAshrieks from the inferno — not that Dante, I’m sure, ever went to Calcutta. Very right-on. Very arm’s-length. But keep your liberal sensibilities Gandhi-pure? Emerge unscathed? Forget it.
Sympathy, empathy, had long since given way to simmering hysteria, cringing shame and a seething, at times uncontrollable rage which was generalised in its target but oh so localised in its pain. It wasn’t even a consolingly righteous anger at the pulverising poverty, the callousness of caste or the stalinisation of women — more a deep-seated disgust and hatred welling up from deep down and spewing out over all humanity, most of all myself . . . Well, OK, you try and make sense of the matchstick people of Madhya Pradesh, the execrable excrement of Bombay and Dehli, the obscene opulence of Jaipur jewellers, the blinding, vivid hues of Rajasthani women’s skirts — and all of it sinking in one great ubiquitous quicksand of suffocating, strangulating bureaucracy. (more…)
Asian Beijing Travel and Finest Art Exhibition Tour continue… July 5, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Air Tickets, China, Flight Schedule, Hotels, Restaurant, Sightseeing, Tickets, Tour, Travel Gear , 3commentsThe harsh fluorescent light made us blink. Yuhang’s wife, a frail looking girl wearing a floral shirt and black trousers, looked startled. She spoke no English, but shook our hands and smiled shyly. The room was about thirteen feet square. The walls and ceiling were white, the uncovered concrete floor was painted maroon. Opposite, a window stared like an unlidded eye into the night. The window wall was almost entirely occupied by a large double bed with a pink candlewick counterpane. Down the centre of the room was a long table covered with felt, and at one end of this was a collection of paintbrushes and ready-mixed pigments in ceramic jars. Along the wall with the door in it stood an enormous yellow-and-black tartan settee. The fourth wall was filled by a wooden dresser, behind whose sliding glass doors could be seen various personal items — photographs, a spray of plastic flowers and a toy panda. There was just room for a Chinese-sized person to squeeze between the furniture. We sat on the settee. We saw no sign of heating or air conditioning, nor cooking and washing facilities, which we assumed must be communal. Paints on scraps of paper, vibrant with colour and life, brightened the walls. (more…)
Meal in India; Travelling Across Indian Crazy Kumbh; it could happen only in India July 3, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Accommodation, Air Tickets, Airlines, Cars, Destination, Europe, Flight Schedule, India, Restaurant, Travel Insurance, USA , 5commentsInevitably Melas such as this also drag the weird, wonderful and absolutely berserk out of the Indian woodwork, and that night they all seemed to have appeared in Hardwar (apart from the infamous and lusty Bhagwan Rajneesh, holed up somewhere in Uruguay). There were the magicians; the Yogis; the jugglers; the preachers; the Hari Krishna devotees (looking more at home if no less limp than they do wandering down Oxford Street); and, perhaps the craziest of all, the Sadhus. Many of these supposed spiritual pioneers of Hinduism were sitting in large groups smoking their chillums (pipes) filled with marijuana, which they held high above their heads, and which were no doubt taking these holy men even higher. The Mahatma condemned this sort of hollow spirituality saying, “These men were born only to enjoy the good things in life”. However, this couldn’t be said about some of the “Naga” Sadhus who, standing near the river, painfully demonstrated their rejection of desire by piercing their penises and hanging rocks from their genitals. This extraordinary self-mutilation didn’t even merit a free radio. Maybe they should have kept their lingams in their lunghi? (more…)
Indian Tour; as a Traveler, I went Across Indian Crazy Kumbh, it could happen only in India July 3, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Air Tickets, Airlines, Beach Resorts, Cars, Destination, Europe, Flight Schedule, Hotels, India, Motel , 4commentsIt is the largest gathering of people in the world, it happens every twelve years and it could happen only in India. They come by train, they come by bus, they come on foot. But they come. They come to bathe in the Holy Mother Ganga. This year four million come to be in one place at one time. The place is Hardwar, the time is eight minutes past two on the morning of April 14th. It is unbelievable. It is unique. It is the great Kumbh Mela.
The Hindus love a good legend and the mythological beginnings of this unparalleled religious spectacle are no exception. Many moons ago, the son of Indra, king of the Gods, managed to retrieve (not unlike some sort of celestial “Repo Man”) a kumbh (pitcher) filled with the elixir of immortality that some demons had stolen from the bottom of the ocean. (more…)
Holiday Break, Adventure Boating Hidden Rivers part 2 June 30, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Europe, Flight Schedule, London, Scotland , 5commentsBut this weekend is for costume cutting and we are all girls; pinning, measuring and sewing, lashed on by our two teachers. There is so little time and so much to learn. There are twelve of us from all parts of the country — I came down by bus from Scotland. Only the thirst for knowledge will ever force me to travel that way again, but it’s the cheapest when you’re unemployed. There’s another girl there as skint as I am, Izzie from Oxford. She’s wearing a leather mini-skirt which unzips entirely into shreds and is quite obviously pilfered from some bygone production.
Izzie’s made a special corset for one of our teachers and laces her into it at the end of the day. The peristalsis of sprung steel and canvas half swallows her down and displays a heroine of the belle époque; tiny waist and huge trembling bosom. Shrieks! — Is there a man looking in from across the road? (more…)
Traveling alone, Rail Journey triple alliance part 1 June 29, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Air Tickets, Flight Schedule, Hostels, Hotels, Motel, Pacific, Peru , 4commentsI do not recall how much my memories of that night-time journey were the creation of fitful dreams or the stuff of actuality. The blackness of the night and my own fears were real enough as the lights of the bus probed the landscape, revealing steep escarpments and the outlines of vertical cliffs. Sometimes, peering over the side of the bus, I caught sight of the ghostly white caps of Pacific rollers coming to spit their fury at a continent. The bus swept down the hills and then ground its way up another hilltop through a succession of sandy switchbacks. I kept thinking of the drunken Cary Grant in North by Northwest, as he strove to bring his car under control. Was our driver chewing coca leaves, as so many long distance drivers did in Peru, to ease the burdens of an eight-hour journey? I looked around the bus at the crumpled figures managing some sleep. Two rows in front of me a Japanese man slumped against a girl with a shock of auburn curls. A strange couple, I thought. (more…)
Hole in this sand continue… June 25, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Accommodation, Africa, Cairo, Cape Town, Egypt, Flight Schedule, Hotels, Round The World, The Nile, Victoria Falls , add a commentThe portion of sea deemed “safe” for bathing and surfing is marked by blue flags and an umpire’s chair. Does the immaculately-whiteclad, handsome-but-unintelligent umpire decide whether each death by drowning was fair play? He watches black frogmen emerge from the sea; soon they will haul in their golden treasure chests, spraying the worm-bubbling sand with ingots and ducats. Ah! It’s only surfboards they’re groping for. They are just the unchic relatives of those lemon, turquoise and sugar pink rubber-clad surfing super-heroes; those men who crouch, crest, lurch, then swirl in with the spent breakers and scrabble ignominiously at your feet. (more…)
Hole in this sand June 25, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Accommodation, Africa, Beach Resorts, Cairo, Egypt, Flight Schedule, Hotels, Round The World, South Africa , add a commentIt is just an ordinary hole, as holes go. Dug in the sand. About six feet by eight feet. Fairly shallow. Just deep enough for four bodies. The beaches of the Côte d’Atlantique, west of Bordeaux, are pock-marked with similar holes.
Occasionally a black Mirage fighter streaks low across the blue sky. A reminder of other times, other beaches, when men crouched, helpless, among the dunes and craters. But these French pilots are probably on the look-out for nothing more sinister than well-oiled, succulent, brown breasts. And the only threat from the Germans comes when, naked and ruthless in pursuit of their volley-ball, they bound over your hole, spraying their recumbent fellow-holiday‑makers with sand. (more…)
