I hate tourists that damage the buildings or the natural environment. Its a massive bugbear of mine. The question is how much do we want these people to be punished? It seems Italy is getting tough. This week, one such vandal was fined $US25 000 for attempting to carve his initials into the Colosseum. This AD70 amphitheatre built during the Roman Empire stands 48.5 metres high and welcomes over six million visitors a year. I have visited it twice and it still inspires me. The 42-year-old Russian tourist had used a stone to carve the letter “K” into…
Weird or Wonderful
Category Archives for Weird or Wonderful.
Passengers Push Plane
I have heard of self service airlines before but this week’s story out of Siberia gave me the chills! Seventy passengers hopped off their UTair Tupolev 134 in order to push it, after its brakes froze in minus 52C temperatures at Igarka airport, above the Arctic Circle in Russia. The airport tractor was not able to budge the plane. This video shows the pushers, most of whom were oil and gas workers wanting to get home: Eventually the plane made a successful flight to the regional capital of Krasnoyarsk. Clearly their de-icing machine was working! Apparently, the Problems developed because “the…
Robots to Protect Thai Food
I have yet to meet a Thai person who is not passionate about their food. From small street stalls to five star rooftop restaurants, Thai people expect the flavours of their food to be right. And with good result. I rate Thai cuisine as one of the top five in the world (with French, Italian, Lebanese and Vietnamese)! Thais will tell you passionately where the best place in their city is to buy sticky rice or Som Tam (Spicy PawPaw/Papaya Salad) or Kai Pad Med Mamuang Himmapan (Stir-Fried Chicken with Cashew Nuts): They will also…
The Child and the Chewing Gum
I boarded the train in Thailand to find a medium sized child (say 9 or 10 or 11) sitting in my seat. I smiled at the child, as his mother called him back to his rightful seat. I would have done the same at his age: wandering around the train carriage to get different views of the world from the train windows. Ah this picture of exotic travel, domestic bliss and happy reminiscing was shattered when I found “the monster” before vacating my seat had carefully left his freshly chewed gum carefully along the side…
Embarrassing or funny? TV Cluelessness over Euro vs Pound
In the fifty or so times, I have visited the USA, the question often comes up about how I as an Australian feel about the US dollar. Half of the questions will ask me how I deal with switching from the Euro. Inevitably, people look incredibly confused when I explain that Australia does not use the Euro. Apparently this confusion is quite universal as evidenced in this video from the TV show: Squawk Box. Scroll through to 6:55 minute mark and prepare to be amazed: The commentators show complete ignorance and then tell Martin Shanahan,…
Lava claims Hawaiʻi Home, threatens more
On one of my trips to Hawaiʻi, I really enjoyed going to Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island (seen above on the far right of the Hawai’ian chain). Many think of Hawaiʻi only for its beaches and lush vegetation but this park really brought home to me, that this chain of islands was formed by volcanic activity. That brings risks for those who live on the Big Island where seismic activity continues. Lava from the most active volcano in Hawaiʻi, Kilauea began seeping out heading toward the ocean on 27 June. It paused its movement in…
Air NZ’s newest Hobbit safety video
The next part of the Hobbit movie series: The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies will be released in December. Again, filmed largely in New Zealand. Air New Zealand is gearing up again with the release of their latest safety video: The Most Epic Safety Video Ever Made. And I am inclined to agree. At 4 mins 38 secs, it is a long safety video but it certainly kept my attention! I get such a kick out of these. I love watching them. I wonder if they add to safety or distract from it? Did…
Tourist ID bracelets for Thailand?
Travelling to Thailand, is a relatively safe thing to do. Considering how many tourists go there, the state of the driving and how much many of those tourists participate in risky and/or risque activities it is astounding most people get home okay! Most end up with nothing more than sunburn! Some tourists, however, get lost or confused after too many drinks and cannot find their hostel or hotel! A number end up in fights or vandalism. Tragically out of the 20 million tourists that visit Thailand, several hundred die and thousands are injured. Most of…
Berlin’s see through hotel
While in Berlin, I had to check out the 25 hours Hotel, Bikini Berlin. Ultra new, ultra cool and ultra embarrassing, It is located on Budapester Str., near the Berlin Zoo in the listed Bikini-Haus building, not far from Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. The hotel website says that it “is popular…thanks to the restaurant and bar on the top floor with a 360° rooftop terrace and first-class views of the city and the Berlin Zoo.” It neglects to mention that the design of the bathrooms at the restaurant allows people on the ground to see lavatory…
Where the world lives
This mind blowing map illustrates the stark truth that half of the world ‘s population live in just six countries. The other live in the remaining 190 countries…By area, China is the third biggest country by arae and the USA is the fourth. India is the seventh biggest and Indonesia sits at 15th. I have been to four of the six biggest countries by population (Brazil, India, Indonesia and USA)! Related Posts Visiting Myanmar Reflections and Advice My 58th country: Vietnam I visit my 57th country Beautiful Brazil- My 50th Country visited
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