week 305

Mon: Tsimanampetsotse National Park authorities show little tolerance for the nomadism practiced by the Mikea people in southwest Madagascar.

Tue: Sighishoara town draws “blood” from the gullible tourists in search of Vlad the impaler.

Wed: Even though it is passed April 1st, the fools risk driving on top of the thawing Indigirka river, from Ust Nera to Khonuu, just to reach the artic circle.

Thu: Opal extraction took people to outback places such as White Cliffs in the late 19th century. Not much has since changed.

Fri: Oil extraction utilities abandoned after the US embargo decay leaking toxic petrochemicals into the waters of lake Maracaibo to nobody’s care.

week 304

Mon: Paprika harvesting in eastern Hungary requires hiring hands on the cheap from Romani people that dislike to stay put for more than a few weeks.

Tue: The blend of eastern tradition and western technology in south Korea makes the eventual unification with the north tricky.

Wed: Aboriginal canvas paintings, such as those by Emily Kam, deserve recognition by the white australian settlers.

Thu: Volubilis city ruins, close to Meknes, with its elaborated mosaics clearly stated that romans were building for the long run.

Fri: The train up to Machu Picchu with its bar lounge and seven switchback track delivers the ultimate tourist trap.

week 303

Mon: The protected Carpathian mountains in northern Romania provided mushrooms for every local until greedy traders from western europe unsettled the market.

Tue: Flagging a train to stop is not a thing of the past for the Aurora winter locomotive from Anchorage to Fairbanks.

Wed: Australian rebels aiming at societal liberalization, from aboriginal land rights to minorities recognition, have a steep opposition with the settler majority.

Thu: Notwithstanding “crazy khat” Harar, a tour of Ethiopia’s highlands from Lalibela to Aksum gives a glimpse of its cultural rich past.

Fri: Locals from isolated villages in the highlands of Papua West Guinea put a dancing show for the white tourists as if were a colonial pastime.

week 302

Mon: The protection of whales along a Ligurian sea crisscrossed by ferries, boats and yatchs necessitates more resources than a few volunteers.

Tue: Acknowledged 20th century australian innovators had a very “wasp” profile. But digging the historical record deeper provides aboriginal surprises.

Wed: Restored Khnum temple at Esna, between Luxor and Aswan, shows fully colored decorated capital columns and walls worthy of a pharaoh.

Thu: The karstic landscape around Gua Musang delivers a beautiful setting for the shui yue gong temple at nearby Pulai.

Fri: Capital neocolonialism, as performed by the “united fruit company”, generated banana republics out of Colombia, Costa Rica and Guatemala corrupted elites.