Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for October, 2009
Camel is King
By Linda Tancs
It’s humpback heaven in Pushkar this weekend in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan. Pushkar Festival brings together camel traders and their ornately festooned charges ready for their close-ups. A beauty pageant of sorts, the camels are paraded around for throngs of admiring onlookers, including curious tourists. Of equal interest is Lake Pushkar, a must-see for shutterbugs. Hindus believe that the lake was created by Lord Brahma (their creator of the universe) when he dropped a lotus flower to earth as a result of battle with a demon. The lake is beset with ghats for bathing away sins (like Varanasi) during this high festival. So how best to reach this holiest of places in the Rajasthani desert? The nearest airport in Jaipur is 86 miles away. A network of bus service will get you to Ajmer, just 7 miles away. The local bus ride through scenic mountain ranges will get you to your final destination in a half hour.
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Lit Bliss
By Linda Tancs
British Columbia is known for many things—stately and quite lovely cities (like Vancouver, Victoria and Whistler), whale watching, totem poles, world-renowned gardens, skiing and fine dining—but a literary haven? Yes, add that to the list and head on over to Sidney, a seaside town accessible by ferry about 20 miles from Victoria, B.C.’s capital city. There you’ll find Canada’s only booktown, a moniker denoting a locale with a large number of second-hand or antiquarian book shops. In Sidney, you’ll probably be no more than 10 paces away from a bookstore in any direction. Bookworm heaven.
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Bright Lights, Big City
By Linda Tancs
In Chiang Mai, a mountain-ringed metropolis north of Bangkok, they’ll be lighting up the night sky with thousands of floating lanterns this weekend in the annual Loy Krathong festival. At ground level, you can set more lights afloat on banana leaves across the Ping River, a symbolic gesture celebrating the resources of the waterway and casting off misfortune. No doubt a sight to behold, you can capture the essence of it here.
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Where America Happened
By Linda Tancs
A National Scenic Byway designation is the highest honor that the U.S. Secretary of Transportation can bestow on a roadway, recognizing its outstanding significance culturally, historically, recreationally or otherwise. That honorific was recently granted to America’s corridor, an 180-mile long thoroughfare running from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia–known as the Journey Through Hallowed Ground. The area represents what late historian C. Vann Woodward referred to as a route that “soaked up more of the blood, sweat, and tears of American history than any other part of the country.” Indeed, along this region you’ll find the Civil War’s hallowed grounds in and around Gettysburg as well as the Dobbin House, a Civil War hospital and reputed safe house for enslaved African Americans traveling north in search of freedom. You’ll see colonial taverns and a Revolutionary War-era prison, a historic gristmill and battlefield, superb architectural specimens of the 1800s and a sampling of presidential mansions including James Monroe and Thomas Jefferson. Of course, there’s lots more. But why should I spoil it for you? See for yourself.
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Lakes Aplenty
By Linda Tancs
To call Rangely, Maine a “lake district” is surely an understatement. This western part of the state is embraced by 112 interconnected lakes and ponds scattered throughout the region, the centerpiece of which is Rangeley Lake. A quiet village, Rangely can boast of two unusual things: no traffic light and a sign in town that places it midway between the Equator and the North Pole. Clearly a boater’s paradise in summer, year-round recreational activities include fishing, hiking, skiing, snowmobiling, wildlife watching, and leaf peeping. Add to that: watching the sunset over Mooselookmeguntic Lake. Awesome.
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Dancing in Nepal
By Linda Tancs
It’s a festive time of year in the Khumbu region of Nepal. Following the autumn moon this month, the monks of Tengboche begin a solemn ritual of chant and dance for the sherpa community (and international visitors who don’t mind heights). Known as Mani Rimdu, the festival is one of the most sacred and highly anticipated annual events celebrating Buddhism in the Himalayas. The monks, dressed in flowing orange robes and bright yellow headgear resembling a crescent moon, prepare for the 3-day festival with the drawing of a giant sand mandala symbolizing beauty and its impermanent nature. Intricate dances alternate between highly theatrical (including the famous mask dances) and subdued, telling the story of the defeat by Padmasambhava of the evil spirits of the Bon religion and the conversion of the people to Buddhism. The mountain air gets mighty cold this time of year. Warm up at the fire puja (or offering) on the third day, when the evil spirits of the world are said to melt away and peace returns to the mountain kingdom.
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Delaware’s Distinctions
By Linda Tancs
Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. Needless to say, historical sites and artifacts abound, but Delaware’s distinctions also extend to its cuisine, unique festivities and great beaches. Learn more about the First State at Travelrific® Travel Show.
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Historic Lisbon
By Linda Tancs
Yes, Lisbon is historic. No, we’re not talking about that legendary city in Portugal with over 20 centuries of history and its capital since its conquest from the Moors in 1147. We’re talking about Lisbon, Connecticut, a small community named after its sister city in Portugal. Located along the old stagecoach route linking Norwich, Connecticut and Worcester, Massachusetts, it’s perhaps best known as a chief leaf-peeping destination given its location on Route 169, a National Scenic Byway. Thirty two miles in length, you can take in all the autumn wonder in just one day. Besides the leaves, there’s plenty more to this route, especially for history buffs. You can take a tour from Canterbury to Pulpit Rock Road Marker in North Woodstock, viewing along the way the first academy for young black women in New England, a stop on the Underground Railroad, and monuments to early settlers, war heroes, and famous legislators.
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Mohonk Still Timeless at 140
By Linda Tancs
In 1869, a Rhode Island schoolmaster named Albert Smiley purchased 280 acres and a ten-room inn overlooking a lovely lake atop the Shawangunk Ridge above New Paltz, New York. Since then, that investment has metamorphosed into Mohonk Mountain House, an idyllic retreat comprising a Victorian castle with 265 rooms, five guest cottages, three spacious dining rooms, 138 fireplaces, 238 balconies, and a half-dozen parlors. The centerpiece of a 26,000-acre natural area in the Shawangunk Mountains, the 140-year-old resort lacks for nothing in the way of amenities, like its 30,000 square-foot spa’s steam and sauna rooms. Not surprisingly, the mountain house was named a National Historic Landmark in 1986. From Sky Top Tower, you can survey the property’s namesake, Lake Mohonk, a 60-foot deep, freshwater beauty. In 1882, the New York Times reported, “There is nothing in the world exactly like Lake Mohonk.” Well, maybe seeing is believing.
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Jurassic Park in France
By Linda Tancs
High in the Jura Mountains of eastern France the sauropod reigned supreme. Just when you think its star would have faded, however, comes news of a discovery there of one of the largest dinosaur footprints (at almost five feet in diameter). Dated from the Late Jurassic period (the era taking its name from the Jura due to some prehistoric rocks there), the well-preserved prints are likely not the last we’re going to hear about the long-necked vegetarian that weighed anywhere from 33 to 44 tons. Perhaps this scientific discovery will invigorate tourism in the area–namely, the Jura Mountains Regional Natural Park, southwest of the mountain range on the French/Swiss border. Filled with a wide variety of flora and fauna, mountain forests, high altitude grassland, wooded meadows, peat bogs, lakes and deep valleys, you can traverse the area by hiking, mountain biking or even Nordic skiing. Who knows, you might even stumble upon some really big feet.
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