Among My Souvenirs

Bizarre requests to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office Some of the more amusing enquiries the FCO received last year… Picture this, if you will. You’re in Cambodia. You spot a cute monkey and pause to admire. But suddenly the mischievous beast dislodges a large rock which tumbles forth and hits you square between the eyes. It really bloody hurts. Your eyes are watering and your friends are sniggering. You feel wronged. What to do? It’s a pickle. Some might laugh it off. Others might get cross. But a very select few decide they need compensation and a guarantee that the incident will never repeat itself, and that the organisation which can meet these demands is the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. We kid you not. Compensation for the monkey incident was just one of many truly bizarre requests made over the last year to the FCO, who have rather gamely shared some of them for our giggling pleasure. Others included a gentleman in Rome who approached FCO staff to translate a ...

Lost camera returned to owner after five years A camera lost on holiday in Hawaii in 2007 is found 6,000 miles away Now this is an airline going the extra mile. Or 6,000 miles in this case. China Airlines have traced the American owner of a camera which was lost on holiday in Hawaii in 2007. The camera was found on a beach in Taiwan last month, more than 6,000 miles away, and they’ve been searching for the owner ever since. Eventually, Lindsay Crumbley Scallan from Georgia, USA, was identified as the owner by a friend. Not only will she be reunited with her photos but she’ll be offered a free round-trip ticket to Taiwan to pick it up in person. “Ms Scallan is welcome to visit Taiwan so that she can take home the invaluable memories of her trip to Hawaii,” said Lee Wen-yi, an official of the airline. Lindsay lost the waterproof camera in August 2007 during a diving trip in Maui. It was found by Douglas Cheng, a China Airlines manager, while he was strolling...

Air steward sacked for flipping the bird Photo goes viral on Twitter, then she gets sacked A Russian air steward has been sacked for allegedly flipping the bird after the photograph ended up on Twitter. Tatiana Kozlenko initially uploaded the photo to her personal page on Vkontakte, a popular Russian social media site similar to Facebook, and within hours the snap had clocked up dozens of ‘Likes’. However, it was quickly posted on Twitter where it soon went viral with hundreds of retweets. Aeroflot – who announced the sacking on their Twitter account – said: “Posting this photo shows Tatiana’s attitude towards passengers and her duties. She acknowledged her fault when she spoke to her managers”. But while Ms Kozlenko admits she tagged herself in the photo she is adamant the arm isn’t hers. She said on her Vkontakte page: “I don’t consider myself guilty! The photo was added to my page, I only tagged myself on it!!! “The h...

Cheeky backpackers bare bums Asylum Backpackers bare all in publicity stunt Every now and then backpackers like to get a little naked. Whether it’s that ‘lads on tour’ mentality it’s hard to say, but a group of 11 backpackers and staff at Asylum Backpackers in Cairns have bared their booties to the world. Asylum Backpackers aren’t one to shy away from the headlines and their latest stunt has caused outrage in the local community. A photograph of the prank was published on Facebook and a stream of complaints has again been directed at authorities. Neighbour Bruce Passfield said the backpackers’ hostel had crossed the line. “If you’re going to do that type of thing, don’t do it there,” he said. “Opposite me is a Freemasons Hall and kids have dance lessons there at that time. “All the mums and kids were pulling in at that time for class. There were kids around, six or seven years old.” Asylum hostel spok...

Russian daredevil nearly dies Base jumper’s parachute fails in fall from 120m power pylon Carrying on from yesterday’s new story where 135 people in Russia performed a mass bungee jump off a bridge, this is a video of how not to do it. In a worst case scenario, a base jumper’s parachute failed to open as he plummeted to earth from a 120m power pylon, again in Russia. And maybe worst of all, it was all caught on camera. The daredevil was clearly nervous about making the jump but he was obviously unaware just how dangerous it was. As he jumps, you can almost anticipate that something will go wrong, and it does as he slams into he snow, but amazingly the man survived, despite suffering fractured legs, pelvis and vertebrae. It is thought that the snow is the only reason he survived, cushioning his fall. According to AOL Travel, information provided by the Snake River Base Academy, a US extreme sports company, stated: “There are very few base jumpers with more ...

British cyclist breaks Guinness World Record Mike Hall becomes fastest man to circumnavigate the planet Cyclist Mike Hall has broken the Guinness World Record for circumnavigation of the world by bicycle, taking just 92 days to complete the trip. The record-breaking feat was undertaken as part of the World Cycle Racing Grand Tour, which was sponsored by Quick Energy. Starting out on 18 February, Hall crossed the finish line at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich on 4 June. The cyclist completed the epic unassisted race around the globe almost two weeks quicker than the previous record holder, Alan Bate, and is way ahead of the other race contenders – some of whom are still travelling at various points around the world. Given the phenomenal scale of the achievement, sceptical readers might consider that the speedy cyclist simply cheated his way to the record. However, this is unlikely considering that the race rules stated entrants must: “Allow their progress to be tracke...

Belize has officially delayed the reopening of their borders to international tourism. The airport was originally scheduled to reopen on August 15th, On August 5th, the prime minister of Belize announced that the reopening would be delayed until further notice. No new date has been set at this time and all travelers that have been affected by the suspension are encouraged to contact their travel providers to negotiate refunds. According to local reports, The prime minister of Belize has announced that the Philip Goldson Internation...

Gap year activity ‘will help with UCAS points’ A new qualification will allow applicants for UK universities to get credit for their gap year activities. The new Certificate of Personal Effectiveness, introduced by the qualifications body ASDAN, is worth 70 points in the UCAS admissions system at level three – the same as an A grade at AS-level but only half an A grade at A-level. The CoPE requires students to work under six module headings: global awareness, enrichment activities, work-related activities, active citizenship, career planning and extended project. They get five credits for 50 hours’ activity, and 15 credits from three different modules are necessary to complete the qualification.

Deadline Hollywood has announced that travel bloggers and current authors, The Lost Ladies, whose eponymous book was release earlier this year, have inked a deal to send their story to Hollywood. As reported: “ABC has offered the company and Warner Bros. Tv a place pilot commitment for an untitled hourlong task based on the website and the book The Lost Girls.” If you are asking yourself, a put pilot is Hollywood for a virtual guarantee that a pilot will air or the network will incur a substantial penalty. No word nonetheless on the particulars of the display. Congratulations girls, this is quite interesting information. Now all I have to do is go purchase a T.V. just before the commence of the 2011 season. (And be certain to read through Amanda — 1/three of The Lost Women — whose writing will be appearing as element of the upcoming “The Expeditioner Guidebook to the World”.)

Okay, not acquiring primary cable surely precludes me from watching the Travel Channel substantially anyway, but their programming appropriate now isn’t exactly producing me want to rush out and purchase it either. Eater is reporting these days that with the current accomplishment of “Man v. Food” (apparently a display about a guy who eats alot of negative foods in 1 sitting), the Travel Channel is incorporating a display identified as “Food Wars.” The premise of the present is that each week two neighborhood restaurants that specialize in the similar dish are pitted towards every other in a blind taste check judged by community patrons. “What,” you say, “does an eating competitors demonstrate have to do with travel anyway?” Good query. The answer? The similar matter “Jersey Shore” has to do with music programming. Absolutely nothing! As we reported back in November, Scripps — the owner of The Food Network and HGTV — took above the channel, and just as we form of predicted (see my ...

What comes about when you hire six of some of the best travel writers in the world to go on assignment, anyplace they want, to create about anything at all they want? Check out donkeys in Morocco, treks to the Punjab, and, could this be, Frances Mayes of “Under the Tuscan Sky” waxing poetic about . . . Poland? Smithsonian mag’s got all six stories, which includes dispatches from Paul Theroux, Susan Orlean, Frances Mayes, Geoffrey C. Ward and other individuals. And please, keep in mind this next time you read any blog or post from a travel author complaining about how tricky their job is, what with all the problem of transport, homesickness, and sickness. When’s the final time your boss waddled into your cubicle and stated, “Could you do me a favor, pick anywhere in the globe and go there upcoming week and compose about it. Oh yeah, we’ll pay out you for it, and we’ll promise publication. See you in a couple of weeks.” Allow’s see...

It seemed like just yesterday that I was receiving above my Olympic fever, Commonwealth Games hysteria, and X-Games nausea, but now the Winter Olympics 2012 are much less than a 12 months away and Vancouver is gearing up, and I’m loading up on my Dramamine to handle it all. Of course, the clever traveler would head now before rates skyrocket submit-games to consider benefit of the somewhat affordable lift tickets at Whistler — the site of upcoming year’s downhill skiing competitions — for $89 or do some cross-nation skiing in Whistler Olympic Park for a mere $20. Or my favourite ski-town sport: aggressive hot tub lounging.