Jaunted - Tag: Dangerous Travel

CA: National Parks Travel: Getting Stoned at Yosemite

kjb — 2008-10-10T15:35:42-05:00

After a rock slide on Tuesday damaged an unoccupied cabin, another pile of debris forced hundreds of visitors from their vacation hideaways Wednesday at Yosemite National Park. Thursday, park officials reopened some of the cabins in Curry Village while still investigating what caused to rocks to tumble.

The LA Times has an thesaurus-friendly description of the excitement, which injured three:

An 1,800-cubic-yard slab of rock cartwheeled down the cliff, shattered and sent boulders and fist-size granite shrapnel toward the edge of Curry Village and its more than 500 tent cabins, regular cabins and hotel rooms.
Park Ranger Erik Skindrud said about 1,000 visitors had to be evacuated in the slide's aftermath, many of them visiting schoolchildren and their chaperons.

The slide started just below Glacier Point, and park officials have been examining the area by helicopter to determine what may have caused the rocks to fall.

[Photo: StarMama]

Lukla: World's Most Dangerous Airports: Runway of Death Strikes Again

ced138 — 2008-10-10T10:30:42-05:00

Don't say we didn't warn you: We did. On October 8, a plane crashed for the second time since 2005 at the tiny airport near Mt. Everest, killing 18.

The 19-seat Yeti Airlines plane had nearly completed its flight from Katmandu when it snagged its wheels on a security fence at Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Lukla, Nepal about 40 miles from Mount Everest Base Camp. Two Australians, two Nepalese and 12 tourists from Germany on a Hauser Exkursionen tour died. Only the pilot survived.

Bad Chinese Food: First Milk, Now Chocolate

ced138 — 2008-10-06T12:30:39-05:00

Dog food. Milk. Chocolate--and Cadbury, no less, that brand of creamy, rich decadence that puts the saccharine, grainy Hershey to shame.

Powdered milk killed four infants, poisoned tens of thousands of others, and sent hysteria rippling through China. Now, health regulators in Hong Kong have announced that higher-than-legal traces of melamine, the same chemical that was found in the milk, has been discovered in Cadbury chocolate products. Say it isn't so.

The crisis has affected domestic milk sales and exports, while regulators wrangle to sort out the tainted batches and officials point fingers at who's to blame for the whole mess. Vegans, however, step back and chuckle at all the muddling. The punishment for subsisting on food-flavored carob is having to eat food-flavored carob all the time. This here is the reward.

Related Stories:
· Tainted Chocolate [IHT]
· Dangerous Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: jeffk]

Mexico City: Crime Travel: Give This Mexico Clothing Boutique a Shot

ced138 — 2008-10-06T10:00:40-05:00

Mexico City likes to break records. The world's largest city is also one of Mexico's wealthiest and one of its most dangerous. After a dip in crime in the early 2000s, misdeeds are back en vogue. Now, the market is responding, with a bulletproof clothing boutique cropping up in Polanco, the Rodeo Drive of the DF.

The store, called Miguel Caballero, takes its name from its Colombian owner. Bulletproof items there range from leather jackets to polo shirts, parkas and white ruffled tuxedo shirts. But before you apply for a sales position, be forewarned:

Tijuana: Tijuana Tourism Struggles as Violence Intensifies

Victor Ozols — 2008-10-05T14:12:25-05:00

There was a time not long ago when a visit to Tijuana was a rite of passage for Southern California youngsters, who'd flock to "TJ" for cheap tequila and an anything-goes attitude that made for so many great stories back home. Unfortunately for Tijuana's tourism industry, however, more and more prospective visitors are choosing different destinations these days, put off by reports of an explosion of murders and kidnappings in the once charmingly-seedy border town. Just over the past week, nearly fifty people were murdered in a spate of drug-related violence, and the grisly nature of the killings - including decapitation and the removal of tongues - suggests that further retaliations are all but assured.

Pirate Travel: Somali Bandits Still Sailing Weapons-Filled Tanker

ced138 — 2008-10-03T11:30:38-05:00

Those spokesman-having, gun-toting pirates are still holding the MV Faina and its cargo of Ukrainian tanks captive off the coast of Somalia. So you might want to hold off on reserving a bed on that cruise setting sail for the tropical coast!

Believe it or not, Seabourn Cruise Line, a high-end division of Carnival, sailed its ships through the area until late 2005, when it narrowly escaped a pirate attack. Smaller vessels also ply the waters, sometimes coming under attack like larger ships.

Danger lurks for land-based travelers to Somalia as well. The State Department continues to warn against all travel to the war-torn country. But various travel guides offer a bit more leeway, recommending that the most adventurous of us stick to the northwestern part of the country. Too bad, because there's not much to see in Somaliland, while some of the world's most beautiful beaches lay beyond the relative zone of safety in the south.

Related Stories:
· Somali Pirates Say They Will Fight Raid [AP, via Google]
· Pirates Report Progress in Talks [AFP, via Google]
· African Pirates Kidnap Boating Family [Jaunted]

[Photo: Wikimedia]

Escuinapa: Drug War Travel: Enjoy the Beach while Ducking RPGs in Mexico

pbb — 2008-09-30T14:31:38-05:00

The government of Mexico hopes to create yet another heavily developed strip of sand for tourists interested in golf courses, hotels and condos, and President Felipe Calderon has gone so far to say it'll be the country's most important tourism project in a quarter century. But there's one catch: It'll be in Sinaloa, the notorious home to the Mexican drug traffickers known as the Pacific Cartel.

True, the beach-town-turned-resort of Mazatlán is in Sinaloa, and it's established itself as a (relatively for Mexico) off-the-radar place to be. But while there haven't been any grenade attacks there, it has seen some gunplay.

We've already told you about the military-grade weaponry being used by gangs and the shrines to traffickers in Sinaloa's capital of Culiacán. How likely it is that tourists will be lining up to fly down to check out the beach in the middle of a drug-fueled war?

Related Stories:
· US State Department Travel Alert for Mexico [Official Site]
· Mexico Announces New Tourist Resort [AP, via]
· Drug Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo Google Maps]