You've heard of Tenzing-Hillary/Lukla Airport (LUA) before. Everyone has. As the airport for Mount Everest, it's not only top of our list of World's Most Dangerous Airports, but it's one that's proved killer in the past. Landing here and taking off from here, if the weather allows for it, means braving an uneven runway and old, tiny airplanes. Needless to say, it scares the bejeezus out of us.

That said, day in and day out, Lukla Airport flies tourists and trekkers to the remote location. One such recent visitor (who survived her ordeal) is friend of Jaunted Farryn Weiner. Farryn, formerly of Jetsetter.com and presently at Michael Kors, just returned from a few weeks of going native around India and Nepal. She cobbled together her photos and video shot on the trip into the inspiring mini-film above, which kind of reminds us of a series of GIFs.

The first few seconds of the video feature her view from the plane on the way to Lukla Airport, but we've also got some words from her on the experience:]]> JetSetCD 2011-12-21T12:32:56-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/12/18/233923/02

So, North Korea's "Dear Leader" Kim Jong Il died this weekend—at 8:30am local time on Saturday, to be specific. According to NK state media and CNN, the cause of death is heart attack. The sudden news will start this week with uncertainty, as North Korea enters a period of mourning (until December 29) and South Korea holds emergency government meetings.

Naturally we're thinking about how all this will impact travel, and while weekending in Pyongyang isn't exactly around the corner, the tense situation between North and South Korea will almost certainly end visits to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), at least temporarily.]]> JetSetCD 2011-12-19T08:15:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/8/19/2424/82534

Remember the summer of 2008? It's okay, we don't either. Regardless, some are finding that summer hard to forget as it was Shark Attack Fest '08 or something; climate change and swimmer naivete meant record numbers of shark attacks were reported, and we even mapped all the most dangerous beaches for you.

Then 2009's jellyfish invasion happened, and 2010 had that whole Gulf Coast oil issue...but the sharks are back with a vengeance in 2011. Make no doubt about it. Here are the three latest shark attack hotspots:

· Zheltukhina Island, Russia
Who the heck goes swimming off Russia's east cost, near North Korea? Well, Russian vacationers...and sharks. In the last few days, two men have been attacked in separate incidents, the first losing his arms after doing hand-to-fin combat with the maneater, and the second suffering series bites all over his legs. Both survived, but that hasn't stopped Russian authorities from posting signs at the beach with tips for fighting back (like you can fight back with a determined shark).]]> JetSetCD 2011-08-19T11:19:35-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/5/13/0543/68534

It's almost the beginning of summer and you know what that means? Some TV shows will end and others will begin; in the case of the latter, we can hope for some one-off series and experimental new concepts, like a few coming soon to The Travel Channel. Premiering this upcoming Monday, May 16th at 9pm, is "Off Limits," an hour-long show that follows "explorer and history buff" Don Wildman into "forbiden, hidden and unseen spaces across America."

The first episode's destinations? Oh, just a secret Nazi compound in Los Angeles as well as clandestine oil rigs. He's also due to feature some abandoned hospitals, POW camps and steamboats in Seattle and San Fran; the show's premise kinda sounds like "Ghost Adventures" in the daylight with a bit of History Channel documentary mixed in.]]> JetSetCD 2011-05-13T09:55:38-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/4/22/102122/680
The National Palace, collapsed and abandoned after the quake

In the wake of Japan's tragic events, the world has been quick to forget Haiti's 7.0 earthquake, which ruled the headlines through 2010. As the country continues to rebuild, the tourists slowly trickle back. Jaunted special correspondent Soo Ah M. Lee recently returned from a medical volunteering mission in Port-au-Prince, and will share her Haiti travel stories and voluntourism tips all this week. This is her story:

As I've said in this series before, I traveled around Haiti in a small group, and this is how most foreigners will also experience it. Occasionally, between volunteering, we'd drive to experience some leisure. Since the earthquake, Haiti hasn't exactly been a tourist destination but when I finally opened up my eyes a bit, I saw that it can be a hidden gem.

Here are few conventional and non-conventional places to visit in and around Port-au-Prince, places that I didn't truly discover until I experienced them myself:]]> JetSetCD 2011-04-22T12:02:04-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/4/21/112435/464
Being chased by children asking for help

In the wake of Japan's tragic events, the world has been quick to forget Haiti's 7.0 earthquake, which ruled the headlines through 2010. As the country continues to rebuild, the tourists slowly trickle back. Jaunted special correspondent Soo Ah M. Lee recently returned from a medical volunteering mission in Port-Au-Prince, and will share her Haiti travel stories and voluntourism tips all this week. This is her story:

Before I begin this fourth article in the series, I just want to clarify that I am not a doctor. My main role in my team was providing medical services in the role of assistant. Basically I helped with passing out medicine and giving gifts to all the patients seen by the actual doctors. In this role, I accompanied volunteers to two churches, three orphanages, several home visits and some communal areas to provide services. Most of the visits were in Cité Soleil—one of the biggest and poorest slums in this side of the world, with a known population of about 300,000 people. Other times were spent in Canaan—also known as "Tent City," because some 200,000 here are still living in tents.

I felt mentally, emotionally, and spiritually drained after visiting such heart breaking locations. I felt even worse upon seeing children suffering from malnutrition, diseases and bacterial issues. As a volunteer and a foreigner here, you feel compelled to do something, anything to help. Charity is a delicate issue, however, and visitors quickly learn the right and wrong ways to provide help.]]> JetSetCD 2011-04-21T12:28:36-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/4/20/13959/6187

In the wake of Japan's tragic events, the world has been quick to forget Haiti's 7.0 earthquake, which ruled the headlines through 2010. As the country continues to rebuild, the tourists slowly trickle back. Jaunted special correspondent Soo Ah M. Lee recently returned from a medical volunteering mission in Port-Au-Prince, and will share her Haiti travel stories and voluntourism tips all this week. This is her story:

During my trip, I spent most of the time traveling on a Tap-Tap truck, which is basically a pick-up truck with seats and a hood on the trunk. As for public transportation, there are these Tap-Taps and then there is the bus. The latter is easy for locals and near impossible for visitors, since bus stop signs at stop locations are nonexistent. You will however notice them coming from a ways away, since these buses are often colorful and painted with Bible verses in French or Creole.

I really wanted to try out the bus, but was advised not to. I stuck to the Tap-Tap trucks. As in other day-to-day things in Haiti, foreigners can easily be cheated out of money or detoured. Of course both of these situations should be avoided as much as possible, so here are some tips for transportation in Haiti: ]]> JetSetCD 2011-04-20T13:09:59-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/